Yeah, I don't own Outlaw Star. Stop tormenting me by making me say that.
"Harry. Wake up, sleepy head," a small voice said next to him.
"Huh? Oh, Mel, I wanna sleep some more," Harry whispered back as he clung tighter to Melfina in her bed.
"But it's getting late. Aren't you hungry or something?"
"Nah. I'm trying to catch up on my sleep that I've been missing out on since about a month and a half ago when we had to leave for that job, remember? Besides, why would I wanna get up from here when you're next to me?" Harry asked as he gave her a small kiss on her nose. Melfina just smiled and giggled to herself.
"You're right. You do need some sleep," she said as she inched closer to him until she couldn't get any closer. Harry was enjoying his time back home, especially since he hadn't had to work the majority of that time thanks to his still-recovering broken arm and leg, which were finally well enough to use again. It had been close to two months since the attacks in space and repairs on the ship were almost done as well. The Outlaw Star had been fixed up primarily from a huge donation from Gene's not-so-favorite-person-to-ask-favors-from, Fred, while Harry's ship was a total loss, which he wasn't too happy about. That morning, though, Harry didn't have to think about his nonexistent ship anymore. He had his love next to him, and that was more than enough. A few hours later, Harry woke up again and opened his eyes to see Melfina looking back at him in wonder, almost as if she were lost in eyes.
"Can't sleep, Mel?" he asked while giving a small yawn.
Melfina dreamily gave a sigh. "Nope. I can't, Harry."
"You wanna go and find something fun to do?" Harry asked her as he pushed some of the hair from his face.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Melfina said as she got out of bed with Harry. Harry put on a pair of jeans and his usual black tank top and went to the kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat. Melfina met Harry in the kitchen when she had gotten fully dressed and got a glass of tea. Melfina noticed that no one else had gotten out of bed except for Jim, who had apparently fallen to sleep on the couch after watching way too many late night talk shows. Melfina turned to Harry and gave him a hug around his neck, being careful not to spill any of her drink. "Harry, do you want to go do something fun? Go shopping? Hang out? Anything?"
"Yeah! Lemme go get ready and I'll be back in like a minute," Harry said enthusiastically as he went to his and Melfina's room to grab his money and his vest that he never went anywhere without. Once he came back, he put his arm around Melfina and they started walking towards the door. "Let's go, my sweet," he said as they left the shop and went to go have a good time.
"Sir, I believe the time has come. Should we active the plan to regain control of the key and the XGP?" asked the girl who was Harry's nurse when he was injured.
"As soon as possible," answered the Tendo King. "I've been waiting long enough. It's time for me to do what that fool Hazanko couldn't: get the prize at the end of the Leyline. Initiate the plan whenever you are ready, Cneajna."
"Yes, master," Cneajna replied as she left the Tendo King's grand office. She made her way through a large hallway to what seemed to be a war room, prepared with all one would need for a large battle. "Now, to prepare to kill these bothersome pests," Cneajna said with a smirk. She made her way to computer filled with small windows of security camera footage. She had been hiding surveillance cameras everywhere she could to be able to plan out a massive technical ambush. That fool Hazanko thought that he could take the Leyline with just brute force. Please. Everything from getting the pieces, to getting in, all the way to making it to the end of the path takes extremely careful planning. And, unlike him, I plan on taking it from the inside, starting with that seemingly-immortal construct. She then pulled up a window displaying a series of cameras posted all around Heifong and searched through them unitl she found Harry and Melfina walking around the plaza. There you are, my little, walking timebomb, she thought as she switched to a different camera every time they disappeared from one's sight so she could follow them.
"Harry! Do you want to go get something to eat? It's almost lunch time," Melfina said, holding on to Harry's arm.
"Yeah, I guess so," Harry replied back. "Man, the time just seemed to fly all of a sudden, huh?"
"You're right. Anyways, there's a nice little snack stand over there. Let's get a cookie."
"Sure! But just one for me. I'm kind of full, already," Harry's said while rubbing his stomach playfully. He and Melfina walked over and grabbed a quick snack and some drinks, still unaware as to the cameras all around the city, tracking people's movements, but more importantly their movements. Harry and Melfina then walked a distance through an empty park and grabbed a seat on an antique park bench. Their gaze was directed towards a large hill, where they saw a numerous array of wildflowers. After a few minutes of relaxing and enjoy her snack, Melfina rested her head on Harry's shoulder.
