A/N: FINALLY! I get a break from school work and I can FINALLY get back into my favorite hobby! Writing! So I am truly sorry for how long it took me to update but the good news is, I finally have this whole book planned out and I think I'm going to make it into a saga or maybe just a series...IDK yet. But I have SOOOO many ideas for all of this, some even have to do with Halloween, *Hint, HINT* so I really do hope you enojoy and I hope you enjoy Jax, again he's one of my favorite OC's and there's more to come! Including yours =))))))
Sorry for such a late update and I hope you can forgive me enough to review PWEASE (Puppy dog eyes =))
~Badass Brady =D
Tabitha's POV.
"Uhhherhhhhhhegggg," I groaned out when consciousness came back to my reality. The air in my lungs felt rancid and heavy making me groan in pain a little louder as I tried to push the sour air out. 'Where…am I?'
The sounds of rattling chains filled my antenna, causing a massive headache to erupt like a volcano in my head. The pain was so intense that I couldn't even scream if I wanted to. My muscles ached and burned along with my eyes and antenna; for once the pain in my leg wasn't actually as bad as it was earlier. That was a good thing if nothing else.
Slowly, painfully, I opened my eyes and blinked a couple times in the inky darkness that surrounded my vision. There was an eerie blue light glowing out of a test tube with a bright blue gel inside of it, other than that there was no other light in the room. However this was the only light I needed to see by.
Most of the room was lit up but there were a few dark corners still. I heard chains rattling again and soft cursing in my native tongue. "Zim, is that you?" I whispered only to earn a shriek in reply.
"W-who are you!?" The voice shouted back, that wasn't Zim or Cari.
"My name is Tabitha, what's yours?" I asked more gently that time. As you know Zim and I are…frienimies so we love each other but we hate each other at the same time which causes the harsh talking and cursing and yelling…and punching…
"Why should I tell you? You'll probably just inject me with something!" He shouted back. I could hear the fear and panic cracking in his voice, he sounded young though. Where the hell was I!?
"Look I'm chained up just like you, I'm wounded and I'm looking for my family, I am a 260 year old Irken and a guard of the lost princess Cari, her mate, Zim is here somewhere frantically worrying about her, I know it. Please, you must believe me; I'm just as confused as you are, maybe not as scared but I'm confused and I absolutely need to know who you are."
He seemed to calm down a little bit after that because there was a long silence, a deeply drawn out breath of air and a new one going back in. "I thought those were just rumors, you can't really be Princess Cari's guard, she disappeared 100 years ago along with the princess."
"Well…it's true and I need help, Cari is out there somewhere too and I absolutely, positively, most definitely HAVE to find her, if anyone it has to be her." I explained quickly, seeing as I didn't know how many other people were in the room.
"Are you really that loyal?"
"She means more to me than just a boss, we grew up together then I signed up to be here guard. 10 years on Irk later I was her guard. That's also when she met Zim. We've all been best friends and family ever since then." I continued on with my explanation before taking a deep breath, "So, can I have your name now?"
There was a pause before he spoke up again, "My name's, Jax." Hmm, interesting name.
"Thank you; now Jax, how did you get here?" I sighed in relief, 'finally.'
"I have no idea how I got to this particular room. I was kidnapped and some Vortarian scientists injected me with something. I don't remember anything after that." He whispered back. I could hear the defeat in his voice and the sound of something else… "My mom's out there somewhere, probably worrying sick about me." There we go.
"How old are you?" I asked curiously, if this kid was still with his mom…
"I'm 200," He said back pathetically, "I was visiting my mom for the weekend from my piloting college, she's probably worried sick about me!"
"Well kid, I don't know exactly how long we've been gone but she might be missing you for quite a while. Also depending on if I can just-," I grunted angrily as I pushed my feet against the walls and pulled my wrists back as hard as I possibly could.
"I've already tried that," Another voice grumbled out, however I recognized this one.
"Zim!" I shouted, never before had I been so happy to see that dumb ass!
"No I'm a fucking gremlin, who do you think it is!?" He snapped back, now I felt normal. (A/N: I couldn't help but laugh as I wrote that line =), didn't you?)
"Yeah whatever dumb ass, so you've tried escaping already?"
