A/n: very sad that this show is no longer on the air, I loved it while it lasted. Please feel free to comment, it makes my day.
The sound of birds screeching pierced Nolan's ears. It jerked him from the depths of an uncomfortably dark and murky dream, blurry shapes careening away from him as the real world intruded. The first thing he did was reach for her, arms catching empty air in the tent beside him, a worried wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows. Surely Irisa couldn't have taken off again, not after the disaster in the woods.
He pushed open the flap, instinctively laying one hand on the holster at his hip. Their spartan camp looked exactly has it had the night before, even the patterns in the dust in front of the roller were still intact, a slender set footprints between the waffle-like impression of his heavy army boots.
He crept silently from the tent, straightening to his full height as he walked over to the vehicle. He didn't know what to make of their tryst the night before. God, even calling it that seemed wrong, but he didn't have a word for what it was that they'd done. Last night there hadn't been time to contemplate the shift in their relationship, both of them falling into an exhausted unconsciousness almost immediately afterward. Looking down at the footprints made Nolan's ears hot and he kicked at the dust, scattering the evidence.
A sound in the bushes caught his attention, a faint rustling that would escape most people. He had his holster unbuttoned, thumb on the handle of his pistol, ready to draw. The tension melted away when a beam of sunlight filtered through the canopy overhead, lighting on the fiery red of Irisa's hair.
"Where have you been?" The question was gruff, and the stance he took defensive. He couldn't help it, images of her at the mercy of some filthy bandit were still imprinted on his retinas, the memory of a helplessness he'd never known before too fresh in his mind.
She glared at him in return, holding up a string of fish for him to look at. "Where does it look like I've been? Picking wildflowers?"
He softened, one corner of his mouth twitching up. Sometimes he wondered what the hell was wrong with him. Dealing with such a smartass shouldn't make him want to grin, it shouldn't make his heart swell with pride that she was so sharp-tongued.
He took the stringer from her, whistling softly at the weight of her bounty. "Breakfast?"
She nodded. "I have no desire to gnaw on that salted beef you love to buy in bulk… and I have my doubts about whether or not it's actually beef. When's the last time you saw a cow around these parts?" She made a face.
Everything was normal, or at least it seemed normal. The idea of bringing up the activities of the night before made him uncomfortable, a swirling sensation in his stomach paired with nervous fluttering in his chest urged him avoid the topic.
Of course Irisa could read his mind, or maybe it was the way he stood, frozen staring at her, lost in his own thoughts. She turned away from him, kneeling in front of the small fire pit she'd dug the day before. "There's nothing to talk about. Everything's still the same, but I'm better for now."
She piled twigs in a teepee shape over a bundle of dry grass. Her solar lighter made short work of the dry tender, flames instantly engulfing the pile of twigs. She worked quickly, crisscrossing slightly larger sticks over her little fire, not looking at him.
"Irisa, I-"
"We should be able to make it to Defiance before it becomes a problem again. Then it won't be your problem to solve."
Nolan watched her work. She slid the already gutted fish onto a makeshift spit resting over the flames. It was as though the previous night hadn't happened at all. Nolan wasn't an idiot though, he could see the way her shoulders were drawn up, the set of her jaw a little tighter than normal. She didn't have as good a poker face as she thought, but he was never one to push these kinds of things. If she didn't want to talk about it, neither did he.
The day passed quietly, the radio silent as they drove along the empty highway. Nolan didn't seem to be in the mood for his twangy country music. The whiskey soaked emotions of long dead men didn't quite hold the allure they usually did.
Irisa had lied to him, hoping fervently that he wouldn't see into the trembling depths of her heart. It was important that he stay ignorant of her feelings. The physical turn that their companionship had taken complicated matters, and she didn't want him thinking it had to stop.
In truth she wasn't sure if she would make it to Defiance before her knees were buckling with desire again, the quivering electric pulses in her gathering a debilitating amount of energy. This morning she'd felt the lazy desire curling in the pit of her stomach before the sun had completely crested over the hills. Nolan's beard tickling the back of her neck while hot little puffs of air slid down her spine hadn't helped matters at all.
Her short fishing trip had served a dual purpose. She needed to get away from him. The temporary relief he'd provided was damn near cancelled out by the way his body felt pressed up against her own. And she felt calmest when she was surrounded by nature, the rocks of the riverbank smooth against her skin, the bubbling water as refreshing to listen to as it was to dive in. She'd watched the sun rise from her lazy fishing spot, lolling by the water long after she'd caught breakfast.
Perhaps it had been a little bit dangerous in light of recent events, but this time her ears were pricked and her pistol was within arm's reach. She wouldn't have been ambushed a second time in two days. Nolan would just have to get over it.
She thought perhaps that was why he was so sullen, squinting more than usual at the road in front of him. She'd seen it in his eyes when she'd returned to the camp, the naked relief, soon replaced by irritation. This morning he'd clearly believed she'd run away again. She pretended not to notice his taciturn mood, instead focusing on the yellowed pages of an old paperback novel. Pre-votan earth was a strange strange place, and one she never tired of reading about. Unfortunately even in their day, these paperbacks weren't made to last, and the edges of pulpy paper crumbled under her fingertips as she gently turned the pages.
"Why do you read that nonsense?"
