Derek let his body collapse into itself. He couldn't hold the facade anymore, now that no one was around to see him. He wanted to ignore the hurricane of emotions raging inside his soul. Still, he couldn't help the tear that trickled down his face.

Aiya would never be his. Not that he thought he wanted her now anyway.

Derek tried to ignore the image of Aiya's sad and regretful face that kept creeping into his mind's eye. That memory would haunt him for a while, and what he needed now was a distraction.

Where had that blond gotten to? What was her name again?

Shit. I need to remember that. Derek scolded himself. If he couldn't remember her name, she would take offence.

Derek had been fully immersed in his thoughts, not paying attention to where he was going. Suddenly, a strange orange hue made him lift his head, causing his eyes to shift away from his feet and stare down the hallway.

What the hell is that?

Derek's eyes narrowed as he stared at the strange light. It did not fit the stark whiteness of the walls and floors. It gave an alien feel to the end of the hall, and he felt the hairs on his arms lift.

Well, this may be the stupidest thing I have ever done, but I can't help finding out what that weird light is.

With that thought, Derek forgot his woes and his shoulders straightened of their own accord as he started striding towards the light.

As he got closer, he saw the hallway gently curved around a bend to the right. It must have been a piece of the mountain they hadn't wanted to dig into or blow up for some reason.

A feeling similar to the need to pass gas but not being able to struck Derek's stomach as he approached the bend. His feet seemed to stick to the floor, and he paused just before he could see what was around the gentle curve. Did he really want to find out what every light was?

Yes, yes, he did. What else did he have to do?

Taking two steps forward, Derek sucked in a breath with a hiss. What he saw made his blood run cold, and his balls clench. What he saw was all kinds of wrong.

After the curve, the hallway ended about thirty feet in front of him with a room that probably should not have been left open.

Without realizing what he was doing, he found his feet running underneath him as he sprinted to the metal doors at the end of the hall.

Through the thick white metal double doors ahead, Derek saw a naked woman in what looked like a transparent glass prison in the shape of a small cylindrical tube.

Barely large enough for her to move her arms, the woman inside was bracing herself against the walls, her elbows tight to her sides, her hands pressing white-knuckled against the glass, as her bone-thin frame shook violently with the pulses of energy being directed into her through the metal floor under her feet.

Derek could see the strange orange light emanating from the holes in the grate-like floor beneath her, and smoke was rising from the soles of her feet.

What the fuck? At first, Derek just thought the words as he ran through the doors. Then, as he saw people in white lab coats to his left, sporting stereotypical masks and rubber gloves, his thoughts formed words, and they spilled from his mouth without permission, "What the fuck are you guys doing to her? Stop!"

The woman was gritting her teeth, and now that he was only a few feet from her cage, he saw the tears streaking down her face, but she refused to scream. He saw blood trickle from her nose and reacted without hesitation.

Grabbing the nearest lab coat, he screamed into the man's face, "LET. HER. OUT. NOW!"

He felt unhinged. All his fears, grief and rage that fed the hurricane in his soul came out in a fury of words and a vigorous shake of the young man he had somehow lifted off the floor.

The man held his hands up in defeat and yelled over to the other lab coat standing by a bunch of machines, "Do what he says, Lita."

A beeping sound echoed through the room, and the orange light vanished, followed by a soft thud as the woman sank to the floor in a tiny heap of too-thin limbs.

"Let her out now. Whatever the fuck this crazy shit is, it is officially over." Derek had never felt so angry in his life.

Monsters were out there killing humankind, making people fear for their lives daily. Instead of working together to improve life, these assholes were torturing their fellow humans.

Disgust twisted Derek's insides, and it was all he could do to force himself to let the man go and turn to the tortured woman.

The clear cylindrical tube confining the woman rose into the ceiling far too slowly for Derek as he bent under the rising walls to scoop the fragile frame into his arms. Her body still shook gently, and Derek realized with an ache in his heart that she was still weeping. She was so light. Derek had lifted guns heavier than her.

