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Tony's position here on the Tacoma was still shaky at best. It had been nearly a month since he and Roddie had kissed, and though things were just starting to feel somewhat normal again, Tony still felt tense and out of place. He'd thought for about thirty seconds that Roddie would immediately run to the rest of the crew and tell them the horrible story, turning all the people Tony had grown to love on him, but after the initial panic he'd realized Roddie wasn't that kind of person. He kept the things he was feeling close to his chest, but he felt them loudly, so you only had to look at him to know he was heartbroken.

Tony was still wracked with guilt and regret about the whole situation, but he was working through it. Seeing Roddie so broken from his own actions had been eye opening, and he'd taken a long, hard look at himself. He'd seen the person he thought he was, the person his parents had raised him to be, the kind of person who would reach into someone else's chest and tear out their heart, just because he thought he had no choice. He'd always had a choice.

He didn't want to be that person.

He'd all but decided to leave his position as an agent, not because he disliked the job itself but because it had helped shape him into this uncaring person he didn't want to be anymore. The real question was what to do next. Leaving Roddie's ship would be excruciating, but that would require Roddie's forgiveness, something Tony knew he couldn't ask for because of how little he deserved it. So he had to get over Roddie, and leave the ship, and to that end he had tentatively reached out to some old colleagues, mostly from college and his graduate program, hoping to avoid getting any real job offers that he'd be compelled to take.

He hadn't gotten any, thank goodness, but a few days ago he had been contacted by an independent research company who was looking for a data analyst to join an expedition to a remote research station which had gone dark about a week ago. The assignment seemed fairly simple, and not too far from where they were at the moment, and frankly it sounded interesting. The remote station had sent out a last video message a week ago where the head scientist seemed to be in distress and spoke cryptically about being paranoid and then was dragged off screaming just before the end of the video.

Tony was less intrigued by the mystery as he was glad to get back to the kind of agency work he was used to, sorting through computer files for evidence and figuring out what had happened, as well as a chance to get away from the tense atmosphere on board the Tacoma. Maybe some time away from Roddie and the crew would allow him the get his priorities straight. After Tony had transmitted his acceptance of the job, the research company had sent him the details and invited him to bring any members of the crew he was staying with he thought might help the mission. He'd been reluctant to do so, but he had to admit that they were all very skilled and would be an asset to the mission.

"--So, that's it in a nutshell," he says, finishing up his explanation of the mission he was departing on, and maybe he'd slightly played up the dangerous part of the explanation, "The planet is hostile, and the reason for the missing research crew is most likely dangerous, but I've been instructed to offer you all a paid place in the mission, should you desire it, though I understand if you'd prefer to sit this one out." He's standing in front of the whole crew, but through his whole explanation he hadn't managed to look at Roddie once, the same way he hadn't been able to look at him ever since he'd cast Roddie away.

"I leave tomorrow from the nearest space station, so... I'll need to know who's coming with me now."

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"Well, that doesn't sound like the best mission," Zakeef says in a monotone, stirring his coffee with the end of one of Tony's pens and taking a sip, "But it does sound like worst mission. I'm gonna sit this one out. Sorry, kid." He stands up, clapping Tony lightly on the shoulder as he leaves the room.

"Yeeaaahh, this doesn't sound like my kind of thing," Boscha says, sitting forward and pushing herself up with her hands on her knees, "Sorry. I'm out too."

Vira looks conflicted, biting on her lip with her sharp teeth and twiddling all four of her thumbs nervously.

"Ohh, Anthony, I'm sorry," she says, her voice strained, "It's just...it sounds risky, and the whole thing with the...scientist being dragged off, screaming...oh, sweetheart, I wish you wouldn't go, I know you say jobs like this are pretty routine for people with your position, but -- intangible danger like that is just..."

She trails off, then shakes her head before standing up and hugging Tony lightly and kissing him on the cheek.

"Be careful, all right? And radio us when you can. I'll be worrying about you."

She departs, leaving only Roddie behind, who was slumped down low in his chair with his arms crossed and was staring very intentionally at the floor.

"...So," he says uncertainly, bouncing his leg and letting out a breath he'd been holding in ever since Tony had begun describing the danger he was about to willingly and knowingly put himself in, "You really do stuff like this all the time? That sucks."

He glances up at him for a moment, then looks away again, pressing his lips tightly together before raising his hand.

"I'll go with you," he says, letting is raised hand fall back into his lap, "I'll do it. I'm sure it'll be...fun."

