Author's note: Written for the hc_bingo February Amnesty Challenge. Prompts used were accidents, loss of limb/limb function, lacerations/knife wounds, and cuddling (wild card). My thanks also go to PsycoChick32 for throwing the basic idea for this at me and letting me run with it.
-x
Huddled in the cramped cockpit of the ship, Trini watched the glowing green numbers of the clock. 23:52 standard.
She flipped a switch and the ship's tracking system came online. A blip appeared on the holo-map, indicating an object moving slowly out of the solar system. With luck, that blip - the enemy ship where two of her teammates were trapped - would be far enough away now that no one would notice pursuit.
Several minutes later, when the numbers on the clock finally read 24:00, she engaged the ship's autopilot and in-flight stealth mechanisms and headed out of the cockpit. The ship rumbled and shook around her in that frightening way it had as it rocketed up through the planet's thin atmosphere and into outer space.
Heedless of the safety protocols, which would have required her to strap herself into the pilot's seat in the cockpit until the ship was safely in zero gravity, she headed into the medical bay. It was even more cramped than the cockpit, occupied mostly by a single large regeneration tube.
Trini stared at the young woman in the tube for a long moment before keying in the release code. The machine whirred to life, almost vibrating.
She was pleased to see that Katherine's injuries had healed significantly even in the scant time she'd been in the tube. Most of the burns and lacerations had disappeared, though a few of the worst had healed into scars. Kat would be upset about that, but scars could be rehealed and minimized later. More importantly, at least in Trini's mind, the hand that Kat had lost in the fight had been successfully reattached.
By the time she had reached the scene of the carnage, she'd feared it would be too late to save Kat, the lone member of her team the Empire soldiers had left behind. She was relieved to find that her fears had been for nothing. Kat was still alive. And at least outwardly whole.
The regen tube clacked loudly as the healing gel inside drained out. A few moments more and Kat was revived and breathing on her own. When the machine had determined that its patient was in an acceptably safe condition, the myriad wires and monitoring pads were withdrawn and the curved plasti-glass panels that made up the front of the tube when it was in use slid open.
Kat stumbled forward a step, her blue eyes slowly focusing on Trini. "Aah," she mumbled, gagged, and was promptly sick.
Even though Kat had nearly just vomited on her, Trini could not help but smile. "Kat, thank goodness." She hoped Katherine wouldn't notice the tears in her eyes. She'd been so afraid.
Kat whimpered in response. Trini helped her climb the rest of the way out of the regen tube. Two steps was as far as Kat's strength would take her before she collapsed.
Trini caught her easily. Kat's arms came up around her neck in a shaky hug. She returned the hug for a moment, letting Kat grow a bit steadier, then stepped backward as gingerly as possible with Kat still in her arms and promptly banged her head against a shelf that protruded from the wall behind her. The bottled medical supplies on the shelf rattled loudly against the plastic panels that kept them from scattering all over. Trini cursed and ducked her head, finally finding and sinking into the one tiny chair that they'd been able to fit in the med bay.
The medical bay drones emerged to clean up the mess Kat had made, and sterilize the regen tube in preparation for its next patient.
Since Kat seemed perfectly content just to cling to her, she helped Kat shift so to be more comfortably cradled in her arms. Trini ran a hand soothingly over the other woman's hair, down her back. Kat was still pink and slightly sticky from the healing. And she was shaking. The regen tube could heal flesh and bone, but it could not undo the psychological trauma of battle and injury.
So Trini held Kat until she finally stopped shaking and managed to find a few words.
"Trini..."
"I'm here." She smoothed the damp, blonde hair again and let Kat nuzzle against her.
"The ship..." Kat murmured against Trini's neck.
"It's on autopilot," Trini assured her. "And we're a long way out from our target yet. I'm here as long as you need me." But I couldn't afford to let you stay in for a full healing cycle. I'm sorry, but we have to be ready when we reach the Empire ship.
She closed her eyes, breathing deeply as Kat sagged against her. She had been so afraid that Kat would die from her injuries, that she would find herself all alone.
Suddenly Kat's hand gave a violent twitch. "My hand," she gasped. "My hand... They cut off my hand!"
"It's okay," Trini soothed even as Kat pulled away slightly. "The regen tube was able to reattach it."
Kat stared at the hand as if it were something alien and horrible. She curled and straightened each of the fingers in turn, made a fist and released it, and finally seemed to accept that it really was her hand. "I thought I was dead for sure back there," she confessed.
"I haven't lost a teammate yet," Trini pointed out. "And I'm certainly not going to start with you."
Kat made no response, but turned slightly, letting her legs sprawl out so she could get a clearer look at herself. Trini could practically feel her dismay as she took in the small scars on her legs, and the larger ones that circled her wrist and clustered above her right breast, and held her a little closer.
"I wish I could have protected you. I'm sorry about all the scars."
"There are so many," Kat murmured. She touched a couple of them experimentally. She was not typically an overly vain woman, but the scars clearly troubled her.
