The next chapter is posted! Enjoy :)
He was awoken in the middle of the night. At first, he wasn't sure why he suddenly woke from a dead sleep. Frieza thought he may have heard a muffled sound upon waking. So he sat up and listened for it again. A minute went by in silence. Then he heard it again. This time it was louder, like someone just yelled. It was coming from beyond his door. 'Rain?'
Frieza got out of bed and crossed his room. He entered the hall and stopped in front of her door. At first he was unsure whether if he should bother or if he should knock. It wasn't until he heard a woman screaming on the other side of the door. For the first time in his life, he felt concern. For someone other than himself. It wasn't one small yelp either. It was an ongoing scream of terror.
"Rain!" He shouted.
When she didn't respond and kept screaming. Frieza reared back and kicked the door in. Rain bolted upright with a start. And as a reflex, grabbed her Glock G48 from underneath the other pillow. She took aim at the source of the loud bang she just heard. His eyes widened, but he stood his ground. Normally he'd laugh at such a move. Because guns could never hurt him. But now, being powerless and no stronger than a human. He wasn't about to take any chances.
Rain was drenched in sweat with a look of horror on her face. But what caught his attention most, was how glassy her eyes were. He's not stupid. Frieza knew the most common tell tale signs. And he was no stranger to PTSD. But what made this situation dangerous was that she had a gun. And still had it firmly pointed right at him. He could see Rain was currently not coherent. She still thought she was locked in a nightmare. He had to be very careful when approaching her. Frieza had to show her, he was not a threat to her. And that he wasn't going to hurt her.
Worst case scenario. He ends up back in Earth's Hell. Of course this would be at the top of his list as the most embarrassing way he died. But unfortunately, he didn't have much of a choice. He had to find a way to reach this young woman and calm her down. Frieza then did something he thought was downright ridiculous in his mind. He saw people do this gesture on the 't.v.'. It was on this show he saw her watch often, called COPS. He slowly put his hands up.
"Rain, its ok. Your safe, no one here is going to hurt you. You were just having a nightmare. Please, put the gun down." He said slowly.
At first, it seemed like she didn't hear him. Then she slowly started to lower her gun down to her lap. Unfortunately, Frieza saw this as the 'Ok' to go to her. He lowered his hands and took a couple steps towards her. Big mistake. First, it seemed like she took his advice. The next, he heard a slight whistling sound. Then he felt white hot pain in his left bicep. She shot him!
He hissed in pain and clutched his now bloody arm. When he looked up from his arm back to Rain. She had the weapon still trained on him. Only this time she was aiming for his head. The first shot was a warning. The next one, would mean he won't be so lucky. She was shaking and panting. Whatever she was dreaming about. Must've really scared the shit out of her, if she was acting like this.
"Rain please, snap out of it. Where ever you think you are, your not there. Your home, and no one here is going to hurt you." He said softly, as if he were talking to a child.
Her hands were beginning to shake and her breathing starting coming out faster. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. At this sight, he couldn't even be angry at her for shooting him. Right now, he really was worried about her. Frieza took one small, slow hesitant step towards the scared young woman.
"I'm so sorry if I scared you when I broke the door. But, I heard you screaming. I was very worried about you." He continued to inch his way towards her, while he talked to her.
Rain still followed him with her gun. But Frieza still wasn't going to let that deter him from making his way over to her. In this state, you never know what someone may do. And at this point, he was concerned she may hurt herself with the gun. He thought if he had to wrestle the gun from her, he will. By now he was less than a foot away from her. Frieza kept eye contact with Rain the entire time.
He very slowly sat down on the bed next to her legs. Even then she still had the gun trained on him and wouldn't take her eyes off the tyrant. Frieza then tried a different approach.
"I take it this is payback, for everything I did to you back on the ship." He said it as if it were a joke, to lighten the mood.
A look of confusion crossed her face. But at least it was something. So he kept going.
