Hi everyone, sorry
about the wait. Been getting my website going and back at school so its taking
longer now, so sorry 'bout that! Not to plug or anything, but the site's got
kind of a looking sorry for itself Guest Book-
http://inside.the.computer.tripod.com/index.html Its not a bad site but I do
need feedback desperately!
Anyways, back to
the story- hope you're still with me!
"No!
Damien, don't!" Bob cried desperately at him, but locking stares with Dot
instead of Damien. She looked so pale, almost white, and Bob noticed the bonds
around her legs prevented her from being able to stand properly. Bob didn't
look much better. He hadn't slept at all since the night before he found the
diner in a mess, now almost 48 micros earlier. The only vague relief Bob found
from this situation was that Dot was wearing her thick leather body armour. He
just hoped it had minimised the extent of her injuries while his 'old
acquaintance' had kept her there.
"Bob! It's good to see you again,
Blue-boy!" Damien greeted him, deliberately using the old nickname to make
Bob cringe.
Bob pointedly ignored him, trying to
understand what Dot was trying to tell him without provoking Damien any
further. He had noticed the way she tried to pull against the restraints behind
her back, every couple of nanos a flicker of pain crossed her face as either
the knife or the wire dug into her skin. She was trying to mouth a message to
him at the same time, her lips forming the same word over and over, which he
guessed was 'trap'.
Trap? This was a trap? He didn't care
if it was or not. It didn't make any difference to him, he just knew he had to
get them both out of this intact- or he'd never forgive himself.
Her eyes darted from left to right as
she mouthed "Go!" Forget both of them getting out intact, Bob
corrected himself mentally, he just wanted Dot out of this mess safely, and she
wanted him to 'go'?
'You seriously think I'm leaving you
alone with this guy again? It's not going to happen,' Bob thought as he stared
at her defiantly. After all, he knew what Damien was capable of, and from the
rather more vivid memories of the Academy, he knew that he wasn't going to let
Dot unintentionally become like the others...
Dot felt her aching limbs throb
painfully, her legs almost collapsing under her. Damien pulled her up straight
again roughly, uncaring about her discomfort. As he did so he noticed Bob step
forward offensively, breaking eye contact with Dot to glare at him. Damien
smirked at him and then kissed the side of Dot's face tenderly, gleefully
watching for Bob's reaction. The action provoked Dot, the knife still at her
throat, to jerk away dangerously, and a furious response from Bob.
"Don't touch her Damien! Leave
her alone!"
"Did I hit a raw nerve there,
Bob?"
"Just leave her alone." Bob
repeated in a low voice.
"So how come you're so attached
to this one then huh? Bit different from the ones at the Academy, isn't
she?" Damien grasped a handful of her hair and pulled her head back as she
threatened to collapse again, causing her to cry out angrily.
"Damien!" Bob cried out with
his own anger, moving forward but barely realising it.
"Watch it there, Bob."
Damien warned, pulling Dot back a few steps. "Wouldn't want the knife to
slip now, would we?"
"What do you want?" Bob
asked, wishing he could get close enough.
"Well I'm pretty sure your
deletion was in the plan somewhere - but I don't make the plans."
"Will you let Dot go if I stay
here?" Bob asked, his attempt at a bargain - which he had no intention of
sticking to, provoked nothing but a laugh from Damien.
"You think I'd be basic enough to
strike a deal? With you? Anyway, now I've gotten used to the stubbornness
-" he jerked her head back painfully again with a fistful of her hair,
exposing the full length of her neck to the shrp blade. "- I kind've like
her."
"Quit with the games Damien. What
do I have to do to get Dot out of this?"
"That's down to the boss -"
"Who's 'the boss'?"
"An old friend of yours shall we
say. He'll be making an appearance soon," Damien answered cryptically.
"Another 'old friend'? To put a cliche
to good use Damien, with friends like you, who needs enemies?"
"I think you're forgetting who
has the upper-hand here, Bob."
"Will you at least put the knife
down?" He pressed on, the urge to tear this guy apart was beginning to
overwehlm him, making it a struggle to keep the fury out of his voice.
Something that wasn't entirely surprising, although it didn't make him feel any
better, was the fact that Damien didn't seem to be infected, so had his own
mind about what he was doing. Bob repressed a shudder at the realisation,
searching again for a way to tackle him without endangering Dot. "Or let
her sit down, she can't even stand up like that."
Dot was trying desperatly to to move
her wrists enough so she could elbow Damien and hopefully get away. Thankfully
the initial fear when Damien had pulled the knife had been replaced with anger,
heightened by the growing feeling of being treated like a rag-doll by both men in the room, which sufficed to
annoy her more.
"You wanna sit down, baby?"
Damien was smiling at her cruelly again, jerking her head back a third time.
Ignoring the almost unbearable pain of the too-tight wire, Dot finally managed
to cross her wrists and awkwardly send both arms backwards in a burst of
strength.
