"...." Hal was silent, before groaning and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Never mind." he said.

"I was about to ask if you could take over for Jake, as it seems he's... indisposed at the moment." he told her.

"No, I don't know how, or why, but the info came straight from Angela." he said.

"If you can't do it, what member of security CAN?" he asked her.

"I need to know ASAP, before I go hunting for Anya."

"Got it, thanks." Hal responded.

"You deal with what you need to deal with." he told her.

"Sorry for the interruption." he apologised.

About 5 minutes later, Melissa was at the security check at the front, and Hal was making his way to the roof.

"...all right, Anya." he muttered.

"Let's see if you're still up there." he said.

He then reached the door to the roof, and opened it.

"Anya?" he asked loudly, looking around.

"..." Hal was stunned for a moment.

He'd never seen Anya like this before.

Yet here she was... she was acting scared, alone, and frightened... and he could guess as to why.

He'd check on Jake after, but right now, Anya seemed to need help.

He finally took a small breath, and lightly cleared his throat.

"Anya?" he addressed her, his voice quiet.

"It's me. Hal Sharp." he said.

"Want to talk?" he asked her, trying to keep his voice as calm and soothing as possible He didn't want to do anything to potentially freak her out or startle her. He had no idea how brittle the eggshells he was walking on were, so he wasn't taking any unnecessary risks or chances.

Again, Hal was stunned for a moment.

"Anya, I can take care of myself." he told her.

"Please... Anya... let me try and help." he went on.

"It's clear that you're scared... and going through some kind of crisis... please let me help." he continued.

"I'm your friend. I want to help you."{/b] he said.

[b]"You shouldn't be alone right now. Not when you're so scared." he then reasoned, keeping his voice as calm and soothing as he could.

Hal was taken aback by this sudden development.

He hadn't even had a chance to respond to her, before the spiders surrounded him and started to swarm him.

But he wasn't panicked at all.

With amazing speed, he snapped his fingers, and each and every spider was surrounded by a deep pink aura, causing them to freeze where they were... before they slowly floated down to the ground.

But they weren't dead. Anya would be able to sense that.

It was more that they were in a state of suspended animation... but a mana-based version.

"Anya, are you all right?" Hal asked her.

"....good lord..." Hal said in a hushed tone.

He then sighed, and snapped his fingers, causing all the spiders to disappear from where they were. He sent them to a special room that he knew was empty... and it was sealed in such a way that living things couldn't get it. Like a contamination unit.

He didn't want these spiders around and out of control, but he didn't want to kill them. Not unless Anya was aware of it, and could give consent to it.

After that, he looked at Anya.

"Anya? Say something! Anya?" he asked.

No answer.

So he took out his cell phone, and called Angela.

"Angela, I'm on my way to the medical wing, and I'm bringing Anya with me." he told her, before ending the call.

"....." he was then silent again, before awkwardly picking her up in his arms, and starting to carry her down to the medical wing.

Hal sighed.

"It's... complicated." he said.

He then proceeded to tell her what had happened, what she said, what she did, what HE did in response... everything.

"It was... frightening." he admitted.

"I'm concerned for her." he said further.

"It's just as though she's... mentally shut down." he went on.

"She's not responding to anything."

"....same as the others..." Hal mumbled.

"Oh dear." he said.

He then sighed, before snapping his fingers.

"Oh! Jake!" he exclaimed.

"How is he doing?" he asked.

"Given what happened to myself up there, I can only imagine what happened to Jake." he went on.

"How is he recovering?" he asked her.

"...will he even make it?"

She could see that Hal didn't like hearing that.

His face was almost emotionless... but the colour had drained some.

"....I see." he said.

"At least he's stable." he said further.

"...do whatever you can for him." he went on.

Jake was one of his oldest friends.

And Angela knew that.

"...........you may." Hal responded.

"Yes. You may." he confirmed.

"Jake... you know how close Jake and I are." he said.

"I just... it's safe to say I don't want anything to happen to him." he continued.

"To understate it." he muttered.

"But if it means Jake's life, I am a tool at your disposal." he told her, using phrasing that she had NEVER heard from him before.

Ever.