Her Cyborg (18 page)

... and then she faded away ...

CHAPTER 27

Phoebe stared at Silver with huge eyes. He had been wrestled down to the floor by the other Fighters, but his gaze was set on Faye. He had gone crazy after storming the house, destroying everything in his way just to reach Faye, but the Fighters hadn't let him. Faye stood behind Wind with fear in her eyes. She peeked out from behind him to look at Silver.

“Hurry up,” Nightmare growled. “All of you and Silver must be gone before MedAct's cyborg soldiers show up,” he told the Fighters.

A red-haired cyborg pulled out a syringe. Phoebe assumed that several of them had syringes with them. The cyborg stabbed Silver in his arm and emptied the liquid into him. Silver groaned and made a grimace of pain. His gaze was still set upon Faye as his body slowly started to fail him. He eventually exhaled heavily, closed his eyes, and remained still on the floor.

The cyborgs who held him breathed out and got up to their feet. Several of them glared at Faye, but no one said anything. Instead, they lifted up the unconscious Silver and left the house. A minute later, Phoebe heard a car leaving. Only Nightmare, Edge, Hunter, and Heaven remained. 

Hunter approached the gurney. “Are you sure you know what you are doing? We should leave too.”

“I just need a few more minutes. We are so close. It's in his system now. The answer should come any second.” Nightmare watched Shade intently.

“I doubt you have those minutes.”

Nightmare didn't answer, but he didn't take his eyes off of Shade. Phoebe's heart ached as she watched the man she loved lay still on the gurney. His eyes were closed. He had stopped fighting. His head had slumped to the side, but his chest rose and fell as he breathed. That gave her some comfort. At least, he was still alive, but in what condition? She had no idea how Nightmare tried to remove the bond. All she saw was that damn machine that stood by the gurney. Its cords were attached to Shade. She heard it beep from time to time, but neither Nightmare nor Edge touched it anymore.

Her eyes felt swollen from all the crying and her throat felt sore from all the yelling. It hadn't mattered what she had said. Nightmare had ignored her completely, and Wind's attempt to comfort her hadn't helped either. He was a great friend, but seeing Shade like this made her inconsolable. Faye was not her usual brave self either anymore. She stood silently in the cage and she wrung her hands together as she took one deep breath after another. Phoebe could only imagine what went through her mind.

Minutes seemed to pass by. No one said anything as Edge and Nightmare watched Shade's emotionless body. What finally broke the silence was the sound of approaching cars. The door to the house was open since the cyborgs had left with Silver. They hadn't bothered closing it. They were now long gone, but Nightmare still remained along with the others. None of them moved, but their gazes turned to the door. Heaven stood by the cage along with Hunter while Edge and Nightmare remained by the gurney.

The cars stopped and the engines died before the sound of opening doors was heard, and seconds later, the sound of them closing. Then there was silence again. Phoebe doubted it was the Fighters who had returned. Instead, she assumed it was MedAct's cyborg soldiers who had come to get Nightmare and his Fighters. Hope gripped her. This would be over soon.

She expected the cyborgs to storm the house but nothing happened. She turned her gaze back to Nightmare and Edge when she noticed Edge move. He shut down the machine and removed the cords from Shade's body. Then, to her surprise, he slammed his hand right through the machine. She jerked and stared at him, expecting Nightmare to become furious, but Nightmare didn't move an inch. Instead, he just watched Edge in silence. Finally, he nodded, and Phoebe understood. They didn't want the machine to end up in MedAct's hands, but what about Shade? Why wasn't he waking up?

Steps were heard approaching the entrance door before Jade enter the house. She was followed by two muscular and scary-looking cyborgs. They were dressed in black and held big, black rifles in their hands. The rifles were pointed directly at the Fighters in the room.

Jade’s eyes held a serious look as they rested upon Nightmare, narrowing even more as she made eye-contact with him.

“Nightmare,” she said with a cold voice.

