SPOTLIGHT:

Witch-in-Tardis and BlackMoonWhiteSky!

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Round of applause!

I hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter

and I just wanted to let you know that I'll be cutting down to

one chapter a week while I get caught back up on writing ahead.

Thank you everyone for continued support!

~o~OoO~o~

Chapter Thirty-Six: Deception

Seven wasn't sure what made her awaken, or carefully pull herself out of Four's warm embrace. She padded silently across the room in a daze, feeling still quite drunk from euphoria, but that's not what moved her body now. She dressed quickly in the spare clothes Derris had given her and then searched the room until she'd found the things Four had confiscated. Her hands dug into the pile of her things until she felt a cool glass cylinder. Seven didn't even look to see which one she'd grabbed, instead making her way to the sparse counter that served as a kitchenette. She brewed the coffee and readied the cups, slipping the liquid contents of the vial drip into Four's mug.

"I didn't expect you would be awake so soon."

Her breath caught as she almost dropped the vial into the cup as his voice started her. "You shouldn't have underestimated me."

She slipped the vial up her long sleeve and grabbed a spoon to stir the fluids together as he slid up behind her. "I will make certain I don't make that mistake again."

"I'll make sure you don't." His arms curled around her waist and she felt his breath, soft and warm, caress her cheek a moment before he kissed her neck just below her ear. "Coffee?"

Four made a noise, a cross between a hum and a moan as he accepted the cup from her. He put the cup to his lips and took a deep drink of its contents. Seven felt her heart stop, half expecting him to drop to the floor in agonizing spasms of death, but he just frowned at the cup and moved to get dress. She took a swig of her own glass to alleviate her suddenly parched throat and ignore the scorching trail and fried taste buds that accompanied the act.

"Seven, could you grab the clothes from the bathroom," he instructed, belting his pants on and reaching for his boots. "We need to leave here soon."

"Sure." She took another sip and set the cup down to do as asked.

It took her a few minutes, but she gathered her things and his, including the knife she'd tried to use against him. When she came out he was fully dressed and had refilled her coffee. He handed it to her as she tossed the items down on the floor near the bed. The invigorating scent of the coffee filled her nose and she did her best to smile gratefully while wondering why the poison she'd put in his hadn't taken effect yet. She took the first sip and then another, nearly draining the glass before realizing the taste was a bit dull.

"The problem with poison is that the effects can be countered with an antidote." Disappointment darkened his eyes as he took the cup from her steadily numbing hands. "They also rely on body chemistry and tolerance to the ingested substance."

"What did you put in my cup?" She looked up at him, terrified as she dropped to her knees.

"Something more effective than what you put in mine." He raised that eyebrow and took ahold of her wrist, pulling out the vial hidden there. "I had the contents of your arsenal tested. Siren's Song isn't a poison. It's an aphrodisiac."

She blushed as she felt her own body tensing up and begin leaning toward the floor. "Why?"

"Kiss of the Sea, however, is proving to be a powerful paralytic." He pulled another vial out of his pocket and anger sharped the edges of his face. "I trusted you, Seven, but I underestimated the grip in which your fear held you and now I will have to face my brother alone. Rest assured. I will make him answer for his part in this."

~O~o~O~

Her body ached from being in the same position for too long. He had her strapped down to a bench in the back of a shuttle. She only vaguely remembered being brought there, the exchange of money, and the agreement that the shuttle would be left on the designated station after he was done with it. She'd spent the long journey trying to rebuild herself, trying to rationalize with her fears. The more she let herself relax the faster she could feel her defenses coming back online.

"Are we there yet?"

He sighed again. "No."

She let a few minutes go by. "How about now?"

Seven could hear him take in a deep breath even if she could see if from her prone spot on the bench. "I won't go over this with you again."

She closed her eyes and let herself to doze off for nearly half an hour. She woke up to the jolting of the shuttle as it entered the atmosphere of a planet. She fidgeted and tried to lift her head, but as they reached the ground all she saw were trees.

"Are we there yet?"

The shuttle's engines disengaged and soon enough he stood over her seeming less annoyed than he sounded about her childishness. "Yes, but you're going to stay here."

Grey eyes wide and innocent. "Why?"

"Because I have some business to take care of," he smirked. "And you still want to kill me."

"Does that mean you're just going to leave lying here like this?" She snapped, goodness tossed away. "All alone? On who knows what kind of planet?"

"Not exactly." He raised that eyebrow and knelt down beside her to cut the strap that kept her flat on the bench, but not any of the others that restrained her. "But I will leave you here like this."

