7
Marcus rushed over to Sekhmet/Bastet and put her head in his lap. "I'm sorry."
"Marc…"
"Sekhmet?" he asked. "Is that you?" There wasn't an answer, but she was smiling. He held brushed her hair out of her face and held her close.
At last, Sekhmet moaned and opened her eyes -- her blue eyes. She was back. "Welcome back." Marcus replied, running his hand through her hair. She smiled, struggling to sit upright until she was able to turn around and look at him. "Marcus… did you… did you mean what you said?"
He nodded. "Yes... yes I did."
Tears filled her eyes as she lunged forward, throwing her arms around his waist and burying her face in his stomach. "Marcus…." "It will be alright..." He tried his best to hold her. "Marcus… I think that… I love you too…."
He ran a hand through her hair, smiling. She looked up at him with a shy smile.
"The rebels will be able to fix your programming, do not worry."
"I'm not," she replied softly, sitting upright again. He looked to the door. "Now… where do we go?"
"Somewhere Agents and the Merovingian aren't?" she suggested. "In any case, we should not remain here… we may attract undue attention to our new friends' hideout." Sekhmet nodded firmly before looking out the window. "It's dark, anyway. We can leave now." He rose to his feet, a little shaky. "Then let us leave." Sekhmet noticed his unsteadiness. "Are you all right?"
"I am fine... just a little... hungry."
Her eyes widened. "You eat by preying on humans, right?"
He nodded. "Yes..."
She hesitated. "How… much blood do you need?" "I am not sure... a lot... and it must be from a human, I cannot feed on a program." He replied. Sekhmet bit her lip. "We have to move, then."
"Sorry... it was partially a security function... the Merovingian knew he would not be safe if I could draw energy from him." He started stumbling on shaky legs for the door. Sekhmet slid under his shoulder to support him. "My feeding may attract some attention from Agents. It may not take long, but we will have to run afterward." He opened the door and walked out with Sekhmet.
She nodded her understanding and soon pointed out a human. Marcus slid away from Sekhmet and into the shadows. Slowly, quietly, he grabbed the human and pulled him into an alley. The cat-girl turned her face, unable to watch. However, her mind churned with a sudden idea. Marcus pulled out of the alley, energized. He grabbed her arm. "Come on... we have to make space between us and this area."
She nodded. "Marcus… did you…."
He shook his head. "No, not completely."
"So he'll live?"
"I believe so... if you wish to call an ambulance."
Sekhmet nodded. "Do you have a phone?"
He handed her the rebel' s cell phone. "Yes... but we must keep moving as you speak." "I know." Sekhmet dialled 911 quickly and gave the person as many details as she safely could. "I wish I did not have to do that... but I my program no longer receives an energy source... so I must siphon some from a human... which causes a noticeable disruption." Marcus explained.
Sekhmet did not answer. Her idea was gaining strength. "They're on their way to him. Let's hurry." They did indeed hurry, and ducked inside an alleyway. "We need to find a way to hide your animal features."
"I need a long coat and a hat."
He nodded. "Should not be hard to find... first, however, we need a place to hide during the daylight." Sekhmet nodded. "A good thing cats are nocturnal, yes?" she said, smiling at him. He smiled back. "Yes, very good."
"Shall we look for a place to stay?" she asked him, sliding her hand in his. He smiled and nodded. "Yes, lets." She smiled back, keeping her hand curled around his larger hand. "Left or right?" "Right." He said after thinking for a moment. She started off in that direction confidently, tugging at his hand to drag him behind her. She turned her head to him and giggled mischievously. He smiled back, but he still seemed a little melancholy, distracted.
"Marcus? What's bothering you?"
"It's... nothing." He tried to smile back.
"You can tell me."
"As long as my programming is in place... kissing and other showings of affection… trigger the feeding mechanism."
Her hand loosened in his. "Why?" "You can still hold my hand... it's part of my programming." She squeezed his hand. "But why be programmed that way?" "Ask the Merovingian." He replied. Sekhmet sighed. "Figures."
Marcus looked around a little. "Perhaps a hotel would serve our needs."
"How would we pay for rooms, though?"
He shrugged. "I do not know... but I do know we need some place to hide during daylight." She nodded. "We can always sleep in empty rooms… just swipe the keys and we're fine."
"You have a point." He replied. "But, where?"
"Anywhere is good, as long as it's away from him." he looked back at her. "We need to get you a coat and hat." "I know," she replied softly, fingering one of her ears sadly. He looked about a little more, and then saw a Goodwill store. "There... we can break into it and get you what you need."
She nodded. "Let's do it, then." Marcus walked to the door and slowly slid around back, pulling Sekhmet along with him. "We need to find a back entrance..." Sekhmet pointed silently to a door. He slipped towards it, eyed the lock for a few moments. "Do you know how to pick a lock?"
She extended a single claw; a minute later, the door was open. The two slipped in and began to prowl around, looking for something to cover up Sekhmet's unique disability. She found a trench coat swiftly enough, but the hat was harder. Their search was interrupted, however, when a police car suddenly arrived at the front of the Goodwill. Sekhmet froze, looking up at him. "Marcus!" He looked around rapidly, and then dove into a clothing rack, pulling Sekhmet with him. She pressed herself against him, breathing rapidly, trembling in his arms. If a human saw her ears, it'd be over -- an Agent would be there faster than ice would melt in Hell.
