DISCLAIMER: I own nothing and no one from The Zeta Project. I am just a poor college student who also happens to be a rabid Zeta fan and this just happens to be a fanfiction that my mind came up with that I feel like sharing with other fans. I make absolutely NO money from this. It is merely for fun and hopefully the enjoyment of other fans. Please don't sue and fans please enjoy.

Chapter 21: Wake Me Up

"Be careful. Don't move her too much."

"I know sir. I just want to get her out of the snow."

Ro drifted slowly back to consciousness to the sound of voices. She vaguely felt herself being moved gently, but it was strange. Her mind felt fuzzy, confused. She couldn't remember what had happened. It was hard to focus. She knew she was lying on the floor, but she didn't know how she got there and her body… her body felt so heavy. She was so tired. Maybe she should just let herself fall back to sleep…

"Dog don't!"

Ro felt something wet against her cheek, startling the blonde into opening her eyes to find Fluffy's dark concerned eyes looking down at her. Rush was trying to get him to go away, but the dog was quite stubborn. Ro smiled sleepily. "Rush it's okay."

Rush started and glanced down at the girl. "You're awake!" The woman smiled in relief. "Thank goodness. She's up," she called across the room to the others.

"Hey Fluffy." Ro reached up to pet the dogs soft ears. The dog whined softly and pressed his head into her hand.

Rush sat back on her haunches. "Well at least don't seem to have amnesia. Can you move everything? Hands? Feet?"

Ro looked at her, confused. "Yah... Why?"

"No reason," the female said, shaking her head. "Just checking."

The blonde's brow furrowed as she just got more confused about her situation. "What happened?"

"You hit your head when you fell. Do you remember?" Rush said leaning over the girl and tucking a stray strand of blonde hair behind Ro's ear.

"I…" Ro's eyes widened. "Zee!" the teen gasped and tried to sit up.

"Whoa whoa take it easy," Rush said gently, coaxing the girl to lay back with a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "You probably at least have a mild concussion."

"Zee… is Zee okay?" the teen still demanded.

"The synthoid's fine," Rush assured the girl. "He's still recharging, but no ones touched him."

Ro relaxed back, closing her eyes. "Thank you," the girl breathed. "How long-"

"Just a few minutes," the agent said, trying to quickly dispel any of the girl's uncertainties. "Do you think you can sit up, slowly this time?" Rush added as a second thought.

Ro let out a breath and looked up at Rush. "I can try."

"Take it slow," the woman said calmly. "There's no hurry."

Ro gasped sharply when she found herself more or less parallel to the floor. "Oh ow, ow, ow, ow my head. Bad move. Baaaad move." She clutched her head head which had started to pound ruthlessly as if there was someone inside her skull who desperatly wanted out.

"Okay, okay," Rush said softly trying to be reassuring even thought she was very worryed. "Back down."

"No I'm fine," Ro said, grabbing Rush's arm, stopping the woman from laying her back down. "Just give me a second until the room stops spinning." She leaned heavily on Rush's shoulder for a moment. "Okay I'm good," she said sitting a bit straighter.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rush asked concerned.

Ro started to nod, but immediately stopped as a sharp pain lanced through her temple at the motion. "Yah. Good enough."

Rush nodded back. " Do you mind if I get a look?" she asked, motioning to the back of the blonde's head with a hand.

"No go ahead," the girl answered, but was careful not to make the mistake of shaking her head again.

Rush tried to be gently as she parted the bloody hair in the back of the teenager's head, but it still pulled on the wound. Ro bit her lip, trying not to make a sound, but Rush still felt her flinch. "Sorry. I'm trying to be gentle," the woman said in empathy.

"I know," Ro breathed through her teeth. "It's okay. Keep going."

Rush breathed a sigh of relief when she finally found the wound. It was not nearly as bad as the blood had made it seem. Ro had hit the door with a glancing blow and only seemed to have a mild concussion. The door had just been at exactly the right angle it break the skin causing all the blood.

