Chapter Text
Coping with change was not something Mia excelled at. She wasn't bad to be sure but she wouldn't call herself great. When she was first moved to the department that actually interacted with bioweapons at The Connections she would take notes and write down observations occasionally to help her feel better and get her thoughts out. Then when she was assigned Eveline she did it more frequently and it quickly became a coping mechanism for thoughts that wouldn't leave her alone.
Understanding and analysing the world around her and the way it changed was paramount to remaining in control with a cool head.
Ethans new condition was no different.
She kept track of everything from his sleep schedule to how much he ate. Jotting down his recent affinity for hot showers, new dedication to drinking the recommended amount of water every day, and increased need for carbohydrates. All of which made sense considering his unique position. Mold requires a certain degree of warmth and humidity to grow and the hot showers likely stimulated that. The drinking water was also probably due to the need for moisture. Mold also prefers foods high in simple carbohydrates because they break down into sugars faster and provide quicker energy to burn. Soon her office was filled with scribblings, compiled papers and printed charts keeping track of her husband's health and his new requirements.
That wasn't all she wrote about though.
She also typed out how training with Chris went that day, and how excited he was when he found the small town's library. She wrote fondly about his plans for their garden, his hate of the cold, love for a new restaurant, disgust, fear, anxieties. Her notes were a mix of scientific observations and her love of all of Ethan's intricacies.
She couldn't imagine what would happen if Ethan ever found out and her little ‘project’ was getting harder to hide. So eventually she started keeping the notes filed away in a locked cabinet opened only to review or add new information.
Which she found she needed to do early that morning.
A significant part of her notes came from the night time observations of the mold. The only time it made itself readily apparent. Each night when his change happened he would inevitably seek her out and hold her close to him. Mia didn't really know if that was the mold seeking other organic heat sources or Ethan finally feeling relaxed enough to drop the subconscious charade but she didn't mind either way. It gave her an opportunity to keep track of its texture, appearance, and temperature.
She didn't mind being nearly enveloped by her loving husband either.
It was usually smooth and oil black; liquid in appearance but solid when touched. Slightly warm but not like skin. Aspects of the mold had a tendency to slightly fluctuate, like the surface area it covered or temperature, but it was obvious that this was not a normal fluctuation.
Mia first noticed it when she didn't feel Ethan shift to get close to her. She had gotten so used to waking up in the night to adjust positions, her brain had set an internal alarm clock. After a minute or so she decided to take a look.
Ethan was in whatever his shifted form could be called, curled into himself in a ball. The mold spreading over him was in its usual areas but it was cracked and dry, like dirt in the desert. The skin surrounding this sick mold was red and aggravated.
Feeling her brow wrinkle, she reached out in concern to see if he would react. He flinched away curled even more in on himself.
He was in pain.
Unacceptable.
Mia left the bed immediately and headed to her office fearing the worst. She typed into her computer dying mold, praying it wasnt something serious and double checked her notes to see if there were any changes she had missed.
Damn this shit internet she thought, when she had finally exhausted her paper trail of resources. The stupid circle spun over and over like it was taunting her and her anxious mind began to wander the way it always did. If she needed to alert the BSAA they would be likely to help him but would never let him go. He would be stuck in a cell somewhere, treated like a lab rat. Experimented on, used maybe even tortured; much like someone else she once knew.
The screen finally loaded and Mia’s fears gave way
She almost snorted because dear lord this is ridiculous.
Her husband was drying out. At least it was easy to fix and not deadly. It just looked like the spores were starting to hibernate because of the lack of humidity in the air due to the winter. The equivalence of a ‘mold cold’.
Which was why she found herself leaving for the store first thing that morning looking for a humidifier.
The shopping trip elongated itself as she decided to pick up more than what she originally came for. Picking up coffee, eggs, milk and a few other items. She couldn't lie, it felt nice to get out of the house. The BSAA had been using her bioweapon experience to their advantage and with emails of charts and questions about The Connections she rarely found time to do more than take a brisk walk.
She was treasuring the feeling of normalcy as well. The last time she had just gone to the grocery store, the last time she had helped her husband when he was sick, the last time she did anything that was completely free and her decision had been so long ago. Even if the BSAA was still breathing down their necks, anything was better than the Bakers.
