Chapter 15: The Rescue

A/N: Well, maybe my update has come sooner than I thought. Oh well. Anyhoo. Read away and review for me. Criticisms and praises are appreciated. Always. :)

Pain. Pain was the first thing Dilandau became aware of as he regained consciousness. He wasn't entirely sure where the pain was coming from; his entire body seemed to be rife with it. He was reasonably sure that his side was the victim of the major pain. He let his fingers drift down to his left side and gently brushed it with his hand. Sure enough, it flared sharply in response, and it was damp to the touch.

God he hated blood. It was a strange fact about Dilandau; he despised blood, or at least his own. It was a sign of weakness, to have one's own blood spilled, and he wasn't weak. It comforted him slightly to know that he was a victim of circumstance rather than the poor soul on the wrong end of a skilled warrior's sword.

Dilandau let out a groan, partially to make sure he was still functioning vocally, and partially to express his extreme pain and irritation. Come to think of it, why the hell was he feeling pain? He shouldn't even be alive. The explosion in the front of the house should have killed them both; that was certainly the soldier's intention. And yet here he was, not only living, but conscious.

Not only that, but he remembered his name, which was definitely a good sign. He had seen men return from battle with injuries so painful that they forgot their identities, their brains trapped in a heavy shroud of agony.

Dilandau's next step was to try to move—he had to find Karina—but something was in his way. A small, still form lay on top of him, its hand still clutched tightly in his. Well, he thought ironically. I don't have to look for her.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself into a sitting position, easing her slim body off and onto the floor next to him. She was still unconscious, her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling slowly as she breathed. He could see little external injury, other than a cut on her forehead, most likely where her head had struck his armor.

A thought occurred to him, mostly because of her position on top of him, and he turned her over, trying to be as careful as he could. His mouth pressed into a grim line at the sight of her back; the uniform that she had worn was almost completely gone, burned away by the explosion. The skin underneath was burned though not badly, only a few blisters marring the smooth skin. The rest was a lobster red.

Looks like you got off lucky, Karina, he whispered softly, examining for more injuries. If she had any others, they were internal. He hoped to God or any deity that would listen that they weren't internal. They had good doctors on the Vione it was true, but internal injuries often proved to be fatal, and more often than not the death was long, slow, and agonizing.

Strange that he didn't actually want her to suffer a slow, agonizing death. As a matter of fact, he hated the idea of her suffering at all.

That's because you—

Shut up, he muttered aloud to the voice in his head. The stupid thing was almost as bad as Celena when she had been a part of him.

Dilandau pulled himself slowly to his feet, clenching his jaw in an effort not to whimper. The wound in his side kept pulling no matter how he moved, and the rest of him ached with a vengeance.

Staggering outside he looked for his guymelef, and for once in his life was thankful he hadn't brought the Alsiedes. The machine was hardly recognizable for what it had used to be. It was now a shapeless lump of metal, only the nearly indestructible cockpit resembling its original form. As quickly as he could he ran to the cockpit, thankful that his adrenaline seemed to be keeping most of the pain at bay.

His hands groped inside the machine, striving to find the handheld com channel connection. If he could find that and it was still functioning he'd be fine. They'd be fine. His characteristic smirk came across his face as his hands found what they were looking for and he swiftly pulled it out and turned it on.

A heavenly crackling filled his ears and he spoke into it, hoping that the idiots on the Vione were monitoring the com channels properly.

This is the Garnet General asking for the Vione to respond. Over. He rolled his eyes at the use of his name. Not that it would take a genius to figure it out.

For a few heartpounding moments there was silence on the line, and then—

This is the Vione, Garnet General, we read you, what is your situation? Over.We were attacked by Asturian scouts, the tele—Karina is unconscious and injured, guymelef destroyed. Over.What is your location? Over.50 miles west of interrogation point. Dilandau paused. Get somebody's lazy ass over here right now or you will personally answer to me. He smirked in satisfaction at the petrified silence on the com channel. Over and out.

For the next hour Dilandau sat inside the house with Karina, watching her chest rise and fall with her breathing. He regularly checked her vitals, and each time her heartbeat was strong, her breathing free and untroubled, but she wasn't waking up.

