Chapter 1
Notes:
A/N: this chapter will be rewritten and posted tonight on 11/4/23, by updating the publishing date. Meanwhile, chapter 2 had a problem, and is now visible finally...
Chapter Text
A few days. A few exhausting days.
At the very least, he had escaped, and all too easily. Thankfully. Buckets of blood had poured everywhere across the walls and floors during the riot at Arkham State Penitentiary, leaving numerous killed. Even the Warden himself. The news had spread quickly, and he had to make sure to keep hidden. Deep in an abandoned alleyway. If this had been the, let's say, 1920s it wouldn't have done so. How annoying, honestly.
The chemist had cursed inwardly at the mere discovery of a new invention called the Internet. Apparently, it had popped up during the late 90s. Of course, the bloodbath of story had been everywhere on television as well as on every major news outlet on the Web. As soon as he had been able to, he had listened for any possibility of Herbert West being on the Killed-In-Action List from the report on the riot. He had even researched it on the internet -- and far as he knew? He had been on it.
The prison and the police had finally moved on from that portion of the carnage, now focusing on making sure the survivors were found and accounted for.
That had been yesterday when the conjoined forces decided to finally do such a thing.
A day later, the escaped convict had been able to get on a bus to get out of town.
Herbert's head rested lazily against the back of his bus seat, as the bus continued to drive its passengers to their destinations unaware of its infamous passenger within the small crowd. Sleeplessness had gripped him the second evening in a row, but he didn't mind it. Thoughts threatened to drift to the riot for what seemed like the millionth time by this point --
Howard Phillips... my new name.
Amusing to say the least. That had been the name of the chemist's former partner while still prison. Dr. Phillips had wanted to work with the inmate, because of the incident 13 years prior that had resulted in the Phillips sister being killed by a zombie. More accurately, a re-animated corpse. It was what brought the two together into a twisted, chaotic relationship.
Typical of Arkham, being a city that drew in all shades of chaos within its walls.
Arkham...
He was easily halfway across the state of Massachusetts by now. The doctor had his sights set on the town of Cooms, a town he had read about while in prison in one of state-supplied books. Imagine that, he amused thought, as he let loose a small chuckle past his lips. Apparently, the town had one of the best hospitals in the whole country - and it paid its employees a bunch too so he wouldn't have to worry about the expenses of his reagent.
He could easily and swiftly settle into the crowd of staff members there. He had forged documents about Howard Pihllips, posing as him since the day of the riot. Having gotten his hair dyed the exact color of Howard's -- dirty blonde -- he had been all but ready. An excuse had readily been prepared in his mind for needing glasses too.
The male glanced up, letting his head fall forward a bit.
Ouch.
ZZZZZZZZ
Meanwhile, the town of Cooms remained unaware of the Herbert West hurricane that would be soon arriving - its inhabitants laughing, conversing, and smiling among the streets. Some ended up passing an imposing building in the Southeastern corner of town, Cooms' Hospital, a sleek white building that had been designed nearly 40 years ago. The sun eagerly above the town's residents peered within a few of the windows; it wanted to smile and say hello to everyone. Luckily for the staff there had been curtains or blinds covering majority of the windows, so mere slivers had been able to get through.
Squinted eyes watched some cars vroom by, some people walking and having .. ice cream, he thought. The sun had been so bright thus far today, and a grumble exited out of his mouth, before he shoved the curtain back into its place. Hopefully it'd call for clouds later on. That'd greatly help. Peering out of the window had definitely helped his mind wander a little bit, a crucial thing he thought other doctors should partake in as well. Not many of the others did though... and that troubled him.
God, his anxiety sometimes.
Smile, damn it, it might cheer you up, he told himself. A small smile planted itself onto his face as he turned towards an approaching figure. A look of panick had been on the doctor's face, but it decided to include slight shards of relief.
Oh no, the brown haired male thought.
"Doctor Cain! D-Daniel..."
Yeah, pure panick. Fuck. Well, they do say this job tests your stress levels... "Yeah, what is it, Steve?" He answered, sounding hopeful yet serious in all one beat.
Steve motioned him to follow, which Dan did so.
Alright, so relax... no reason to not lose your smile, right?
Some days he truly did need to force himself to smile, to remind him all was well and continue to be well. His chaotic days had been behind him.
"Brittney had just went into critical and --"
Okay, Steve's statement did test him somewhat, but still, the smile remained. Yes, this would be a good, productive day. Nothing that could -- who was that? A new doctor?