Ohhhh that soup is his favorite for when he's sick. She picked up the canned chicken noodle soup, remembering the times previously when he would get a cold. The first time she asked him what he wanted he seemed almost embarrassed to ask and defended himself with ‘My mom would make it for me when I was a kid alright’. Not that Mia judged at all, it was just cute.
“Oh sorry” She said as she bumped into someone. She must have gotten lost in thought again. She was about to walk off towards the checkout counter when a hand stopped her from leaving.
“You moved in not long ago, yes?” Said a woman with a heavy accent. She was young, but not a child, with eyes that had seen pain but hadn't grown cold and bitter from it.
Mia shrugged her arm off feeling immediately wary.
“Uh, yeah. Do you need something?” The woman's face seemed to steel in response.
“You need to leave,” she said. Her accent became thicker as she stepped closer to Mia. The kindness in her manner was obscured by what looked to be fear and anger.
Mia had some experience with the death of innocence. She stepped away.
“Look, I know we're from the outside but we really don't want any trouble. Have a nice day.” She began walking away mid sentence and didn't look back to see the girl's reaction.
Most likely some weird form of tribalism, she figured. Nothing to worry about, usually the extreme groups were small but loud. She couldn't help but feel disgusted though at the use of a young girl to catch her unaware.
The check out cashier didn't say much, the same one who had scanned her during the mold killer escapade, coincidentally enough. She picked up her few bags and headed outside. The cold air was an unpleasant shift from the warm inside of the store and she hurried over to her car.
She didn't miss the way a group of men gathered in front of their truck murmured to each other. She was able to pick up ‘ ultimii proprietari’ and ‘boală’. She decided to look it up later when she got home but figured it was the same thing that english speaking dipshits would be saying.
“Ethan, you feeling any better?” Mia sing-songed her husband's name as she carried her load of groceries into the kitchen. She got a groan for a reply.
She let out a small laugh and took the can of chicken noodle soup out to start cooking. Just as the soup turned fragrant she felt a blanket clad body wrap around her from behind.
“It's your favorite.” She got a slightly happier groan and a kiss on the head.
“Do you feel like speaking today?” the arms around her got slightly tighter and that was her only response.
“Oh whatever will I do, my husband refuses to speak to me,” she said with feigned despair. “Now let go, I have to get you a bowl.” Ethan clung to her stubbonely. If she could have seen his face she would have imagined a pout. “Unless you want to drink right out of the hot pot.” Ethan sighed and let go, retreating in a shuffling of feet to the kitchen table. Mia hadn't even finished sitting down when he attacked the soup with his spoon.
“Thank you.” he said between mouthfuls of noodles.
“You can thank me by not choking,” she couldn't help the sarcastic tone, “but you’re welcome.”
She couldn't judge too harshly, Ethan looked terrible; red runny nose, dark circles under his eyes, pale clammy skin. He wasn't any sicker than a common cold but he was clearly feeling it.
While Ethan went back for seconds, Mia set up her secret weapon. The humidifier. It didn't take long but in the time she finished he had dished up and sat back on the couch. Its gentle hum had started to fill the room when he spoke up from his depleting soup supply.
“What's that for? I’m not congested at all,” sounding more curious than confused.
“Oh I figured it couldn't hurt. Nothing wrong with preventative measures, right?” That was complete bullshit but she knew Ethan was too tired to care. He shrugged and pulled his blanket up higher.
Mia sat next to him on the couch. “Allright, are you all good? I got a couple emails to respond to upstairs.” She would have just answered on her phone but the BSAA insisted on their own ‘secure’ devices.
Ethan groaned again, it seemed to be quickly becoming his favorite form of communication. “Can't you just skip a day? Maybe you can just blame the internet going out again.” He leaned forwards and rested his head on her shoulder.
Yeah, fuck the BSAA.
They spent the whole day on the couch together watching their favorite movies, absolutely none of them being horror and almost all of them being romantic comedies. Getting up occasionally for food or water. Ethans inherent warmth leech-iness was magnified by his cold. He was practically plastered to Mia the entire time. Through all of it the humidifier buzzed in the corner, and by the time it was dark Ethan looked a little better.