"Not, um, all the time," he says, fidgeting nervously and fighting the urge to run from the room and avoid being alone with Roddie, even if they had settled into being able to have short conversations lately, "I mean I'm the... computer guy, so usually they can bring the files to me, but sometimes they... can't." He finishes, swallowing and twisting his fingers together. He looks up sharply when Roddie says he'll come, blinking in surprise. He'd mostly played up the danger so Roddie wouldn't come, not when the job was sorting through computer files, that wasn't the kind of danger Roddie liked to jump into. There were no volcanoes at all. It occurs to Tony that maybe playing up the dangerous side of it could have backfired and made Roddie worry unnecessarily about him, and not want him to go alone, but tony rejects that idea. Roddie shouldn't still care about him that much, not after what he did.

"All... all right. Are you... sure? I mean, in all likelihood I'll just be sitting at a computer for a few days and nothing at all will happen. You'll... Probably be bored," he says, realizing he's still looking at Roddie and looks down sharply, "I mean, that's how it usually is. They have to be up front about possible danger to avoid... Lawsuits and the like, but the reality of it usually isn't so dramatic."

"I'll figure out something to do," he says, shooting him a tentative half smile and pressing his tongue against the inside of his cheek, "I mean, you need someone to watch your back out there, just in case you do get in trouble. I mean...I dunno, I wouldn't want to be out there all alone with a bunch of beaurocrat strangers if things did end up getting hairy, so...I'm coming. If there's nothing, I'll sit around playing tic tac toe for a few days at the worst, and if there's something then...I'll be there and whatever it is can eat us both."

He laughs a little, even though the thought made him vaguely nervous, and he scratches the back of his head.

"When do we fly out?" he asks, clearing his throat.

Tony's heart aches at Roddie's words, the small smile and the protective nature of them just making his guilt and regret rear it's ugly head, making the hole in his chest feel like a gaping wound. It takes him a moment to reply, swallowing thickly and getting himself under control, and when he looks up he looks just past Roddie's head instead of at him.

"Tomorrow, oh-eight-hundred," he says with a nod, "They're providing a ship. I'll tell them I have a capable pilot for it." He hesitates for a moment before walking away, making a valiant effort at looking at Roddie's face and failing spectacularly, "Thank you," he says quietly, turning and heading back to his quarters to prepare.

Roddie nods, though it takes him a minute to remember what "oh-eight-hundred" meant in non-military time. He opens his mouth to say more, but Tony is out of the room, leaving him wondering if offering on the spur of the moment to isolate himself with Tony was such a good idea after all.

He goes to bed early that night, setting an alarm and giving himself plenty of time to wake up before it was time to head out. He skulks drowsily into the kitchen at around 6:30, fully dressed but with his hair all a mess, and makes himself a cup of coffee and a bowl of instant oatmeal before heading to Tony's quarters and knocking lightly on the door.

"Hey," he says, tilting his head against the door, "You ready in there?"

Tony had been up for hours, having his breakfast and preparing for the mission. He startles at the knock on the door, as he'd been neck-deep in the backups of the research station's transmissions.

"Yeah!" he calls, stumbling out of his chair and grabbing his bag he'd packed last night, "I'm coming!" He opens his door, glancing at Roddie before looking past him, "We can go."

He leads the way out of the ship and onto the space station, towards the gate he'd been instructed to meet the other members of the expedition at. A man and woman were standing there already, which meant they were only missing one man. Tony smiles at them as he approaches, and they return his smile hesitantly.

"Good morning. I'm Anthony Miller, the data analyst. This is R... Roderigo Jaurez, he'll be the pilot," he says, gesturing to Roddie and stumbling a little over his name, almost calling him Roddie. He hadn't referred to Roddie by his nickname outside of his own mind since they'd kissed, feeling like it was too familiar and affectionate for what they were now.

"Hey," Roddie says with a wave and a crooked half smile, despite how it stung to hear Tony speaking about him so formally. He extends his synthetic hand to shake the hands of the doctors before sticking them into his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Nice to meet y'all. Are we about ready to go? I can, uh, check out the ship and get familiar with everything while we wait around here. Miller sent me the coordinates and I got a route mapped out for us last night, so I'm ready to go as soon as everyone else is."

He does his best to sound professional and friendly, though he wasn't sure at all what to make of these people, and certainly didn't know what they would make of him.

Roddie referring to him by his last name hits him like a slap across the face, though he does his best to not let anything show on his face. He'd done it many times since their kiss, and each time felt just as bad as the last, each one a reminder if how little he deserved to be here.

"I'm Dr. Feldspar and this is Dr. Jones," says the woman, gesturing to the man beside her, and Tony nods at them, "We're just waiting on Mr. Tierney, then." They exchange pleasantries for the few minutes until the last member shows up, Tony making idle chatter about the reports he'd been reading up on.

