Protector of Men Ch 97

She was back in the street where she had left Trim. It was empty – the agents were gone, and Trim's corpse was to the side a few yards away. Zandra started running once she saw Shade's lifeless body. He wasn't facing her, and she dreaded what she might find on the other side.

"Oh, Shade!"

She turned him over and moaned at the sight of his wounds. His eyes were open; rolled into the back of his head. Dark red blood lay on the ground in a pool that rippled from her movements. It fell from his body in pulses, and he still wasn't moving.

"Oh, god," she pleaded, beginning to shake him, "Please… please, not another one."

Shade still wouldn't wake. Zandra saw the blood on her hands and recoiled for a moment. The memory of it filtered through her and suddenly Stephen… and Cover… lay in front of her.

"Don't let me fail again," she whispered to herself, shaking him still, "I need you."

He was struggling to find consciousness but it continued to evade him. The pain was over and though he knew there was more to be done, the actions were irreversible. Zandra was becoming hysterical; tears streamed down her face.

"Shade, you can't leave," she asserted, "It's not real. It's not."

Tears gave way to sobs and quickly Zandra was losing hope. Every second that passed was a second gone. "Not again…" she said, remembering Stephen. He died for her – and now Shade was going to follow.

"You can't go!" she shouted at him, looking over his many wounds, "It's not real!"

And she wouldn't let him go – not this time. Hopelessness gave way to determination. There had to be a way. She placed a hand over his chest and closed her eyes, sighing deeply. This isn't real.

Yet he still did not move. There were no bullet holes, and no sign of life except for the blood that continued to ooze from his still vessel. It hadn't worked.

"Shade," she pleaded, "Please, I need you." She stopped, replaying the words she had just said. Slowly she was coming to the realization that this was the person she needed most; this was the man that was to be her support and sunshine in the dark. This was the person she had come to love more than anyone else - more than William, more than Stephen… This was the person the Oracle was talking about, and this time it was true. She loved him. She needed him… and now, in both their darkest hours, he had left her. Finally Alex broke and collapsed onto his still torso.

Kesia stopped heart compressions. Time of death: 3:42.

"Really, Shade, you've got to understand. She's gonna need help, just like everyone else… she needs to know that you're gonna be there for her."

"What do I have to do?"

"You're gonna have to be there for her, or things won't go well."

This wasn't going to be the end of the world. He wasn't dead; though he was close, his spirit still lingered. He watched as she ran screaming to his body, watched with awe as she repaired him, and watched with anguish as she cried over him, still unable to move. Kesia would not have recognized him; though Shade's code read as a corpse, a form of him was still there, and struggling to get back.

For a moment he marvelled at the situation he was in: somehow, his code was still there… some kind of glitch was creating an almost out-of-body experience that allowed him – though he was unconscious – to watch everything that Zandra was going through. But it was only for a moment. His desire to be with her was overpowering – and now there was a very large chance that his feelings would only be a memory…

To do that was to end up Stephen, and he was never one to pose as another.

An alarm went off in the Libertas and Kesia turned to look towards the cockpit. There was no use in fending them off, now.

Shade gulped air and lived. Zandra recoiled; instantly struck out of her melancholy trance. She looked to him unbelievingly; her eyes were full of confusion and distrust. Was it really over?

"Zandra," Shade whispered, struggling to get up, but she held him down. He smiled at her concern, but waved it away. The worst was over, and they both felt it. They stared at each other for a moment, examining each other, and then embraced.

Zandra felt Kesia's call coming. They had to get out; urgency was still their priority and though they wouldn't have known the immediate danger of the outside world, they understood how quickly it could kill them. Zandra pulled back from their embrace and stood up.

"We have to get out," she said, pulling him up. Shade took a look at his clothes, then to her. She took his hand reassuringly. "Hold on."

Kesia got them out as soon as she could once they appeared at the hardline. It was difficult work for one person, but there was no other way. Cover still lay in his seat, still jacked in, almost as if waiting to be picked up. Kesia hadn't had time to properly lay him away. Once they were out, she ran to the cockpit with no explanation. The alarms were enough.

"Turn everything off," she told them as she ran off. They could hear buzzing in the air and understood.

"You go to machinery," Shade said softly, "I'll take the Core."

Zandra nodded and scampered off while Shade started entering commands into the console. Within seconds more lights shut off, and within a minute Shade had powered down the Core. They ran to the cockpit breathless and looked outside.

There were sentinels scanning – probably only five or six, but it was enough of a threat to worry about. And though they weren't finding much, there was still some power of the Libertas' that was bothering them. The bedraggled crew watched as the sentinels would fly a few yards away, and then inch back, opening their scans again, as if unsure.

"We're leaking some kind of power," Kesia whispered, "Is everything off?"

"Yeah," Zandra whispered. Shade took her hand from behind Kesia.

"We might have to leave," Kesia said, struggling, "But I don't know if I can do it…" she paused, overcome… "On my own."

Shade put his arm on Kesia, who grabbed his hand and squeezed. They were quiet for a few moments.

"Let's watch them for now," Zandra said, breaking the long silence, "If they find us, we'll move."

They all agreed, and started their deadly vigil. Kesia sat in the pilot's seat, her hand resting shakily on the EMP.

A/N – I'm really sorry for the long delay. A lot of not fun things happened this week, and I honestly wasn't able to turn on my computer after school. Too much homework, too much choir.

Steelsings – Yeah, I think you can get it for PS2. And hey, here's a hint to Trim… people write what they know. I used to be good friends with people who did horrible stuff to themselves – and I know things will get better for you. I used to have a lot of problems, but things have gotten a thousand times better with time. And, it's always nice to escape with a good movie :) or a story. :)

Aqua_Phoenix1 – I'm so glad you mentioned the physical portrayal thing… that's something I've been trying to work on lately, because I agree – it seems to carry across feelings much better than just blatantly saying them. And I hated MacBeth. Hamlet is much better.