The next morning I wake Eko up early so he can shower and change. I haven't said anything until now but he kind of stinks. It's not his fault, of course. I can't imagine it was easy to shower with his wings staked to a wall. I leave a towel and a change of clothes on the bathroom counter for him. It's just an oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants but it's the only thing I have in his size.

He comes out of the bathroom in just the pants. Somehow he's found a pair of scissors and trimmed his hair so it's cropped close to his head. He hands them to me without a word. I scowl. I recognize them as my surgical scissors.

"Give me the bandages. I need to rewrap my back."

Rude, much?

"No," I tell him, "You sit. I'll wrap your back."

I take out my first aid kit from a drawer and replace the scissors. Then, I pull out a roll of gauze and an antiseptic ointment. Eko plucks the gauze from my hand. I follow him to the couch and before he can unroll it, I take it and replace it with an apple and another antibiotic pill.

"You eat, I wrap."

He makes a face but sits still as I disinfect and wrap the wound. When the binding is secure I grab the sweatshirt.

"Do you want help with this?" I ask, holding it out to him.

"No," he refuses flatly.

He also refuses my help getting down to the parking garage, preferring to lean on the wall instead of me. The entire ride across town he doesn't say a word. Every time the car hits a bump I can see his jaw clench from the corner of my eye but he never complains.

The Butcher's office is in a nondescript building on a nondescript street in werewolf territory. I find a parking spot in the alley out back and we go inside. It looks like a regular office building. Stark white walls, shiny wood floors, and bright fluorescent lights. We follow a long hallway past several doors until I find the right one. The plaque reads 'EcoClean Inc.". I knock.

It takes a moment but the door unlocks and swings open to reveal a short balding man with wire rimmed glasses and a lab coat.

"You're my nine AM? Here for a deep clean?" He asks.

I nod and gesture to Eko. "That's him."

"Come to the back," The Butcher says, waving us in.

'The back' is a small exam room that looks like it could belong in any doctor's office except it has a few extra machines sitting on a metal table.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asks us.

"Magical bloackage."

"Ah, I see. No worries, a very common issue. Let's just take a look."

He grabs what appears to be a tuning fork and taps it against the bone of his wrist so it makes a ringing sound. He touches it to Eko's right shoulder, then his left, then his forehead.

"That's not it."

He picks up a retrofitted geiger counter from the table and holds it near Eko's chest. Nothing happens.

"Odd. Are you sure he isn't human? I'm not seeing any magical readings."

He wheels over an ultrasound machine and makes Eko lift up his sweatshirt so he can press the wand against his chest

"Hmmmm. Interesting. There's the issuee." He murmurs. He presses a few buttons and leans in closer. "You don't see that everyday."

I crane my neck to see the screen. "What is it?"

"Come around, come look."

I do as he says and catch sight of the screen. Most of it is blurry and grey but in the middle there's a perfect square.

"This is your problem," The Butcher nods, pointing at it. "Frankly, I'm shocked that they're still making these things. I thought they were all phased out about fifty years ago."

"So you know what it is."

He grimaces. "I do. And I'd hoped to forget. This little doodad is a dampener. It's a nifty little box that controls the flow of magic at its source so that only a pre-set amount can get through. In this case, none. They used to install these on overpowered individuals before the singher was invested. They outlawed them years ago because they're inhumane and incredibly dangerous. Only about one in five survived the surgery. They're also tough as nails to take out."

"But you could take it out."

He sucks his teeth. "Theoretically. But you'd need a very powerful alternate source for it to latch onto. And it would stay latched to that source until they were drained of magical energy.

"And if we could find someone like that? Someone powerful enough to take it out?"

"Then you're looking at about a month out for a surgery date. My assistant is on vacation for the next few weeks and I'd need a second set of hands for something like this."

Eko's eyes meet mine. His face is unreadable.

"What about today?" I ask, eyes still locked on Eko. "Do you have time today? If I can get you a power source and an assistant?"

Eko's eyebrow cocks.

There's a moment of quiet as The Butcher pulls up his calendar on his phone. "My next appointment isn't until the afternoon so theoretically I could do it but only if you could get them here in the next half hour."

My mouth twitches into a smile. "Let's get the operating room prepped then, because I can do both."

The Butcher shakes his head and gives me a smile that says I don't know what I'm talking about. "I need someone with OR experience."

