Disclaimer: I do not own "Lilo & Stitch" or any of the characters therein.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE:
AN UNLIKELY ALLIE

For a quarter of an Earth hour Le'Kruune continued to cradle Lilo, his deranged mind projecting bittersweet images from the past onto her sleeping form. Twice she had stirred from her deep sedation to focus with bleary eyes on the imposing alien being that held her. Both times she had appeared unable to comprehend her situation. She simply stared back at the disfigured face of her captor, clueless as an infant in its unblinking gaze. Sinking into slumber after the second time, she began to writhe and whimper in her sleep, apparently caught up in a nightmare. It wasn't until her muffled vocalizations could be clearly deciphered that Le'Kruune began to worry about her. From deep-throated moans and agonized dreaming the youngling human began calling out for her mother, and the desperation in her cry was enough to bring even Le'Kruune to tears. As the child sobbed in her sleep, the Kaizaxx dictator fought staunchly against his own urge to sob, as he cradled her close and carried her out of Quarantine and up to his private suite.

* * * *

In detention cell D9, emotions were still running high, though not as high as they had been an hour ago, when the argument between Leera and Wendy had rendered both into speechless remorse in opposite corners of the room. Caught up in the middle after attempting to talk sense into her son, Vay Pleakley had given up for the time being and gone to sleep on the bunk nearest him which, prior to the argument, had been Leera's. Leera herself had chosen to move to the farthest of the four bunks, which had been Vay's, having mutually agreed with her that it was for the best. Though she was not the focus of Wendy's anger, Vay had unintentionally earned a little scorn from him when she had suggested that he try to see things from Leera's point of view, adding that he had not been in nearly as much pain as she had, having to continually battle against the monster who had so cruelly tortured and raped her.

To this Wendy had countered that no amount of physical pain could compare to the emotional agony that he had endured in thinking that Leera had killed herself. It was to this remark that Vay had responded with a deadly vehemence, and for the first time in her life, she had condemned her son for his heartless reasoning, cursed him for a deeply-rooted pain he would never understand. In the stunned silence that followed, he had appeared to understand, but understanding turned just as quickly to hurt and hurt to anger once again, and in his own pain and pride, he offered no apology, no acceptance, not a single spoken word. Instead, something in his demeanor had turned dark, as if a black veil had fallen over his face, and he had turned his back on all three women for the remainder of the nocturnal shift.

An hour later, the four cellmates were startled from sleep or contemplation by the turning of the bolt on the stainless steel door. Into the cell stepped two Kaizaxx officers, who strode straight over to the grand councilwoman's bunk. Without hesitation, one of the officers jabbed her sharply in the side with a taloned finger, fully awakening her to the pain it caused in her half-healed laser wound. Looking up at the two men, she growled threateningly, not the least bit intimidated at the sight of their hands resting intently on the handles of their plasma cannons, itching to pull them out of their holsters.

"What do you want?" she hissed.

"His Highness, Horsthar Eveth Xeyjii Le'Kruune, requests your presence in his private suite. You are to be escorted there immediately. Come," the officer who had jabbed her said in a gruff voice.

"And why the hell should I?" she demanded, equally gruff. Having been so rudely awakened, she was quite cross, though no more cross than she would have been anyway, considering her situation.

"Because his Highness commands it!" shouted the second officer. "And because we will not be stricken by his wrath for the insolence of a prisoner! Now, get up!"

"The man is insane!" the grand councilwoman argued. "If he decides to take it out on you, that's none of my concern. I don't owe you my cooperation, nor do I owe that thurgabbah kurrish'ta a moment of my time!"

"You will NOT speak of his Highness in that manner!" the first officer hissed, baring his teeth. ZaiLeia was not to be put out by his threatening tone.

"I will speak of that bastard any way I please!" she retorted, baring her own teeth in an equally threatening gesture. "His Highness indeed! Mister Too-High-and-Mighty-to-Flog-His-Own-Trog is more like it. He -" But her next words were cut off by a sharp, back-handed blow to the mouth that knocked her off her bunk and onto the floor. Standing over her, the first officer pulled out his plasma cannon and aimed it point blank at her face.

"Murg, are you insane?!" exclaimed the second officer, alarmed by his comrade's actions. "We're not supposed to assault any of the prisoners. Especially this one! If his Highness finds out what you -"

Murg swung around and pointed the cannon in the other man's face. "What I did was not without warrant! This bitch had it coming to her! She's - UUUUGGGHHH!!!" He crumpled to the floor in that instant as ZaiLeia's foot flew up and met his groin. Hoisting herself up a little, she smiled wickedly at Murg, who lay curled in a fetal position in front of her.

"Don't just stand there, you moron!" he growled at his colleague. "Take her down! NOW!"

Hesitantly, the second officer pulled out his cannon and aimed it at her, ordering her to get up and put her hands behind her back. She complied, but did not wait to be handcuffed. Instead, she strolled slowly out of the cell and into the corridor, a serene smile on her thin lips as the second officer followed her every move. A few moments later, Murg climbed to his feet and bolted out the door after them. Before ZaiLeia could turn to face him, he had thrown himself against her, shoving her violently against the wall. One clawed hand wrapped tightly around her neck, his other hand wandered down to her waist, seizing hold of her belt.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this," Murg hissed, both hands clenched as if he intended to tear through both flesh and fabric. The maniacal gleam in his eyes as his face neared hers was all too quickly replaced by a blank look of shock, followed by a hoarse moan as his entire body fell limp against her own. ZaiLeia wriggled out from beneath him as he collapsed to the floor. For a moment she sat on the floor, staring disbelieving at the gaping hole in the back of his head. Something soft touched her arm, and she glanced up quickly to see the other officer, a somber look on his face and a smoking plasma cannon dangling from his other hand. For a long moment, there was silence. He looked at her, then shamefacedly glanced at his comrade's lifeless body, then just as quickly down at the floor.