He sighed. "I knew you were different. Most would cower at being in my presence. Instead, you stood your ground. And went as far as insulting me." He paused as his smirk vanished from his face and was replaced with sadness. "Even when I beat you to within an inch of your life. You still never gave in and submit to me. And I'm sure your not going to believe me when I say this...I can't believe I'm saying it. But, I deeply regret hurting you the way I did. Especially, when I knew you were close to death on more than one occasion."
Frieza still never took his eyes away from her when he told Rain all of this. It didn't matter to him anymore, that she had a gun mere inches away from the center of his chest now. He just wanted to show her that he was sincere and that he was here for her.
"I'm so sorry, Rain." He said, in a slightly broken voice.
It must've done the trick. Because more tears cascaded down her cheeks and a sob broke through her lips. Then, after what seemed like eternity. She finally lowered her gun and put it down on the bed. Rain pulled her legs up and sobbed into her knees. They were deep, agonizing sobs. So filled with despair that they actually tugged at his cold heart.
Frieza moved up the bed a little more. Then slowly wrapped his arms around the young woman and held her. Rain tensed up at first, then steadily relaxed into his embrace. He kept reassuring her that she was alright and that she was safe. After several more minutes her sobs subsided. Now Rain was working on getting her breathing back under control. Which he talked her through as well.
Rain finally looked up and took a deep breath. Then opened her eyes and turned her gaze to Frieza. He pushed a few wet strands back away from her face. She stared into his crimson orbs, for the second time since she met him. Rain saw sadness and despair in his gaze. She was broken from her trance when she felt something wet drip down onto her arm. Rain turned to the source. Her eyes widened when she saw his arm, covered in blood.
Her head snapped back to his face. "I'm, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean.."
"It's ok, Rain. I know you didn't mean it. Plus, it's merely a scratch." Frieza assured her.
Of course, she didn't believe him. Rain pulled away slightly, switched on the nightstand light, and went to check his arm. There was a bloody hole near the center of his bicep. And when she lifted his arm slightly, there was a bigger exit hole in his tricep. Well, at least she didn't have to dig the slug out of his arm. Because it went all the way through and exited the arm. But she had to get to work staunching the blood flow. Then she had to sterilize the wound and stitch it.
"Scratch, my ass. It went through your arm. There's an exit wound and everything. Apply pressure to the wound, elevate your arm, and follow me." She instructed him.
Frieza did as she asked and followed her. Rain led him into her bathroom on the right side of her room. She flicked on the light and went into the cabinet beneath her sink. Rain pulled out a fairly large Emergency Kit.
"Sit right there on the toilet." She told him.
He sat down without a fuss and waited as she got out all the supplies she needed to bind his wound. Then Rain grabbed one of her bath towels from the linen closet. She wet the towel and went to work, wiping the blood from his arm. He winced a few times when she pressed a little too hard or got to close to the wounds.
"Sorry, sorry." She mumbled as she cleared up as much of the blood she could.
Hopefully, the bleeding will slow down enough for her to stitch them properly. Rain decided she wound start with the bigger exit wound on his tricep. When he notice her pull out a needle and thread, he spoke up.
"That won't be necessary, just cover the wounds and wrap them tight." He told her.
Rain arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me, your afraid of needles."
He snorts. "I'm not afraid of needles. I just don't think it's going to be needed for the injuries. I heal fast."
She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.
"We don't know if that is still the case right now. I don't think we should chance it. Believe me, blood loss is not something to take lightly. So just humor me will you, Casper."
Rain was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted as it was. And really not in the mood to argue with the stubborn tyrant. And reminding him of his limitations because of the suppressant made her remember. That he was due for another dose in a couple weeks.
"Fine just...don't take too long." Was all he could get out.
She instructed him to turn and lay his arm backwards over the sink. This way, Rain could have much better assess to the exit wound on the back of his arm. Frieza couldn't hold in another hiss of pain as his mangled arm muscles screamed in protest as he stretched his arm back. She wiped up more blood pouring out of the exit wound. Before giving it to Frieza and instructing him to hold the towel over the entrance wound on his bicep. Rain poured rubbing alcohol on a couple cotton balls and began lightly dabbing the wound. He jumped and turned to look back at her.
