When the restraints lifted from around Dakota's wrists, he landed on the floor. Harper went along with him. She fell to the ground in what looked to be a fit of painful spasms. Her pretty face was contorted into an agonized expression as she ran her nails down her neck. Dakota was hesitant at first, unsure of what to do.

He didn't know how much time he had until the serum would take effect. His life could have been down to its last minutes.

Could he kill her?

She wasn't quite a friend, but at least an acquaintance. An acquaintance that tried to save his and his friend's lives after only knowing them for a few days.

But what about his friends? His team?

Once she was done with him, there would be nothing to stop her.

Dakota cautiously took a few steps forward. Nearing Harper who laid in a fetal position, screaming out.

"Harper, you have to fight this," Dakota encouraged as he got closer to her. She didn't seem to hear him.

He took a few more steps and was just a few feet away now. His heart beat had reached a painful pace, almost skipping every other beat. He leaned down a little as her hands moved to her neck, directly over the area where the syringe had made contact and injected the serum.

"Harper! Hey! I'm right here," Dakota insisted and this time she heard him. Her pale brown eyes peeled open and made contact with his.

Harper was still there, fighting desperately for control but still there. She suddenly made a sweeping lunge from an awkward angle, as if she was trying to hit him. Yet the attempt was half hearted and Dakota easily dodged the attack with a small step back.

"Get away!" She yelled, huddling into a corner. Small tears leaked from the corners of her eyes that were now red and bloodshot.

A sharp pang punctured his chest at the sight. He may not have known Harper long, but put aside her past and she was a half decent person on the inside. A little cracked here and there but still good.

She didn't deserve this.

He inched closer once more

"Harper, look at me. You can fight this. You're not Agent 17. You are Harper Ster-""-STAY AWAY!" She interrupted with a resounding screech and sent a small shockwave towards him that only managed to push him a few feet back.

"Stay away from me..." She croaked as her body now began to stop spasming. She was still shaking but her limbs no longer flailed.

Either she was fighting off the serum or it was taking over.

"Harper?" Dakota asked as he warily neared her again.

Her body suddenly went totally limp.

It was like someone had just flicked a switch. The pain must have caused her to pass out or go into some sort of shock. Aside from the occasional fidgeting from her left foot, she made no visible movements. Dakota vainly hoped that maybe she would stay down.

He swallowed in confusion as he slowly approached the now unconscious woman.

"Hey Harper?..." Dakota asked as her breathing noticeably slowed. As if she had fallen into a peaceful sleep.

The only thing Dakota could hear was the rapid beat of his own heart that was just seconds away from leaping straight out of his chest and the blood rushing into his temples that insisted he run away.

He took one more step closer before taking a quick side glance to the one way glass, half if expecting to see the Master's face or that dark haired doctor. All he saw was his petrified expression looking back at him and saw that his heavy black wings were puffed up almost two times their normal size. That only happened when shit really hit the fucking fan.

"Harper?" He asked anxiously again for the third time. He contemplated if he should lean down and nudge her shoulder. Just to see if he could get a response.

Dakota tentatively reached out his hand with furrowed brows. His hand was noticeably shaking and he could not find the wits to steady it. He was just inches away from her when her eyes suddenly shot open with start.

Dakota jumped back with a startled leap propelled by his jittery wings before landing gracefully on his feet several yards away. The air caught in his throat as he looked closely at the now conscious female.

Was she still there?

The answer had become quickly apparent when her placid gaze met his. Her pupils were almost entirely dilated, only a thin circle of brown could be seen around the black circles. Her features were rigidly composed into a hard expression. No longer did a flicker of mischievousness shine in her eyes.

The Harper Sterling he had known wasn't present. In her place stood someone entirely different.

The person who stood before him was Agent 17.

This was the agent he was led to fear.

A desolate human being without remorse or feeling or so much as a conscience. The perfect killer for an agency like LACE and the ideal subject to clone.

