Chapter Text
It honestly didn't surprise him when she became a favorite at the site. She had a lot of passion, and heart. She cared about finding a cure. And helping the preadators, but the last few months had taken their toll.
And although she was tired, she still had passion, and an idea for the cure, not another repressor, but an actual cure. She was so close, she'd insisted. staying late in the building so often sylus decided to build a faculty room specifically for her to be able rest while staying close.
And although she was tired, she still cared, and often defended the predators from rough faculty, and thus quickly became the favorite "caretaker."
One such incident is still talked about, especially when new guards come in. When the "residents", as she calls them, get into a frenzy, they get violent.
"They aren't prisoners," she'd rolled her eyes, "prisoners can't leave, they can- Not yet, not until we finish the cure, but they will be able to." She had said it so matter-of-factly, even he wanted to believe her.
The frenzy had been particularly rough, the bars had been bent, equipment had been broken, more research workers had been scared off. one of the guards got impatient, they didn't like her method of trying to talk or waiting for them to finish the frenzy. The gaurd had started using the shock collar, and she was enraged.
She pulled the guard out to the hall, by his ear, and proceeded to scream, not yell or scold, but scream at him,
"WELL ITS NO WONDER THEY ACT LIKE ANIMALS WHEN YOU TREAT THEM AS SUCH-"
"they are animal-"
"THEY WONT GET BETTER IF YOU TREAT THEM LIKE IT!- NEVER HAVE I EVER-"
she continued for ages, he wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the base could hear her. The next day her voice had been hoarse. Like she had proceeded to yell at the rest of the guards after that. The collars disappeared soon after, much to the delight of the others.
she also started supplying more food, confusing the guards.
who just ignored her every time she told them that "they're predators, they're not like us. they need more then that, doubl- no, triple that amount." and every time they ignored her, her response was the same, "ancients above, at this rate they'll starve before we manage to find a cure." and then she would bring more food for whoever she was seeing that day.
she, of course, never went to treat sylus. he couldn't risk hurting her, especially being as he was an SSS class preadator and at the facility, as far as he was aware, she had never worked with anyone above an A class.
he had worked so hard to keep tabs on her after he became this... thing that he was now. and he missed her so much, but he wasn't about to go out and completely undue all of the trust she had in him... well, she didn't know it was him exactly.
the facility was funded, mainly maintained and staffed by nightstrix, and she was head of the research/treatment department. so he would have to meet her soon, she wasn't exactly pleased at all the "substitutes" he had been sending in his place, and he was worried that she would lose patience soon.
so here he is, poor sylus, getting ready to "meet" her, she definitely wont be happy when he sees that he's the one behind it all.
shes also getting ready, switching from her slightly bloody lab coat to a long sleeve black turtle neck with a lovely cleavage window. he had surveillance on every corner of the facility not only to keep an eye on the guests but also to watch her, to make sure she was okay, In case one of the idiots that's supposed to be guarding her and reporting to him misses a detail.
she was making her way to the meeting room, trying to fix her hair, running her fingers through it to make sure she didn't have blood in it or on her face. her last frenzied guest had tried to attack her while her back was turned, and she defended herself appropriately, and punched him in the face, knocking him out and giving him a bloody nose.
he sighs, turning his back to the door that she was about to walk through, crossing his arms as he tries to look bored as she pushes the door open. and he knows exactly when she recognizes him because all movement stops and he can hear her breath catch.
then she moves, slowly, standing straight. he turns smirking, hoping that she cant see through the mask of indifference that he wears, has always worn, like a second skin. he looks over her face and, of course, shes already staring right at his, expression hard to read when her brow seems preeminently creased, lips always slightly turned down from concentration. and then he looks at her eyes...
and he sees nothing but the purest most unfiltered rage he's seen in years. he cocks his head to the side, trying to look entertained, while he can feel her danger of a stare rip him apart.
