It had been over a week now and he was finally at full recovery. She worried that his rejuvenating health would mean trouble for her. He had spoken only a few words in the time he was here, and they mainly consisted of 'female' and 'food.' She didn't like that combination. Scoring through the back of her mind were images of him hunting her down and finishing what he started back at the ski resort. Did he eat humans? Was that part of his palate? The freezer would be stocked with meat if that was the case, and if he got any ideas, she would educate him on what burnt alien smelled like. This human was off limits. Whatever was in the fridge, he could have at it.
But for the time being, he had been seemingly content on simply tinkering with his gear, particularly his gauntlet. He had not left his new room since he arrived and that was completely fine by Rae. It was one less thing for her to worry about.
When she wasn't tending to her guest, she was being harassed by the other male in the house. The furry feline rubbed at her leg with a soft purr. "Not now Chase," she gently pushed him back with her leg. "I just got you your food, you should be fine."
Not at all phased by her rejection, Chase returned to her feet and sat all expectant-like turning his head up to look at her after affectionately rubbing his head against her. "Mraa!" He waited, with no response. Offended by his being ignored, he went to plan B which almost always got a reaction. Rising up on his back legs he gracefully stretched upward and gently with one paw, batted at her thigh. "Mraaa!"
A heavy sigh escaped past her lips and she couldn't fight it anymore. She leaned down and scooped the gray tabby cat up into her arms, holding him close. "Is this what you want?" she scratched behind his ears.
He purred contentedly.
Rae smiled and continued to give him the attention he so craved. This was usually how he was when she returned home from a longer trip. This morning was impossible. He had made the decision to hold her captive on the couch by sleeping all curled up around her neck like a scarf. Normally she found his almost possessive behavior to be rather taxing, but with the messed-up week she had been having, she welcomed the familiar warmth her small furry companion willingly offered. It was really the only comfort she had after bringing the alien home.
One particular issue that she had faced with the beast was still fresh on her mind, though she really wished it weren't.
It happened the morning after they arrived. As incredible as his recovery had been, at the time he was of course, still incapable of being independent enough to handle his own well-being. And on this particular occasion, he was not in the position to bathe himself. When she realized that a bowl of water and a washcloth wouldn't be enough, she knew he needed to use the shower, or at least the bathtub portion for now. But as those images filled her head, she began to fear exactly how much assistance would be needed for it to work.
Rae knew she should have thought it out and planned for how it would go beforehand, but of course, she didn't. And there she was charging into the unknown completely blind.
1 Week Earlier
She gripped his side, as they neared the small tub. The masculine alien made it abundantly clear he did not appreciate any of her help, especially when it involved undressing him. It's not like she was happy about it either.
"Easy big fella," she tried to calm him as she shimmied the loose netting down past his hips and further down his muscular thighs.
Tomak was forced to lean heavily against the wall, but his eyes were glued to the hands roaming down his sides, struggling to remove his mesh suit. Every so often, her fingertips would graze his flesh. It felt like the teasing touches he used to receive from a certain yautja female, one he did not want to think about. If he closed his eyes he could see her face and he needed to keep his eyes open. Feeling her soft touch against his leg, a growl bubbled up from deep within his chest. Why could she not leave him be?!
Rae had looked up at him at that moment and met his fierce amber gaze. "Can you try and lift your bad leg, please?" she gently tapped it with her fingertips, earning another growl. She had quickly come to realize that he purposefully made everything so much harder than it had to be, constantly opposing her. If she wanted him to stay in bed, he would get up. If she asked him to lean on her, he would attempt to walk on his own. If she gave him water and told him to stay hydrated, he would meet her eyes and watch her reaction as he knocked the glass, spilling its contents. He was like a friggin' cat! Chase had better manners than he did!
After about ten minutes of growling and arguing, she had managed to get everything off him. Well… almost everything. Her face reddened some as she looked at the next obstacle. "Um… are you able to take that off on your own?" referring to the complexly tied loincloth that she dared not touch. It had been the last barrier covering him and it had occurred to her that he hadn't even used the bathroom yet, which led her to believe this was the reason.
