A post Star One story Duel revisited Jenna VS Avon Part 3

Jenna's vision flashed black and white, bright lights in smatterings peppering her consciousness, and she felt nausea welling up inside her, a growing sense of foreboding. She could feel her golden hair around her face, but it moved like she was in slow motion, then a scent hit her. Much stronger than it should have. The damp scent of leaf litter, and the sweeter smell of leaves and growth from the forest itself. She heard the rustle of the leaves under her feet, a painfully bright glare from the sun through the reaching hands of knobbed black branches, and as she fell to her knees in disorientated confusion, she realised that the trip must have left her senses momentarily enhanced for her to be experiencing this place with such powerful vividness. The stimuli were so overpowering...

Just a little further away...

"Giroc!" Sinofar ordered sternly "How long must I suffer you Giroc, when you misuse the power." Giroc immediately shuffled her feet and Jenna's confusion began very slowly to ease.

Back at the clearing, Jenna heard the faint rustle of a booted footfall in the dry debris of fallen leaves, already too close to do anything useful about even if she wasn't still disorientated by Giroc's influence. Her vision was still spinning somewhat as two hands touched her shoulders from behind, not tightly but she froze in panic, not knowing if they were supporting her from falling or about to finish her off. Her heartbeat rose and she nearly screamed. That is until she realised that one of those hands was unnaturally hard, plastic digits of a prosthetic, not quite as dexterous as his other hand. The faintest scient of blaster oil caustic soap and the black coffee he drunk to keep himself focused after his constant nightmares of Blake or Servalan. She felt herself relax briefly in relief, letting out a shaken breath.

"Travis." her voice was sure, but his coarse voiced answer was still a conformation and she felt further relief from it.

"Of course. Who did you expect, Stannis."

Her relief was short lived however, when she registered why exactly he was here. It's not that she didn't want him by her side but she hadn't realised she'd be putting him in danger when she'd started all this. It wasn't a thought which she relished.

She pushed him back, frustrated with herself and the situation she'd unintentionally caused then turned and looked at him, her vision clearing as she did and her focus returning to normal. He was crouched down in the leaves behind her, but he didn't seem overly perturbed by being here, apparently being used to adapting to unprecedented missions or dangers, but she noticed his ice blue soldiers gaze looking her over for injuries, before satisfying himself that she was alright.

"I don't understand. Why did they choose you?" She said frustratedly, her brow creasing up in worry. As soon as she'd said that she knew it hadn't come out the way she'd meant it. Things never did in the heat of the moment did they.

"Why? Don't you trust me, Jenna? Don't I even have that." there was bitter mistrust and peevishness in Travis' own voice. He looked hurt by her words, especially when he'd tried to help and Jenna felt the need to reassure him.

"Of course you do! But Blake. I thought..."

"You thought what? That you had a better connection with Blake. You must do. Or you would not have believed it would be him." He was shouting at her now, frustration and vulnerability driving him to unstable anger. It was the only defence he had to feelings that he could not understand or control.

"No!" She tried to take his hand but he wouldn't let her, shaking her off violently.

"You do. You must do." He insisted, unable to accept the blonde pilots words. Everything in his mind, any retained memories was screaming at him that she would betray him, like everyone else had ever done, like Servalan had done to him so many times.

"It's not like that Travis, alright. I don't think that. Not at all, but they said..." Jenna began, her voice trying to settle him.

"They said what Jenna? Tell me?" his voice was slow. Pointed but still distrustful and tainted with bitter half pushed down anger and frustration. He wanted so badly to believe her, he just didn't know if he could or even should.

"The death of a friend, Sinofar told me. You're not... it's not the same. And it was Blake before." Jenna tried to explain, not really managing to get through what she meant.

"Well I can't just leave and come back as someone else can I. I'm what you've got. Even if I'm not what you wanted! Can you put up with me that long." Travis yelled back viciously; pain hidden behind his violent outburst.