After moving the humidifier to the bedroom and settling in they both fell asleep almost immediately. Feeling the most relaxed they had in a long time.
-
She felt a nudge on her shoulder and woke up feeling groggy in the dark.
“Mia. Mia you gotta get up.” Ethan's voice whispered at her. She glanced at the clock; 3:32. If he was getting her up because he forgot how to run the coffee machine again he would feel her wrath. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.
Ethan was looking better at least. The humidifier had run until empty and the effects were clear. The dark circles were gone and he was speaking with less difficulty.
“Ethan, I love you , but its 3 in the morning I’ll show you how to make coffee lat-”
“I think there are people outside our house.”
Her brain started to catch up.
“What did you see and how long ago?” She slipped out of bed and grabbed her coat. Pulling on the nearest pair of shoes.
“Couple flashlights moved around outside just a minute ago. I was going to call the police but I think I saw their car outside. I think whatever is happening they'ref in on it.” His voice remained calm. It was different from when he was in a frightening situation before everything three years ago. He didn't panic, just accepted the facts and tried to deal with them.
It was good, it was grounding.
“Should we call Chris?” He asked.
“I don't think so. We don't know if they suspect something more is going on than some outsiders living here. If he shows up with his team, with their guns and choppers, we’ll have to move to a new area. Even more than that we don't know why they're outside.” She said. Calling Chris really needed to be a last resort. If they decided relocation was necessary they would do more tests. Ethan might not fool them a second time.
“Should we try to wait it out then? They could just go away, and if we get involved by fighting we would need to be relocated for sure.”
Mia thought for a moment. Their little fan-club was in control of the situation, they had the leverage. They knew the area and had Ethan and Mia stuck in one place they could watch easily. So what if they took away that area advantage?
“Let's just get in the car and leave. It would be a little risky to walk from the house over to the garage shed but I think it's our best option.” They could definitely be seen but other than that the plan fit their requirements of not engaging physically but also not being kept at the disadvantage.
Ethan knoded.
They started down the stairs. Crouching underneath the windows at the landing as to not be seen before picking up normal pace again. They started passing through the kitchen towards the door to the front yard when Mia felt a slight shiver of cold drifting over her.
The sliding door was open.
Pain erupted at the back of her skull and she fell to the floor. Her garbled brain made out the sound of feet trying to shuffle past her towards Ethan and she reached towards it. She could still make out the features of a person, even with the black at the edges of her vision. She yanked the being over to her and shoved a towel draped on the oven handle in their mouth before grabbing one of her hidden emergency knives and stabbing it in the gut. The muffled screams started to die down as she removed the knife and looked up to see Ethan dealing with his own assailant.
HE had the person in a chokehold, no doubt from his training with Chris, the man melted to the floor in seconds.
You good? He mouthed. She had the strong urge to vomit and blood was dripping from her nose but she nodded that she was anyway. This was not the time to rest.
The attackers had been dealt with quietly enough that it shouldn't have alerted anyone outside but the sense of urgency had increased. Ethan snatched the keys from where they were hanging and creaked open the door to outside.
“Ill open the garage door, you start the car, ok?” he whispered.
“Yeah.” She replied.
They stayed there for another moment, with Ethan watching outside. After a solid 10 seconds of waiting, he motioned for them to move.
They sprinted from the door to the garage making sure to close the door behind them quietly. Mia focused solely on the garage in front of her, keeping the grip around her knife tight . They could make it out, she just had to stay focused.
A flashlight shined on them just before they slipped inside.
Mia scrambled to lock the door to the garage as fists started pounding on the entry that had been their salvation.
“Mia hurry!” Ethan shouted, not bothering to be quiet anymore. He was beginning to lift the garage door. A heavy metal monstrosity that should have been electrically operated but wasn't.
After storing the knife in her belt loops she unlocked the door and got inside. Managing to turn the engine of the car on just as gunshots started ringing and bright holes were punched through their entrance.
With a final push, Ethan raised the garage door.
Their car was then violently pushed forwards into the wall in front of them as something rammed into them from behind.
