The marble staircase bled into concrete as Klaus and Rose descended into the underbelly of the mansion. The air grew denser, cooler, almost metallic, like the breath of something buried alive. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, buzzing faintly, stretching their shadows long against the walls.
The hallway below was a gallery of cages masquerading as rooms.
Each cell was made entirely of reinforced transparent glass clear enough to see every shiver of muscle, every flicker of rage. Inside, the captured superhumans were scattered like broken statues, each one unraveling in their own way.
To Klaus's left, a broad shouldered man slammed his fists into the wall again and again, the sound like thunder muffled behind thick glass. Spiderwebs of bruises spread across his knuckles, but the reinforced panels didn't so much as tremble. His eyes were bloodshot too much adrenaline, not enough hope.
"Let me out you bastards" he screamed.
"Bang, bang, crack"other who were near him also began to hit the glass each with their whole strength not stopping even when their bones broke from the rebound force.
Farther down, another figure crouched low in the corner, nails digging into their own skin as if clawing their way out from the inside. Their whispers were unintelligible, cracked by sleeplessness.
"Arghhhhhhhh" their screams could only be loud within their confined space.
The cameras above them blinked red watching. Always watching.
Klaus walked past each cell without slowing, though the muscles in his jaw tightened. The place smelled faintly of antiseptic, blood, and despair a mixture that clung to the lungs.
Then his steps almost paused as they passed the third cell from the end.
His cell.
The room was empty now, its bed stripped bare, restraints still bolted into the floor, and a faint scratch mark carved into the corner wall one he'd made years ago when silence had started to sound too much like death. He stared at it longer than he should have, a shadow of memory pressing against the back of his skull. The air in his chest tightened and his body trembled.
Rose glanced over her shoulder at him but said nothing. She didn't need to. She'd seen that look before the quiet weight trying to forget some horrible memoy.
Klaus inhaled once, sharp and cold, then forced himself forward.
At the end of the hall, an iron door rose from the ground like a tombstone. Heavy bolts sealed its edges, and scanners pulsed softly at its sides. Rose reached into her belt pouch, retrieving a slim black pass card. She didn't hesitate. One smooth swipe across the reader, and the machine answered with a mechanical *beep* followed by the slow groan of gears unlocking.
The door shuddered, split down the middle, and slid open with the sound of metal dragging against metal. Beyond it, a corridor dipped deeper underground, where the walls were no longer clean or polished they were scarred, patched, alive with the distant hum of hidden machines.
A breath of colder air rushed out to meet them, carrying the sterile scent of chemicals and something far darker beneath.
Rose stepped forward first, her steps echoed the hollow space and Klaus followed, the iron door sealing behind them with a weight that felt far too familiar.
The door sealed behind them with a "hiss", muting the sounds from the upper floors. Down here, the air was sharper cleaner, but colder, laced with the sterile tang of antiseptic and the faint copper trace of blood that never truly washed away.
The room they entered was both a laboratory and a throne. White steel tables gleamed beneath surgical lights. Instruments lay neatly aligned needles, clamps, vials, and monitors all not strange to Klaus.
At the center of it sat Dr. Maru.
Her hair, streaked with silver, was tied back in a severe knot very different from few years ago as it gave a sharp contrast to her porcelain white lab coat. Her glasses perched low on the bridge of her nose, and the faintest smile curved her lips not warm, not kind. The sort of smile that knew exactly how much pain a person could endure before breaking.
She rose from her seat as they entered, moving with the calmness of someone long grown accustomed to controlling the fates of others.
"Well," she began, her voice smooth , but carrying a bite beneath it, "the wolf and the hawk return."
Rose smiled while Klaus said nothing.
Dr. Maru's gaze drifted first to Rose, appraising her like a specimen on a table. "How much of yourself free spirit has remained, Rose?"
Rose gave a low, humorless laugh and rolled her shoulders as she stood at attention. "About as much as a dead fire in the snow. I still feel cold all over, and there's nothing to fix that. Not anymore."
A flicker not of sympathy, but recognition crossed Maru's face. "Good," she murmured. "You're still functional. That's what matters."
She gestured toward a nearby stool with a slim, commanding motion. "Sit."
Rose joyfully without a word, lowered herself with mechanical precision.
Dr. Maru reached for Rose's wrist, turning it palm-up with practiced ease. The charm, an iron and obsidian band etched with ancient warding runes brighten with the sterile light. Maru's fingers traced its surface, searching for cracks, dents, or even the slightest fading of the inscriptions. Finding none, she gave a small, satisfied nod.
"Still intact," she said softly. "Impressive we'll so be out of need for it."
Then her gaze slid to Klaus who didn't flinch when she reached for the chain at his neck, fingers brushing the charm that hung there a piece of roughly forged silver, old and pulsing faintly with its own restrained energy. She examined it closely, as if expecting it to have fractured under pressure. But like its wearer, it held.
Maru's thin lips curved slightly. "Good. I'd hate to lose a perfect subject to carelessness."
She straightened and walked to a nearby refrigerated drawer, her lab coat whispering as she moved. From it, she pulled out a small glass vial. The blood inside was dark and almost luminous beneath the light thicker than normal, carrying a faint hum of energy.
Klaus recognized it instantly. His blood.
He watched without reaction as Maru fitted the vial into a sleek injector. The hiss of the machine filled the silence. She stepped toward Rose, lifting her arm without asking permission.
"Time for your stability dose," Maru said.
Rose clenched her jaw but didn't resist.
The needle pierced skin with practiced ease, the liquid sliding in smoothly, leaving behind a faint shimmer beneath her veins like black smoke trailing through clear water. Her breath caught, shoulders tightening as the foreign energy fused with her system a mix of strength and warmth spreading through her bloodstream.
Maru withdrew the injector, disposing of it with clinical precision. She then clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her head with that same calculating smile.
" That should do it," she murmured. "No rejection this time. Your compatibility is holding… and you," her gaze lingered on Klaus, "remain my most valuable asset."
For a heartbeat, the room felt colder.
Klaus with his hands behind him clenched his gist while his expression didn't flinch. He didn't want to as scars along his jaw and the silence in his eyes spoke louder than any words could.