Agents of Charmed

Chapter 3

        "Do you think it's time to try him again?" Fitz asked, a few hours later.
He and Chris sat in the lab watching the feed from Hive's cell. Fitz was tinkering with something.
"I don't know," Chris said, "I could tell you what to do with a demon or warlock, but this guy? He's a whole new bag of crazy."
"You don't know the half of it. He hijacked Jemma's friend from another planet, attacked me, then jumped to Ward's dead body..."
He trailed off, realizing he had lost Chris. "Jemma's friend from another planet?" Chris echoed, testing each word in his mouth.
"Er...yeah, Will. She got stuck there for some time and they stayed together to survive. When we saved her, I agreed to go back to save him. Unbeknownst to us, by the time we came back for him he had been possessed by Hive,"
Chris was shaking his head, "Dude."
"What?"
"Nothing, just—you have a thing for Jemma, right?"
"I...I mean..."
"Come on, you like her and then you agree to save her boyfriend from another planet?"
"You wanted me to leave an innocent man on a hostile planet?"
"No, but if you want to be with Jemma you have to go for it,"
"Saving Will was what a good friend would have done,"
"Oh, oh, a good friend,"
"Yes, she's my friend,"
"Do you want to stay just friends?"
"Well, no not ideally,"
"Then you have to tell her that. Just get it out right there. Lay it out for her,"
"I...I don't know Chris. I don't want to seem pushy,"
"Honestly, yes, you do! Show her you're not afraid to go for what you want,"
"But I am afraid—I'm very afraid,"
"Well, pretend you're not. Put yourself out there, do something crazy for her..."
"I already rented out an entire restaurant for our first date,"
Chris stared at him, flabbergasted, his pep talk screeching to a halt, "I'm—I'm sorry, you did what?"
"When Jemma first came back I took her out on a date, but she was having sensory issues from being over there, so I rented an entire restaurant so it'd be quiet for us, but..."
"And she still friend-zoned you?" Chris bawked.
"Well, I wouldn't say—Yeah, yeah, basically,"
"Okay, take back what I just said,"
          "What?!"
          "Yeah, forget all that. If she's still friend-zoning you after that, move on, man. There's plenty of fish in the sea,"
          "But they're not all Jemma," Fitz argued, frustrated, "Maybe I just have to up the shock factor—"
           "Whoa, wait," Chris' face slackened.
           "No, no, Chris. I don't want to hear it,"
           "No, dude!" Chris gripped Fitz's arm, his eyes focusing on Hive's cell, "We have to up the shock factor. There's a species of demon that feeds on magic like Hive feeds off the Inhumans energy, and it's weakness was electricity. What if Hive is the same way? If we can shock Hive with a high enough voltage, is it possible for him to lose his hold on the Inhumans?"
           "It's possible...but do those crystals come in a higher voltage?"
            Chris met Fitz's gaze, his eyes wide, "No, but I know where to find them a boost."

Lincoln Campbell glanced up when the door to his room slid open, revealing Chris. He sat up straight from where he lay on his bed. "Chris?"
Chris stepped into the room, walking towards the Inhuman, "I see you didn't get the news that Wyatt and I were back in town-so to speak. We—"
"Hold on, stop right there," Lincoln held up a hand.
"What? Why?"
Lincoln pointed at the floor between them, "Don't cross the line—unless you want to face the wrath of Simmons."
"Oh, right. You're immune system is shot, right?"
"Yep. Long story. So what are you doing here?"
"We ran into Daisy and the rest of the Manson's, and decided we'd stick around to capture Hive,"
"And how's that going?" Lincoln asked, hesitantly.
"Oh, he's a couple floors under your shoes right now,"
The other man stiffened, excitement sparking in his blue eyes, "You got him? He's here?"
Chris nodded with a conspiratorial grin, "And Fitz and I have an idea to free Daisy and the others, if you're interested..."

