chapter four
the lab

"Isaac! Isaac, I need your help." Isaac jumped at the sound of her voice.

"With?" Isaac turned, voice low in an attempt to appear cooler than he knew he was. The fact that she wanted his help was more than a shock to Isaac. No one ever wanted help from him. No one even wanted to help him.. it was a nice change for Isaac, so he jumped at the opportunity.

"Stop talking like that." Nancy said, furrowing her brows. "Just trust me. Alright?"

"Just trust you?" Isaac repeated, raising an eyebrow. Nancy bit her lip, embarrassment flashing across her face as she nodded. "Okay."

Nancy blinked, a flash of confusion crossing her features. She shook the thought away before it could even fully process, waving for him to follow her.

"Where are we going- Nance, if you need help with Harrington-"

"No!" Nancy answered quickly, "I mean, no. No, we're.. kind of in a fight right now."

"Oh." He pretended he didn't know, his mind flashing to the previous night, how they'd gone into the bathroom together and Steve had left looking a little more than heartbroken.

Isaac would never say it out loud, especially to Nancy, but apart of him was happy to see him in that state. Not because he'd have a chance with Nancy if they'd broken up, he knew that that would never be possible for him, but because Steve finally got the karma he deserved.

~~

"This is what you needed help with?" Isaac whispered harshly to Nancy as readjusted how he sat. "Watching kids?"

"I didn't make you do this." Nancy shrugged, glancing at Jonathan as he wiped his sweaty hands on his denim jeans.

"I'm not letting you do this alone." He answered, turning his head to Jonathan. "Sorry, man."

Jonathan tilted his head, brows furrowing is confusion, part of him wondering why Isaac was even there in the first place. Why Nancy was even friends with him, though he felt guilty thinking about that. "Wait, wha-"

"It's fifteen past." Nancy interrupted, looking up from her watch.

"Yeah, I know. I know. Just- uh- Just give him time." Jonathan stammered, anxiously looking around the park.

"Who?" Isaac questioned, suddenly becoming aware of the amount of eyes on the three of them.

"That guy, there." Nancy leaned into him, subtly pointing to a man who sat alone at a table with a newspaper. Isaac's breath hitched in his throat as she rested her hand on his bicep, glancing up at him. "You see him?"

When Isaac nodded, Nancy pulled away and continued. "He just... he talked to himself."

"Shit," Jonathan muttered, quickly looking away as he made brief eye contact with him. "Look away."

"I think we should go." Nancy whispered, eyes darting to Jonathan's car. Isaac nodded, standing and shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket. The jacket that used to be his grandfather's from the fifties, one that his grandma was reluctant to let him have.

"Grandma's gonna be mad if I'm late for dinner again." Isaac muttered, glancing to Jonathan who stood on the right of him. "Someone's following us."

Nancy's body language became rigid as she glanced behind them. Jonathan unlocked the car at the sound of the man's footsteps increased, Isaac slid an arm around Nancy and gently pushed her in front of him.

Nancy quickly got in the passengers seat, followed by Isaac in the back seat. Isaac leaned forward, hand resting on the car seat after locking the doors. "Jonathan, fucking drive!"

Isaac felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the sight of a man knocking on the car window. "Trouble with your car, folks? I can give a ride, if you'd like?"

Isaac quickly shook his head, noticing that the car had slowly become surrounded. "Uh, no. We're good actually."

Isaac and Jonathan shared a look as the man knocked again. "You folks sure you don't need that ride?"

Nancy gulped, wiping her sweaty palms on the fabric of her pants. Her eyes flickered to Isaac in the back. A fleeting wave of comfort hit Nancy seeing his calm expression.

~~

Isaac paced back and forth in the enclosed room, fingers scratching at his bare arm. "This was a bad fucking idea. A bad fucking idea! Where the fuck are we? Nancy, where the fuck are we?"

"Calm down." Jonathan said coolly as Nancy stood up, walking towards the corner of the room and staring directly into the camera.