"Travis please. That's not what I meant." She tried to hush gently, not allowing her temper to flare as he knew how he must have taken her words "I meant that you're more to me than that now. I didn't think she could pick you because of that. Oh God I'm such an idiot. I'd never have agreed if I thought it would be you. You don't hate me, do you?" The golden-haired smuggler looked tired somehow, worn. Travis swallowed thickly.

The ex-commander gripped her by the shoulders, looking her strait in the eye and she could see he was starting to believe her, his voice slower now and meaningfully poignant but still somewhat bitter "Did you really think that I would? I'm a soldier Jenna. Or I was before Servalan took that from me as well. I'm used to this. But you gave me a place to go. I won't forget that, or that you saved my life." That was unusually open for him.

"It wasn't just your life. You saved mine as well." Jenna replied with a classily gentle smile, and a sense of relief.

"I know, and you made me glad of that, but we still have to do this, don't we."

"Yes, I s'pose." She nodded with a rueful smile.

Jenna reached up to her shoulder where his flesh hand still held it and put her hand gently over his, as she tried to ready herself for what was to come. There explosive meeting had already taken some time. She took sustenance from the silence for a minute, and his presence.

His harsh but somehow gentle question shook her out of her thoughts.

"Your shaking Jenna. Are you sure that you'll be alright?"

"I'm just scared is all. This shouldn't have happened. I feel so guilty about it." she explained ruefully.

"Don't worry. I can handle myself Jenna. You know that. And I know that I can kill him. Alright Jenna. Do you trust me?" Killing Avon, she knew would not be so easy. He had inhuman reflexes, but he was removed from technology and that definitely decreased his odds, him being so dependent on his computer skills. Besides she did trust Travis, and his skills.

"Yes. Of course I do but be careful. I can't... can't lose you alright." The stutter revealed her emotional state.

"Of course. You have to be careful as well then. I could do this alone." Travis offered, but Jenna denied that suggestion immediately. The last thing she wanted was all the danger being put on Travis, the fire in her eyes showing.

"No! No I won't let you do that, but we can both be careful. We'll look out for each other. There's no one I'd rather have by my side than you. I just don't want to see you get hurt"

"Then let's not allow it. That only happens if we lose Jenna. We don't have to. Are you with me."

Jenna smiled coyly.

"Did you think I wouldn't be?"

"No. I just wanted to ask."

Travis got to his feet, waiting for Jenna to do the same before stalking away with a lithe long strided gait, and Jenna followed hotly. At least they worked well together. She probably had the best chance of survival with Travis, because they could read each other well, and they'd never double cross each other. That is if they could stop bickering for 10 damn minutes to get this done.

"Do you have any idea what to do?" Asked Jenna practically after a long moment.

"A hostage would be a good start. Do you have any idea who he's got" Travis considered quickly, training kicking in to make a quick on the spot decision.

She shook her head, her golden hair swaying about her shoulders as she did, then thought. "Probably Blake I should imagine" she replied with insight.

"Well, well. That gives us an advantage, because you can get close. He won't suspect that you'll kill him."

"I won't." She said firmly. "Not unless it's necessary anyway."

Jenna tried to ignore the dark look in Travis' crystal blue eye after she'd said that, but she knew it would catch up to them. She just didn't quite know when.

A mile or so away, Blake and Avon were making their way towards the free trader and ex space commander, arguing quietly over the semantics of Jenna's involvement in all this. Blake said that Jenna was obviously acting under duress. That she would never betray him willingly.

Avon said that Blake was being a sentimental fool and that trait would get him killed one day, besides Jenna hadn't actually betrayed Blake, and that Blake himself was being much the Hypocrite.

"So long as it's not today I don't really mind" Blake answered unbothered by Avon's calculated concern.

"However. In this case it appears that it very well might." Avon replied acidly.

Despite their differences, Jenna's two enemy combatants each had sharpened stakes and had begun to formulate a plan.

The dim edges of dusk began to fall on them all, as both crews of their representative ships watched their friends progress with growing worry.

Thank you for reading my fic, and I hope you have a lovely day.