"How is she?" Bennett asked quietly from across the room, now laying down again, but his eyes were glued on Ro. He had been surprised at the sudden rush of protectiveness he had felt for Ro moments before… If only he could have gotten up. The feelings confused the agent slightly, not at their appearance, but at the strength of them. It had almost been overpowering. He had to struggle really hard not to cuss West out and throw something at him (which would have probably have been one of the fire irons), but he also knew that would not have been very constructive and held himself in check. Bennett had no idea where these latent emotions for Rosalie had come from, but then again he supposed the girl had saved his life. His conscious as well as his subconscious felt like he owed her something and he had given his word she and Zeta would be safe under their truce. Bennett had never broken his word before. Not like this. Of course technically he had not broken anything. That had been West, but that was besides the point. Bennett still felt like he had let the girl down. And it wasn't helping that the more he learned about Ro, the more she reminded him of someone he held dear to his heart. Add that on top of that fact that she was young and at the very base of Bennett's being, because of somethings that happened to him long, long ago, he was a protector. He had a desire to help people by keeping them safe and making it so they did not have to face the dark things he faced for them. Really that part of his nature was one of the reasons he had chosen to join the NSA in the first place. He had never thought his choice would lead him to chasing around a teenage girl and her synthoid. It just didn't seen right with kids in the mix.

"It's not as bad as I thought," Rush answered Bennett, bringing him out of his confusing swirl of thoughts. "I saw the blood and…" she shook her head.

Bennett nodded and let out a tense sigh through his teeth, allowing himself to finally elax a bit. "I understand."

Ro was not happy though. "Blood?" she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Aw crap. Zee's going to freak."

Rush smiled, still startled by Ro's genuine feelings for the synthoid. "I'd be more worried about your condition right now Rowan. Can you hold this here?" the woman asked, pressing an absorbent bandage to Ro's wound to help stop any residual bleeding. "I'm going to go get some ice. If we're lucky we'll be able to keep down the swelling."

" 'Kay." The blonde said almost nodding again but catching herself just in time. "I gotta stop doing that," she mumbled to herself.

"Can I get you anything else?" Rush asked as she stood up.

Ro blinked up at her. "Huh? What?... Sorry I was distracted," she added, blushing slightly.

The woman smiled in understanding. It would have been surprising if Ro wasn't distracted in her current condition. They was just lucky she wasn't any worse off. "Do you need anything else?"

Ro thought for a second. "Water… water would be nice."

"Of course." Rush smiled softly and went on her way into the kitchen.

Ro mind was wandering as Rush left the room. She looked around the room from where she sat then saw Fluffy sitting a couple feet away watching her and smiled. "Hey there," she said, reaching her free hand out to him. The dog came over and sniffed her fingers tentatively, knowing instictively she had been and was hurt. He licked them making her smiled widen and she began to scratch his ears. "Good boy." He sneezed, starting a laugh from Ro then lay beside her, protective and wanting to watch over her. Ro continued to pet him as her eyes went back to roaming the room then he eyes lit upon something that was strange. "Why is West cuffed in the corner?"

"To keep him out of trouble," Bennett answered the blonde calmly even though his eyes hardened at the thought of West. Ro started, not having expected an answer and, in her state, having almost forgotten Bennett was there at all. It all seemed kind of like a dream. "Oh," was all she could think to answer.

"You took a big risk Rowan," Bennett continued. "West is known to be trigger happy."

"I was worth it." Ro said resting her chin on one hand and holding the bandage to her head with another, Fluffy now content simply to lay beside her. She didn't understand why, but West didn't seem to be entering into the conversation even thought he blushed at the words. He also didn't seem to be able to meet her eyes. It was strange. West usually wasn't so quiet.

"I've been meaning to ask Rowan, how did you two find me anyway?" the older man asked, trying to keep the girl focused and gently testing to see if she had lost any memory. "It's fine if you don't want to answer."

"No that's okay," Ro said then her brow furrowed as she tried to remember that day. "Well now that I think of it, I don't really know." Bennett frowned but then the look softened as he realized the blonde's uncertainly had nothing to do with amnesia as she continued. "We had been outside, Zee and I, watching the birds and… Well Zee, he looked up once, his face turning really serious, but after a second looked back again. I asked him what was wrong and he started to say nothing, but then he looked sharply up again right in your direction as if listening for something. I guess he must have heard you or something because a moment later he told me to come with him and that it was urgent and started off towards where you were.

