(A/N: Thank you everyone who is reading. I appreciate the comments that you've been leaving, and votes! I hope you continue to enjoy the story.)

Part 4

Chapter 9

Low estimated that it would take most of the day for her father to arrive at Homeland. It bothered Bestial that she had driven that long, at night, to reach him. It also humbled him. He'd done nothing for her, given her nothing, not even a hint of his interest, and at the first opportunity to show that she cared, she jumped out of her bed and drove all night to Homeland.

But now he had the entire day to get to know her again.

He looked over at her. She was sitting on the couch, but she didn't look relaxed. Her knee was shaking and she bit her thumbnail. He scented the air. She wasn't nervous or afraid. Her eyes darted around the room, not landing anywhere. He breathed in again. She wasn't in pain.

She rubbed her palms on the top of her thighs and smiled tightly at him. "I don't suppose you have anything that I can do?"
He looked around. "A job?"
She was looking out the window, and he followed her gaze. Small, brown birds were perched on the bird feeder that Torrent had given the dorm. He'd made them in the Wild Zone with other less tame New Species.

"I wanted to talk," he explained. "Is there something specific you wanted to do?"
She watched him closely and then stood up, walking to him. "I'm sorry. I'm having a hard time focusing. If I have something I can do while we talk, I will be a much better listener."
"Would you like to go for a walk?"

She nodded quickly, running into the bedroom and then back out, cleaning her glasses on the hem of her shirt.

They left the dorm and walked down the hallway. They passed a few males in the hallway. Their heads turned when they saw Low, their eyes tracking her. She smiled politely, and Bestial saw their eyes widen as they went back and forth between the two of them.

He opened the door to the outside and heard Low take a huge breath. "There are jogging paths," he pointed. "They lead to the lake."
She nodded, her hand brushing against his and he caught it. She made a sudden motion, as if to take her hand back, but he squeezed it.

"Would you mind?"

She looked down at their hands.

"Going to the lake?" she asked, and shook her head. "No."

"You are deliberately misunderstanding me," he corrected.

She looked off into the distance, biting her lip before looking back at him.

"I don't mind," she said, squeezing his hand back, "but I think I should."

He smiled tightly, and gave her a slight tug toward the walking path.

"I am glad you've continued making things," Bestial said, his mind alighting on topics and then discarding them. This one seemed safe.

Low looked over at him. "You may have been single-handedly paying my rent," she replied with a small smile.

Bestial stepped onto the pebbled path and Low followed him. "I have many of the things you made," he said. "I love them all. But the blankets especially. It seems as if you've purposefully made them for New Species."
Low looked over at him. "I did," she said, "initially. I learned about how New Species couldn't tolerate strong smells, and found a way to make things without perfumes. I got some good word-of-mouth, and my website took off. I have a lot of customers who are ill, with diseases like cancer, or immune disorders, ones where people have really reactive sensory systems." She shrugged. "I've been lucky."
"You are smart, and your success is because of that."
She looked at the ground, kicking at a pebble, color staining her cheeks.

"In the winter, up at Reservation, many of the New Species women still wear your scarves. I see your headbands everywhere."

Low's head popped up, and she smiled brightly. "Really? That makes me happy." She bit her lip again.

"How did I not know you were the one ordering my things?" she asked him suddenly.

Bestial had the good sense to look embarrassed. "I asked human friends to place the orders. I did not want you to know."
She nodded, the smile disappearing from her face. "I didn't."
Bestial stopped her, gently turning her so he could see her face. "Low," he began. "I am sorry."
"You keep saying that."
"It is still true."
"But why? I understand, now that I'm older, why you wouldn't want to be involved with me while I was in high school, but why didn't you contact me after I graduated? Or a year later? Or six months ago for that matter."
Bestial looked around, and spotting a bench, led her there and sat down. He gave a small tug, but she pulled her hand away from his, crossing her arms and looking at him. With her standing, and him seated, they were eye to eye.

"You were so young, Low. And like I said, however misguided or mistaken I was, I believed that I was too world-weary for you."
Low sighed, and pushed her hair out of her face when a strong breeze blew it around her head. Bestial reached up, lightly stretching out a curl and watching it spring into place again. She sat down next to him, pulling up her knee and wrapping her arms around it.

