PINA
I'm almost done with my coffee when Tommy walks into the kitchen. His shirt and pants aren't buttoned - forcing him to have to hold them up on his slim hips as his bandaged ribs are in view - but that's no surprise. I beckon him closer and, without a word about it, get him fastened up. I think that buttons will be high on the list of things to retrain him on. "Morning, Tommy. Sit down there and have some breakfast."
As he sits down, Dar sets a plate and cup of coffee in front of him before opening his mouth to say something, though glancing at me first. Knowing what's coming, I nod. "Go ahead, Dar."
He sighs. "Thomas-"
Without hesitating, I reach over and smack him across the back of the head - hard.
Rubbing his head and turning a fast glare on me he questions the action even though I'm almost certain he already knows why I did it. "OW - Pina, what the hell was that for?"
"You don't call him Thomas - you haven't earned the right. Zedd does so out of respect. You, on the other hand, will respect his wishes and call him Tommy - especially since you tried to kill him recently."
I don't have to even look at him to know that his eyes are turning dark and mutinous. Casually, I let my hand rest next to the spoon I had been stirring my coffee with. Although Dar knows full well that I expect him to apologize to Tommy, I also do not intend for him to do it with an audience - or on command. From the corner of my eye, I can see Tommy watching us curiously as he eats. I'm also pleased to note that nobody had to remind him how to hold his fork correctly this morning.
Dar sighs again, before beginning again in a rather restrained tone. "Tommy, then. One morning a month, I make everyone's favorite breakfast for them. Pina has the same thing almost every time, but Zedd changes it every damn month. So what do you want?"
I'm not surprised to see Tommy shrug and hear his undemanding answer. "I honestly don't know. Whatever you make will be fine."
Wondering if he really is so impartial or if it's more out of still present fear of Dar, I decide now might be a good time to step in judging from the irritated/frustrated look on my mate's face. "You don't have to decide this minute, Tommy. You can think about it."
The pair of them look at me like I've lost my mind. I shrug. "You never know - a memory might pop up to help him decide."
"I'll think about it," Tommy promises Dar, though I'm not surprised when my lover sighs again, knowing this was not the answer he was hoping for.
"Fine. Let me know by lunch so I can do shopping if I have to." I know it's the best I can hope for at this point, but really, must he be so short with the poor boy? It's not his fault that he's afraid to press things with the more aggressive male, especially not after his near murder attempt. Nor is he to blame for not being able to recall what he likes in way of food. Honestly sometimes I can't help but wish Dar could show just a bit more patience with others.
"You have a store here?" Perking up at this, Tommy returns his attention to Dar, his breakfast briefly forgotten. "Can I go? Are there people? Where's it at? I thought Zedd said the woods went on for a long long ways here."
Looking momentarily startled by the rush of words, Dar takes a minute to regain his composure before responding in a much calmer manner. "No, there is no store here. We are on a mostly primitive planet and I'll have to take one of the ships to the next planet over to get food and supplies. This is why I only make special breakfasts once a month and why we have such a large storage room and freezer for our food, as the trip is a bit time consuming and annoying. And to answer your final question, no you cannot go as the last thing I need is you getting lost or slowing me down or whatever else might happen."
Reaching over to slap him in the head again, I scowl as he anticipates it this time and effectively blocks me. "If you don't start being nice you're going to be sleeping in the dungeon." Turning to the slightly pouting Tommy, I lay my hand on his arm before turning on a rather soft smile that I know he will respond to. "Tommy if you'd really like to go on a supply run you can come with me in a few weeks, but right now I'd really prefer it if you stayed here and took it easy for a bit longer. Just until your ribs and injuries heal. All right?"
Nodding and seeming to think this reasonable, he returns to his meal, as I fix Dar with one final look of warning.
Deciding to not test my patience any further today he wisely puts his own coffee cup in the sink before moving away from where I'm seated with Tommy. "I'm going to go see what Zedd needs this month. Make sure he puts his plate in the sink."
"A wise choice." Watching him go with a grumble, I wait until he's fully left before turning back to the Ranger. "All right Tommy, once you're done eating, we'll go to the infirmary. I want to try something. Do you remember the machine I mentioned the other day?"
He thinks for a second and nods. "You were going to try it with that medicine, but you weren't sure what would happen and thought I might get sick."
I nod, pleased that he actually pays more attention to what I say than Zedd where medical matters are concerned. "I want to try the machine alone and see what it does. It's very possible that the differences in our physiology - our genetic make ups - might make the medicine unnecessary."
Frowning and picking apart what I've said he finally shakes his head slowly. "I, um I don't understand exactly. You want to use the machine alone, but…"
Mentally smacking myself as I realize he's no clue what genetics and physiology is anymore, or if he does he has no way to access that knowledge right now, I think over my phrasing for a minute before trying again. "Because you're human, your DNA is different from mine. Because it's different you might not need both the medicine and machine to get better like I would if I was hurt. Just the machine might do that on its own."
Nodding slowly and understanding me this time, he takes another bite of food before responding. "I think I remember something about that from a science class in school, but I'm not sure."
"It's possible." I've already decided that while the machine is doing its work I'm going to go back to his records. Odds are the translator is done by now and I should be able to make some headway. "I'll have to do a quick scan of your ribs to see how much healing they've done on their own and I might need some new blood work as well."
I almost laugh when he rolls his eyes at that bit of news. Sometimes he is so like Zedd it isn't even funny. Bonded they may be, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they end up mates as well.
Once he's finished, I drain my coffee cup, stand up, and lead Tommy out of the room and toward the infirmary. The man is unusually quiet as he follows me and I know he must have something interesting on his mind to be so somber right now. As we enter the infirmary, I can't help but ask, "What's on your mind?"
Looking surprised as I pull him from his thoughts, he recovers quickly and gives me an answer I really was not expecting. "Zedd and I talked last night. He told me what was wrong with him." Uh oh. "And I was thinking maybe I should tell him what happened to me." What now?
"Wait, what? Tommy that's not the same thing."
Not letting me finish, he shakes his head and continues calmly and too surely for my liking. "It's only fair Pina. He tells me stuff all the time and I think maybe I'm hurting his feelings not telling him anything."
Oh, hells. Is he ready for this? Is Zedd ready for this? No, no definitely not. "Tommy-"
He stops me. "If not now, when?"
Well, I can't argue with that, however I'm still uncertain if it's him or Zedd I am more concerned for. Tommy has already gotten his pain out to me, he's purged at least a bit, telling Zedd might not be so bad for him, however once Zedd finds out exactly what was done, I'm not so certain if I'll be able to stop him from taking his cruiser back to Earth and recanting his 'no longer evil' persona. Deciding to try and work on Tommy a bit more I keep my voice soothing and calm as I move to my desk. "You don't have to if you're not ready. I promise it'll be okay if you don't want to yet." My heart sinks at his next words.
"He's been honest with me. He deserves the truth."
He climbs up on the bed and I grab a hand scanner. As I do the scan, I bite my lip, thinking. Tommy thinks we've been honest with him and I can't even begin to explain that we haven't and why. Maybe later after he trusts us more, but definitely not now. All right so now two problems with this little idea of his. Great.
"How about we discuss this more in a minute, okay? Now just sit very still for me Tommy, this won't take long." Moving to him, and running the scanner slowly over his form I wait for it to beep before scrolling through the read out, surprised by the results. A grin creeps across my face.
"Well, Tommy, you're not fully healed yet, but you are healing faster than I expected."
Looking happy himself and momentarily distracted from his idea of sharing with Zedd, he looks at the scanner, reminding me too much of a child who still wants to see the doctor's charts despite the fact he cannot read them. "Really? So does that mean I don't have to have the machine or more medicine?"
"Not exactly. I still want to try the machine as it will help you heal the rest of the way I hope. However it might not take as long as I originally thought. Lay down, please."
Pouting slightly but still doing as asked, he gets comfortable, as I retrieve the device in question. I rest the main part of it over the worst damage and set the braces in place. I set it at about half power as I say, "Now, this should not hurt. If it does, it means I have it set too high and you have to tell me. Okay?"
Once he nods, I continue. "Once it gets going, it should feel warm, but not hot. If anything seems wrong, tell me right away."
"But I want to get better."
I focus my full attention on him. "Tommy, if something seems wrong, it might be wrong - and end up doing more damage instead of healing you. You don't want that, right?" He shakes his head and I go on. "Besides, if it works for this, we might be able to use it on your wrist and other injuries as well."
This seems to satisfy him and I switch the machine on. He gasps softly and closes his eyes. "Tommy? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It feels pretty good, actually."
I breathe a silent sigh of relief. "I'm going to go across the room to my desk. There I can monitor your progress and look over your files."
I'm almost to my desk when his soft question reaches me. "If it works, can we use it to fix my head?"