"So it was Zeta," Bennett mumbled to himself, considering her words.

"Yah. Do you… Do you remember anything?" the teen asked after a moment.

Bennett was caught by surprise by the question. "Let me think. I remember being cold and hurt," he said, trying to be as honest as possible. He had been in such a distraught state at the time he really didn't remember much but general feelings. "I remember thinking I was going to die…" Bennett cut off his words when he saw he was troubling Ro.

The girl hung her head, looking down at her hand in her lap. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I wish we had gotten to you sooner. We had been inside most of the day because it was cold and…" she looked up at him, her light blue eyes filled with sincerity. "I'm glad we found you before anything worse happened."

Bennett's eyes softened. "It's not your fault Rosalie - What is that noise?" he said suddenly. "It's been going on for at least an hour. Can you hear that? Wait…" Bennett blinked, looking around as he tried to locate the sound. His eyes fell on the synthoid in the corner. "Is that Zeta?"

Ro chuckled, knowing the topic would have come up sooner or later. "Yah. He snores. Zee's just quirky that way. You get used to it after awhile…"

"Uh-huh," the man said staring at Zee. Since when did the government make synthoid's that snored? Bennett shook his head at the thought. It must have been apart of Zeta's recharge function somehow. He just had no clue how.

"Here we go," Rush said walking back into the room with a pack of ice, a bowl of warm water, a couple of dish cloths and a bottle of water. "Water for you," the woman said handing the bottle to Ro.

The blonde smiled up a the woman as she took the offered bottle. "Thanks."

"Excuse me dog." Rush sat on the floor behind the girl, displacing Fluffy just a bit, but he was fine with moving a little to make room for the woman. "You can move your hand now Ro. Let's see if you're still bleeding."

Ro winced as some of her hair stuck to the bandage. "How's it look?" she asked.

"Good considering," Rush answered with a nod. "Didn't bleed nearly as much as most head wounds do. Must just be a little cut," she set down the bowl of water and ice and dipped a dishcloth into the warm liquid. "I'm going to try and wash some of this blood out of your hair then we'll get the ice on it."

"Thanks," the blonde sighed in gratitude as the woman behind her went to work.

Ten minutes later it was about as good as it was going to get without a full blown shower. Rush had gotten most of the blood out of the girls short blonde hair. As it was, the woman was just happy Ro's hair wasn't any longer. "Okay now hold this to your head," Rush said passing Ro the ice pack wrapped in the second wash cloth.

Ro did as she was told but sucked in a sharp breath at the touch of the ice. "Cold," she moaned. Ro hadn't realized before but the room was getting quite chilly. She shivered slightly.

"I know," Rush said. "But the ice will help." She looked over at Bennett before adding. "Ro do you think you can stand. It would be warmer by the fire. I will help you of course."

Ro thought for a moment then shrugged a shoulder. "I might as well try."

TBC…

Sorry it took so long to update. I got in a cooking/baking mood and that started to take up a lot of my free time. On top of that last week was a bit busier then usual then the holiday cane but finally here is your new chapter. I hope you like. Please review. I would love to hear from more of you. Oh also happy 4th for any and all who celebrate it :)

CampionSayn: Heh one quick update then not one for so terribly long. Sorry about that. I got detracted, but now I'm back on track. With any luck I'll have another update in at least a week. You are completely correct when you say it gets harder to write once you get above about chapter fifteen or twenty. I don't know why. You'd think things would get easier because you'd gotten used to writing the story but no. If you're not careful the story just pitters off into nothingness. Luck I have an basic outline all the way to the end of this fanfic ;P Special 'secret' for my lovely, wonderful serial reviewer: this fanfic is actually a setup for others. There is more to come after "Only Human." Whacha think about that? :)

Hey Nataly S. Potter I saw you were/are interested in several of my stories… at least you 'story alerted' three of them (much to my joy). I just wanted to give you a quick heads up that "Only Human" is the only fanfic I'm updating right now BUT I will get back to and someday finish the others as well. I just found I work more productively when I wrote on one story at a time… I hope you understand. And thanks a lot for reading :)

P.S. Chapter title "Wake Me Up" lyric of the song "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence.