Title: Save Me

Author: Tasa-chan

Email: chibi_soap@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: I own Kaylee and Darren ^^

Feedback: Pretty please??

Rating: PG-13, may change later.

Warnings: language, descriptive (slightly) deaths...


Save Me 5

"We slept listless night by the shore

Searching for signs of salvation

Hoping to find something more"

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She woke up just before sunrise, which was unusual for her. Kaylee shifted and tried to look at Darren, but his head was on her shoulder. She considered waking him up, but he was much warmer than the air around her, so she settled back down and closed her eyes. When she couldn't get back to sleep, she sighed and pulled away from Darren's comfortable grasp. He moaned a little and his dark brown eyes fluttered open.

"Morning already?" He mumbled, stretching.

"Yeah, sorta." Kaylee replied, running her fingers through her hair and waiting for him to get up. He did, and Kaylee silently folded the blanket and wrapped her clothes and food up again.

"I suppose we should head out." She suggested quietly. Darren nodded and headed out to the road, turned and waited for her. Kaylee giggled and walked towards him. She paused in front of him and attempted to smooth out his hair, which was a major case of bed-head, but failed.

"Cute." She nodded, continuing onto the road and looking around. "Which way?"

"Left." He answered, catching up with her, and heading out onto the road.


-----------------------


"Do you suppose we're almost there?" Kaylee asked suddenly. Darren snorted and replied,

"Unlikely. We've only been walking for three days." They continued walking and Kaylee groaned.

"Why can't we go back to the road and catch a ride with someone?"

"It might be dangerous. What if we get picked up by people affiliated with the lab?" Darren replied. It made sense, but Kaylee was really getting tired of walking. She turned and headed through the ditch and up to the road.

"Kaylee!" Darren exclaimed, trudging after her. Kaylee got to the road and turned back to look at him.

"Look, you came with me. I didn't ask you to come. You listen to me or I'll leave you out here in the middle of nowhere!"

"I only came with you because you had no clue where you were going!" Darren shouted back.

"I do so!"

"Do not!"

"I do so!"

"No you don't! You would've walked the wrong way, picked up by some weirdo, and when he found out what you were, he would've dragged you right back to the lab!"

"You're starting to sound a lot like Cameron, you know?" Kaylee shot back, turning and walking away.

"Do you always run away from your problems, Kaylee?" He shouted, running to catch up with her.

"No, I don't!" She shouted over he shoulder, continuing to walk away from him.

"Well that's what it looks like to me. You ran away from home, didn't you? You ran away from-" Kaylee sharply turned around and glared at him.

"You don't know anything about me Darren! Nothing! You don't know why I left! You don't understand!" Kaylee looked away to hide the tears in her eyes.

"Probably left because your parents didn't want to spoil you anymore."

"What?!"

"You're a spoiled brat, Kaylee. Face it. When you don't get your way, you run away."

"Leave me alone." Kaylee whined, turning away.

"See? I was right, wasn't I? That's why you ran." Kaylee spun around and cried,

"I killed them, okay?!" The tears sprung past her blocks and ran down her cheeks. Darren blinked.

"What?"

"I killed my little sister! My best friend! I almost killed another little girl too!" Kaylee wiped at her eyes and avoided his gaze.

"Kaylee, I..." Darren was at a loss. He'd made such an ass of himself. He tried to offer her comfort by walking closer, but she just turned and stalked away.

"Kaylee, wait!" Darren followed her. Kaylee stumbled over her own feet and broke out into a run.

"Kaylee!" Darren called after her. He concentrated on her moving form and reached out his hand.

Kaylee froze in mid-step.


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"Sorry about that." Darren apologized when he caught up to her. He touched her face, and Kaylee unfroze.

"Wh-?" Kaylee looked at him, startled. "What just happened?" Darren smiled and tilted his head slightly.

"First... I just want to say that I'm sorry," Kaylee attempted to smile at him.

"That's okay-"

"No. Don't say it was okay, Kaylee. It wasn't."

