The first thing Lex noticed when she awoke, was the smell of coffee. This was so strange and unexpected that she frowned, thinking it was still some part of her delirium. She realised that the surface underneath her felt soft. She was lying on a bed, not a forest floor. Her head felt heavy and whole body seemed to ache, infused with a lethargy that had turned her limbs into lead.

Suddenly she sensed movement and her eyes flew open to see an unfamiliar human, sitting nearby. Immediately, she tried to scramble backwards but the movement caused agonising pain in her arm and side.

"Take it easy," He said holding, up his hands, "Just take it easy."

She looked at him, eyes wide with shock, trying to collect her thoughts. The last thing she could remember was killing those men. Skewering the last one with the dah'kte - the sickening fountain of his blood - but he had managed to hit her with one of those darts – had shot her! Then she had been struggling through the pine forest, through almost knee-deep snow, and then the river and then… fade out.

"How did I get here?"

"I'm afraid I… I'm very sorry but… I hit you with my car," He said, then he spread his hands placatingly as he saw her look of alarm, "It's ok, you're not badly injured!"

"I feel pretty fucking badly injured!" She gritted her teeth.

"I'm more sorry than I can say. It was snowing heavily and I didn't see you. I'm pretty sure you just have some bad bruising and a few scrapes. You were extremely lucky."

"Lucky?!" She growled, feeling her hackles rise.

"I was quite worried about you for a while there, you were delirious." His voice had a soothing quality, soft and melodious.

Her eyes scanned the room they were in: quite a large one, but at least it actually looked like someone's house - not a hospital or a secure facility. On second glance she realised the room was quite a luxurious one, insofar as she was any judge. It was modern and spacious and the furniture looked plush and expensive, in tasteful, neutral colours.

"You've been unconscious for quite some time – almost three days." He continued.

"Three days?!" She looked down at herself and made the unwelcome discovery that she was wearing different clothes. Her own clothes and equipment - including her dah'kte, her armour, mask and other weapons - were gone.

She looked up at him sharply, "Why did you take my things?"

"They were soaked and you were freezing. I also needed to dress your arm." He said in that same calm voice. "You'd already been bleeding quite heavily from that wound."

She looked down and remembered again about the bullet that had grazed her upper arm. As he had said, the wound was now bandaged.

She looked at him, her brain now able to take in details that it hadn't before, through the rush of adrenalin and disorientation. He was older than her, quite a bit older - mid-fifties maybe - and showing slight signs of a paunch. His dark, curly hair was streaked with silver at the temples and in his beard, but his dark skin was still mostly unlined.

"He hit me with his car but he's dressed my wounds, so he probably doesn't want to kill me. Not right away anyway," She thought, "But if he took my stuff, he must have noticed how strange it all looked, noticed all my weapons…"

"I didn't mean my clothes. I meant my other gear," Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Why didn't you call the police … or take me to a hospital, if I was injured?"

His dropped his eyes, "Well it isn't very often I run over strange women, covered in weapons and bleeding from a bullet wound but… when I saw your injury and the … stuff you were carrying, I imagined you wouldn't want to go anywhere official. I do have medical training, so I was able to look after you myself."

"Are you sure you just didn't want to be on the wrong end of a prosecution?" She looked around again, "Where is this place?"

"It's my house, well my holiday home anyway."

"And you are…?"

"James Ambrose - I'm actually Doctor Ambrose, but you can call me James."

"I'm not sure we're on quite those terms," Lex's eyes flitted round the room again, it was really quite impressive. One wall boasted a huge window, showing an impressive panorama of the wintery woodlands beneath. With surprise, she saw that the sky was no longer black, but a wash of pale blues and pinks, the clouds edged with gold.

"You said I've been out for three days," She said "What time is it now?"

"About eight am, on Friday." She looked at him, dazed, realising days of the week no longer meant anything to her.

"Anyway, I bought you some coffee. You could have breakfast?" He inclined his head towards the nightstand.

She shook her head impatiently, "I can't. If I've been here three days already, I haven't got any more time to waste here, I have to leave. Where are my weapons?"

"They're someplace safe," He said "Just try and relax."

"You don't understand, I can't stay here." She tried to push herself upright and he sat back, making no move to stop her. The movement caused pain to shoot through her shoulder and hip and she felt woozy, swayed for a moment and then collapsed back onto the bed "What's wrong with me?"

"You lost quite a lot of blood. Between that, the accident and the cold, you need time to recover."