Seven glared at him and wriggled a bit, trying to get some mobility. "This is uncommonly cruel of you, Four."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to come back for you," Four opened the hatch of the shuttle. "After I take care of my brother, for both of us."

"Wait!" She called out, but he kept on walking. "Damn it, Four, don't leave me here like this!"

She wriggled and squirmed and she almost had her wrist free when she slipped off the edge of the bench. Her chin smacked against the floor of the shuttle first. Blood flooded her mouth as she bit the inside of her cheek, lip, and the edge of her tongue. She spat out the coppery fluid and roared her frustration. The only good thing: her hands were free.

~O~o~O~

Four walked up the hill. He'd already seen the guards and his old teacher, but there was no sign of his brother. He was confident he could handle the situation now that he'd spoiled their edge of surprise, but still he cursed Seven's treachery. It was more efficient to be sure of one's advantage than to gamble with talent. Seemingly the older man stood at the top of the hill, alone, with a travel pack and a hand on his sword.

"Where's my brother?" Four called out to him, stopping some feet away.

"I'm sorry, Denka," Akita-san sighed. "He could not make it. I'm here in his place."

"I don't like surprises."

The old man seemed smug for a moment. "Then my apologies, because you're not going to like this one."

Warriors stepped out of their hiding places and surrounded Four. He was prepared for this. He'd known they would try to overwhelm him with numbers. If he had been a lesser man perhaps he would have truly been afraid, but the concern that marked his brow now was only feigned.

"Drop your weapons and stand back." Akita-san ordered him.

Four whipped out his blade, gauging the other swordsmen's response time as they did likewise, and stabbed it into the ground. He unbelted his gun holster and held out his hands to his sides. A few of the men lowered their guards a bit, but Four kept his eyes on his old teacher. Apparently he didn't realize with whom he was dealing. The guards came forward. Without looking he took his left arm back stalling the guard behind him as he snapped his leg out to disable another to his front right. He pushed the guard from behind out into the others before him and pulled his sword from the ground, immediately countering the next attack. In only a matter of seconds he disabled all of the swordsmen, some wounded and other not likely to recover. He prepared a stance for his next opponent, but Akita-san did not seem surprised by his simple victory. The old man seemed more disappointed than ever in his former student.

~O~o~O~

"He left his comm, he packed up his gear," Six shrugged. "Guys, I think it's pretty obvious, he wanted us to leave without him."

Five seemed a little angry at the idea. "But why, he seemed happy here?"

"He seemed nothing," Three snorted. "That guy was harder to read than that book he gave me."

One stopped his pacing offended at the nod from Three. "That book is a classic."

"Whatever," he shrugged. "Pig's a wimp and the spider's a know-it-all."

Two pursed her lips a bit and turned from the screen to her crew. "We should go back for him."

"For what?" Six frowned at her. "So we can confirm what we already know."

"He owes us an explanation," One countered, moving to stand next to Two.

Three glared at the white knight. "He owes us nothing. Nobody on this ship owes anybody anything. He's gone, just let him go."

Five sent a pleading look to Two and the older woman frowned, not happy that she would have to divulge more information she felt was better kept to herself. "There's something you should know. About Four and Seven."

"Like what?" Three threw his hands up. "They probably ran off together. Shacking up right this minute."

Six gave the gunman a look, but shook his head. "He came back to the ship for his gear. Seven left all of her things behind."

"Yeah, well," One shifted as he moved his gaze between the group and Two. "Maybe he went after her or they planned it. They did speak to each other before he supposedly sent her back to the ship."

"I told Seven not to come back," Two broke through their debate and gave the information a minute to sink in, brushing off the confused and disappointed looks. "She was here to kill Four and kidnap me. Five also discovered that she's the one killed the kid we found."

"TJ," the girl whispered, voice already on the edge of tears.

"But that would have been from before she lost her memories, right?" Six questioned, crossing his arms and taking a step forward. "I mean, we all did some pretty bad things before, things we can't even remember. That's why we took the Android's lie detector test and you decided to give everyone a clean slate. Why not Seven?"

"Probably jealous," Three smirked. "Not much can compete with a curvy redhead especially not one that knows her way around a staff."

Two glared at him, disgusted. "She was too dangerous. Seven had more reason than any one of us to sabotage the ship and wipe our memories in the event she found out who she was."

"I still don't think she would have tried to kill him," Six shook his head.

"Yeah, you apparently haven't watched them going at it in the training room and I'm not talking about anything to do with the weapons," Three grinned at first and then scoffed at the communal disgust directed his way. "What? My terminal doesn't get that channel."

One frowned. "You get channels on your terminal?"

~o~OoO~o~

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