Chapter 10

Well, fudge. I tried to make the May update. I really tried! Sorry for being a day late and a dollar short

*punches herself*

Anyway, here it is

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Elizabeth drifted in and out of conscious for what seemed like forever. Her sleep was peaceful, for the most part, but her brief visits to the waking world were a confusing disjointed mess. Often, only a single sound or sensation would register before exhaustion sent her spiraling back into the blackness. Someone fussing with her clothes. Someone carrying her. Cool water sliding down her throat. The howling of a storm. The taste of chocolate. Someone weeping softly. Gentle hands stroking her hair.

It was a dream of Charlie that finally jolted her back to full consciousness. She was exploring the dark hallways of the Mala'kak ship when he came out of the darkness of an adjoining corridor. She cried out his name, but Charlie only looked at her blankly, as if he'd never seen her before. When he opened his mouth to speak to her, no sound came out. Desperate, she tried to run toward him, but her feet would not move. She cried out to him again…

…and awoke with a start to find herself lying on the couch in the escape pod with the golden light of early afternoon spilling in around her. She was covered up by a blanket, and was dressed oddly in a bathrobe and a pair of blue jeans. On the table across from her were two empty water bottles, a full one, and two candy bar wrappers. Her cross necklace lay on the table beside them.

She sat up gingerly, but to her surprise, there was no pain in her abdomen from the movement. Remembering the healing goo she'd used back on the ship, she unzipped her robe enough to get a look at her belly and was greeted with the sight of smooth, unmarred skin. It was as if her abdominal wound had never existed. She touched the spot where it had been, gently pressing her fingers into the flesh, but didn't feel even a twinge of discomfort. Which was probably to be expected, since she'd seen how quickly it had closed Olunnhar's mortal wound back on the ship, but that didn't make it any less amazing.

She got up off the couch slowly and carefully, as if expecting the pain to suddenly return, but the act was as easy as sitting up had been. Instead, it was her legs that gave way, buckling as she was seized by a sudden weakness, and she had grab the table to keep from falling over. The empty water bottle fell over with a clatter and one of the candy bar wrappers slid onto the floor. As she steadied herself, she wondered if Olunnhar had fed them to her while he was taking care of her. Almost certainly…after he'd brought her back and taken her space suit off and dressed her in this odd combination of clothing. That last image actually made her laugh, despite the fact that she should probably be blushing instead. She pictured him rummaging through Vickers's clothes, trying to figure out what went with what, until finally giving up and just grabbing anything.

Olunnhar… She looked around hesitantly, wondering where he was. He couldn't be far…he'd been taking care of her while she was out, after all. Most likely he was still in the escape pod somewhere. Doing what, she didn't know. Avoiding her, perhaps?

She sighed, looking down at the necklace that had triggered the whole mess. After what Olunnhar had done back on the ship…well, she understood if it was hard for him to face her right now. Truthfully, she was nervous about facing him herself, but there was nothing to be done for it. They couldn't just go around avoiding one another. She needed to find him and break the ice so the two of them could figure out where to go from there.

She sighed again. As if there was any other way to go, besides forcing herself to forgive him. If he was sorry, anyway. She remembered the look in his eyes after she'd cried over him as he lay wounded, his decision to send her to fetch the healing goo when he clearly wanted to die, the way he'd nursed her while she was out. It was almost certain that he was sorry, or at least, that he still cared about her. And, although it felt wrong to her, she realized she really did want to forgive him Not necessarily out of any charitable feelings-no, what he'd so viciously done in anger was not something that was easily forgivable. Rather, she simply didn't want to be angry with him. She was too lonely, too afraid. She hated the idea of a rift between them almost as much as she hated the idea of losing him altogether. And there was no way to fix such a rift besides forcing herself to get over it. Not in this situation, anyway. The real issues of remorse and forgiveness were lost amid the language barrier. It simply couldn't be addressed, no matter how much it needed to be. No, once again, practicality won out. Forgive him or be alone. It was that simple.

And it was time to get going. She glanced back down at her necklace and considered putting it on, but decided to leave it where it was for now. She didn't want to make her reunion with Olunnhar any more difficult than it needed to be.

She checked the storage room first, since that was where he'd hidden the last time he'd been upset, but it was empty. That just left the infirmary, so Elizabeth turned and retraced her steps until she was standing in front of the open doorway. Although the squid-monster and her twisted "child" were both gone, the floor and walls in front of the door were still covered in dried blood, and there was a faint smell of decay in the air. She could hear movement inside the room, and her stomach tightened in apprehension. Knowing she needed to get it over with if they were ever going to move past this, Elizabeth gathered her courage and stepped inside.

Olunnhar stood with his back to her as he leaned over a counter and inspected a bunch of small vials and several shiny surgical instruments. Elizabeth had no idea what he could possibly be looking for...let alone how he was going to find it. Unless he was just examining humanity's various gadgets and gizmos and mysterious potions to pass the time. There wasn't much else to do in here, after all.