"Who is Zim and what's going on?" Jax asked hurriedly. I could hear his chains rattling around in the darkness as he pulled on them and cursed more. I couldn't see what he was wearing or what he even looked like but I could clearly see his body type. I've gotta say for only being 200 he was actually pretty fit.
"I'm surprised you don't know me from my 'secret mission'," Zim spat angrily and punched a wall; well I assumed he punched a wall seeing as he was in a dark corner and I couldn't see a damned thing in this place.
"Who tied your antenna in a knot?" Jax snapped back. I snickered under my breath when I heard Zim growl angrily.
"You don't even know who you're dealing with…kid." He growled.
"Ok break it up you two; this isn't going to solve anything. Jax, stop panicking and see if your PAK is working at all. Zim, stop being a baby and shape up for Cari, she's not hear from what I can sense, see and hear. I'll see if my PAK has anything useful for right now. We have to get out of here." I said gruffly as I pulled on my chains. I felt like a caged up, pissed off animal getting ready for a fight.
"Whatever," Zim grumbled. I heard some gears clicking before Zim hissed in anger, "Only thing that's working for me is my communicator."
"My PAK seems to be ok, no major weapon use, my communicator is also working along with my spider legs and my defense shield, not that any of this could really help." Jax spoke up with an exasperated sigh.
"No Jax, that's actually impressive. First lesson I was taught was to use your weaknesses as strengths, your spider legs are probably the weakest thing in your PAK, weapon wise that is. However each leg has a laser as I'm sure you know; only problem is that it's a loud laser so if you are to break out of your chains with them, which you should, you have to hold the end of your spider leg. It's going to burn immensely but you can't scream and you can't give up." I explained brightly. A small smile formed on my lips when I saw a tiny flash of light and a string of curse words after that.
"First chain down," he called through clenched teeth. My smile grew as I saw another tiny flash of light and heard the sound of the chains clanking onto the hard metal floor. "Ok, who's next?"
"Zim,"… "Tabitha," Both Zim and I spoke at the same time. "Go for Zim, Jax, out of all of us he needs to be free right now. Also, Zim as soon as Jax frees you try contacting Cari."
"Do you honestly think I wasn't already going to do that?" Zim growled as Jax scurried over to his side and started burning through his restraints.
A grin curved along my lips when I saw Zim's ruby eyes glowing in the darkness, he was depressed, that was obvious but I could still see determination glowing off his face. His eyes met mine and we slightly nodded towards each other as Jax broke through Zim's first chain.
"I lost her once and I refuse to lose her again." He mouthed towards me as he motioned for Jax to back off and let his burned hands rest for a moment.
"I know," I mouthed back as pride welled up in my chest, that and worry. I still had no idea what's so ever as to where the hell we were.
Zim suddenly spun around to his other chained arm and pulled it as hard as possible with both hands. I heard the metal bending and snapping until Zim grunted and stumbled backwards, free from his bindings. "That's how we did it back in invader training," He gloated, you know, even though there was still a giant chain handing off his wrist now…
"Yeah, that's great, that's great. Now how about doing something more useful then gloating by, oh I don't know, UNDOING MY CHAINS!" I snapped angrily at him.
He pulled out his communicator and typed in Cari's number before putting it away moments later with a huff.
"Yeah maybe in a little while." He said back through a smirk. Little bitch just loves to mess with me.
Slowly and cautiously, Jax slunk over towards where I was to help break through my bindings. That's when I got to see him fully and all I've got to say was my jaw dropped. This kid, this 200 year old kid…was, stunning!
I've never really found anyone attractive before but, Jax, well…I was in shock. He was very muscular for his age, and not too muscular but not stringy either. His eyes were two different colors that fit perfectly for his strong, dare I say handsome, features. One of his eyes was a deep, mysterious blue while the other eye was purely black with almost grey pupils. Jax's body was thin but not a twig of a person and his shirt top was slightly split at the very top going down slightly, to show off his muscular looking chest. This guy could be to drool over.
He gave me a curious look making me tear my eyes away from him trying to keep a blush from rising. "Tabitha, what are you doing, you idiot. You are free you know?" Zim teased seeing me all undone like this.
