Chapter Text
The first thing that really registered was how cold he was. Coldness pressed against his skin from all sides as his body was pulled along. A cold table underneath, cold air around him, cold cold cold.
“This is the person they sent for us?”
A second voice chimed in. “It doesn’t seem like the right person-”
“No, this is who Subspace sent. I checked the paperwork three times over. Horns are right, gear is right, everything is right,” the first voice insisted again.
Other than the chatter surrounding his body and the clanking of instruments together, the room was silent. A dish with rattling objects was sat down next to his body.
“I’m just saying, that psycho’s been wrong before,” the second said.
“He wasn’t this time. It was double checked. Triple checked.”
“This is a dangerous experiment-”
“And that’s why his work was double and triple checked so we didn’t accidentally try this procedure on the wrong test subject. Pass me the scalpel.”
There was some sort of movement, maybe the swish of a lab coat brushing against a table. He couldn’t really tell behind the light shining against his eyelids.
The second voice spoke again, asking, “shouldn’t we secure him down?"
“He’s out cold,” the first said once more, “and he’s got enough drugs in his system to knock out a bear. He won’t wake up.”
A̸̭͋r̸̠̼̿̾ȇ̶̡̯ ̸̺̽̑y̸̠̐̀o̵̝͚̓ụ̵̆ ̵̙̽́s̶͖̚u̷͙͑̿r̵̪͂ȇ̸̙̠ ̷͓͋͋t̴̳̏h̴̤̋i̶͓͋̋s̷̻̾ ̷̛̤̌ḯ̷ͅs̶̟͂̈́ ̵̥̂̊w̴͓͗͝h̷̞̑̈́å̷̪t̸̨̆ ̵̝̄͊ý̴̛̦ò̶̙̃͜ȕ̸̳̯ ̷̧͙͌͝w̵͇̓a̸̗̹̽̾n̸̥̳̈̋t̷͍͊̽?̶̩̙̈́͛
There was a sharp pressure on his chest, just between his collar bones. Slowly, that pressure increased to a slice, and that slice was dragged all the way down his body to just above his bellybutton. Blood prickled to the surface to stain the steel and skin.
Two more cuts were made as well, just under his collar bones on either side to open up his chest in a Y shape.
The pain of being cut open must have dislodged something in his brain.
Y̷̲̏ể̴̻̒ͅs̸̻͔̑̈́̇,̴̢̝͇̒͒ ̴̓͆͜ṭ̷̞̻͐̅̋ḧ̸̞̠́͂̔i̷̞̒s̶̪͔̺͑͑̽ ̶̬̹́̏̀i̸̺͎̝͌s̵̛̳͆͝ ̷͈̈́w̵̟̉h̵̰̪̲́̉ä̷̡̤̬́͒t̶͉̿̇ ̵̪̼̋̋͐Ī̵͖̺̈ ̷̩̫̃w̴̯̆̍a̴̬͈͛̃n̶̙̘̱̿͋̃ţ̸͚͋̂.̷̱͎̪͋
He awoke with a start, gasping loudly as he tried to cough something out of his lungs. The bright lights shining in his face did little to distract from the metal table under him that he had just rolled off.
There were hands on them a few moments later. Cold hands covered with latex gloves, all of which hauled him up to his feet as words and voices mixed together. The floor beneath his feet was cold tile and tilted as they pushed him back onto the table.
“He’s not supposed to be awake!” one distinctly feminine (?) voice called out in a panic as she pressed two fingers to his neck.
His pulse was thready and weak, probably because he still had a massive fucking cut in his body, running down from the center of his collar bones to the middle of his stomach.
The pain hit him like a fucking truck in that moment.
“I told you that we should have secured him down!” another person in a lab coat hissed. “Goddammit, pass me that strap-”
He yanked hard enough to break free and scramble to sit up. When more hands grabbed at anything they could reach (his arms, his sides, his horns- horns? When did he get horns? Did he have those before?) he thrashed harder and pulled himself free.
He landed half standing before taking off sprinting down the hallway. Chaos followed him as those people (were they people?) in lab coats yelled for him to stop, yelled for security, and did anything they could to prevent his escape.
He wrapped one hand around his midsection to try to keep the blood inside him as much as possible, but oh gods above, it was everywhere as he ran down the hall.
The harsh lights beat down on him as he skidded around a corner. More stark-white hallways greeted him, but he still didn’t stop. He almost ran head-first into a biograft, but he didn’t stop. He ran and he ran, running on nothing but adrenaline and fear.
How did he get here? What did he remember?
It didn’t matter- what mattered was that he needed to get the fuck (phuck?) out.
He slammed full-force into a door with an exit sign on it, and nearly toppled over himself when the cold hit him. The thin layer of fur (fur?) did nothing to shield him from the icy winds.
He looked over his shoulder for a brief moment, seeing the approaching chaos of security and people in lab coats, then took a leap of faith. The snow was deep and thick, but he could get through well enough. It nipped at his nose and claws, but he was still up and going. He was still alive despite the bleeding getting worse.
He didn’t want to die on a cold lab table. At least in this cold, it would be on his terms.
I̷͇̋͂ ̵̨̌c̸̥͗̿a̴̰̿n̸̠̊’̵̡̎ť̵̮ ̴͙̍̀u̷̪̽̕n̷̦̼͊d̴̬̖͒o̷͙͘ ̵̥̞̎̌t̷̼͆͝h̵̼̒̑i̴̱̾s̶͊͊ͅ.̸̟̳̈́
He wasn’t sure how long he ran. Not really. He just ran until his legs gave out and the bleeding got worse. His arm was coated in blood by now, and it was dripping onto the snow.
Slowly but surely, he dragged himself into an alleyway. It was easier when he braced his free arm, the one not trying to keep him from bleeding out, against the frozen brick wall.
This was it. This was how he died. He had no idea who he was, where he was, or how he got here, but this was… this was it. Five minutes of life and he was going to bleed out in a random alleyway.
He laughed bitterly to himself as he fell into the snow, his eyes slipping closed. That was quick.
̶͓̞͐Ǐ̵͉̇’̵͚̈m̵͎̈́͜ ̸̖́̕n̸̝͗ơ̴͔̻͆ţ̶̽ ̷̩̑̏a̷͓̿̀s̷͍̫̾̽k̴̝̘͋i̸̛̳n̸̟͔͝g̶̱͑ ̷̝̄ỹ̶͔̈́ŏ̶̮͆ụ̶̑͂ ̴͓́t̴̻͌͋o̷̝̟̾.̷̧̲͒̔
When he woke up again, a name came to him: Hive. It was so very little, next to nothing, but it wasn’t nothing. He had something to hold now.
Cold hands with latex grabbed him again, and Hive began to thrash once more.
“He’s not supposed to be awake!” one distinctly feminine (yes, feminine, but it felt wrong somehow) voice called out in a panic as she pressed two fingers to his neck. The pulse was still weak and thready, but Hive fought like hell despite it. It still hurt, he still had that cut in his body, but he was fighting. He refused to let the darkness pull him under or for the cold table to lull him to sleep.
“I told you that we should have secured him down!” another person in a lab coat hissed (again). “Goddammit, pass me that strap-”
He yanked hard enough to break free and scramble to sit up once more, dragging his cold body off the colder table. When more hands grabbed at anything they could reach (his arms, his sides, his horns- horns? Yes, he had horns, but not before this. Where did they come from?) he thrashed harder and pulled himself free. This time, he rolled off the table and avoided the grabbing hands, then bolted out the exit again.
This time, he knew where to go. He knew to turn the corner, he knew to step to the left to avoid running into the biograft.
He got out the door faster this time. His arm wasn’t nearly as soaked with blood.
The cold greeted him, same as last time. He ran through the snow, same as last time.
̴̜̀̀Y̸̗͗ö̴̫́́û̷̠̪̂ȓ̵̘̈ ̵̝̩͐s̸̪͑́o̷̭̊̓ũ̴̫̑l̶̛͇̱ ̴̼͕̈́͝w̵̟̓͆í̴̧͍l̵̝̪̄́l̵̖͠ ̴͎͎̈́s̸̰̉p̶̛̦̹l̶̠̃͠i̸̩̓̿ṯ̴̂̀ ̵̧̨͐ì̷̞n̷͕͂͝ṯ̶͙͐o̶̙͋ ̴̳̕f̵̧͐́r̶̺̥̒̃ạ̵̹͒̿g̸̞̀m̶̨̮̋ë̷̙́n̵͎̅͝t̸̹͎͑̃s̸̺̀͜;̶̖͗̽ ̵̯̪̔̀I̷̞̓͒ ̷͎̪̀̆ç̷̟̉̚ạ̶̛͜n̴͙͛͠’̶͓̀̿t̷͍̍̀ ̶̧́͂s̶͕͈͒a̸̬͂̕v̴̨̻͂͘ë̷̤͉́ ̸̥̝̾y̸͉̑o̵͓̺̎u̸͍͑̐ ̷̡̛͍͠i̵̮͘f̶̺͐̏ ̶̠̊ÿ̷̹͎́ö̴͖̗́u̴͚̳͐̂ ̶̻͋͐f̷̼̫̈̋a̶̮̯̐ì̸̬͎l̸͍̂ͅ.̵̛͕̪͋
This time, though, he didn’t run into the alleyway. He ran until he got to a corner, where his legs were hurting like hell and he felt light-headed from the lack of blood by this point. He staggered despite it all, right off the curb and into the street.