Nightmare took a few steps away from the gurney. “Doctor Jade Silva. I didn't expect to see you here.”

“Of course, you didn't. That is why I'm here.” Jade turned her gaze to the cage. “Let them go.”

Nightmare's features darkened. “Why should I listen to you?”

Phoebe had never seen Jade this cold before, but her determined and strong posture told Phoebe that Jade knew what she was doing. She didn't look the slightest bit scared of Nightmare or the situation. Phoebe was aware of Nightmare's hatred for the doctor and what he was planning to do with her once he got his hands on her, but did Jade know? Phoebe didn't think so. If they got out of here alive, Phoebe promised herself to tell Jade everything.

Jade shrugged. “Well, you don't have to if you don't want to, but if you don't, these guys will pump you full of lead. The choice is yours.”

Nightmare stiffened and he looked like he wanted to strangle Jade, but she still seemed unafraid even if he was one of the most frightening cyborgs Phoebe had ever seen.

Nightmare nodded toward Hunter. Hunter approached the cage, took out the key, and placed it into the lock. As soon as the door was open, Phoebe lunged for Shade. Edge moved out of her way. He didn't stop her, and neither did Nightmare. Her tears had run dry, but her heart still ached. The pain inside her chest was excruciating.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Wind leading Faye toward the entrance door.

Jade approached the gurney. “What have you done to him?”

Nightmare didn't answer, so Phoebe decided to do it for him. “They tried to remove the bond.”

“What?” She glared at Nightmare. “Have you lost your mind? Why would you want to do a thing like that?”

Without warning, Nightmare took a step toward Jade, invading her personal space, but Jade didn't move away. The cyborgs near the entrance door reacted and pointed their rifles at Nightmare. Jade raised her arm with her palm toward them, telling them to back down. The cyborgs remained still, but didn't lower their rifles.

Phoebe didn't like the atmosphere in the house. It was filled with insecurity and it felt like a ticking time bomb. A bomb that could go off at any second. She was glad that, at least, Wind and Faye were out of here. She hoped that Wind would stay with Faye to keep them both out of danger. She doubted Faye would object at this moment.

Phoebe shook Shade gently, but there was no reaction from him. “Please, he needs help.”

Nightmare didn't move away from Jade.

“You heard her. Move out of my way,” Jade said.

“He will wake up when his reprogramming is done.”

“What kind of reprogramming?”

Nightmare grinned. “You are the scientist, you figure it out.”

They glared at each other.

Their staring contest got on Phoebe's nerves. She opened her mouth to yell at them, to yet again state that Shade needed help, but she knew Nightmare wouldn't care so she closed her mouth. He wouldn't let Jade near Shade. She was the only one who could help him now.

“You are killing him,” Jade stated.

Nightmare growled. “I am saving him. When he wakes up, the bond will no longer drive him. He will have no memory of his bound one. He will be free to choose his own life. He will be free from the likes of you.” He took a step closer to Jade, his chest almost touching hers as he looked into her eyes.

Everyone in the room jerked when Shade suddenly gave out a scream of pain. He writhed on the gurney, throwing his head back and forward. Jade reacted instantly. She pushed herself around Nightmare and approached the gurney. She took out a small device from her bag and pulled out two cords from it.

“I wouldn't attempt to stop me,” she told Nightmare without looking at him. “Remember the lead.”

Nightmare's shining eyes radiated pure hatred toward Jade, but he didn't move from his spot. It made Phoebe glad to see how powerless he was right now. If he tried anything, the cyborg soldiers would shoot him, and that would be the end of him. Phoebe didn't feel sorry for him one bit.

None of the other Fighters moved. They watched their leader with emotionless eyes.

“Take them out of here,” Jade said as she attached the cords to Shade's temples.

The cyborg soldiers reacted immediately and more of them entered the house. The Fighters were given no choice but to go with them peacefully or risk death. To Phoebe's surprise, they went quietly. She had expected more from them considering that they had chosen to stay behind, or maybe they just didn't want to get killed.

