Disclaimer: I don't own any of the zoids characters.

Just another RavenxReese romance.

Chapter 1:

Her heart racing and almost out of breathe, the blue zoidian couldn't give herself even just a minute to stop and pull herself together.

She's just full of panic right now.

She has to keep running as far away as mustn't catch her.

Some Guardian Force troops have split in groups to find her as she sprinted into the forest having no absolute idea where she was going. All she knew was that she had to lose them.

She regretted leaving Specular on her own to allow the zoidian escape. The blue organoid might have been overpowered by now by the soldiers. The Guardian Force had developed special kinds of technologies and one of them was against someone like her.

She can't fight back. Not without a weapon or a zoid.

The zoidian kept hoping for the running to end, it was getting exhausting and she was almost at her limit but her body just kept dashing, and evading trees and mounds of dirt and stones.

The troops seem to be getting nearer as Reese was hearing echoing voices from afar.

It's all over if she's caught.

Reese could just disappear like she has done dozens of times before.

That would be easier.

But not this time.

She was shot out of nowhere by some sort of liquid when she and the organoid was surrounded earlier, like a tranquilizer. Although it wasn't anything to paralyze or stun her but it made her psychic abilities dormant. It would only mean that the Guardian Force had already been onto her for quite some time now to know how to weaken her and find out where she was hiding.

At this point she just wanted to blow up those troops pursuing her but now she's just plain scared she couldn't think straight.

Reese found it difficult to grasp that she was actually afraid right now.

How pathetic.

They should be the ones afraid of her.

The moment she stopped for a second she felt her legs terribly shaking. Her body could barely move and needs more than a minute of rest but she just had to run away again.

As she was making herself climb down a slope, she accidentally missed a step and slipped down.

She tried to muffle the pain she felt, although there seemed to be no broken bones, just bruised legs and ankles.

"DON'T LET HER OUT OF YOUR SIGHT!"

She heard one of the soldiers.

They're close by.

With heavy breathing she began to scamper out of the soldier's sight. As she passed behind a large tree, someone grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth before she could let out any frightened noise.

Reese couldn't even control her tears anymore. She kept trying to free herself from her restrains when she heard the person hush her.

He sounded familiar.

"Quit squirming, they might hear us."

A little confused, she tried to turn behind to make sure she was right but he pulled her down to the ground before she could look at his face.

The man buried his arms on the zoidian to make sure she doesn't make any reckless movements.

The soldiers are about a couple of feet away, looking for the possible routes the zoidian might have gone to. Fortunately they went into another way leaving Reese safe for now.

The stranger loosened his grasp and relaxed.

Reese wiped her tears and let out a relieved sigh as she took her time to catch her breath before glancing to this person who just saved her. "R-Raven..."

"Makes you glad I'm around, huh?" Raven said tauntingly, noticing how pathetically frightened the feared zoidian called the Blue Devil. Seeing her wet aquamarine eyes made him refrain from giving any more sarcastic remarks.

Reese felt speechless, a little annoyed but overall, really glad.

I don't even know why I'm happy to see him but thank goodness he's not some creepy woodsman. She thought to herself. "How did you know I was here?"

"Thank Shadow for being nice enough to tell me about your situation." He said calmly as he got up on his feet and fixed the hood he was wearing. He held out his hand at Reese as a gesture to help her up.

The zoidian felt embarrassed but she accepted. This is so strange. He seems...different.

As she pulled herself up, pain shot up coming from her bruised ankle making her wince and lose balance but Raven caught her by the shoulder. The pain subsided quickly but now she felt more embarrassed.

"You okay?" Raven asked.

"Um," There's no way I'll let him carry me. The zoidian thought. "I'm alright."

Raven sighed. "Great. A moment there I thought I might have to carry you to my camp. Let's get out of here and save the chat for later." He said as he began to lead the way.

Reese's cheeks flushed red, but at least Raven wasn't looking.

After around half an hour of walking through the forest, she was starting to feel the pain again.

If she could just sit down maybe just for a few minutes...but she also didn't want to be a bother so she tried as hard as she can to ignore the pain.

Other than the pain she was also thirsty. Famished. And just really tired.

She was beginning to complain to herself about how far his camp was and that she wants to quit walking for a while. Though it would make her seem selfish. After all, he did just save her life...again.

The thought made her feel miserable about herself.

"My camp's just around the corner. You don't have to worry, it's Guardian Force free." Raven stated without looking behind.

A soft smile formed on Reese's face. Thank goodness I don't have to...

Suddenly, she felt as if her surroundings was spinning making her really dizzy. Her mind was starting to get blank and fuzzy. She stared at her hands, she was seeing doubles.