Kaylee just smiled at him again and replied, "Alright."


The two started walking silently beside each other on the side of the road.

"So... is that your power? Stopping things?" Kaylee asked him timidly.

"Well, sort of." He answered thoughtfully. "I don't stop things, really. I steal kinetic energy. The thing I steal it from doesn't get it back until I touch them. But it wears off after a while." Kaylee nodded.

"I see... you were the one that stopped the bullet and the guard back at the lab?"

"Yeah, that was me." He smiled sheepishly.

"But, how does it stay in midair?" Kaylee wondered aloud.

"It takes kinetic energy to fall, does it not?" Darren answered.

"Oh, I get it now."

A lone car passed by them, stirring up the dead leaves from the previous fall. As the car turned the corner, Darren smiled and held up his hand, stilling all the leaves in their place.

"Wow..." Kaylee smiled, stepping inside the frozen twister of leaves. She spun around and laughed, touching a leaf in front of her. Darren smiled and grazed a finger over a nearby leaf. It continued it's wobbly path downwards to the ground. Kaylee watched him admiringly. "That's so cool..." She muttered, watching him touch leaf after leaf.

When he finished, he cleared his throat and asked, "Shall we continue on?" Kaylee giggled and nodded.

"We shall."

-----------------------


They stumbled upon a gas station late that evening, several hours after sundown. It was a brisk, clear night. IT wasn't cold enough to make them shiver, but Kaylee and Darren were plenty cold. Several transport trucks were lined up in the parking lot, their drivers dining inside the restaurant.

"Do you think we could get a ride with any of them?" Kaylee asked as they wandered up to the glass door.

"Dunno." He replied, "We could try though." Darren pushed the door open and a much welcomed warmth rushed out to meet them. The pair walked inside and took a look around. To their right was the restaurant, in front and to their left was the convenience store. There was a half-wall that separated the two sections. Kaylee's stomach grumbled and she blushed.


Darren wandered over to the cashier and Kaylee browsed through the store. She spotted the candy rack and sighed. She hadn't had candy in so long...

She overheard Darren telling a made-up story about their car breaking down, and needing to know where they were so they could tell the tow truck where to find them. Kaylee adjusted the blanket in her arms and looked back at the cashier. She was turned away, reaching for a map. Temptation overwhelmed Kaylee, and she casually picked up a chocolate bar and hid it in the folds in her blanket.

She continued browsing through the store until Darren called out,

"Okay, Kaylee. Let's head back now, our dog must be going crazy." Kaylee smiled and nodded.

"Good luck!" The friendly cashier said, waving at them. Kaylee nodded at her, and followed Darren outside. He walked away from the store, up to the row of transports. Darren walked in between two, and sat down on the pavement. Kaylee copied him, and sat down beside him. She offered him part of the blanket. He took the offering and wrapped it around him, shifting closer to her. The chocolate bar fell to the ground between them and he looked down at it, shocked.

Kaylee picked it up and opened it.

"I was starving, okay?" she explained, taking a bite. Darren sighed and shook his head.

"Fine, but don't do it too often, you might get caught one day." He plucked the chocolate our of her hands and took a bite.

"Couldn't you have gotten something a little more filling?" Kaylee laughed and pulled the hand holding the bar towards her and took another bite of it.

"No." She mumbled through a full mouth.


They finished their chocolate bar in silence. When they finished, Kaylee sat back with a somewhat satisfied stomach,.

"So, what'd she say?"

Darren paused, "She showed me where we are..."

"And? Are we close?"

"I think so, but..."

Kaylee's heart all but stopped. "What is it? What's wrong?!"

"We're in Alberta." Darren answered.

Kaylee thought a moment. "Like, the edge of Alberta right?"

Darren shook his head. "No. Right in the middle of it."

"But, how did we get here?" Kaylee wondered, "the lab was in Saskatchewan."

"No it wasn't," He argued, "it was is British Colombia."

"But-" Kaylee froze. "But me and Logan... we went to Saskatchewan!"