"Your panic attack?" she finally said.

Bestial looked away. Her hand came up to his face, and she pressed against his cheek, forcing him to look at her. His eyes scanned her face. He looked into her golden eyes, and traced the bridge of her nose, across her dark skin and down to her lips. Her tongue darted out, moistening them before her white teeth bit into her lower lip.

"A future without you, even if it was just getting short emails, or birthday cards, was so distressing to me that my mind couldn't cope."
Her head tilted. "You couldn't cope?"
"No," he stated firmly, reaching forward and cupping her face in his hands. "You have no idea what your letters meant to me. I denied myself the joy of being near you. Because that's what I felt when we were together, Low, even for those few days. I was happier than I'd ever been in my life."
"Me, too," Low answered. "It was what I remembered when things were hard."
Bestial snarled. Here was his opportunity to learn what Low meant when she talked about understanding how the world worked.

He waited, pondering how best to ask the questions he needed answers to. The wind blew again, and her hair tickled the backs of his hands. The sun reflected off her glasses, making it hard for him to see her eyes. He drew them away from her face, folded them, and gently placed them next to them on the bench.

"I am going to kiss you," he informed her.

Low shook her head quickly. "Please don't." But her eyes flickered to his lips.

"Why not?" he asked, and then something occurred to him. "Do you have someone? A human?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I have been sending you letters for six years!" she pulled away from him. "What sort of person do you think I am? You think I've got a boyfriend somewhere and I'm just stringing him along? Like a back-up?" She stood and walked away quickly.

"You don't know me at all, Bestial. If anything, this just drives it home."
Bestial growled at himself. He was making mistakes. He didn't like making mistakes, and this mattered more than anything he'd ever done before.

"What man would not want you, Low? You are kind and funny, and creative and smart. You are everything I could ever want and that I don't deserve."
She turned around and stalked to him, her eyes bright with anger. "You don't get to make those decisions unilaterally. If you cared about me, and you knew I cared about you, you should have told me! Don't insult me by saying it was because you thought I had a boyfriend! You know I didn't!"

Bestial growled again, wanting to kick his own ass. "I am making mistakes, Low. I am not saying what I want to," his voice began to rise. "I don't know how to make you understand!"

He felt a rising anxiety in his chest and he began to breathe heavily, trying to catch his breath. He lifted his hands to his hair, pulling at the strands.

Her hands came up to grip his, and she slowly pulled his hands from his head.

"Look at me," came her calm voice.

The world came into focus again, and he stared into her eyes.

"Breathe with me," she said, her voice quiet. "Watch me."

He stared at her. Her hand left his head and came up to her face. "Smell the flower," she said, holding her hand like a fist. "Cool the cookie," she breathed into her flattened palm.

She repeated the gesture. "Smell the flower… cool the cookie."
He barked out a laugh, but did like she asked. Her hand shaped his. "Smell the flower…cool the cookie."
He felt his breathing slow and the world come back into focus. He repeated the technique, over and over again, and she did it with him.

"Better?"

He nodded, feel embarrassed.

Her hands held his face and her fingers traced his cheekbones. "Come here," she said, and linked her arm with his. She brought him across the grass and sat, yanking him down to sit next to her. When he was seated, she snuggled closer to him, leaning her head on his bicep.

"When I was thirteen," she began. "My mom was arrested for selling drugs. My parents were divorced, and my dad is Navy, so he was gone. She was going to prison, and she never told me. She never told Family Services I had family, either. She pretended my dad had left us, and my uncle didn't exist. So one day, at the end of school, a social worker met me at the bus stop, and drove me to a group home."
Her fingers tip-tapped against his knee and he grasped her hand gently, pulling it to his mouth and running his lips along her thumb.

"Forty girls in four rooms, with three adults, who wanted to be somewhere, anywhere, else," she continued. "It was awful."
She took a deep breath, and Bestial could only imagine the horror that was contained in the barebones version of her story.

"Anyway," she said on a breath, "when my dad finally found me, I had pretty bad anxiety, and had panic attacks. Especially at night. We figured out a way to regulate my breathing when I hyperventilated."
Bestial pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in her hair. "Low," he whispered, his heart hurting for her.

