It's around four in the afternoon, the sun starting to get closer to the horizon. Brad is at home, sitting on the couch, relaxing after an exhausting mission that lasted nearly an entire day. He's still in his combat armor, as he arrived just recently, with his helmet removed. Meanwhile, Gabriella is off doing different things around the house, trying to be helpful as Brad rests. Gabriella comes in to the living room, smiling. She's dressed plainly, in a somewhat revealing shirt and a skirt, that have gotten dirty throughout a day of general cleaning.

Brad stretches slightly as she enters, before looking up at her with a slight smile on his face. "Well hello there."

Gabriella looks to him, smiling. "Hey, there. How was your mission?"

"It went well enough. We broke up a gang in the city and saved someone they were keeping hostage."

"Sounds like a success."

Brad nods, smiling. "It was."

She's glad at his success. Every time he leaves for a mission, she worries incredibly. She then thinks of what to do now, then decides she should go to the market and buy dinner. "So, I'm going to go out and buy dinner. What would you like tonight?

"A little to exhausted to decide. I'll let you decide what to get tonight."

Gabriella thinks for a second. She's still getting used to the concepts her opinions matter to her master. "How about... Something simple? Spaghetti with sauce and some bread?" She asks a bit cautiously, just in case.

Brad nods. "Sounds fine to me."

A bit relieved that he's alright with her decision. "Alright." She gets out a purse from next to the couch, and counts out some money. "Anything else we need while I'm out?"

"Hm... Not that I know of."

"Alright." She takes a few bills and hides them in her shirt, sliding them in to her bra, putting the purse back next to the couch. She's picked up the habit of not carrying a purse when alone to avoid purse snatchers.

As she leaves, Brad calls to her "Stay safe, Gabriella!"

"Will do!" 

She quickly exits the house, leaving Brad alone. He relaxes into the couch, sighing in content. After a bit of time passes, there's a knock at the door.

Brad quickly gets up and walks over to the door, and opens it. "Yes?" Before him is Dark Gabriel, dressed in black ripped up jeans and a black shirt. He's holding a small gift box, like the one he gave to Rose. Since it's darker, it's hard to see any dark colorations on him. "Hm? Gabriel?"

He almost corrects him, but decides to use Brad's mistake to his advantage. "Yeah. It's me. How's Gabriella?"

"She's fine" he answers. "She left to go get dinner while I rested here."

Dark Gabriel looks at him. "I see you just went on a mission. Any luck?"

He nods. "Broke up another gang and saved a hostage they had."

"Ah. Good, good." He holds up the small box. "Listen. I have something for Gabriella."

He looks down at the box. "Oh?"

"It's a gift for Gabriella. I saw it last night, and thought she'd be surprised if I got it for her."

Brad looks back up at him. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise." He hands it to him. "Don't open it until she's home, ok?"

He nods again. "Sure thing, Gabriel."

Dark Gabriel smiles at how easy that was. "Trust me when I say it'll be a memorable experience for you both. Well, I have to go now."

Brad also smiles faintly. "I'll let you know how she reacted when we meet again. So long."

"So long." Dark Gabriel turns and leaves. As he leaves, he thinks to himself "(Heh. Idiots. I'm surprised humans haven't been overcome by demons already. They're masters of disguise. I barely disguised myself, even.)"

Brad closes the door and looks down at the small box. "Wonder what he got her. I've never seen Gabriel get much for her, so it must be something special." Another hour passes before Gabriella comes home. She comes inside, holding a paper bag of ingreedients for dinner. Brad looks over to her as she enters, holding the small box still. "Hello there."

"Hey. I'm back." She puts the bag in the kitchen.

Brad stands up and walks over to her. "Gabriel stopped by while you were out."

"Oh?" She grabs a boiling pot, and starts to fill it with water.

"Yeah. He actually got you a gift apparently. He said it would be an experience for both of us. Not sure what he mean't, but yeah." He holds out the small box.

She turns the stove on to boil the water, then takes the box. Hm... Wonder what it could be..." It could have been a number of things, given my unpredictability in state of mind. She then opened it, and looked inside. "... It's... Empty." She thought it must've been a prank by me out of boredom.

"Wait... Empty?"

She hands the box to him. "See for yourself." There's actually a small note on the bottom, but Gabriella didn't notice it at first.

Brad looks inside and manages to see the note. He takes the note and opens it, letting the box fall to the floor. He starts to read it. "Hm..." It reads "Congradulations, Brad. You just killed your pet. The box had a deadly disease that only effects Gabriel, but since she has his exact DNA, it effects her too. She'll be dead by midnight. DARKNESS ETERNAL!" He feels his blood instantly go cold and his eyes grow wide in shock, his whole body also seeming to lock up. "No..."