The airbag inflated and Mia pushed it down as she fought her fleeting sense of direction. Her hands felt fuzzy and clumsy as she sloppily attempted to unbuckle her seatbelt. She opened the door and wheezed at the sudden exposure to the cold air.
Tripping over her own feet she fell down to the cold concrete and started to try and stand before having her arms grabbed. They dragged her out of the garage and into the snow, kicking her in the side when she tried to rise again.
Their voices were hard to make out, and not just because of their other language. While they squabbled she turned to look at the garage.
The car they had used to ram her into the front wall had been backed up and the damage was clearly visible. The back of Mia's car was destroyed, nearly crumpled in on itself. The headlights were casting a red glow over everything and all the crumples in the frame clearly visible. The entire back window was missing with ragged edges where the remaining glass stuck stubbornly. It was odd though. Even in her half dazed state Mia remembered cars didn't have red headlights when they were idling. She followed the broken glass to the ground.
Ethans corpse lay in a crumpled heap. The car had hit him at an angle, not straight on, so his entire rib cage was caved in on one side. His jaw was sticking out at an odd angle misaligned with the rest of his skull and his shoulder had been broken and shoved into his torso from the impact with their parked car.
Mias wheezing became mixed with panicked cries which turned to enraged screaming. She slashed at the ankles of one of the attackers and he fell to the ground while she kicked the shin of one of the others. Her rage granted her clarity as she stabbed the nearest downed attacker in the stomach and dragged down with all her might, spilling his organs into the snow as he screamed. They steamed from their warmth interacting with the cold.
Mia righted herself and launched at the soldier she had knocked down before. Aiming for his heart but landing in his shoulder instead. Digging it deeper as he clawed at her hands to shove her off all she could see was red red red.
A third person she hadn't seen pulled her off and punched her in the gut before kneeing her in the face. She couldn't fight down a surge of nausea as she threw up into the snow. She was kicked in the stomach again and she found herself in the same position as before, just without her knife.
She saw the third soldier shouting at a man clutching his shoulder and motioning for him to go. Probably telling him to go get others.
The injured man ran away as fast as he could. The single remaining soldier turned to her and his falling footsteps felt like thunder through her skull.
“Curvă.” He spat at her. He pointed his gun to emphasize that this was the end of her little rebellion.
There was a bit of silence where she laid there in the snow, feeling it make her forming bruises numb. She was exhausted. Unable to fight anymore. It was over.
Snap
It came from where Ethan was laying. It was so quiet if Mia wasn't listening she wouldn't have heard it. But then it got louder.
Snap
Snap snAP
CRUNCH
The soldier pointed his gun in a different direction now. He pointed it at the garage.
At a corpse that was not a corpse.
Ethan was starting to stand. His unsteady legs shook like a newborn dear rising for the first time. Among the sounds of snapping bones and creaking muscles a gurgling sound arose as he coughed up a thick black liquid. Like tar it dribbled into the white snow with a splat.
His ribcage was repairing, popping out and expanding back to its proper shape. His shoulder snapped back into place with such force it jerked him backwards. Spine shifting violently back into place with a pop click click snap CRUNCH of finality. His eyes reflected a monstrous yellow and red.
The guard was starting to panic. Shifting backwards he aimed his gun and emptied his magazine into Ethans rising corpse.
Ethan slowed for a moment. Just standing still while the new bullet holes dripped with a mix of tar and blood.
The stillness didn't last long.
Ethan lunged forwards and grabbed the guards arm holding the gun. He used his second hand to grab farther up the forearm and pushed in opposite directions. The guard's forearm snapped in half, the jagged sharp bone sticking out of the red flesh.
He shoved the guard to the ground and began punching him in the face. A barely comprehensible voice garbling out.
“DO N 'T” crunch
“EVER” crunch
“TOU Ch” crunch
“MY WIFE.” With this he grabbed the guards face. Mia could hear his skull creaking from the pressure already. Without a moment of hesitation, Ethan smashed his head into the ground. Brain matter scattered into the snow like bits of watermelon and uncooked hamburger.
The guard continued to twitch after death.
Ethan slumped over and laid in the snow opposite to her, exhausted.
“Hi honey,” He said before unconsciousness took him.
Mia was tired. Really really tired.
But they weren't out of the woods yet. She could hear the approaching footsteps of what remained of their attacking group. She forced herself off the ground and stood shakily. She didn't know where she was going but she knew she had to get away. Putting her arms around Ethans torso she started to drag him anywhere that was out of sight.
But they were approaching too fast. Before she had even gotten a couple of paces before they were upon her.
“STOP.” A female voice shouted. “Turn around, keep your hands up.”
Uh, god. She turned around and it was exactly who she thought it was. The face of the young woman who had stopped her at the grocery store greeted her.
An older woman muttered something to her in romanian and the young lady translated.
“If you move we shoot.”
Yeah that was assumed bitch, Mia thought. These idiots really think they're scary.
“What do you want?” Mia said.
“We want you to leave.” The girl said, translating again.
They couldn't leave. The amount she had fucked up was made apparent to her just then. By avoiding Chris earlier she had made it impossible now. If they informed him of what happened he would probably interrogate the villagers, and thanks to the man with the wounded shoulder everyone would know that Ethan had been crushed then reformed. They would look into him and find out that something was wrong.
“We can't. Do you have any other options.” She said it more as a statement than a question.
The girl scowled and after another moment of translation where the older woman got very heated sounding, she spoke.
"The last people in this house hurt us. Crops died, people were sick. Only got better when they left. You must leave before this happens again."
The older woman spoke more and the crowd shuffled uncomfortably at what she said.
"You have killed our own. You are not usual. Leave or die." The girl said resolutely.
Mia snarled.
"So you invaded our home, tried to kill us, and hit my husband with a car because of something that might happen? Tell me, was anyone hurt before you decided to kill us. We're your crops in danger? Was ANYTHING STRANGE HAPPENING AT ALL. "
The girl shifted her feet uncomfortably as she relayed all of this to the elder. Some of the crowd backed away at Mia's tone.
The elders eyes narrowed.
" No but...Y-youve proved that you're dangerous. You killed 4 good people. You are lucky we don't take vengence now." That got a couple of angry cheers but the young translator seemed uncomfortable.
"Oh I see, a case of 'its ok when we do it’. It's fine for you to attack us when we haven't done anything wrong, but when we defend ourselves were the bad guys? We never wanted any violence here, and judging by the way your elder is trying to get us to leave instead of having your crowd attack, she doesn't want violence either."
The elder narrowed her eyes as the young one translated.
"Or maybe she's just to cowardly to do the dirty work herself." Mia spat. People usually held some form of resentment towards those in power. If she could just draw that out… "She seems more than eager to allow you all to risk your lives. To die even. Where is her courage in all of this?"
The girl got halfway through translating before the elder shut her down. It was too late though. The crowd whispered amongst themselves again.
Time for the good cop.
"Listen, we didn't do anything to hurt you before you hurt us. We have no intentions to hurt any of you. Let's just try this again and be neighbo-"
A man from the crowd started shouting and the young translator seemed startled and uneasy as she relayed the message.
"You killed my son. Death is the penalty for a pain like this."
Mia found herself scowling. "Your son ran my husband over with a car." The man shrank back at the venom in her voice. Clearly he didn't need a translator to get the message across.
She continued, "and really I think you should consider that more. My husband was beaten. run over. Shot and he got up.”
She stepped close to the elder, eye to eye and face to face.
“You need to ask yourself. Are we the kind of people you can afford to fuck with?”
-
The peace was tentative. Mia wasn't expecting anything more or anything less. They came to an agreement that the Winters would stay out of town as much as possible and the villagers wouldn't say anything to any soldiers that came snooping around.
They passed the winter that way. The humidifier humming each night, working next to each other, Ethan getting excited for the spring to plant his garden.
And Ethan. Incredible, amazing Ethan.
He didn't remember a thing.
When he woke up the next morning he was groggy. Not remembering anything except the fact that there had been some kind of disturbance outside of the house and he passed out.
He believed that they had attacked him and knocked him out cold and that Mia had been able to manage a negotiation. The mold clearly filled in the gaps of that glaringly blatant lie. So he followed the new unspoken rules without much question.
Things were really, actually fine. After so long of telling herself that it would be. After so long of repeating it like a prayer. Things were actually ok.
And things would always turn out ok.