She turned to Jade and watched her work with an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. Jade's fingers flew around on the small screen of the device that she held in her hand. Phoebe felt so helpless. There was nothing she could do for him. Watching him writhe in pain made her feel pain too. It felt like she was being shred apart on the inside.

“That bastard,” Jade hissed.

“What? What is it?”

“He is trying to replace the bond with another signal, but it's not working. The bond is almost gone, and because of that, Shade is dying. The signal is not capable of replacing the bond even if it's trying. He needs to be taken back to MedAct at once. There is nothing I can do for him here. I will sedate him for now and lower his heart rate. That will slow the signal's progress.”

Phoebe swallowed hard. “Nightmare was so sure.”

“I don't give a damn what he thought he was. He will pay for this.”

Phoebe looked at Jade with a plea in her eyes. “Can you save him?”

Jade hesitated. “I don't know.” She pushed a few buttons on the screen and Shade relaxed. He stopped screaming. “I will do everything in my power to save him, but there is a great risk that he will never be the same again.”

Jade's words awakened every possible emotion inside of her. It was a huge cocktail of everything from hope to despair.

“Nightmare believes cyborgs can live without the bond,” Phoebe said with a trembling chin. “Can they?”

Jade wrinkled her nose. “I have no idea where he got that idea from. The bond is what their programming is based on. Without it, they can't exist.”

Confusion struck Phoebe. “But Nightmare said that he existed before he was bound and that the doctor, Carolyn Williams, bound him to her years after his creation.”

Jade gave her a surprised look before she snorted. “All these years as a Fighter must have messed with his mind.” She removed the cords from Shade's temples and put the device back into her bag. “Wait here. I will call for a helicopter.”

Jade left the house and everything suddenly became very quite. Phoebe placed her head upon Shade’s warm, muscled chest, feeling his soft skin against her cheek. She put her arms around him the best she could. She had never been religious, but in this moment, she felt the need to pray.

“Please, don't take him away from me.” Her tears ran down on him, making his skin wet. “Stay with me .... please ...”

CHAPTER 28

Phoebe watched Shade where he lay on the hospital bed inside MedAct's walls. His eyes were closed. His breathing was slow, but stable. She felt numb on the inside. Three days had passed since they had left that awful house. It had been three nerve-wracking days, and Shade hadn't awakened yet. Jade and her team of doctors had done everything in their power to save him, but not even Jade knew what would happen once Shade awakened. The bond had been damaged and Jade had warned her that he would probably never be the same again. The bond was as fragile as a vase that had been dropped to the floor. It could be put together again, but the vase would never look whole again. The cracks would always be there.

Her mind had been spinning these last few days. What would she do when Shade woke up and his feelings for her weren't there anymore? Would she be able to let him go? Just the thought of it almost broke her heart. It also made her think that maybe Nightmare was right. Shade was bound to her with love. The bond literally was love. It was real for her, but was it real for Shade?

“You need to relax, Phoebe,” Faye said. “You are not doing yourself a favor worrying this much.”

Phoebe turned around and looked at Faye who sat at one of the chairs that stood inside the room. There were four other chairs in there and three of them were occupied by Wind, Diane, and Celise. They had all been there for her and Shade, and Phoebe couldn't be more grateful.

“I know.” Phoebe sighed. “I can't help it, though. I just wish he would wake up.”

“He will wake up. That much Jade was sure of,” Diane assured her.

So many things had changed since the time in the house. Wind had been a great support for both her and Faye after they had left. It had helped Faye to get back to herself, but she wasn't as vocal anymore. Worry now shone in her eyes, and Phoebe knew why. Nightmare's words had scared her when he had said that Silver would come for her. Because of that, Faye wished she had never kissed him.

