(*unedited* and there's probably errors for days because it's late but I got inspired so here it is. also, does anybody else find that gif weirdly attractive or is it just me? just me? okay... enjoy xx)

CHAPTER SEVEN

"HIS NAME IS WOLF and he likes to fancy himself a king," Micah says, resulting in a knowing groan from Harry. Evelyn casts him a glance before Micah continues. "He's always considered himself better than the rest of us. Especially better than Normals."

"So he's kidnapping everyone?" Evelyn guesses. "What's the point?"

"Slaves," Micah suggests with a shrug. "To fit his monarch fantasy. He wants servants, the riches, the loyalty..." Micah grins, then, his fangs flashing and Evelyn can see Max visibly flinch. "But we've got something he's terrified of."

Evelyn frowns in confusion.

Micah points at Harry.

Harry clenches his jaw.

"Why is he so afraid of Harry? You're the one who was once his competition," Evelyn remarks with confusion. She tries to ignore how badly it sounds that the two had been "competing" for Normals.

Micah clarifies her. "I was never in a competition. I never enslaved anyone. Everyone worked efficiently and everyone was decently happy in my camp, thank you very much."

"Get to the point."

"Why don't I let Harry explain himself?"

Harry cringes, his nose scrunching. "We don't get along," he mumbles for an answer.

Evelyn isn't having it. Max closes the door despite the tight quarters with the five of them cramped inside. However, he's smart enough to know that if the rest of his camp hears any of this, he'll be in deep.

"This was back when we were recruits," Harry says, like he's defending himself. "We were just becoming adapted with everything, and the doctor had just introduced us to the idea of one on one combat against each other."

Evelyn says, "You don't have to explain yourself," right when Max and Darrell both murmur, "The doctor?"

Harry ignores all three of them with his eyes on the floor. To his credit, Micah averts his gaze as well, as if he realizes how terrible the memory is.

"Wolf thought he was a hotshot the moment he stepped in the ring," Harry continues, practically whispering now. "Everyone knew I was the doctor's first, but no one really realized what I was really capable of. Including myself."

Harry peeks up warily at Max and Darrell, who stand as close to the door as they can possibly get in case they need a quick escape. "I don't think your brother will want to hear this about me."

"It doesn't matter what he thinks," Evelyn replies, stepping in front of Harry to block his view of Max. "You're not that person anymore, okay? Tell us what happened so we know what we're dealing with."

Harry clears his throat, appearing very uncomfortable, before he speaks again. "There wasn't even a fight. I got... caught up. It was my first fight too, so I was just finding out about all the things I could do. Wolf, he... he barely made it out of the ring still breathing. If it weren't for our healing abilities, he would've died in seconds.

"It didn't stop there, though. Wolf hated me afterwards and wanted revenge. Needless to say, the two of us butted heads a lot... physically and mentally. He lost every time he went against me, each time almost as badly. It wasn't until I met a guy named Gavriel that I started to notice how monstrous I was. I started letting people win against me. I started refusing battles."

Micah raises his hand yet speaks softly. "I can confirm that. It pissed me off real good when he walked away from our fight, but I later found out the doctor had ordered him to kill me."

Harry winces. "Yeah, I got some pretty harsh lashings after that one."

Micah continues when he realizes Harry won't. "The point is, Wolf has it out for Harry, but he's only wearing a tough front. He's scared shitless of the guy, but he tries to show off to his lackeys to prove he's good enough or whatever."

"So I take it we can't just waltz in there for brunch, right?" Evelyn says mostly to lighten the mood.

Harry cracks a weak smile. "Wouldn't be the wisest idea."

Before she has the chance to utter a response, there's shouting outside. Max shakes himself out of his stupor from hearing Harry's story, and she's glad she won't be hearing anymore of his judgement. However, the shouts are beginning to concern her the louder they get, the more frantic.

When Max opens the door, a soldier notices and yells, "They've breached the gate!"

Instantly shifting to a commander, Max swings the door open and snaps, "How the hell did they manage that? How many are there?"

"About thirty, sir. But they're the sick ones. They're taking our bullets like we're only throwing rocks at 'em!"

