Hunted

A.N: The idea of the symbiont and hosts has been brewing long before I 'implanted' one within Felix Almassy. It was originally a concept born from my love of Doctor Who and Torchwood. It was an alien race that lived on a world where they were forced to live within the bodies of lesser creatures. When humans finally arrived, the symbionts found new hosts, and formed a new sub-race of humans to the point where a huge doctrine came about that they could no longer use 'living' humans - despite the fact they were using 'brain dead' humans as hosts - and therefore bred their own kind of human to provide a vessel for the symbiont species. This idea, however, was altered for use on StD, simply because I didn't want Aiolos as an alien. Its an Earth-borne creature that has managed to live in secret within the human world for centuries, millenias even. There is, however, one idea I'd love to combine with both ideas of the Ventari race and the Earth-symbiotes (Har, har, I even gave them names), but instead of enacting it as a plot - mainly because Felix is the only symbiont-possessed host at Delacroix - I'm gonna drabble it instead. It also has the added fun of being future-world x)



It was odd, but for all his "Get out and see the world" ideals, Felix had the TV almost constantly set to one news network or another. Granted, half of the ones he frequently watched were global and if he couldn't be out there in the world, he could at least slob on the couch and watch it. Half the time, the television set was on, but he wasn't even in the room. Annoyed at his partners complte disregard for electricity bills, Henrick went to the set to switch it off when a news report caught his eyes.

"A young man has been found dead, laying in a ditch just off the highway. The body was discovered by passing dogwalkers. There has been no name released of the victim, but police are on extra alert due to the abnormal death of the man as he was found with his back ripped open."

The image that flashed on the screen of the fatal wound made Henrick's heart stop in his chest. Swallowing at the lump in his throat, he forced his lungs to co-operate with him in order to bring his voice to shout out. "Felix!"

"Showering!"

"Felix, get in here now!"

Emgering, wet and with a towel hastily pulled around his waist, Felix looked none too impressed that his shower had been cut short. "If you wanted to join me, you could have just snuck in..."

Henrick couldn't look at him, eyes focused on the screen as the news continued on, making the killing into a serial murder, bringing up the death of a young woman that had also died in a similar maner. "Is there any record of you?"

"I have a birth certificate, a school diploma, a civial partnership..." Felic ranted off in reply, brows furrowing in confusion "What's wrong?"

Finally turning from the screen, Henrick glared at the twenty seven year old. "Is there any record of you AND Aiolos!?"

Saunting over to where Henrick stood, smelling of minty soap, his green eyes went to the screen that Henrick couldn't keep his eyes off. "Its a murder..."

"Its two murders, Felix. Two people, with the same wound - in their backs."

Arms folded at his chest, and he shrugged. "So...?"

Reaching up, Henrick traced his fingers over the markings of the tribal serpent on Felix's back. "The wounds were right there."

"It doesn't mean anything, Hen."

Narrowing his eyes, Henrick looked up into those green eyes he could forever bury himself within. "What if someone is targeting people like you?"

"The only people who know about the symbiotes are the people with one, and those they trust. Remember the guy who gave me his? My grandfather? No one but me knew. Its not something the whole world knows about."

"But what if a host is going around killing others?"

Felix tilted his head to the side, looking like the whole thing didn't matter. "Non-violent by nature. If we went around commiting crimes it would bring attention to us. I don't want some cooky scientist turning up at my door wanting to disect me, or Aiolos. Symbionts don't just up and choose violent or murderous people as hosts. Its a coincidence, Henrick, nothing more." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Henrick's head. "Now, how about you come with me back to the shower?"

-

But nothing could keep him from keeping an eye on the news for more information about the two murders. For a few months theres was silence, then three more turned up dead within the space of two weeks. When the third one was announced, Felix began acting...Weird.

Weirder for his usual self, anyway.

He was having nightmares, and sometimes he couldn't sleep at all. One day Henrick caught him passed out in the kitchen from exhaustion. Worry set in, but no matter what Henrick tried to do to get information out of him, the older male just kept everything locked up. Even for someone that was immune to disease, keeping his problems and worries locked up couldn't be good for Felix.

"I can't get anything out of him," Henrick admitted to Gethin who had turned up at their apartment when he too had noticed a change in his closest friend. Cadence had a hospital appointment, which left the poor 'Imaginary friend' looking after Kimberly. The little girl stared at him with wide, curious topaz eyes as he slumped on the couch next to them. "I turn the news off when he's around, and I've stopped talking about it, thinking that might be it, but I just don't know. Confronting him isn't working, and neither is keeping quiet."

Gethin hummed in thought, eyes looking down at the little girl sitting on his lap, her attention now focused on the pull strings of her father's steel grey hoodie. "And you're now certain that the people that have been killed are hosts?"

"The wounds are practically identical, and all in the same place. Someone - or something - is hunting them down."

"But I thought without the symbiont, they'd still survive? Felix lives because he can't live without Aiolos. Others can live for years on afterwards after the creature has moved on."

Another heavy sigh, and Henrick thumped the back of his head against the cushions of the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. "I thought so too, but I guess the violence of the situation is killing them..."

"It because they're being ripped out..." came a weak voice from the doorway. Felix slumped against the doorframe, dark circles clearly visible under his eyes.

"Uncle Fee doesn't look so good," announced little Kimberly. She was quickly admonished by her father patting her head.

Rising from his spot, Henrick rushed over to his other half, arms reaching out support him as he slumped in from outside. "What's going on, Felix?" he asked as he lowered the older man into a seat. "How do you know?"

"Because they're screaming in my head," he replied weakly, slumping his head against the seat. "All of them."

"All?"

Felix nodded. "They have a psychic connection with one another. Low level telepathy thats only really short range. Aiolos has always kept secrets, he doesn't share everything with me. But the deaths...Violent, horrific..."

Henrick looked to Gethin and the four year old on his lap "Maybe Kimberly shouldn't hear this..."

With a nod, Gethin rose from the sofa, talking sweet little things to his daughter as he carried her into the spare bedroom. A few moments later, he returned and Felix began talking again.

"The last one to die...The girl, she'd been close to the previous murder. Her symbiont had picked it up, and before she was killed, it sent out a warning." He curled up on the seat, bury his head into his hands. Henrick had never seen Felix look so broken. "And now they need to keep in contact with one another. Its our problem, we're going to deal with it."

"We?" Henrick choked out.

"Any and every host and symbiote. To keep up to date on the information, they need to increase their telepathy world wide..." Curling up into a tighter ball, Felix pressed his head into his knees. "Its too loud in my own head."