"This is Heaven, Harry. Pure Heaven," Melfina sighed.
"Yeah. It is. It's so peaceful. And the flowers and scenery just makes it better."
"Huh?" Melfina asked puzzled. "I was talking about the flowers and scenery."
"Oh! I was talking about you. Sorry," Harry said with a large smile. Melfina blushed and chuckled.
"Aw! Thank you. Well, yes. Being with you is Heaven, too, Harry. And the flowers and scenery do make Heaven so much better," she said before laughing. "Wow. this is just so perfect."
"I know. I mean, I didn't think all those months ago when I was alone and I had gotten my new body that this would ever happen. I mean, I was sure that this would never happen. I thought I'd just be alone because I thought you had forgotten about me and gone back to Gene. But ... I was so wrong. And I'm glad that I was wrong." Harry looked into Melfina's eyes and smiled so sincerly at her as she gazed into his eyes as well, almost as if she were hypnotized by his gaze. "Having you here and in my life, and you actually wanting to be near me ... it's more than I could have ever asked for. It's just incredible. I just ... I love you so much, Mel." Harry threw his arms around Melfina and lightly kissed her neck repeatedly. Melfina closed her eyes and held Harry close.
"That's so sweet, Harry. Thank you for saying that to me." Melfina couldn't help but smile and beamed at Harry when he pulled away to see her face. "You just made this day so great! Though it was great anyway, you just made it better."
"Well, I'm glad to have made my princess's day good," he said as he kissed her. "So, you wanna go check out some more places? Time does seem to be flying, after all."
"Yeah, let's go. If time keeps going this fast, the sun will just drop out of the sky," Melfina said slightly laughing. With that, they left the park bench and wakled back towards the city. Later in the day, they decided to go shopping for some new clothes. Harry was waiting outside of one of the dressing rooms, looking for clothes for himself while Melfina was trying on a new wardrobe in the dressing room. Suddenly, Melfina emerged with her new attire. "Does this look good, Harry?" Harry looked in wonder at his sweetheart in her new clothing.
"Of course it looks good. Anything you wear is going to look good."
"Aw, thanks. I'm gonna go try on some more, okay?"
"Sure," Harry answered as Melfina went back into the dressing room and closed the door. Harry then continued to peruse the isle of jeans that he was on.
"There. You've had enough play time," Cneajna said as she continued to watch Harry. She then typed in an entry code into the computer, bringing up a screen with a space for a passcode, which she quickly typed in. "Play time's over, MacDougall." With that, she activated the program.
Harry continued looking through the clothing when suddenly he developed a sharp pain in him. He couldn't place where the pain was coming from, because it seemed as though it was happening everywhere near his skin. It was so intense that it knocked the wind out him. Harry leaned forward and put his hand on one of the shelves that was holding clothes to make sure that he didn't fall. His eyes grew larger as he panted and gasped for breaths, which were becoming more and more shallow.
"What the hell? What's going on with me?" Harry whispered to himself as he struggled to stand upright again. Just as he regained what little strength he could get and was standing normally again, Melfina came back out of the dressing room.
"Is this good, Harry?" Melfina asked as she twirled around to show Harry the clothes from every angle. Harry was still focused on what had just happened to him and didn't immediatly respond. "Harry, are you okay?" Melfina asked more seriously.
"Huh?" Harry asked, obviously surprised by Melfina. "Oh yeah. It looks beautiful. Hey, you want to grab what you like and go? I'm getting kind of tired." Harry didn't feel like walking around all day, for he noticed that he was slowly starting to get worse and worse again as the pain increased.
"Oh, sure. I'm getting kind of tired, too, Harry. I'll be right back," she said as she went to get her favorite clothes out of the dressing room, but to Harry she couldn't came back fast enough. The pain just kept growing in him and when she left his sight, Harry held his head and moaned due to the pain and lightheadedness he was experiencing. He was getting very nervous; nothing like this had ever happened to him before.
What is going on? he thought as he slowly walked over to the register. Is this some malfunction of my new body? Oh, and it's getting worse. Very shortly thereafter, Melfina made her way to the register with the clothes she wanted. "Hey, Mel. Can you pay for these alone? I wanna go outside and look around really quickly for something," Harry asked.
"Sure. I'll be out in a few minutes," Melfina replied as she reached into her purse. Harry slowly walked out of the building and turned a quick corner so that he avoided the shop window where Melfina could see him. Harry placed his hand on the wall of the building and braced himself as he gasped in pain.
"What is ... going on ... with me?" Harry gasped between breaths. His chest felt like it was about to explode or collapse; he didn't know which because the pain was so crippling. Harry's knees started to getting weaker and weaker. He didn't know if he was going to be able to stand anymore. Melfina then came out of the shop as Harry returned to a normal stance to hide his pain from her.
"Did you find the place, Harry?" Melfina asked as she clung to his arm.
"Um, no," Harry said, just remembering the excuse he told Melfina to go to catch his breath. "I didn't. Let's go home, Mel." Harry and Melfina started on their way home slowly. Melfina thought the reason they were walking slow was to take in the sites and enjoy the time they had together. Harry couldn''t take the pain surging through him. Swallowing was starting to become a chore for him now. His vision was getting more and more blurry. Though he was hurting, he still didn't want to worry Melfina. He kept pushing himself to fight through his pain. At the end of the plaza, they went to their right to cut through the park on their way home. Harry was glad they were going that way cause it was a shorter way to the shop.
"My! You're putting up quite a resistance, Harry," Cneajna said, scowling at her screen.
"How is he faring againstyour nanobot treatment, Lady Cneajna?" asked the Tendo King, who had appeared behind her.
"He's putting up a strong fight. In fact, the strongest fight I've ever seen a construct put up. But, of course, we can always turn up the juice on him." Cneajna then entered her passcode again and selected to increase the power slightly to her nanobots.
"By the way, Cneajna, you never told me how you got these nanobots into MacDougall. Do you mind telling me how you pulled off this stunt?" asked the Tendo King.
"Well, you always did say I'd look good in a nurse's uniform. Now, let's send him to the morgue." Cneajna then accepted the command to increase the power and increase the pain.
As they were walking through the park, Harry felt a surge of pain that had to have been at least ten times worse then what he first had felt, but still managed somehow to keep the pain to himself. Oh God! Not again! What is happening? Melfina now began to notice Harry's heavy breathing and almost debilitating walk. Her face grew worried when she then saw Harry beginning to sweat heavily, almost as if he had a horrible fever.
"Harry?" Melfina quietly asked. "Are you okay? You don't look well."
"No, ... no. I'm fine," Harry barely even whispered through his breaths. "I'm just warm and ti ... red," Harry said as his knees gave out from under him he collapsed forward. He would have fallen right on the ground if Melfina hadn't have dropped her bags and caught him.
"Harry!" Melfina exclaimed in horror. "Harry! What's wrong?" Melfina laid Harry on his back and looked at him. He had passed out from the pain. Melfina felt Harry's head and gasped at how scorching hot his head was. "Oh my God! Help! Somebdy help!" Melfina cried out as she tried to help Harry from whatever it was that was trying to kill him.
Later in the day, as the sun was beginning to set, Aisha finally was almost at the shop. She had been out all day enjoying herself to the bright day and the beach, her two favorite things, besides her usual video games. As she got home, she made her usual grand entrance.
"Hey everyone! I'm home!" she blurted out. When she arrived, she saw Gene in the kitchen near the refrigerator. "Gene! What's up?"
"Getting some tea for Melfina. She's looking after Harry in her room."
"Looking after him?" Aisha asked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Jim didn't call and tell you what happened?" Gene asked.
"Nah! I never have my phone on, anyways, so it wouldn't have mattered. So spill the beans! What happened?"
"Harry collapsed in the park. He's gotten this ungodly fever and Melfina had to call me to come get them cause she didn't know who else to call." Gene said as he closed the refrigerator door.
"Huh? You aren't just saying this to get him out of that video game match he has with me tonight, are you, Gene?" she asked, obviously not convinced that Harry had collapsed.
"I'm not kidding, Aisha!" Gene screamed. "God, do you think all us humans just lie constantly or something?"
"Please. I trust you about as far as I can throw you," Aisha retorted.
"With your animal strength, you should be trusting me with your life," Gene quietly said as he made his way to Melfina's room with her drink.
"Hey! I heard that, you jackass Terran!" Aisha screamed. Gene entered Melfina room quietly and saw her seated next to Harry's bedside, stroking his hand ever so gently. Such a look of despair was drawn on her face as she looked at Harry's unconscious face, the bright orange sunlight tinting it as night drew near. She wondered why he had just seemingly been knocked out in the park, why he was having his horrible fever, and what they could do to stop it. She had an idea of how to cure him, but she knew that Gene wouldn't think so highly of it. Gene set the glass down on her nightstand and stood behind her, watching Harry as well.
"So, Melfina, how is he?" asked Gene quietly so as not to disturb Harry.
"I don't know. He won't wake up, he won't respond, he barely even lifts his chest to breathe. I'm getting worried, Gene," Melfina said as she began to shed tears. Melfina let go of Harry's hand and buried her face in her hands, sobbing more and more now. Gene put his hand on her shoulder to ease her pain in any way he could.
"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine. Do you think we should take him to a hospital to check him out?" Melfina lifted her head out of her hands, exposing her bright pink face and tear-filled eyes.
"I'm afraid to with him being an outlaw and all. If we did take him, they might help him, but someone may be able to recognize him and then things would be worse. I think we just got lucky the last time when you two were in there together."
"Yeah, you're probably right. If one of the security guards saw him, he'd probably be executed tomorrow," Gene said. "Well, do you have any ideas, Melfina? I'm running blank."
"Yes," she whispered through a sob. "I have one idea." Melfina turned to him and looked up at Gene. "Remember when you were poisoned that time by the Kei pirate and I healed you?" Gene's eyes widened. He could have sworn he didn't just hear what he thought he had heard.
"You wanna try that with him!" Gene asked, obviously shocked by what she had thought of. "But, Melfina, what if he tries something?" Melfina couldn't believe what she was hearing from Gene. It only made her more distraught.
"Look at him, Gene!" she said, becoming more distraught. "He's about to die! He collapsed in front of me in a park and hasn't woken up since! He's been more caring and thoughtful to you and everyone else here in the time he's been here than you probably ever will be! And you're saying that this is a trick to do something to me? I can't believe you, Gene!" Melfina stopped to wipe more tears from her eyes.
"Come on, Melfina! He's! A! MacDougall! He's killed who knows how many people and I can't believe I've let him stay here this long!" Gene said, beginning to get angry. "Think about all he's done, Melfina."
"I have, and ever since he's been here he's been great! He's changed, Gene! Why can't you see that?"
"Cause to me he's still the same bastard outlaw that he always will be!" Gene said, looking at him. With that, something in Melfina snapped. She had never been mad at anyone before, and now she had never been this angry at anyone in her life. Gene was totally caught offguard when he felt Melfina's hand fly through the air and slap him in his face, which turned completly to one side. Gene just stood there, his face still turned, wondering what had just happened. Melfina was panting in pure anger, almost not even realizing what she had just done. When she had realized it, though, she still didn't seem to care that she had just slapped him.
"Gene, don't ever talk about Harry that way ever again! You still haven't trusted him after all of this time! Then fine! I'll do this myself!" Melfina turned around and began lifting Harry's deadweight body out of the bed. She then threw his arm around her neck and started slowly walking him out of the room. Melfina found that it was hard to support him, but the adrenaline rushing through her from her anger gave her just enough strength to carry him to the doorway. Jim was walking down the stairs when he saw Melfina struggling to keep Harry's body from hitting the ground. Melfina turned her head and saw Jim there. "Jim, can you help me carry Harry to the car?"
"Uh, sure," Jim said as he got under Harry's other arm and helped her walk him out of the door and into the backseat of Jim's car.Once there, they sat him down and buckled him up to leave. "Hey, Melfina, do you need me to drive you to wherever you're going?" he asked.
"Oh, thank you, Jim," Melfina said, finally calmed down from her rage. "We need to go to the Outlaw Star, quickly. It is fully repaired, isn't it?"
"Well, it's not launching for a few more days," Jim said as they got in the car as well, "But all of it's other systems are working normally."
"Good. Let's go." Jim started up the car and they drove off towards the spaceport. Back in the shop, Aisha was about to go upstairs when she saw a still bewildered Gene making his way out of Melfina's room, his face still red from Melfina's slap.
"Hey, handsome," Aisha said. "What happened to you?" Gene answered her, but still was shocked at what had happened.
"Melfina ... hit me. She ... hit me."
"HA! You deserved it, Terran!" she said in a laugh as she skipped up the stairs.
At the Outlaw Star, Melfina and Jim had almost arrived at the entrance to the ship with Harry. Once inside, they made their way to the bridge. Harry continued his heavy breathing and perspiring the entire time. Once at the bridge, Harry began coughing heavily. Melfina couldn't stand to see him like this. It was tearing her up inside. Melfina and Jim rested Harry against the back of Gene's seat as Melfina then moved to activate some of the systems. Melfina was hurrying through her work like she never had before. After activating some of the systems, Gillium came online.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Gillium said. "What are you doing here this late?"
"Yeah, Melfina, you didn't even tell me why were here," Jim said. "What's up with bringing Harry here?" Melfina turned around from her monitor and looked at Harry on the ground, still gasping for breaths.
"Guys, I don't know if you want me to do this or not, but don't try to talk me out of it. I'm going to pull whatever's killing Harry out of him the same way I did with Gene. I've made up my mind about it and we're going through with it now." Jim just stood there, a little shocked but he understood that Melfina wasn't going to be persuaded otherwise.
"Okay, Melfina. Let's get him up," Jim said as he got under Harry's arm and helped Melfina lift him up. Melfina walked over to her capsule holding on to Harry's limp body. Harry continued coughing and began breathing heavily again.
"Gillium, make sure that everything goes well in there in case this is something powerful," Melfina told Gillium.
"Very well," Gillium droned. "Whenever you are ready, dear." Melfina took a moment to ready herself. She didn't know if this would help Harry, but she had to try.
"I'm ready, Gillium," Melfina stated. With that, she and Harry began lowering into the Outlaw Star. "Don't worry, my love. You'll be better soon." Once they were completly inside, the capsule closed over them. Jim watched as they disappeared into the ship before talking to Gillium.
"Anything I need to do to help out, Gil?" he asked.
"No, but you may want to go take a shower. We don't know if what Harry has is contagious."
"Whoa! You're right!" Jim exclaimed. He certainly didn't want whatever Harry had ailing him. "Ew! I'm gone," he said as he ran to his bathroom quarters to shower off.
Where am I? What's going on? Harry wondered to himself. His pain was still in his body, but he wasn't coughing or struggling for breaths. In fact, he wan't even breathing. It was as if air was coming straight into him. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't for some reason. Am I dead? Where is everyone? Suddenly, images from Harry's past came back to him, as if his life was flashing before his eyes, stopping to highlight certain events. Harry saw times when he and Ron would destroy other ships when they were taking on jobs. Then he saw the time when Gene confronted him and his friends during the space race at Heifong. Then, Harry gasped as he saw the time that Melfina was tied up in cyberspace in the Leyline. Harry didn't know what was happening. Oh,God! What's going on? Am I dreaming or this happening all over again! Harry couldn't take the pain and stress anymore.
"Melfina!" Harry cried out as loud as he could.
"Harry, I'm here," Melfina's gentle voice said in an ethreal whisper to him. Harry finally gained the ability to open his eyes and saw Melfina in front of him, just as she would be in her navigation chamber.
"Melfina, what's going on?" Harry asked as pain shot through him again. It was now becoming evident that talking was even becoming painful now.
"Harry," Melfina's voice said from all around him, "You know you don't have to move your mouth to talk in here if it hurts. Just think it and I'll hear you."
"Oh! Thanks," Harry thought, though it was heard by Melfina. "Um, Mel, what's going on? Why are you ... um ... not wearing clothes?"
"We're in my navigational chamber. Harry, I'm going to heal you."
"Heal me? What do you mean?" he asked inquisitivly.
"Of your illness. I think it might be an outside force doing it, and, if it is, then I can heal you. I know that you're in pain, my sweet. Just relax and let me help you, okay?"
"Mel, how did you know I was in pain?" Harry asked.
"Well, you collapsed in the park. You haven't woken up since until just now." Harry was about to say something back to Melfina when he felt a rush of pain shoot through him again. Harry closed his eyes as he screamed in pain and choked for air again.
