Team 10
Red was lying on the hospital bed. Liz hovered near him and held his hand. "Can't you take it out?" said Liz "I cannot every time I try to even touch it, it moves closer to his heart" said Abe "the kid sure chose the wrong time to get kidnapped" said red "try to take it easy, we'll find the prince and make him take it out of you" said Liz "won't we Abe" said Liz "without that last piece the princes' army is useless" said Kraus
"Besides we've got to rescue the kid," said red he started to sit up and Liz started to panic. "You are in no condition to rescue anyone agent hell boy" said Kraus "I don't care what I'm in the condition to do I'm not leaving that kid in his hands any longer than necessary" said Hb he stood up with a growl.
"Why do you think I do this dear lady?" said Nuada. Aeryn shook her head sideways "I don't know everything you do seems to contradict itself," said Aeryn. he smiled at her "I only wish for your trust my lady" said Nuada "why?" she asked and instead of waiting for an answer sought one herself, in his head. Nuada jolted she had slipped past his defenses with an ease that was disturbing. He started to try and deflect her path inside his head but she would have none of it. "My lady?" he gasped. She gentled her touch some but kept going.
She invaded everything, every thought every feeling he had ever had. Then she quickly pulled back when she found a feeling she hadn't expected. "If you wished to know my feelings lady I would have gladly shared them" he said softly. She looked down at him his motives suddenly made perfect sense to her. She was in shock, he had fallen for her. She shook her head to try and clear it. She also knew he had no intention of letting her go home. In fact he intended to contact her father. Though he fought her when she wished to find out why. The idea of seeing that man sickened her and Nuada's would be betrayal hurt for some reason.
He closed his eyes he no longer had any secrets from her, he had no other choice but to trust her. He looked down and waited for her stroke to fall. Sure his thoughts about her would offend her. Part of her pitied him; he was fighting for his people all alone. His own father had decreed his death for the sake of maintaining a treaty the humans knew nothing about. She couldn't do it. Revenge wouldn't bring her mother back to her.
She put a finger under his chin and raised his face. She held the lance out to him "I would sooner destroy a stained glass window than take your life" she said softly. She turned and walked away from him "goodnight Nuada" said Aeryn "goodnight healer" he whispered "my name is Aeryn please use it" said Aeryn. He smiled at her and watched her leave. He kneeled there for some time trying to reconcile what she had said with his own feelings. She hadn't acted offended but with her it was hard to tell. Had she rejected him? He wasn't certain. The human in her made her impossible to predict
One thing was for certain he would never be able to concentrate on his exercises now. He stood up. "A stained glass window " he said softly. did that mean she thought he was beautiful? He smiled and put his weapon in a carrying position. Then he walked back up stairs. She was already back in the bed. He gazed down at her for a moment.
She shifted restlessly. He smiled and set his lance on the floor next to him before sliding into bed beside her. She shifted again and laid her hand on his chest. He turned his head to look at her, her eyes were open and she was staring at him. "My lady?" he said gently. She slid her hand across his chest in what was most definitely a caress.
Her hand went lower when he failed to check its movement. He swallowed nervously. "Aeryn?" he said gently. She froze had she read him wrong? Was she doing this wrong? Would he fall for this or was she about to get in over her head? "Yes Nuada" she answered, "unless you wish to do more than sleep beside me I suggest you stop," he said gently. She paused and turned her head sideways to gaze up at his face. "Really so I suppose I shouldn't do this?" she said teasingly. He smiled down at her. He closed his eyes and leaned back enjoying the pleasant sensation of her lips on his skin. She knew she was affecting him because his breathing changed.
She kissed his chest and continued to do so going progressively lower as she did so. He opened his eyes when she was just above his pant line. He caught her under her arms and lifted her up. So he could kiss her lips, her face and her throat. He closed his mouth on hers and just kept kissing her. He snaked an arm around her and pulled her closer. His other hand was lifting her gown up as he kissed her. He pulled back reluctantly to look in her eyes. She was breathing heavily and her heart was racing. "Are you sure you wish this dear lady?" he whispered, "Yes, don't you?" said Aeryn. "I have from the first moment I laid eyes on you" he said gently. He caressed the hair away from her face.