"They make you look experienced," Trini teased gently. She remembered her own first scars, which had been minor compared to this, and sympathized with Kat.
"I never wanted to be 'experienced'. I just wanted..."
"... to help. I know." Trini sighed. Kat was one of the youngest and least experienced crew members of their little fleet, and sometimes it showed. Trini didn't necessarily mind, although it made her wish all the more that she could protect Kat from the dangers of life on the Edge.
"I should be dead."
"No you shouldn't. You're right where you belong. With me," Trini whispered against Kat's ear. She couldn't resist using her teeth to gently tug on the lobe. That was her one major failing. No matter what happened, she couldn't resist Kat.
"Make me feel alive again." It was almost a question, almost a plea, but not quite either.
"Kat..."
"Please."
Despite her misgivings, Trini gave in. They still had some time yet before they would need to prepare for the coming battle. They might as well enjoy it. "Let me up."
Kat did as she was told, and Trini made her sit back down in the chair. She would still be feeling somewhat weak from the regeneration. Trini did not want her to strain herself. So she urged Kat's legs gently apart and knelt between them.
Kat bent slightly so Trini could kiss her mouth. And then her throat, each of her breasts, her navel.
When she pressed her mouth to the apex of Kat's thighs, Trini felt two strong hands come up to tangle in her hair and had to smile against her lover's heated flesh. She might be wary of the once-severed hand and the damage it had survived, but for this Kat would set that wariness aside.
Trini took her time. Make me feel alive again. With her tongue she gently explored Kat's folds. She licked and sucked, reveling in just how hot and wet her partner was, lapping up the unique taste that was Kat. I'll try.
They had done this many times before, after particularly frightening battles. Kat called it answering death with life.
It had not taken Trini long to see the merit in it.
Not with Kat's body pressed against her, and Kat's warm hands roaming all over her, and Kat's husky voice in her ear, asking oh so sweetly for comfort.
A shuddering moan from Kat drew Trini out of her memories and back into the present. As she pushed Kat closer and closer to the edge, she became increasingly aware of the wet heat that throbbed between her own legs. Trini let her unfulfilled desire propel her. Only a little more, a special bit of attention paid to some particularly sensitive spots, and Kat was writhing and crying out in ecstasy.
When at last she had calmed a bit, Trini rolled back onto her heels and watched her with interest. She found it immensely reassuring to see Kat as she was now: flushed and breathing hard, vibrantly alive in the aftermath of her climax.
Kat smiled sensually when she realized she was being watched. She urged Trini to her feet and rose to meet her. "Now you."
"After," Trini replied, though she had no idea why. She was so aroused she could hardly see straight. "After our friends are safe."
Kat's answer was a skeptical look. And before she knew it her uniform was open and Kat's hand was between her legs and -
Oh, yes.
It was quite a bit later before Trini and Kat finally made it back into the cockpit to check on their progress. They were far enough from their target, though they were drawing steadily closer with each second that passed, for Trini to mull over what had brought them to this point - and where she wanted to go from here.
It had been an accident - which in retrospect might have been no accident at all - that led them to land on that planet in the first place. The life support system on their ship had malfunctioned and suddenly needed emergency repairs. The ship was old and decrepit as space-traveling vehicles went, and stopping for repairs on one system or another was a pretty common occurrence. With enough wear and tear, things simply broke. No big deal. They were all accustomed to it by now.
At first everything planetside had seemed safe enough, but they had missed the orbiting warship that had been hiding on the opposite side of the planet. And then they had seen the suspicious activity, been stupid enough to let it lure them from the relative safety of their ship... She alone had remained, overseeing the repairs to the life support system. And from there she had watched remotely as her friends were cut down and captured. It had all happened so fast, the trap had sprung up around them before they could think to react. The Empire soldiers had taken Rocky and Adam and left Kat to bleed to death.
If only those fools knew how stupid they had been to leave Kat and Trini alive.
She'd hidden the ship after the empire warship departed, so that Kat might have at least a few hours of uninterrupted healing, but there was really no question of whether or not to follow. Their ship was much smaller and quicker than the enormous warships the Empire preferred. Even with a delay of more than six hours it wouldn't be long before they caught up. And this time it would be them doing the ambushing.
Trini glanced over at Kat and smiled grimly.
She fingered the device attached to the belt of her uniform: her morpher. Highly advanced technology that even the Machine Empire had not yet been able to replicate, and the reason she and Kat so desperately needed to get their teammates back. If the morphing technology fell into the wrong hands, it could spell disaster - and not just for their ragtag fleet of crumbling spaceships that patrolled the Edge of Empire space, but for the entire universe... although most people living on the many planets of the Empire didn't know yet that such technology existed at all.
"Are you ready, Kat?" she asked. In just a few more minutes they would be close enough to see the enemy without using the ship's magnifiers. Stealth would be useless by that point, and then the battle would begin.
In spite of all that had happened to her in the past standard day, Kat's beautiful blue eyes took on the hard, determined sheen they always did when she was about to face her enemies. "Let's do this."