"And I've got it," I tell him. "Five years at Cedar-Sinai in LA. It's been a while since I've practised but I'm more than capable of assisting."

"You're what, twenty-five?" He scoffs.

He obviously doesn't believe me and I feel a familiar annoyance rise inside of me.

"I'm older than I look."

Eko watches the whole exchange with a calm, calculating expression.

After a second he nods. "I trust her to do the surgery."

"Oh you do, do you? You trust this woman with your life?" The Butcher retorts.

"I do."

There's no room for argument in his voice as he levels his piercing gaze on The Butcher.

The Butcher still doesn't look convinced but he moves on. "It's a moot point if you don't have sufficient magic level anyway so let's take a look at that before we decide anything."

It's a cop out. He's sure I don't have what it takes.

He grabs another machine off the table and points it at me. It whirs and hums. He examines the screen and makes a few notes on a pad of paper, frowning. The silence fills the air.

The Butcher takes out a calculator and punches in some numbers. Then some more. Finally, he swings his chair towards me and looks at me over the top of his glasses.

"And you're sure you have surgical experience?"

"Absolutely."

He glances at his notepad again then back at me. "It would be risky... might not be worth it..."

I finger the blade I have strapped to my thigh. I'll do what I have to. The blood pact demands it.

"But to see a dampener in person," he continues, "well, that would be something extraordinary...Something worth the risk..." he stares off into space. His mind whirls and then, like a final puzzle piece has fallen into plan in his mind, his eyes snap back to me. "Fine. We can do it."

The surgical suite is a sterile white room with no windows and only one door. It's already been sterilised and prepped so we just have to get Eko ready and get scrubbed in. The Butcher lives up to his name and has a table filled with cutting instruments ready for use. When the anaesthesia kicks in and Eko is unconscious he picks up the first one.

Wearing scrubs and standing in a surgical suite is bringing back a flood of memories for me and I have to push them down so I can focus. There was a time, another life, where I had been in The Butcher's shoes. Cutting open chests and saving lives. But those days were long behind me now and there was no going back.

I follow The Butcher's instructions, handing him his instruments and holding Eko's chest open when and where he tells me to. The motions are familiar and the surgery is going smoothly.

Finally, The Butcher cuts through the last layer of tissue and the box is visible. It's beautiful, in its own way. It's made of a material so shiny and smooth that it looks like quicksilver. The light catches it in such a way that it almost looks like the metal is moving. Then I realise it is.

"Okay," The Butcher inhales. "The easy part is over and now it's time for the real work. You're going to reach in there and grab hold of it. It's attracted to the largest energy source so pump it full of magic and it should detach from your friend and attach to your hand. As soon as that happens you need to pull it out as quickly as you can because your friend is going to start healing and you don't want to have your arm in there when he does. Understood?"

I nod.

The metal box is cool to the touch despite being surrounded by warm flesh. I grasp it firmly and take a deep breath. Then, I push. The years I've spent pushing magic into charms is really paying off as I effortlessly flood the dampener with magic. It turns into liquid silver in my hands and flows up my arm. It feels like I'm elbow deep in ice water.

As soon as it leaves Eko I yank my arm away. Seconds later his chest begins to knit back together.

I let out a celebratory whoop as his magic springs free.

My celebration is short lived, though, as the dampener continues to climb up my body towards my chest. When it reaches the spot just below my heart it begins to dig. The pain is unbearable as it burrows into my flesh.

I gasp and claw at it. It continues to drain my stolen magic and I can feel my limbs going weak. The edges of my vision darken and I sink to my knees. Then, everything goes black.

—

I'm floating in a void. The pain in my chest is gone. In fact, there's no feeling. There's nothing.

Holy crap, I'm dead.

It's almost a relief now that it's happened. I'd been living in fear of it for so long.

"Lexi," An unfamiliar man's voice calls to me through the void.

God?

"Why didn't you tell us this would happen?" The man is angry now.

"I had no idea! I've never done this before!"

I slowly gain awareness of my body. First, I feel the aching in my head, then the sharp pain in my chest and finally, the empty void in my stomach. I haven't been this hungry in a lifetime. I guess I'm not dead after all.

There's a groan. I think it comes from me.

"She's waking up," The second man's voice says.

My eyelids are too heavy to lift but I try anyway. It takes a few seconds but finally they crack open just the tiniest bit. The harsh fluorescent lights burn my retinas and I moan again.