The journey to the planet takes a few hours, during which Tony spends his time as far away from the cockpit as he possibly can. When they land on the planet they're a long hike from the research facility, due to the hostile weather on the planet it would have been unsafe to park the ship any closer or risk the ship being torn apart by wind and freezing temperatures.

They all bundle up and make their way out to the station, all of them wary as they step into the front area of the research facility, warily taking off their goggles and hats. Tony sees a computer terminal nearby, and gravitates towards it, immediately tapping away.

Roddie had used his implanted mask rather than putting on the one they had given him, and garners a few stares from the other three when he flips it off. He slings his bag over his shoulder and decides to poke around a little for a place for them to sleep, looking at a map of the facility he'd downloaded to his mobile phone to find the crew quarters, where they'd probably be sleeping. He sends Tony a text and pings him a live feed of his location before heading deeper in, and pulls his pistol out of his bag, just in case.

He finds the bunks without much trouble, and was just setting his stuff down next to the bed when he hears a low, rumbling growl. He turns around fast to see, to his surprise, a moderately large but very skinny three legged dog crouched in the corner, its hair standing completely on end. It's lips were curled, its mouth was stained with blood, and it was bent over what appeared to be the corpse of a species of alien rodent.

"Hey, easy, buddy," Roddie says gently, raising his hands in a placating gesture to the dog. This appears to have the opposite of the intended effect; the dog's snarling grows all the louder, and it takes a step towards Roddie with a look Roddie would almost describe as crazed.

"Miller," he hisses into his phone, "Hey, I've got a situation in here, there's a really big angry dog and its -- okay, look, nevermind, I can handle it, but just come here anyway. And don't tell the others yet, I don't want anyone to hurt him."

He carefully turns the dial on his gun, setting it to stun, as the dog takes another step forward. Before he can even blink, the animal is bounding towards him, snapping and barking viciously. It tackles him down, and as he shields his throat with his forearm it clamps its jaws down on his arm, which is thankfully made of metal. He grabs his gun with his left hand and pulls the trigger against the dog's stomachs, and after a few more seconds of writhing and struggling the dog goes limp on top of him. Roddie heaves the animal off of him with some effort, and lies on his back, breathing hard as his heart hammers in his chest. As soon as he can think clearly again, he hops up, and starts searching around for something to restrain the dog with.

Edited 2015-05-10 10:45 (UTC)

Tony's immediate thought is to refuse Roddie's request, knowing protocol would be to alert the team and go in guns blazing, as the dog was an unknown, especially if it was violent. He hesitates though, Roddie's last sentence echoing in his mind, and he sighs.

"On my way," he says, abandoning the computer terminal he'd slowly been hacking into and making his way to the location Roddie had pinged. When he gets to the room the dog is lying still on the floor and Roddie is bent over a crate nearby, and for a moment Tony's heart thuds in his chest, terrified that something might have happened.

"Roddie, are you okay?" he says, all guilt and regret forgotten the moment he's afraid something's hurt Roddie, "What happened?" He rushes across the room and puts his hand on Roddie's shoulder without thinking about it, his heart in his throat.

"Yeah, I'm fine," breathes Roddie, jumping a little at the touch. He still looks frazzled, and his nerves are on edge, so his assurance is less than convincing.

"That dog...attacked me. Got my special arm," he says, holding up his prosthetic arm. His sleeve was ripped and punctured in several places.

"He was going at me, like...I don't know," he says, shaking his head as he puts some of his weight on the metal crate he'd found, making sure it was secure and not easily escapable, before dragging it over to where the dog was lying on the ground, "Like he had rabies or something. But he doesn't, I checked, I know what rabies looks like 'cause this dog on my street got it, and it chased me and my cousin up into a tree before animal control came and got it, and he doesn't have any of the other symptoms. Something's messed up about this, though. Maybe you should have a look at him. You know more doctor stuff than me."

Tony reaches out for Roddie's arm, holding it gently and pushing back his shirt to inspect the scratches made by the dog's teeth. Once he's sure Roddie isn't hurt he chuckles a little, stepping back.

"Dogs and humans aren't the same thing, Roddie," He says, kneeling down next to the dog anyways. He looks at the dog's mouth, not touching the residue there but looking at it. He feels the dog's head and neck, stopping when he feels something.

"Look at this," he says, parting the dog's fur and showing Roddie some black, raised bumps, "Maybe some kind of disease? We should have the others look at this."

Roddie kneels down next to him, squinting at the spot and parting the hair with his own fingers.

