Sorry this has taken so long for me to post. Just not inspired as of late. Thanks so much for all the positive reviews though, especially sarahofearth. I love the enthusiasm! I have no idea when the next chapter will be up but one will be eventually, so don't worry about the story being abandoned.
This story is un-beta'd so my apologies for any grammatical/spelling errors!
Through a haze of pain Leo staggered as fast as he could through the base, clutching his injured arm and biting his lip to keep quiet the cries of pain that each jolt caused. Eventually though Leo had to stop. Breathing raggedly he leaned against a non-descript gray wall, trying to calm his racing heart and panicked thoughts. Clenching his teeth he tried to think through the pain radiating from his arm to formulate a plan. He had no idea where on the base he was, where Attar might be or where any of his enemies might be. So first thing he needed to do was find some cover. He was a sitting duck in the long empty corridor; he'd been lucky no one had spotted him in his staggering dash through the base. Eyeing both ends of the corridor Leo slowly slid towards a door slightly to his left. Oh so queietly he went up on tiptoe to peer though the glass slit in the door set right above the handle. The view was limited but Leo knew that he had a better chance in a room than sitting out in an open hallway. Hesitantly he reached out and grasped the handle, his left arm-hanging limp at his side. Gently he turned the handle and gave the door a slight push, just enough so that it swung open all the way, to prove that there was no one standing behind the door.
Taking a quick survey of the room Leo darted in and closed the door, breathing a sigh of relief for being out of the open hallway. He was too defenseless out there, especially with his arm. 'Right, the arm.' Gently slipping off the oversized top Leo tried to judge how injured the arm was and whether he would be able to fix it himself. 'No problem, just a dislocation, all I gotta do is pop it back into place.' Grimly Leo took a tight hold of his shoulder and with one deep breath savagely twisted. With a sickening wet pop the joint slid back into place. Leo tried but failed to hold back a scream of pain that echoed in the empty room and trailed off into choked whimpers. Falling to his knees Leo curled up on himself, breathing deeply, trying to hold back tears of pain and hoping his scream didn't attract any curious apes. Hearing the sudden shouts in the hallway it seemed that his luck had once again run out. With a weak curse Leo hauled himself to his feet and gave the room a frantic scan, trying to find someplace to hide, a way to escape, something, anything! The only thing he spotted was a closet in the back of the room. "Well, better than nothing," He muttered to himself and started to drag his battered body towards the door.
Before he could make it the door burst open and with a wild shout a chimp launched himself at Leo. Allowing himself to fall flat to the ground the chimp sailed harmlessly over his head and landed with a thump on the floor about five feet from him. Leo watched in growing panic as the chimp bounced to his feet and grinned maliciously at him. "Well, well, aren't we the clever little human. Now sit still and we won't have to hurt you anymore than we already have to." Scooting back frantically Leo tried to get his feet under him, to stand up, to run, anything, but it seemed his body had had enough and his legs kept giving out and he kept slipping back down onto his butt. He wasn't even halfway across the room when the door burst open. Fear blossomed and threatened to overtake him as apes poured in the door, some clutching ominous looking black guns and nets, but all of them looking pissed and dangerous.
As soon as Attar heard the scream the whole cafeteria go quiet he knew that something had happened to Leo. Dropping the tray he was carrying he ran back to where his friends and Martin stood in a quiet huddle. "What happened?" Ari and Zira only stared at him blankly. Grabbing Ari's shoulders he gave her a rough shake. "Ari tell me what happened, where's Ulysses, why is Martin here? Ari, tell me what's going on!" The urgency in Attar's voice seemed to break through Ari's shock.
"I…we were just sitting around…Martin, Martin tried to take Ulysses away. We tried to stop him, I…I grabbed his hand, Martin had the other one. I don't know what happened, one minute he was fine the next he screamed. He…he dropped to the floor and then he just took off running!" Attar could only stare at her, slowly letting his hands fall away from her shoulders, the words not quite sinking in. Leo had been hurt and had run. Run away from him. Now who knows where he was, somewhere hurt and scared. Attar had failed him. He had promised Leo nothing would happen to him and now look what had happened. "Where are you going Martin? This is more your fault than mine or Zira's!" Attar turned to see Martin sneering at Zira.
"Please! If you imbeciles hadn't been pawing him like an animal I wouldn't have needed to come over here in the first place. And if you hadn't grabbed his arm and pulled he would have been safe in my care, not running around the base injured. Now I'm going to go look for him, not stand around gossiping all day!"
"Now wait just a minute Martin! This is my human and I will find him. He was given to me and despite your problems with that he is still in my care until the generals say otherwise!" Attar glared at the diminutive chimp as if daring him to contradict him. "Now I will go look for and treat my human." Turning glare on Zira and Ari he said, "You two will stay here. Ulysses is my human and I will find him. Understand?" At their silent nods he turned on his heel and stalked off. In reality he had no idea where he could find Leo. The base wasn't as big as some but it was a pretty confusing mess of hallways and rooms. The best idea was to call security and see of they could spot him on any of their cameras. Unknown to Attar Martin also left the cafeteria to hunt down Leo, but Martin had an advantage. He knew where Leo was.
