-4- Listen

Man-at-Arms had to fight down a laugh as he took another drink of water. He sat across from Leah, eating off the edge of the end table next to her bed. Leah was sitting in her bed with a serving tray across her lap and she had once again managed to throw a teasing comment at him at just the wrong moment. She tried to hide a smile as he looked at her with feigned annoyance. He was actually enjoying the teasing from the woman and was relieved that she was opening up. Leah sighed and stirred her broth. Duncan gave her a questioning look. "Is there something wrong?"

Leah's grey eyes met his brown ones. "No, not at all. The healers' told me I am going to be on a roughage diet for a week or two to get all my insides 'back in shape' after being so bruised up and then on a liquid diet. I'm just not looking forward; I am a meat and potatoes kind of gal."

Man-at-Arms smiled sympathetically. Lightening suddenly flashed outside the windows, causing them both to jump. The thunder crashed loudly and Leah suppressed a shiver. Rain started to tap loudly on the window. Leah looked out at the rain and an uneasy feeling crept down her back. "Duncan, do you have a way to check how far a storm stretches?"

Man-at-arms was confused by this question but he answered her anyway. "Yes, of course."

Leah didn't turn her gaze from the rain covered windows. He could see a frown develop across her face and a worry line appeared between her eyebrows. It looked almost like she was straining to hear something. She jumped a bit when the lightening flashed again but kept watching the rain as she spoke. "I think you should see what the weather is doing where ever Teela is."

Man-at-Arms smiled indulgently and chuckled. "Leah, Teela is a grown woman and captain of the guard she can handle fixing a generator even in the rain."

He was surprised when her hand reached over to grasp his forearm. Even through his armor he could feel her strong grip. She locked her eyes with his. "No. Duncan, over the years I have come to trust my intuition. You have to believe me. There is something wrong." She glanced away for a moment. "Please just humor me and if nothing else just contact Teela, make sure she is alright. The worst that will happen is she will laugh about the unnecessary call."

Her vehemence surprised him, and nodding silently, he went to a panel on the wall. As he touched several of the key pads Orko floated into the room. He was carrying a small bouquet of flowers. "Hi Leah. Are you feeling better?" he asked as he handed the flowers to her.

Leah brightened at the sight of the diminutive magician. Nodding, she smiled at the Trollan. "I'm feeling much better, thank you, Orko. These flowers are very pretty. Could you get me a vase to put them in?"

The little magician immediately flipped the top of his hat open a produce a container for the flowers. Leah had just placed them on the stand when Man-at-Arms spoke. She could hear a tinge of worry had crept into his voice even though he was trying to hide it. "Orko, you need to find Prince Adam. There is no answer from the outstation and I can't get an answer from Teela. He can contact He-Man. I will get a wind raider prepared and meet him in the hanger."

Orko flew out of the room as quickly as he could. Duncan watched him go and then turned to excuse himself before leaving Leah. He was surprised to see her climbing out of bed and reaching for a heavy pair of pants lying over a chair.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Leah only glanced up at him as she pulled the pants on over the light leggings she already wore. "I'm coming with you."

Duncan's eyebrows nearly disappeared under the edge of his helmet. "No, you're not." Leah started to protest but Man-at-Arms stepped forward and firmly took hold of her shoulders. "You are still healing. It may be nothing more than a disconnected communications cable…"

"…Or it may not." Leah interrupted him.

Man-at-Arms grinned at her indulgently, sighing inwardly. This argument was one he used to have with Teela on a regular basis when she was still training. "If it is not, you are still not completely healed and it makes no sense to be putting yourself in harm's way in your current condition." He didn't want to doubt her abilities as a solider but he also had no idea if she could defend herself in a battle even if she was well. He wisely did not say as much.

For a long moment she stared at him, challenging him to stop her if she tried to come along anyway. Then she gave in with a sigh and Duncan felt the tension in the room melt away as she nodded in agreement.

He gave her a curt nod and let go of her shoulders. "I give you my word; I will let you know when we get back." He started for the door.

Leah called out after him. "Duncan…" He paused in the doorway. "Even if I am asleep, wake me up. I want to know that everything is alright." He nodded and took off at a jog through the hallways towards the hanger bay.

