DISCLAIMER:………………………………………………………

                        AN: *sigh* well it saddens me to say that we're getting towards the end of this fic. We still have like 2 more chapters to go, but we're still pretty close to the end so anyway, I thought I take this moment to look back at all the Alyson/Jim moments here have been in recent chapters. *reads over chapters* There aren't enough! All righty then, time to go major kissy-kissy-goo-goo on my story's ass! Maybe it would be a full fledge kiss-attack but there will definitely be some more action. And I can't wait for you to met Sir Rubin! You guys are gonna hate him! I kinda do, but he's my character so I don't hate a lot, but enough to let Jim call him a pretty-boy! :)

            And on a final note… Stelmaria: a lemon? Hmm, we'll see (maybe in the sequel!)

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Chapter Nine- Sir Rubin of Maryland

                        Alyson vainly tried to ease the pain in her aching arms.

            The dungeon was dank and dark. It had a thick musty smell and the squeaks of rats could be heard.

            There were chains lining all the walls and there was large gray-stone staircase leading to a brown door with a small window covered in black bars on the top of the stone walls. In the middle of the dungeons was a large pillar reaching all the way up to the ceiling of the dungeon. This was where Alyson, Jim, BEN and the crew was located.

            Jim was on Alyson's left and BEN was on her right. The rest of the crewmembers were on the other sides of BEN and Jim. From their groans of pains and grunts of tiredness, Alyson knew almost all of the crewmembers were asleep.

            How could anyone sleep like this? Alyson though and looked up at her hands, which were chained above her head. They ached from hanging up there and were starting to go numb. Alyson lowered her head and looked at the wooden bowl in her lap.

            The bowl had recently held her dinner. A soup with more water then juice and with very little meat or noodles. It had to be hand-feed to Alyson and the others because of the way their hands had been chained. Alyson, unfortunately, had been stuck with a womanizer as a feeder and had not choice but to listen to him talk about what he would be doing to her if his leader hadn't ordered him not to touch anyone.

            All she could think was how lucky that man was that her legs were pinned down to the ground by a black ball with a chain or he would've been suffering greatly in the most fragile place a man had.

            As Alyson thought this, her stomach growled. The soup she had been feed was more drink then food. The bits of meat and noodles in her soup had been so small; she could hardly remember tasting them.

            She groaned as her stomach roared in hunger, "I hope this leader gets here soon so I can either die or get some actual food."

            "That hungry, huh?" Said the sarcastic voice of the man she both hated and respected.

            Alyson craned her neck as far as it would allow to look at Jim, "I though you'd be asleep. Isn't that what you do best?"

            Jim growled and pulled against his chains, making them rattle, "Hardly. You must've confused me with yourself."

            Jim would have liked to be sleeping right now, anything to get his mind off of the numbing pain from his arms, but the voice of Alyson's feeder kept floating back into his mind. For reasons he didn't want to name, Jim had wanted to break free of the chains holding him prisoner and plow his fist into the feeder's face. Jim tried to not revert to violence, but sometimes it was necessary, but why had he wanted to protect Alyson? Jim told himself it was because he didn't like womanizing men. It gave a bad name to the better men, like himself.

            That had to be it, even if Alyson would've argued the last part of his thoughts, that was the reason. There was no other reason or he would not let there be any other.

            Alyson groaned in pain and rattled at her chains. Jim, more worried then he'd like to admit, asked, "Are you alright?"

            "My arms hurt like hell." Alyson said and then snorted, "I didn't think you would care."

            "Of course I care." Jim said and then, realizing he was admitting to feelings he had yet to admit to himself, he said, "You're my responsibility, after all. If something happens to you, I'm held accountable."

            "Of course." Alyson mumbled and Jim didn't even begin to hope that that was disappointment in her silvery voice. But then why did he want to hope? He didn't like Alyson, right? Oh, this was getting to confusing.

            Alyson prayed Jim didn't notice the sadness in her voice. Why did she care so much that Jim only worried about her because it was his job to look after her? She couldn't possibly like him! He was a rude, ass of a man!