His eyes shifted over to the newbie, and the newbie had been talking to Dr. Cotton. Sort of, anyways. The older male doctor had been chatting away, while the newbie had been nodding occasionally. The newbie looked so familiar - oh, God, why? Besides appearing as blonde, it reminded him of.... of...
Herbert Fuckin' West.
Oh no, his smile was starting to slide away.
The bane of his existence, at least within his nightmares. A shudder coarsed down Dan's spine, as memories wanted to spur up in an instant. Ever since Dan had met Herbert West, things hadn't felt right. Sociopathic and manipulative, the two qualities he could had easily described his former re-animating partner as. But that had been in the past, right? 13 years. 13 long years, yet the asshole still managed to plague his life.
And.. fuck! His smile. Now, it turned seemingly permanently into a frown.
He already missed it.
Goddamn it....
Steve waved a hand in front of his face, giving him a sudden startle, abruptly dragging him out of his thoughts. The brown-haired doctor shook his head, and glanced down at the other blinking rapidly. "S-Sorry," he sincerely apologized. "How.. long was I spacing?"
A sigh. "About a full 30 seconds, dude," Steve murmurred, irritated with his friend. What was wro -- Oh. "That's the new doctor. Dr. Phillips."
Dan swallowed hard, trying to slow down his racing heart. He nodded slowly. Phillips. Of course. No West. Good, good.
"I'll introduce you later," Steve stated, smiling reassuringly. "It'd be alright." He clapped the other doctor on the back. "Come on," he instructed, now getting Dan to move once more.
Herbert stared after Steve and Dan's retreating forms for a little while, discretely of course. He leaned against the window's sill, waiting as Dr. Cotton copied some forms within the Printing Room.
Dan.... That had been undeniably his former partner. Multiple feeling presented themselves within that very moment -- hurt, betrayal, hatred, longing ...--
W ait, longing?
He... A part of him still saw Dan as a friend.
That better not interfere with his revenge plans. It shouldn't. The former prisoner shoved away his feelings, put them into a box within his mind - they didn't need to get in the way. They were utterly useless.
Irritated, he pushed away from the window sill, as he saw the other doctor exit out of the room, holding up the papers in success. "Got 'em," he said, striding down the hallway at a quickened pace. Herbert quickly followed, matching his pace. Dr. Cotton held out the papers out to his partner, who took them and started to look over them.
"Brittney Cantillo, age 45. Recurring cancer in the breasts. Five years back, she had been admitted to Miskatonic University Hospital --"
The blonde had to lift his eyebrows as the other spoke. One would think they'd shut it down after two massacres. Apparently not. Last he heard, it had renovations done in the early to mid 90s.
"-- with the diagnosis of Stage 3 cancer from a lump initially found in her left breast. It had been driven out of her system in approximately 8 months. The cancer had just returned 3 weeks ago. She'll be one of your first patients. You'll be working with Doctors Cain and Cogan."
Herbert shot a quick glance over to the other.
Seriously?
He hadn't accounted for that to happen-- to work with Dan again. Hell, tthis might be trickier than he thought. Nevertheless, he couldn't present two fronts in this hospital now, could he?
The two doctors soon came upon a room, a detour of Doug Cotton's. "Give me a moment, Doctor," he muttered to Herbert, who nodded. Cotton's cold eyes fell onto the occupant of the singular room, a sadly smiling middle-aged male laying underneath a few covers.
"Hey, Doc," they called out to Cotton, who nodded in acknowledgement.
"Christian. I trust you're feeling a bit better today?" Customary for a doctor to say such a thing towards a patient, but there had been not even a hint of care within Cotton's voice. He went further into the room, now checking a clipboard nearby. Slight tension hung in the air between caretaker and patient. Either of them never saw each other on the same damn page, but there had been no notice of that by other staff members.
Christian nodded. "Yeah, a bit..." he nearly whispered, coughing all of a sudden.
Silence now, until --
"I have some bad news, Christian," the doctor started, causing a deep unsettling within Christian's stomach. He widened his eyes.
"W-What?"
"You have one week to live."
"WHAT!?" The redhead exclaimed, trying to move, but pain spread across his face.
"....I suggest you not to do that. You have one week 'til you die." Must as well be blunt about it, still.
"I h-heard you the first time!" A series of coughs now racked Christian's body. He groaned.
"Then what's--"
"At least you don't have to worry about dancing to death, right?"
Awkward silence.
Very awkward.
Both doctor and patient stared at each other, then towards Herbert. "He's new," Cotton told Christian before pulling Herbert out of the room, who gave a scornful look.
