The basement stank of fear and unwashed bodies. Rusted cages lined the walls, each containing children—some as young as six, none older than twelve. Their eyes were huge in gaunt faces, tracking me with animal wariness.
"Jesus Christ," I whispered.
Vought had been testing Compound V on children. Syrian orphans, probably. Disposable. Forgotten.
The researcher—Dr. Hamid—fell to his knees, babbling in Arabic. Titania stood rigid beside me, still under my hypnotic command, but I could see the horror dawning in her eyes.
"All this time..." she murmured. "They told me it was weapons research."
The oldest child, a girl with burn scars covering her arms, spoke in broken English: "They inject us. Make us sick. Then more injections. Some die. Some... change."
I knelt, careful not to startle them. "We're getting you out of here. All of you."
"Alex," Frenchie's voice came through the earpiece, "we've got company. Syrian military convoy approaching. ETA three minutes."
No time. I turned to Titania. "You're going to help me evacuate these children. Carry as many as you can."
She moved mechanically, gathering children into her arms. I did the same, whispering reassurances in languages I barely knew. The smallest—a boy missing an eye—clung to my neck like a lifeline.
We burst through the hospital's rear entrance as headlights appeared down the road. Butcher's team had the van ready, doors open.
"Move!" MM shouted, covering our retreat with aimed rifle fire at the approaching vehicles.
Children piled into the van, sobbing with terror. Titania stood frozen at the threshold, warring with my hypnotic commands and her own awakening conscience.
"Go with them," I told her. "Protect them. Get them somewhere safe."
She met my eyes, really seeing me for the first time. "Why?"
"Because it's what heroes do."
The words seemed to strike her like a physical blow. Without another word, she climbed into the van.
As we sped away into the Damascus night, I looked back at the burning hospital. Somewhere in those flames were the records of Vought's atrocities. The evidence that could bring them down.
And I'd just let one of their most dangerous weapons walk away.
"Alex?" Annie's voice was soft in my ear. "What happened down there?"
I watched the children huddling together in the van, the way Titania cradled the smallest ones with surprising gentleness.
"I think," I said slowly, "we just found our first defector."