Very human feelings

Weeks went by, the team watched the tension between Sherman and Nebula grow by leaps and bounds. It started with them not sitting on

the couch next to each other, than at the same time, even at opposite ends with Spinner in the middle. They worked fine together on missions,

they would talk and be civil, but it was obvious to everybody the two didn't want to be physically close to each other. Vert would watch as

Shermans jaw tightened while Stanford held Nebula close dancing at the diner, the look on his face when Zoom discovered she could speak his

native tongue and they started going to movie festivals together. He once saw Sherman harshly throw a part to the Buster after Nebula and

Zoom had left on the Chopper. Agura quickly noted when Vert told her what he'd seen that Nebula acted the same when Sherman would flirt

with Grace, or how she had shape shifted into a tiger pacing the garage for hours after Sherman left to take a girl he'd met on a date, she'd

even growled at Stanford when he made a comment. The two were not working to cause to the other pain, but they were both in deep pain.

Vert didn't know what to do, Sage refused to discuss the issue with him, telling him interfering in the matter would only make it worse.

It was late one evening when Nebula walked through the garage wearing a tight form fighting mid thigh gray sweater dress, it was a deep

v-neck. She had on 4- inch stiletto boots that were knee high. Her crimson hair was half pulled up, just barely off her face. A stray hair fell in

front of her eyes, her long neck and the way she walked made her look even more feline and more appear deadly than normal.

"Where you headed looking like that girl?" Agura was the first to speak to the Drolic, Nebula turned keeping her eyes off of Sherman.

"A date, I am meeting a friend at the movies." The group was slightly taken back, all but Zoom, he shrugged. He was not, going to,

however, admit he had set Nebula up with a friend of his, if for nothing else then driving Sherman crazy. Zoom couldn't understand nor wanted

to understand why Sherman wouldn't just accept Nebula and he needed to be together.

For a moment Shermans face fell, he had gone out on dates, he had watched Nebula leave with Zoom, and watched Stanford put his hands

places where only HIS hands should go, but a guy who wasn't in the group that wasn't on the list of ok things to him. He shook his head

slightly, covering his distraught look, and shrugging his shoulders. Nebula began to head out of the garage and the team dispersed to their

own activities.

Sherman saw his chance and slid out the side door. He hurried around the corner to see Nebula already looking in his direction, the younger

Cortez froze, his hand on the corner of the garage. Now that he had caught her he had no clue what to say, what was he supposed to say. I

can date any women the guys hook me up with but you can't go out with guys, it kills me when anybody touches you, I nearly killed Stanford

the first time he dirty danced with you, I can't stand the way you hold tightly onto Zoom when your behind him on the Chopper, it kills me when

you leave and I don't know where you're going, Spinner and I were nearly killed last week when I froze after seeing you thrown off a cube in a

battle zone. He just stared at her, she approached him, he imagined in his head her kissing him, him grabbing her like in the movies, lifting her

up and taking her back inside. They both had gone to great lengths the last several weeks to not be left alone. His mind was racing, this was

why they had not been alone in weeks. He knew he wanted her, he knew or at least assumed she felt the same. Being around the others

allowed him control, he wasn't used to having this little of it.

"Is there a problem with something Sherman?" Nebula stared at the man before her, she knew why he had followed her, at least assumed

she did. She crossed her arms over her heaving chest trying to protect herself. His eyes dug into her, making it difficult to be so close. Both had

put so much attention into not being near each other that now it was unbearable. Sherman reached his arm out, touching Nebulas arm. He

didn't know what he was doing, slowly he pulled her to him, she offered little resistance. His large arms wrapped themselves around her

slender former, he kissed her hairline gently. Nether said anything or moved for a long while till they heard Spinner calling for Sherman. Pulling

away slowly Nebula ran her hand along his jaw bone feeling the short stubble from the day. She laid her head on his chest, she could feel his

steady heart beat, and smell his scent. It was intoxicating, she heard the side door open, and Sherman pulled away unwillingly.

"You better…" He motioned to the salt flats before her, the road leading away from the garage. She smiled sadly, her eye glowed purple

and the whip like noise the whole team knew meant a transformation occurred. She flapped her wings slightly, shaking her head, and took off.

Spinner saw the hawk flying through the sky but thought nothing of it, finding his brother he looked at him oddly.

"You ok little bro?" Sherman looked down at his older brother.

"Yea, I'm fine big bro" It appeared to be all the reassurance Spinner needed, throwing a punch at his brothers arm, he smiled.