"Lexi?" The first man's voice asks again. There's a tinge of worry to it and I turn my head in his direction.

"Eko?"

He's on his knees beside me. The wound on his chest has closed up completely and only a faint white line remains to show where the incision happened. I feel a hand on my neck and realise the butcher is checking my pulse. I feel the faint hum of his magic through his touch. There isn't a lot of it but I have a quick snack anyway. He won't even notice it's gone. It's just enough. Just enough to stave off the hunger. Just enough to give me some strength. Just enough to get my back on my feet until I can find a better meal.

I look down at my chest to the searing pain that's settled there. The dampener is nowhere in sight but there are tiny holes ringed with blood all over my blouse. Pulling the fabric away reveals dents pot marking my tanned skin. The bleeding has stopped and I gingerly run my fingers over them. The magic I've just stolen does its work and they fade under my touch.

"Where's the device?" I ask, looking up into the expectant faces of Eko and The Butcher.

The Butcher juts his chin towards an iron box in the corner. "Contained."

"And the surgery was a success."

It's a statement rather than a question but The Butcher shifts nervously from foot to foot.

"There was a... complication."

My head snaps around. "Eko?"

But he's fine. Sitting next to me on the cold ground, his many wounds are already healing.

The Butcher clears his throat. "There was a, erm, second device underneath the first. There was no way to know it was there until the first one was removed."

I stand slowly, a little unsteady on my feet. "Show me."

The Butcher leads us back to the examination room and fires up the ultrasound machine. He tilts the screen so I can see the image that shows up there. There, so small it hardly looks like anything at all, is a circle.

"And what the hell is that?" I demand.

The Butcher gives me an apologetic smile. "It's not something I've ever seen before. It seems to be blocking your friend's access to his powers somehow."

"So let's clean up the OR and get it out."

He shakes his head. "That's impossible, I'm afraid. With the rate he's healing now we'll never be able to get that deep."

"Well there's got to be some way to get it out." I snap. "They got it in, didn't they?"

"It would require someone with immense power and control to remove it. It's beyond my capability and certainly beyond yours."

"Who has that kind of power?"

"Dean Ericcson, I suppose. Elena Leonovski. Jorge Perez."

The mayor, the vampire queen, and the pack alpha. Perfect. I let out a sarcastic bark of laughter. "Well let me just give them a ring, shall I? You're killing me here, Doc. Don't you have anyone a bit more, oh, I don't know, accessible?"

He shakes his head and shrugs. "I'm afraid the calibre of Flooded you need won't be accessible."

I throw my hands up in exasperation. "Just great."

The Butcher clears his throat. "Now, about the matter of payment..."

The envelope full of gold bars is waiting in my pocket.

Before I can pull it out, The Butcher continues. "I would like to keep the dampener as payment."

I shrug, "Well, I certainly don't want it," I rub at the spot on my chest where it had tried to burrow inside of me. "It's yours."

We leave the way we came in. I grab Eko's arm and drag him the entire way back to the alley.

As soon as we're in the car I turn on him.

"Why didn't you tell me you had all this bullshit inside of you? I would have never made a blood pact with you if I'd known!"

He counters with his own anger although it isn't directed at me. "Do you think I knew about this? Am I supposed to live my life as a mortal now? But no, not a mere mortal. An immortal with no power, no family, no life?"

"Oh, no, no, no," I tell him, "we made a blood pact! I vowed to protect you and let you live in my house until you could use your powers to protect yourself, remember? If you don't regain those powers then I'll be stuck with you for all eternity. So you better start brainstorming because that sure as shit isn't happening. You said a few days! Not forever!"

It takes all of my will power not to floor it all the way home. When we arrive, I stomp the entire way up to the apartment, not even bothering to check if he's following. Snot is waiting for us and yowls in excitement when the door swings open. To my horror, she runs right past me to rub up against Eko's legs.

"Snot!" I say in disbelief. "After everything we've been through!?"

Eko picks her up and she purrs happily.

Not able to handle one more bad thing happening, I yell in frustration and storm to my room, slamming the door behind me. I throw myself on my bed and scream into my pillow. Hot tears of anger and frustration spill down my cheeks. To top it all off I'm so freaking hungry I feel like my stomach is eating itself.

This has been the worst day of my life.

No, I think, that's not true. Let's not get overdramatic. It's probably only the fifth worst day.