Leah paced back and forth across the room for several minutes before stopping to stare out the window into the rain. In a lightening flash she could see a wind raider climbing into sky. A voice from the doorway made her jump. She hadn't heard any footsteps. "Leah?" She spun around to find Orko floating in the doorway. He was holding a small flat computer tablet. The magician floated over and handed her the panel. "Man-at-Arms asked me to give you this. He said this will show you what the weather is doing." He pointed to two black dots on the map. "This is the castle and this is the outpost where Teela is at. And this flashing blue dot is the wind raider." Leah nodded and Orko floated out of the room to inform the king and queen what was going on. She crossed the room to a chair near the windows. Pulling the light blanket from the back of the chair she wrapped it around herself and sank back into the deep chair. Sighing, she studied the map. The worst of the storm was heading right towards the outpost and if it stayed moving at the same speed it was it would get there nearly the same time as the wind raider.

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Evil-Lyn smiled and laughed as she stared up at the strengthening storm. The storm she had conjured combined with the swamp creatures Skeletor had Beastman summon would surely destroy the already damaged outpost. She stood up from where she had been kneeling on a small knoll just outside the forest. By this time tomorrow she would be back at Snake Mountain with her prisoner. She scowled at how every chance she had over the past few days had been disrupted by Man-at-Arms' appearance to check on the woman. She grinned again. Her plan was simple and fool proof. The storm and the creatures would keep Teela from returning. Her absence the next day would call Man-at-Arms away to find his daughter and assist with repairs to the outpost. Without him there she would finally have a chance to capture her prey. By the time Man-at-Arms and the others returned to the palace she will have the Earth woman and be gone.

----- -----

Man-at-Arms circled the outpost with the wind raider once before finding a place to land the craft. There were no lights on in any of the buildings and no sign of people. He-man leapt out of the craft as soon as it came to a stop, drawing his sword as he did. "I guess Teela didn't get the generator fixed."

Man-at-Arms scanned the science station, trying to find signs of the people there. Behind them in the swamp a creature let out a roar as the rain began coming down again. "Well, so much for getting ahead of the rain." He started walking towards the small out building that housed the generator. "I'll see if I can get the power back on before we go up to the building.

He-man nodded and fell in step beside his friend. As they approached the lean-to protection around the generator they could hear movement inside. Man-at-Arms silently placed his back against the wall and nodded to He-man. As he jumped forward raising his sword, Man-at-Arms swung around raising his blaster and shouting. "Stay where you are!"

"Father! Wait!" He-man and Duncan looked to see Teela crouched down alongside the generator. A flood of relief spread over Man-at-Arms. Other than an ugly group of cuts across her forehead, she looked unharmed. He-man glanced around for anyone else in the small lean-to before reaching out an arm to help Teela to her feet.

"What happened Teela? I thought Duncan said this was only going to take the afternoon."

She brushed off her hands and looked back and forth between the two men. "I thought so, too. When I got started it was more involved than I thought it would be. Several of the circuits were completely fused. Then this storm kicked up and messed up several of the other systems. The scientists wouldn't let me out of the complex for a while. I finally talked them into letting me out here to try to finish the repairs and get the shields back up before the worst of the weather hit. I didn't expect anyone to come looking until tomorrow. How did you know something was wrong?"

Man-at-Arms had been looking at one of the power couplings when she asked the question. For some reason he felt a bit uncomfortable admitting that Leah had been the reason he discovered the communications were down. Teela merely nodded and turned back to He-man.

"How did that happen?" he asked, pointing at her forehead.

Teela reached up to gingerly finger the cuts. One of the trees came down near the complex. When it hit the ground one of the branches splintered off. A flying chunk hit me."

The group jumped as lightening flashed again and the thunder cracked almost immediately. In the flash they could see a group of swamp beasts stalking forward towards the lean-to. "Father!"

"I saw them."

He-man brought his sword up, stepping ahead of his friends to shield them. In the next flash of lightening a beam from Man-at-Arms blaster shot past his shoulder to stun one of the large ape-like creatures. Teela grabbed a large downed branch and swung it towards one creature, landing a solid blow to its head. As the beast retreated back, He-man rushed forward to meet two more of them. He grasped each of them by their arms and spun around to throw them back towards the swamp. He turned around to find Man-at-Arms fending off two more creatures. He-man closed the distance to his friend, picking up another of the creatures from behind. The two men were just getting the situation in hand when the storm picked up, becoming stronger again. A large gust of wind drove the rain into their eyes, making it hard to see.

