âItâs alright; everythingâs okay. Itâs good that we missed the train, I promise.â
âI... It doesnât feel like that. Maybe cause I was... wired in but it feels like we missed something important.â
âit was only a dollar fifty, I promise itâs not going to put Mason into bankruptcy.â he shook his head. Corey really was just so pure, it was no wonder he didnât work out in his pack. Moving over to the chair heâd slide back down, âI found it. Thatâs why it took me a while to get back.â he confessed even though it was a lie. He leaned back in the chair, allowing his eyes to slide shut. He wouldnât sleep however, he was there to keep an eye on the other after all.Â
ââŚ.try to get some more rest. youâll heal quicker if you do.â the otherâs wounds were deep and probably would take quite some time to heal, even with his inhuman ability to regenerate. After all it had been The Wild Hunt and Garrett that set him up to a supernatural conductor.Â
âItâs not the amount that Iâm worried about. Itâs a precedent.â Corey said. He was mostly sure that was the right word- that because it happened once, it could happen again with much less arguing and fighting. Because it was fine before, it should be fine again. âIf I take one thing, I can take another and Mason has that way with money. He bought all those multihundred dollar books on whims. I donât.. I donât want him spending like that on me.â
He leaned back watching carefully as Theo closed his eyes. Was it a trick to lul Corey into security? If Theo was sleeping, he couldnât hurt anyone.Â
âIs that true for every chimera?â Corey asked quietly. There was no way to know. A werewolf could ask another werewolf about his potential limits. But Corey-
Corey could only ask Theo and hope for the best. âIâm glad you found the bathroom.â
Send đ to kiss my muse tenderly without explanation
   âYou donât know what?â
âAm I awake right now, or did that really just happen?â
   âiâm just  Âiâm glad youâre okay.â
âTheo-â Corey  said softly. âI donât know-â
Theo nodded when Corey mentioned wanting some water. With that heâd slide out of the room, wandering around the halls for a bit. He didnât actually need to use the bathroom, just needed a moment to breath and steady his emotions. Once heâd felt mostly collected heâd get Corey a water bottle from the machine and headed back to the room. âSorry. I couldnât find the bathroom.â he explained once entering the room, making his way over to the bed and holding out the bottle.Â
âYou... you didnât have to buy a bottle.â Corey said after a moment. The nurses would come by sometimes with the little paper cups, he was sure Theo could have found some water somewhere for free. âMaybe you can ask someone where the bathroom is, if you need it.â
He took a long sip, enjoying the feeling on the back of his scratchy throat before he lay back down with a yawn.
Send me âDid you just cough up blood?!â for my museâs reaction.
Theo nodded slightly, the chimera moving up to stand, ââŚare you thirsty, or hungry? Itâs a bit late, the cafeteria is probably closed. but Mason left me with a few dollars in case you woke up before morningâŚâ to be fair, he needed a breather. âI need to go use the bathroom anyway, I could grab you something while Iâm out?â making his way over to the door and pausing, glancing over still waiting for Coreyâs reply.Â
âIf... if you could just get me some water, that would be fine.â Corey said. He didnât need anything, and he especially didnât need Mason spending even more money on him. He nodded, before shifting back down on the bed with a sigh, rolling his shoulders as he tried to get comfortable
âYou want the truth? Probably not.â Theo answered honestly. He was horrified of the changes, he was horrified that maybe they wouldnât last. ââŚIâll probably end up hurting someone else somedayâŚbut I donât want to.â he sighed, ââŚdo you want me here?â his voice flat. He didnât want his new found emotions to get a hold of him, not here. He could feel himself crumbling the more they spoke about what heâd done. He knew it wouldnât just go away, he knew it would haunt him for the rest of his life. His sisterâs death had.Â
âI can call Liam, or Scott. If you donât want me here, all you have to do is say so.â All he wanted to do was help, to help Corey. If him keeping his distance was what the chameleon needed, then heâd provide. Heâd leave him alone.Â
Corey nodded. It made sense. It took so much for a person to change- he just had to remember Lukas to know that. The boy had been so sweethearted, and it took the Dread Doctors to give him the headstrong confidence to come on to Corey first. It hurt to think maybe Theo would still hurt people, but it wasnât surprising.Â
âI donât mind yo being here.â Corey shook his head. Theo was still a reminder maybe somewhere out there, there was someone like him. âWhatâs the worse youâd do to me tonight?â
A part of Corey still consider Theo his alpha? That surprised the part wolf coyote. He blinked, watching the other shift and move about. He shook his head yet again. âIâm sorry it had to be meâŚto be the only other chimeraâŚthe doctors were good at that though. Killing off their so called failures.â he sighed lightly. âI donât want to hurt people anymoreâŚI know itâs probably hard to believe, but itâs the truth.â he knew heâd probably end up hurting someone eventually, this change in him, it couldnât be a permanent thing, could it?