"Oh shut up, I was just thinking!" I spat back at him and stood up quickly.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Jax shouted as I stood up. Bad idea. I was jerked back down by one chain still biting into my arm.
Angry that I had been tricked so easily I looked over at Zim, "ZIIIMMMMMM!" I screeched and lunged forwards to try and scratch his eyes out.
Zim, finding this funny, started laughing in a deeper voice. It actually sounded good, wow it has been a long time since I've really seen this man. Well anyways, he started laughing loudly and took just one step backwards. Yeah, that one step was just out of my reach; literally, I was RIGHT there and almost skimming his shirt but NOOOOO, fate just had to mess with me today didn't it!
"What are you going to do tab? Huh? You can't get me!" He chanted as he laughed hysterically.
"Undo this chain right now!" I hissed at Jax with murder pooling in my eyes.
Jax flinched at my crazy look and quickly did what I demanded, even if it burned his hand to the point of him having to shake it off quickly and bite back a scream of pain.
In the exact moment that my chains snapped completely, Zim's face fell into a look of pure and utter horror. "Eep." He whimpered out. He looked at me slowly and I just cracked my knuckles. "Aw come on, tab, I was kidding…You know that right…?"
"I AM GOING TO DESTROY YOU!" I screamed in sheer rage. As soon as he heard the word 'destroy,' he was screaming and running away from me. I chased after him in circles, seeing as the lab was just one big circle shape.
Narrator's POV.
"Guys…" Jax said and lifted a finger up to continue speaking as Tabitha and Zim continued to chase/run away from each other. His antenna dropped onto his head in irritation seeing as the other two were still shouting curses at each other and running in a circle.
"Guys…" Jax tried again. This time they both heard him but dismissed it either way. Tabitha wanted Zim dead and well…Zim was running for his life.
"GUYS!" He shouted for the last time. The whole ordeal was getting tiring, even just to watch it…
Jax jumped in the way of the two and braced himself as Tabitha ran straight into him. To everyone's horror she tripped on him and started falling over only to be caught by Jax himself. She looked up at him with wide eyes as he did the same only he was looking down.
"Sorry," He whispered as his eyes raked her soft features.
"I-I-Its ok…Really." She said back as a blush crept across her features. Jax stood her up on her face and looked away blushing as Zim panted in a nearby corner to catch his breath.
"Holy Irk, Tabitha…," Zim gasped as he crouched down and gasped in some air.
"You mess with a bull, you're gonna get the horns," She shot back at him.
"I'm glad to see you too," Zim said with a glare over his shoulder.
"Likewise; do you have any idea how we got here?" She asked taking in a few deep breaths of her own.
"Not a clue, I just remember focusing on Cari and her worried expression before passing out." He responded and looked at the ground. There was an awkward silence after that between the three of them.
Jax didn't know who Cari was personally but he felt like it was a very sensitive spot for the both of them. He glanced over at Tabitha to see her staring at Zim, kind of like she didn't know what to say to him. He didn't know why but he wanted to talk to her again, she was very assertive and well, he kind of liked that.
Zim on the other hand continued to stare at the ground and hold his sore arm gingerly. His thoughts were all on Cari and he felt like he wanted to break down and cry right there but he couldn't, not in front of Tabitha and certainly not in front of the new kid.
"I'm sorry Zim," Tabitha said after a few more moments of silence. She knew that Zim's attempts to contact his love a few minutes ago had been futile and she could only imagine how horrible that was making him feel on the inside.
Zim slightly looked up upon hearing those words only to get randomly hugged by Tabitha. "We'll get her back again, I promise." She mumbled so only he could hear it. Zim stood there for a moment before swallowing his pride and hugging her back tightly.
"Ok, I don't mean to be rude by interrupting, but you two are the weirdest people I have EVER met. First you jokingly insult each other, then Zim pisses Tabitha off and you hate each other and now you two are at the break point of crying and hugging out some problem!" Jax interrupted with a short face palm.
"Never underestimate the bond between loss and friendship." Tabitha responded as she continued to hug Zim.