She peered at the faded cover, a bulbous headed creature with large bottomless black eyes stared back at her. "I read whatever I can find, you know that. Besides, this happens to be fascinating. Humans were obsessed with finding aliens, 'making contact' and 'being probed.' They just sound like a bunch of repressed idiots." She rolled her eyes. "And what's the deal with livestock mutilations? A votan would never do that. Humans on the other hand…"
Nolan shifted uncomfortably in his seat, flexing his fingers against the steering wheel. "For some of us it was more than an obsession with being probed. It was exciting to think that the universe was bigger than we'd ever imagined." He frowned, eyes clouding as he remembered his initial reaction to the ships skimming over the earth's atmosphere, the awe that quickly turned to trembling fear. "But it all turned out to be bullshit. Greed and cruelty are a universal theme."
"That's true." Irisa regretted the direction their conversation had taken. Reminding him of that awful time at the beginning of the wars was always a mistake, quiet and withdrawn for days as he steeped in the memories. She tossed the book over her shoulder into the back seat, eager to change the subject. "But it was either that or the smutty romance novels the lady at the trader's tent insisting on shoving into my bag back in Amarillo." She smirked at him, "I didn't think that would be a good idea, considering…"
He glanced at her, softly chuckling. "Ah, so that's why you were mooning around back in Texas after that cowboy." He was teasing her, but the last word came out a bit more derisively than he'd intended. Maybe mooning was a slight exaggeration, but Irisa was normally so reserved with strangers that a small smile and a few softly spoken questions were enough to clue Nolan in on her infatuation, and the object of her attentions had irked him.
The man had worn spurs for god's sake, in spite of the fact that there weren't any horses for miles. But he'd had a mop of blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Just the thing to draw beautiful women close enough to admire his strategically placed belt buckle, the kind rodeo champions used to wear. Nolan had stopped short of dragging Irisa away from the idiot's leatherwork table. Infatuations passed, he knew that.
Irisa was staring at Nolan open mouthed, cheeks hot with embarrassment. "You noticed? Why didn't you say anything? I made an ass out of myself over him, and he wasn't interested at all."
"Relax. You didn't make an ass of yourself. There were half a dozen other women being way more obvious."
Her chagrin faded somewhat, replaced by amusement. "He was nothing like the dashing hero in 'His Desert Rose.' That guy fought off a band of savage warriors to save a kidnapped woman he didn't even know. Randy probably would have cried if he got a hangnail."
"Randy? What kind of name is that?" Nolan snorted. A silly name for a silly man.
"You tell me. All human names seem silly to me, Joshua."
"No one calls me that."
"Sure." She didn't comment on the fact that he sounded almost jealous, mostly because she was sure she was mistaken. She couldn't help but test the waters though. "Maybe there will be more Irathients there. I need to find someone. I'm tired of being alone."
"You're not alone."
"You know what I mean." She hadn't meant to sound wistful, but there it was in a soft sigh. "It'll be strange being around so many people in Defiance."
"We've been in cities before."
"Yes, but this feels like it'll be different. I don't know how long…" She trailed off, not wanting to get back into an uncomfortable discussion. "I might have to stay in Defiance for a while, and I know you don't like staying any one place for very long."
"Wherever you go, I go." He reached across the console, scooping up her hand in his. "I'm not going to leave you just because things are a little tough right now."
She nodded, acknowledging the serious expression on his face. Her throat was clogged with emotion, words falling to pieces before they could even form sentences. She loved him, the way he spoke so firmly, with such conviction, the way his hand felt clasping hers, firm yet gentle. She squeezed back, instead of replying. The silence enveloped them once again, this time more comfortably than before. Neither felt the need to fill it.
Irisa watched the sky ahead of them, darkening as it did in the middle of the day was never a good sign. The atmosphere had been compromised by the years of war, and weather patterns were unpredictable. Driving as they were through such flat land, there was the ever present danger of tornadoes and equally damaging straight-line winds. Add that to the arkfall littering the countryside and it was a recipe for disaster.
A horizontal lightning bolt zipped across the sky, branching into half a dozen little electrical currents. The clap of thunder was instantaneous and Irisa could feel the it in the air, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.
The rain came in big fat drops increasing in volume almost exponentially as they drove. It was as though some giant were dumping huge buckets of water directly onto their roller. The wipers couldn't really keep up, barely dashing it away before more gushed down. "We should pull over."
"We can't just pull over, there's nowhere to go."
He was right, of course, but it didn't make her feel any better. She hated storms, had been left alone one time to many as a small child to weather them in the dark. Clenching her jaw, she fought the urge to argue with him. They had to get out of this torrential mess and soon. Big gusts of wind battered the roller from one side, rocking it slightly as Nolan pressed on.
Finally he slowed to a stop, pulling the vehicle into a depression along the side of the highway. He nodded toward a dark blur about a hundred feet ahead of them. "There's an overhang, maybe a cave, over there. Grab some blankets and something to eat. We'll wait it out there, and pray to god that the roller doesn't get flipped in the wind.
She was quick, shoving dried meat and fruit into her knapsack and hooking her fingers through the laces of their bedding bundle. She took a deep breath and swung the door open, dashing through the downpour toward the dark shelter. As expected, she was instantly soaked, water blurring her vision as she jogged along. Nolan was right behind her, one hand at her elbow guiding her to the natural shelter.
