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Chapter Twenty-One: Payback

They went back to the mess hall to discuss the information that the man had sent to the Android. A freighter, ISS Far Horizon, had suffered damage and exploded thus killing the crew and leaving it free for looting. Their 'handler' hadn't sent them a lot of information and even the Android seemed suspicious. Three even went so far as to call the guy a scumbag and surprised everyone else to the point of silence.

"What?" He shrugged. "I'm not allowed to have standards."

One just shook his head. "The thing I don't get is why us? Why not hire some licensed salvage operation to do the job?"

"If I had to guess, there's something illegal on that ship," Two hypothesized. "Stolen goods, drugs, who knows?"

"Something valuable?" Three seemed almost giddy at the prospect now.

"Well, we have worked with him before," Two still seemed hesitant.

"We need him." Four spoke up unexpectedly. "Without our memories, we have no other connections. We're completely on our own. Am I wrong?"

Everyone seemed to think about it for a minute, but Two took the lead again. "We're nine hours out from the freighter's last known position, so everyone get some sleep."

The group broke off from each other, most heading to the rooms, but Seven headed to the training room and Four followed her. She'd been avoiding a sparring session since she'd busted his lip, knowing that now she wouldn't have the advantage of whatever foul sentience had crept to the forefront of her mind that day on the bridge. But her muscles were aching to be used on something other than basic exercises in her room. And she knew Four was going to use the opportunity to make her regret every scrape and bruise she'd given him.

Seven immediately went for her staff against the wall, but Four snapped it out of her hands. "No, you're going to use these."

She barely caught the pair of katana he tossed at her and frowned. "I don't like blades, Four."

"I didn't ask." And then he was whipping the staff at her head.

Seven dropped to the floor, grasping the hilts of the swords and snapped them out of their sheaths as she retaliated with a hesitant crisscrossing upwards counter attack. The resounding clang of metal hitting metal didn't even have time to fade as he moved from blocking her counter attack to swinging the staff out around his body and lunging at her midsection, only to slap away the blades as she blocked and make another attempt at her head. This time as the staff came down at her head she only used one blade to block, the other scoring a slash at his fore arm as she ducked under and danced around to his side. He looked at his arm for a moment and up at her in surprise.

"I said I don't like blade," she snapped up the katana up to eye level so he could see the thin trickle of blood on that dangerous edge. "I never said I didn't know how to use them."

His lips curled into a terrifying grin and his eyes narrowed as he flew into a dizzying assault with the staff. She did her best to block and strike, now making a point to use the flat of the blade so as not to bring their match to a premature end. They whirled around each other for nearly an hour. Seven easily had more bruises and was certain she had at least one cracked rib. But all of that was balanced by the mosaic of welts and small cuts Four sported along his arms, back, front, and one small cut just above that damn eyebrow he kept raising at her. Her arms were beginning to shake and she didn't know how much longer she could hold up against his onslaught. Most of his attacks were clever or graceful, but anytime he scored a minor hit he followed it up with powerful strike to any exposed body part he could. Even when she managed to block the smack of the staff against the blades was enough to send a tingling numbness up her arms.

"Ready to give up?" he asked her as she went down to one knee hard enough to make her cry out.

Seven glared at him and stood shakily. "You wish."

She tried to sweep the blades in at him from opposite directions, but he used the staff to slide down through the middle of the strike, trapping her arms across each other as he snapped an elbow into her face. She stumbled back, trying to ignore her freshly bust lip, and set up for another strike, but the staff whipped around again and smacked one sword out of her hand. A strike to her stomach sent her crashing back into the wall and only the tip of the staff at her throat kept her on her feet. He held the staff at the far end but with enough stability that she'd scrape up her neck trying to slip away from the end that pegged her. She glared at him, but released the other katana, letting it drop noisily to the floor. He began to pull the staff away but she snatched the closest end with her free hand. She pulled with all that she had left towards the wall where she'd been as she spun under the staff and knocked him off his feet with a whirling leg lashing out at his knees. He crashed to the ground at almost the same time she collapsed to the floor from exhaustion.

After a few minutes, she tried to sit herself up, but her body was too sore so instead she just looked over at him, still on the floor almost even with her, and asked. "Ready to give up?"

He frowned at her for a minute before laughing, his own body nearly shaking from the effort. "Only if you think you can pull that last move off again."

She could feel her body trembling for reasons aside from pain and overly-expended energy now. "No, no I think I'll just let you have this one."

He grinned and vaguely gestured at her face. "At least I've paid you back for my lip."

"And I got you back for my eyebrow," she tried to laugh too, but it only ended in coughing.

He was struggling to sit up when the Android appeared in the door. "Oh my. Do you require any assistance, Lucky? Four?"

"Lucky?" Seven growled up at the machine.

"Yes," she replied happily. "I was informed by Six that it would be your new designation as per superstitious value given by your previous numerical reference."

Four just grinned down at her, barely on his knees while she was still on the floor, but Seven just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just get me a med kit."

"Of course," the Android smiled. "I will return in a moment."

Four reached out and helped her sit up, but she just glared at his smug face. "Not a word."