Luckily it also forced the last few of the swamp creatures to seek the safety of the trees. The sound of splintering and creaking wood was followed by a scream from Teela. The two men whirled around and watched the scene before them unfold in slow motion. One of the ancient trees had lost the fight with the storm and was falling. Teela had turned just in time to see the tree coming down on top of her. She raised her arms to protect her head as best she could while the branches came crashing down.

Duncan's breath caught in his throat. He was frozen in place while He-man rushed forward, picking up the tree and tossing it aside like a piece of brush. Man-at-Arms recovered quickly and was at his daughter's side as He-man carefully picked up her unconscious form. "Duncan, I'll get her back to the wind raider. You see what you can do about the shield generator, and then we will go check the people in the science station."

Man-at-Arms nodded and quickly went to work. Teela had most of the repairs finished and by the time He-man returned the shield was glowing a soft blue around the science complex. He made sure the shield extended far enough to enclose the wind raider before they started for the station. Halfway to the science station they were met by the station leaders. After several minutes of brief discussion the scientists assured them there was no need for them to stay now that the shield was up and running again. A few moments later the two men were back in the aircraft and on the way back to the palace. Man-at-Arms tended to his daughters wounds on the flight back. He cleaned the cuts and scrapes and splinted her arm as He-man flew. He was certain her arm was broken. After she was as comfortable as he could make her, he sat back and considered the evening's events.

A glance at the older man told He-man there was something bothering him. "What's the matter Duncan?"

Man-at-Arms sighed and thought a moment more before answering. "The chief scientist said it was strange how the weather changed so drastically for this time of year. The lightening was only a few flashes aside from the one that managed to knock out the generator. A storm with enough power to do that damage to the generator should have lasted for hours not minutes." He glanced at Teela's still form and admitted what was truly bothering him. "The tree only broke her arm but if Leah hadn't insisted we check, who knows what might have happened. If Teela hadn't heard those beasts come up in the storm while she was working…" He left the sentence hang. He-man nodded and they continued the rest of the way home in silence.

Once they reached the palace, Man-at-Arms called for the medics to bring a stretcher for Teela. They had her settled into the infirmary and her arm in a cast in less than an hour. They were nearly finished with the cast when she woke up, much to the relief of her father. Duncan hadn't left her side the entire time the healers had worked on her. She started to ask what happened and he shushed her. "We will talk in the morning. You get some sleep now." She smiled at his tone, the same he had used when she was a little girl woken up with a nightmare. She nodded and rested back into the pillows.

Satisfied that she was alright, he headed for the door. "Father…" He turned to see her looking at him, her sleepy eyes laughing with mischief. "Tell Leah I said thanks."

Duncan walked silently through the empty halls of the palace. When he reached Leah's room he raised a hand and softly knocked on the door. When he received no answer he turned away to go to his own room. Then he grinned to himself, remembering her adamant instructions to wake her if she was asleep. He quietly opened the door and a beam of light fell across Leah. She had fallen asleep tucked up in the chair near her bed. She had the tablet he had asked Orko to give her resting on her lap in her loose fingers. He carefully plucked up the panel and placed it on the nearby window sill. Bending down he picked up the blanket she had at one time been covered with. He tucked the blanket around her and stepped back, looking at her as she slept. He didn't see anyway that she could possibly be comfortable in the position she was in and even if she was, he was sure she would wake in the morning stiff as a board. Deciding there was only one thing to do about it, he stepped forward and stooped to carefully pick her up. She was heavier than he would have expected from her small frame. He turned and crossed the small distance to lay her across her bed. He covered her with the blankets and was just leaving when she stirred in her sleep. He paused a moment. Her eyes blinked open, he wasn't sure she really saw he was there until she said his name, her voice quiet and thick with sleep. "Duncan?" He nodded, stepping back to the edge of her bed. "Was everything alright?"

He gave her the same instructions he had given Teela. "We can talk in the morning. Go back to sleep. We are all back safely."

Still more asleep than awake, Leah nodded and let her eyes fall closed. He could tell she was falling back into sleep by her voice when she spoke and her steady, even breathing. "You're buying breakfast then."

He grinned at the statement. The rain was still falling outside but now it was a gentle rain running down the windows. The soft sound filled the room as he stood for a few minutes more to make sure she was back to sleep before leaving for his own room to take his own advice.