He had stared at her silently, his glowing yellowy, orange-colored eyes burning furiously at her.
Reading her answer from him, she sighed in immense relief. "Good, then you can take that off on your own when I leave."
It had taken time, but she had schooled her eyes to not scope out the amazing specimen he was. However, standing near his almost naked body that was not unlike a human man, was beyond her self-control. Trying desperately to focus on anything else, she stared at the bathtub that was filled with what was hopefully warm water still. Let's just get this over with.
Her next question was fairly simple, but apparently not so to a reptilian alien. All she had asked was if he needed help getting into the bathtub or if he wanted to try it himself, and he responded as if she called him ugly! She partly wondered if words such as help or assistance were highly offensive in his culture, because he reacted with such headstrong opposition, she, in her own frustration, happily left him to attempt it without using her as a crutch.
The only funny thing about it was when, after a couple tries and several guttural words left his mouth, (that she could only assume were curses), did he stubbornly and bitterly acknowledge that he actually did need her. There was really nothing he could have done to wash the triumphant smirk off her face as she returned to his side and settled him into the tub.
The sudden addition of his body mass to the water's volume sent it sloshing about his waist and threatening to spill out onto the bathroom floor.
Once he had calmed, his chest rising and falling at a comfortable rate, she looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Better?"
He just grumbled all grouchy-like, turning his head away.
She didn't expect an answer, but as irritating as he was being, she was starting to enjoy how easily he got worked up. But aside from her mild amusement, she really did try to make it work, catering to his needs. Kneeling beside the tub, she took a soaked cloth and wrung it out. Whilst doing this, she became suddenly aware of something that struck close to home. Her face softened as she watched him. "Thank you for putting up with me."
His head faintly turned in her direction. The movement so slow she almost didn't catch it.
Another small smile flickered over her lips at his subtle response, but she reeled it in, continuing her task. "I know it's not easy to let someone else take care of you so personally like this."
Watching her carefully, Tomak noticed a small waiver in her dark brown eyes.
"Trust me," she spoke delicately, her voice coming out in a strained whisper, "I know."
Her eyes were now distant, as if she was no longer in the present. This quiet demeanor was different to him, and it lasted for a short period of time before she inhaled deeply and returned her attention to one of the bottles lining the nearby shelf. It only took those few fleeting moments though, for Tomak to sense it. This female was not only hiding herself physically, but also emotionally. It should have been a sign of weakness to him, but it wasn't.
It did not take very long before the silent spell was broken. "Can you do me a huge favor though?"
He restrained a rattling growl as he slowly, yet imperiously met her gaze.
The corners of Rae's mouth hiked upward ever slightly. "I was simply going to ask that you clean everywhere you can reach, and I'll only help with the areas you can't. Sound good?" she held out a soapy washcloth for him.
He chuffed, roughly taking it from her small, pale fingers.
Letting him work, Rae reached for a second cloth and began soaking that one as well, pumping a few globules of liquid soap just for good measure. By the time she was done with him, he was going to smell like sweet honey lilac. She giggled inwardly at the thought. Turning back in his direction she immediately took note of the way the muscles in his tricep pulled taut every time he extended his arm. Damn, that was an attractive arm. If one could still exude power when merely taking a bath, then good God.
Quickly remembering herself and her fleeting self-control, she clenched her jaw and trained her focus to the tops of his large shoulders. Her eyes never deviated as she carefully made circular motions, spreading the soap as it began to foam up, covering his green mottling with puffy white suds. Submerging the cloth, she brought it back up to clear away the soap. She repeated this process down his back, smoothing the rag over every dip and incline that made up his well-developed lats. Man, she thought silently. She couldn't help but wonder what a day at the gym looked like for him. Suddenly the idea of him standing in a very human-looking weight room seemed absurd. With his mass, he would appear like a god to the local gym rats. That alone brought on a snicker that slipped out of her mouth. Whoops.
The large arm that had been continuously moving in working strokes, ceased all movement.