From behind the glass, an uncanny grin had appeared on Master Zurich's abnormally wide mouth.

"There she is."

Dakota backed away as she took a cautious step forward. Similar to a young fowl taking its first steps.

"....Harper?" Dakota asked once more, fearfully unsure.

Her eyes flicked up to his like a predator causing the hairs on the back of his neck to go up. He was now, without a doubt, trapped in a room with someone who was no longer his friend or even acquaintance.

He could almost hear the seconds ticking down to zero on his life.

"That's not my name," She said softly with a certain calmness that was horrifyingly unsettling.

Dakota swallowed, forcing down the nausea in his stomach that threatened to rise.

"Harper, I know you're still in there," He told her, willing his voice not to shake

Her expression was blank without an ounce of recognition. As if she was looking through glass.

"That's not my name," She repeated chillingly and it almost made his skin crawl. She suddenly made an inhumanly fast lunge step towards him with her hand outstretched. An unseen force pushed him backwards but barely more than a yard. As if testing him.

Or testing herself.

Dakota could only backed away as the woman approached, unsure of how to attack or defend himself. He desperately pushed one of the two vertical gurneys right at her. She hardly noticed the large object and before it could hit her, she shoved it aside with a powerful blow of telekinetic force. The gurney slammed against the wall and was instantly crushed like a tin soda can.

He glanced down at the crumpled heap of metal, knowing he was next. Dakota kept backing away and the wall behind him was getting too close.

"Harper, listen to me! I don't want to hurt you. You're not Agent 17 anymore. Don't let the Masters do this," Dakota said in what he hoped was assertion.

His petrified tone must have caught her attention as she came to a complete stop. Harper's eyes screwed shut for just a second. Her head snapped to the side and she grimaced. As if she was fighting a bad headache. A flare of hope sprung forward. Harper really was still there, fighting against the serum that had invaded her bloodstream and mind.

Unfortunately, the discovery was short-lived as Agent 17's lifeless expression returned

"Harper please...get Agent 17 out of your head," Dakota pleaded. The distance between him and the wall was now down to inches.

"That's not my name," Agent 17 replied in a low voice that wasn't her own.

Then, with a sudden vigor, she charged at him. Dakota attempted to sidestep her, but with adept precision, she matched his moves. As if she already knew what he was going to do before he did it.

An invisible force pinned him to the wall, trapping him. Dakota couldn't even speak as a second pressure gathered upon his chest; it was like she was crushing him.

Her hand clamped down like a vice around his throat. Dakota struggled against her, his powerful wings pushing him off the wall but his actions only resulted in her grip tightening even further. She would break his neck if he didn't do something quick.

With every ounce of strength he could muster, he brought his knee up with an inaccurate stomach shot. He must have hit her hip or something since her grip loosened just enough so that he could take a much needed breath. The telekinetic hold on his hands lessened for just a split second but that was all the time he needed.

Dakota quickly reached forward and put both of his hands upon her face not dissimilar to how she had held Artur's head while entering his mind. He knew it might have done better to attack her but he decided that a violent reaction would only trigger Agent 17 further. For some odd reason this was the only action that came to mind. Not a sharp jab or clever blow, like the kind he had been trained to deliver with expertise.

Just a simplistic, peaceful gesture.

"Remember...who...you are," Dakota sputtered. His words were barely intelligible but he was sure she heard him loud and clear.

Her narrow, dilated eyes shot wide open before she gasped loudly, as if she was now the one struggling for air.

Then, the oddest thing happened.

Somehow, instead of Harper invading his mind, Dakota fell into hers. It was a peculiar sensation of transcendence going in between Harper's and his consciousness. He didn't understand what was happening at first until he recalled how it had felt when she'd entered his mind in that alleyway.

He could instantly sense the mental battle waging inside of Harper's head. Like an incredibly intense match of tug-of-war. And Harper was on the short end.

