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Vex shot out of bed, narrowly avoiding getting tangled in his sheets, and nearly ran right into the door. Skidding to a stop a few feet back from it, he came to a quick decision. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth. To anyone else in the room, nothing would have happened. Only he could hear the sound. The lock on the door broke.

Sprinting forward, he slammed his shoulder into the door, wasting no time to stop it from swinging into the wall. The second door was easily opened from the inside and he shoved it open. The airlock to Blight's was just as easy, but it took precious seconds that he didn't have and Vex cursed the system the architect had thought up.

Not caring what damage he did to himself or the building, Vex burst through the second door and ran into the room, pausing briefly to change direction when he realized that Blight's bed had moved since the last time he'd last seen it.

Skidding to a stop next to Blight's bed, Vex ripped the mask off of his brother's face and shoved the malfunctioning machine aside.

"Blight!" He shook his brother by the shoulders. "Wake up! Come on, Blight! Wake up!"

Blight didn't respond.

Fear tore at Vex's heart. "Come on, Blight. . . Breath. . . Breath. . . Breath, damn it!"

His anger got the best of him and he struck out, the back of his hand meeting Blight's cheek so hard it hurt. With a ragged gasp, Blight sucked in air. His spine arched up off the bed as he broke into a coughing fit, wheezing as he started breathing again.

When the coughing subsided, Blight covered his mouth with a hand, realizing that his mask was gone, and looked up at his brother. "Vex," He coughed a couple more times, "What are you doing here? What just - happened?"

Vex sagged in relief and collapsed onto his knees beside the bed, resting his head next to his brother's arm. "Oh, thank god. . . I thought . . . I thought I lost you for a minute there. . ."

"Lost me?" Blight sat up, rubbing his throat lightly. "Exactly what just happened?"

Shifting to the side, Vex kicked the machine he'd moved aside and very nearly snarled at it. "That piece of crap stopped working!" His anger faded quickly and he looked up at Blight with fear in his eyes. "You stopped. . . You stopped breathing. . . I thought you were dead!"

For what felt like the first time, Blight couldn't think of the words to say. He couldn't rationalize what had just happened. Instead, he rested a hand on Vex's head and smiled gently. "I'm not dead, Vex. . . Thanks to you."

Before Vex could reply, blinding lights snapped on all around them. Just a few seconds later, four people rushed into the room, all demanding at the same time to know what had happened.

Vex shoved up to his feet, eyes blazing, fists clenched so hard they shook. "What happened!? What happened!? You almost killed him, that's what happened! Your stupid machine! It takes what he breathes out, but it has to give something back, you imbeciles! He doesn't even need to wear that! You're just so afraid of what might happen to you that you don't care about what happens to him! What did you think would happen when that thing eventually stopped working!? You're supposed to be monitoring us, aren't you!? Aren't you!? Answer me!"

Faced with his rage, none of the scientists could formulate a reply. Vex took a deep breath, opened his mouth.

And was stopped when a fist hit him in the gut.

His breath came out in a burst before he could make a sound and he doubled over a little before whirling on the person that had hit him. "Don't you dare tell me to-!"

Blight silenced him with a harsh glare. "That's enough. Get your temper under control." He walked closer, staring Vex down. "I will not allow you to kill over something that might have happened. The machine broke. All equipment glitches sometimes. No one's perfect. It happens." Blight gripped his brother's shoulders firmly, almost hard enough to make Vex wince. "Ten seconds. Deep breaths."

"I'm not -!"

"Ten seconds. Deep breaths."

"But -!"

"Do it." Blight warned.

Vex's gaze flicked towards the scientists, but he looked back at his brother and sighed. Counting slowly to ten in his head, he took four deep breaths, taking in and letting out each one slowly.

Blight's grip loosened, his glare softening. "Better now?"

Vex only nodded.

"Under control?"

Another nod.

"Good." Blight let go. "Now," He looked to the scientists, "Someone get me a mask and see about fixing that machine. We may have to switch back to air purifiers. Tomorrow. Tonight," He shook his head wearily, 'I need to sleep."

The scientists finally moved when he was done speaking and took the machine out of the room. Vex followed them out. Once out of Blight's view and hearing range, he grabbed one of the scientists and pinned him to the wall.

"You listen to me and you listen good," He growled quietly, careful to keep his anger reigned in lest he injure someone, "I want the airlocks gone. No more locks on the doors. If you're so afraid, lock off the corridor. I'm tired of being cut off from the others. If anything ever happens to any of them, I want immediate access. I deserve to be able to see my own brothers without having to wave at a camera to get someone's attention or waiting for an appointment. Get it done."

After receiving a nod as reply, Vex dropped the shaking man to the ground and walked back into Blight's room. He took a seat on the floor, leaning back against his brother’s bed with arms and legs crossed.

"And what do we think we're doing?" Blight asked, turning onto his side.

"I'm staying here tonight." Vex said simply. "Don't tell me to leave. I couldn't sleep anyway. . . Especially not now. . ." His shoulders slumped slowly. "I thought . . . I thought you were gone. . . I was . . . scared, Blight."

Blight rested a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder, replying with just a soft whisper. "Thank you."

For Vex, it was as if the world started spinning again.