She lifted herself up some so she could look him in the eye "even when I hated you?" said Aeryn. He nodded "it hurt me more than you will ever know, but yes you had me even then" he said. She kissed him gently on his cheek "I'm sorry" she said softly "do not be, you had the right" said Nuada. "That wasn't what I was apologizing for." said Aeryn. Her hand rested on his chest. She looked at him sadly and he wondered what could cause her such heartbreak? "Than what?" said Nuada "this" she responded and slammed as much power into him as she could. His nerves flared and his muscles suddenly contracted. He was dizzy and he couldn't catch his breath, what was she doing to him? His limbs went numb.
Then he passed out with a shocked look on his face. "I'm sorry I can't stay with you forgive me please" she said gently she kissed his forehead. She climbed out of bed and walked over to his jacket pocket and dug for the keys to Max's cage. She found them and quickly unlocked it. "C'mon Max we're leaving" said Aeryn. Max jumped out of the cage and landed on the desk. Aeryn grabbed Nuada's shirt and threw it over her nightgown. It came to her knees but it covered where she needed it to. She grabbed one of his shorter knives and headed for the door. Using her scarf as a belt she strapped it to her side.
As much as she wanted so much to let him make love to her, she dare not let him get that close. She was scared by the amount of emotion he felt for her and felt absurdly guilty for enjoying the moment while Liz's man fought for his life. The fact she was beginning to respond to him also scared her. What would've her mother thought about her falling for her murderer.
She scooped Max up and set him on her shoulder. She glanced back at Nuada and sighed in regret then took off at a run. She exited at the ground floor and realized she had been in an abandoned factory of some sort. She kept going through the gates. There were no vehicles nearby except junked ones. She followed the road that led to the front gates. It led out to a small two-lane stretch of highway.
She walked until she came to an abandoned gas station. Luckily the pay phone still worked. Unfortunately she didn't know the centers number so she dialed her cell number instead. Max flew around the phone booth watching the darkness warily. Aeryn was hoping someone on the other end would answer it. She let it ring until the voice mail picked up then dialed the number again; it rang five more times before someone finally picked it up. "Tom?" she asked thinking she recognized his voice. "Ms Morgan?" said Tom in shock
"Oh thank god I got away from him can you send someone to pick me up?" said Aeryn "yeah sure honey where are you?" said Tom. Aeryn gave him the highway numbers and the name of the gas station, or what she could read of it. "I'm sending a car to get you try to stay out of sight until it gets there ok" said Tom. Liz walked in as he hung up "who was that?" said Liz "that was our healer apparently she got away from the prince" said Tom. He walked out the door and headed for the garage. "Where are you going?" said Liz "I thought I'd pick her up myself" said Tom
"You know give the kid someone she knows" said Tom "be careful Tom the prince may be tracking her" said Liz "that's why I'm taking her car, its a lot faster" said Tom "besides I've always wanted to drive one" said Tom. He grabbed the girls keys off the hook in the key box and hit the unlock button on the key chain. He patted his gun at his side in reassurance. Then climbed inside and fired up the engine. It purred to life and he murmured "beautiful" before he released the emergency brake and shifted it into drive.
He drove the highway at least twenty miles over the speed limit. Thanking his lucky stars that the car now sported government plates. He found the gas station she mentioned and slowed down pulling into the abandoned pump area. Aeryn must have seen him coming because she ran across the parking lot and slid into the passenger seat. "Drive fast I don't know how long he will be out" said Aeryn. Tom nodded and floored it flinging rocks behind him as he peeled out of the gas station.
Nuada got there just in time to see their headlights disappear into the darkness. He screamed her name and punched a sizeable hole in a tree. "I will get you back," he promised the darkness. He collapsed beside the tree and didn't bother to check his tears. "Aeryn" he whispered her name as if asking her why.
Nuada ached all over that was the first thought he had in the factory. Then he opened his eyes and realized she had tricked him. He sat up with a growl that startled his sister awake. "What is it what happened?" said Nuala "she's gone, she tricked me," he hissed in anger. He grabbed his lance and went to reach for his short sword. It was gone. "Well at least she was smart enough to arm herself," he muttered. He also noticed that his shirt was also missing. He hissed in frustration and pulled on his boots. She couldn't have gotten far barefoot in the dark without any kind of lantern. "Stay here" he ordered "please don't hurt her brother" said Nuala he didn't bother to answer her he was already heading towards the door.