His point of view switched between holding Harper's soft face in his hands to a collage of memories and emotions within both of their minds. All the sounds and scents surrounding him were overwhelming. It was all too loud and vibrant to clearly understand.

A number of differing images ran across his line of sight in an uncontrolled pattern. They were a mixture of Harper's and Dakota's memories mixed together. He only managed to catch a brief glimpse of each before they rushed away to be replaced by different memories.

There were only a few that he noticed in particular, such as a hazy impression of a blonde boy sitting in what appeared to be an electrical chair that was half submerged in water. It appeared to be Agent 11, Callum Kursinski, the very boy that Saratoga and Teddy had taken down during the DCL attack.

He could hear the young boy's muffled screams all too clearly from behind the glass, just as Harper had when she had lived through it. There was a figure standing behind him whose silhouette resembled that of Master Zurich.

This memory quickly fell and he watched from a third person point of view as a younger version of himself waited outside his old martial arts studio for his father to pick him up. Dakora had been wearing a white karategi, the traditional uniform used for karate, with a blue belt around his waist. He might have been only around twelve years old at the time, but with a rounder face and an already reserved expression.

This had been only a few months after the funeral.

A cold gust of wind, that Dakota could practically feel against his skin, ruffled the white fabric of his karategi and his jett black hair. A middle aged karate master walked up behind him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. The younger version of himself hardly seemed to register the master's reassuring gesture. The Karate Master's face was kind but also full of empathy.

The memory peeled away to reveal a more recent setting within the small diner in Hays Kansas. The one of him setting diagonally across from Harper as he held an out of date new paper in hand and absently sipped at his coffee. Once again the image shifted into a wispy display that he instantly recognized.

He was standing inside of a medical room inside of a hospital. Both his mother and father stood beside a medical cot where Dakota's young sister laid with her eyes shut. His mother leaned down and placed a loving kiss on her forehead. His sister's long, sleek black hair was almost all gone by this point. Dakota's favorite stuffed dog with its patchy white and black fur sat in her arms. A sorrowful ache came from within his chest as he was forced to relive the moment.

She had been at stage four by this point. The funeral happened just a few weeks after this day. He could distinctly remember the funeral even without revisiting the memory. It had been a foggy, cloudy day and even though it wasn't raining, people still brought umbrellas. Dakota had brought his sister's Mickey Mouse umbrella. The one she always took to school on the many rainy days in Seattle.

He had left it beside her grave stone.

The hospital room melted apart into a swirl of colors before Dakota was brought into a more solid memory that he could now see from his own point of view.

He stood in the living room of an unfamiliar home. The carpet under his feet was a deep brown and the furniture a similar color of leather. A subtle fire burned in the fireplace, casting a warm glow upon the room. The walls were white and adorned with multiple photo frames that displayed a blurry family of three who suddenly appeared around him.

A male with a dimpled chin came first. He sat in one of the leather recliners with a magazine in hand. His eyes were pale brown.

Cody Sterling.

A female, who bore a similar resemblance to Harper aside from the darker hair appeared on the sofa near Cody.

Hazel Sterling.

He couldn't hear what they were saying to each other but the woman smiled brightly, chuckling soundlessly. A familiar smile spread across her mouth.

Dakota wasn't surprised when a child with messy blonde hair and braces raced right past him into the center of the living room where a half eaten bag of cinnamon toast crunch and coloring book waited on the floor. He reached out towards the young girl, knowing it to be Harper, but as expected, the figment didn't notice him.

This was her memory.

A memory that had been erased.

The day she was taken.

A loud, echoing knock sounded from behind him and Dakota turned towards the sound just as Cody swept past to answer. Her father never got a chance to see the suspicious figure slink across his backyard before the backdoor was knocked down.

The faces of the intruders were unrecognizable blurs but Hazel Sterling barely had a chance to scream before she was dispatched. A high pitched scream followed as the young girl on the floor watched. The mysterious figure dropped her dying mother to the floor before swiftly approaching.