Her eyes drifted up at that, only to notice the scathing sidewards glance that he had dealt her. His expression instantly had her biting her tongue and feeling like an absolute child. She wanted to say something sassy and defensive like, What? Can a girl not laugh? But she didn't.
His unwavering stare lingered a moment longer before he finally shifted his gaze back to his earlier efforts with a low grumble.
Despite the awkward silence that had now weaved between them, everything seemed to be going well. He was being surprisingly patient even though she sensed his displeasure, but as always, all good things eventually do come to an end.
To be honest, the rest of the bath would have been fine hadn't she noticed that some of his blood had gotten on his unique dread-like hair. Using a soapy cloth, she reached up and took one of the long strands and gently wiped it down. Apparently, that was a big no-no.
He tensed up like the mountain of muscle he was as a snarl ripped from his throat.
Rae didn't even see his clawed hand coming until it fisted the collar of her shirt and abruptly yanked her forward, nearly lifting her off her feet! Her hands came out and landed on his wet, bulky shoulders, the only support she had from teetering into the water on top of him. From there he proceeded to hiss directly in her face. His message was loud and clear. DO NOT touch the dreads.
Struggling against his unmatched strength, she momentarily lost her voice, only barely managing to sputter out, "S-sorry!" Then her ears were greeted with his deep gravelly voice, driving the lesson home.
The force of his fist tightened exponentially, drawing the fabric along her back uncomfortably as he rose taller in his seated position. "Do not touccchhh human. Disssresspectful."
With his new grasp, Rae felt more constricted. Every eerily drawn out consonant chilled her to the marrow, prompting every fiber in her body to cease up in unbidden alarm. This fear stimulated response usually brought out the anger in her, but she fought that road, remembering what she had threatened to do last time he had startled her like this. Daringly she abandoned one of her hands to attempt to free herself from his wrathful grip. Upon feeling the thick solid muscle lining the tendons in his curled fingers, did she realize her hopeless state. Any attempts of freedom would be futile. There was no amount of clawing or prying that would get those monstrous digits to release. It was like a clamp! A crowbar probably wouldn't phase him! Left with no other choice, she ignored the nerves pooling in her belly and forced herself to speak as soft and as calm as she could bear.
"I-I meant no disrespect, big buy. I'm sorry." She could feel the tension in his shoulders with every rising breath. "Please… let me go." Every second after, felt like eternity as she waited for his verdict. Then to her surprise, she felt the strain in his hand ever slowly soften. A derisive and disgusted snort left him as he forcefully shoved her back, causing her to stumble and fall.
Completely shaken from the close contact experience, Rae quickly found her feet and took her leave, not even bothering to say anything further as she fled the room, closing the door behind her.
Present
It could have gone so much worse she supposed. She could be dead; there was always that, but at least her goal was accomplished to some extent, and better yet, she remained completely intact. Now that she took the time to reflect on it, she had no idea how he managed to get out of the bathtub on his own. No force on Earth would have gotten her to go back into that bathroom with him.
Thankfully though, for her sake, the bathroom fiasco was behind them. And with his incredibly fast recovery, she figured there would never be a repeat of what had transpired. And if there was, whether he liked it or not, he was on his own.
The creak of her bedroom door alerted her of what day it was. Her eyes shot up to the nearest clock and stared anxiously at the shorthand. Damn. He's looking for lunch. He didn't eat as often as she did, which made forming a regular schedule difficult. And for that reason, she had completely forgotten to prepare his food! She scolded herself for being so careless. She may have escaped with her life in the bathroom incident, but there was always plenty of opportunity for her to do something else stupid and experience his fury.
Chase jumped from her arms and hid, telling her exactly what she needed to know. She didn't need to see him to know he was there.
"Fffemale," his gruff voice spoke from directly behind her.
Her ears easily picked up on his voice pattern and knew that he was not only annoyed, but he was without his scary faceplate. Over the past few days she had learned that with his mask he could speak English a whole lot better, but without its aid he struggled with certain pronunciations and consonants. It had made her feel just a tad bit better that he wasn't deliberately trying to unnerve her. Taking a calming breath, she slowly turned in her seat and confirmed her guess as she carefully met his warm colored eyes.