"I can understand the attempted usage of humor, Dr. Phillips, but it is misplaced." Dr. Cotton grabbed Christian's paperwork before coming back back out of the room again, then motioned Herbert to follow him.
...bastard of a doctor.
Soon, within the silence they arrived at Brittney's room, which had been already occupied by Dan and Steve who were busy looking over paperwork for their patient. All Dr. Cotton had to do was clear his throat, and both of them looked up. As Herbert mistakenly made eye contact with his former-partner, he had to push away the nasty thought of strangling him right then and there.
Memories quickly flooded back --
Him and Dan meeting for the first time. He probably appeared as off-standish.
Them passing by in the hallways of Miskatonic.
Him coming to 666 Darkmore Avenue. Wasn't the best first impression for Dan, appearing naked like that.
Meg creeped out by him.
Dan discovering him shooting up re-agent.
Numerous adventures dealing with the dead and un-dead.
Being split-up briefly because of his own near-death experiences.
A bunch of others.
Then, the most recent.
A very select few visits during his time in prison. It was insulting, each and every time.
He may expected Dan to move out, yes, but to turn him in?
Let him rot in prison?
No, not at all.
And oh, how it deeply stung.
"-- I'd like you to meet Doctor Daniel Cain, Howard," Steve stated with a smile, being able to look eye-level towards Herbert. Then a slightly worried expression came across his face. "I can call you 'Howard', Dr. Phillips, right?"
Herbert nodded with a false smile. "You can." He didn't even try to change his voice, just his tone.
Steve seemed relieved at that. He nodded with yet another smile, gently putting a hand onto Herbert's shoulder. "Okay, good- too much?"
"You're fine," came Herbert's clipped reply.
"Okay, awesome," Steve continued along, now moving his hand away to grab onto Dan's arm to guide him on over to Herbert. "Dan, I'd like to meet Howard here. He just started today too!" Steve exclaimed.
Dan looked at 'Howard' and forced a nervous smile onto his face. Come on, it's not him, it can't be... He held out a hand. "Hi there."
"Hi - Cain, was it?"
"Er, you can call me by my first name. Either or."
Herbert finally took it, and shook it. "Hi, Dan," he said, hoping to God he had changed over the years just enough.
Dan's anxiety skyrocketed. That had to be a coincidence, right?
Steve clapped his hands together, not quite realizing what was going on. "Alright! You --"
Cotton quickly interjected, which made Steve's eyebrows rise. "...If I may have a quick word with Dr. Phillips?"
Steve blinked at him. "Uhm... sure."
Herbert followed Cotton off to the side, while Steve seemed frustrated until he walked over to Dan and started talking about Brittney's new condition.
"Yes?" Herbert asked curiously, as he started to play with a pen he had found on a counter earlier. His vision locked onto Dr. Cotton's.
"....Are you really Phillips?" Cotton asked quietly, as he leaned in towards the other, eyes studying him closely.
Shit. I couldn't have been found out, impossible.
Herbert showed him a casual smile and laughed a little. "Of course I am. Who else would I be?"
"I think you've been a bit off."
"And?" That didn't guarantee anything.
"Your fate at that prison riot in Arkham... Rumors are going around that you either went insane, or committed suicide. Some say you even got dragged off to Innsmouth by its natives. So which is it?"
Innsmouth? What would that horrific town want with him?
Herbert shrugged. "Well, obviously I'm here now, aren't I? Don't believe such odd rumors."
"I'm watching you, Howard." That were his final words before he brushed past Herbert, which made the latter stare after him as he left the room.
Already, slight trouble.
Though it shouldn't be hard to handle, could it be?
Chapter 2
Notes:
A/N: This chapter is not rewritten, just yet. Deciding to stick with the end, let's see how it turns out haha.
Chapter Text
Steve came back over to Herbert. "Don't worry about him. Watch out for him though. There's one or two rumors going around about him."
"What rumors?"
Steve didn't answer. Dan hesitated, while the blonde furrowed his eyebrows. "I… He's a bit slimy in his methods. Just be careful around him."
"Slimy? How so?" He needed to know, especially with what conversation he had earlier.
"Just be careful." Dan repeated. The other gave a nod, before going over and checking Brittney's chart. "So where's she now?"
"Receiving a quick dose of chemotherapy right now. The cancer was bothering her, attacking her a bit more aggressively than we previous thought. And considering she does have a mild infection..."
Herbert nodded.
"She should be coming back soon."
Another nod.
As if on cue, Brittney came back, two nurses accompanying her. Sigh. It is going to be a long day, Herbert thought, but it's going to be worth it.
A few hours had passed. The sun was barely peeking above the horizon, shining itself into a couple of the hospital's windows. It was beyond rush hour now, so the streets were manageable at this time. A cab pulled up in front of the hospital, casting a small shadow upon the sidewalk. A few staff members were standing outside, mingling a bit as they started to disperse. Herbert, of course, was amongst them- He eyed the taxi, quickly now getting in placing his bag in the other backseat then climbing in himself.
Slamming the door shut, his eyes glanced off to his right, seeing Dan now exiting the hospital, going to his left to go to his car. Dan's car…. God, he still had that old thing. It still even had those scratches on the bumper from when one of Herbert's experiments went awall. And-
The car lurched forward, snapping Herbert out of his thoughts as the driver started to talk to him. "So where to?"
"Uhm… the apartment complex off Corner Street."
The driver, a middle-aged man with already a few gray hairs, held out his hand. "That'd be $27.88, mate."
Herbert dug into his pocket, pulling out some money. "Keep the change."
The middle-aged man nodded. "So you're new around these parts? Mr…?"
"Phillips. And yes."
"I suppose you wouldn't mind a slight tour, then?" The man smiled, putting out his cigarette in middle of the console before he pulled at the steering wheel to go left out of the hospital's parking lot. The beeping of the turning signal filled the atmosphere, until it shut off and the other male spoke up.
"Go ahead." No objections. If anything, it would get his mind off Dan and onto the upcoming topic of getting the empty apartment in a few minutes.
The driver kept his eyes straight on the road; he knew this town like the back of his hand. "Now, we're soon coming up to the shopping part of the town. Both off to our left and right. Whatever you need—convenient stores, seafood bait specialties, clothing. There's a huge shopping mall complex somewhere off to the right. Far right."
Herbert glanced off into that direction, spotting a sign for it in blaring red letters. "Is there a place to buy chemicals?"
"Chemicals?"
"I'm interested in Chemistry."
The driver gave a noise of acknowledgement. "Nice, my son's into that stuff himself, actually. Yeah, there should be a store or two for that." He nodded up towards some approaching buildings. "Here we're coming across restaurants—Some are at the other end of the city." Glowing signs presented themselves around the duo—
Red Lobster, Phillips, Hoss's, Habachi, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and many more.
Herbert took a look around.
"After the restaurants comes the residential area… Great big old—" Then the driver tensed. They were driving right by a completely empty patch of land. It looked quite barren and—
What was that whispering within his mind?
It sounded like an old language, perhaps… Sumerian? Not even… Sounded more ancient than life itself.
Then it got to a point where Herbert had to slam his hands over his ears. The driver himself cringed heavily.
"W-What's that noise?!" Herbert had felt like he needed to yell. The driver shook his head, now speeding past the area, before slowing down again. If Herbert had looked off to his left, he'd notice another car speed past the area too.
Herbert let out a deep breath as he lowered his hands, throwing a glance out of the rear view mirror, as his hearing went back to normal—hearing car motors, birds chirping, even being able to focus on people's dead silence as they walked by the strange barren spot. "What's up with that barren spot?" He tried to run through all scientific explanations, but hopelessly came up with nothing.
"A cult." The driver paused and hesitated to say the rest, feeling the utmost dread even speaking about it. He let out a shaky breath. "Mate, I recommend you to be wary of that spot. Everyone who goes by that spot hears strange murmuring. Rumors goes it, people heard it since that night in 1903."
"That night?"
"Y-Yes. Five cultists, who had wanted that nasty book, the Necronomicon, went to do some strange ritual… To summon something. Something evil. The five weren't the same since, eventually disappearing, all by 1905."
Herbert always did feel a slight disturbance passing by the grimoire while in Miskatonic Univeristy's Library, more than once. He couldn't help but to snort with a small laugh. "You don't expect me to believe that book has that much power, do you? Only reason it has any power is because of our paranoia towards it, nothing more."
"… Maybe so… But don't you see? There's so much more to it then that, lad… The supernatural is very much here, and quite alive."
Herbert scoffed. "Imagination run wild, nothing other than that." He said condensingly.
"What are you? Atheist, or something?"
"Yes."
The driver hmm'ed. "Doubt you'd stay that way the longer you stay in Cooms."
"I'd better not stay then. Or perhaps squash any idiotic notions about the Necronomicon. Why must people act so idiotic?" He titled his head.
"Why are you so…?''
"So what?"
"You have a superiority complex, it seems." The driver shrugged.
"…So I've been told. Multiple times in fact."
"It isn't a good thing. You come across as an asshole." The driver said bluntly, now pulling up behind a braking truck. They were about a couple blocks now from the apartment complex.
An unpleasant chuckle and a cold smirk. "I've been called that as well." Then the smirk faded. "Just do your job and drive the car."
The driver furrowed his brows, looking in the rearview mirror at Herbert and shook his head.
An awkward silence fell onto the scene, as the former-prisoner looked outside to the fast-paced environment, as the stoplight turned green moments earlier.
Soon, the cab pulled up to the apartment complex, slowing now as the male parked as close as possible next to the curb. Herbert moved to get out, but the cigarette smoking man grabbed his arm, creating more pressure than necessary. His eyes flickered onto the doctor's own. "Remember. Be careful." He said in a whisper, before grunting, "Now get out."
Herbert scoffed lightly, gathering his medical bag as he climbed out of the vehicle. Grumbling about how rude people were underneath his breath, he shut the door and headed towards the building.
There were some plants hanging about various windows, and if one looked closely, they'd see curtains or blinds inside of screendoors. The building looked reasonably new too, probably built only a couple of years ago.
He however ignored all of this, though it was a nice advantage—no complaints could made in terms of its condition.
The only true plus was this building was nearby a cemetery. Perfect spot for specimens, to further his work.
His work…
He had made very important progress while in prison. He had found the mechanism that drove life itself—NPE, or Nanoplasmic Energy. When applied to freshly reanimated bodies within the prison, it had shown itself as imperfect.
But it showed him that he was close.
Extremely close.
He could almost taste success.
Complete success.
With a slight smirk at that thought, he looked back down and now walked into the complex with his head held high. Approaching the office off to the side, he knocked on the door, and the female landlord glanced up from some papers.
"Come in." She stated with a smile.
Herbert pushed open the door, nodding to her.
"How may I help you today?" She asked, smoothing out her clothes a bit, as she looked at him. He's cute…
"I called about the first floor apartment a couple of days ago?" Herbert then sat down in an offered seat across from her desk.
"Ah! Mr…? What was the name again?" She squinted her eyes in concentration.
"Phillips. Howard Phillips." Herbert quickly supplied.
"Ah, that's right!" She stood up, holding out her hand. "Mr. Phillips, I welcome you to Tillinghast Apartments! Here we will have a furnished apartment for you. I will give you a packet, which you can sign later when you're ready. I will be giving you the contract today as well. Lastly, I hope you enjoy your stay here!"
Herbert didn't take her hand, immediately. He honestly had enough of that during work at the hospital, even if he convinced the hospital to hire him on the spot. He half expected to be working, not socializing. Though having supplied a donation and having some sort of relationship with Doug Cotton had helped his case a lot. Herbert guessed acquaintances— he needed to look into it more.
He sighed, getting out of his thoughts as he shook her hand silently. Then— "I hear you have thick walls?"
"Hrm… Yes! So if you want to sleep with anyone…" She winked at him, then cleared her throat. "But yes. You can have all the privacy you want." She switched to a more professional tone.
Herbert stared. "…Good."
She winked once again. "Wouldn't you want dinner first?"
"Would you like me to go to a different complex, Miss…?"
She straightened up, furrowing her eyebrows. "No need for extreme measures, Mr. Phillips… And Jill Williams."
"Whatever is necessary." He had enough of people hitting on him in prison, and that had only been a very few times. He had eventually caught on.
"She purposefully leaned over her desk, so she could expose her chest more. "I see."
Herbert was unaffected as he glanced at her breasts that seemed to pop out of her shirt. "… That contract and packet?" He had to remind her.
"Right." Jill stopped, as she now fished through a file cabinet next to her desk. She pulled out both, handing them to the mad scientist.
Hebert picked them up, now glancing at both. Thick walls… that would benefit him greatly. It meant that his experiments could go forward. Though, he'd be conducting most of his research in the cemetery's mostly abandoned church. There had been rumors the church had been haunted, so they only used it during funeral services and nothing more. Some funeral services might just be missing their guest of honor…
Nothing could stop Herbert's research.
The thick walls would help with the aftermath of his experiments, in case if he wanted to drag them into his apartment.
He briefly read over the contract; after a few minutes, he ended up signing the document before him. Once done, he handed it off to Jill, who took it immediately.