Is this because of fatigue or because of the shot earlier? That strange transparent fluid that was injected to her body that made her abilities inactive.

Now it was making her feel tipsy. Then spots in the air of different shades.

There was also the buzzing and ringing in her ears.

Wha...what is this?

It took Raven a moment to realize that Reese just stopped all of a sudden. She was just standing a few feet behind him. "Hey, what's up with you?" He curiously paced closer to her. "Reese?"

"REESE?" The voice sounded a little distorted and she could barely understand it.

Raven took a closer look at her frozen expression. He couldn't understand what was happening either so he decided to make her snap out of it somehow.

He shook her gently but as he did, the zoidian fell on his arms lifelessly like a doll with her eyes still open and blank. He could hear silent moans coming out of her mouth.

"What the?" Raven laid her flat on the ground, checked her pulse... as if that's going to help. "Can you hear me?"

No answer.

This was going nowhere.

He finally decided to carry her to camp and she was surprisingly light.

The zoidian started to let out quick sharp breathes, her eyes shutting close and letting out uncomfortable groans.

Alarmed, Raven carried her to camp.

He was greeted by Shadow when he arrived, a little surprised seeing the zoidian's condition.

He laid Reese down inside his tent on his sleeping bag.

"Okay, now what?" He said loudly looking at Shadow.

There was a short pause after the organoid responded with a simple shrug.

It was a bad situation if Reese is sick or poisoned. They're miles away from the nearest town with a doctor. So basically, there's literally no one who could help her right now.

The zoidian still breathed heavily and seemed to be in pain.

Feeling her forehead, Raven noticed her temperature getting abnormally hot. She needs to cool off. He thought.

"This is terrible. Do we have ice?" Raven asked the black organoid.

Shadow shook his head. He hasn't even had any cold drinks in a long time so why is he asking for ice?

It was getting serious. At this point, he's not even sure if she'll be able to make it.

Her suit... The thought of taking her overalls might help her cool down somhow.

There were a lot of things to consider though.

No, no, no wait. There must be another way. "Shadow, go get a bucket of water."

The organoid obeyed.

This was the first time Raven got himself in a situation like this where things are out of his control and had absolutely no idea what to do.

There was one thing he could do but he's unsure. But if he doesn't act fast then something worse might happen to the girl.

Shadow returned with the bucket of water from the stream, seeing the hapless zoidian's bare milky skin already exposed but with her dark blue tube that she wears underneath her suit still covering her chest.

Raven didn't say anything and tried hard to keep a straight face. He grabbed a small towel and then soaked it with the cool water before wiping it all over the zoidian's smooth pale skin.

She let out a wheezing sound. Raven saw her eyes half open, that was good enough for him. "I actually thought you might..." He stopped mid sentence and changed what he was about to say. "How are you feeling?"

It took the zoidian a while before she could say something.

The drug must be wearing off, Reese thought, and it's one terrible drug that they used. Her body feels so hot she thought she might actually fry something on her.

Her throat felt dry that her voice cracked as she spoke. "I'm thirsty..."

Raven found himself grinning, relieved that he doesn't have to deal with untimely deaths right now. "Sure." He murmured and got her a mug with water. He helped the zoidian sit up to drink.

The moment the cool fluid touched her lips, she just gushed it all impatiently into her mouth it spilled down her chin. It was the most refreshing feeling she has had so far.

Raven stared at her a little surprised yet relieved to see her doing better than earlier, then he thought to give her more water because she was obviously parched. "Want mo-"

Reese snatched the jug from him and drank all the water inside.

She wiped her mouth when she was done and then handed the empty jug back at Raven. Her breathing was calmer than before. "Thank you for that."

"Err, sure..." Raven muttered and was about to ask what just happened to her when she suddenly spoke.

"Do you have any food?" Reese quickly asked, the tone of her voice seemed desperate but soft.

Raven stared at her with a gawking look on his face. "I actually have bread left."

Reese's eyes grew wide giving a somehow pleading look.

What's gotten into her now? Raven pondered as he stared at her eyes. He pushed her back to lie down with an annoyed look on his face. "Quit staring at me like that, I'll go get it."

Reese smiled as he left the tent.

As she was about to make herself comfortable, she realized that she was almost half naked and shot back sitting up.

D-Did Raven do this? She thought awkwardly.

Her face grew red at the thought. She quickly took the blankets to cover herself as soon as Raven came back with her food.

There was a moment of silence.

Raven paused for a moment and swallowed with an embarrassed look on his face but still tried to act as if nothing happened. "Here. Bread. Just call us if you need anything else." He muttered impassively tossing the bread at the zoidian and then quickly left Reese on her own for a while.