Ah, the question I was dreading. "I don't know, Tommy. I'm trying to find that out too."
"Okay." The grudging tone telling me it was not the answer he wanted, I can't help but frown. Even Rita seemed to think that there was nothing we could do. I think again about the dormant powers within him. Maybe taking him out in the woods might help. I wonder briefly how Zedd came up with that idea and make a mental note to ask him later.
Unfortunately, my attention is now divided between Tommy's file and how to keep Zedd on this planet after Tommy tells him about what happened on Earth. As far as I'm concerned, the damn place should be burned to the ground and that doctor (and I use the term loosely) should be made to suffer a long slow death. But until I have done all I can, we might need that lame excuse for a human being. There might be questions that the file doesn't answer and if we kill him, we might never know.
If I were to try to stop Zedd, I'd need my battle armor - the same stuff that I wore as Scorpina and that would require transforming. I know I can do it if I have to, but what would that do to Tommy - seeing me like that? And of course, if I do that, then Zedd will summon his staff if he doesn't already have it in hand - again, what would that do to Tommy? I could try and lock out the ships, but that wouldn't stop him for long either since his code overrides both mine and Dar's.
Sighing heavily, I scroll through the translated text on the screen before me. I stop suddenly - eyes locked on one word. Quickly, I instruct the computer to cross reference the word that caught my attention. I wait impatiently for the three seconds the computer needs, hoping that I'm wrong. When the new screen pops up, I read quickly - my own anger mounting with every word.
They've been giving him Bersepatrin!? According to the Intergalactic Medical Data Base, that would not only prevent his mental recovery, but it would make him worse. Do the humans know this or have they not reached that stage in their research yet? Given what Tommy and the other patients went through, I bet that at least this doctor knows or at least suspects.
I set the computer to cross reference again, looking for some way to reverse the damage that the drug has done to the human. I wait, tapping my fingers on the desk. When the answer finally pops up, my heart sinks. I don't have what I need to help him. However I do know someone who might.
Flicking through my database and contract lists, I send out a few messages to some reliable people who might be able to help me before returning to my work, waiting for either the machine to finish with Tommy or one of my contacts to reply.
Not having to wait long I flick back to the need messaging screen when a telling noise signals I've gotten a response from one of my people.
Quickly reading over the message I'm torn between relief and worry as I read the location of just where I can find what I'll need to help my new friend. Relief for the fact it is in fact on a peaceable planet not far from here, but worry over the fact it's in the wrong direction.
My thoughts race as I try to figure this out. Dar is going on a grocery run this afternoon to Bencal, but that's the opposite direction that I need him to head to, which means I could go get it, however if I do that that'll leave Tommy and Zedd alone - unfortunately with enough time for Tommy to tell Zedd what happened. In his current condition, he'd never be able to stop Zedd from leaving.
Like a bolt of lightning, it hits me. Zedd won't leave Tommy alone. And he's not going to take Tommy on another trip before I clear him health-wise at the very least. The bond might keep him here as well. He's going to know just how stressful it is for Tommy to tell him what happened and that should help, too. I'll have to tell Zedd where I'm going and why. He won't be happy, but he'll deal with it.
If I'm lucky, I'll be able to touch base with a couple more people that I know and they might be able to tell me whether or not I can use the machine to heal Tommy's brain. I highly doubt it, but it's worth a shot to ask. I run a critical gaze over the display that shows his level of healing and his stats. I frown as his stats seem a little off - a little lower than they should be.
I get up and quickly cross the room to check on him. His eyes are still closed and he almost appears to be asleep. Is he okay? His breathing seems fine, but I'm not overly certain about him falling asleep while being treated. Reaching out a hand I'm about to nudge him gently when he startles me, opening his eyes suddenly but calmly as well.
"Tommy?"
It takes him less than a minute to focus on me, but when he does, he grins. "I knew you were there. I don't know how I knew, but I did."
I grin back at him and take a quick glance at the small readout on this monitor. His stats are all back to normal. "Maybe your warrior instincts are coming back."
"That would be good, since I'm surrounded by warriors." Watching me check his vitals, he raises a brow after a moment. "Is everything okay? I still feel okay."
"Everything's fine, just checking."
"Okay. You'll tell me when it's done right?"
"Promise"
Satisfied he closes his eyes again, seeming to fall back into an almost meditative state.
Watching him for a moment I run my fingers through his hair in a parting gesture smiling as this earns a smile from him, before leaving the machine to finish its work. As I make my way back to my desk, I decide to do some more work on his last blood sample based on what I now know. It'll be easier to make a comparison with the new sample I'm going to draw.