"Alright!" Jill took the contract now, filing it away, then turned back to the blonde with a smile. "You're all good now. Rent will be due in two days, the beginning of the month."
She fished out a key, now handing it to the male. "Do you want me to show you your apartment?"
"Sure."
Jill got up and opened the door, and Herbert followed. Passing a few doors, Jill stopped at 10B. Before leaving, she stroked his shoulders and giggled.
"Enjoy your stay!"
Herbert grunted a response. She seemed like trouble already, but she would easy to manipulate if needed. With that thought in place, he went and unlocked the door to reveal the room inside. There lay out before him a full clean living room—two couches, a few tables, and a stand that could hold a TV.
He furrowed his brows— TVs must have advanced a lot over the years. It wasn't a big stand at all. The only TVs he saw were the clunky ones, not like the ones shown in the pamphlets on the stand.
He'd worry about it later though. He needed one for mostly show, and also to keep an eye out on the news.
A further exploration of the apartment revealed a kitchen, a study, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. The study could easily be turned into a miniature laboratory. The room was big enough afterall.
The bedroom, the master bedroom.
There was nothing but a night-stand within the room. It seemed almost symbolic of what he had done all those years ago, injecting himself with a weakened re-agent to stay awake to work on his research.
The withdrawal was absolutely hell when he went to prison. He couldn't tell about it to the staff members, neither complain about it for two full weeks.
Only after a month did the hell fully go away.
Though they probably did suspect him going through some sort of drug withdrawal… they just didn't know what.
He doubted that he should start up on it again. Though, it was most definitely tempting.
He was more than eager to get back to his work.
Scattering his thoughts then, he turned away from the bedroom. He needed to scope out the church.
ZZZZZZ
Within minutes, he found himself outside, walking down the sidewalk. It was easily approaching 8 PM, and it showed on the streets. It had been a bit more crowded, only a good hour ago.
The sound echoed as the doubledoors swung inward. The church seemed well maintained, at least in the present room, as far as he could tell from his entry position. Herbert strided forward, his vision quickly meeting the eyes of a stone statue of Jesus.
The scientist wore a disdainful expression. "Mind control… Morals standing only on your words with your father's pathetic book. Your people, no wonder they've never gotten as far in their thought process in day-to-day life, whereas as I have."
He then brushed past the statue, ignoring the cross hanging on the other end of the room, near an altar. Rows upon rows of pews sat in front of the elaborate display.
Funny... my parents had always brought ME to church… See how that turned out? He let out an amused snort at the thought.
He crossed the room now and opened up a door off to the left of the altar, entering an open area. For a good 15 minutes, he searched rest of the church and finally came across a room that could pass off as a basement.
Perfect— all he really needed was to clean up the counters, and it would be ready. He sighed. He'd have to start from scratch all over again. His equipment was all gone. Some of his notebooks were missing, not turned in. Only one or two were actually; those were the ones when he was in Switzerland…
He frowned at that. He considered Gruber to have been a friend of his until the very end.
He glanced down with an unreadable expression. At least he had found the hidden notebooks a couple of days ago. They documented his research when he had been with Dan. He decided to keep them nevertheless.
They were still valuable with information.
He tossed a look off to his right. This room hadn't been touched in years, and it was one of the rooms in back of the church. It definitely wouldn't be found.
Then he looked towards the door. He'd have to get a few locks for it though…
He wasn't going to be sent to prison again.
Scanning the entire room with his dark eyes, he realized one thing:
This would be one hell of a weekend coming up.
Tomorrow was Friday—
He could begin starting to clean up for progression of his work.
ZZZZZZZZ
Within a good half hour, he was back at his apartment with a bag of food in hand. He sighed through his nose, almost having sat down, suddenly hearing the doorbell.
"Who is it?" He called out, deciding to do so finally in a few moments.
"It's me! Dan Cain from the hospital."
He hadn't expected the man to visit. He was going to make the first move in a false, brand-new friendship.
"Coming." Herbert forced his voice to sound a bit cheery. The blonde set down the McDonalds bag and went to answer the door. He yanked it open, now coming face-to-face with his former-assistant.
"Hi, Herbert."
Chapter Text
A cold silence ; it gobbled up the atoms in the air with a fury.
"Are you so sure?" His voice spilled out, a icy cold reminder that decided to reveal itself right in that moment. A reminder that the other had stabbed him in the back and quite efficiently as well.