Phoebe sighed and ran her hand down her face. “I never believed that things would turn out like this. It feels like pure chaos. I thought it was over, but then Nightmare and his Fighters managed to flee from the cyborg soldiers before they could bring them in. Only Hunter didn't get away, but the others are still out there and who knows what they are planning. Nightmare will want Shade back. This is far from over.”

There was an unpleasant silence.

“I don't think Nightmare will bother with Shade anymore,” Wind finally said.

Phoebe looked at him. “Why do you think that?”

“Because the bond has been damaged. Even if Nightmare doesn't know that, I think he can figure it out. I think Nightmare realized at the end that his signal had failed. Shade can no longer help Nightmare with his so-called quest.”

Wind's words calmed her a bit, but there was no guarantee that it was true. Maybe Nightmare would come after Shade again, but worrying about that right now only made her headache worse. Faye was right. She needed to relax.

The door to the room opened and Jade came in. She was, as usual, dressed in her doctor coat and her hair was put up into a ponytail. She smiled at everyone and approached the bed. Everyone stood up and followed her as she leaned over Shade and looked him over. She then raised her head and watched the monitor to the machine that stood on the other side of the bed. Different numbers and complicated words flashed by on it from time to time. They didn't make much sense to Phoebe, but she knew they made sense to Jade.

“No change,” Jade said.

“Is that a good thing?” Phoebe asked.

“Yes. It means he is stable. He should wake up any minute. When his cybernetics and programming have accepted the changes we have done, he will open his eyes. We have restored your bond to our best ability, but his programming will probably believe he isn't bound, but that is nothing to worry about. He will recognize you.”

Hope awakened within Phoebe.

“What about Nightmare?” Diane asked.

Jade took a deep breath. “I don't know. They managed to escape, as you know, but we have Hunter. We won't make the same mistake with him as we did with Silver. Hunter will remain here until he is bound again. We already have the right woman for him.”

Faye snorted. “He will be pissed.”

“He will, but he will calm down when he sees who it is.”

“Who is it?” Phoebe asked.

Jade smiled. “Someone from his past. She has agreed to help him.” Her gaze locked onto Shade, but she spoke to them all. “I have listened to everything you have told me. You have given me an insight into the Fighters lives like never before. They rarely talk with us when we get our hands on them. The few things we know are not enough for us to understand them.”

“How about what Nightmare said. Is the bond ... a lie?”

Jade gave her a gaze filled with understanding. “No, Phoebe. The bond is as real as your love for Shade. When you take it away, you take away a part of the cyborg, and that is what Nightmare wanted to do to Shade. I will not go into all the technical things Nightmare's signal did, but I can assure you that Shade would have died if Nightmare would have been allowed to finish. How the Fighters survive after losing their bound ones is still a mystery to us, but we suspect that it has something to do with the bond. Unless a Fighter agrees to be examined, we don't touch them. We don't force them to bond themselves either.
We suggest it, but if they don't, they won't be set free.  However, they will get good lives.”

Phoebe nodded. There was another question on her mind that she needed to ask. “Is there a way for cyborgs to live without the bond?”

Everyone's gaze fell upon Jade.

Jade sighed. “Not that I am aware of, and believe me, I have been working here for many years. I haven't found a single indication as to whether that is even possible.”

Faye tensed and swallowed loudly. “So where does that leave Silver and me?”

Jade looked at Faye. “You kissed him, right?”

Faye nodded.

“What did he do during the kiss?”

"At first, he tried to get away, but after a few seconds, he remained still. He just stood there.”

Jade's expression tensed. “Did his eyes flash?”

“Yes, once.”

“I see.” Jade took a deep breath. “When a Fighter gets bound to a new person, his eyes flash three times as his cybernetics accept the bond. The first flash initiates it. The second flash accepts the woman and the third flash seals the bond. This only happens with the Fighters. The newborn cyborgs awaken with an already active bond. How long the bonding process takes varies from cyborg to cyborg. No bonding is the same.”

