RAPT

Chapter Seven

Turn your heartache right into joy/ She's a girl and you're a boy/ Did you get it together and make it nice?

And if you can't be with the one you love, honey/ Love the one you're with.

In the roiling heat of the bath, Elizabeth could close her eyes and pretend she was on Earth. The bathing pools, designed for Engineer bodies, weren't so different from hot tubs, and Elizabeth had never turned down the opportunity to soak in one. Especially with Charlie. She smiled to herself, trailing her fingertips across the surface of the water. Years ago, on a trip to Pompeii, they had stayed the Grand Vesuvio in Naples and gotten a bit wicked in their hot tub. And another time they got plastered and snuck into a neighboring flat during an extended stay in London, romped around in the jacuzzi. Charlie had suggested that one, but Elizabeth took almost no convincing. They were crazy when they were together; mad in the head and madly in love. That's one thing Elizabeth had loved about the two of them— they each brought out the horny teenager in the other. A blessing, considering the academic nature of their work, the solemn passion they both felt for their Engineers before they ever reached them. Charlie always knew how to play.

Elizabeth opened her eyes and peered through the steam at the man across from her. David sat on the bench, his head back against the lip of the bath, a small smile on his lips. He was humming to himself, nodding along to some internal melody. As always, Elizabeth didn't know what to feel when she looked at the android. She tried to analyze her emotions impartially, knowing as she did so that such a thing was impossible.

There was still a level of fear in her attached to the thought of David. She didn't think it would ever go away, nor did she think that it should. But at the same time, Elizabeth couldn't deny that she felt affection for the synthetic man. Affection, and attraction, and admiration.

All those pertinent As, Elizabeth thought wryly.

David frightened her, but he also made her laugh. He was beyond helpful; he managed the ship almost entirely on his own. Elizabeth was learning to do so as quickly as she could, but there was no denying that she would be absolutely adrift without David, both physically and mentally. David kept Elizabeth from losing herself in her own mind. Several times on their mission she had slipped to the precipice of sanity, and David had always been there to pull her back. Sure, she might still be teetering, but Elizabeth thought that was understandable. She was in an unprecedented situation, and she was still learning how to navigate the grey areas of morality. David was patiently helping her with that, but Elizabeth did not think that was something to be grateful for.

And there was the incident from yesterday to consider. Elizabeth still wasn't entirely sure what had happened. In the emotional aftermath of finding David seizing on the floor, she had forgotten to ask probing questions, settling for his assurances that he was alright. Foolish on her part, definitely, but Elizabeth hadn't been that terrified since— well, she wouldn't think of the happenings in Vickers' lifeboat. The point was, David malfunctioning on the ground equaled Elizabeth alone in the stars, and that was not a situation Elizabeth was equipped to handle. Her relief at him regaining his senses had clouded her thinking, and David certainly didn't give her any time to recover her thoughts.

Heat rose in Elizabeth's face as she lingered on the memory of David wrapped around her, the buoyancy she had felt contrasting starkly with the tears drying on her cheeks. She brushed the thought away with a shake of her head, reminding herself that David had not been forthcoming with any explanations. She'd had to drag the little information she had out of him.

_._

The floor of the storeroom. They were naked, twined around each other. David's fingers were tangled in Elizabeth's hair, and he sang to her under his breath. It was a while before Elizabeth spoke.

"Do you want to explain to me what just happened, David?"

The android smiled. It was like pure light; Elizabeth's immediate thought was it was too good to be true.

"It's nothing to worry about, I promise. My system went into something like shock, is all. It's been a while since I've been updated, and that takes adapting to."

"'Adapting to'? What does that mean? What will happen to you, without your updates?"

Worry permeated her voice; would he leave her here alone, after all? The android stroked her arm.

"I'll be fine, Elizabeth. Truly. Weyland created me to be invincible; I just have to make some adjustments."

_._

No, Elizabeth decided, she did not trust David. But she needed him. He was a part of her, now. And it hurts too much to hate a part of yourself. Unlikely as it might have seemed at the start of their journey, David was her friend.

The android in question opened his eyes and looked at Elizabeth. He kept humming, a growl tinging his voice, and a familiar, hungry light entered his gaze.

Well. Admittedly, David was more than her friend.

He swam towards her slowly, submerging the lower half of his face in the water, and Elizabeth laughed.

"You look like a shark, David." Elizabeth teased, but her tone belied the thrill she felt with his eyes on her. Always on her. Her, always thrilled.

David smirked, raising his face from the water. "A shark, indeed. That makes you my prey. You might want to run." His voice was taunting, and hot as magma.

Elizabeth grinned. He wanted to play hunter and hunted? She was up for a little game.

"Come get me, then," Elizabeth challenged, before scrabbling out of the bath. Her wet feet slapped against the hard metallic floor, cool air stinging her skin as she ran. Elizabeth gave in to the mindlessness of a harmless chase, hooting with laughter when she heard David curse behind her as he slipped on the slick surface.

What would Charlie think of you now? Playing games with a killer? a voice asked, unbidden, from the corner of her mind. Elizabeth shooed it away and locked down on the answering guilt that rose in her chest. No. For once she was going to allow herself to enjoy something. She would die if she didn't.

"Do you really think you can outrun me, Elizabeth?" David called. He sounded close, and Elizabeth hazarded a peek over her shoulder as she rounded the corner into the cubiculum. He was even closer than she'd thought, and the sight of him all wet and dripping, blond hair darkened to brown, languid intensity in his eyes, shocked Elizabeth. This was a David she was still coming to know. She had noticed the change in him these past few weeks, but not until this moment had it been so obvious to her.

He looked inhuman. He looked godly.

He looked like he was going to devour her alive.

"Shit!" Elizabeth yelped, slipping and overcorrecting her balance. She slammed against the floor, taking the brunt of the impact on her left side. Elizabeth was laughing as she rolled onto her back, that euphoric sound that follows a collision and precedes pain, that laughter that means you're alive. She was still laughing when David reached her and gathered her up in his arms. He strode over to the nearest bed and flung her down, covered her body with his.

Elizabeth's laughter became something else entirely as David moved his mouth over her skin, kissing the redness that was beginning to show. She took his face between her hands and guided him to her lips. They met there, mingled for a moment, savoring the unexpected sweetness between them. The bedding was damp, their skin slick from the water.

"Elizabeth?" David murmured, pressing a kiss into her lips. "What do you think about this? Us, being together in this way?"

Elizabeth considered his question for a moment, taking her time, enjoying his touch. They hadn't really talked about what they were doing yet— it became what it was so suddenly, so fluidly.

"I'm grateful for it. To be honest, David, I never would have expected it—" Elizabeth paused to sweep his hair out of his eyes, kiss a sensitive spot on his neck. "—but I'm glad it happened. I think I would've gone insane without you."

David liked that.

"I'm glad you feel that way. Grateful, I mean. I feel the same."

"Good," Elizabeth said. And she meant it, despite her reservations. She just couldn't help the fact that he made her feel so good, nor the fact that she was happy to do the same for him.

The unlikely couple resumed.

In a distant room, an effervescent ping sounded. The hologram of a planet lit up the cavern.

A/N: Bit of a filler chapter, but shit's about to get interesting, so buckle down. Thanks for reading, thanks for all of you who've stuck around (especially my anonymous reader who just happened back on the story, not expecting it to be updated. I love you!), don't forget to drop me a review! 'Til next time. x