"Good, we're all getting ready to go to the Diner. I'm thinking banana milkshake extra pickles." Sherman turned and shrugged at his

brother. He knew turning the shake down would be a bad idea, it would make the team more worried about him. Slowly he followed his

brother, his eyes on the sky not seeing Nebula anyplace.

Nebula looked down at Sherman from the top of the garage, her legs hanging over the edge. The team would be leaving for the diner. She

chose to wait for them to leave before returning to the safety of the garage, she hadn't felt up to going out to begin with, now she knew she

couldn't.

The Diner was quiet when the Battle Force 5 walked in, there was a small group of girls in the back corner. Grace waved as they entered,

and wandered towards them.

"Wheres Nebula?" Grace had no idea how loaded her question was. Zoom smiled and answered her while Sherman pushed past him and

sat down. The girls nearby were giggling and pointing, he was in no mood for it. Vert looked at Sherman, and shook his own head.

"So Sherm, I have this friend who.." Sherman was already shaking his head, he knew where this was going and after realizing how deep

the sting was of Nebula leaving not going to happen.

"I really don't feel like it guys, not at all"

"Well how about those girls over there then, we could have a go at them right now to get your mind off things." If looks could kill Stanford

would be dead crossed Aguras mind and she silently willed the Brit to keep his always moving mouth closed, Sherman rose from his seat.

"One more date Vert, that's it. I'm going home, Spinner you can ride with that Royal Ass." The team sat speechless while Sherman left the

diner. They stayed silent for a long time trying to figure out what was going on and how they could help. Sad thing was they all realized it was

their help in the first place that caused these issues.

Back at the garage Nebula laid curled up in the corner of the couch reading a book. There was something about actual paper in her hands

that felt calming. She jumped a mile when she heard the bay doors open, she hadn't expected the team back for at least a few hours. She

rubbed her neck, her eyes meeting Shermans as he came around the corner.

"I didn't expect you to be here, I'll ummm.." Sherman went to turn and leave. Nebulas heart raced, silently begging him not to.

"No, stay, I didn't think anybody would be here either. I never actually went anyplace." She offered a small smile and Sherman felt a

tension he didn't realize he had leave his bones. Something about hearing Nebula say she hadn't left, hadn't met somebody else made him feel

better and less hollow. Slowly he walked to sit next to the Drolic on the couch. He leaned so his elbows rested on his knees, watching Nebula

as she tucked her booted legs in tighter beneath her body. She was so sexy, perfect, gorgeous, everything to him. He found himself staring at

her uncovered thighs thinking about the zoo, how soft they had felt beneath his hands. He adjusted himself trying to cover himself from

Nebulas eyes, the last thing he needed was this moment being ruined by his want.

"So, how was the diner?" Sherman shrugged at the question, how was he supposed to answer, that it was fun, that Stanford wanted to hit

on chicks, and Vert was going to set him up on another date.

"Same old, same old" Nebula nodded in agreement, shivering slightly. She turned so she was facing Sherman, her hair falling from where it

was held in place with a tie. Things were all so wrong, she wanted to be in Shermans arms curled up, with much less clothing between them.

Her heart stopped, she knew about human relationships, sleeping together was not by many humans considered a major point, in her species

it mattered greatly, especially when the lover was not Drolic. Intimacy held certain concerns for her people, pregnancy was a different matter

as a Drolic when it was with another species. She didn't know if she could handle Sherman throwing her to the side, she didn't think that would

happen again, but it had once already. She bit her lip, watching as something in Shermans eyes grew darker. She had played the same game

he had, teasing him the way he teased her. She stood closer to Sanford while dancing and held tighter to Zoom then needed, laughed a bit

louder, pretended to enjoy herself a bit more. If Sherman had really been paying attention rather than just getting more angry, he would've

realized most of these things occurred after he flirted with Grace, or after he came back from a date, that he had normally been set up on by

Vert. Finally Nebula spoke breaking the tense silence.

"I miss you" that was all it took, Shermans eyes caught hers and he leaned in, dragging her across the couch, pulling her close.

"I've missed you too, I kept wanting things to go back to at least how they were before. But I just couldn't get close to you. There are so

many reason we can't be together." Nebula began to pull away as his thought finished, but he held her and kissed her forcefully. He wanted

her, he had to have her, she was his. He didn't know where these overly possessive feelings where coming from.

