God Save the Queen [William's Lab] (William)

[The Hive]

Her blue eyes stared forward as the lay there on the large dog bed, watching the flickering green and blue lights of the lab. The queen was, to put it bluntly, bored. She never went out with William anymore, like she used to back when she was just a kit. Even tonight, when he had left with two packs to find someone her subjects had called the "fast man", she had stayed behind. Nowadays, she just lay there, in this lab, watching monitors or observing the "master" work on one of his new experiments. Granted, the latter was quite fun to watch, though it filled her with a bit of... unease.

"We lost two tonight," she said, finally. The beautiful, snow-white Hive stood and stretched, muscles rippling under her coat. She had felt their screams in her skull when they had died. "Gunshots in their heads... I can still hear them."

[William Simms]

William sat at a table, watching a monitor as he ran tests on a tiny sample of Ty's blood. He was staring at the monitor intensely, wondering what on earth made Ty able to give his babies so much trouble. Every now and then, he'd see something, and start scribbling furiously in a notebook.

"We lost two tonight...Gunshots in their heads... I can still hear them"

William stood and walked over to the Queen, sitting down next to where she stood. He gently scratched the top of her head. "Two?" he said darkly. "I thought it was just the one...And I know you can. One downside of their brains being linked to yours. You feel the pain of every single one of them."

He sighed. "It hurts me too, precious. How mankind can be so cruel, I have no idea. They only do this to us because they're afraid of us. Society doesn't take kindly to what it doesn't understand. And that is why we must make them all suffer...."

[The Hive]

"Two? I thought it was just the one...And I know you can. One downside of their brains being linked to yours. You feel the pain of every single one of them."

The queen growled, but pushed her head into his hand, somewhat soothed by the scratching.. "One was to a... red man," she said. "That's what her thoughts said. He was scarlet red." She shook her head, frowning. "I didn't quite understand what she meant."

"It hurts me too, precious. How mankind can be so cruel, I have no idea. They only do this to us because they're afraid of us. Society doesn't take kindly to what it doesn't understand. And that is why we must make them all suffer...."

She smiled darkly. She knew what he meant about the cruelty. "That building you were at... I think it might hold much more then just the 'fast man'."

[William Simms]

William looked at her. "Red man...no one else must have run into him. He must've been formidable to take one out by himself. That, or a coward, who hid and shot from behind. I'm guessing the second." He let out a growl.

"Perhaps you are right. When I confronted fast man, he had two friends with him. And looking at these results, fast man has a natural genetic mutation of some sort. I'm guessing others, one being the red man, are also....special."

He sighed, getting up. and looking at his monitors and notes. He sat down beside the queen again, scratching her behind the ears. "But, I don't want to go back there. Not at the risk of losing more of you. You are my children. My babies. It's not worth it..."

[The Hive]

"Red man...no one else must have run into him. He must've been formidable to take one out by himself. That, or a coward, who hid and shot from behind. I'm guessing the second."

She shook her head. "He was protecting children. He was a father." Despite the loss of her subject, one she knew and cared about deeply, she understood completely why he had done it.

"But, I don't want to go back there. Not at the risk of losing more of you. You are my children. My babies. It's not worth it..."

The queen purred, giving him a sad smile. "We are many, William," she said. "And we breed quickly. The loss of two or three hurts, yes, but with the resources we could get from this place... we could become completely unstoppable." Her smile widened into a grin, her sabres glinting in the dim light of the laboratory.

[William Simms]

"A father, huh? That's understandable. I didn't realize there would be children. I know how big of an army all my Hive would make, but they're not just machines, bred for war. You all are my creations, and I love you all."

He thought a moment. "Unstoppable..." he tried the word out. "Maybe...this DNA sample I have already can help. If I can make my children stronger, even more the genetic colossus they already are...Then, and only then, will we go back. But, even then, we will spare parents and their children..." He smiled a sick grin. "Unless first provoked...."

[The Hive]

The queen grinned back at him. "Think of it," she said, walking behind him, to his other side. She sat beside her "master", eyes shining with promise. "Think of what we could do, what we can accomplish with this new DNA. Revenge on those who's hurt you..." Her grin became a smile. "Revenge on those who've hurt us."

[William Simms]

His grin became a creepy smile, a mischievous fire burning in his eyes. "Revenge. Vengeance. On every last bleeding one of them. They've hurt us. And very soon. It will be our turn to hurt them." He patted the queen on top of the head, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

He got up and returned to his work. Sometime later, he had mixed the blood with some other chemicals and samples, producing a liquid that was almost identical in appearance to the blood. He put sealed the vial. "I think I have it!" he said brightly. "Now...I need to go find a test subject...."

[The Hive]

The queen let out a laugh. She walked with him, purring as she did. "Wonderful, William," the Hive said, her voice just a whisper. "I believe in you." Then she turned, went back to her bed, and fell asleep. Tomorrow they could really have some fun...