She senses his fear, and worries. "Brad? What's wrong?" He hesitantly shows her the note. She reads it. As she does, her eyes widen in fear and a shiver of fear travels through her.

After a moment of silence, he finally speaks up. "I don't think that was Gabriel..."

She falls to her knees, eyes welling up with tears. "I-I'm... D-dying..." She inherited my intense fear of mortality, so it is hitting her hard.

He quickly walks over to her and crouches down in front of her. "Now calm down, Gabriella... If it's a disease, there's a cure for it..." He's not fully aware of the severity at this moment.

She shakes head just slightly. "No... There isn't..."

He tries to reassure her. "You don't know that..."

"I do... I-if it's what I'm thinking... The virus was made by the alliance to destroy Gabriel... I-it effects only his DNA, and leaves everyone else unharmed... No cure was needed..."

"The Alliance... I should've known they'd create something like that..."

"... Yeah... A precaution... B-but... I never thought..." She wraps her arms around Brad. "I'm so scared." She starts to cry, as a scared child.

He quickly wraps his own arms around her, pulling her close against him. "Gabriella... If The Alliance can create such a virus, they can quickly create a cure, or at least stall the mortality rate long enough to make one..."

Sniffs. "I-I hope s-so..." She coughs, crying, holding him. Her energy quickly drains out of her, her abilities the first to go.

"Gabriella, I may not like having to work with them so soon, but I have no choice... We need to go to the Alliance..."

She nods. "Yes... P-please... L-let's ask for help..." She lets go of him and stands up. At that moment, her body suddenly goes very weak, collapsing under her.

He quickly catches her as she falls. "Gabriella! Please, calm down and relax as much as you can... The more you work, move, and panic, the faster your heart beats and the faster the virus spreads..."

Her head is pounding, as if she had a bad headache. "I-I'm sorry..." She tries to stand again, pulling herself up and leaning on the counter.

"Ok, just stay there and try to move as little as possible... How can I contact the Alliance?"

She's incredibly scared, but she tries to calm herself for him. "... T-there's a device in my purse... She coughs harder, a bit of blood in her teeth. "Ow... I-it's like a small phone..."

He quickly goes over to her purse and looks through it. He eventually manages to find it and he goes back to her. "Alright, I have it. How do I use it?"

"Press the button that has an X followed by an I like letter."

He looks around for said button and eventually finds it. He presses it. "Done."

"Okay... That should call them..." She's getting weaker by the second.

After a few seconds, someone speaks in an alien language from the device. He looks back to Gabriella, not understanding the language. "What did they say?"

"You declared a medical emergency... T-they need details... Just tell them in English; they can translate..." She slides back down the side of the counter until she's sitting on the floor. She starts to scratch her arms.

He turns to the device "Hello? This is Brad Reger, human, leader of the POS on Earth. I have an emergency that requires immediate attention! A member of the Alliance, Gabriella, has been infected with a fatal disease created to destroy another member of the Alliance named Gabriel. They both share the same DNA, so she's effected by it as well. She came into contact with it via a mysterious person who looked like Gabriel, and is now dying from it. She needs IMMEDIATE medical attention!"

"S-send... Arrow button..."

"Please, send help immediately." He finishes and presses the arrow button on the device.

"... N-now we wait..." She coughs again, blood out of her coughs. As she scratches her arms, her fur is falling out. She looks up to him. "H-help me to lay down somewhere please..."

He nods and walks over to her, gently picking her up bridal style. He carries her over to the couch in the living room and gently lays her down on it. "There you go..."

"Thanks..." She closes her eyes, her sensitivity to light growing. "Brad... I need you to do me a serious favor..."

He gently begins to pet her head to comfort her. "Anything... Tell me..."

Her fur starts falling off of her without being scratched off. "I don't think I'll make it... I-I need you... To forget me..."

He smiles faintly down at her, but it's obvious that behind the smile, he's beginning to panic. "Don't talk like that... You'll be just fine, Gabriella..."

She opens her eyes, looking at him. "But if I'm not... I-I want to know... You won't waste your life... R-remembering me..." Her mindset still makes her believe she's worth less, and only a pet. She doesn't want to die with the posibility of him thinking of her so much that he won't be happy again. That would be the ultimate failure for a pet, upsetting her master, even in death.

"I'll focus on that if the outcome is so... But for now, we focus on this..." He doesn't want to think of the worst.