Dakota instantly crossed the room putting himself between the L.A.C.E agent and Harper.

"Get away from her!"

But the unfamiliar agent passed through his presence like he was made of smoke. One last scream followed before the memory went black and he was finally brought back into the real world with a gasp of air. His burning lungs felt as though he had been drowning underwater.

He was once again inside the concrete room where the full grown and very solid Harper was still choking him. His sorrow from the old memories was quickly replaced by terror as he remembered that she was trying to kill him.

Suddenly, without forewarning, she released his neck from her grasp and took a few steps back. Her arm went to her stomach as if she was sick. Small dots swarmed his vision momentarily as he tried to recover from whatever had just occurred to him.

It was like her abilities reversed.

She looked up at him with the same confusion. The familiar expression in her pale brown eyes sent a wave of relief over his sense.

It was Harper.

Her mouth gaped like she had forgotten how to speak.

"What did you.... how could..... Dakota?" She stumbled as her head jerked to the side and she brought a hand to her temple, almost losing her balance.

It appeared that Harper had regained control but not completely.

Although, after what he could only describe as a reverse mind connection, he wasn't really sure of anything by this point. He half expected her to disappear and be replaced with a memory.

"I don't, I don't know, I really don't-- are you, you know, here?" Dakota asked, contemplating the idea of it being some sort of trap.

She took a steadying breath, her head flicking to the side once again as if she had a nervous tick.

"The serum is still trying to take control but it's weakened .... how did you do that?" She asked with a dazed look. Dakota really didn't have an answer in the slightest, he was just so relieved that Harper was at least back and not trying to kill him.

"I-I have no idea, I just touched your face and fell into the-this world. I saw your memories an-and mine," Dakota tried to explain and a flash of recollection went across her face.

She nodded once in understanding.

"I saw it too."

He noticed her hands had balled up into fists. Her pale face had darkened. She turned to the opaque glass with an unwavering gaze. Her mouth was set into a thin line of determination.

"They're going to try to escape," She concluded with a merciless edge to her voice.

Harper extended her hand in the direction of the second vertical gurney. The other gurney still laid uselessly on the floor in a crumbled mess. With a savage swipe, she forced the second gurney to slam into the one way glass window. The glass wobbled a little bit as a large scuff mark and spider web thin cracks spread across its surface. Harper telekinetically picked up the damaged gurney once more and this time bashed it against the window with such force that it shattered.

"Stay behind me," she ordered.

Dakota obeyed; he didn't like sitting on the sidelines, but he figured that going against her wishes might prove fatal.

Without a second of hesitation, she hopped through the now broken windowsill. Dakota followed behind her and saw that both agent 10 and 19 were the only ones left in the dimly lit room. Both agents lunged simultaneously at Harper, but they hardly made it within a five foot radius before they were thrusted backwards with a sweep of her arm. A new power seemed to ripple off of Harper's being in waves of steam.

Dakota watched as the pair of agents were both pinned against the wall similar to how he'd been pinned just moments ago. The pair struggled against her hold. Axle's handsome face contorted into a painful grimace as he fought against the visible power. Even Venice tried to morph her skin but the process was heavily delayed as the gold sluggishly spread up to her wrists and made an even slower progression up her forearms.

Harper rose her second hand up and the broken glass shards at their feet rose at the same time. Dakota took a step back as he realized what she was going to do.

The glass glittered as it levitated into the air as if being held up by invisible strings. Their sharp edges directed towards the two LACE agents who had no chance to defend themselves. But there was no fear in either agent's eyes. They still fought against the energy binding them like rabid dogs fight against a leash.

With a simple flick of her wrist, she sent all of the glass shards flying towards the pair of agents. The action left the pair of agents graphically incapacitated. Dakota turned away from the scene.

Harper didn't spare a glance at the two mutilated bodies.

Killing really was her second nature.