Reese understood though that he wouldn't do such a thing for no reason. She never even thought that Raven would go this far because she got him too worried. It was kind of touching, really, for someone ruthless like Raven to show so much concern for her.

She broke a small part of the bread and then put it in her mouth. A tear trickled down her eye and she doesn't know why. She had nothing but mixed emotions right now.

The bread tasted good though. The first meal she had since yesterday. "I'm totally in debt to him now..." She told herself quietly.

She zipped back her suit when she was through and the drug had totally worn off.

Raven relaxed a few feet away on a hammock he made himself while Shadow laid down on the ground next to him.

The breeze was cool and refreshing and the tree shading him from the cruel afternoon sun rays was just perfect. At times like these he'd just stare blankly and listen to the sound of nature until he falls asleep. Strangely, the image of Reese's teary eyes kept flashing in his head. There was something about it that struck him.

He found himself curious on why he was suddenly showing so much concern for someone, especially her in particular who used to kind of annoy him when he first met her.

The time he had spent away from battles and zoids must be making a difference to him. It has already been months when he first began living isolated from everything else. He just found himself at peace here rather than spending his life travelling town after town and cities while keeping his identity secret. It was awfully tiring. At least here, he doesn't need to worry that much. He picked a perfect spot after all without getting seen from above. But he had to admit, it was lonely.

"Umm..."

He turned his head seeing Reese. "Aren't you feeling sick or something?"

"I wasn't sick." Reese replied. "Well, the drug that one of the soldier's shot at me made me sick. But it's wearing off now."

Raven remained lying down with a rather bored looking expression. "Hm. They shot you a drug that makes you miserably ill. The Guardian Force sure is getting sadistic."

Reese bit her lip and rubbed her arm, thinking about what happened earlier made her feel uncomfortable. Oh, Specular... what do I do now?

"I'm guessing your organoid wasn't so lucky." Said Raven, gently rocking his hammock sideways. "Those scientists might be pulling her parts off piece by piece by now." He joked. But he said it in a deadpan way that the girl believed him.

The zoidian's eyes shot wide open and her heartbeat quickened with weary. "I..."

The first thing that came to her mind was that she can't waste her time here. She has to find Specular and save her organoid no matter what it takes. The thought of Specular being used as an experimental object made her cringe.

Suddenly, Raven saw the zoidian dash off. It surprised him. "Hey!" He quickly got up to chase after her. "Get back here! I was kidding! Damn it!"

He followed the zoidian as she entered back into the maze of trees.

"Man, she's fast!" Raven grumbled.

He was faster though. Before Reese could get any further, he finally got to reach out her arm and make her stumble. "Stop right there!"

"Let go!" Reese screamed hysterically as she tries to break free from Raven's clutches. "I can't just stay here! I have to save Specular!"

"It was just a terrible joke." Raven roughly said, both his hands held the zoidian's wrists firmly. He didn't let go of his grip until he was sure that Reese wasn't going to fight back to get away and do something reckless. "They're not going to hurt your organoid. I promise."

Reese began to weep uncontrollably, her expression both angry and apprehensive and still struggling to break free. "HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW THAT?"

Raven placed his grip securely on her arms. "Organoids are too precious even for zoid researchers or the Guardian Force. They aren't going to do anything stupid. You have to trust me on this." He said in a calm tone. He wasn't even certain if the military would not do anything serious, but he had to say it to appease the zoidian.

The girl hasn't stopped sobbing but Raven managed to make her keep still. "Look, I'm sorry." He mumbled with a sigh. There was one thing he wasn't entirely good at and it was comforting someone.

For some reason, he wrapped his arms around her in a gentle embrace and it was enough to console the distressed zoidian.

He thought it felt awkward, but he still did it anyway and they stayed that way for a moment until Reese stopped sobbing. "Let's go back to camp." Raven murmured.

Reese rubbed her eye and let out a deep sigh. "Okay..."

She found herself trusting him, and this situation right now also made her realize that after being apart for months made her miss him. The zoidian did have hidden feelings for Raven before and she never thought they'd cross paths again. Although, he was different then, but him right now acting soft isn't too bad either.

"Never thought you were such a cry baby." Muttered Raven with a gentle grin as he parted from his embrace.

"Never imagined you being soft on me." Reese replied calmly. "This isn't like you at all."

Raven raised an eyebrow with a teasing smirk. "Don't get too comfortable around me though. Next time you do something like this I'm tying you up, you get that?" Then he got up and began to turn back toward his camp, assured enough that Reese wouldn't try to run away again.

End of chapter 1. It was supposed to be a one shot fic but dialogues gotten long.