"But I don't have time for this!" She sat upright, tried to rise again but then had to subside, breathing deeply.

"Is this because of Isaac and Selim and … Spyrro, is it?"

Her head jerked round to look at him, but she didn't answer.

"You've been calling for them, a lot." He was watching her with an expression that was not fear. It was more like pity. "They sounded like they might be your family, your children maybe?"

"I don't want to discuss it."

"Look, I just want to know if they're somewhere waiting for you to come home? Are they safe?"

She shut her eyes for a few seconds, "Their father has them."

"Oh." He watched her steadily, "I'm … sorry to hear that."

"Not as sorry as I am." It came out of her mouth before she could stop it.

He continued to look at her, not dropping his gaze, just waiting in silence.

Her eyes narrowed, "Just what sort of doctor are you, anyway?"

"A psychiatrist," He smiled ironically, "You don't think regular medicine paid for all this, do you?"

Selim pressed the control to open the door of the sleeping pod he shared with his brother and stepped silently out into the corridor. He and Isaac had overheard Spyrro's shouting match with their Father earlier and both had decided they were better off staying out of it. Besides, from what he could tell, Spyrro was more than able to hold her own. Selim had been shocked to hear her scream at Scar like that. He had expected Mei'Savir to explode with rage in response but instead, there was silence. Hours had slipped by and both he and Isaac had fallen asleep. That had been many units ago, but now Selim was awake again. As everything still seemed to be calm, he thought he might as well venture out. "I can see if there were any survivors!" He thought, wryly.

He entered the cockpit and was mildly surprised to find Scar still at the controls. Selim was relieved to find they were alone. Whilst he loved his brother and sister, right now he was pleased to be able to have some time to talk to his Father without them. It was much easier without all of their incendiary tempers flaring up. He went and stood next to Scar's shoulder, so he could see what he was doing.

"Mei'Savir," He said seriously "Where are we going?"

His Father did not look round, his gaze remained on the console, but the shadows round his yellow eyes made Selim think he had not slept since getting back from the raid on the yautja warship, "I am taking us to the human planet." He said.

Selim's heart leapt at this, "Are we going to find Mei'Varsi?" He said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"Yes."

Selim grinned to himself; he couldn't help it. The prospect of being reunited with his Mother was the best news he could think of. Then, another thought struck him, "But, even when we get to Earth, how are we to find her? She might be anywhere."

Scar continued tapping the controls, "Spyrro said she went to see Hobbes, the human medic. I know the co-ordinates for the place where she is. As Spyrro stole the Dragonfly, it is likely she has not left and will still be in that vicinity. From there we can easily track her using the signal from her wrist-com. Currently, I am trying to lock onto it…"

Scar touched another control and a map of the planet's topography sprang up around them. Selim could see the bright red pulse of the signal, still too far away to be pinpointed accurately.

"I have sent her a communique via the wristcom." Scar continued, "But she has not replied. This concerns me."

"Father, we have been away a long time. Do you think perhaps Mei'Varsi may be…" Selim swallowed, "Upset with you?"

His Father did not look at him, "I imagine she will be… extremely displeased. Nevertheless, I must find her. There are a great many humans on her planet who would wish to capture her or even kill her."

Selim looked startled, "Would they?"

"Yes Mei'Sika, you do not yet seem to appreciate that your Mother and I have a great many enemies, both from my species and hers."

"But why?"

Scar did not answer him for a while, "It is… complicated," He said finally "As I said earlier, we were warned to stay away from each other and we… could not. Even so, I am not going to leave her stranded amongst her enemies."

"No of course not, Mei'Savir." Selim found his parents' relationship hard to fathom but, he was so glad they were going to find Mei'Varsi, he felt it was best not to question his Father's chain of reasoning too closely.

In any case, Selim thought perhaps he had a slight inkling of what Mei'Savir was talking about. One of his favourite possessions was an extremely battered book of fairy stories – one of several books that his Mother had managed to get for him when he was very little. She had read them to both Selim and Isaac and then, when he was older, Selim had read them himself. A lot of the stories had been about relationships that overcame great obstacles.

He remembered once, when she had been reading to him one of the stories whilst Scar had happened to be sitting nearby. Selim thought perhaps it had been the story of Beauty and the Beast she had been reading, as it had been one of his favourites when young. Initially, his Father was engaged in fixing some malfunctioning weapon, but he had begun to listen with an air of increasing irritation as the story progressed.

