Chapter Twenty
Roger soon found out that Rowan was serious about the pain. He began to feel like a human pincushion from all the needles she was sticking into him...and this was just the beginning. She needed samples of everything, it seemed: blood, urine, hair, spinal fluid, skin, semen, bone marrow - he lost count. She even snuck him into a newly-opened medical clinic owned by a trusted friend and secretly used their MRI and CT facilities.
She found what she was looking for in the brain scans and spinal fluid. "My god," Ro murmured to herself, "I think I can stop this!" She woke Roger, who had been catnapping on a nearby cot. They had both been sleeping just an hour or so here and there since all this had begun.
Roger sat up, still a little groggy from lack of sleep and too many lab tests. His hair was a mess, and he badly needed a shave but he was too tired to care. He rolled up one sleeve and shoved his bruised bare arm towards Ro.
"Just stick it anywhere you find a vein - it all hurts," he muttered. To his surprise, Rowan kissed his hand instead of shoving a needle into it. "I think I found an answer!" she said excitedly. That woke Roger up.
"You're sure?" She nodded yes. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it!" He got up and followed her to her worktable, which was covered with lab results, test tubes, and petri dishes. Several vials of liquid were there too, including the oily red one from Rosewater. Roger noticed some of the labwork had Gordon Rosewater's name on it. He pointed to it: "What is that here for?"
Ro smiled her delicious crooked smile for the first time in days. "It's ironic, but Gordon's health problems helped provide your cure." She picked up a small bottle of colorless fluid. "This is the last batch of medicine I made for him. Combined with this" she pointed to the evil-looking red liquid, "I can stop the process in you. You won't go back to where you were before this started, but you won't lose much more of yourself either...and it will act like a vaccine. They will never be able to restart it again. You'll be free of them." She positively glowed with elation.
Roger took her face in both hands. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asked, then kissed her tenderly. "We'll beat those bastards at their own game," he continued, "so tell me what you need to do."
"More needles, I'm afraid," Rowan said. "I am going to inject both of these into your spinal cord, and it is going to hurt like hell." Roger grimaced, then shrugged. "Whatever it takes," he said.
Rowan turned back to her worktable and filled two hypodermics, one with clear liquid, the other with red. "take your shirt off and lie down on your stomach," she directed Roger. He returned to the cot and did so. She generously disinfected his low back with antiseptic - the cold liquid made him jump slightly.
"Okay, love, be still now...I'll be as quick as I can," Rowan murmured behind him. He could feel her hand on his low back, then without warning the needle pierced him. It wasn't too bad after the initial shock, he thought, not what he had expected at all. He felt her pull it out in one smooth movement.
"Last one," Rowan said, and plunged the second hypo into his back. Roger yelped - he could feel the liquid burn as it spread thorugh him. He flashed back to the darkened cockpit for a moment...this must be Rosewater's drug, he thought. After what seemed like forever, Rowan removed the second needle. She applied more antiseptic to his back, then bandaged both punctures.
"Don't move," she said firmly. "You have to stay there for an hour." Daestar pulled a stool over and sat down next to him. She began to gently rub his upper back.
Roger began to relax under her touch. Somehow, even the intense burning of the drug seemed less painful. Rowan started humming softly as she stroked him. It was the same tune he had heard her hum the day he'd asked her to marry him. He lost himself in the melody, letting his mind drift between memory and fantasy.
Gradually Roger found himself back at the Policeman's Ball, splendid in his dress blue uniform. Rowan was in his arms, wearing a dark velvet gown that flowed like water around her body. They were dancing, gliding effortlessly across the dance floor, moving as one.
The music slowed, deepened, became richer in tone as the images slowly changed. They were naked in bed together, Rowan still in his arms, sharing their passion, again moving as one in a dance as old as time. Rowan cried out his name, and suddenly he was alone in the dim red cockpit of Big O, her voice a distant echo in the surrounding darkness.
Fire licked at the edges of his mind, threatening everything he held dear, burning memories like old photographs - NO, his soul roared, this shall NOT be! His fury pushed the flames back into the darkness, their acrid smell quickly fading.
Slowly he became aware of cool green leaves scenting the air, cool green eyes reflecting his image. I still know you, his soul said, I know who I am, I know who you are, I know who WE are: Roger and Ro.
He awoke with a start. He was still lying on his stomach. The burning was gone. He felt peaceful. More importantly, he felt whole.
"Roger?" He turned towards her, closely looking at her beautiful face, her still-familiar face.
"You fell asleep for a couple of hours. You can sit up if you want." Roger pushed himself up carefully from the cot. There was just the slightest ache in his low back. He reached out with one hand and gently touched her smooth cheek.
"Do you know who I am?" Rowan asked tentatively. He was looking at her so strangely!
Roger smiled. "You're my Rowan," he said. "I haven't forgotten. You are going to be my wife in a week. You are carrying our child." Joyfully he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto his lap. Ro hugged his neck hard, almost afraid to believe their success.
Roger began to shout: "We beat the bastards, Ro, and we're not done yet! We'll succeed despite them, and we'll use their weapon against them too! WE will command Big O, not be commanded...it will be a force for good, not evil! I promise you that, whatever else happens!"
*******************************
Rowan had the courier return the empty vial and used hypodermic needle to Rosewater. She had indeed complied with Alex's wishes and this was the proof he had demanded. He could have his people check the DNA on the needle. The fact that she had found a way around his expected results didn't matter. He had never said she couldn't try to do so.
Roger and the Big O would be connected forever, but that was okay too. Smith freely shared this new part of himself with her now. Her fear of the Megadeus was replaced with respect. The Big was a powerful tool, and in the right hands would be a force for justice. Roger truly was destined to be its pilot, for (in Rowan's mind, at least) he was not guilty of anything, save for being pure of heart.