Darren looked at the ground and thought.


"The place where I went, and the place where you went..." He finally said. "They musnt have been the lab. It must have been a recruiting center or something."

Kaylee was confused. "Why would they do that?"

"Lots of reasons. So that they could get mutants from all over, for one thing."

"That makes sense." She agreed.

"And if a mutant told someone where they were going, and then suddenly disappeared, the person they told might get suspicious. They could have sent the police there, and instead of the police finding the lab, they would have found a normal clinic. No cells... no experiments, no guards..."


Kaylee's jaw dropped. It made so much sense now. The blacking out at the clinic... waking up in a small cage, then in a cell...

"Oh my God..." Kaylee gasped, looking away.

"Yeah, I know." Darren agreed. "But, I do have a general idea of where the real lab is."

Kaylee looked back up at him and asked how.

"When we were escaping, remember that highway we crossed?" Kaylee nodded. "Well, there was a turnoff sign, it said exit 442."

Kaylee stared at him, perplexed. "How did you remember that?"

"I made sure I did." He explained, "I wanted to report them to the police as soon as I could."

Kaylee opened her mouth to answer, but footsteps coming their way made her hesitate.


"Someone's coming." She whispered.

"Should I?" Darren asked, holding up his hand. Kaylee shook her head.

Why, hello there!" A man's voice called to them. "you two need something?" Kaylee stared up at him and Darren stood up, the blanket sliding off him and piling at Kaylee's feet. The man was somewhat tall, with wind-blown dark hair and thin-rimmed glasses with big lenses. He looked pretty friendly to Kaylee.

"Actually, we were wondering if we could get a ride?" Kaylee asked the man in a hopeful tone.

"Well, depends on which way it is you're going."

"We the exit number, but we don't know which way it is, or where..." Kaylee explained.

"Which exit? I know my way around the roads here pretty good."

"442... the town near there. I can't remember the name." Kaylee answered standing up and adjusted the blanket around her. Darren kept a wary eye on the man.

"Well, if you mean the exit on the Trans, then it's your lucky day." The man smiled. "I'm heading right through that area."

"Alright." Kaylee answered. Darren smiled politely.

"This is my truck right here," the man said motioning to one with a blue cab and a load of wood on the back. The man walked ahead of them and opened the door. He looked Kaylee and Darren over.

"You two want something to eat? And a shower maybe?" He offered. "The store has showers for truckers you know, but they let other people use them too."

Kaylee and Darren looked at each other, then back at the trucker.

"We... don't have any money." Kaylee admitted quietly.

The man just waved his hand "Nah, I figured as much. I'll pay for it all."

"But, don't you want some sort of payment back?" Kaylee queried.

"Just having someone to chat with is enough payment for me." the man replied. "I haven't seen my family in weeks, and it's kinda lonely out here on the road."

Darren gave Kaylee a skeptical look, but she ignored it.

"Alright." She agreed, "I'm Kaylee." She offered her hand to him. The man shook it.

"Ronnie." Ronnie turned to Darren expectantly.

"Darren." he said monotonously. He shook Ronnie's hand and then looked away. Darren held up his hand and Ronnie froze.


"Darren!" Kaylee scolded. She put her hands on her hips and gazed at him. "What is it?"

"I dunno Kaylee..." Darren told her, looking at her then back at Ronnie. "He's too friendly. I just don't trust him."

Kaylee sighed and looked back at Ronnie. "Why not?" She questioned.

"I- I don't know. I just..."

"If you want, we can go hitch a ride with someone else..." Kaylee offered.

Darren looked back at Ronnie, then at Kaylee.

"So? Whaddya say?" Kaylee prompted.

Darren thought about it and reached over to Ronnie.

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Lyrical quote: "Transmission" by The Tea Party.


Thanks to all my reviewers for last chapter...

BadBoyLover (Especially you!), FairyGhost, JensAngel, Ceallaigh

.. and readers too ^_^ *huggles you all*