Psychologist: Dr. Adreana Valasquez, resident school psychologist

Subject #1: Dane O'Breine

Subject #2: Hale O'Breine

Findings: After speaking to both brothers, my initial evaluation is that their relationship is a troubled mix of brotherly camaraderie, healthy competition, and underlying hate. They compete against one another over everything from school, girls, and starting fights in school with each other and other students. Yesterday, they started a fight with each other and then turned on a boy who tried to stop them. The match turned into a twelve-person brawl with the other boy's friends who jumped in to help. When they were done beating ten other students to a pulp, they picked their fight right back up. The brothers have unresolved issues that go deeper than anything I can find after a summary evaluation.

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Dane stood over the remains of the three troopers. The fires from the crash crackled around him, and he could feel the heat distinctly.

Blood was trickling from the wounds sustained by the death heads.

Dane crouched down and stared at one of the Deathhead's masks intently. "They knew you were here to die. Why send you?" he mused aloud. Then he stood, kicked a little dirt up with his foot pensively, and started walking away. He tapped his ear. "Dennis, where is my brother's position?"

"Sir, there is a small wing not far from this main hanger. It seems they set up a makeshift interrogation room away from the main base, here. Just behind the wreckage is a door that leads into a hallway. If you follow that, base schematics indicate it will be the last door on your right.

Dane proceeded to make his way around the wreckage of the downed aircraft speedily. He found the entrance that Dennis had told him about. It was blocked by a piece of one of the wings, so Dane chopped down with his hand, bent it slightly, then hauled it away from the door with a screech of metal on metal.

The door unbarred, Dane opened it and slid inside.

Except for a little bit of hanging smoke, the hallway appeared to be none the worse for wear from the battle.

Dane followed Dennis' instructions and proceeded down the brightly-lit hallway. The walls were beige and white, with occasional whiteboards with information about different levels of base operations.

At the end of the hall, Dane saw the door that Dennis had indicated. He started to open it but stopped. His heartbeat was in his ears, and he felt his strength drain from the emotional block he was experiencing.

After all the fighting he had been through, walking through this door was the hardest part of all.

Finally, after many moments of excruciating indecision, Dane slowly turned the knob.

When he entered the room, he saw a man with his back turned and facing the wall. When the man heard the sound, he turned around quickly, as if expecting one of his captors. When he saw Dane, though, he straightened in surprise, and his eyes flared with sudden apprehension. "Dane," he breathed.

Dane had his head bowed slightly at the door as he looked at his brother. He was embarrassed and ashamed, yet his brother had asked him to be here. "Hale."

Hale walked forward and clasped Dane by the shoulder, then drew him forward and slapped him on the back in a manly hug. Dane did the same, and for a moment the two held each other in a brotherly embrace. Then, finally,  pulled back.

When the two let go, Hale hauled his arm back and delivered a roundhouse right to Dane's face.

Dane was rocked from the force of the blow, but it did not hurt nearly as bad as any bullet impact. And yet, he felt it more acutely.

Hale stepped back and was shaking his hand in pain. "Goddamn it, Dane. Your face is as hard as a rock!" Then he looked closer and saw the spider web weave on his skin. His breath caught in his throat and his voice became a hushed whisper. "What did they do to you?"

Dane scratched his head. "Would you believe me if I told you I don't fully understand it myself?"

Hale shrugged. "You are a bastard, you know that?" then he stopped and cocked his head to the side. "How in the hell did you get here so fast? I sent that message not an hour and a half ago. Weren't you in space?"

Dane laughed a bit, embarrassed. "Yeah, I jumped."

Hale laughed a bit and shook his head in exasperation. "Never one for the simple way. It always has to be flashy and..." he stopped. His demeanor became serious and controlled, but his voice betrayed his true emotions. "There is something I have to tell you. It's about Kaley."

Dane strained his face against the budding emotions. Then he turned and slammed his hand through the wall. A large crack went along the entire length from the impact of the punch.

Dane had his eyes locked on the wall, and he was fuming. "The modifications to my body are the least of our concerns,” he said, anticipating Hale’s question. “What happened to Kaley? What couldn't you tell me when I was in Outlook 6?"

Hale slowly walked up behind and placed his hand soothingly on his brother's shoulder. "Dane... that was only half the tragedy. She did not die swiftly."

Dane's head swept around violently. "What do you mean her death was not swift?"

Hale popped his neck and grimaced through the explanation. "Dane, you left nine months ago. Not a word to me, to her, to anyone at all. We did not know if you were alive or dead. We could not tell you." Slowly he grasped him by both shoulders and turned him around so that they could stare eye-to-eye. "Dane, Kaley was—"

"Don't say it! Don't you dare say it!"

"—pregnant, with your kid."

Dane ran his hands through his hair and fell to his knees as all the strength drained from his body. "Is my child alive?"

"My intel says she gave birth before she died."

"Nine months," he breathed. "I've been gone nine months. The time..."

Hale leaned in and crouched down, rubbing his brother's back. "What do you mean, brother? Time?"

Dane motioned to his body with both hands. "Hale, this... my life since I left seems like such a blur. Day melded into the night; then it was not even day or night anymore because I was in space. Time had no meaning where I was. At times I was awake, then I was trussed off to one surgery after the next. Experiments, pain, and recuperation. Then the cycle started over. I had no idea."

Hale nodded and clasped his brother's head in his hands. "Of that, I am sure of." And then he brought his brother's head against his shoulder. "Dane, don't walk away this time."

Dane looked up and met his brother's eyes. "Never!" he sniffed and pushed away. "Now is not the time. We must go. They will be coming any time now—for you, and to stop me." They both started walking toward the door out when he stopped with his hand on the handle. "Wait. You said no one knew where I was. How did you and our hacker friend Syntex find me? I was in a Cerberus prison facility under an alias."

Hale shook his head. "Syntex told me where to find you. I don't know how he got the information."

Dane smirked. "Then we start with Syntex and find out how the fuck he knew where I was, get my god damned kid back from whatever asshole thinks they can keep him from me, and then rip the goddamned bastards’ throat out that killed Kaley."

Hale clapped Dane on the back reassuringly. "Let's give 'em hell, brother."

Dane pressed his finger to his temple. "Dennis, I need an out, something that can get us out of a military base filled with armed men. Something powerful, strong, and nigh unstoppable." Then Dane looked back at his brother who was raising a curious eye to how he was talking to himself. "Just another little add-on from our friends in Cerberus. Built-in AI that feeds me intel."

The wary eye that his brother was giving him as he pushed his glasses back up onto his nose was enough but was reinforced by what he said next. "I am going to have a lot to get used to, aren't I?"

"Sir, there is one option,” Dennis said. “It appears they have three operational ACEs on base and one is situated not far from here."

Dane sat back a bit as he stopped walking, with the door to the outside just ahead. "An ACE?"

Hale pushed his brother on the side of his arm as they went. "You cannot be serious?"

"Oh yes, I am."

The two exchanged a silent, stunned look at what they were about to do; then both broke out in excited smiles. "Oh, hell yeah!" Hale yelled. He punched his brother in the arm excitedly. "Hey guess what? While you were gone, I got ACE qualified, top of my class."

Dane kicked the ground dejectedly. "You mean I don't get to drive... again?"

- End of Episode 11 -

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