Chapter 6

Thrax ran out of the building to see Ozzy storming away. "Jones!" He called out. The cell ignored him. He ran up to Ozzy and grabbed his arm. "Jones listen to me!"

Ozzy ripped his arm out of Thrax's grasp. "Don't touch me! Don't you dare touch me! Just leave me alone!"

Thrax could feel the frustration bubbling up inside him. "Just listen! I lo-"

"Don't you dare say that!" Ozzy shouted. "That's not what this is! This isn't love! This is just some weird thing you think you feel!"

"No it's not, Jones!" Thrax shouted back. Germs in the alleys near them began evacuating; they all knew that innocent bystanders tended to die in virus fights. "Believe me, I've tried moving on! It doesn't work!"

Ozzy was beyond reasoning right now. "Oh, really? Well then tell me Thrax, when did these feelings start, huh? Was it when you saw me dance? Am I just some new toy?!"

"No!" Thrax could feel the anger burning him up. "Would you just-"

"Was it when you saw what we could do together at the prison?!" Ozzy interrupted. "Am I some new experiment you wanna run tests on?!"

"NO!"

"Then tell me, Thrax, when did this start?! When did it start?!" Thrax couldn't think clearly. There were too many emotions fighting in his head, and Ozzy wouldn't give him any peace to think it all through. "Tell me!"

Thrax lost it. "When you broke into my meeting disguised as a germ!"

Ozzy's eyes widened. His mouth opened and closed a few times. Eventually he just shook his head. "That's it. I'm done." He turned to walk in the other direction.

"This isn't over!" Thrax grabbed at Ozzy again.

The cell whirled back around. "Don't you get it?! You ruined my life! You came into my city and tried to kill me! Then you're gone and I finally get everything I've ever wanted, only for you to rip it out of my fucking hands!" Ozzy was close to crying. Thrax tried to lay a hand on Ozzy's shoulder, but he moved out of the virus's reach. "What did you think was going to happen? Did you think I could just forget the fact that you ruined everything?!"

Thrax felt a huge pang of guilt. "Ozzy, baby," the cell was surprised to hear his first name, "I didn't want any of this to happen."

Ozzy gave a sad laugh. "Oh no, of course not. You were only trying to kill me!"

Irritated, Thrax ran a hand through his dreads. "You were trying to kill me too!"

"And look at you!" Ozzy waved his hands at Thrax. "All healthy and perfect! Your life must be that much sweeter, knowing you ruined mine!"

Thrax couldn't take it anymore. "You ruined mine too, Jones!"

Ozzy frowned. "You nearly died, so what? You're back to full strength now!"

"No," Thrax sighed, "I'm not. I'm as strong as I used to be when it comes to taking down a few buildings or killing people, but I can't take down cities anymore, baby." Ozzy was too shocked to say anything. "After I was healed, I tried to take down a city. It took me two weeks, and it nearly killed me." Thrax took a deep breath. "So I'm selling stimulants. Plenty of viruses get into the trade, no one suspects a thing. Gotta respectable business, lotta germs working for me, but it ain't the same. Gotta prove my skills to myself sometimes, like with the prison." He didn't know what else to say.

Ozzy's face softened in sympathy before hardening once again. "No! This is too weird!"

"Is it really any weirder then what we've already been doing?!" The virus asked. Ozzy hesitated, and Thrax took this as an advantage to keep going. "Is it?!"

"I don't know!" Ozzy shouted, sinking onto a large crate. "I just don't know!" The cell rubbed at his eyes, trying to calm himself down. You're not crying, he thought. Not now. Thrax saw this, sat down next to him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Ozzy stiffened at first, then leaned against the virus. "This is just so strange. I don't know what to think right now. I'm confused and irritated, and-" Thrax kissed Ozzy's forehead. This sweet little gesture was the final straw. Ozzy broke down, and cried. Thrax wrapped his other arm around the cell, holding him close, and Ozzy let him.

Eventually, Ozzy calmed down. Thrax wiped the last tears from Ozzy's face. The cell sighed. "I hate crying. Crying's stupid."

"You're fine, baby," Thrax replied, kissing Ozzy's forehead again.

Ozzy looked confused. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Did you not get the whole love thing, Jones?"

"Oh, right." They sat in silence for a moment. "If you've liked me ever since I snuck into that meeting, why did you keep trying to kill me?"

"I was trying to prove to myself it wasn't real, baby. Didn't work though."

Ozzy looked Thrax in the eyes. "I'm still mad, you know."

"I know, baby. S'okay." Thrax pushed some of the cell's hair back.

"You know, I didn't mean for you to die," Ozzy said. Thrax looked surprised. "I don't know what I was planning on happening, but I wasn't expecting that. When you fell, I reached out. Doesn't mean much, I know."

"Means a lot, baby." Thrax gave Ozzy a questioning look, who gave a small nod. The virus kissed him, and Ozzy kissed back.

After a moment they pulled away. "This is weird," was all Ozzy could think to say.

Thrax smirked. "I know, baby."

"But what's weirder is it feels right."

Thrax kissed the spot between Ozzy's eyes. "You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that, baby." They went back to kissing each other. In the middle of their kiss, Ozzy's stomach let out a loud growl. They both burst out laughing. Ozzy laughed so hard he fell over, now lying on the crate. Thrax knelt over him. "Hungry, baby?" He smirked.

Ozzy nodded. "We're such a mess."

"A hot mess, baby." Thrax looked up to notice something written on the wall. "Look at that, burger place one door down."

Ozzy sat up to look at the code. "It does not say that! This time I know you're screwing with me!" He argued, playfully.

"I'm not, Jones!" Thrax argued back before quickly kissing Ozzy one last time. "Come on, baby, let's go." Ozzy got up, and Thrax wrapped his arm over the cell's shoulders. Despite the fact that a little voice at the back of Ozzy's head was telling him he was crazy, it felt right. He let his head rest on Thrax's arm. The virus kissed the top of Ozzy's head. He gave a small laugh; he wasn't expecting the virus to be so mushy.

Ozzy's stomach growled again. "You better not be wrong about that burger place." Thrax laughed, making Ozzy smile. The cell shook his head. We are so strange.

To be Continued.