God, as soon as Dan had heard that, he knew. He knew he hadn't imagined it when they first came face-to-face in a non-restrained environment. How? - had perhaps the first thought that crawled across the surface of his mind. The news of the riot had been all over the news, new details seemingly coming out about the investigation all the time. "Y-Yes," the word stumbled out, giving indication of his high anxiety that started to bubble up again. Fuck, this was impulsive. What did he expect would happen? "I... I know it's you."
"...What makes you think you can accuse me of --"
"Stop it, Herbert," Dan suddenly hissed, his hands shaking as they motioned for the other to open the door.
Herbert didn't. "... it's Howard. Completely different name." He tossed a look down the hallways both on their lefts and rights. God, why did this have to continue to such a degree as this? Why couldn't the other just leave him alone? A small part of him beamed at the opportunity to see Dan up close and outside of that horrible guarded visitor's room.
"Her-bert," he further emphasized, fearing for his very life at this point, thoroughly expecting a knife or gun shoved into him. He half didn't care. When it didn't come within a newfound tension in between the two, he let out a nervous laugh. Holy shit, he wasn't going to die.
A heated look came across the chemist's face, as he abruptly grabbed Dan's arm and pulled him into his apartment, which made the brown-haired doctor yelp.
"Ah -- ! Let go of me --"
As soon as Dan had protested, he had been. But immediate relief didn't come when he heard the blonde suddenly lock the door.
Herbert held a glare as he stepped closer, very nearly toppling the other over with how much hatred had slipped into his expression. "How dare you? You've let me to rot. I had trusted you!" He rose his voice only the slightest bit, but it must as well have been a yell considering.
Dan let out a ragged breath, sliding his eyes closed for a moment as he attempted to compose himself. His heartrate had definitely risen the moment he had come here. He had reasoned to do something kind for himself later on... but that action felt it wouldn't occur now. Yet.. he knew it had to. Maybe he'd force it. "...You.. were endangering people by conducting everything. It was maddening. It was sick --"
"Endangering, maddening. Sick, he says! Such righteous judgement coming from someone who had helped me, isn't it?" He argued, daring to get into Dan's face, who flinched from both the other's words and simple action. "Judging me won't erase what contributions you have made, Daniel," he said sharply, a certain type of fire dancing within his vision.
Dan swallowed harshly. "N-No fucking shit," he said weakly, cracking a bit more now the other had made his point. "But at least I decided to walk away from it, Herbert," he hatefully said, wondering if he should have just joined Herbert right in prison. He rubbed a hand down his face. Oh God, he still pondered on that? "I could never continue - oh God, don't tell me you're going to start up again," he remarked, realizing just hotly the other had retaliated.
Herbert scowled, the usual coldened expression fell onto his face -- and was it just Dan or did it seem more demented more than ever before? "That is none of your business, don't change the subject. This is about you being an asshole to me."
H-He didn't answer. "I-I did the right thing, and I still stand by it," he said hoping his tone seemed calm, to soothe the waters. But the damage had already been done.
"...Congratulations to you, Daniel fucking Cain. How do you want your medal, hm?" He retorted sarcastically, as he finally went over to his food, starting to dig it out of the bag, the noises of the crinkling wrapper taking up the silence from the kitchen as he came back into the living room holding one of the McChickens within his fingers. He crossed over to the front door and placed his body up against it.
"I did," he seethed, finally finding enough strength to say the words. "There was too much carnage, certainly you can see that?" He pointed out, slightly distracted by the present image of Herbert actually eating something. Things could change a lot over 13 years... It didn't surprise him in the slightest it being straight up junk food though. An old feeling of concern tried to surface, but the doctor chased it away in an instant.
"...And you had never seen -- and continue to do so -- how to make progress, there has to be some collateral," Herbert said, as he started to munch on his sandwich. Not bad.
"God, you're just... just... " he widened his eyes, realizing more of the conclusion of what he made a couple years ago about the other. And now it was literally staring him in the face?
"..What, Dan?" He remarked, once he had noticed a silence in between them, and after he had swallowed a couple of bites.
"A-A.. monster," he almost whispered. He had been downright afraid to say it outloud, the word sounding ominous spilling out.
The silence crawled up the walls like deadly spiders, threatening to swallow up around them. It had been said -- given form. The spiders skittered across the surface planting themselves right in between the two and caused a black hole.
"A monster he says.. would a monster.. want to conquer death, Dan?" Herbert spoke all too calmly, making the spiders whisp away to finally go back into the darkness.