-ooo-
Half an hour later, I have the information I need and not a moment too soon as my body is definitely beginning to protest being locked at my desk for so long.
Standing and stretching fully I am slightly startled when a pair of strong arms slide around my waist. I relax when a very familiar voice whispers in my ear, "Do you know how good you look when you stretch like that?"
I turn in Dar's arms and link my hands behind his neck. "Maybe you can tell me about it later - like, say, after we both get back?"
He frowns. "Where are you going?"
"I need some things to treat Tommy and I don't have them here. I'd ask you to get it, but it's the opposite direction of where you have to go."
He sighs and I find myself feeling slightly bad over just how neglected he has been over the past few days. "At least this is better than when Zedd was hurt so badly he couldn't even feed himself. We rarely had any time for us then." Thinking it over, he lowers his voice slightly, his mouth nuzzling my ear. "Tell me this won't be a repeat of that, my mate. I don't think I could stand being away from your touch for so long again."
Knowing he's all too right, I stroke his cheek affectionately. "Relax, my one. If I'm right, this will help the human greatly in the long run."
He raises an eyebrow. "In the long run?"
I nod. "For a short while, it will seem to make no difference. Then we will start to see improvements."
"Will he get his memory back?"
I hesitate. "I don't know how much of his memories were destroyed, but, yes, what he still has he should be able to access."
"And what do we do then? When he remembers exactly why he and I don't get along?"
I shrug, still unsure about that part of it. "Hopefully, you two will be able to make peace with the past by then and move on. However that is something you will have to handle yourself love, as that's something I just cannot help you with."
Dar sighs again. "Let's hope that - even if we can't - it doesn't come back to bite us. I need to go, but I WILL see you later."
I smile at the half command/half request. "Believe it." I kiss him quickly, not allowing it to become anything more as I am still aware of the human on the table nearby. He leaves the room and I return to Tommy's side, finding him still in that half awake/half asleep state.
Checking the readout, I see that he is nearly healed. I smile again, knowing he is well inside the daily limit for use of this machine. This means that I can use it to heal his other injuries as well, however trying to decide where to start is another matter. My mind flashes across the list of injuries he had when Zedd picked him up. Should I attempt to fix his throat? His wrist? What about his bruises? They will heal quickly on their own but this would make it so much easier for him.
Just about to alert him that I am once again by his side and about to turn the machine off I'm beaten to it as he suddenly gasps in pain.
"Pina, stop it. It's hurting me."
Already in motion, I glance at the readout as I reach to stop the machine, but find myself faltering briefly, stunned at what the readout says. The healing percentage has somehow jumped from one hundred percent to one hundred and fifteen. How is that possible? Did he do that? Did the machine misunderstand the settings I programmed?
Still pondering it I only snap out of my dazed state when I hear him gasp again and plead, "Pina, please."
"Shit I'm sorry Tommy." Quickly, I turn the machine off and remove it from his torso. "Are you okay? Does it still hurt?"
"No, not really." Still breathing a bit too harshly for my liking, he thankfully though seems to be for the most part unharmed, if not just a bit shaken.
"All right, I'm just going to check. Just lay still for me." Gently, I pull his shirt up to see if there is any damage and am once more thrown for a loop. Not only is there no damage, I'm confronted with the nicest set of abs I've ever seen on this human. My brain races as I try to figure out what happened. Fortunately, my mouth is on auto pilot. "Again I'm sorry, Tommy. I wasn't prepared for the percents to jump the way they did. You look to be all right, but are you certain that you feel okay? Nothing hurts?"
He takes a deep breath and answers me slowly, already shifting, testing himself. "I'm okay now. My ribs don't hurt any more."
"Good, according to the machine they should be fixed."
Smiling and squirming more on the table, he only resettles when I catch his attention again.
"So do you want to try the machine on your other injuries?"
He considers the question. "Yes." His answer is firm and decisive. "Can we do my wrist next and then my throat?"
"I don't see why not. I doubt either one will take as long as your ribs since they aren't actually broken." He nods in understanding and shifts once more. "Do you need a break? Get up and stretch?"
"No. I'm fine. Let's just get on with it if it's okay."
"That's fine." Knowing now that things can go fast, I don't turn my attention away from the machine as I reposition and start it up again.
A brief thought flickers across my mind as we begin again, that I'm rather surprised that Zedd isn't here, considering that his boy got hurt, however briefly. Is he blocking Tommy from the bond to give the boy privacy? Is he ill? Sleeping? Hm, I'll have to look into this later.
Tommy's wrist doesn't take very long and I move the machine once again, this time across his throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him tense before forcing himself to relax. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Bad memory," he answers shortly.
Stroking his hair, I find myself worrying once more about how his little talk with Zedd will go considering the fact he is still in a fairly fresh state of emotional pain. "Sorry. If you don't want to do this, you need to say so now. Once I turn the machine on, I need you to not speak until I turn it off again."
"No, I want to. Do it. Please." His voice brooking no argument, I mentally cross my fingers and flip the switch once more. This time my eyes do not leave the display and I find myself holding his hand, giving him a way to let me know if something is wrong. My other hand hovers near the switch, ready to deactivate the machine the moment it hits one hundred percent.
"You're doing good Tommy. Just another minute and you should be good as new." Or at least his throat will. Counting the numbers as they go I hit the machine and power it down as soon as it strikes one hundred, before looking at him anxiously.
"Did it work? Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine." All scratchiness and roughness gone, his voice is a calm, pleasing baritone and I can't help but grin at him as I remove the machine, Tommy grinning back as he sits up. He hops off the table and begins to stretch and flex before sighing in pleasure. "I can move and it doesn't hurt! I can't wait to show Zedd!"
His joy and enthusiasm is infectious and I realize I'm grinning like an idiot. "Come on, let's go tell him and I can let him know that I have to leave the planet for a little while."
"You have to leave?" Pausing at this he tilts his head slightly, though there is something in his eyes that makes me wonder just how surprised he is.
"Just for a bit. I need to go get something to help you. I won't be gone long, I promise."
Thinking this over, he slowly nods apparently feeling that if it's something that might help, it will be worth losing me for a few hours. "If you have to. You'll be back soon though right?"
"Right."
I watch him carefully as we leave the infirmary and walk down the hall. He is moving more gracefully than he has since he's been here and I wonder again about the machine jumping the way it did. Does it have anything to do with the ninja ranger spirit? That would certainly put him above the average human. But if he was supposed to be at that level, why did it hurt him? Is it because the powers are still dormant? Tomorrow I am going to take him into the woods for a while. If I work with him in the woods and Zedd works with him on the button issue, we'll have him functional in no time. At least I hope we will.
As we turn the corner near the rooms, Tommy moving faster as his excitement of showing Zedd mounts, he suddenly comes up short crashing into his bond mate forcefully.
"Whoa Thomas." Zedd reaches out to steady the boy, one hand gripping his arm as the other locks on his waist. I can tell he's noticed the difference when his eyebrows rise nearly to his hairline and he looks at me.
"Um, his ribs are healed and so is his wrist and his throat."
He takes in this information and turns to the human, face impassive. "Thomas, please lift your shirt."
Puzzled, Tommy does so, looking at himself as he does. "Whoa! What happened to my stomach?!" Seeming shocked himself he pokes at his trim but well toned abs testingly. "Cool."
Zedd studies him for a long minute before turning a confused look to me.
I take a breath and hope this won't get me killed. "When I used the machine on his ribs, it suddenly jumped past one hundred percent healing. By the time I shut it off, it was at one hundred and seventeen percent. Fortunately, he's fine."
"Fortunately for you." The low growl tells me just how much trouble I'm in and that if I have any hope of prolonging this 'talk' I had better speak up and now.
Before he can say any more, I speak again. "By the way, I need to go off planet for a while."
"Why?"
"I need a specific medicine for Tommy and I don't have it. Of course my only source is -"
"Opposite of the direction that Dar had to go. Of course. Go ahead and do what you have to do, Pina. I'll stay with Thomas, of course. We'll be here when you get back."
Knowing Tommy's intention to tell Zedd everything, I can't help but ask, "Will you?"
His eyes narrow. He realizes that I know something that he doesn't, but before he can question me, Tommy steps in. "Come on, Zedd. You can be big and bad later. She's trying to leave to get me something. I want her to go so she can get back so I can get better faster."
The wanting tone reminding me all too much of a pleading child, it thankfully has the desired effect on my friend and boss granting me permission to not only do my job, but have a few more precious hours of peace.
Giving in, Zedd heaves a weary sigh. "Fine. This incident aside, you and I still need to talk about several things when you get back."
I nod. "As soon as I get back, we'll sit down and talk." I turn away and head for the hangar bay. Hopefully, there will still be a planet when I get back.