"Harry!" Melfina exclaimed. "Hold on!" Melfina swam around Harry to his back and wrapped her arms around him. Harry gasped at the feeling of Melfina embracing him. She felt freezing cold, due to Harry having a high fever. Harry tried to turn his head to look behind him, but it was almost as if he were frozen by Melfina. She held onto him tighter, but it didn't cause pain to Harry. It actually felt quite relieving to him. Harry was starting to feel better as the minutes went by.
"Mel, I'm feeling so much better. What are you doing to me?" he asked.
"I'm relieving you of whatever is causing you to be ill. It should take about an hour for it to completely be eliminated. It seems to be all throughout your body. I don't know what it is, but it seems as though it can be purged. Just relax, Harry. If you panic, it'll only take longer for me to heal you." Melfina then gripped onto Harry tighter and lightly kissed his back. Harry closed his eyes and delved into the bliss in was in. He couldn't imagine that he and Melfina would be this close, and especially like this. Harry only wished that he could turn around and kiss her back, but he was still in his paralyzed state. He had never felt this sensation before. It was as if they had the same thoughts, felt the same feelings, and understood each others most innermost secrets and desires. Melfina didn't experience this with Gene when she did this with him, so she wondered what was happening. "Harry, I feel as if we're one. What's happening?" she asked.
"I think it's because we're constructs that we can have this bond. I told you so long ago, my sweet goddess, we're supposed to be together. We're perfect for each other." Melfina smiled and leaned her head back onto Harry's back. She relaxed and continued with her purging process.
"You're right. We are perfect for one another," she whispered to him.
As Jim was heading back onto the bridge after having a nice, long shower, he saw Melfina's capsule open. Jim quickly stepped back as he saw Melfina emerge with a fully-recovered Harry hugging her and her hugging back.
"Well, you two have a good time?" Jim asked jokingly, seeing as how it looked like Harry was better. Harry turned around to see Jim there.
"You betcha! I feel one hundred percent now," he said as he spun around. He then faced Melfina again and grasped her hands in his. "Thank you so much, Melfina. You saved my life."
"Well, it was the least I could do. I mean, I love you and I don't wanna see you die. But now it looks like we've saved each others lives, now haven't we?" she said getting close to him again.
"Yep!" Harry said as he kissed her head. "Well, you guys wanna get home?"
"Yeah, I starving," Jim said. "We'll see ya later, Gillium."
"Goodbye, everyone," Gillium said. "Have a nice ... Warning! Virus detected in main hardrive!"
"Huh?" Jim said confused. "What do you mean 'virus'?"
"Systems being attacked!" Gillium continued. "All power offline in 3 ...2 ..." Gillium stopped short of one. He went offline.
"Gillium! Answer us!" Jim screamed. "Come on! What's going on!" Gillium didn't answer him. He had been shut down.
"Hmm. Looks like the nanobots aren't in MacDougall anymore," Cneajna said, looking at the screen displaying the status of the virus Harry had been infected with. "Let's see where they are now." She pulled some diagnostics of the bots surroundings until she discovered where they were. "Inside the XGP? Already? My, Melfina. You fell for this quicker than I thought you would've." She turned around out of her seat and walked to the center of the room, then disappeared. She quickly appeared soon thereafter in the Tendo King's room. "Master?"
"Yes, Cneajna. What is is?" he calmly replied.
"The XGP has been corrupted with the nanovirus as planned. Should we engage phase two now?"
"Yes. Proceed. With the MacDougall's ship gone and the outlaw's ship disabled, Melfina will have nowhere to run from us."
I. Create. Drama, people! Yes, another chapter finished and shipped out. Give me sweet reviews and I'll love ya!
By the way, if you don't check out Rose Magenta's fanfic To Rise Above The Stars, then I'll have to kill ya! XD Not really, but I'll be mad. So, go check it out as well. And I'm SOOOOOO sorry that I messed up on the title and put something COMPLETELY different a few days ago. I'M SORRY, ROSE MAGENTA! TT
Oh, and don't expect a new chapter soon. I'm trying to finish up some work I'm doing involving my band and don't have time to write. I'll get back to it later this summer. You'll at least get a new chapter in June.