She cleared her throat hesitantly and he turned around with a start. His face brightened instantly when he saw her and he started forward with a shout of her name. She wasn't sure if it was the look on her face or simply his own guilt that stopped him in his tracks, but whatever the reason, he only made it about halfway to her before he stopped, his delighted greeting forgotten. He hesitated and Elizabeth saw guilt, real guilt in his eyes as he dropped them from her to focus on the floor. "Leezabet…" he said, much more hesitantly than before.

"Olunnhar…" she said back, dropping her own eyes to study the speckled pattern on the floor tiles. If it was a pattern and not simply a bunch of dried blood droplets. Maybe she should have worn shoes.

"Leezabet?" Olunnhar said once more, and she looked up to see he had crossed the distance between them and was looming over her. He started speaking to her, his words booming guttural gibberish, his eyes wide and desperate. His hands were out in front of him making frantic gestures and she backed away from him instinctively, not wanting to get caught by an accidental backhand.

He responded by stepping toward her, closing the distance between them again. She tried to move away again, and he seized her shoulders roughly and pulled her toward him with enough force to make her head snap backwards.

She screamed, suddenly sure she'd angered him once again. He'd probably been hoping for her quick forgiveness and her silence had infuriated him. She twisted in his grip, still screaming, and felt his hands tighten their grip painfully. She screamed again and kicked wildly, despite knowing that there no way to break free, that this time, she wasn't going to be lucky enough to escape.

Then the hands had released her. Her scrabbling feet slipped on the tile floor beneath her and she fell over backwards onto her rump. Olunnhar roared out something and started toward her, and she twisted to her feet and threw herself toward the door so hard she overbalanced and went down onto her hands and knees. For a moment she was scrabbling on all fours and then she had regained her footing and was tearing out of the room and into the hall, running hunched over with her hands over her belly, a purely instinctive gesture on her part, since there was still no pain in her old wound.

She heard him shout after her and she charged back into the living area and closed the door behind her. Immediately she ran to the couches and started pushing one of them toward the door. She had to make a barricade. She wasn't sure a few pieces of furniture would do much good against a creature who had once pulled open the outer metal doors of the escape pod using his bare hands, but perhaps it would slow him down enough for her to…

To what? Run? There was nowhere to go. Hide? He'd find her. Fight? The very idea was laughable. The only possible weapons in here were kitchen utensils.

Still, a fighting chance was better than no chance at all. She could find the biggest knife in the kitchen area, hide in a cabinet and then, when he found her and leaned over to pull her out, try to plunge the knife into him. Aim for his neck, maybe. It was the only vulnerable spot on his body that wasn't completely protected by his suit, and, if she positioned the knife right, would be quickly fatal if stabbed. She was sure Mala'kak died just as easily as humans when their carotid arteries were cut.

The thought made her want to cry. Here she was, ready to kill him again to save her own life, and yet, what would that leave her with? She had already gone through this…and had decided that living with a dangerous Engineer was better than being alone. If the two of them really couldn't coexist, why not just let him kill her? It was better than the alternative.

She slumped down onto the couch in defeat. Let him come, then. He'd either kill her or they'd find a way to work it out. Either way was better than being alone.

But he didn't come after her. The hallway outside the door remained silent. Was he trying to give himself time to cool down? Was he too upset to face her? Or was he still furious with her? If he was furious, anyway. Maybe he hadn't even been trying…

Her heart sank as she finally allowed herself to consider the possibility. He'd only shaken her, after all, and while it had been a bit rough…well, he was larger than her. She'd seen how he had to make a deliberate effort to be gentle with her in the past, simply due to the size difference. If something distracted him, like trying t make a desperate apology to a friend who didn't understand him and looked to be ignoring him, wouldn't it make sense that he might forget his own strength? Maybe he'd only been trying to get her attention and she'd gone into hysterics for nothing.

Still…it was hard to blame herself for her reaction. After all, he had given her good reason to be fearful. Unbidden, her thoughts returned to the control room in that dark ship, recalled the pure hatred in his eyes, the force of his powerful hands at her throat, the fury with which he'd launched her across the room. All of it both terrifying and completely unexpected. His mood had changed from open affection to murderous anger in a flash, and what was worse, she still didn't know what had caused the instant mood swing. Something about her cross necklace, yes, but what, exactly? And did it even matter? Like with Weyland and the others, he hadn't even paused to consider if maybe there was a misunderstanding. He just…tried to kill her because she'd inadvertently offended him somehow.

Her eyes fell on the water bottles and candy wrappers on the table beside her. He'd tried to kill her, yes…and then he'd carried her back here and nursed her back to health, staying by her side for who knew how long. He was clearly not a black-hearted monster, but she still had trouble reconciling these two sides of him.

Of course, she did know that he wasn't in his right mind right now. He'd witnessed his entire squad being wiped out, been stuck in Hypersleep for thousands of years, had his ship crash, and found out that every other member of his race was probably dead. Anyone would be unhinged by such events. Anyone might be prone to lashing out, to snapping, to completely losing their mind if pushed even one millimeter further. While it didn't excuse what he did, she did understand his mindset a bit more. And he also clearly still cared for her. It was clear he was terribly sorry.

But, of course, none of that made him any less dangerous to her.