Not looking at the lab coats or their evil equipment, Derek turned on his heel and stormed from the room before he could acknowledge he had no clue where he was or where he was going. However, he would take them anywhere other than their current location. So like a man possessed with a divine purpose, he strode down the halls holding a naked woman he didn't know.

The woman's head lifted to look up at him, and her red-rimmed eyes, still leaking tears, appraised him. He felt exposed under her scrutiny and attempted a half smile.

"Hi there." Derek hoped she understood he meant no harm and just wanted to help her.

"Hi." Her voice was hoarse and small.

Derek barely heard her over the thumping of his heart in his ears. What was he doing? What the hell had all that been about? Was she a criminal? She appeared harmless as she was, but what did he know? Did he just fuck up big time?

What was done was done, though. So now what? First things first. He needed somewhere to take her.

"Umm. I don't know where we are or where to go. Any ideas?" Derek really hoped the woman was cognitive enough to help him out.

"You're a strange hero." Derek almost stumbled as the woman's hoarse voice broke into a coughing giggle. "Save women often without a proper plan or escape route?"

A sardonic smile touched Derek's lips as he replied, "Only on Tuesdays and when there is a full moon." He turned his face down to her and gave her a playful wink.

He had no clue what was going on or if she was a good person or not, but his gut told him he had done the right thing in saving her from the lab coats. So he would go with it.

She giggled again, and this time, it was less hoarse. He noticed her tears had finally stopped.

"I am Inta. Keep going straight. Take the third left. Walk until you see a blue door." As the words left her mouth, Derek felt her body shudder one last time before going limp.

Sighing heavily at the unconscious form in his arms, Derek walked on, wondering what would be behind a blue door. Everything in the mountain facility had been either stark white, silver steel, or glass, which he had seen. Blue would be a refreshing sight. Hopefully, something like a bed or couch would be behind it.

***

Sardini watched from behind a corner as Marvin's friend Derek carried her mother down the hall. She had dreamed about this a few weeks ago, but hadn't realized it would happen. Sardini had many dreams, and not all of them made sense or came true. She had a suspicion she dreamt of possibilities versus certain futures.

Not even the Universe could predict what choices sentient beings would make when placed in difficult situations.

She had heard Derek's rage as he had yelled at the lab technicians from three hallways away. She felt a little bad for the man and woman she knew had been with her mother, as they had only been following the doctor's orders. However, how they stomached what they were told to do was unfathomable to Sardini. Perhaps she shouldn't feel bad for them.

She had been following Derek since he had left the conference room. His emotions had been so strong to her senses that she had almost tasted them from her perch on the top shelf of a bookcase in the library. She had made it her own little reading nook, taking advantage of the space just large enough for her tiny body.

After feeling Derek, her curiosity had gotten the better of her. With nothing else better to do, she used her well-practiced sneaking skills to trail him through the barren white hallways.

At first, she had been confused when he had made the turns to head to the testing rooms that the doctors always sent her mother to, but she soon realized he hadn't meant to go that way. Something had sent him that way while he was busy in his mind. Sardini was sure of it.

When Sardini stopped, it had been because she couldn't bring herself to get any closer to the rooms where she knew her mother suffered. She wasn't strong enough yet to help her mother. And her mother had warned her that no one here could know she had powers. Not if she didn't want to be treated even worse than they treated her mother.

She had hidden around a corner until Derek had passed by carrying her mother. She stayed there until she saw him turn down the hallway her mother had told him to. Now she watched from behind a support frame as he got closer to the blue door.

What was her mother doing? This had not been in her dream. Where would her mother go?

The door was a maintenance door that led to the unstructured tunnels and passages in the mountain. Some tunnels served as access points to plumbing and wiring that required regular checking and maintenance, but others... Well, Sardini didn't know where the others went.

Did her mother know?