"You didn't have to do that," the grand councilwoman said quietly.

"I know," he replied, his voice as distant as his gaze. It occurred to her suddenly how young the man was; his second set of antlers barely beginning to fork. By her reckoning, he would be no older than her own daughter, had she been…

"What I meant to say is… thank you."

The man blushed slightly and offered his hand. She took it, and he helped her to her feet. For a moment, she stood up straight, regarding him, before her legs buckled and she nearly collapsed to the floor. Thin, muscular arms caught her up and restored her, then quickly let go as the young Kaizaxx guard mumbled an apology and suggested that they hurry before Le'Kruune became impatient and killed them both.

"Not that you have anything to worry about," he told her on the way to his suite. "He has no further plans to assassinate you. But me, on the other hand… and after what I did to Murg…"

"Maybe you won't have anything to worry about, either," she assured him. "I will corroborate with what happened back there. If he really wants me alive, he'll promote you to captain for what you did."

The man chuckled. "I highly doubt that. At the very least, it'll save my hide for a few days. There's no telling when he's gonna snap next. You saw what happened to Salwen."

"Ah, yes," she nodded, remembering the man who had been killed several hours earlier. "The former lieutenant?"

"That's correct."

"And the new lieutenant?"

"You're looking at him."

ZaiLeia stopped in her tracks. "You?!"

He nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. My name is Mackayl. And Murg, the guy I killed back there, he was the one who should have been lieutenant, not me. And Le'Kruune shot him for saying so. He was up in arms all night because of it. I think that's mostly why he assaulted you. Not because of you, but because of me. And him." He nodded toward the hallway ahead. The door to Le'Kruune's private suite was at the far end of it, and for the briefest of seconds, ZaiLeia was sure she saw her escort tremble.

"Why did you do it?" she asked him.

"Do what?" he asked, puzzled.

"Kill the man. Murg. You didn't have to, you know. I was in no immediate danger."

At this, Mackayl looked troubled, as if the act he had committed was already weighing heavily against his conscience. He slowed in his step, and after a long moment of silence, spoke up.

"Because I know the man." He made a choking noise in his throat. "Knew him. He was dangerous, but I know you could have handled him if you weren't already wounded. I didn't want to do it, though. I don't like to kill. I don't even know what I'm doing here." He said this in a tone that pleaded for her understanding and forgiveness.

"Le'Kruune made me believe things. Terrible things. He has a great gift for spreading propaganda against the Federation. By the time I got as far as I had among the Kaizaxx, I had learned that everything he had ever told me was a lie. But by then it was too late. I could never go back to the Federation after that. I knew that if I tried to break with the Kaizaxx, that I would either be executed for mutiny or imprisoned for treason to the Federation. And Murg reminded me of that constantly. He was always waiting for men like me to falter, just so he alone could single them out and raise himself up another notch in the eyes of Le'Kruune. That was the trouble with him. He was a lot like Le'Kruune. Too much like him. Rumor has it he was another one of his bastard children. I wouldn't doubt it. Rumor has it I'm one, too."

ZaiLeia glanced at him, then looked down at the floor. There was a lot she wanted to say just then, but there was no place to start and it would all be in vain, and now there was no time to even begin because they were already nearing the end of the hall. She marveled at this young man; heard plainly the frightened child calling out from somewhere deep within, and wondered what miraculous strength had seen him through among a society of barbarians known as the Kaizaxx. They paused before the door to Le'Kruune's private suite, as Mackayl nodded to the two guards who stood sentry outside. Just then, the young man's demeanor changed, and he became sullen and stern-faced as he announced the prisoner's name and purpose to the other men. They, in turn, contacted their leader via the intercom panel on the door, and within moments the grand councilwoman was ushered inside. With a last glance back at Mackayl, she stepped across the threshold and prepared herself to face Le'Kruune.

* * * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is just to inform all of my readers that I have posted pictures of some of the characters in this story. These include Vay, Vay and a baby Wendy, Le'Kruune's boudoir photo of Vay (the one he showed Wendy in CH. 12 "What's in the Box?") Le'Kruune himself, Leera, and Taisiya. These pics can be found at Gay Aliens in Yahoo Groups. This is a Jumba/Pleakley slash fansite. Consequently, it is also an adult site, so you must be able to register as an adult to be able to view it. My pictures are in the Gay Aliens Fan Art photo album in the PHOTOS section. I am sorry I cannot provide a link to this site. I have tried, but I seem to be having some technical difficulties with it. Until I can figure out how to post these in a better place, you can either view them at the Gay Aliens Yahoo Group or put in a personal request to me, and I will attempt to send you the pics in an email attachment. This may take a few separate emails, but I will try to honor anyone's requests. I know some of you are already members of Gay Aliens, so no doubt you have already seen the pics. As for everyone else… either join the group or send me a request! Also, if the pics don't seem to satisfy you, then please let me know what you might like to see in terms of my story or characters, and I might work on some more fanart. - Twilit Violet

P.S.: Thank you, Tortured Artist, for the heads-up on the chapter posting rule.