He had survived much longer than anyone else who was a subject of these experiments, but he wondered how much longer it would be before a procedure he couldn’t handle was performed on him, or Eclipse, specifically their leader, simply decided it had no more use for him. His heart sunk every time he thought about it, but at least he had gotten a few days off from the procedures and tests while his 'lovely' wife was away, even if he had been unconscious for most of it.

With a rare opportunity present, he had to attempt to escape no matter how much he wanted to just sleep this away. He had magic to spare, so while he couldn’t completely revitalize himself or purge the drugs from his system, he could enhance himself enough to counteract some of the effects of his ‘medications’. However, there was also the straitjacket. This was a magic insulating material, but that would only slow him down.

Metal expands and becomes more malleable with high temperatures, and the buckles holding his arms in place weren’t especially secure. He carefully and steadily generated and then removed heat around that specific area; if he did this too quickly, he would create an actual fire. He had already enhanced his own strength, meaning he was just able to wiggle free with a few seconds of struggling. 

The lock on the door was trickier. It was an electronic locking mechanism, most mages would be out of luck at this point. Magically-generated electricity had a habit of shocking the owner far more often than it shocked the actual target. But there was a trick to that too; touch the target directly, and keep the voltage low; it didn’t actually take that much to fry an electronic such as this lock.

As he quickly fried the lock, he avoided the urge to reminisce. Did his wife just forget that she taught him that?

The last part would be the guards outside. That was what got him, every time. He can’t out-think his way through four or five combat-trained mages. But it sounded like they were already busy, so he would just hang back for a few minutes. Was it cowardly? Yes. But was he prepared for a fight? No.

Meanwhile, Charlotte was getting closer to her goal, but something felt wrong. She wasn’t anywhere close to being tired, but each punch was getting slower and weaker, and each of her opponent’s’ attacks were getting harder to dodge or endure. She looked at the bright overhead lights and cursed under her breath as she was temporarily blinded. It took a whole lot more than just UV lights to trigger a vampire’s sunlight intolerance. True artificial sunlight was something that was only theoretically possible, but was already considered inhumane in the supernatural world. Of course Eclipse would have made a working prototype.

She should have seen this coming, but she forgot to take Eclipse’s recently-lost sense of ethics into account when planning this heist. She was only a few doors down from the lab that she was gunning for, but her chances of getting out alive got slimmer the further she got. But she had gone too far to quit, and it was too late to turn back anyway. She kept going, until she was only a few yards from the door.

Another mage came. She tried to close the distance, but that just gave him the opportunity to grab her wrist and twist it harshly. He had obviously enhanced his physical strength, and she felt her joints twisting painfully under his grip. She managed to punch him hard in the stomach as she was twitching, and then bite him quickly before tossing him aside. She didn’t bother trying to extract much; more magic isn’t going to help when she’s unable to use her power.

She would keep going like this for a few more fights, but she was going to be completely helpless before too long. And then there was the light. She always despised that harsh, glaring light. She spent a few seconds stumbling around before collapsing the moment nobody was around.

She was still awake and aware, but all she could really do is turn her head and stare at the wall directly in front of her. She had made a mistake, sure, but she wasn’t going to spend her last few moments wallowing in self-hatred. If she was going to think about what she had done wrong to end up in this place, and in this condition, that list probably started years before this. She watched the door that she had been gunning for, the one where the most heinous and unethical experiments had been taking place. To her surprise, the door opened on its own, and out came a man.

“Dad? No…” This man wasn’t her father, and he was clearly wasn't one of the scientists. His skin wasn’t as pale as hers, but it was still quite flushed and sick looking. She couldn’t tell if his dark hair was as thick as it looked, or if it just looked that way because it was quite unkempt. He looked like he was on death’s door himself, but that serious expression on his face was the same one he wore that day he blew the whistle on his own wife during a public meltdown.

Gaius, on the other hand, only vaguely remembered seeing photos of this woman, but he could make a few deductions. She’s on the ground, weak as a kitten, which meant she was likely a vampire. He wished he was surprised that his colleagues employed the artificial sunlight for this. But she got this far, which meant that she was seriously powerful, or seriously lucky. And if she's even here in the first place, it meant that she wasn't one to play politics.