            "Get some sleep, Professor." Jim mumbled, "We have no idea how long we'll be down here."

            Alyson nodded, "Of course. Goodnight, Captain… Jim."

            As Alyson slept Jim stayed awake for something was bothering him. This was the second time she had slipped. It was the second time she had called him 'Jim'. And what he hated to admit, he liked it. It seemed right hearing his name coming off Alyson's lips. Jim growled and shook his head.

            "I'm getting delusional." He muttered to himself, "The numbness from my arms must be going into my brain. I don't really like it when she calls me 'Jim'. I actually hate it, it's just that because my brain is numbing I'm thinking things backwards. Once my brain thaws, I'll see that I still hate the Professor."

            But it seemed hard to convince himself that.

                        Light poured into the dungeons and Alyson's eyes fluttered open. She was aware of the groans of Jim, BEN, and the crewmembers but found she did not have the strength in her to turn her head and look at any of them.

            Her arms were raw and aching from their position. She wanted to lower them into her lap and never left them again. She weakly rattled the chain holding her arms taunt and wasn't surprised when her arms didn't budge from their spot.

            She weakly raised her head and watched as the Earthling leader that had captured them come down the stairs, followed by his fellow warriors.

            Without a word, the Earthling took a key from his belt and unlocked the chains on Alyson's wrists. Alyson released a sigh of relief and her arms crashing into her lap. Alyson stood perfectly still, trying to get the feeling back into her arms.

            The Earthling leader went around and unlocked all the others' arms and they too released gasps of relief. Alyson was aware of them all standing up but couldn't seem to make herself stand as well.

            Jim walked over to her and with a scowl he helped her to her feet. Alyson placed a hand hard against the wall and steadied herself.

            "Our leader has returned." The Earthling said gruffly, "We are to take you to him so your fates may be decided."

            Jim nodded without saying a word and they followed the leader up the steps. Alyson fell behind them. She suddenly felt scared. She realized she had yet to fell any real fear expect when she and the others had first been captured, but now it was coming full-force. It made her heart pound and she almost collapsed to her knees but then she felt a metal hand take her own and squeeze it.

            Alyson looked over at BEN and the robot smiled, "Don't worry, Alyson," he said, "Jim will keep us safe."

            Alyson nodded, oddly reassured by that and joined the others in walking. She concentrated on just walking and not what waited them ahead.

            They were led back into the large dinning room. It was still empty except for the servants cleaning up from the breakfast the castle had just recently had.

            But this time, however, a man sat at the pointed chair in the back of the room. Alyson, Jim, BEN and the crew were pushed to him.

            Alyson was surprised at how good this man looked. He had golden hair and hazel eyes. His cheek bones were high and muscles showed clearly from his cloths. Unlike his men, this man wore a thick wool shirt and trousers.

            He looked over Jim, Alyson, BEN and the crew before saying to the other Earthling leader in a thick, bored voice, "You made me come all the way from my mother's village just to look at these people? They don't look dangerous at all. I'm disappointed, Akah."

            "But, sir, they were carrying these odd weapons that shot fire at us." The Earthling leader, Akah, said.

            "Well, you defeated them easily, didn't you?" The man said, looking very annoyed with the whole situation.

            Akah looked uneasy, "Yes but I thought that you might want to… that is… we've never seen them before… so…"

            The man shook his head and said, "Quiet, Akah." He said and then looked over at Jim once more and said, "You, are you the commander of these people?"

            Jim glared at the man for reasons unknown to Alyson. Why was Jim glaring at this man when he seemed to be on there side?

            "No," Jim answered coldly, "I'm the captain."
            The man looked at Jim in surprise when he heard Jim's cold tone and frowned, "Why you-" The man stopped suddenly when he saw Alyson. His frown became a smirk as he said, "Well, hello, my Lady. I wasn't aware I was in the presence of a Lady such as yourself. My I ask your name?"

            Alyson blushed hotly. She may be confused about her feelings for Jim but this man was terribly handsome and what girl wouldn't blush under his attention? Hastily, she stepped forward, ignoring Jim's angry glare at her, and offered the man her hand, like she had read about in her books.