Finally, he gave a growl of annoyance. "Why are you reading him this?"

His Mother had looked up, "Because it is Selim's favourite."

"But it is ridiculous! Why does she not wait until this creature is asleep, cut his throat and escape him?"

"Because that would not make a very good story, would it?"

"It would make a less stupid story! Do human females enjoy being imprisoned, then?"

"It's not meant to be taken literally," She said in English, with a shrug, "It's a story about how love can change people for the better. That's why you don't get it."

"But why would she be won over by such treatment?" His Father had demanded in exasperation, "You know full well you would not tolerate it!"

His Mother had not answered, instead she merely raised her eyebrows at him as if she had made her point. Then she had carried on reading.

Recalling this conversation, Selim knew Mei'Savir was right that people in those stories often acted in ways that seemed contrary to reason. He also thought Mei'Varsi was right that his Father was missing the point. After all, the way his parents behaved towards each other frequently made no sense. Not long ago, Mei'Savir had forbidden him even to speak of his Mother. Now here he was, hollow-eyed and sleepless, trying to track her down. Selim didn't want to stop him – he really wanted to find her, too – but there was no way he could pretend this behaviour made any kind of sense.

He sighed and went to settle himself down in the co-pilot seat. He could tell this was going to be a long night.

Her dream was dissolving quickly, the forest melting away. In the dream she had been with her children and she growled irritably at this interruption of her happiness, even though she knew it was just an illusion. Her antagonistic frame of mind was not helped by the sight of Ambrose sitting by the bedside, watching calmly, hands lightly clasped in what she had mentally labelled his 'therapist's pose'.

"Good morning, Doctor," She fixed him with a blank stare, hoping to disconcert him. He returned her gaze, his look direct but non-confrontational.

"Hello Lex, how are you feeling?"

"I'll feel a lot better when you give me back my weapons."

"I don't think that's a very good idea," He said mildly, "You still need rest, you've been badly injured, as I said before."

She went to rise and was able to drag herself into sitting position.

"Don't force it," He said, worry making his voice a little sharper, but she ignored him.

"Look, I know you feel guilty for knocking me down," She said "But your concern isn't going to help when the people who are chasing me get here."

He frowned, deep creases etching themselves in his high forehead, "What people are these, Lex?"

"What does it matter who they are?" She said, a cautious edge entering her voice "I don't know for sure…"

"You don't think maybe you're being paranoid?"

"Are you keeping up with events here? Who do you think shot me? Or do you think this is a figment of my imagination, too?" Painfully, she raised her bandaged arm.

"It doesn't prove you're being hunted by anyone, it could have been an accident."

She looked at him in disbelief, "Well, you saw my weapons. Do you think if I were a normal person, I'd be walking around with knives strapped up my arms?"

"People do all sorts of things when they feel threatened, Lex. Why do you think anyone would be after you?"

She tried to rise, but then fell back again breathing deeply, "That, Doctor, is the part I can't tell you."

He leaned forward, the lines on his forehead deepening, "Why can't you tell me? Are you worried I won't believe you?"

"No," She lay back against the pillow, eyes closed and then looked at him. "I know you won't."

The door to Ostrowski's office swung open to reveal Sergeant Paulson, clutching a sheaf of papers. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes Sergeant," He looked up from the report he was reading "Tell me about the searches along the roadside. Turn up anything?"

"Well, the dogs picked up her trail again in the morning but then it disappeared, I think you must be right that she managed to get in a vehicle, sir." Paulsson frowned, "There was some blood on the ground which checks out as hers. Could mean she was wounded or even that she was in a collision."

"Or she might have just collapsed in the road, if Carravino managed to dart her."

Paulson cleared her throat, "I did also wonder about hostage taking, like you said sir, so I ran a check on missing persons, but it's been very quiet."

"How are you and Hernandez getting on with those vehicle plates?"

"We're working through a list of over two hundred plates, sir," She flourished the papers, "We've had officers search about half the addresses on that list but we've found nothing significant yet."

"Jesus." Ostrowski banged his fist on the table, "Isn't there anything we can do to speed the searches up?"

"It's difficult," She hooked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear "We've got a lot of ground to cover. Some of those addresses are out of town or in remote areas so it's taking us time to get people there. We're already stretched searching all the surrounding addresses, sir. We can either do this job thoroughly or we can do it quick, but we don't have the resources right now to do both."

