Chapter Text
“Come on Dylan, answer me !” begged Zoe, who was trying to reach the younger Faden sibling on the radio like she had been doing for the last hours. Her last contact with Dylan had been when she pressed the button on the Mobile Containment Device switch, before Dylan realized and told her that the device wasn’t working like it was supposed to.
Dylan was still grunting over the radio, screaming because of the pain of whatever was happening on the other side of the void that separated the entrance of the Oldest House from the rest of this place or wherever Dylan was.
Then something else happened.
Was Dylan dead ? Or did he get possessed by the Hiss once again ? Zoe didn’t know, the radio had just stopped working. The Hedron was gone, but maybe Dylan was still in danger and she had no way to help him. Silently, she just hoped that Dylan was still able to hear her just like when he was lost in the Sinkhole.
Zoe looked at her right hand. She was still holding the MCD remote, the red button released. When she realized the device was still in her hand, she immediately dropped it and backed away from it, her thoughts filled with the idea that she might have caused Dylan’s death.
“No…no no no no no…please… Dylan !” sobbed Zoe over the radio, before she was interrupted by the sound of FBC agents exiting the elevator, followed by the voice of the Acting Director, calling her.
“De Vera ! Where is Dylan ?”
Zoe turned to face Emily Pope. After learning everything the Bureau and especially Casper Darling did to Dylan, Zoe would be lying if she said she hadn’t grown a little bit suspicious and wary of the scientist that had been recruited by the former Head of Research before he disappeared at the beginning of the Hiss invasion.
But she still admired the work Pope did to hold the FBC together, preventing it from collapsing, and the acting Director was probably one of the few FBC members that didn’t treat Dylan like garbage. Maybe it was because the woman had a heart like an actual human being, or maybe it was because she was close to Dylan’s sister.
“Zoe ! What happened ?” insisted Pope, making Zoe realize she still hadn’t answered the previous question.
“I…I don’t know…The Hedron is gone ! But I lost radio contact after he told me to activate the MCD !”
“What ?”
“Something was happening to him, just like when the Hiss corrupted him, and he asked me to do it…it wasn’t working so I just released the button but I don’t have any news from him !”
“Before it happened, did he say anything about the Hedron ? About Jesse ?” asked Pope, before she ordered the FBC agents to make sure the area was secure in case one of the Faden siblings would return.
“No…I’m sorry…”
“It’s…it’s okay…”
The two women stayed silent, facing each other with worried faces. Zoe had heard many stories from agents who had survived the 7 years of lockdown inside the Oldest House, about the Director and her Head of Research who spent a lot of time together outside of official meetings, sharing meals that came from the vending machines and sleeping inside the same room. Whether Dylan’s sister and Pope were a thing or not, Zoe could tell how much the acting Director cared about Jesse.
Zoe tried to say something, to reassure Pope that the two Faden siblings would eventually find a way to return, that maybe they just needed more time to seal whatever was threatening to destroy their world, to make sure it wouldn’t come back, or that maybe they had reappeared somewhere else. But before she could talk, she was once again interrupted by a sound behind her.
“INCOMING !” shouted one of the FBC rangers, aiming at something that was rapidly approaching their part of what had been called the Unknown by the FBC. Zoe and Emily Pope quickly turned to look at the Unidentified Flying Entity, before they both realized that what (or who) would soon reach them wasn’t a threat.
“Don’t shoot !” yelled Zoe while Pope ordered her agents to stand down.
“Lower your weapons ! It’s Dylan Faden !”, an order that the rangers obeyed, before the sound of Dylan boots colliding with the concrete floor was heard.
But Dylan wasn’t alone. He wasn’t holding the Aberrant in his hand. He was carrying a body on his back, the face of the person was hidden by Dylan’s body, but Zoe and Emily were both able to see the hair of that mysterious individual, one that Emily instantly recognized.
Red hair. The same color as the Director Jesse Faden. Was she dead ? Was she still alive ? It was impossible for Zoe to tell without seeing the rest of the body, but the look of Dylan’s face gave the answer to that question.
Zoe felt and heard Emily Pope falling to her knees beside her, breaking in sobs, the facade of the Acting Director breaking for the first time since the lockdown failed, at least in front of other FBC agents.
“She needs a medic !” shouted Dylan, his call for help shortly answered by the arrival of two rangers with a stretcher, where the conscious Faden sibling placed his sister before the rangers quickly escorted their Director to the medical bay.
Zoe and Pope looked at the woman carried away when the rangers and Jesse passed near them to reach the elevator that would bring them to the rest of the Oldest House. Jesse had her eyes closed, no visible injuries but she looked exhausted, drained by seven years of lockdown and probably even more by the last few days. The moment was too short, Zoe wasn’t able to see for sure if the Director was still breathing or not. But if she was still alive, there was no time to lose.
“No no no no, Jesse please…please no….” cried Emily, still on the floor, unable to move her legs, her eyes being the only thing that could follow Jesse for now, until the elevator doors closed, separating the two women once again.
Zoe turned to see Dylan, who had a knee on the floor and was crying too, his head down, revealing to the other people around him that he wasn’t wearing the MCD anymore, a sight that made the FBC rangers step away from him. Zoe tried to approach him, hoping to understand what could have happened but when she got too close, Dylan snapped at her.
“DON’T ! DON’T COME NEAR ME !”
“Dylan ? What’s happening ?” asked Zoe, worried about her friend.
“It’s the Hiss ! I….I embraced it ! I had to do it to kill the Hedron !”
Zoe was shocked by the answer Dylan gave her, but decided to take one more step, closing slowly the gap between the handler and the man that had lived inside the Oldest House for 24 years before finally being released with a kill switch device in his neck.
“Please Zoe ! Step back ! I don’t want to hurt you !” choked Dylan, who was panting and sounded exhausted, just like his sister.
Zoe refused to obey. She had been told over and over by other FBC agents that Dylan was a danger, that being around that man was a threat, that everyone that got involved with him ended up dead like Simon Arish or missing in action just like Casper Darling. But she knew that wasn’t the truth, Dylan wasn’t a danger, he wasn’t responsible for all those deaths, the previous direction of the Federal Bureau of Control was.
“You won’t hurt me. I know you.”
Dylan looked at Zoe, who was able to tell that the man was both terrified at the idea of being a danger for the people around him but also relaxed by Zoe’s confidence.
“Still refusing to give up on me ?” asked Dylan, with a weak and tired laugh in his voice.
“I think I made that pretty clear last time.” answered Zoe, before she offered her hand to Dylan, to help him get back up. Zoe could see the hesitation in Dylan’s eyes, who was still worried about what could happen, until Zoe realized that maybe Dylan also wasn’t really a fan of physical touch, after spending so many years experiencing abuse from the men that kept him as a prisoner in the Oldest House.
Dylan closed his eyes before he accepted the offer, taking his handler’s hand, both of them holding their breath for a few seconds after they touched each other before saying anything, to make sure that Zoe wouldn’t get corrupted by the Hiss.
“You’re good….It’s fine Dylan…You’re still you…” finally murmured Zoe, after she released a loud exhale filled with relief, before she pulled Dylan up, who nearly stumbled before Zoe catched him, holding him by putting his arm over her shoulder.
“Jesse…she’s still alive…but she…she” tried to explain Dylan before Zoe interrupted him, who tried to reassure him.
“They’re gonna take care of her Dylan. She’ll be fine. It’s okay, it’s over…”
They both started to walk towards the elevator that was behind them, but they turned and they realized that the acting Director was still on her knees. Her hands were hiding her face, but they weren’t able to muffle the sound of her cries, her tears falling on the dress she had been wearing since the day she had to take Jesse’s place as the head of the FBC.
“Emily…” sobbed Dylan, who struggled to find his words while he tried to approach the woman while still being supported by Zoe. “Emily…I’m so sorry…I…I tried…”.
A call that the acting Director wouldn’t answer with words but only with a soft nod, even when Dylan sat beside her. The handler stayed silent as the other two people continued to cry, keeping an eye on them until they were both too exhausted and fell asleep, shortly before medical staff was called on the radio and quietly carried them to their bedrooms.