"What is that!? It burns!" Frieza said, through gritted teeth.
She rolled her eyes. "It's rubbing alcohol, you big reptilian baby. It cleans out the wound so it won't get infected."
He opened his mouth to retort back to her. But a strangled groan came out instead when she applied more of the foul smelling disinfectant to his arm. She then poured some over the long, curved needle. With how tender and painful his wound already was. Frieza could tell, he was not going to look forward to this. Normally, his body wouldn't be so sensitive to such wounds. That suppressant that was within him must have something to do with that. And if that's the case, he wonders if it will also slow down his naturally fast healing abilities too.
Rain looked up at him. "Ready?"
He turned away and stared at the wall. So all she could see now was his profile.
"Just get it over with." He told her.
As soon as the needle pierced his skin, more pain shot through the area. It made him clench his jaw and grit his teeth. His arm was killing him. All he could focus on right now is the pain. Frieza could really do with a distraction right now. So that's what he was going to initiate.
"So, what exactly was your dream about?" He asked. Though he still kept his gaze on the wall.
Rain bit her lip, but didn't pause in her work.
"Just a nightmare. It's not the first time I had one so bad. Though it's been a little while since I had one to that extent. Some are more vivid than others. Unfortunately, this one was one of them." She said.
"Must've been, since you pulled a gun out, and appeared completely terrified." He told her.
She was more than halfway through stitching the hole shut.
"It was, but it's in the past." She said, curtly.
Rain was being very abrupt with her answers. Clearly, she didn't want to keep talking about it. But at the same time, Frieza was curious, as well as concerned to what it is she was dreaming about. Apart of him had a bad feeling it may have been about him. Could explain why she shot at him. Maybe in this dream, he was trying to hurt her. So when Rain awoke to see him standing there in her room, she acted defensively and grabbed a weapon.
"Was it...about me?" He asked hesitantly.
By now she put in the last stitch and gently wiped around the area. Then she applied antibacterial ointment to the newly stitched bullet wound. Rain was quiet for a moment. And at first, Frieza thought she wasn't going to answer him.
"No, at least...not at first. It was mainly about the first time I was captured." Rain stated.
No sense in hiding that info from him now. Frieza seemed like the type to keep poking around until she told him about it anyway.
He furrowed his eye ridge. "You were captured once before?"
She just gave him a sharp nod. "This side is done. So turn around, turn your arm over, and place it over the sink."
Frieza did just that. Of course moving the arm still hurt like hell. Rain got out more thread. She ran the needle under the running water and poured more rubbing alcohol on it. Then got more cotton balls and saturated them with rubbing alcohol.
"You can move the towel away now." She instructed him.
He moved it away and she proceeded to dab the entrance wound with the cotton balls. Frieza flinched and clenched his jaw again.
"It feels like your putting acid on the wound." He said, through gritted teeth.
Rain sighs. "I know it hurts like a bitch. But the last thing you will want is an infection. So it has to be done."
Frieza stopped complaining. Instead he wanted to return to the topic at hand.
"Who captured you?" He asked.
She went to work at stitching the entrance wound. By now, it felt like the nerves were shot in his arm. So he just felt the tugging of the thread and not so much of the sharp pinch of the needle.
"It doesn't matter. It's over now. And I don't want to talk about it anymore." Rain told him.
She tried putting it off, like it was no big deal. But Frieza knew better. He knows it was really effecting her more than she led on. He wasn't going to continue pushing her though. Last thing he wanted to do was upset her again.
There was more silence for the next few minutes as she worked on his arm. Rain finished the stitching and applied ointment to this wound like she did the other. She took out some thick square gauze pads and a thin roll of gauze. She instructed him to hold the gauze pad on his bicep in place. While she held the second gauze pad to the wound underneath on his tricep. Then she unraveled the rolled up gauze and started wrapping some around his upper arm. Rain used up quite a bit of the roll. Before cutting and applying thin, white medical tape to hold it in place.
"Congratulations, as of now your officially one-sixteenth mummy." She told him.