"Yeah, that's weird," he laughs, a little baffled, "You can let the others know, I'll radio for them but I, uh, don't know how much I have to contribute to your scholarly...doctor conversations."

He calls for the others to join them, explaining the situation calmly and in the most scientifically accurate terms that he knows as he locks the sedated dog in the metal crate and secures the latch on the outside. When the others join them, he makes himself scarce, standing behind Tony off to the side and leaning up against the wall.

Tony talks over the situation with the others, letting the ones with more medical experience inspect the dog and take samples of its blood. Tony goes back to the computer terminal, working on cracking the password to the protected files while the doctors figure out what was wrong with the dog.

They find the larvae of a worm in the dog's blood, and just afterwards Tony cracks into the data and finds what they were studying.

"They were studying the ice and rocks here, on a supposedly uninhabited planet, but they found a race of ratlike creatures living in tunnels in the ice, and began studying them. The rats were aggressive, and the scientists found another life form inside them-- That worm." He points at the microscope, "Allegedly it causes extreme aggression and violence in order to spread its larvae through blood. The reports stop abruptly after the initial study. I think we know what happened to them, now." Tony crosses his arms, sighing and leaning back against the table.

"And, judging by the paranoia and stress in the crew's last personal log entries... It's not... Easy to detect the infected." His expression is grim and he glances up at Roddie, who's still away in the corner, trying to communicate his apology for getting Roddie mixed up in this.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Tierney spits, pressing the palms of his hands over his eyes and dragging his hands down his face, "I'm a fucking ecologist, for Christ's sake." He stands there for a moment, standing with his hands balled into fists and his eyes locked on the ground before shifting his gaze up and pointing an accusatory finger at Tony.

"You," he says, gritting his teeth, "You're a fed, you knew about this, didn't you? You people had access to these files all along, but you needed a team to come out here to get your precious research data, so you decided not to include the psycho killer parasite in the job description, huh?"

When he takes a step towards Tony, Roddie quickly steps forward, putting himself between the two of them and raising his hands.

"Hey, take it easy, man," he says gently, "Tony didn't know, none of us knew, I'm his friend and I know he wouldn't have brought me out here with him if he'd been in the know about this somehow. The only reason he brought me along at all is because he didn't think he'd be putting me in any real danger."

Tierney scoffs loudly, but backs off, just a little.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be, anyway? Some kid pilot hero this guy was hired to spy on, right? And you're defending him now? Either you have too much faith in your 'friend,' or you're in on this somehow. I'm watching you. Both of you. And if the doctors are smart, they'll be watching you, too."

With that, he turns and storms out of the room, leaving the others to shift uncomfortably and shoot one another suspicious glances from across the room.

"Easy," Roddie says to the doctors, lowering his hands, "Everything's all right. We're gonna be just find. Look, we're not gonna be able to walk back to the docking area right now 'cause it's storming, but it's cool. I'll radio the station and ask if they can do a pick up, and maybe quarantine us for a little bit. I mean, as long as you're all ready to go. I'm not thinking I want to stick around here much longer."

Tony feels the words 'I'm his friend' echo dizzily around his head, and he's so distracted that he almost forgets he was threatened a moment ago.

"Yeah, um, I can have these records sent to the again and they should be sufficient to convince the company to cut their losses. And there's no reason any of us could be infected, we weren't bitten by the dog," Tony says, nodding towards the crate nearby, "Our mission is complete."

Everyone's tense and jumpy while they wait on news of a pickup, all of them collecting data to be sent up. One of the doctors continues studying the parasite, isolating one in a jar which had grown to full size in a matter of hours.

Tony looks up a few hours later and realizes Roddie isn't anywhere, when he thought he was sitting at a table nearby, and gets up to investigate.

"Roddie...?" He calls out, making his way down the hall to an ajar door and pushing it open. The first thing he sees is the blood, and he startes back, slamming the door open.

"Holy fuck!" Tony yells, the noise making the other two come running. Roddie's there, standing over the the bloody body of Mr. Tierney. The doctor rushes forward, feeling his pulse.

"He's dead," says the doctor, looking up at the rest of them with wide eyes.

Edited 2015-05-10 13:24 (UTC)

Roddie's eyes are wide, and he's staring blankly down at the blood on his hands in shock.

"I...heard a door open," he says hoarsely, "So I...left Agent Miller to come look. He...was in the freezer. He fell out when I opened the door."

He raises his head, looking out at the others with horror in his expression.

"It...wasn't me," he says, his mouth moving for a few moments without speaking, "It wasn't Tony. It's one of you. One of you has it."

Tony looks over at the other doctors, wishing he could cross the room and wrap Roddie in a hug and help ease the terrified expression on his face. Both doctors share horrified, affronted looks and then glare at Roddie.

"One of us?" says Jones, raising his voice, "Says the guy with blood on his hands!"

"And you fought with him just a few hours ago!" Feldspar adds, both of them backing up, "You were attacked by the dog, right? You're infected!"

Tony turns wide eyes over to Roddie and the body, wondering if there was any truth to what they were saying.

"The dog didn't get me!" Roddie protests loudly, reaching for his holstered gun when they raise their voices but not drawing it just yet, "It bit my metal arm, Agent Miller checked me out after, I had no injuries. I was with him the whole time, until just a minute ago when I came down the hall."

He turns to Tony, his expression scared and pleading and angry all at once.

"Miller, come on, tell them, I was with you!" he begs, "You know I was! It's one of them, it could be both of them!"

Tony starts when Roddie yells at him, glancing between the three people staring at him.

"He was with me," Tony says, nodding uncertainty, then bites his lip, "But I... wasn't paying close attention. I don't know how long he was gone." He looks up at Roddie with terrified eyes, wondering if that really was Roddie looking back at him, or if... Something else was in control. The fear strikes him deeply, and he can't help but wonder if this is the last time he'll see Roddie.

"What are you waiting for?" cries Jones at Tony, "You're an agent, right? Kill him before he kills us!" Tony gapes at the man, his ire rising at the claim.

"Now wait just a goddamn minute!" Tony yells back, pointing a finger at Jones, "Nobody's killing anybody! We have no way of knowing which of us is infected, and until we can know we're not risking any innocent lives!" Tony's voice rings out, silencing the rest of them.

"You'd like him to kill me, wouldn't you!" Roddie snaps, taking a step towards the doctor, "Would make your work a lot easier, huh? It's you, isn't it? You've got it, any second now you'll --"

He stops shouting when Tony raises his voice, and takes a reluctant step back, glaring at Jones as he does.

"Then what are we doing?" he asks Tony, his voice quieter than before, and he turns his head slowly to look at him, "What are we doing, Miller?"

His expression is unsteady, and he's dreading hearing what he thinks is going to come next, when Tony had already been so reluctant to vouch for him.

The look in Roddie's eye is cold and angry, and Tony tries to convince himself it's a normal reaction to someone wanting to kill you, but he can't quite convince himself. Tony swallows and looks away, breaking the eye contact.

"The dog... Had raised black bumps on its neck. We can check each other. And check... The body for the worm."

The doctors share another glance and then nod reluctantly.

Sure enough, the corpse is infected, and when they all remove their shirts there are no black bumps, and the tension rises.

"So it's none of us?" says Feldspar, hesitantly, and Tony sighs, and looks over at the dog, still passed out in the crate.

"Wait... the dog. The black spots... They're gone."

"It's one of them," Roddie insists firmly, pointing emphatically at the doctors as he does. His jeans are still stained with blood, though by now he's had time to wash his hands. He picks his shirt up off the floor and pulls it back over his head, his eyes darting suspiciously between the two of them.

"Miller," he says, desperately and forcefully, "There's gotta be other symptoms you can check for, it's one of them."

Edited 2015-05-10 15:11 (UTC)

"I... I don't..." Tony says, his voice starting to shake from stress and nerves, "I'm not a doctor! Maybe if I had about ten million dollars and ten years to study this thing, then I'd... I'd be able to do something, but I don't know!" he shouts at Roddie, shaking his head wildly, desperately holding back a panic attack.

"If we can't kill him, we can contain him," says Jones, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tony hesitates, looking over at Roddie, breathing hard and shaking.

"Yeah, all right," he says, looking away, "Just until we can figure out other symptoms."

Roddie stares at him disbelievingly.

"You're gonna let him --" he starts to protest, but then his expression closes off, and he nods, staring blankly ahead rather than look Tony in the face.

"Yeah," he says flatly, "All right, I won't fight it. I don't know why I thought you'd stick up for me."

He stands up, raising his arms in the air in submission and allowing the doctors to take his gun, before moving into the same lab room that was housing the caged dog.

"I'm safer in here than you are out there, you know," he says, looking past the doctors at Tony and staring him dead in the eyes as they close the door behind him.

Tony feels Roddie's stare like a physical blow, and has to sit down for a while, shaking like a leaf. He wants desperately to be wrong, wants Roddie to be all right, but he just can't believe it. He imagines Roddie hurting someone, and living through it, imagines the heartache he'd suffer knowing he'd done something so horrible, and he knows he won't release Roddie until he's sure.

When he pulls himself together the doctors are performing tests on the blood, and Tony helps them as best he can. It's long, slow work that Tony doesn't really understand, and nothing else happens until the wee hours of the morning.

"Oh, damn it!" Feldspar swears, making Tony jump.

"What? What happened?" He asks, standing up and coming behind her. "I mixed the two samples. This slide is useless." She sets it aside and out of curiosity Tony picks it up and looks at it under another microscope, and as he watches the tiny larvae attack each other and kill each other.

He shares the slide with the doctors, and when they place the two fully grown worms in jars next to each other, they attempt to attack each other through the glass.

"They kill each other. We can use it on Jaurez," says Jones, and Tony starts.

"We have no confirmation he's infected!" He argues, then thinks for a moment, "The dog. We can test it on the dog."

They all go into the room Roddie's locked in, and Tony feeds the worm into the dog's ear. The dog whines and growls and then falls still, looking up at them with sad, calm eyes.

"It worked! Use it on him!" Says Jones, and Tony stares wide eyed at Roddie.

"Wait," He says, looking at the doctors, "If we're wrong, we'd be... Killing him. Let me talk to him. Alone."

The doctors look suspicious but leave the room, locking the door behind them.

"Roddie..." He says, but he's not sure what to follow it up with.

Roddie hadn't slept, and he has the bags under his eyes to show for it. He extends his hand to the now friendly and docile dog, who wags his tail and leans his head into his hand gratefully. He rubs the animal's head a few times before breathing a sigh and taking a seat on one of the lab tables.

"What?" he says flatly, looking at Tony with exhaustion and sadness in his expression, "You said it yourself, if you give me that worm you'll be infecting me. I'm me, Miller. It's one of them."

Tony starts shaking again at Roddie's words, wanting desperately to believe him but something's still holding him back.

"I-I know, all right? I know, I just don't... I don't know how to trust any of this!" he says, pushing both hands back through his hair and pacing the length of the room.

"...I'm sorry," he says quietly, his arms wrapped around himself, and he feels like he's not just talking about the murderous parasite.

Roddie looks at him, his eyes flashing angrily as he formulates a biting remark about how it was him Tony didn't trust, not "this," that Tony had never trusted him, that Tony had always assumed the worst of him no matter how many times Roddie had reached out to him, but something about the way Tony says "I'm sorry" makes him stop short. He furrows his brow, and his expression softens as he takes in Tony's clearly frazzled appearance and the way he was hugging himself.

He hoists himself up and walks over to where he's standing, keeping his hands in plain view so as not to alarm him, before lightly gripping Tony's shoulder and looking him in the eyes.

"Tony," he says, "for God's sake, it's me. You can check me again. I swear, it's me."

Tony looks up, his shaking becoming more pronounced as he looks up into Roddie's eyes. He sees the same Roddie he's grown to love so dearly in his eyes, the same gentle honesty, and he has to look down or risk breaking down right here and begging Roddie for forgiveness, and this isn't the time or the place.

"All right," he says quietly, after he's had a moment to pull himself together, "Let me look at you."

Roddie nods and crosses his arms and pulls his shirt off over his head, dropping it on the floor beside them. He drops his pants as well, leaving his underwear on for now, and sits down in a nearby chair with his back turned away from Tony. He keeps his head bowed and his hands folded, and does his best to keep his breathing steady. This was a risk, he knew -- Tony could be infected by this point, since he'd been locked away all night -- but he decides to take it. The dog approaches him when he sits down, wiggling its way between his knees and resting its head on his thigh. He smiles, a little, and scratches the dog's ears again.

"I think he likes me," he says quietly, trying to distract himself from the tension, "I'm glad he got a second chance. Hey, Chance. That's a good name for a dog. You know, like that old kids movie."

Tony swallows when Roddie strips, and has to remind himself that this is a serious and life-threatening situation, and no time to be ogling Roddie's muscles.

"What movie?" he asks softly while approaching Roddie, reaching out to stroke his fingers over the back of his neck, inspecting for anything out of the ordinary or moving under his skin. He checks down the line of his back as well, managing to keep his touch like and clinical.

Roddie does his best to hold still, but can't help bouncing his leg slightly as Tony's hands ghost over his bare skin.

"Homeward Bound," he says, concentrating on scratching the dog's ears, "I'll have to show it to you sometime when we get out of here. There's two dogs and a cat, and they get lost and have to find their way back home. You'd like it I think."

"Sounds... heartwarming," he says blankly, turning so Roddie can see the barest hint of a smile on his lips. For that moment it feels like old times again, before they'd kissed, when their affection was bubbling just under the surface and their interactions were comfortable and fun.

He pulls away when his heart aches, sighing at the assurance that nothing about Roddie seemed out of the ordinary.

"I don't see anything," He says, relief obvious in his voice.

Roddie heaves a sigh of relief in turn, bending over his folded hands for a moment before reaching down to pick his clothes up off the floor.

"You almost got me thinking I did have it," he breathes, pulling his shirt back on. Then, subtly and casually, he makes his way behind Tony, and before Tony has the chance to process what he's doing or to raise any objections he pulls down the back of his shirt collar, exposing his neck, and runs two of his fingers over the skin there, feeling for anything under the surface. Nothing. He lets him go and sighs, shakily.

"Sorry," he says, "I had to be sure, if they'd got you, I...woulda failed the whole having your back in here thing pretty badly."

Edited 2015-05-11 03:31 (UTC)

Tony gasps and shivers at the fingers on his neck, and covers the spot with his hand after Roddie pulls away, blushing and feeling like his skin was tingling where Roddie had touched.

"You could have given me a warning," He says, unable to meet Roddie's gaze again. He goes over to open the door, but pauses just before he does.

"It's not that I don't trust you," he says quietly, almost leaning against the door, "I'd trust you with my life. I just... I didn't know if it was really you. I'm sorry."

Roddie is surprised by Tony's words, but instead of voicing as much, he only nods, and licks his lips thoughtfully.

"I...no, I...get it," he says after a moment, scratching his ear and keeping the heavier emotions he was feeling out of his voice, "It's just, it's...hard. With you."

He thinks about quantifying the statement with something that would make it less personal sounding, but doesn't.

"It's hard," he says again, unable to look anywhere near where Tony was standing, "That's all. What...are you going to do now? Check the others again? They're...not going to like that, I'll bet. I should come with you, I mean, even if that makes them madder, I'm...really...really afraid you're going to get hurt."

His voice is a little broken and torn open, and he speaks honestly, without making any attempts to skirt around letting Tony see how much he still cared about him. He didn't want them to die as anything less than friends.

Tony bites his lip hard at Roddie's words, squeezing his eyes shut and fighting down a flutter of hope. Roddie was just too nice, too selfless, always looking out for others even if they didn't deserve such care. It takes him a moment but he nods, taking a deep, shaking breath.

"Sticking together is probably a good idea at this point. And I'm... fine. I mean, it's just a worm, right?" He says, attempting a smile.

He opens the door finally and the two doctors both stand up, glaring at them.

"He's not infected. I checked. We checked each other. It has to be one of you two," Tony says, and both doctors shift uncomfortably.

"How are we supposed to believe that? Maybe you're both infected! I'm not taking that chance!" he yells, grabbing the last worm off the shelf, "I'll take care of this. Grab him!" The woman lunges towards Roddie.

"What? No!" Tony says, intercepting the woman before she can get to Roddie, "Back off!" She fights him wildly, managing to land a few successful punches before Tony can shove her back.

Roddie stumbles backwards when the woman lunges at him, and starts toward where she was struggling with Tony when he's grabbed by the back of his shirt and slammed down hard onto the ground. He tastes blood and feels something hard in his mouth, and spits out one of his teeth onto the floor beside him. The male doctor was pinning him down with a hand on his neck and a foot on his back, dangling the worm just over his ear with a pair of tongs, and Roddie cries out, both struggling and bracing himself for what he knew was coming, when suddenly the doctor stops, loosening his grip on the back of Roddie's neck.

"Oh my God," he shouts, "Oh my God, it's you! Miller, Juarez, it's her!"

Sure enough, when Roddie sits up, he gets a quick look at woman's neck and shoulders, as it had become exposed when her shirt tore during the struggle with Tony, and there was a cluster of black spots just where they had been on the dog.

Tony startles back when he sees the same thing the doctor does, and the woman turns slowly, snarling at them. Tony roughly shoves the man out of the way, leaning over to help Roddie up and pull him back away from the woman. She jumps for a box on the shelf, where they'd locked up Roddie's gun, and points it at the other doctor.

Tony grabs Roddie's hand in his and runs, pulling him away from the woman and down the hall so they have time to defend themselves.

"Here, take this," he says, pressing his own gun into Roddie's hand, "It'll be better in your hands than mine."

"What? Tony --" Roddie starts, looking into Tony's eyes with a wide eyed expression and clutching Tony's hands in his own long after Tony has handed him the gun. He almost protests, almost insists Tony keep his own weapon, but in the end he only closes his mouth and nods, realizing they were running out of time.

"Yeah, okay," he says, swallowing and rubbing his palm over the top of Tony's hand before taking the gun and setting the dial to stun, "Stay behind me. I'll knock her out, and if...when she's down, go look for the worm, it shouldn't have gotten far."

He double checks that the gun is loaded and braces himself, holding one arm out protectively in front of Tony and keeping him back.

Tony blushes furiously at Roddie's gentle and affectionate touch but manages to shake off his reaction, focusing on the situation. He urges Roddie forward, back into the room they had just run from, staying behind him.

As they slowly walk forward they almost stumble over the body of the male doctor, still bleeding on the floor, and Tony gasps, grabbing a handful of Roddie's shirt and pressing closer to him.

"I swear, I thought it was him," Tony whispers, "But I guess he was just an asshole." Tony starts to smile but halfway through the woman jumps out of the darkness behind him and grabs him, yanking him backwards.

"Roddie!" Tony screams, struggling against the woman's grip.

"Hold on!" Roddie shouts, aiming carefully and firing several shots just past Tony and into the woman's chest. He rushes to Tony's side and helps him to his feet, checking over him quickly for injuries.

"You're okay," he breathes shakily, gripping Tony's arms and holding him close and assuring himself just as much as Tony, "You're okay, you're okay, help me find the worm."

Tony nods shakily, looking around the lab for the discarded jar and finds it smashed under a table. The worm is wriggling nearby, and Tony grabs a pair of tongs, and it's obvious how badly he's shaking by the way the tongs quiver, but he picks up the worm in the tongs, holding it far away from his body. With Roddie's help he gets her rolled into the right position and deposits the worm into her ear.

She starts to shudder and groan, and after a moment or two she falls still, her pulse still going and still stunned.

The tongs clatter to the floor and Tony scrambles back, his whole body shaking violently as the adrenaline and panic crashes over him.

"Oh, god, it's over," he whispers, covering his face and curling himself up tightly, his breathing coming out fast and hitching, close to hyperventilating.

Roddie's arms shake as he lowers the woman onto the floor, noting what appeared to be an infected rat-like bite between her thumb and forefinger. He rolls her off of his lap onto the ground, and scoots himself back until he's at Tony's side, trying to catch his breath.

"Hey," he breathes, "Hey, hey, Tony, hey, it's okay, come here."

He reaches over, gripping him by the front of his shirt to pull him into a tight hug, rubbing his hands up and down his back as he presses his face into Tony's shoulder.

"It's okay, let's get her somewhere safe where there's none of those rat things and go back in that lab room where we were again, okay? Just me and you and the dog, we'll radio for help and wait this out."

Tony nods into Roddie's shoulder, his arms going around him immediately and holding him tightly, reluctant to let go even with the threat of the parasite. It takes him a minute to pull himself together enough to move, and he manages to hold back the tears that are threatening to escape long enough to pull away from Roddie's tender embrace.

Together they move the woman into the room along with all their supplies and lock the door behind them, radioing for help. While Roddie deals with the radio (Tony's voice is shaking too much to be understood) Tony kneels down at the dog's crate, releasing the latch and allowing the dog out. Immediately it jumps up on Tony and starts licking his face, which Tony can't help but laugh at, feeling the panic in his gut eased by Roddie and the dog.

"He's sweet," he says, scratching the dog behind his ears, "Oh, he's only got three legs. I don't know how I missed that before. Too bad they don't make advanced robotic prosthesis for dogs, huh?" he asks, looking over at Roddie with a watery smile.

"Yeah," Roddie laughs shakily, sliding his way back over to Tony and sitting on the edge of the table beside him, "Well, he seems like he's getting along okay without it."

He sniffs and clears his throat, before uncertainly reaching out a hand and rubbing Tony's shoulders, then pulling him into another tight hug.

"...Good thing you didn't come out here alone, I guess," he says quietly, and tries to laugh, but nothing comes out.

"Tony, I'm...glad you're okay."

Tony leans into the embrace, despite the little voice reminding him that he didn't deserve this kindness and affection. For once his exhaustion and vulnerability won out over his insecurities and he just took comfort in the touch, the reminder that he wasn't alone, that he was cared about. He reaches up hesitantly to return the embrace, sighing and relaxing when Roddie doesn't jerk away.

"Yeah," he says softly, his voice muffled against Roddie's shoulder, "I'm glad you're okay, too. I'm glad you... came with me. I'd be... I'd have been lost without you." He bites his lips together so he doesn't say anything more, so that the words bubbling up inside him don't burst out and end this gentle, comforting moment, forever probably. He's not sure what happened to make Roddie forget what Tony did to him, but he's about to bring it to Roddie's attention and risk ending this moment, so he just falls silent and enjoys it.

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