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

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE:
LETHAL LIAISON

Seconds ticked away into minutes as ZaiLeia fought against herself, trying to find the will to carry out her morbid plan. Tears rolled down her face and flames of love and hate seethed in her soul as she slowly lowered the pillow over the face of her estranged beau. With her last thread of conviction, she took a deep breath and whispered "Sweet dreams, Horsthar," as fabric made contact with flesh. She pressed down, gently at first and then harder, until his body twitched and jolted and he was awake, fighting for his life. He had barely begun to struggle when she climbed on top of him, straddling his waist. His arms and legs thrashed frantically. His groping hands found pieces of her and slashed at her with sharp talons. She winced at the pain but did not ease up any. With all of her strength (which was considerable) she shoved down hard on the pillow, smothering him. His flailings became more frantic, and he bucked underneath her, trying to throw her off. After countless long seconds of struggling, Le'Kruune arched his back in a final, mighty lurch and fell back against the mattress, then lay still.

ZaiLeia continued to hold the pillow over his face for several seconds afterward, until she was certain that he was dead or at the very least, unconscious. Slowly and shakily, she removed the pillow, and gazed with a mixture of pain, pleasure and perplexity at the lifeless face of Horsthar Le'Kruune. He's dead. You killed him. While part of her was patting herself on the back and saying "Good for you!" another part was smothering her with the pillow-thick guilt of her crime. Overwhelmed, the grand councilwoman climbed slowly off of the body and turned away, still panting from her efforts. A dull throb in her side reminded her that she was wounded; that it was HE, the man she had just slain, who had given her that wound. He had tried to kill her, and for no greater reason than she had had to kill him. Weak and trembling, ZaLeia knelt down on the floor and sobbed.

A white-hot pain roared in her flank and she found herself flying sideways into the stainless steel wall. Hunched over and clutching her newly-bleeding wound, she heard a low, blood-curdling growl and looked up in horror at the undead Le'Kruune. Too weak and in pain to move, she was helpless to stop him as he kicked her a second time. Then a third and fourth time. He seized her by the arm and pulled her roughly to her feet, only to send her falling back to the floor with a blinding punch in the face. He then threw himself upon her and began tearing at her with tooth and claw like a ravenous predator. ZaiLeia fought back, her strength diminished, until she managed to roll him over onto his back. She was on top of him again, but not for long. Le'Kruune swung his foot up and kicked her in the groin. Even though there was nothing there to damage, his hoof-like toes were hard and sharp and there had been enough force behind them to propel her several feet into the air. She tumbled over the bed and landed on the floor on the other side. Le'Kruune was on her again in an instant. He climbed over the bed, grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her up, then slammed her repeatedly against the wall. She tried to scream, but his claws quickly closed around her windpipe and she began to suffocate. Holding her by the neck, Le'Kruune turned and flung her hard onto the bed, then threw himself on top of her.

"Ah, yesss," he hissed, holding her down. "Doesn't this bring back wonderful memories?"

ZaiLeia said nothing. She couldn't. His strong hands were still tight around her throat.

"You and me, having it out with each other. But we used to do this the other way around, remember? It was 'fun now, fight later,' as I recall."

The grand councilwoman could barely hear his words. Everything was fading… Le'Kruune finally relaxed his grip on her neck and she gasped, sucking in large quantities of air to compensate for what he had been depriving her of for the last minute and a half. Blood flooded her head in a rush and she was violently dizzy all of a sudden. Somewhere above her Le'Kruune was making nasty little innuendos and snickering. She didn't comprehend any of it until she felt a clawed hand sneak furtively into forbidden regions of her bruised person and linger there. I should have known, she thought dimly, but she was too weak, in pain, and exhausted to resist his advances. Her head was still spinning as she felt him tear away at her uniform. She was certain she would have fallen out of the bed had Le'Kruune not been lying on top of her. But she had to save her strength; had to formulate a plan. She lay still and pretended to accept her fate, but if it took the very last drop of her strength to stop him, then so be it. She would not let him win. Not at any cost.

Then it happened. The miracle to end all miracles at that moment. The door to the bedroom burst open and in came Mackayl, cannon raised. A blast of neon green, a gasp, and a groan, and Le'Kruune lay unconscious and bleeding profusely from the head. Mackayl threw down his weapon and ran to the bed, prying the limp body off of the woman pinned beneath.

"Are you alright, your highness?" he asked breathlessly. She struggled to sit up and smiled weakly at him.

"Yes, yes, thank you," she said hoarsely, throwing her arms around him. Hesitant at first, he hugged her back. He looked at her again and blushed, then looked away. ZaiLeia looked down at herself to see several large and revealing tears in her clothing. She nearly blushed herself, but gave a weak laugh and said "To hell with it" instead.

"Well, we'd better get you out of here now, before he regains consciousness," Mackayl said. "I don't think he recognized me, but we're both still in danger either way. The guards outside already suspect me of something, and sooner or later they're gonna come in here to check on him." He nodded toward Le'Kruune, whose head wound had already healed due to his still semi-functional molecular modifications.

"He gave them orders to check on him now and then to make sure someone hasn't killed him. He's become very paranoid lately. Come on!" He took her by the hands and pulled her to her feet.

As soon as she was up, her knees buckled and she collapsed into him. The pain in her side had dulled considerably, but was far from gone. The wound was open, raw, and bleeding again. Mackayl saw it and paled.

"You need medical attention. Right away. Can you walk?"

The grand councilwoman shook her head. "No, I - I don't think so." She cringed in pain and leaned heavily against her helper.

"Damn!" Mackayl swore under his breath. "This isn't getting any easier!"

"Well, I'm terribly sorry!" ZaiLeia said sarcastically.

"Don't be," Mackayl answered, taking her seriously. "It's not your fault. It's his." There was contempt in his voice as he regarded his fallen superior. "Well, come on then. If you can't walk, I'll carry you."

"But what about the guards? Don't you think they might be the least bit suspicious to see you carrying me rather than floating me out on a gurney or hover-chair?"

"I've no doubt they'll be suspicious," Mackayl replied. "But right now it'd be way too risky to try to send for a hover-chair. I'll just tell them that numbnutz over there had some fun with you and then decided to have the doctor patch you up so you'll survive for round two. They'll buy that, I'm sure. It coincides nicely with my being forced to carry you. Le'Kruune's messed up in the head. It doesn't have to make sense anymore, as long as they believe he ordered it."

"Well - alright, then…" ZaiLeia sighed weakly and allowed Mackayl to sweep her up off her feet. Securing her arms around his neck, she whispered "Now or never," and they made a break for it.

Once outside the suite, Mackayl gave the guards his prefabricated explanation and they appeared to accept it. With their one major obstacle already hurdled, he walked as fast as possible down the corridor with the grand councilwoman in his arms. Tired and dizzy, she rested her head against his shoulder and yawned.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me now," he teased.

"I won't," she promised.

"Good, 'cuz I wouldn't want to have to -"

But she never found out what it was he didn't want to have to do. Before Mackayl could even finish his sentence, he was shot in the back by a plasma cannon. In that terrifying instant, time slowed to a trickle and ZaiLeia turned her head to see Le'Kruune and his two guards advancing on them with their cannons raised. Blinding flashes of neon green were followed by red-darkness as Mackayl's lifeless body crumpled to the ground on top of her.