Especially without her knowing what she'd done to set him off…and how she could avoid it in the future. Sure, she'd make certain to keep the cross necklace out of his sight. But surely a cross wasn't the only thing his people found offensive. What if she was talking and said a word that sounded a little like some swearword in Olunnhar's language? Would that send him over the edge? How about a wrong hand gesture? A pause when he thought she should speak? Showing sadness where he thought there should be anger? She was going to have to live in paranoia of setting him off. It would be next to impossible, but there was no other choice. She didn't want him to hurt her again, no matter how much she understood his mindset or how sorry he was afterward.

She slammed her fist down on the couch cushion in frustration. So much could be fixed if they could only communicate with one another! And now the possibility was even more out of reach than before. David was broken and she didn't have the slightest clue how to fix him. And anyway he was still back on Olunnhar's ship, and going back there was impossible. Olunnhar wouldn't take her, and she dared not go alone again, not with hundreds of giant space centipedes roaming the halls, looking for an easy meal.

It was all so hopeless. Just yesterday (or was it yesterday? She no idea how much time had passed while she'd been out) she and Olunnhar were bonding over scrambled eggs and drawing pictures on notepaper. Now she was afraid of him, he couldn't face her, and she saw no way to fix things. They had gone completely back to Square One, and it looked like they were going to be stuck there.

She wished Charlie were with her. Or Janek, or Ford, or…heck, even Vickers would do. Anyone she could talk to. Anyone to ease the loneliness. She never thought she could be truly lonely in another person's presence but she was.

She'd have to try to talk to him again, she finally decided. One of them had to re-break the ice, and it looked like it wasn't going to be him. She would find him and try to explain how frightened she was, and that she hadn't meant to overreact. Maybe he would understand. Maybe they could still find a way to work it out. She just needed to give herself a little more time to find her courage, and then she would go…

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When she opened her eyes, pitch blackness surrounded her. She sat up with a start, thinking for a moment she was back in the darkness of Olunnhar's ship, but when her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw she was still in the escape pod, slumped against the arm of the couch. Relief was instantly replaced by irritation at herself for falling asleep when she'd meant to go talk to Olunnhar. She'd kept him waiting far longer than she'd intended to, and who knew what he had made of that.

Shaking her head to clear the sleep from it, she got to her feet and turned on the overhead lights. Blinking against the sudden brightness, she scanned the room for Olunnhar, but wasn't really surprised when he wasn't there. He was probably sill sleeping in the infirmary, and she felt a touch of pity for him. That certainly couldn't be comfortable, lacking a bed or even a blanket to shield him from the cold tiled floor. She could at least go get him and wake him (carefully, of course) and let him come back into the living area and sleep on the other couch. They could try and work the rest out in the morning.

She stepped out into the hall, unnerved by the heavy silence around her, and she began to feel a touch of misgiving. She did her best to ignore it, determined not to talk herself out of this, and walked down the short hallway to the infirmary.

To her surprise, the lights were still on inside, but they did not reveal Olunnhar pacing the floor or glaring at the wall or looking wistfully out the window. They didn't reveal him curled up and shivering in a corner either. He wasn't there.

Trying not to panic, Elizabeth turned and ran down the hall to the storage room. Maybe he'd decided to sleep in there instead. It was certainly cleaner, and there was plenty of food available if he wanted a midnight snack.

But the door opened to reveal an empty room, and a quick pan of the rows of shelves confirmed it. Olunnhar was gone.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, although she was already thinking the worst. He'd left. He'd abandoned her here alone because he thought she hated him.

No. No, he wouldn't do that. He knows I need him and he still cares about me. No matter how bad thing got, she couldn't believe he'd just walk away like that and leave her utterly alone.

But then, until recently, she couldn't believe he'd suddenly seize her without warning and throw her across a room, either.

She finally had to accept that she barely knew him, barely understood him, and had no idea how he would react to any particular situation. He was an alien, and she could neither understand nor trust-

A whoosh and a clunk from out in the hallway stopped her cold. It was the sound of the airlock opening. She was already tearing from the room and down the hall when the second set of identical noises marked the opening of the inner airlock door. She skidded to a halt in front of the doorway, just as Olunnhar, clad in his dark, elephant-helmeted space suit, emerged from it. He had what looked like a large, hard-bodied duffel bag hooked over one arm and was lugging something large and blue over his other shoulder. He almost jumped in surprise when he saw her in front of him.

"Leezabet!" he cried, and although his voice was muffled by the helmet, there was no mistaking the pleasant surprise in it. He was glad to see her.

The smile bloomed on her face before she could stop it. "Olunnhar…" she said, almost tenderly. "What were you doing on there?"

The pointlessness of the question didn't matter, because as he stepped inside and she got a closer look at what he had over his shoulder, she had her answer.

It was a body. A headless body, with plugged tubing and twisted wires protruding from the hole where its neck had been. An android's body.

David.

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So even though it's June now, this still counts as May's update, so there will be another chapter added at the end of the month.

Also, the spell checker keeps suggesting I replace "Leezabet" with "Elizabeth. " It's kinda adorable :P