Dakota didn't speak a word and instead followed briskly behind Harper who exited the room holding a particularly dagger-like piece of broken glass in hand.

Dakota picked up a piece of glass from the floor as well right before entering a long hallway. Harper moved like a predator on the hunt as she trekked down the hallway with even strides. Dakota kept up with her but purposefully kept his distance. As they continued, the hallway suddenly branched off into two seperate directions. Harper came to a pause at the intersection and took a deep whiff of the air. Dakota watched her closely before she took off again, hooking a left.

They rounded a corner and saw a door open at the very end of the corridor that creaked slowly on its hinges as it swayed slowly back and forth.

Harper sped up into a full sprint, closing the distance between her and the door quickly. They then entered what looked to be an aircraft hanger. The scent of aviation fuel hit Dakota's nose. It was made of dark grey concrete with a few orange cones scattered around its perimeter. There was only one solitary jet that sat near the entrance. They were a little less than a football field away but Dakota could clearly see that little, dark haired doctor that had frightened Harper. The woman noticed them and promptly disappeared within the jet. There were a series of muffled and frenzied words that came next that were inaudible from the distance.

The small plane began rolling forward on its wheels to exit the hanger and Dakota nearly despaired. The plane and the Masters would take off before they could reach it.

Harper seemed to have a different plan as she raised her hand in the direction of the plane. The jet's wheels suddenly stopped moving forward as she held them back. The jet struggled against her hold, attempting to break free. Harper's jaw clenched as her arm began to shake. Her feet were even dragged forward a few inches as the aircraft fought against her.

A slender, long limbed figure suddenly appeared, catching Dakota's attention. He recognized the figure as Agent 4, the Taipan hybrid, the very agent who'd bested him in combat. The agent sprang from the jet, landing in a crouch before turning to engage. Dakota gripped the jagged shard of glass in his hand before taking a deep, even breath to center himself.

"He's mine," Dakota said evenly with a small glance to Harper who nodded once in agreement, now with both arms raised. Her cold gaze was fixed upon the jet that she now held back with ease.

She wanted the Masters.

Dakota intended to allow her that chance.

Agent 4 had his sights set on Harper but Dakota swiftly cut off the agent's approach with a deliberate blindside propelled by his strong wings. The Agent tumbled to the floor before quickly recovering and reaching for the gun at his hip, his gaze still focused on Harper. Dakota promptly kicked the gun out of his hand, sending the firearm skidding across the pavement.

A low growl sounded from the animalistic Agent who pushed himself off the floor to regain his feet with surprising grace. Dakota stood fast, putting himself between the Agent and the Harper. They attacked simultaneously, both aiming low before Dakota redirected his initial blow for the Agent's jaw. His fist narrowly nicked the side of Agent 4's face before the snake leaned away to evade the attack at the last second.

The Agent returned the gesture by taking a cheap shot to his neck but Dakota parried the shot with a familiar ease. A renewed anger flooded his senses, fueling his attacks that became increasingly more aggressive.

Dakota was typically perfect at containing his emotions, but after almost dying four times today (a personal record), he was officially done with being reserved and calm at the moment.

The Agent fought against him with equally ruthless swipes of his taloned hands. Dakota was only armed with a single jagged shard of glass, that was beginning to cut into his palm, and his own talons that were a bit shorter than the Agent's. Dakota dodged each blow with swift, near perfect footwork as he tried to keep Agent 4 occupied for as long as possible.

Dakota winced as one of the man's long talons managed to cut through his shirt and pierce the skin underneath. Just as the Agent drew first blood, Dakota slid the shard of glass shallowly across the Agents exposed collarbone. The Agent didn't react to the pain but did spare a split second glance towards the jet where Harper was starting to enter.

A mistake.

That split second gave Dakota the opportunity to deliver a clean punch to the other man's face. He hit Agent 4's cheek so hard that the impacting sound was like a slap. The Hybrid man stumbled back from the blow but Dakota didn't allow him a second of recovery and aimed a hard kick into Agent 4's midsection that caused him to keel over.