Zim clenched his eyes and teeth shut as his throat tightened up, "I promise, Zim. Now come on, shape up…we've got a newbie on our hands now, you don't want to be looking like a wuss the first day you meet him." Tab whispered hoarsely as she felt Zim's grip tighten on her.
"Speak for yourself," He mumbled back and pulled away from her to 'rub' his watery eyes.
"There you go, and shut your trap, I'm a girl so I have a right to show emotion," Tabitha encouraged through a comforting smile.
"What and I don't?"
"It's up to you to decide, Zim." She joked and motioned to, Jax, whom was still awkwardly standing on the other side of the room. Zim nodded at her in understanding while he once again went up to rub his sore arm.
"So, Jax, how are you tied in to all of this?" Zim asked after clearing his throat.
"Hell if I know, I've never made a single enemy in my life and suddenly I'm being kidnapped and injected with strange things," Jax answered back hysterically, "I'm just a pilot trainee! I've never done anything to anyone to deserve this!"
"Slow down there tiger, we're not accusing you of anything, we just need to know your back story so we can try and tie you into all of this to see why you're being targeted." Zim said and put his hands up to further accentuate that he wasn't accusing Jax of anything.
Jax took a couple of deep breaths before smoothing out his ruffled antenna and calmly making eye contact with Zim. Zim's eyes chilled him down to the bone with the amount of ferocity in them but behind all the assertiveness, there was sincerity to them and tons of emotion.
"Ok, well…I'm a trainee at the piloting academy or the PTAFTS," Jax started.
"The who da what?" Zim butt in. (A/N: Oh I love my amazing hilariousness, and I love the fact how Zim's saying it even more. I can imagine him saying that LOL)
"The Pilot Training Academy for Tallest Soldiers," Jax answered him slowly, "As I was saying, I'm a trainee at the academy and I was about to graduate this year from it but that's obviously not going to happen now. When I was younger, about 189, I took a huge interest in piloting and started heading towards that career. I was put through years of training until I could finally get into the school and that's pretty much all you need to know about me at this point."
"What kind of training?" Tabitha asked suspiciously.
"Pretty much military training, I practiced flying and went through many battle simulations with my comrades before graduating the training part of the learning. I think I was put through that just in case my ship was to ever crash into foreign territory with hostiles in it." He answered back honestly.
Tabitha nodded getting lost deep in her own thoughts as Zim looked Jax over carefully. "How old did you say you were?"
"200," Jax answered and stood up straight and tall as Zim eyed him up and down.
"Well I must admit, you seem to be in very good health and fitness. Have you been through combat training?"
"Yes, 20 years of it," He responded calmly and snuck at a glance over at Tabitha to see what her reaction was to all of this.
She seemed to be interested in his backstory but she was trying her best to hide it. You could tell by the way she kept sneaking glances over at him and how her antenna kept perking up to tune into the conversation.
"When was the last time your PAK was updated?" Zim continued to quiz the poor kid.
"Zim, don't you think that's unnecessary?" Tabitha asked before Jax could answer.
"I'd like to know everything there is to know about this kid, if he loses his life trying to escape this hell hole I'm going to need information to tell his close family and friends." Zim told her back, gently.
"What!? We're not letting this kid die!" Tabitha shouted immediately afterwards. Both men gave her inquisitive looks as her eyes grew wide, realizing what she had just shouted, "I mean…that'd be more blood on our hands then we need, Zim, we have enough already as it is."
"Ok, I can understand that," Zim shrugged and glanced over at Jax to see him starting at Tabitha. He then looked over to Tabitha to see her trying her hardest to not make eye contact with him. He even could've sworn she was blushing.
"No…Freaking…Way," Zim accidentally said out loud with a huge smirk, making both of them jump and look away from each other, trying to hide obvious blushes.
A/N: I thought that'd be a good place to end it =), so what do you think of Jax? Please review and tell me and here's a bargain for all my lovely readers out there. If I can get up to 15-20 reviews in the next two days and i repeat TWO DAYS, I will update on Sunday and start asking again for your OC's that won't be used until WAAAYYYYYY later in the book and possibly not until the second book =D Sorry if that dissapoints anyone =(
So anyways, please enjoy, R&R and rack those reviews up for another update this weekend!
~Badass Brady =)