The doctorâs had said he was the purest evil and that was why he couldnât be what they wanted. Theyâd thought it was evil they needed, when in the end it had been the opposite. Mason, Coreyâs boyfriend, was the complete mirror to Theoâs evil. He was the purest good. He was what the Doctorâs had been looking for, but luckily hadnât succeeded. At least Mason wasnât like them, wouldnât have to live with the feeling of being incomplete, not being one of something.Â
âIt didnât have to be you.â Corey said, narrowing his eyes in the slightest. Josh didnât have to die a second time, and neither did Tracey. They could have made it. âWe could have stuck together. We could have worked out, I think we could have. I know Josh thought of us like family. We didnât have to be cut in half like this. The doctors seem like theyâre just fine with killing us only once.â
He frowned, glancing at Theo up and down. He seemed almost sincere- seemed. But how could he know? Mason trusted him, at least enough to go home and sleep while Theo was here. It had to mean something âYou really think you can change like that?âÂ
Theo sat up rather quickly as Corey began to move, brows knitting together with obvious concern. He knew the other healed quickly however, they both did. He remained where he was, still not approaching as he wasnât sure it was allowed. He watched the other closely however, keeping a weary eye in case he needed to get Melissa. ââŚIâŚ.â he began when Corey mentioned the pack. To an extent it was true, but none of them had fully trusted him, well there had been one. Sheâd even loved him, he was pretty certain.
âYou feared me CoreyâŚâ he corrected, âyou did what I asked, because you were afraid.â he sighed. Josh had never trusted him, had even challenged him. Hayden, well she was much more interested in Liam and helping Scottâs pack because of it. Theo shook his head, ââŚI wasnât an alpha. I shouldnât have done what I did.â but he supposed, if he hadnât, Corey wouldnât be here now.Â
âYouâre not the only chimera left.â he didnât want to say Corey had him, why would Corey want that? After everything that had happened. But at least, he could live knowing he wasnât the only one. Each chimera was unique and in a way, one of a kind. They were all alone, or at least, he and Corey were. But Corey had Mason. He had someone.Â
He dropped one hand down from his legs, leaning it behind him for some extra support. There had been too many wires in him- the strange drug or magic, whatever that green stuff was that kept him down now kept him just a bit tired. At least enough now he was willing to admit in front of Theo he needed his arm down to keep himself propped up.
âI feared everything.â Corey said. âMy boyfriend turned into a scorpion and died in the same night. An alpha jumped into my brain, I went Frankenstien. I bled mercury, and I was murdered, alone and scared. And you... you came, and you woke us up and you had all the answers we couldnât ask for. That we all want to know but we canât say because... god itâs sick. Weâd be dead without you. We all knew that. But you just... sauntered right by Scott, who said he was an alpha just like you and you werenât scared of him. So... that said something. And ... you gave us life, Theo. Thereâs a lot Iâd do for a guy who saved my life.â
He took  a deep breath. âYou told us you were our alpha. A part of me still feels that.â He shrugged. âNo. Youâre here, so ... I guess that means thereâs two chimeras left.â
Mason looked around the bathroom and took a deep breath as he got cleaned up. âIâm hiding in a bathroom, how hard can it be?â He asked and looked at his shirt.
âTheyâre not going to come for you.â Corey said. âThey have... bigger things to worry about, I bet.â
âfor what the Dread Doctors did to all of youâŚfor the pack, for JoshâŚTracyâŚâ he shook his head, looking away and leaning back in his chair. He wasnât good at this, someone couldnât just say they were sorry for killing people. It wasnât how it worked, was it? He deserved to be locked up, or worse. ââŚI was promised a packâŚI grew up as their lab rat for 9 years, and that had been the one thing Iâd ever wanted from themâŚand I ruined it.â it wasnât about the power, even though at the time thatâs what he thought. He knew now, it was because heâd wanted a family. ââŚ.you have every right to hate me.âÂ
âJosh and Tracy could still be here.â Corey said. He didnât want to talk about what the Dread Doctors did to them. He didnât want to think about it. After Scott clawed into his brain, he didnât stop dreaming about the operating table for months.
It seemed heartbreaking that Theo could have gone through that, raised like that. But he wasnât sure what to believe. Corey sat up, wrapping his arms around his knees with a wave of nausea. He wasnât sure he should be moving, but hey. Thatâs what being half-supernatural was for, right? âI did everything you told me to. You had a pack, we made a pack for you. You threw us away.â
Corey looked down at the tops of his knees. âI donât know if I hated you. I hated being the only chimera left.â
He looked at the door and pushed it open. His shirt was covered in grey, not to mention his lips and chin. He sniffled and looked at him. âTheyâre gonna come and kill me. Like they did to you and Hayden, and Josh.â
âHey.â Corey said. Okay, it didnât look good, but he wasnât going to say that. âRemember the mess I made?â
He got a towel and started to wet it in the sink, going to clean up Masonâs face. âYouâre smart, Mason. Theyâd have to shake the earth inside out to figure out how to pin you down.âÂ
@willsavethem started following you
âWe missed the train.â Corey said. Part of him was upset, as the metaphor seemed to imply he had missed something so important. "Where everyone was waiting. We missed it.â
âPlease just come to the bathroom.â His voice was panicked and almost upset. He was sitting against a wall, mercury dripping from his nose into his lap and onto his shirt. âItâs an emergency.âÂ
âOkay,â Corey said, since Mason couldnât see him nodded. He darted off to the closest bathroom, checking until he found Masonâs fancy sneakers under the door. âMason?â