Dakota finished by vengefully stabbing Agent 4 in the side, just under his arm. The glass slided easily through the agent's rib cage, burying itself into his pale flesh. Agent 4 gasped, as if someone had just drenched him in cold water. Dakota hoped that maybe he had incurred a lung or at least hit something major. Since he was a snake hybrid, there was a good chance his anatomy would be different from a humans.

The LACE Agent looked at him with a stunned expression, his mouth parted, before falling to the floor with one of his hands shakily grasping at the glass that was embedded into his side. There was already blood seeping from the corner of his lips.

He was done.

Dakota watched him collapse before turning back to the jet that hadn't moved any further. He heard the scream of a woman and then a gunshot. The anguished yell of a man followed after the women's screech.

Panic pierced his chest as he pushed himself off the ground with a determined flap of his wings. Only a few seconds later, he hoisted himself through the side door of the jet that was broken wide open. A second gunshot went off, causing him to duck defensively before he could survey his new surroundings.

The inside of the jet was a decadent room with fine wood furnishings and plush couches. It would have been a luxury jet if it weren't for the blood that now stained the soft white carpet and splattered across the circular windows.

Dakota's gaze fell upon Master Zurich first, who was slumped against the edge of one of the interior sofas. His right hand was pressed against his stomach where a jagged wound was. Bright red blood spilled over his fingers as he gaped like a fish out of water.

Zurich's other arm was painfully contorted, appearing to be badly broken.

Master Zurich didn't seem to realize that Dakota had entered the room. His nearly colorless blue eyes simply stared listlessly at the window of the plane as he bled out.

Dakota felt no urge to help him.

He next saw the dark haired woman who laid on her side. Beside her hand laid a gun. She was the one who had injected the serum into Harper. The one who scared her.

Her throat was slit deeply across the middle. There was already a dark red puddle growing beneath her. Her dark hair was no longer in a tight bun, instead it laid sprawled out all around her face that was slowly beginning to grow pale as her breathing swallowed.

She was going to die very soon.

From the corner of his eye, Dakota noticed a fallen body within the jet's cockpit. The pilot was already taken care of as well.

Dakota then looked upon Harper. She was crouched like a tiger over Master Garnett. The much larger male was pinned to the ground with several cut wounds on his arms that caused red blotches to bloom under the fabric of his egg wash button-down shirt. He had obviously been the one to put up the greatest fight.

Unfortunately for him, he was only human.

There was nothing he could do against Harper as she held him against the floor. His scared face wrinkled in frustration as Harper began lowering her hand that held the long dagger-like, piece of glass. Her hands were badly stained with blood as was her grey shirt.

Dakota could only watch as Harper's dangerous gaze met the older man's sinister snarl. A part of Agent 17 hid in those pale brown eyes.

"I hope you remember this moment," She hissed before viciously stabbing the shard of glass deeply into the side of Master Garnett's throat and dragging her hand upwards. The Master instantly began choking on his own blood as the liquid seeped from his mouth and nose.

Harper retracted the piece of glass and then stood back up with her gaze still focused on the now soon to-be-dead man.

She spat on the Master.

"Only human," she muttered disdainfully.

The room was quiet for a moment as she looked upon her handiwork with dull recognition. Her gaze moving slowly across the four bodies at her feet. She sniffed indignantly before brushing loose strands of black hair away from her eyes. She accidentally brushed her cheek with her stained hand in the action, causing a new smear of blood to appear across her cheek bone.

She slowly released the jagged shard of glass from her hand and it fell to the soft floor soundlessly.

Her pale brown eyes slowly met his with mixed emotions. Dakota was at a loss for words. What was he to say? 'Good work'? 'Nice job'? 'Thank god we are still alive'?

Words didn't seem to be necessary.

Harper cleared her throat, recatching his attention.

"Let's get out of here."