"I thought you'd be happy to see me, kitten." he uses the same teasing tone he always uses when dealing with people he wants to piss off, she knows this tone well, its one he would use on her all the time, a tone she knows, and would occasionally snicker at when whoever he was trying to make a deal with flared their noses like angry bulls.
except she doesn't laugh or snicker, her brow furrows deeper and she speaks, its been so long since he heard her voice that he feels like a starving man who was given honey for the first time.
"do not call me that," even full of anger, her voice sounds like heaven, "especially after what you've just pulled."
he straightens slightly, looking to the side dismissively despite wanting nothing more then to wrap his arms around her and squeeze her hard enough that she has nowhere to go but to crawl into his chest where she belongs. he's so busy trying to fight the urge to hug her and never let her leave again he doesnt hear her walk up to him, he does, however, notice when she punches him in the stomach...
he grunts softly because that certainly hurts and yep... she can definitely defend herself against those A levels... sylus bends down slightly, clutching his abdomen..
"you" she grabs his ear pulling him down to eye level, "mother fucking," she grabs his chin and angles his face to meet her eyes, "bastard." she pulls him closer, hes expecting anything, except instead of a slap or punch she smashes their lips together hard enough hes worried he may have bit her lip unintentionally, and he's thankfully shes immune.
her hand trails from his chin to his cheek as she actually begins kissing him, and he kisses back, he's no idiot after all. then he feels her hand tangle in his hair and he hisses softly as she pulls his head back, making him look at her and holy shit shes hot when shes mad, no, no sylus does not need a boner right now.
"I thought you were dead."
she said softly, one hand now trailing down to his cheek, holding his face far softer than the other hand grips his hair. he looks closer into her eyes, past the rage, past the anger, and he sees pain and sadness.
"I'm sorry," its the only thing he can say, the only thing that comes to mind that wont get him punched again.
"sorry isn't enough, sy..." she looks at him sadly, "I need to know why." her gaze is intense, to say the least.
sylus sighs heavily, standing straighter. he looks down at her and is instantly reminded of their height difference, with her just coming up to his shoulder. he sighs again, gently placing his hand on her cheek, and she nuzzles into his palm, much like the animal that he nicknamed her.
"the night that I disappeared," he starts, now cupping her face in both hands,"I had gone to... investigate one of evers supply plants, which turned out to be one of the places they kept many of their preadator experiments..." he trails off, trying to keep the few memory's from that night at bay.
"the explosion..." she stops her nuzzling to look up at him, gears turning in her mind as she pieces the story together. "you got caught... and..." Her eyes widen, staring up at him. "you're one of them."
sylus closes his eyes and nods, waiting for her next move. waiting for her to step away or scream or do anything, but he is once again surprised by her, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling down softly, pressing a chaste kiss against his the corner of his mouth, then she kisses his forehead, then his nose, then cheeks, and soon shes peppering his face with little kisses.
"sylus," she kisses his lips one last time before pulling away, and he opens his eyes and looks down at her, she cups his face, holding it in place while staring into his eyes. "you should have come sooner."
"I couldn't, after I became... this." his face shifts to something akin to disgust as he motions to himself "I was stuck in a frenzy, I was...I couldn't risk hurting you." he says softly.
she shakes her head, sighing, "sylus, that..." she looks down, "you started a business, you made this place, you hired me, why didn't you tell me any of those times?"
"I didn't know how you would react." he nuzzles into her hands, sighing as he closes his eyes to enjoy her warmth. "I was... afraid. that you would try to leave... like you used to."
she raises her eyebrow and tilts her head, "what?"
"when we were living together. every night, when you would come into the lounge at midnight... weren't you... trying to leave?" he looks down to her.
"why on earth would you think that?" she chuckles, sounding slightly exasperated.
"every night, at the exact same time, you would sneak down the stairs, it always looked like you were searching for something, then you'd join me on the couch and fall asleep-" she smacks him upside the head.
"you idiot." she pulls him closer to her, "I was looking for you."