More from surprise than injury, Damien
reeled back slightly, giving Dot enough time to push herself sideways, out of
his grasp. Damien had immeadiatly realised his mistake, grabbing for her again,
the knife slicing through her armour and to her shoulder. She fell painfully on
her other shoulder, seeing a flash of light soar across the room as Bob sent an
energy beam from his hands. But instead of the powerful blast sending Damien to
the far wall, it disappeared into his black-covered chest, lighting up orange
as the energy spread through his body.
"It can't be..." Dot gasped,
wide-eyed.
Bob didn't let it startle him enough
to let down his guard, using brute force instead of energy as he shoved Damien
back the last couple of feet to the wall. Damien made good use of the absorbed
energy as he promptly punched Bob in the stomach. Bob sent back a few blows of
his own, thankful he could vent his anger. Insults and jabs were exchanged
simultaniously to the fighting, some of which Dot didn't understand because
they were about the Academy. Just as Bob sent a stinging backhand across
Damien's face which sent him to the floor, Dot heard the shouts from outside,
one of which she was sure belonged to Mouse. Apperently Damien had heard it as
well, as she saw him get up and hit Bob in the face, then say;
"You know how I hate
crowds." And disappear.
Bob stared in front of him for a nano
and then shook his head as if telling himself he couldn't have seen that.
It took about three strides to cross
the room, and by that time all fury at Damien on his face was replaced with
deep concern as he kneeled to hug her tightly. They sat in a consoling silence
for a while, until Bob pulled back and Dot saw the harsh red bruise beginning
to form on his cheek.
"You're hurt," she told him
quietly. He shook his head and pulled her to him again. Suddenly Dot couldn't
stand the sharp pain in her wrists any longer, but didn't want him to let go.
"Bob...my arms..." Dot
whispered after what seemed like micros in his safe embrace. Bob pulled back
and stared at her as though he didn't understand what she had said. He shook
his head slightly to clear his thoughts, but the distant look was still in his
eyes.
Now kneeling on the floor next to her,
Bob grasped her wrists gently, trying to ignore how deep the cuts were. Using a
tiny amount of red hot energy from one finger, he cut straight through the wire
and pulled the remains away carefully. Bob did the same with her ankles,
although injury was minimal thanks to the thick boots and armour.
"Bob, are you okay?" Dot
asked quietly, concerned that he seemed to be in a trance. Bob stared at her
again, then placed his hands on her face tenderly.
"I thought I'd lost you
again." He whispered, looking deeply into her eyes like he wasn't sure if
she was really there. Bob leaned forward and kissed her softly, still unsure if
it was real, but suddenly snapped out of it, needing to know what Damien had
done to her.
"Dot, did he hurt you? Did he
touch you?" He asked urgently, his hands still on her face, gently
stroking away her dark hair from her eyes.
Dot didn't reply, only clung to him
tighter,the shock beginning to set in now. Her wrists and ankles ached, still
feeling strange to be able to move freely. She buried her head in his chest, a desperate, panicky feeling
settling over her.
"Let's get you out of here,"
Bob said gently, helping her to stand, slowly. He noticed immeadiatly that she
was shaking all over, whether from cold or shock or something else, he wasn't
sure. Maybe all three. Bob interlaced his fingers through hers, smiling warmly.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." Came the shaky
reply as she tried to calm the trembling in her legs.
"Will you be okay to walk?"
Dot nodded, eager to get out of the room,
but as soon as she moved a wave of dizziness overcame her. Grabbing hold of
Bob's arm with both hands to steady herself, she kept still and waited for it
to pass.
"Dot, you've just gone ten shades
paler! What's -"
"No, I'm okay. Just a bit dizzy
for a nano there, that's all."
"If you're sure..."
"I want to get away from here.
Please, can we just go?"
Bob considered carrying her, but knew
that Dot wouldn't let him, so carefully led her out the door, into the ally
outside. Dot was watching the ground, stepping tentitivly and had her left hand
entertwined with Bob's right, as well as holding his arm with her other hand
for support. The trembling was getting no better and it seemed so cold
outside...
"Dot honey!" Mouse shouted
in delighted surprise from a couple of buildings up the ally. "Are ya
hurt? What happened?"
"It's okay, Mouse. We can sort it
out later. Can you call all the -" Bob began to instruct her, but stopped
when Dot's hand tightened on his arm. "You need a doctor, Dot. I'll take
you to the P.O., okay?"
Dot shook her head. "Not the
infirmary. I'm okay. I just need to lie down."
"Ah'm glad ta see ya sugah. Ah'll
call Matrix and AndrAIa, and you get some rest at home," Mouse told her gently, emphasizing the last part for
Bob's benefit and an 'I'll explain later' look answered his puzzled expression.
She gained a weak smile from Dot in reply as she turned to sort out the search
teams.
"You want to go home? Or my
place?" Bob asked her softly, secretly against taking her back to her
apartment in case she insisted on being alone.
"Not mine. Yours- safer-
it's-" Dot closed her eyes and gripped Bob's arm tightly to stop herself
pitching forward.
"It's okay, it's okay. I'll take
you back to-"
"Bob- can't stay- awake- its so cold..." Her broken words trailed
off as her eyes closed again and she fell. Warm, painfree unconscious taking
ahold of her...
To be continued…