"Don't fucking tell me what to fucking do!" Isaac snapped, pointing at him. Jonathan flinched, stepping back and raising his hands in surrender. Isaac felt his heart clench as his shoulders slumped. "Uh Sorry. I'm sorry, I just.. don't like feel trapped in here."

Jonathan nodded in understanding, assuming he suffered from claustrophobia.

What Isaac really meant was that this room was too damn similar to his cell. To the cafeteria, the wreck room, the bathrooms. Too similar to prison. Isaac could feel the flashbacks starting to creep up. Isaac began pacing again, just as Nancy finally snapped.

"Hey! Hey, assholes! Let us out of here!" She shouted, crossing her arms. As if on cue, the door opened and a man entered.

"Not very pleasant in here, huh?" His voice was strained, his weak attempt at a joke fell flat as Isaac stepped in front of Jonathan and Nancy.  "Sorry about that, hospitality's not our strong suit. Y'know, scientists, and all."

"Yeah," Isaac muttered, eyes flickering around the room. "No shit."

The man ignored his comment, humming as he looked down at his watch. "Okay, you up for a little walk?"

"Anything to get out of this damn room." Isaac huffed, passing the scientist and walking out of the room.

"After him," The scientist gestured to follow behind him. Nancy and Jonathan shared a look before obliging, quickly following after him. To pass Isaac, he took large steps before continuing. "Men of science have made abundant mistakes of every kind, George Sarton said that. You guys know George Sarton? Doesn't really matter."

The trio said nothing, eyes darting around the tiled hallway to the personnel rushing to and from. 

"The point is," He continued, haphazardly handing off some papers to a woman as she passed. "Mistakes have been made, yes."

"Mistakes?" Nancy repeated, nearly seething.

"Yes."

"You killed Barbara!" She hissed, tears threatening to pool in her eyes at the thought of her former best friend.

"Abundant mistakes! But the men involved with those mistakes, the ones that are responsible for your brother and Miss Holland's death, they're gone. They're gone, and for better or for worse, I'm the shmuck they brought in to make things better. But I can't make things better without your help."

"You mean without us shutting up?" Nancy countered, squaring her shoulders.

"She's tough this one. You guys been together long?"

"Oh, we aren't to-"

"I was talking to the tall one." He cut Jonathan  off. Isaac gulped, glancing down at Nancy.

"Wanna see what really killed your friend?" He opened a dungeon-like door, stepping out of the way to allow the trio to see. Isaac's jaw fell open as he looked from the control panel to the massive window. Words could not describe what was hidden just behind the window. Whatever the flesh-like creature was seemed to be breathing at an abnormal rate. "Teddy, I brought you an audience today. Hope you don't mind."

"The more the merrier, sir." A man in a uniform replied, zipping up the gear and readjusting the pack situated on his back.

"What.. the fuck?" Isaac murmured, hands growing shaky by his side. "What is that thing?"

"I'd call it one hell of a mistake.. Wouldn't you? See.. the thing is, we can't seem to erase our mistake.. But we can stop it from spreading. Like, it's like pulling weeds. But imagine for a moment it a foreign state, say the Soviets, if they heard about our mistake.. do you think they'd even consider that a mistake? What if they tried to replicate that?"

Isaac remained silent, taking in the sight of the creature, the words of the scientist were faded, something merely in the back of his head.

"The more attention we bring to ourselves.. the more- the more people, like the Hollands, know the truth, the more likely that scenario becomes. You see why I have to stop the truth from spreading, too. Just same as those weeds in there." He pointed to the man from before in the hazmat suit, holding what Isaac assumed was a flamethrower. "By whatever means necessary."

Isaac flinched at the sound it made as the fire burned its flesh. While the scientist remained calm, unbothered.

"So.. we understand each other, don't we?"

~~

a/n: i'm sad so that means a lot of the updates i'm abt to drop will also be sad  :)