            "Pro… Professor Alyson Chris… Christopher." Alyson stuttered, feeling embarrassed at her silly behavior.

            The man smiled and lightly pressed his red lips to Alyson's hand, "Professor…?" The man frowned but suddenly broke out in a charming smile, "Ah, you're a scholar, Lady. I am very pleased to meet you, Scholar Alyson Christopher. I am Sir Rubin of Maryland, the ruler of this land. May I inquire the lady what she and her men are doing here?"

            Alyson's blushed intensified. She had never been around such a charming man before. He talked like some kind of white knight. He was the kind of man you would think of as riding up to you on a huge horse and sweeping you into his arms.

            "We're… well, I am studying De- I mean Earth and taking my notes back home with me." Alyson explained.

            Sir Rubin's eyes lit up and he said, "Well, there is no better place then our land to study Earth. Maryland was very important to the United States before it collapsed. I would be happy to explain our Earthian history to you."

            Alyson forgot her blush and Jim's angry glare and said giddily, "Oh, would you? That would be so wonderful! I never thought I'd actually talk to an Earthling! But now I simply have to."

            Sir Rubin nodded, "Lady Scholar, it would be an honor." He glanced Alyson up and down, "But first, I think it would be best if we put you in more suitable cloths."

            Alyson glanced down at her attire. It was the same outfit she had first worn onto the Fate, "What's wrong with my cloths?"

            Sir Rubin smiled, "Nothing. Nothing really, except that most of my people are accustomed to seeing women in dresses. You're current attire may cause a riot and quite a lot of protests to your being here."

            Alyson frowned and muttered, "Of course. I suppose I'll go with it. Where should I get changed?"

            "I'll have a servant lead you to the woman's quarters." Sir Rubin shouted something in a strange tongue that all the Earthlings seemed to speak and the little girl that Alyson had seen the day before quickly hurried over to them. She bowed and looked up at Alyson's with wide, light blue eyes.

            "Please, Lady, come with me." The child said politely.

            Alyson glanced over at Jim, for reassurance, but found the darkly handsome captain was angry at her and all he gave her was a glare.

            For some reason, Jim's glare hurt Alyson more then she'd care to admit. So, her pride pounding in her chest, Alyson thrust her chin forward and followed the little girl out of the room.

                        Alyson was led to a beautiful white room with a huge glass roof. The floor was white marble and cool. The room was high off the ground for when Alyson looked over at the left wall, which was made entirely of glass; she could see the forest and the mountains behind it. All the windows had curtains. The material of the curtains looked to be sheer. They looked as fragile and delicate as a new born baby. They fluttered with every single breeze and gave the room a peaceful feeling.

            What caught Alyson the most off guard was the beautiful off-white marble pool in the middle of the room. It was large and at each side of the front of the pool was a statue of a maiden with a pitcher in her hands. The stone maiden's pitcher poured water into the pool.

            The child sailed past Alyson and pulled the sheer curtain across the windows, though Alyson doubted it would give her any privacy. The curtains were so sheer they were see-through.

            When the child had pulled the last curtain over the window she said, "Please removed your cloths and step into the bath."

            Alyson face went pale, "What!? But… but I thought I only had to change! I never thought I had to take a bath!"

            The child turned and offered Alyson a wary smile, "Please, my Lady, it is custom here in Maryland that all guest of our master, Sir Rubin, be given a bath before given his or her cloths."

            Alyson shook her head at how absurd that was but said, "Very well. But turn around. I don't want you looking."

            The child looked actually amused as she said, "Whatever my Lady desires." She wheeled around back to the window.

            Alyson turned as well and began to peel off her cloths. As she peeled them off, she realized she needed a bath. She had been so hot and sweaty for the past day or so that he cloths had begun to stick to her body.

            When Alyson had all her cloths in a neat pile, she stepped into the crystal-water pool. Her body instantly sighed with relief. The pool was deeper then she originally had thought. The water covered her up to her breasts. But having her private areas covered by this kind of water wouldn't help much. They water was so clear and perfect that Alyson could see every inch of her body.

            When the child was sure Alyson was in the pool, she turned and said, "If my Lady wishes it, I can have foam brought into the pool."

            Alyson was a little embarrassed at her uneasiness with her nudity but she said, "Thank you."

            The child smiled and walked over to the stone maiden to Alyson's left and pressed a button on the back of the maiden. Suddenly, as the water poured from the maiden's pitcher, it was joined by foam.

            When the pool was filled completely with foam, the child said, "I shall go get more servants to aid you in your bath."
            Alyson wheeled around and watched as the child opened the door. She called, "Wait!"

            The child stopped and turned, "Yes, my Lady?"
            Alyson felt her smile at the child. She was such a small thing and she looked like she was one of the top servants here. Feeling like she should know this child better, Alyson said, "What is your name?"

            The child looked taken aback at Alyson's question. Alyson guessed the child wasn't used to guests or other nobles asking her name.

            But then the child said, "Kallen, my Lady." Then she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Alyson alone.

                        Kallen indeed did bring more servants, but she herself did not come back. Alyson wondered where she was.

            The servants were all women and they went about their duty without so much as a word. As they washed Alyson's hair she could hear them talk amongst themselves in the Earthian language she did not understand. Alyson promised herself that she would teach herself how to speak this language of the Earthlings.

            After what she like was incredibly enjoyable hours, Alyson was pulled from the pool and wrapped in a very soft towel. She was then led to a back door which led to a changing room filled with mirrors.

            Then Kallen walked in with a purple bundle in her arms. She placed the bundle at Alyson's feet.

            "This is the outfit that you should where to Lord Rubin's feast." Kallen said smiling lightly.

            Alyson nodded and picked up the bundle. She grabbed the edges of the sleeves and allowed the rest of the dress to tumble to the ground. The dress was made of the same sheer material as the curtains only this outfit wasn't see-through. Alyson put it on and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress had spaghetti straps and a low neckline that curved into an oval. The fabric beneath the neckline was wrinkled purposely. The dress curved against her waist and breasts so it pretty much left nothing to the imagination. And it traveled all the way to the floor. Kallen gave Alyson black sandals. The final touch to the dress was a gold belt that went high on her left hip and low on her right hip. It made her look like she was in fact part of Earth.

            "You look very pretty, my Lady." Kallen said.

            Alyson turned and looked over at Kallen, "Please, Kallen, call me Alyson. I'd like to be friends with you."

            For the first time Alyson really looked at Kallen. Now that she was close to Kallen, Alyson saw she was about 8 years of age. She had messy dirty blonde hair with hazel-green eyes. Her skin was bronze from working out in the sun all day and her fingernails were very dirty.

            Kallen blushed heavily and said, "My la- I mean Alyson. Thank you. No guest of Lord Rubin has ever been so kind to me."

            Alyson offered the child a smile, "How did you become a servant of Sir Rubin, Kallen?"

            Kallen sighed and said, "Sir Rubin waged war against my land, New York. We were ill prepared for his sudden attack and we could not defend ourselves. Lord Rubin's men killed most of the adults but he allowed the little children to live. Most of the teenagers were allowed to live as well, unless they tried to retaliate against Lord Rubin's armies. Some of them did. Most of them didn't. When New York finally surrounded, Sir Rubin left the babies in care of the survivors at New York. Then he took the teenagers, and some of the younglings like me, back to Maryland where we became servants for Sir Rubin."

            Alyson frowned, "That's horrible."

            "That is our life." Kallen countered, "We know nothing else."

            Alyson sighed, "It still doesn't make it right."

            "Maybe not but it is better then death, Alyson." Kallen mumbled and then said suddenly, "It's time for you to go down. We don't want to keep Lord Rubin waiting." Alyson had the feeling that Kallen did not wish to speak anymore of her life.

            "Where will you be?" Alyson asked as Kallen opened another door for her. Alyson guessed it led to the hallway.

            "In the servants' quarters." Kallen answered, "I shall see you when you go to bed tonight. Lord Rubin wishes me to be your personal servant while you stay here."

            Alyson nodded and smiled when she remembered all she was going to learn from Sir Rubin, "Sir Rubin is a very kind man. I am lucky it is him I am spending my time here on Earth with."

            Kallen's hands trembled for a moments but Alyson was to busy daydreaming about all she was going to learn to notice. Kallen's eyes hardened for a brief second but then she turned back to Alyson and they were clear and blank.

            "Yes," Kallen said tightly, forcing herself to smile, "Lord Rubin of Maryland is a very kind man."

                        Jim sipped his wine and almost gagged it back up. These people wouldn't know good food or drink if it came up and bit them on the ass.

            Jim reached for his water and pushed his wine away from him. At least the water here wasn't bad, but then how could you get bad water? The food wasn't so bad either, as long as you only ate the meat.

            Jim looked over at the dinning room. It was empty except for him, his crewmembers, BEN and Sir Rubin of Maryland.

            At the thought of the pretty-boy leader, Jim jerked his head to the front of the table. He scowled as he watched Sir Rubin and BEN chatter.

            For some reason Jim had instantly disliked the man. He was too polished to be part of such a primitive world. Too suave. Or maybe he was just jealous. Jim frowned at that part. No, he couldn't be jealous. What did he care that if Alyson was falling for his charms? It would keep her out of his hair, wouldn't it?

            But he did care. In fact, when Sir Rubin had been flirting with Alyson, Jim had wanted to drag Alyson out of the room by her pretty hair and put his brand on her. And that was ridiculous since he didn't even like Alyson! He hated her with a passion. If she wanted to have some kind of affair with a man that she shouldn't give a second look to that was her fault, wasn't it? He didn't care that if in the end she decided to stay on Earth. One less annoying woman to deal with.

            But yet again he went back to the fact that he did care. Ah, hell, he was jealous. Jim shook his head, no he wasn't jealous. He was simply… simply… simply annoyed that a woman as smart as Alyson would fall for the guy who was obviously used to having women simply fall at his feet. Yeah, that was it. He was annoyed, not jealous.

            Content with that, Jim leaned back in his chair. When the door to the dinning room opened, Jim almost fell off. All his content feelings disappeared when Alyson walked in the door.

            What the hell was she wearing? was he first thought and his second was: by God that was what these people wanted their women to wear? That thing was so sheer he swore it was almost see-through! And the way it formed Alyson's body… Jesus!

            All Jim's crewmembers seemed to be having the same thoughts as him because they were staring at the professor with their mouths agape. Jim understood their shock; they had never seen Alyson in a dress before. But he did not understand his shook. He had seen Alyson in a dress before. Sure it hadn't been as risqué as this one but it still had been revealing. So why was he staring at her with his mouth wide open?

            Alyson smiled but Jim realized that the smile was for Sir Rubin. That realization was like a swift kick in the gut. She wasn't smiling at him; she was smiling at Sir Rubin! And Sir Rubin was smiling back!

            Jim noticed with a frown that Sir Rubin seemed to be quite taken with Alyson's newly revealed beauty. That made him growl. What also irked him was the fact that Alyson had not looked his way once. In fact, Jim would say Alyson was doing her best not to look at him at all. That was odd since just about an hour ago Alyson had been constantly looking to him for assurance.

            I shouldn't have glared at her; Jim thought and then shook his head. Of he should've! That woman deserved it.

            I won't let this get under my skin, Jim thought. He watched Sir Rubin say something to Alyson that made her laugh and Jim groaned. It already had.

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            Don't you hate Sir Rubin? Watch out Jim! He's going after Alyson. You can guess Jim's not liking this to much. It's so fun to throw in a character that stands in the way of a romance! But maybe Sir Rubin will make Jim realize his true feelings for Alyson… probably not though.

            Anyway, stay tuned for Chapter Ten: When Push Comes to Shove. What's Jim to do when Sir Rubin pounces Alyson? Get really jealous and blame Alyson! Only, that isn't going to work out exactly like he planned… Don't forget to review me!

                        A wise man once said: "I don't know, go ask a woman."

                                    -Lizzy Rebel