Chapter 9

I have actually put the rating back down to a PG-13 for now, but I'm pretty sure it will go up to an R at some point, mostly because later chapters shall probably re-enforce the need for it. We'll see. I've shown many people the gory extracts and some have had very negative reactions, not to the writing but to the images, so, I figure I may be walking a tightrope. Thanks anyway for the links and such Strata, I appreciate your reviews and helpfulness a lot. Thanks also to my girlfriend Stacy for checking out my work before I post it ^_^

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They seemed to be crawling through the tunnel for hours. Danny often hit his head on a dead end, cursing and feeling around for where the tunnel twisted and he could continue crawling. Jerad had obviously not been sure where he was digging when he made this tunnel, and Danny thought he was lucky he hadn't hit a mako pipe. For if he had, he would surely have been a dead man. He thought he could catch someone laughing every time he hit his head, it could be any of them. He wouldn't be surprised if Jim or Aeris found it funny, as for Jerad, he was probably shaking his head and snorting every time he did.

"Dammit!" He cursed as his head again hit against a jagged edge, he was surprised he hadn't been cut yet. The edges were often sharp, and whatever tool Jerad had used, it had not been very smooth.

"We're near the end now." Jerad's voice echoed round the tunnel.

"Good." Danny growled, feeling to his right which was empty space. Turning, he began crawling that way. He focused his eyes and noticed a very small dot of light in the distance. The exit was finally in sight. Danny was glad he wasn't squeamish, for there were quite a few rats and other assorted rodents and insects infesting the tunnels. Aeris let out a scream every so often and groaned, stating in many different and sometimes profane ways how she hated the tunnels. Neither Jim nor Jerad seemed bothered by the whole thing, and very little was said. Danny began crawling faster, eager to get out of the nasty smelling, dark pipes and out into what was called "fresh-air" again, although the people of the slums would certainly prefer some real fresh air. After a few minutes, he literally threw himself out of the tunnel, landing hard on the ground below, but not caring. He breathed in the air and felt his forehead, wincing a little at the soreness. Jim fell out in a similar way, has hand hitting Danny on the head.

"Watch it!" Danny growled.

"Sorry, wuss." Jim laughed, breathing in the fresh air with some vigour.

Aeris and Jerad exited the tunnel in a more graceful fashion. Danny and Jim stood up, looking around. This sector was so small, you could see the four stone solid walls surrounding it just by looking around. However small it was, it had a somewhat cosy look to it. A few bars were spotted around, as well as a hotel and a sprinkle of houses to the east and west of what appeared to be the industrial area.

"The people here are friendly, but they wouldn't hesitate in a second to hand you both over." Jerad stated. There was a small bunker I created not too long ago towards the back of the Seventh Heaven Bar. I'll go and see if it's still there."

"How do we know you aren't going to turn us over?" Jim asked suspiciously.

"We don't have time for this… listen, human, if you'd rather come with me, be my guest." Jerad growled, turning away from him.

"Human?" Jim turned to Danny and Aeris, looking confused. Danny shrugged, Aeris simply smiled at Jim. "Alright then, I'll go with you."

"What about us?" Danny asked.

"You stay here, and keep Aeris safe…" Jerad turned to Danny, locking eyes with him. "You'd better keep her safe."

Danny raised his eyebrow. "Right…"

"Of course he will!" Aeris hugged his arm and grinned at Jerad, who growled and glared at her, before turning promptly around and storming towards the industrial area, Jim following behind him.

"You did that just to annoy him." Danny said.

"I know…" She began laughing, Danny did too. He found it strange that two siblings were so different. Jerad was the personification of overprotective brother.

"Come on." She jumped up to the end of the tube and sat on it. Danny shrugged and jumped up next to her. After a few seconds, she turned to him.

"I saw the guards…" Her tone was quiet, reserved, without judgement. "You and Jim … you killed them?"

Danny nodded. "Yes, we did… it was either us, or them. My hands have too much blood on them now to worry about death. I was taught long ago, death is part of life. It happens to everyone, and if you deal it, you should make it quick and as painless as possible. I don't believe killing is honourable very often, but at least if you make it quick, you are limiting the suffering somewhat."

"I know, I wasn't accusing." She smiled. "I was just a little shocked. I know you guys are fighters, and that you've killed before, but all the same… I've gotten to know you… and you don't seem like the violent type."

"We're not." Danny's gaze focused on the dots that Jerad and Jim had become. "But, we must survive. If we have to kill to survive, we will."

"I wish the world was different. That good people like you and Jim didn't have to kill to survive…" She sighed.

"Me too." Danny turned to Aeris, she was looking at him. Feeling stupid for not saying anything, he said the first thing that came into his head. "So, what's the deal with Reno?" As soon as he said it he knew it was none of his business and not the right thing to say. Aeris's face became sad, she stared at the ground and let out a sigh.