“You’re The Stray, aren’t you? I didn’t think a mercenary like you would be stupid enough to come here.” The strange man knelt directly next to her as she grimaced slightly. Charlotte had a love-hate relationship with that nickname. It may have been a derogatory reference to her lack of pedigree as a vampire, but it was also a name that was spoken with just the right amount of fear.

“What’s it to you?” Despite the very public breakdown Gaius had months ago, Charlotte had no idea where he currently stood on anything. In fact, everyone believed that he was dead, so he didn’t factor into any of her plans. Did he stand by what he said, or was he 'rehabilitated'?

While Charlotte was attempting to determine what his intent was, Gaius removed his gloves, rolled up one of his sleeves the best he could, and placed a hand on her forehead. He would be near useless in a confrontation, but he had power and know-how, and that was better than nothing.

Charlotte felt a warm sensation, and then the pain dissolved away. She still could barely see, and she could tell that she was significantly weaker, but she felt like she’d be able to function.

“Get up. The longer we stand around, the harder it’s going to be for us both.” He may have lost some of his people skills over these past few months, and just hoped that he wasn’t giving her the wrong idea about his intentions. Right now, he just needed to get out, he’d figure the rest out later. Charlotte did as she was told, and found that while she wasn’t at full strength, she was still good enough to stand up and walk around, and hopefully make a run for it.

Gaius, in the meantime, was laser-focused on his task. He remembered that there was a mop and bucket still filled with water in the room he just left, and swiftly carried the bucket out, dumping it on the floor. Charlotte somewhat understood what he was doing; this hallway was a chokepoint, and if they couldn’t be followed here, then it was nearly impossible for them to get caught. 

Flash freezing this large of an area was a risk. His magic reserves were plentiful, but he could only do so much at once. Would he be able to continue fighting the effects of the sedatives while he was doing this? It didn’t matter, this was a do-or-die situation. He placed his hands on the wet floor, and the puddle solidified instantly. Gaius was beginning to feel nauseous and tired, but he was still awake, and that’s all he needed. He looked over to Charlotte and nodded sternly. “We need to go, now.”

‘We’? Neither of them questioned it right now. They were their best chance at surviving this, and they’d sort out the details. The both of them made a bee-line for the exit a they heard shouts behind them. The nearest door outside wasn’t too far, and was only locked from the inside. A pair of crossbow bolts grazed each of them, but the fire doors were directly in front of them. An alarm sounded as they two shoved it open, and neither of them stopped or looked back.

“You’re sticking with me, unless you know a quicker way out.” Charlotte grabbed Gaius’s arm and steered him towards her van. She hopped into the driver’s seat first before extending her hand across and helping Gaius into the passenger’s seat.

"Wait." Before she tried to speed of, Gaius placed his hand over her eyes, an hastily tried to restore her vision the best he could. Maybe her vision was recovering, but that wasn't a risk he wanted to take.

Gaius was looking behind them as they sped away, but not Charlotte. This van was almost as sturdy as a tank, but it more comfortable and blended in more easily. Those mages won’t be able to do anything even if they do catch up, except for stalking her until she parks or runs out of gas. Her current priorities were to make sure they don’t tail her all the way home, and not get herself and her passenger killed in an auto accident while evading their pursuers. Gaius’s main priority was not falling asleep after getting into a van with a strange vampire.

It was a full fifteen minutes before the adrenaline in both of their bodies started wearing off, but that only replaced one form of tension with another. Charlotte had failed to find who she was looking for, and had no idea if the straggler she picked up would actually be an asset, or would even cooperate. Gaius, on the other hand, was in a situation where he had no choice but to place his trust in a dangerous woman he had never met before. But that was still a noticeable improvement over his previous situation, and he couldn’t help but feel himself let his guard down just a bit, despite his better judgment.

“So then, what are your plans from here?” Charlotte asked casually as she was driving in a nonsensical pattern in an attempt to throw off anyone who may still be following the two of them. She turned to Gaius, and instead of an answer, she found him slumped over and sleeping soundly, having apparently lost the fight to stay awake. She sighed; that was an extremely awkward conversation delayed for now.

She took the longest and most convoluted route home she could think of for safe measure. Her mission was a failure, but maybe not a complete one. She had the Director’s husband, and someone who knows the inner workings of Eclipse better than anyone from the outside she could contact. Charlotte was not done yet, and she was going to take care of her father one way or another.