He stood a good couple feet over her as it was, and sitting on a stool only made his size astronomically bigger. And not to make it any better, but he was wearing nothing but a long loincloth that hung down to his knees, exposing his muscular bulk. He really didn't need to do anything to look imposing, his appearance alone spoke volumes for him.
If she had to describe him with only one word, it would be: warrior. All his attributes depicted him as such and although they hadn't ever sat down and conversed about it, she had this distinct feeling that he held some sort of importance wherever he was from. Just the way he walked and presented himself, the assured confidence, and the regal power. It made her question herself. What sort of signals was she putting off right now? Nervous anxiety, maybe? Why was she so nervous? He had yet to take any grievous action that would question his standing in this odd relationship.
And speaking of relationship, she didn't even know what to classify him as. He was more than an acquaintance, but neither was he a friend. An ally, maybe. Whatever they were, Rae made it her priority to make him feel welcome and safe, even going above and beyond to take care of his every need. It was almost funny that she did all this despite knowing his name or where he was from or what he was doing here in the first place, though she had her suspicions concerning the wall of skulls she had stumbled upon. But none of it seemed to matter. Really, she should have been afraid of this beast.
And maybe it was insanity, but as he waited for her to respond, standing in all his mighty glory, she carefully rose off her stool and spoke her next words as evenly as she could. "Not female," she corrected, "Rae. And you're probably looking for your food, aren't you?" Nope, she was not going to sit with her tail between her legs, she was not going to send off the signals her brain was screaming at her to listen to. He may be the fox and her the rabbit, but she wasn't just any simple cottontail.
Tomak was silent as he considered her. She was a brave one, he'd give her that.
When the silence continued, she answered her own stupid question. Of course he's looking for his food, genius, she scolded herself. She had gotten so carried away with her run this morning, she had for that brief time, forgotten all about him. Before he was given the chance to speak, she opened her mouth again. "Give me a second and I'll have it ready for you."
She prayed he wouldn't make things difficult, but to her relief, he decided to scope out the living space for the very first time. Rae silently listened to his movements as she went through her freezer and pulled out a couple packages of meat to thaw. But if it was her plan to keep him appeased for the rest of the week, grocery shopping was on her list of to do's. There was another issue that needed to be addressed. How was she going to be able to afford such spending without regular income and how was she to leave the house to both work and shop when she had to worry about him caving the whole place in! Fear of the unknown was surely going to snuff her out.
Oblivious to the female's anxiety, Tomak stared curiously at an image of her past. The image appeared to be of her sitting in some sort of moving apparatus with an adult male guiding her from behind. Was this a past injury she had managed in her days as a mere pup? The male he could only assume was her sire, though the coloring of his hair being as light as it was, made it difficult to relate compared to the dark tendrils of the female's. Perhaps this trait was inherited from her bearer who appeared to not be pictured in this image. It intrigued him that the majority of the human species lived in family units. These families tended to stay together over an extended amount of time until the pup grew to be self-sufficient. That was a rarity where he was from. Tomak understood it better than most as he was raised by both his sire and bearer who were life mates. That propelled a whole new set of thoughts and memories that had no business entering his mind. It took him far longer than he would have liked to be able to turn away from the picture and what it represented.
Stepping back, a gray, furry streak scurried past his leg. The act snapped his attention to the floor with a resounding growl, his eager gaze aimed at a small male feline that was crouched under a wooden table. It stared at him challengingly as if he were the prey to be conquered. Interesting.
This meant it was a hunter species, but its size did not appear to support the assumption that it was deadly. Tomak did not assume anything. Many yautja had been wrong before and those same hunters had died for their stupidity. He was almost one of them, but fate had seemed to have given him a second chance and he would not be wasting it by making the same mistake twice.