"Get everyone who isn't a soldier in the safehouse. Everyone who is a soldier, I want those bastards backed into the woods. Don't let them any further."

The man nods dutifully before urgently spreading the orders.

Micah cracks his knuckles. "Thank goodness. I was getting rather bored."

Max spins on him. "What?"

"It's obvious you need help, mate. No need to be modest," Micah says with a smirk, slipping past Max out the door. He bares his fangs at an oncoming beast before diving into the fight fearlessly.

Max gapes at Evelyn and she shrugs. "He's a good guy to have at your side during a fight." She nudges Harry. "I'm going to get Robbie, Caroline, and Maxie."

He nods. "Be careful."

"Aren't I always?" she says with a calmness that still worries him sometimes. He knows she knows what she's doing, but he's seen amazing fighters fall because of their pride.

"More are coming!" another man screams, terror in his voice.

Darrell takes more orders from Max before sprinting off to tell the others.

Then it is Harry and Max standing awkwardly in the small space.

Harry decides to break the tension. "You don't have to like me to believe me," he says, stepping towards the door, "but I'll do my best to make sure no harm comes to any of your people."

Max looks speechless, but manages a stunned nod of acknowledgement.

While Max loads his gun, Harry steps out to survey the catastrophe. He sees Micah handling majority of the fight while some soldiers look on in bewilderment. A few join in while others are unsure, but they're soon drowned in the fight as well and forced to participate. Harry decides he'll take the opposite side of the camp as Micah. It'll work better if either of them are maintaining certain areas.

He doesn't want to fight. He really, really doesn't. But he clearly has no choice in the matter. He tries to configure a reason why the rabid experiments are attacking this camp only a couple hours after he arrived, but this isn't about him or Evelyn. Max's map showed there was a disagreement between a few other camps, and he said he especially didn't trust Wolf's. Maybe Harry showed up on the wrong day at the wrong time. As organized as this attack seems, it's probably been in planning for weeks.

He catches an experiment by the hair, twisting his head around his shoulders before letting the body fall lifeless to the ground. He keeps himself in check, albeit in the back of his mind there's a hunger desperate to be quenched. He doesn't focus on the heartbeats in all the chests around him, or the warm blood flowing through all of their veins. He doesn't focus on that pesky whisper in his brain.

A growl rips from his throat when two of the experiments tackle him. One has an ear dangling off the side of her head, barely attached. The other is drooling with his lack of teeth, but he makes up for it with sharp nails, similar to talons. He swipes at Harry, who easily ducks his head out of reach before throwing the heel of his hand up into the experiment's already broken nose. The experiment stumbles off long enough to Harry to wrap his leg around the female's, flipping them over. He grips her chin and snatches it to the side, breaking her neck.

The man with no teeth jumps onto his back, his nails scraping Harry's cheek as he tries to grab on. Harry seethes, gripping the man's head on either side and flinging him over, causing him to fall hard on his back. He crushes the experiment's windpipe with his boot.

A woman screams and terror rushes through him briefly. It isn't Evelyn, but it is a girl nonetheless. She has an infant with her, cradled against her chest tightly while it wails. An experiment is about to pounce. Harry uses to his speed to race over, smacking into the experiment's side. He quickly, and easily, disables him.

The woman screams again when she sees him, but he's not surprised. "Get to the back of the camp," he tells her, and despite her fears, she takes off running in obedience.

Luckily, there seems to be a rapid decline in the experiments pouring through the gates. There's a few left here and there, but most are being dealt with in a hurry.

He sees Max struggling with one as it tries to steal his gun. Max is all the way across the camp and Micah is caught up with three at the moment. Harry looks around and finds a stick. Not the sharpest or the sturdiest, but it'll do.

He aims carefully, sure to stray away from Max's form. Better to miss than accidentally kill his beloved's brother whom she hasn't seen in months.

He launches.

The stick pierces through the experiment's throat through one side and out the other. He gurgles on his blood, and Max uses the advantage to put a bullet between his eyes. Max looks around afterwards, his eyes wide when they land on Harry. Harry isn't sure what else to do, so he raises his hand a little as if in a wave or a salute.

Micah groans as he disables the final experiment. "Jesus, these creeps are annoying." He wipes his bloody hands on his pants, grunting in disgust.