"So don't be embarrassed," she continued quietly. "What happened to me was only two weeks. Not at all that bad compared to what happened to you."
Bestial rested his cheek on her head.

"Don't leave," he whispered, closing his eyes and holding his breath.

Her elbow nudged his ribs, not hard, but enough to push the air out of him. "Breathe," she commanded.

He snorted. "I will, if you won't."
She sighed and let her head rest against his chest. "I'm not going anywhere right now," she allowed, "but I can't make any promises after my dad gets here."

Bestial stiffened. "You think he will make you leave?"
"My dad doesn't make people do anything," she said drily. "He has a way of putting things that makes you do what he suggests."
Bestial growled.

"He's not mean," she corrected quickly. "But he's used to being right."

Bestial understood this reasoning. He was also used to be being right. That was part of why his situation with Low was so frustrating. He was wrong. His decisions, the ones he thought he were best for her, were clearly not good for either of them. He also understood why her father would be so protective of Low. If she had disappeared while he was gone, he would have been frantic to find her.

She was not a human that projected toughness. From her bright golden eyes, and fuzzy hair, down to her softly curved body; she looked sweet, kind. She looked like someone that could be taken advantage of, someone who would be easily hurt.

"How long were you with your father after he found you?" he asked.

"Not long," Low breathed. "He didn't want to leave me, but he only had a week. We drove up to my uncle's and I lived there. He transferred custody to them, and I lived with them until I went to college. I visited every break I had, and I still spend holidays there."

Bestial looked down at her face, seeing a smile curve her mouth.

"Would you…" he began, and cleared his throat. "Would you tell me what happened to you?" he asked. "I am imagining all sorts of horrible things."
He felt Low still, and her body tense.

He rubbed her back in small circles while her fingers played with his. She drew his hand into her lap and traced the shape of his fingers.

"I don't like talking about it," she whispered.

"Please," he asked. He wanted to know everything, needed to know everything, even as part of him readied itself for how much it would hurt.

Low's head dropped, her chin tucking into her chest.

"The first night wasn't so bad," she began. "They just stole my things. Divvied them up between the bigger girls. My things didn't even fit them, but that wasn't the point. It was just that I had to understand that I had nothing. That I was no one. They wanted to see what I would do… and I didn't do anything. Just accepted it. Wore the same clothes as the day before."

She was quiet, gathering her thoughts. "The group home was far away from my old school, so I started at a new one. I was smaller, so I got pushed around, run against lockers, trays of food spilled into my lap." Her breath shuddered. "Umm, some of…" she stopped. "I really don't want to talk about this anymore."
Bestial could feel the howl building. He didn't trust himself to speak. He waited until the lump in his throat, the one holding back the howl, shrunk, and then he spoke.

"I didn't go to school, but I was taught to read and do math. It was part of the testing that the scientists did with us. They wanted us to be smarter, as well as stronger. I imagine that the scientists and technicians of Mercile were similar to the people you met in your group home. I remember I had a book, one that had taught me to read. It was the only thing I thought of as mine. I hid it under my mat. I thought no one had seen it. One day, I refused to do something, have blood drawn or some other routine, and the technician went right to my mat, took out my book, put it in the toilet, and urinated all over it."

"Oh, Bestial," Low said sadly.

"Then they beat me. And when they left, they left the book."

"Those assholes!" Low said, her voice changing from sadness to anger in a second. "Where are they? Are they in Fuller? I'm going to pee in their cornflakes. I hate them!"

Bestial wrapped his arms around her again, extricating his hand from hers. "Some of them are at Fuller," he told her. "As a member of the council, I go to Fuller when a human from the Mercile sites I represent are taken into custody."

"Is that douchenozzle there?"

Bestial shook his head. "No," he answered. "I believe the 'douchenozzle' is dead. Killed in the raid at the Mercile facility where I was held."
Low nodded. "That kind of sucks. I sort of what him to have suffered more."
Bestial was taken aback at the viciousness at her tone.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"No," he shook his head. "That was how I felt."
They were silent and then she sighed again, and turned to face him, her legs going on either side of his waist. His eyes widened and he immediately began battling his body not to react.

"Okay," she said. "I'm going to tell you, but then I don't want to talk about it again, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed.

"I was surrounded by a bunch of boys when I was on my way to class. They dragged me to an empty classroom and hurt me. They didn't rape me, but they were going to, and they would have, if the janitor hadn't come in."
That was what Bestial had feared. All sexual thoughts disappeared from his mind, and all he wanted to do was comfort her.

"They told the janitor I had propositioned them, and he just sent us back to class. I don't think he believed them, but I don't think he could be bothered to deal with the trouble it would cause. By lunch, it was all over the school, and until my dad found me, I had to deal with people grabbing me, pushing me, touching me… And when I went to the group home at night, the girls were just as bad."

"Low," he breathed, burying his face against her neck.

Her arms wrapped around his back, squeezing him.

"I'm okay now," she said. "It took a while, but I'm better."
"You are very resilient," he said quietly, his lips against her skin. He felt her shiver and he drew back to look at her. He stood slowly, helping her to the ground. "Thank you for telling me."
He took her hand in his and began walking again.

They spent the hours between lunch and her father's arrival exploring Homeland. Bestial did not ask any more questions, but her story weighed heavily on his mind, and he couldn't help himself from periodically hugging her, or burying her face in her hair.

Low didn't stop him. She seemed to understand his need to hold her, that it offered him more comfort than he was giving.

Low had found a book of crossword puzzles and sat with her ankles crossed and the pencil in her mouth while Bestial straightened his room. He made arrangements for her father to stay in human housing, but he hadn't made the same arrangements for her. His plan was to keep her near him. His phone rang and he picked it up, speaking briefly with the officer on the other end while nodding at Low.

"He's here."

Chapter 10

Even though Low was nervous about having her father at Homeland, a larger part of her was excited. She missed him terribly. While he was not physically present for much of her childhood, she still knew she could count on him. She knew that he loved her more than anything, and he was doing the best he could to provide for her.

It wasn't his fault that her mother had turned to drugs, and abandoned her, and it wasn't his fault that she had been targeted and bullied.

She jumped up from the couch at Bestial's words, and dropped the puzzle and pencil onto the table.

"Let's go get him," she said, smiling widely.

He nodded, smiling in return, but it was tight. She'd probably scared him with her description of how protective he was. She wondered what he would think when he was face-to-face with her father. She eyed Bestial speculatively, sizing him up. She thought he'd do okay.

Bestial drove them quickly to the entrance. An officer came to meet them, pulling down his mask and looking at Bestial seriously.

"A human is here to see you," he reported. "At least, he says he is human. I am not sure though, he is bigger than many New Species. He says he is her father."

Low found herself bouncing on her toes a little. "That's him," she agreed. "Where is he?"
"He is in the office. I wanted to make sure he was telling the truth," the officer's eyes tracked Low's size. "You are not New Species."

Low shook her head. "Nope. He's just a big guy is all."
The officer smiled, and looked at Bestial. His serious face cracked into a slightly mocking smile. "Good luck."

He turned and went into the office, emerging a moment later with her father.

"Dad!" Low waved madly and took off, running at him and throwing her arms around him. Her head hit his hard chest and she could feel his arms come up and embrace her. He lifted her off the ground, shaking her gently from side to side. "Loretta," her father said in his familiar deep voice, "you're grounded."

Low laughed and tipped her head way back to meet her father's dark brown eyes. "I'm too old to ground," she laughed.

"You're never too old for your daddy," he disagreed.

Low swallowed hard. "I'm glad you're here," she said.

Her father looked over the top of her head and let her feet touch the ground.
"Are you Bestial?" her father asked, standing up straighter.

"Yes," she heard Bestial answer, and stepped to the side.

Bestial was tall, but her father was slightly taller. He was wearing his uniform, which surprised Low. Usually he was in civilian clothes when he was on land. He was so broad and muscular that he looked as if he could split the seams on his jacket. She used to pretend that her father was the Hulk, and he would say to her, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry," and then he would flex. He never did rip a shirt, but Low would fall over in hysterics.

"I'm Terrance Jacobs," her father introduced, holding out his hand. "Loretta's father."
"It's nice to meet you, Sir," Bestial said politely, gripping his hand.