"Reno… I've known him since we were young. He'd often come with me when I went places, because at that time the security flaws around Midgcar were letting monsters into the city, it was dangerous to go out alone. I was about eight when he began helping me… my mother wasn't around. She disappeared a few years before…" Aeris looked like she wanted to say something else, then closed her mouth and eventually continued. "Anyhow, I guess Reno was about twelve, maybe thirteen. He'd seen me being attacked by a small monster and chased it away for me. I'm not sure why, but since then he made sure to protect me wherever I went. It was sweet, and I grew to love him as I got older… when he was fifteen he joined ALIEN, but we kept in touch. He told me he was being considered for a high position, as a member of the Turks. We all knew about the Turks, and nobody liked them. Reno said that the Turks were just doing a job, and that he'd never let them hurt me… or any innocent people… I thought he was so good, so brave… I trusted him…" She stopped again, wiping her eyes.

"You don't have to…" Danny started, but she waved her hand.

"It's alright. I'm too emotional anyway, Jerad always tells me that." She chuckled. "Anyway… he got into the Turks, and was often away for long periods of time, sometimes months. I didn't see him much, but he made sure to visit me whenever he could. Even Jerad liked him, because he'd protected me, and cared for me. The years went by… Reno wouldn't tell me much about what he was doing, only that he was sticking to his promises. When I was seventeen…the nun that had been taking care of us died… Jerad and I were both distraught, because we loved her so much… Reno appeared a few days later and saw the state I was in, and I guess he figured he could make me feel better… so he comforted me, and then told me he loved me, and he wanted us to start seeing each other. I was shocked… but so happy…"

"This doesn't sound like the guy I saw at the church." Danny stated.

"I know." The remorse in Aeris's voice was extremely saddening. "He went away for a while soon after that. I didn't see him again until I was eighteen. That's when he revealed he was going to be in Midgcar a while, as the Turks operations were becoming more internal. I, of course, was delighted and we spent a lot of time together. It wasn't until a year later that … that I knew he'd changed. He'd gotten colder over the months, and I attributed it to the stress of his job. He was often sarcastic, and took less care of his appearance, sometimes his was just downright mean. I still loved him, and one day he asked if he could spend a few nights at the church with me, since his operations were near that area. Jerad was away in a different sector, so I agreed… we shared a room, the first night we just hugged and kissed, and it was nice… the second night…" She closed her eyes, the sadness in her voice becoming greater. "He wanted to have sex. I wasn't ready, we didn't have any protection and I wouldn't risk getting pregnant, even though I loved him. I tried to reason with him, but he tried to force me… and eventually I slapped him, hard. After that he left, and spent the other nights downstairs. I tried to make it up to him, told him I loved him and I'd do it if we used protection… but he'd have none of it. He told me we couldn't be together anymore and stormed out. He didn't visit me much after that… and every time it was so uncomfortable. Back there was the first time I'd seen him in months, and, it scared me so much…" She went silent. Danny had a slight urge to hug her, but quickly decided against it and tried to think of some words to comfort her. He wasn't very good at this.

"What an asshole." He said eventually. "That's a stupid thing to break up over… if he loved you, he would have accepted you weren't ready."

"Yeah, I know that now. At the time I blamed myself, and I thought I should have just done it… but now I'm glad I didn't. I got to see what he'd really become. I don't know what happened to him."

"People change, I suppose." Danny said.

"What about you?" She turned to him. "Had any relationships?"

"No." Danny said simply. "I don't get close to people."

"Why not?" Aeris seemed confused, and not worried about breaking personal ground, as Danny had been.

"My parents… they weren't the best role models. They used to hit me a lot, and hated me… they made my life a nightmare."

"Oh, that's so sad… how can any parent do that to their own child?" Aeris said with genuine sympathy.

"I was adopted." Danny said straight away. "That was made very clear from the start." His voice held no tone of anger or resentment, it was icy cold, as if he had frozen that portion of his life in an emotionless void.

"There's something I suppose we have in common… do you know what happened to your parents? Why they gave you to them?" Aeris said quizzically.

"Nope… they wouldn't say and I never bothered to find out. My past… I try to forget it. Not that the future seems a whole lot better." He sighed. "I moved out when I was sixteen, got a flat with Jim and we shared rent when we got jobs with the army. At the time the army was recruiting anyone it could get. I think they knew war was coming. Stayed that way for five years… Jim had a few girlfriends, I remember, but they never really lasted, I never went out, so, I never met anyone. I didn't want to meet anyone. I just wanted to be alone."

"And now?" Aeris asked quietly.

Danny turned to her, smiling a little. "Now I'm beginning to think I should have made more of an effort to find out about the outside world."

"Yeah, you should have…" She followed his gaze to the town and a comfortable silence fell between them, as they both contemplated the future and what it held.