"We should make sure they're all dead," Harry suggests as he walks closer, Max in earshot. "Sometimes they can take bullets and still get up."

Max, shockingly, nods as if taking orders from his chief. He cups his hands around his mouth and says, "Make sure we don't have any tricksters holding their breath!"

The soldiers begin to walk around the bodies, kicking them or poking them with the toe of their shoe. No one wants to get too close. Understandably.

The area seems to have calmed down when a soldier near the broken gates calls, "Um, hey boss? I don't think it's over yet."

Max storms over to the gate and curses loudly. "Get back in positions!" he shouts, his thirty or so soldiers lining up. "We keep them out of the camp, understood?"

There's a chorus of "yes sir!" when Max surprises Harry again by walking over to he and Micah. He doesn't say anything, but he doesn't need to.

Harry and Micah take up a defensive stance.

Some of the soldiers are still wary, but most stand shoulder to shoulder with them, confident with their new allies.

Harry makes sure the camp is clear before he faces the oncoming mob of experiments--this time ones that know what they're doing.

Harry flexes his fingers before balling them into fists when the group suddenly stops, a single man stepping forward. There's an arrogant grin on his dark face, and Harry realizes he hasn't noticed him or Micah yet. He isn't an older experiment, then, if he can't feel the aura of others around him. Harry doesn't dare get excited, though. Sometimes a fight that seems easy appears that way for leverage.

"I do believe you stole from us last month," the man announces with a proud voice. "A mistake you'll learn from."

"You with Wolf?" Max shouts back, clutching his rifle tightly. He's got a sword across his back as well.

"Of course not. You'd be dead already if we were."

"Then why are you doing this, if you're so much better?"

The man tilts his head. "Because people don't steal from me, boy. Especially not my own men only so they can be burned to death. That is a crime that cannot go unpunished."

Max frowns as if this is genuinely a shock and the first time he's ever heard of such an occurrence. However, the man doesn't give him time to respond when he signals for his men to rush forward.

Harry and Micah both plant their feet firmly in the ground, bracing for the impact. While the Normals get knocked back, Harry and Micah push forward with strength these experiments can only ever dream of. Evelyn is back there somewhere with Robbie and Caroline and Maxie, and he'll be damned if he lets a single one of these buffoons take any of them away from him.

Not again.

Micah doesn't have to say it aloud for it to be obvious that he's fighting just as hard to protect Killian.

With two of the original experiments with everything to lose, these simpletons don't stand a chance.

It's a tactic Harry should have seen coming--the first onslaught of experiments were the weaker ones. The second are more in tune with themselves. Harry tries to calculate how fresh they all are, but there's suddenly too many for him to be sure. He knows they're good, though, and that's all there is to it.

Harry ducks and jabs and snaps and dodges, but his opponents do the same. He's getting frustrated, though he tries his best to control his temper. The last thing he needs is these people he's protecting see him as a ravenous monster let loose from a cage. But if them seeing that side of him is what keeps them all alive...

There's an abrupt break in the cluster of experiments and Harry gets a moment to breathe, to remind himself of who he is and to calm down.

And then he's back at fighting, but there's another aura that's been added in the mix.

Harry hears him before he sees him: "You've been one hard son of a bitch to find, you know that?"

Gavriel.

Jesus, he can't believe it.

It's Gavriel.

He doesn't have the time to express his disbelief aloud as the experiments continue their pursuit. But with Gavriel's help, Harry and Micah drive the pack back outside the gates where they finish the fight with the Normals watching. The leader is the last alive, but he makes a run for it before any of them can catch him. They let him go.

It is only when Harry is positive there are no more surprises that he turns to face the best one yet. His best friend. His only friend, here in the flesh. Alive and flashing that stupidly cocky grin of his.

Harry never thought he'd be grateful to see it.

He thinks of everything Gavriel must have gone through, if he really has been looking for Harry all this time, and the words, "You're insane," leave him in a breath.

He's hugging Gavriel before the man replies. Harry can thank Sasha for knowing how to hug, and Gavriel, who's never had a hug, is stunned before slowly grasping the concept as he claps Harry on the back.

It's really him.