Low saw her father squeeze and pump his hand once. More than once Loretta had seen people hand hold her father's hand too long. They took one look at his size and muscles and tried to get in a pissing contest with him. He never started it, but more than once Low had seen him finish one, often with some jacked-up pretty boy curled into a ball on the ground.

"You look as if you're feeling better," her father said.

"I am," Bestial answered. "Low helped me immensely." Low looked up at him and smiled.

"She taught me to smell the flowers and cool the cookies."

Low was surprised he'd told her father that. Her dad would know what that meant, since he was the one who had seen her use the strategies for her own panic attacks. Her dad's eyes widened, and then he smiled. "I'm glad it's working for you," he said kindly.

"Loretta," he said, getting her attention. "Are you ready to go?"
Bestial snarled, but cut himself off quickly.

"I told Bestial I would stay for a while, Dad," Low said.

"It's not safe here, Loretta," her dad said seriously. "People try to blow this place up every week. I don't want you here. I won't be able to get here in time if you need me."
That was the crux of her father's anxiety. He was always worried about getting to her in time, because of all the times he hadn't. First, he hadn't known about her mother and the group home, and then he hadn't learned about her car accident at the gates of Reservation until nearly a month after it had happened. He hated being out of the loop, but his job made it a constant state for him.

"We have a place for you to stay," Bestial said quickly. "There's a hotel for human visitors. I hoped you would stay with us here."
Her father looked surprised. She could tell he'd expected to be met and then sent on his way. Of course, he'd planned on taking her with him, but she could see him considering Bestial's offer. He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Low nodded; she wanted to stay, and she wanted him to stay with her.

"It'd be like a vacation," she hedged.

Her father threw back his head and laughed.

"Okay, Low," he chuckled, "I'll stay. I have a bag in my car."
"I'll get it for you, Mr. Jacobs," a voice said. Low looked over and saw Sunshine eyeing her father. She walked over to him, holding out her hand.

"My name is Sunshine, may I call you Terrance?"

Her father took her hand in his and shook it, his dark skin contrasted with Sunshine's pale, golden color.

"You're quite big, aren't you?" Sunshine said. "You're bigger than Flirt over there."
Low looked where Sunshine was indicating with her thumb. The officer stood with his arms crossed, watching Sunshine. He didn't seem bothered though, and smiling, called out, "Perhaps I should remind you of how big I am, Sunshine."

Sunshine ignored him.

Low watched her father blush, his cheeks turning red. That was where she got it. Flirt brought her father's duffle bag out of the office when it became obvious that Sunshine had forgotten. He cleared his throat.

"This way, Dad," Low said, indicating the golf cart.

Her father eyed it, as he usually had to do with anything he had to fit inside. "You get the front," Low told him, and climbed in the backseat. Bestial slid into the driver's seat before turning around.

"Buckle up."
Low fastened the belt around her waist and Bestial began to drive. She hadn't seen much of Homeland last night. What she'd thought was empty space was actually full of houses and low brick buildings.

"Reminds me of a military base," her father commented.

"It was," Bestial answered. "It was newly built when New Species were freed. I believe this is the housing built for the enlisted men. It is where we have our dormitories. We'll be going to the human section of housing. We have a hotel there. That's where you'll be staying."
Her father took everything in, and then turned around. "Loretta is staying at the hotel as well."
He made it a statement.

"Low is staying with me at my home," Bestial replied.

Her father shook his head. "Not anymore, she isn't. If you can find me a room at this hotel, you can find Loretta one as well. My daughter is staying next to me."
Low saw Bestial's hands tighten on the steering well. She leaned forward. "Actually, Dad. Bestial and I are…"
"Loretta," her father said. "You can spend plenty of time with Bestial during the day. But at night, you will sleep at the hotel."
Low opened her mouth to argue.

"That's fine," Bestial interjected.
"Excuse me?" she asked, surprised.

"I'll see you during the day. I will get you a room at the hotel."
"But I thought…"
"Perfect," her father said, turning around and smiling at her. His skin crinkled around his eyes, and she could see he really was pleased that Bestial agreed with him.

Low crossed her arms and leaned back against the seat, feeling disproportionately let down, and more than a little ticked off that Bestial had taken her father's side.

"Fine," she grumbled.