"You realize if Jemma finds out about this—" Fitz started, surging out of the lab to fall into step with Chris and Lincoln.
"She'll kill us, yeah," said Chris.
"Exactly...First me, then Lincoln, then you...then me again...then you again for good measure,"
"Thorough," Chris mused, as they reached Hive's cell, "Well, open sesame."
He stepped in, followed by Lincoln, then Fitz. Hive was standing in the midst of the crystals, calmly pacing with his hands behind his back. "Christopher," he greeted the Halliwell.
"Hey, Bee Boy—get it, bees...Hive...never mind. Do you feel up to releasing our friends now?"
"No, I do not think I do,"
"Well, I'm not telling you how I'm immune to Terogenesis then. Guess no one's satisfied,"
"I'm sorry, you're what?" Lincoln balked, but Chris waved him off.
"I'll tell you later,"
"No, I think I understand well enough what you are, Christopher. You're a monster like us already," Hive was saying.
"I'm nothing like you," Chris sneered.
"Aren't you? You're dedicated to this goal of ridding the earth of evil. All I and the other Inhumans by my side want to do is bring harmony to the world. We have the same goal,"
"Nah, nah, I've heard the whole 'peace and harmony' thing before. It's a crock of shit, and it turns out rather creepy in practice, trust me,"
          "You know how destructive humans are. You've seen how they destroy the planet, destroy each other,"
           "Try spending some time with demons," Chris muttered.
           "I want to end that,"
           "Through mind control?"
           "Yes,"
           "Enough talking, Chris. We gave him one more chance," Lincoln growled.
           "I agree. Well, Hive-y, it's been a blast, but we're going to try something new,"
           "And that is?" the creature sounded bored.
           "I think it's called shock therapy," he turned to the Inhuman next to him, "Grab a crystal, slam it down, and pour as much power as you can into it."
           "As much power as I can?" Lincoln grinned, dubious.
           "As high as you can go,"
           "As high as I can go will toast this entire base and black-out the whole city,"
             "As high as you can go—without doing that," Chris remedied.
             Lincoln laughed while Fitz whimpered, "Yes please."
             The agent and Witchlighter stepped back a few good feet, while Lincoln stooped to pick up a crystal. He straightened up halfway just enough to meet Hive's gaze, the first Inhuman staring levelly back at him, unfazed. "This is for Daisy, you bastard," he grimaced before slamming the crystal back down.
             As the crystal touched the cement floor, Lincoln's body was flooded with intense blue sparks. The crystal grid electrocuted Hive, but Lincoln's lightening flowed through the tendrils, blinding blue and white. Hive screamed as electricity pulsed through his body, lifting his feet off the ground.
            After a few seconds of this however, all sound and light was cut short with a deafening boom as the grid exploded and the room filled with smoke. Chris, Fitz, and Lincoln were thrown against the wall. Coughing, the Halliwell forced himself up into a sitting position. Looking to his right he could just make out Lincoln and Fitz's unconscious forms. Fitz had blood leaking down the side of his face.
           "Guys?" Chris rasped out.
            Just then, a hand lashed out at him from the smoke, clamping down on his throat and lifting him up until he was gazing down into Hive's face.
            "I told you that I couldn't be held for long," he said, serenely, before flinging Chris across the room.
             He landed on crumbled bits of crystals scattered across black scorch marks. He threw up a hand, but Hive barely budged. He tried a second time and a third. He clenched his fist, trying desperately to choke Hive, but the creature just stared down at him, watching his efforts with mild amusement.
             Chris finally was about to resort to orbing himself, Lincoln, and Fitz out of there, but before he could, Hive raised his hands. The first thing he registered was that he couldn't move, the second was Fitz and Lincoln screaming in pain, then he felt it too. His skin was burning.
             No, every cell in his body was being dissolved in blinding pain. Before his eyes, he could see his body and Fitz and Lincoln's dissolving into dust and flowing toward Hive.
            Then, all at once, the agony subsided. Oxygen filled his lungs, the cool basement air touched his skin. He saw the next moment what had occurred. A translucent blue bubble surrounded Hive, separating him from Chris and the others who were also gazing at the scene in awe.
            Because Hive wasn't alone in the bubble.
            "How kind of you to join us, Wyatt."