But she has to think of the worst. "P-please... I-I want to be sure... I-if it comes to that... That you will forget me, and move on..." She weakly raises her hand to touch his cheek.

"I-I'll never forget about you... You've become so much to me... But I'll do my best to move on...for you..."

"T-thank you..." She closes her eyes, unable to stand the light.

"Hey, Gabriella... Keep your eyes open at least..."

She opens them, despite the pain. "T-then... Dim the lights..."

"Ok..." He slowly gets up and walks over to the light switch. He turns most of the lights off in the room, only leaving one on to offer some light so he can see her still.

"Thanks..."

He walks over and crouches down beside her. "Anything for my beautiful Gabriella..." Tears still flowing from her eyes, she smiles slightly. Though she's dying, she's glad that she died having Brad as her final master. Especially, since he treated her as more than a pet...

At that moment, the device makes a tone. Click's voice sount, speaking a response. He hears this and stands up. He takes the device back out. "Yes? Hello?" The response is in poor English. "We are working in the answer. Tell Gabriella I am so sorry. Trick me Dark Gabriel was. We are close to a cure. End call." Brad didn't understand most of it, but hope quickly rises in him as he hears the last few words*. "They're close to a cure..."

"... G-good..." Hope returns for a moment.

He crouches back down next to her again*. "So just hold on... They'll be here soon..."

"I hope so..." Her mortality sinks in heavily, overtaking her hope, her life flashing before her eyes, as her body fills with pain from her nerves being eaten away.

"Gabriella... If you don't end up making it, I want you to know something..."

"... W-what?..."

He gently takes one of her hands in his. "I know we've only been together a couple months... But I want you to know that they've been the happiest months of my life..."

Her eyes tearing up as she hears that. "... Brad... You are the best thing to happen in my life... You've saved me from my old master... Helped me become a normal girl... Treated me as more than a pet, a tool... You're incredible... I'm glad I met you..."

He slowly looks down as he begins to talk again. "I...actually had certain dreams of us you know..."

She knows, but she doesn't want him to stop talking. "... T-tell... Please..."

He continues looking down, avoiding her eyes, his voice actually beginning to falter slightly. "I...had dreams of us with children... All of us living together in our own home... I-I was done with the POS, and you quit the A-Alliance... We all lived a safe and happy life together... And we were married as well... I h-had this dream multiple times..."

"... That is the best possible future... I-I've dreamed of that many times... A-as well..." She starts shivering slightly, her body's temperature falling colder.

"If you make it, I'll make sure that dream becomes a reality for both of us..." As impossible as it is for Gabriella to have kids, that is one of the things she desires most if she were to ever become a normal female...

"I-I would love that..." She holds herself, shivering... "T-turn the heat up..." Her voice is getting weaker, almost lik her vocal chords are being dissolved in acid...

He nods and leaves to turn the heat up quickly. He comes back a few minutes later carrying something in his hand. "There, the heat is on..."

"T-thanks..." She sees something in his hands. Because it's so dark, and her eye sight is failing her, she can't make out much of anything. "W-what's that?..."

He reveals his red hoodie to her, laying it down across her. "Here, this should also help..."

"T-thanks..." She starts feeling warmer, but she is still shivering uncontrollably.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?..."

She can't think of anything at first. Then, she feels her stomach, knowing she's about to throw up. "G-get me a bucket... Q-quickly..."

"O-Ok!" He quickly rushes off and returns almost instantly carrying a bucket in his hands. "N-Now what?"

"I-I'm going to t-throw up." She grabs the bucket, barely able to hold it.

"Alright..." He steps back, offering her some room.

She throws up in to the bucket, burning her throat as it comes up, a mixture of stomach stuffs and blood. She coughs in to it, then looks back up to Brad. She feels horrible that he has to see her like this. "I-I'm... S-sorry you had to... H-hear that..."

He slowly takes the bucket from her and crouches down beside her again. He speaks, trying to again comfrot her. "It's ok, Gabriella... You can't control that stuff..."

She's tearing up again. "B-but... Y-you don't... Have to see me... Like this..." She almost wants him to leave her to die, to not have him watch her in this severe pain she's in.

He gently puts a finger to her lips, silencing her. "Gabriella... It's ok..."

"B-but... I-I'm literally falling apart..." By now, she's almost completely furless. Her teeth as well start to feel odd, loosening from their places. The taste of blood fills her mouth.

He rests a hand gently on her forehead. "You'll recover... Just need to be patient..." He feels that her temperature is much colder than normal, and still dropping. Her heart beat is faint as well. He starts to become much more worried and unnerved. "Oh please let them get that cure soon..."