Dan swallowed. What the hell kind of game was he trying to play now? He tried to rid of his fear, at least a little bit of it, as he blinked towards the other. ".. I'd argue his actions matter, to follow through aligned with his intentions."
There was a pause, as the chemist considered. "..are you saying.. my intentions.. are impure?"
Dan couldn't make himself move a single inch, the horror of being attached to Herbert through his cold stare had happened. He knew fear lingered within his own hues. "N-No.. it's.. your actions, your actions that are awful. T-They.. contradict."
The blonde's brows knitted. ".. are you.. calling me a hypocrite?"
"U-Uh.." Dan shook. It felt like he had painted himself into a corner. He inched away, finally being able to move.
Herbert moved forward an inch. "You'll all see.." he whispered, now taking another step, and Dan tried to skitter backwards. "Ah --" But the chemist yanked a bat from nearby and immediately brought it down onto Dan's leg, which made his former-partner cry out. The ex-prisoner moved fast and brought down his foot onto the other's calf hard, trying to crush it. "You'll all see.." he hissed, repeating such a thing towards the shaking leaf that was Dan underneath him. "I have nearly perfected my work.. it's almost ready to be shown to the world... Finally, from underneath terrible conditions, it will prove to grow beyond those limitations and prove its true worth," he continued to mutter, his face inches from Dan's as he leaned down.
"Daniel Cain, you will be known by the world to be a traitor towards the greatest scientist mankind will ever know... the scientist, the miracle worker... Someone who stood by his idea, and fought hard for it, and will be hailed as a new God of the world..."
Herbert's speech made chills run down Dan's spine. Oh God, why was his curiousity poking at him at a time like this? "J-Just let me g-go.." he attempted to say, begging, though careful not to move a muscle. Goddamn, his leg ached. What the absolute fuck?
"..No," the doctor seethed out, bringing down his foot once again hard onto Dan's leg, making him cry out.
"W-What's the point, Herbert!?" He exclaimed, groaning at the additional pain soaring up the limb. "Are you... are you going to... k-kill me? R-Right now?"
A hard look had passed onto the chemist's face, yet -- it softened the slightest bit. Hestiation. Why was hestiation there? A sneer licked up onto his face. ".. No, not for the current moment.. instead, revenge will be slow.. is that understood, Dan?" He said poisonously, a cold hatred dancing within his eyes. Yeah, Dan was terrified shitless, alright. Good.
"I -- sure -- uh -- yeah, er, great," Dan struggled to put together even a coherent sentence. Dear God, he'd have to start seeing his therapist again. He wanted to cry.
"Up on your feet," he instructed, reaching down and yanking Dan up by the hair to jumpstart Dan moving again. His foot finally moved, as he stepped back away from the other.
Dan let out a slow breath as he crumpled right back down again. His eyes flickered to various objects, as if he were truly trying to study them. A slight mutter had been underneath his breath, and after a tense minute, he shoved himself up even if his legs were jelly. He seethed at the pain coursing through his lower leg -- that was going to hurt like hell tomorrow. Thank you, Herbert, you're so goddamn generous! "W-What now?"
"... I suppose your fear is a clear indication of you keeping your mouth shut, am I correct in my assumption?"
The brown-haired doctor looked incredulously at him. Then scowled. "Y-Yeah.. I'll keep your secret," he whispered. "Like.. fucking.. always," he harshly said, not knowing how just intertwined Herbert was within the hospital system, much less identity wise. Yes, justification-- it soothed him.
A smirk dared to crack onto Herbert's face. "Excellent then. I'll show you out of the apartment building, Mr. Cain. It was a pleasure to talk to you," Herbert strung along, as he unlocked the front door and motioned for Dan to go out first.
The doctor sighed hotly, walking with a slight limp right out of the door. "Likewise, Mr. Phillips."
"... I'm thinking we could have lunch sometime next week?"
Oh God, this was ridiculous. Dan rolled his eyes, but smiled forcibly. "Yeah, that'd be great to do. I'd like that," he said pleasantly, horrified at just well he pulled it off in that very moment.
"Perfect.. you have my number afterall.."
It didn't take much more turns, but they were outside, once again letting that toxic silence fill the air. As soon as Herbert went back into the apartment, he seethed, dropping the facade.
...Perfect, indeed.
Britto on Chapter 1 Tue 14 Nov 2023 11:59AM UTC
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Britto on Chapter 1 Tue 14 Nov 2023 12:10PM UTC
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JTHMManson4 on Chapter 1 Tue 14 Nov 2023 08:45PM UTC
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