He frowned "Then we need to get more, draft in officers from other areas. You realise any delay is just giving her the opportunity to get further and further out of our reach. She could get far away - maybe even leave the country, the Mexican border's just over a day's drive away."

He did not say the other thing that was on his mind: that she might even leave the planet. He had long suspected the reason why there were such long gaps in between sightings of Woods was because she spent the time in between her appearances on some other world. If her veteran friend was to be believed, there were many other planets that the hostiles used for various purposes. The longer they left it, the more he worried she might be able to go somewhere far beyond his reach.

"Honestly, I think we're wasting time searching houses in the area."

He looked at her sharply "Why?"

"Because I think it's like you said, sir, if she had walked away from that roadside the dogs could pick it up her trail. I think, one way or the other, she left in a vehicle and, if she did manage to hitch a lift that would take time. A collision or a car-jacking might take longer. We should have another look at the CCTV footage, start timing cars - then we could pick out the ones who took longer to get between the gas station and the intersection and prioritise tracking those down."

He looked up at her "Good idea, sergeant. Get on it."

It was just after noon the next day and the huge window showed the sun high in the sky as Lex picked up her boots, made her way over to the stairwell and looked down. She could see no sign of Ambrose, she suspected he must be elsewhere in this vast house.

She had decided it was time to leave this place. Her arm still hurt but the worst of the pain and dizziness seemed to have passed and she felt less weak now. Ambrose had given her food, although she had refused it unless he also ate some of it first – eventually she had decided to take the risk and had eaten it. A small part of her felt a little ungrateful. He seemed like a nice person as far as she could tell, but she still didn't trust him. For whatever reason, he hadn't handed her over to the authorities, but she didn't want to wait and see if he changed his mind.

He also wouldn't give her back her gear, seeming to feel that he was keeping her here her own good, "He's got no right!" She fumed to herself, "He might think he's protecting me, but I don't need a knight in shining armour, I just need my armour! And my weapons and my camouflage! I'm defenceless without them. I'll make him give them back to me and then I can go."

She began to move quietly down the stairs, testing every step cautiously to avoid making them creak under her. There was a faint smell of cooking and she could hear noise, some sort of rhythm pulsing. It sounded like someone was listening to music, but at this distance she could not recognise it. At the bottom of the stairs, she pulled on her boots.

She turned to the right and into a large living area, where an impressive fireplace stood dark and empty. Her eyes cast about her for something to use as a weapon. There was a well-stocked bar in the corner and she gravitated towards it, wondering if she could use one of the heavier bottles as a club. Then her eye lit on the ice pick resting in the gleaming, empty ice bucket. She snatched it up. It was a poor substitute for the dah'kte, but it was better than nothing.

Now she was downstairs, she could hear the music more clearly, coming from a different room and, with it, the sound of whistling. Now she could hear it properly, she recognised an old Nina Simone track:

"My baby never treats me sweet and gentle, the way he should…"

Holding the ice pick in front of her, she began to move towards the source of the sound. Her steps made no noise as her heavy boots sank into luxurious carpet.

"Cos I've got it bad, and that ain't good, no that ain't good…"

It had been a favourite song of hers, back in her old life. She had not heard music in so long. Now, the deep voice, cracking with emotion and the plaintive, silvery piano tripping over the notes, stirred a strange longing in her. It was almost homesickness - not for any home she had ever lived in - but for something intangible. Humanity maybe or normality. She shook her head and crushed down the feeling, not wanting to get distracted.

As she entered a huge kitchen, she could see him standing with his back to her, his attention on something he was doing on the counter.

"O Lord above me, make him love me, the way he should..."

Lex's grip tightened around the ice-pick as she silently approached him. He was humming under his breath as he stirred something. She was now directly behind him, keeping the blade between them.

"'Cos I've got it soooo bad and that ain't…."

She reached out and pulled the plug of the stereo, pushing the ice-pick against his back, not hard enough to hurt him but hard enough so he felt the point.

"Hands where I can see them," She said, in the sudden silence, "Or I'll kill you."

It's the weekend - woohoo! Hope everyone had a good week. Bit of a plot heavy chapter this week but I hope it's still good. I'm building up to some more bloodshed, I promise.

LovyDovy7 - Scar needs telling and Spyrro's the only person who would dare to do it (and the only person he'll take it from). Now the race is on to see who gets to Lex first (and what she'll do to them when they get there)!

Love n hugs, ScifiTrash xx