Roger soon found out that Rowan was serious about the pain. He began to feel like a human pincushion from all the needles she was sticking into him...and this was just the beginning. She needed samples of everything, it seemed: blood, urine, hair, spinal fluid, skin, semen, bone marrow - he lost count. She even snuck him into a newly-opened medical clinic owned by a trusted friend and secretly used their MRI and CT facilities.
She found what she was looking for in the brain scans and spinal fluid. "My god," Ro murmured to herself, "I think I can stop this!" She woke Roger, who had been catnapping on a nearby cot. They had both been sleeping just an hour or so here and there since all this had begun.
Roger sat up, still a little groggy from lack of sleep and too many lab tests. His hair was a mess, and he badly needed a shave but he was too tired to care. He rolled up one sleeve and shoved his bruised bare arm towards Ro.
"Just stick it anywhere you find a vein - it all hurts," he muttered. To his surprise, Rowan kissed his hand instead of shoving a needle into it. "I think I found an answer!" she said excitedly. That woke Roger up.
"You're sure?" She nodded yes. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it!" He got up and followed her to her worktable, which was covered with lab results, test tubes, and petri dishes. Several vials of liquid were there too, including the oily red one from Rosewater. Roger noticed some of the labwork had Gordon Rosewater's name on it. He pointed to it: "What is that here for?"
Ro smiled her delicious crooked smile for the first time in days. "It's ironic, but Gordon's health problems helped provide your cure." She picked up a small bottle of colorless fluid. "This is the last batch of medicine I made for him. Combined with this" she pointed to the evil-looking red liquid, "I can stop the process in you. You won't go back to where you were before this started, but you won't lose much more of yourself either...and it will act like a vaccine. They will never be able to restart it again. You'll be free of them." She positively glowed with elation.
Roger took her face in both hands. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asked, then kissed her tenderly. "We'll beat those bastards at their own game," he continued, "so tell me what you need to do."
"More needles, I'm afraid," Rowan said. "I am going to inject both of these into your spinal cord, and it is going to hurt like hell." Roger grimaced, then shrugged. "Whatever it takes," he said.
Rowan turned back to her worktable and filled two hypodermics, one with clear liquid, the other with red. "take your shirt off and lie down on your stomach," she directed Roger. He returned to the cot and did so. She generously disinfected his low back with antiseptic - the cold liquid made him jump slightly.
"Okay, love, be still now...I'll be as quick as I can," Rowan murmured behind him. He could feel her hand on his low back, then without warning the needle pierced him. It wasn't too bad after the initial shock, he thought, not what he had expected at all. He felt her pull it out in one smooth movement.
"Last one," Rowan said, and plunged the second hypo into his back. Roger yelped - he could feel the liquid burn as it spread thorugh him. He flashed back to the darkened cockpit for a moment...this must be Rosewater's drug, he thought. After what seemed like forever, Rowan removed the second needle. She applied more antiseptic to his back, then bandaged both punctures.
"Don't move," she said firmly. "You have to stay there for an hour." Daestar pulled a stool over and sat down next to him. She began to gently rub his upper back.
Roger began to relax under her touch. Somehow, even the intense burning of the drug seemed less painful. Rowan started humming softly as she stroked him. It was the same tune he had heard her hum the day he'd asked her to marry him. He lost himself in the melody, letting his mind drift between memory and fantasy.
Gradually Roger found himself back at the Policeman's Ball, splendid in his dress blue uniform. Rowan was in his arms, wearing a dark velvet gown that flowed like water around her body. They were dancing, gliding effortlessly across the dance floor, moving as one.
The music slowed, deepened, became richer in tone as the images slowly changed. They were naked in bed together, Rowan still in his arms, sharing their passion, again moving as one in a dance as old as time. Rowan cried out his name, and suddenly he was alone in the dim red cockpit of Big O, her voice a distant echo in the surrounding darkness.
Fire licked at the edges of his mind, threatening everything he held dear, burning memories like old photographs - NO, his soul roared, this shall NOT be! His fury pushed the flames back into the darkness, their acrid smell quickly fading.
Slowly he became aware of cool green leaves scenting the air, cool green eyes reflecting his image. I still know you, his soul said, I know who I am, I know who you are, I know who WE are: Roger and Ro.
He awoke with a start. He was still lying on his stomach. The burning was gone. He felt peaceful. More importantly, he felt whole.
"Roger?" He turned towards her, closely looking at her beautiful face, her still-familiar face.
"You fell asleep for a couple of hours. You can sit up if you want." Roger pushed himself up carefully from the cot. There was just the slightest ache in his low back. He reached out with one hand and gently touched her smooth cheek.
"Do you know who I am?" Rowan asked tentatively. He was looking at her so strangely!
Roger smiled. "You're my Rowan," he said. "I haven't forgotten. You are going to be my wife in a week. You are carrying our child." Joyfully he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto his lap. Ro hugged his neck hard, almost afraid to believe their success.
Roger began to shout: "We beat the bastards, Ro, and we're not done yet! We'll succeed despite them, and we'll use their weapon against them too! WE will command Big O, not be commanded...it will be a force for good, not evil! I promise you that, whatever else happens!"
*******************************
Rowan had the courier return the empty vial and used hypodermic needle to Rosewater. She had indeed complied with Alex's wishes and this was the proof he had demanded. He could have his people check the DNA on the needle. The fact that she had found a way around his expected results didn't matter. He had never said she couldn't try to do so.
Roger and the Big O would be connected forever, but that was okay too. Smith freely shared this new part of himself with her now. Her fear of the Megadeus was replaced with respect. The Big was a powerful tool, and in the right hands would be a force for justice. Roger truly was destined to be its pilot, for (in Rowan's mind, at least) he was not guilty of anything, save for being pure of heart.