Warily the apes spread out around Leo forming a loose circle guns and nets at the ready. Leo froze. 'Well shit.' For a long moment no one moved, so it was a bit of an odd tableau that Martin broke in on. One battered human and a platoon of apes, all motionless. "What are you waiting for fools, capture him!" Martin's shout seemed to rouse the guards and the circle quickly tightened around Leo. Seeing a slight break in the circle Leo lunged between to startled guards and tried to make a run for it, adrenaline giving his aching body the boost it needed to carry him into the hallway where he was brought up short by running into a seemingly immovable object. Knocked flat on his ass once more Leo looked…right into the face of Thade. 'Well, damnit, my luck seems to just get better and better.' Leo thought wryly to himself as Thade reached down and hauled him up by his arm. The only problem, Thade had grabbed him by the arm that he had just popped back into place, and while not as painful as it was, it was sore enough to wring a scream of pain from his throat. Startled Thade dropped his arm and Leo staggered a few steps away at the sudden release, right into Martin. With a crow of triumph Leo was swept up in the chimps arms. Anger engulfed Leo, replacing the pain and fear of a moment ago. This damn arrogant chimp was the reason he was in this mess in the first place! With a low growl of anger Leo suddenly lashed out, his fist catching him unawares in the jaw, snapping his head to the side. Martin dropped Leo to the ground and with an angry growl of his own backhanded him to the floor. "Bad human, bad!" Leo would have laughed if he could. It sounded like something he would have said to a dog or a naughty child, albeit without the backhand to the face.
"Dr. Greer! That is enough. Can't you see he's hurt enough as it is?" Thade stepped up threateningly, looming protectively over Leo. "Not to mention this human is in the care of Dr. Attar, not yourself." Martin spread his arms wide.
"Well then where is Dr. Attar? How did the human acquire all these injuries in the first place? How did he escape Dr. Attar's watchful gaze, hmmmm? Maybe if he had been trained better he wouldn't have escaped and required punishment. Now if you will just step out of the way, I do believe I am specifically trained in human scientology whereas you…are not." Thade only glared and refused to budge even as the room behind him emptied of guards and took up a position around the three. He hated to admit but the chimp had a point. Where the hell was Attar and how had Martin known where to find the human? Felling a tug on his pants he looked down into the anxious face of Leo. 'Attar?' He mouthed the name imperceptively.
As if he had heard his name Attar rounded the corner. Spotting Leo sitting at Thade's feet with Martin standing threateningly close by he broke into a quick jog down the hallway.
"About damn time." Thade muttered as Attar pulled up next to him. Ignoring him for the moment Attar crouched down next to Leo. Taking in the darkening bruises on his face and shoulder he glared up at Martin.
"What kind of training on human handling have you taken? Abuse 101? " Gathering Leo gently up into his arms he turned to walk away, saying over his shoulder. "If you ever come near my human again I will have you court marshaled for interfering with military research." Thade grinned at the dumbfounded look on Martin's face.
"That's all soldiers. Good job on the quick response, although he shouldn't have gotten out the door for a second time. Work on that for next time. Marks, Daveys and Rochon, go with Attar and guard the lab. Michaels, please escort Dr. Greer back to his office. The rest of you dismissed." Throwing a sharp salute Thade turned to meet up with Attar at his lab.
Back at the lab Attar tried to set Leo down but was stopped short by the small hands clenched tight in his lab coat. "Please…please," Leo was sure his face was bright red but he just couldn't let Attar leave again. "Please, don't leave. Bad things happen when you leave." He turned pleading eyes up to Attar, "promise. Please promise you won't leave." Attar was shocked at the depth of fear in Leo's eyes. Truly he had been so mistreated at the hands of apes if he was this afraid.
"Of course I won't leave" Attar said softly, tightening his arms just a little around the slight form. "Everywhere I go, you'll go, ok?" At the slight nod of the head he smiled. "Alright, now let's get your injuries tended too, again, and then we'll eat. I'll have some food brought up," he clarified at the anxious look Leo gave him. Gently he set Leo down on the exam table and prodded his shoulder. "Looks like it was dislocated. Who popped it back for you?"
Leo just shrugged. "Did it myself." Attar just stared at him. Leo gave him a rueful little smile. "Survival training. First time I ever had to put into practice though." Attar just shook his head and bandaged the arm. Next he moved onto the face, gently smearing a cream on the bruise that would help with the swelling.
"Ready to give food another go?" Attar laughed at the frantic head nodding his suggestion received. Poor guy, Attar cast a critical glance down Leo's body, he really looked like he could use a meal. "Alright, I'll just call down to the cafeteria and order us some food." While Attar ordered the food Leo couldn't help but close his eyes. 'Just for a minute.' He was absolutely exhausted, even though he felt like he'd been sleeping for most of the past few days, with brief periods of pain and terror when he was awake.
Attar smiled fondly as he noticed Leo seemed to have fallen asleep sitting up on the exam table. Reluctant to put him back into his cage he instead cradled Leo in his arms as he sat and did some research in his favorite chair in the corner.