Imagine....

You looked up into the darkness, disoriented more than you'd ever been. The serum was taking hold of your body, eating away any piece of you it could possibly get. You felt.... drained. Dead.

"It scares you.... doesn't it?" You were too weak to react to the sudden voice of Jonathan, his eyes boring into yours with so much intensity. But for a split second, you swore you saw him shining through, as if he was still in there, trapped within the madness of his own mind.

"Jonathan.... I know you're still there. Just... stop. I've seen my fears. And now? I make.... I make them fear me. I'm done." His eyes widened from your sudden confession, seeing that you were completely serious. And it was true. You weren't going to let the fear win.

"But... but how? It's not possible!" You slowly brought your head up to look him in the eyes, seeing his confusion. And surprisingly, he let you go. He untied you from the table you were strapped to, being pumped full of the serum. And when you stood, you felt more alive than you ever had in your life.

"You fight it, Jonathan! I tried telling you that so long ago. When your father thought he could win. Torture us. And guess what? It didn't work! Not on me. Because I refuse to live in fear." You softly placed your hands on his exposed face, his mask discarded on the floor. His cheeks were so cold. And his eyes were so dark from the unimaginable things coursing through his brain. He was broken by the fear. By his father.

"You may have become one with your fear Jonathan. But you still let him win." His hands suddenly came to rest on yours, looking you deep in the eyes. And that spark of the old Jonathan shown through in that one look.

"I always knew you were special. You saw me when my dad didn't. You tried helping me. But I wouldn't listen. It's too late. Way too late. He's in my head. Lingering, screaming at me. It won't stop." He tried to smile at you, but you could just hear the sadness in his tone. And you knew it was all true. And you knew in order to ever have a chance of helping him, you had to be truly fearless.

"We've got this Jonathan. You're still in there. Don't let him take you all away." He heard the hopefulness in your voice, the braveness. And smiled from it. The first smile he'd shown in so long. Fear is a torturous thing.