Keeping his movements slow, and his focus poised, he waited for the opportune moment to act. Before the animal had time to even see it, Tomak's hand shot down, snagging the creature by its fur coat and bringing it up with him as he rose to his full height to better examine it. It yowled more in anger than pain. Ignoring the sound, he checked it over; small claws, but not sharp enough to pierce his hide and teeth, but again, not nearly long enough to deal a fatal blow. It was rather defenseless. Not a challenge or a threat. It was disappointing.
An angry hiss flew out naturally from the animal's mouth, purposefully baring its tiny teeth. Firmly holding it by the scruff of its neck, Tomak cocked his head slightly as he considered the tiny male who seemed to not fear him. If this was not much of a hunter, then what was its purpose? "Whattt iss thiss?"
Rae couldn't catch a breath today. She almost put a hot Italian seasoning on the meat twice now. It was something she enjoyed immensely in her own meal but when she had done so for the alien, it was the first and last time she ever did. And angry was an understatement to the reaction she received from him. For that reason, she opened up the cabinet and placed the spice amongst the others. That was when she heard his rumbling question.
First, it took Rae several seconds to even register that he had asked a question and then it took another moment to realize he was indeed conversing with her, and doing so willingly! In fact, he was initiating it! But her excitement was swiftly doused as she spun around to see what he was referring to. Her eyes went wide with dread at the sight of her only companion in the clutches of the mighty warrior. "Oh please don't hurt him!" she begged.
The small creature hissed, swatting at him with claws out as its tail flicked back and forth relentlessly. Being the larger male, Tomak decided to assert his dominance with a deep guttural warning originating from his chest. Hearing footsteps quickly approaching from his right, Tomak instinctively went to face this oncoming enemy, but was stopped in his place by the soft voice that floated in the air.
"Chase, it's okay buddy. You just wanted to say 'hi' didn't you?"
Tomak flicked his eyes to the little female that was now within his reach. Her soft voice spoke soothingly to the animal as she reached out for it. Curiosity replaced his momentary displeasure. Relinquishing his hold on the furry creature, Tomak deposited it in the human's small hands half expecting the feline to lash out at her like it was willing to do to him, but the instant her hands touched its soft fur, the tiny male looked at her and relaxed, even producing a subtle purr as it cuddled into her chest. Tomak couldn't understand how a male from one species could become so attached to a female of another.
The feline served no purpose to her like their hunting hounds did for them. At least they could be used to assist on hunts, either as bait or to herd the prey into a space that was more favorable for an ambush, but Tomak wondered why the female chose this pest instead of something more substantial. He had seen proof of humans using other animals that seemed more useful.
"This is Chase."
Still using that high pitched voice, he wasn't aware she was speaking to him until he caught her gaze. He looked at her a moment then grunted, not at all interested in knowing the animal's name. He watched her stroke the small male's fur coat a few times, only stopping briefly before the feline demanded more by pressing its head forcefully against her. Somehow her eyes seemed to brighten as she returned the hand, scratching behind its ears. Then her joy filled eyes lifted to his, the emotions changed to worry in a split second.
"You won't kill him, will you?"
It had never been his intention to, but her earnest and innocent question caused him to pause, reflecting on her great concern for the creature and partially wondering what her reaction would be if he played with her. But as soon as the thought entered his mind, he growled, making her take a step back.
"No," he finally answered. It wasn't worth the effort.
Hearing this, she smiled in relief. "Thank you. I know he can be difficult at times, but I'm sure he'll warm up to you."
Tomak stared at the animal who was now staring right back.
In the hands of his mistress, Chase gained more power as a small territorial sound came from him. That streak of confidence however was not founded enough as the yautja flared its mandibles eliciting a fierce snarl that sent him into a panic.
To Tomak's great amusement, he watched the cat fly out of Rae's arms and bolt out of the room and into its kennel. He chuckled, rolling his shoulders as he relaxed the last bit of tension in his frame before turning to the unimpressed female, who didn't seem to share his humor. She shook her head, muttering something he didn't quite catch before following after the feline. He watched her try to coax it out before shaking his dreads and moving into the kitchen.
Now he was hungry and annoyed.
The thunderous echo of footsteps filled the empty hallways as an authoritative figure made his way to the labs. Everyone was likely still hard at work setting up the cells after receiving his call the week previous.
He was thrilled. Price knew it would have only been a matter of time before she was found and brought back to where she belonged. He never imagined it would take four years, but he had never given up hope. Running through her veins was the only chance they had at recreating the serum. If it could work on a weak little girl, imagine what it could do to a well-trained soldier.
The government had been very gracious in funding the project in the beginning, but now they were growing tired and impatient. All of his work and research would be for naught if he couldn't find her. At least now they had a clue to go on.
Sensing his proximity, the high security doors opened with a pressurized hissed, allowing him entry. "I want everyone scanning the internet and news reports in the state of Maine and New York. I'm talking about unusual occurrences, events, missing people, sightings, fires, explosions, anything that involves a girl and within the past four years."
His computer operators immediately got to work, flashes of images filling the room's main screen as they went through recent reports.
The clicking of heels alerted him to his assistant coming up from behind.
"How is her cell coming along?" he turned to her, removing his shades and placing them in his suit jacket's front pocket.
The woman adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose as she looked at the tablet in her hands, "Walls have been reinforced and extra security measures have been installed. There won't be another incident like last time without a retina scan and a priority keycard."
"Then we shall proceed to phase three," his steely eyes returned to the large screen, but he sensed his assistant wasn't finished.
"Um, sir," she hesitated, "the search team uncovered something amongst the wreckage at the ski site."
Intrigued, he gave her his attention. "What is it?"
She led him down the bright corridors and towards the display cases built inside of the walls. In each one was an artifact found at some point in time that proved that there was other life out there, living amongst the stars. Some of these were weapons of ancient races, others were mere trinkets that held some sort of value to the wearer. His collection had grown over the years. And although most of it didn't aid in his ultimate goal, they reminded him of how far away they were on a technological scale. If they were to stand a chance against the beings that visited their world, they needed their super weapon. And the serum was going to give it to them.
Walking past an ancient metallic spear, his eyes landed on a new addition that had not been there before. It was a chrome mask with dark lenses. Its foreign metal gleamed under the continuous light of scanners digitally documenting its basic structural and elemental components. All the artifacts were continually scanned for anomalies and weaknesses as it was showcased. Price's lips curled as he recognized the wearer. He was well acquainted with this species.
"Our analysts found this a good distance away from the explosion. As well as this," she turned her tablet to show a shocking image.
It was a crater, but not made by a natural earthquake shaking the foundations and jeopardizing the structural integrity of the ravine's walls, no this was damage from a fiery and explosive impact, you could tell by the color and shape of the rubble. Unlike most explosions though, the damage wasn't spread out like a rock being dropped in water, it was confined to one direction like the streaming bullet of a gun.
"They managed to detect some of the creature's blood in the ground from where the explosion would have originated from, but there wasn't a body. If it was hit with the same immense energy the earth was, then it very likely was incinerated upon impact," she concluded.
Pleasure pulsed in his chest at the meaning of it all. "Are you suggesting that this was caused by…?" he drifted off, aiming his question in high hopes of his assistant's next words.
"Remnants of what appeared to be a snowboard with her fingerprints were not far away from where this was, so it would appear to be so, yes."
Eyes bright with the best news he could have ever received, Price shook the woman's hand. "Well done, Amanda. Have your team prepared for when we receive the asset, I want to see the extent of her power myself." The human race was about to flip the tables in this struggle for power.
Author's Note
Okay so before you all gang up and slap me lol, I do have a really really good excuse for not updating as much as I would have liked the past couple months. Simply put, the Summer semester was kicking my butt, but now that I have a break, I'm going to be taking the time to make more chapters for you guys. And I will say, seeing the notifications in my email that more of you lovely readers favorited and followed my story was a big boost for me. So, thank you!
As always, please leave a review! Favorite scene, questions, theories, random thoughts, I love reading them all! ;)