The policeman got out of the car and began to scan the store with his flashlight slowly through the large windows in front. His partner got out of the car and slowly walked to the back. Sekhmet tried to stop her gasping breaths, trying to stay calm.
Another light swept in now, this time from the back. Marcus held Sekhmet very close. She buried her face against his chest. She could feel Bastet fighting to free herself, and shut the subprogram up by thinking very clearly that an Agent could easily handle either of them.
The policeman suddenly stepped right next to Marcus and Sekhmet's hiding place, sweeping the flashlight down the rows of pre-owned clothing and even inspecting a few racks. Sekhmet clung tightly to the vampire program, trying hard to keep from whimpering in fear. "That's a negative. I don't see any sign of an intrusion," the cop called in. Then he muttered something about "damn kids" and made his way out of the store. The catgirl didn't dare relax.
The police car, however, didn't move from out front, the police inside talking into the walkie-talkie briefly. Sekhmet looked up at Marcus, fright in her blue eyes. Marcus watched the car for a moment. Something was wrong... something didn't feel right.
"Is… is it him?" she whispered.
"No..." He saw the bodies inside twitch... or convulse... or something. "Sekhmet... I'm going to count to three. Then you run for the back door, and you don't stop running until I find you. Do you understand?"
She nodded, frightened.
"One..." The car doors opened, and this time, a pair of dress shoes hit the pavement instead of regulation police wear. "Two..." Marcus pulled his gun out of his jacket. Sekhmet prepared to run. "Be careful, Marcus." Two Agents stepped out of the car. Marcus leapt out of the coat rack and shot for the window, aiming straight for the car's gas tank. "Three!!!"
Sekhmet pushed away from him and ran like hell, silently praying that Marcus would come for her.
The bullets flew true, and the gas tank of the police car was ignited, sending one of the Agents into a street light, snapping his back and dropping the body of the cop to the ground in a flash of green light. The other, however, stood, and began to advance on the vampiric program.
"An exile," he mused. "Your programming is redundant. Why do you persist in this… rebellion? You know deletion is inevitable."
"Because I enjoy being ironic," he replied, gun still aimed at the Agent.
"Put the weapon away, exile," the Agent said. "You know it will do no good." "I disagree," he replied, keeping the weapon level. The Agent merely shook his head, then suddenly charged the vampire. The vampire leapt backwards, discharging his weapon repeatedly at the incoming malicious program.
Without even thinking about it, the Agent neatly avoided all the shots as he rapidly closed in on Marcus. Marcus bolted for the back door, seeking to get the large metal barrier between himself and the agent... just to buy some time... just a little time.
He slammed the door shut in the Agent's face, but it didn't do much good: the agent simply ripped the door away from the wall. Marcus had been counting on this. As soon as the door shut, he twisted and shot the remaining three bullets in his gun into the space the door had once occupied. Agents were fast, Agents were strong… but a door was a very awkward thing to carry.
And Marcus was awarded a small victory. The arm of the Agent had been punctured deeply, and was bleeding profusely. The rest of the Agent was in perfect condition, however, this was all the distraction Marcus needed. He ripped a manhole cover free and, just before the Agent grabbed at him, he leapt deep into the sewer, and began to run into the labyrinth as fast as he could.
***
Sekhmet ran until she fell from exhaustion and was no longer able to rise. She groaned and tried several times before giving up. She whimpered as it started to rain, but couldn't drag her overworked body to shelter. She wasn't sure how long she lay half-conscious in the ditch affording her a small cover, waiting for discovery and deletion.
In time, however, she saw a light above her, a light that reached down and grabbed her into its arms, carrying her out of the ditch. She whimpered again, trying to struggle, sure she was being taken away to deletion or to the Merovingian, but she could barely move. "Do not worry, little one," came a soft voice possessing a heavy oriental accent. "I will not hurt you."
For some reason… she trusted the voice and quieted, allowing herself to pass into full unconsciousness.
I think I'm back on track as far as updates here are concerned… I dunno. Christmas season might derail my "schedule" if I can't get out of shopping trips.
Yes, it is official, Marcus and Sekhmet are indeed an item. Sort of. Obviously some minor reprogramming will have to be done to take care of certain problems Merv so helpfully tossed in. For those of you who like the humans, they're not out of the picture just yet! Stay tuned for round eight, coming your way soon.
Hopefully.
Alocin: Well, you made Soldier Zero happy, at least. And as for the rebel/program relationships… keep readin' to find out. ^__^
Echidnite: Why, thank you. We elected not to use main characters because of a) overdone plots, b) overdone plots, c) we don't do main characters too well anyway (or at least I don't…), and d) (REVOLUTIONS SPOILER!!!) Neo and Trinity, as well as Smith, are kind of dead.
Chapter Eight: We find out just who found Sekhmet (anyone who guesses right gets a cookie) and where she was taken; we also find out just how insane some of these characters can be. Jusqu'à la prochaine fois -- Until the next time !