Ellie

     Ellie and Merlin pushed their way through the tightly-packed crowd. They dug into Cellblock C and frantically searched for Robert. Cell after cell they looked, until they came to one where the door was only open ajar. Merlin pushed his way in and rushed to the quivering man on the floor.

     "Robert!" he exclaimed. "Robert we've got to go!"

     The quivering man looked up, and Ellie saw a face that was buried in a thick beard. His eyes were sunk, his hands were dirty, and his body looked frail despite the fact that he should be young. Thick handcuffs were strapped around his wrists, and it made movement look difficult.

     "No..." Robert whispered.

     "We've got to go! This is our chance!" Merlin protested.

     Robert shook his tired head, "Every good and bad person has been released from the only confinement that was keeping them from destroying the facility. All of them together...there's going to be hell."

     "I know!" answered Merlin. "But if we move now we can be free!"

     Merlin looked into Robert's eyes.

     "There's a man," Robert explained. "There's a man that claims to have freed us. He's been giving a speech, and I can hear him..."

     Merlin hoisted Robert up and dragged him toward the door, "Whether you like it or not, I'm getting you out of here."

     "Merlin...it's too late," Robert whispered.

     "No!" Merlin cried. "We're going to get you out of here. You saved me, all those years ago, and now I'm going to save you!"

     They pushed their way out of the cell and into the chaos outside. Hundreds of people, crammed together, cried out at the speaker on center stage. He spoke, screamed, and foretold a future in which they'd be heroes. Ellie stopped walking and squinted her eyes at the crazy-looking figure.

     It was Gabriel.

     "Gabriel?" she gasped, with disbelief.

     Down below, someone seemed to get angry at another. A punch was thrown, and then a crowd of people began to form. Ellie closed her eyes at a flash of light, and watched in horror as several people were thrown backward. The conflict was contagious, and it seemed to spread throughout the prison. Others got angry, tried to break up the fights, but got caught up in them in the process.

     "It's happening," Robert observed.

     "That's Gabriel," repeated Ellie, realization finally dawning on her. "I've gotta save him."

     "He's beyond saving," Merlin responded. "The man looks insane."

     "No," Ellie answered, in disbelief, "he's my friend...I have to help him."

     "Don't be an idiot," Merlin warned. "That's not the Gabriel that you once knew."

     Ellie ignored them and sprinted into the crowd, pushing her way towards the center stage where Gabriel was.

     "She's going to get herself killed!" scoffed Robert.

     "Not if I have a say in any of it," Merlin answered, looking to his old friend. "Do you have control over your abilities?"

     Robert shook his head, "These handcuffs inhibit them; they're laced with the same synthetic element that's used in the cells. It was an extra precaution that the Director demanded."

     "Then stay behind me, and watch my back," Merlin ordered. "Follow me."

**

     "Rejoice with me!" Gabriel proclaimed. "Rejoice in your freedom!"

     Ellie pushed her way through the crowd and stared up at her old friend. Robert had been right, Gabriel looked completely different. His face was ragged, his eyes were bloodshot, and Gabriel's entire being seemed like it was wrestling with an unearthly pain. Several bullet holes dotted his chest, but none of them seemed to be of any concern to him.

     Ellie crawled up onto the central, overlooking, platform and slowly walked up to Gabriel. At first, he didn't seem to notice her presence. But as she got closer, he turned and, for the first time since the A.O.S.S., they looked at each other. His eyes were worn, beaten, and they begged to be released from an eternal pain. In contrast, a smile spread across his face, and he stepped forward to embrace Ellie.

     Ellie, after realizing what Gabriel had become, pushed away. Her feelings for him were confused, and she didn't know what to think of him. There was the Gabriel she had known for the past year, and then there was the Gabriel that looked like he hadn't slept in days. She remembered all the months of training with him, and the feelings she once had. Were they still there?

     "You're alive!" Gabriel rejoiced. "My visions foretold of this!"

     Ellie looked out to the crowd and saw hundreds of people fighting with each other. They looked agitated, angry, and confused at the situation. It was then that Ellie realized: Gabriel had caused all of it. If Ellie was to be the hero, she had to make a sacrifice. She turned back to her former friend and...tackled him.

     She shoved him into an adjacent hallway and ordered the doors to shut. They clicked to lock and Ellie turned on Gabriel. He was sprawled on the ground, hysterically laughing in a pathetic, lunatic-like, manner.

     "Gabriel!" Ellie begged, kneeling down and grabbed him to steady his shaking body. "What happened to you?"

     "Ellie..." Gabriel choked out, in between spasms, "Ellie it hurts..."

     It was as if the original Gabriel had come out for a second.

     "Gabriel...it's going to be all right," Ellie soothingly said. "It's going to be all right, but what you're doing isn't right! You can't release all these criminals!"

     "To...be the creator," Gabriel choked out. "It's my duty."

     He erupted into another stream of chaotic laughter.

     "Gabriel! Stop! Stop this now!" Ellie begged. "You're better than this! You aren't doing the right thing!"

     "You don't understand, I can see everything," Gabriel whispered, clawing at his bullet wounds that still looked fresh. "I wish I could die. I can't die Ellie! Please! Let me die!!!"

     "What?" asked Ellie, as a lump formed in her throat at the sight of her old friend writhing on the floor.

     "The station..." Gabriel gasped. "I was given the gift of everlasting life, but in an eternal state of death and decay."

     "What? You can't die?" asked Ellie, desperately trying to connect the dots in her head. "You're not making any sense!"

     Gabriel abruptly grabbed Ellie, and she saw anger in his eyes.

     "I can see the future, and the past," whispered Gabriel, locking eyes with Ellie. "And it hurts Ellie. It hurts so...much...."

     All Ellie could think about was how the Gabriel she had once loved was gone.