Steve Jinks

Steve didn’t have Pete’s vibes, but even he could tell that there was something wrong when he woke up. For one thing, he felt cold, very cold. For another, the last thing he remembered was Marcus coming at him with a needle. He wasn’t sure whether he’d been made or whether Sykes was simply getting rid of loose ends, but something had definitely gone wrong. He sent a silent prayer to Claudia and the rest of the team before feeling the prick of the needle stinging his neck and then all was black.

And then the cold. Maybe he’d died and had been reincarnated? But in everything he’d read, he wasn’t actually supposed to remember his previous life. Maybe Karma had a sense of humor and he’d been reincarnated as a snake, the Christian version of the eternal liar. But that was soon proved wrong when he slowly clenched and unclenched his fingers. He had a body and it felt like an adult body and not some squalling child’s. So not dead, not reincarnated. Coma maybe? It didn’t explain the cold, but he’d never been in a coma before.

He tried to open his eyes. Blinding light immediately made him shut them again. A similar thing happened when he tried to speak. Instead of his voice, all he heard was a croaking noise.

But then he felt warmth again, a hand in his. Claudia? Myka? Pete? It could even be Artie, but he was willing to bet it was Claudia. It seemed like a very her thing to do. So he did the only thing he could. He squeezed the hand back, letting her know that he was okay. Maybe he’d stay awake long enough to find out what happened, but it was enough to know that she was all right. Everything else would come soon enough.