And nearly got hit by a truck.
Luckily for him, the driver was at least a little aware of what they were doing. The truck skidded to a stop just in front of him, nearly turning sideways and tipping as it stopped.
There was a moment of calm as the truck door opened… and then Hive got hit by the sniper.
̷̺̞̿̓I̶͉͋̑’̴̧͒m̸͕̙͐̿ ̶͇̙͌͋ẁ̸͚͈̂e̶͎̿ĺ̷̘͘ļ̸͝ ̸̰̒a̴͇͛ẁ̶̢̱a̸͎͔͐r̷̤͠e̴̦̿.̶̧͔̊̔
The third time, he knew this wasn’t his first body.
He wasn’t sure how he knew it, though it wasn’t like he had time to worry about it again. Same cold table, same fluorescent lights.
“He’s not supposed to be awake!”
“I told you we should have secured him down! Pass me-”
He yanked himself free and rolled hard. One hand over his cut, the other pushing him up and off the table.
He was out the door even faster this time and hauling ass down the hallway once again. He skidded around the corner and dodged the biograft.
Truthfully, Hive was still wondering why the hell there was a sniper on that roof, but he guessed that since he’d gotten out faster this time he could just go to a different street corner to avoid that.
The cold greeted him like an old friend at this point as he bolted down the street. He nearly skidded on a few patches of ice, but those were mild inconveniences as compared to the angry voices behind him. He knew better than to look back, and instead, kept running. He turned another corner hard to get back to that main road he’d found before the last time, saw the truck, and ran in front of it again.
̸͕̩̋͘#̶̭̚̕#̸̬̱̓#̸͕̉ͅ#…̷͎͛͛
Luckily for him, the driver was at least a little aware of what they were doing. The truck swung to the side and skidded to a stop just in front of him, nearly tipping over as it stopped.
Honestly? Hive couldn’t believe that actually worked.
The young, red-horned inphernal sitting in the driver’s seat looked incredibly panicked when he saw the state Hive was in. To be fair, it was a state, given that all Hive had on was a cut-open hospital gown and a massive incision down his front.
“Uh- shit, Rocket-”
“I see them!”
The back door was kicked open at that point, and another inphernal got out. This one with blue wing-like horns on either side of his head.
“What the fuck happened to you-?” he tried to ask.
Hive opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t get the words out.
̵̹̯͗P̷͕͒l̷̺͐ȅ̶̋͜a̵̧̱͐s̶͉̲̈́e̷̞͒͝.̸̦̕͝ ̵̲͋͝I̸͙̍͠ ̵̜̒̋n̶̙̓̌e̵͙̺̅e̴̢͐̎d̸̞͌ ̷̧̌t̶̜̀͋o̴̮̜͊ ̸̧̭͑̕s̶̰̔͝a̶͔̩̎̓v̴͇̲̑ë̷̮́ ̶̭̠̊ẗ̸́ͅh̷͇̱͝e̸͎͘͜m̸͓̭͑.̸̨͓̑
The world went sideways once more, but the blue-horned inphernal was there to catch him. The red-horned one shouted something in warning as sirens began to approach.
Everything went in and out. He could feel someone holding down his wound as the car kicked into gear, and then went dark as they sped down the icy roads.
̴̧̒Á̸͎t̷̙͔̿͘ ̷͉͊l̷̮̰̅e̷̲͉͝ä̸̝̑s̵̪͐͗ṭ̵̮̌̕ ̸͈̔̋l̴̝͔̆͒ȇ̶̠͕t̶̨̀̀ ̶͖̽̈́m̸̛̩ẹ̷̙̀͐ ̸̡̘̐̂t̴̙͓̂́r̴͉͚̄͘ẏ̴̻͖.̵͍́