"Of course not," he shrugged and somehow managed not to wince when he raised that damn eyebrow. "Lucky."

On pure reflex she whipped a fist out to punch him in the arm, but ended up hurting herself more as the hand she'd used was the one he'd smacked with the staff. Actual tears sprung up in her eyes as she cradled her hand and tried not to cry as Four chuckled deeply at her expense. That grin, just on the edge of a smile, and those dark eyes, suddenly bright with a new freeness that hung about him. He was helping her to her feet when the Android returned with the med kit and he immediately reverted back to his more reserved external persona. Seven was about to get some of the bandages out, but the Android spoke up first.

"You both should get cleaned up," she explained. "Otherwise chances of an infection will increase dramatically if your wounds are allowed to fester overnight despite medical attention."

Four raised that eyebrow, but responded by taking the med kit away from Seven and leading the way back to the rooms. The Android went back to the bridge and Seven did her best to keep up with Four. Now that the adrenaline was fading, it was becoming increasingly difficult to walk or even stay upright. He was a full hallway ahead of her by the time she turned the last corner near the rooms. He leaned against the door, waiting for her to catch up.

"Leave your door unlocked," he said. "I'll be waiting with the med kit after my shower."

"I hope you don't think you're about to get any kind of 'lucky', sir," she frowned, and gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "Because I'm afraid I've already had my fill of dark-eyed stoics for the night."

He shook his head and his lips twitched into a reserved smirk. "Just keep it open."

She wasn't sure what else she could have said so she walked into her room and headed straight for the shower. This time she listened for the sound of the door and heard it open and close again about ten minutes into her shower. She finished quickly, rushing through drying her hair only to leave it a mostly wet wild mass of curls. This time she made sure to dress before she exited the small bathroom. He standing at the end of the bed with his back to her. His bare back. Water still trickling along the grooves of his muscles and minor scratches. Seven felt as though she couldn't breathe and it had nothing to do with her battered ribs.

She was so caught up in the sudden sight that it wasn't until he turned to face her that she even realized he was wearing pants and his shirt was folded on the bed next to the med kit. "Oh hell."

He raised that damned eyebrow at her and she could see that he'd bandaged it and the more severe slices on his arms already. "I was going to leave if you made me wait any longer."

"Not until I get something for my lip," she huffed.

Seven went to the bed to at least grab a bit of antibacterial ointment that her saliva wouldn't dissolve to throw on her lip, but he moved into her path and she found herself unable to take another step as that torso filled her gaze just as his voice seemed to vibrate through her ears. "Not until you do something about this mess you made on my back."

Seven looked up at his face, but those dark eyes seemed more amused than anything. She nodded her consent. He didn't immediately turn around so she twirled her finger around in a gesture to tell him to do so when she realized her voice was slowly slipping away at the prolonged exposure to his naked upper body. His lips twitched and he raised that eyebrow. Slowly, he turned around and she moved to get the med kit only to notice he wasn't done yet. Once he was facing the bed again, Four laid down and stretched out with his head relaxed on his arms. Seven whined a bit before she could stop herself at the sight of him laid out like that. Strong shoulders sloping down into an excellently toned back that curved to form a… pair of legs that were out of this galaxy. She knew what had taken a hold of her now.

"Lust." She choked on the word. "That's what this is."

He shifted a bit so he could see her better over his shoulder, toned muscles gliding under his lightly tanned, wet skin. "What did you say?"

Horrified, Seven just shook her head and crawled across the bed with the med kit. She didn't say another word as he stretched back out. She applied the ointment and spray as quickly as she possibly could with her arms growing ever stiffer from being tense and injured. She was putting the last liquid suture on the last and worst of the cuts when he rolled over to face her more directly.

"That's enough," his dark eyes seemed on the edge of sleep. "Your lip."

She sighed, but handed him the antibacterial ointment and the liquid sutures. "No funny business, please."

She ignored the eyebrow and subsequent mischievousness in his eyes, but she couldn't ignore his hand when he reached out to grip her chin. "Hold still."

She couldn't stop things low in her body from tightening as he brought his face close to hers so he could see the cut better. Her eyes were drawn to his lips as he lightly ran a finger smeared with ointment over her own wounded lips. Her breath hitched, but it wasn't from the stinging application of the liquid suture. Seven felt hungry in was that was more unsettling than his nearness. She was so focused on his lips and how she thought they might feel against hers that she didn't realize she was leaning in towards him until he released her chin and stood up off the bed, leaving her swaying in confusion. He collected the med kit and moved to the door.

"Get some sleep," his eyes gleaming in the shadow of the door. "We're going to have a long day tomorrow, Seven."

She could only nod in the daze her imagination had put her in, but she knew that there was no way she could have imagined the grin on his face as he walked across the hall to his own room. Seven got up and locked the door behind him. When she turned to look back at the bed all she could do was groan helplessly as she remembered him there and the mischief in those dark eyes. As she laid down she felt her hand reach for the shirt he'd left behind and fell asleep with it still gripped in her trembling fingers.

~o~OoO~o~

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