Then washed her hands, before putting the supplies back in the Emergency Kit and shoved it back under the sink.
Frieza studied her handiwork. He deemed it satisfactory and stood up. Rain gestured for him to follow her out of the bathroom before she flipped the light off. As she approached her bed, she noticed there was some blood on the sheets. Too tired to pull off the soiled sheets and put on fresh ones. Rain went back into the bathroom and came back with another towel. She draped it over the bloodied area and laid back down.
"Do you mind...staying? At least until I fall back asleep?" She felt awkward for asking him such a childish request. But Rain really didn't feel like being alone right now.
To her surprise, he got into bed with her and laid down across from Rain. She sat up and pulled the covers back up, before settling back down. There was a few inches in between their bodies as they faced each other. Rain dragged her tired blue eyes away from his to Frieza's bandaged arm.
"I really am sorry. I didn't mean to shoot. Just because your body awakens doesn't mean your mind has along with it. Though I'm not saying its any excuse for what I did. Tomorrow, we can see if Goku has any of those healing beans on him." She told him.
He gave her a small smile. "You really need to stop apologizing. Besides I've had much worse than this. If anything it was poor judgement on my end. I probably should've stayed put instead of approach you. But I didn't want you to accidently hurt yourself either."
"Thanks." She said softly.
There was more silence, before he spoke up. "I'm sorry, Rain."
She furrowed her brows in confusion. "Why are you sorry? Your the one that's been shot."
He sighs. "I mean for everything I put you through while you were aboard my ship. For hurting you like I did. For nearly..." Frieza had a hard time finishing the last part of his statement.
Rain swallowed the lump in her throat.
"It's fine, I've had much worse than that." She said, repeating one of his previous statements.
It's true, the Taliban tortured her, beat her to a bloody pulp, starved her, and a few of their men tried forcing themselves on her on more than one occasion. Sure Frieza beat her within an inch of her life too. But at least he fed her and popped her into a healing tank afterwards. The Taliban would beat her up and leave her without medical attention for days, without food and water. As for him trying to force himself on her. Well, unlike those terrorists; Frieza was at least hesitant. And a part of her believes he may have not even went through with it.
She was brought out of a terrible memory when she felt warmth encase her hand. Frieza had placed his hand over hers.
"Still, it's something that should never have happened. And I'm sorry you went through such horrors during your first capture. But if anything. It proves just how much endurance and strength you truly have." He told her.
Rain didn't know what to say to that. Nor did she ever think Frieza would apologize for all the horror he put her through. She didn't know what to think of him now; period. He's been under her care for nearly four months now. Yet, he's still quite the enigma to her. Within that time, she hasn't caught him trying to get into her room. Rain knows that Frieza knew there are things in her room that he's after. But she has yet to catch him in the act of trying to get in. This would've been his first time ever in her room.
Though instead of getting in to try and find where she hid the suppressants. Frieza busted her door in because he thought she was in trouble. He took a huge risk while trying to get through to her. And how does she thank him. By shooting him and nearly killing him. But instead of getting angry, he continued to reach out to her and embraced her when she finally crumbled.
"I'm tired, I just want to sleep." She rasped out while trying to hold in tears.
Frieza understood. "Goodnight then, Rain."
Rain closed her eyes as the tightening in her throat persisted. Eventually tears seeped through her closed eyes, dripping over the bridge of her nose and onto the sheets. Frieza moved in a little closer and gently squeezed her hand. He would've held her. But he wasn't sure how Rain would feel about him touching her. So for now, he settled with holding her hand. Frieza didn't leave Rain's side for the rest of that night.
Poor Rain, I don't blame her for wanting to talk about her horrors in Afghanistan all over again. Plus, a part of her may be still reluctant to do so in front of Frieza. In other words, Rain still doesn't fully trust him yet. Though, its not to say she doesn't want to. But Rain still doesn't know what his end game will be if he were to gain his powers back. Will he go back to trying to kill her friends and take her away from her home again? Or will there be another unknown outcome? Until Next Time ;)