“So, Silver and I ...?” Faye's eyes were big and nervousness radiated from her.

“I think you already know. When you kissed him, you initiated the bond.”

“Nightmare said Silver will come for me.” Her words were almost a whisper.

“He will.”

“Is there a way to terminate the bonding process?”

“No, but don't worry. We will do everything we can to help you, but you must be aware of the fact that this will probably end with him completing the bonding process.”

Faye's gaze hardened. “Over my dead body.”

A sound came from the bed and Phoebe instantly turned her gaze there. She watched Shade take a deep breath before he opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. Joy filled her. He was awake! But then, she tensed. This was the moment of truth. Would he remember her? Would he still love her? Or was their bond damaged for good?

It felt like the whole room suddenly held its breath. No one moved. No one spoke. Shade lay still for almost a whole minute before he braced himself on his arms and sat up. His gaze swept over them all before it set upon her. Yet again, he didn't move. He just watched her with emotionless eyes. Her heart pounded like crazy inside of her chest and it felt as if she would come apart any second if he didn't do something soon. She knew that she had to give him time. He had been out for days and his programming had been messed with, but her patience was wearing thin. She swallowed hard and decided to move closer.

“Shade?” Her voice was shaky.

She reached out and placed her hand on his cheek. His body tensed when her hand made contact with his skin. He inhaled deeply and his eyes went big. Then they flashed. It was so bright that it lit up parts of his face for a short second. Another flash came. This time it was even brighter.

“He has accepted you. Now, you just have to complete the bonding ... when you are alone.” Jade smiled.

Phoebe blushed and couldn't stop the memories from coming over her. She had been happy in Shade's arms, and she would make sure that she would be happy there once again.

Shade closed his eyes and he leaned into her touch. Relief was written all over his face.

“Shade?” She asked again, this time with hope in her voice.

“I lost you,” he said with a whisper. “They took me away from you.” He opened his eyes and looked at her. “I know now what the Fighters feel. They think they are strong without the bond, but they are not. They are alive because a small part of the bond survived when their bound ones died and that small part screams inside of them all the time. It screams for love, for a bound one. It is what makes them dangerous and it is what makes them slowly lose their minds. I got to experience that for a short time. It was the worst feeling ever and I don't ever want to feel it again. It was as if a black hole had been dug inside of my chest.” He grabbed Phoebe's hand and pulled her closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his head against her chest. “I lost you, but my feelings for you never went away. I sense that the bond has been fixed, but I need to bond with you again. I long for you so much.”

He didn't seem to care that others were present. His touch was gentle but firm, whispering of the longing that lingered inside of his body. His eyes had only flashed twice. A third time was needed to seal the bond, and she would give him that. Hearing that his feelings for her had never left him filled her with joy. That proved to her that much more than just the bond made him love her. The bond might have been the beginning, but over the month, he had evolved feelings beyond the bond for her.

“I could feel Nightmare's signal working. It was designed to remove the bond and make me forget Phoebe. It was designed to take the bond's place, but by doing so, it was also killing me. I don't think Nightmare have understood the consequences of removing the bond completely.”

Jade sighed. “So it is as I suspected.”

“I heard everything you said, Jade. Your suspicions are true, they are alive because their bonds aren't completely gone. They just refuse to accept that.”

“Instead, they believe they are free.”

Shade nodded. A shiver went through him and his grip on Phoebe tightened. A whimper of pleasure left his mouth. It was a whimper that sent shivers down Phoebe's spine. She understood his reaction. The bond needed to be sealed again. His body burned for hers.

Jade's lips twitched. “Everyone, we need to leave. Phoebe and Shade need to be alone for a while.”

Phoebe blushed even more when everyone gave her a wide smile and left the room without a word. When they closed the door behind them, she turned to look at Shade. He looked right back at her with so much fire in his eyes that it made her gulp, filling her body with desire.