"Its killed me to see you with Stanford and Zoom, I couldn't stand to think of them touching you, and seeing it, I can't even explain how

much I…"

"There was nothing going on, you were the one leaving to go on dates with other females, Sage and Agura both assured me they were

much less attractive but still, how do I know you would not mate with them? Would not chose to keep them as your…" Sherman pushed Nebula

slightly away, holding her arms his face broke, was that really what Nebula felt like, thought, that he was out screwing around. He suddenly

felt like a man cheating on his wife, it made him feel sick to his stomach. He kissed her with all his will, needing to show her, she was it.

"Never, never, never, you are it, it doesn't matter if we are together or not you're here." He held the females hand to his heart, it was

beating wildly. He kissed her again, silencing her from responding. He couldn't handle hearing it. He lifted her in his arms and pushed her

towards the bedrooms, forcing her to walk backwards. He needed to fix this, he needed her to understand, she was his and he was hers. It

was animalistic and not normal for Sherman, but he felt possessive of the Drolic, he felt she had to understand how much she meant. Nebula

didn't fight Sherman's advances, it was normal in her culture for the male to act possessive, claiming his female. She knew it wasn't normal for

humans, but she went with it, she hoped in the morning she would not regret it. She gasped as he lifted her to straddle him, making moving

much quicker. Her body trembled knowing what was coming, she felt like she should tell Sherman one very important thing, but she didn't want

him to stop, she couldn't imagine life without him and the one thing she wanted to say she wouldn't let ruin this chance to have him. She didn't

care if it was just for tonight, she wouldn't ruin it.

Sherman laid in his bed, Nebula tucked tightly at his side, his arm surrounded her holding her close, keeping her safe. He had no idea how

they ended up like this, at the start of the night he was agreeing to a blind date with a friend of Verts to get the beauty beside him off his

mind. Now he was shocked, he kept running things threw his head trying to figure out what he had just done. Of course he knew exactly WHAT

he had just done, it wasn't his first time doing it. Thing that got him was, he was pretty sure it was his lovers first time. The small noise of pain,

the traces of blood on the sheets it told him that Nebula was a virgin. Thing he couldn't figure out was if she truly was one or if it had to do

with her shape shifting abilities. In the same moment he didn't think he cared one way or the other, she was with him, she was his. He was

shaken out of his thoughts and comfortable position by the obvious sounds of the others returning. A pounding at his door told him it was time

to get up, he threw on a pair of sweat pants and opened it being sure to stand where Nebula still sound asleep would be kept very much from

view. It turned out to be Zoom.

"Hey man, we gotta jet Sage said there is a storm shock about to open. I gotta go find Nebula" The youngest member of the team turned

to walk away. Sherman couldn't think of a worse situation at that moment then Zoom realizing that Nebula wasn't in her room, or anyplace

besides his room.

"I'll let her know man, I just saw her go by here, plus I left my laptop on the couch." Zoom looked at Sherman like he had grown two heads.

Earlier in the evening the last thing Sherman would've wanted to do was see Nebula. Nobody had missed his reaction when the Drolic had left,

wearing nothing but that tight little gray sweater dress and knee high stiletto boots. Zoom looked up and down the hall, although he wanted

to argue with the Cortez brother something told him it would be better to just get back to others. Shrugging he turned and walked away.

Sherman closed his door and turned to face his bed, he didn't want to wake Nebula, she looked like an angel. A naked angel, but an angel

wrapped in his dark green sheets, creamy leg hanging over the side of the bed. It made his want to get back into bed and do the same things

that made them fall asleep to begin with. He rubbed his neck and walked towards the bed.

"Honey you need to wake up, we gotta go." His hand softly shook Nebula, she rolled grabbing his arm and pulling him down.

"Sleep is good, we sleep." Sherman couldn't help but laugh at his female partner. As much as that sounded like a good plan he knew if they

didn't move it they would have some very unwelcome company any second.

"No we gotta go, Storm Shock opening, everybody is leaving" That got Nebulas attention, she flung up the sheet falling around her waist.

She glanced at Sherman, leaning down she grabbed her dress and pulled it over her head. Her hair was messy and even as she tried to pull

her fingers through it. She began to talk towards the door, but stopped turning around she smiled at the man sitting on the edge of the bed.

She crossed the room quickly leaning down and deeply kissing Sherman. Her hands ran through his hair, and over the scruff forming on his

face.

"Tell me we aren't done. Tell me this is not just well this.." Her voice was unsure and quiet.

"Of course not, there is no way this is over" Sherman ran his hand down Nebulas arm. She smiled, turned, and walked out of the room.