At the end of an hour nobody had come and Dilandau was becoming impatient. It should only have been an hour long flight to get here, and that was if you flew at a leisurely pace. He got up and went outside, casting a glance at Karina before he went out to make sure she was still unconscious. He looked up at the sky, glaring at him like it owed him something, and frowned as a sound reached his ears.

Something like a whimper could be heard from the direction of the house and he raced back inside, falling to his knees beside Karina as her eyes fluttered open. Her grey eyes roved around the room for a minute, looking disoriented and confused and then they came to a stop on Dilandau's face.

What the hell? she mumbled weakly.

It was amazingly difficult for him to suppress the urge to pull her into his arms or slap her for making him worry for so long, he couldn't decide which he'd rather do.

Where are we? she asked blankly, taking in the ruins of the house.

Before I answer that, do you remember your name?Sure, it's Josephine the Great of Spain.

Dilandau blinked in alarm and then broke into a reluctant smirk at the humor in her eyes.

I'm joking, Dilandau. I know who I am, but I don't know why my back hurts so frickin' much. She reached her hand up behind her and winced as the contact brought a rush of pain.

You were burned in the explosion. Second degree is the worst of it, but it will hurt like a bitch for awhile.How long was I out?I don't know. A few hours longer than I was, but I don't know how long I was out. Couldn't have been more than a few hours though, because the blood hadn't dried yet.

Karina sat up at that, cringing as she did so. You're bleeding?And you haven't done anything about it? She looked at him incredulously, and shook her head. God men were stupid.

Take off your shirt.

He blinked. What the hell?Letting it bleed isn't going to do you any good. So take off your shirt so I can wrap it.I can treat it perfectly well myself, he grumbled stubbornly. I don't need a telepath to—Shut up, Dilandau. she commanded firmly.

With a last glare in her direction he pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside, glaring pointedly at a piece of demolished wood.

Karina bent down to examine the wound in his side, gently running her gloved hand over the ragged edges.

It would be better if we had tweezers, I think there's still some wood stuck in it. She glanced up at him as she said this, but he was still looking determinedly away from her. As her eyes slid back down to her work, she couldn't help but notice the pale skin of his body, the well-carved muscles that rippled under his arms and torso. A tinge of crimson appeared in her cheeks, and she ducked her head down so he wouldn't see. Why the hell was she reacting like this to a shirtless man? It wasn't as if she had never seen one before.

Of course none of them have been quite so appealing. the traitorous part of her pointed out.

Dilandau is NOT appealing. she replied obstinately.

Dilandau could feel her hands gently extracting splinters from the wound. One of her hands was resting on his thigh, keeping her upright as she bent and with the other picked the wood free. He could feel the heat creeping into his cheeks, and he growled under his breath. This was ridiculous.

After a minute she lifted her head and pulled off her outer shirt, leaving the thin tank top underneath on.

What are you doing? Dilandau demanded, unable to keep the alarm out of his voice.

She rolled her eyes. I'm making you a bandage, you idiot. You only have one shirt and armor. I have two shirts and armor. So I might as well give you part of the most burnt one. She ripped into the already damaged fabric and began to separate it into long thin pieces. Raise your arms, she told him briskly.

Dilandau watched her face as she wrapped the bandages around his middle. He could feel her breath on his side as she bent to secure the bandages, he could see the concentration on her face and the slight tinge of color to her cheeks.

he said suddenly.

She blinked and looked up, staring at him in shock. It was the first time he had willingly called her by her name. Thank you, he said gruffly, for saving my life.Are you feeling okay? Did you lose more blood than I thought? I mean, first you call me by my name and now you're thanking me. I'm going to take that as a sign of insanity, or sanity, depending on how you look at it.You earned me calling you by your first name. You've proved yourself. It doesn't mean I like you, telepath. And your saving my life is a fact, it doesn't make me nice.No, heaven forbid you should come across as nice. she muttered sarcastically, and then smiled up at him.

He found the smile disturbing and looked away, letting her finish tying off the bandages. He looked up as what sounded like a roll of thunder echoed across the sky. he mumbled grumpily.

Karina glanced up and blinked as she saw a large cruiser ship lowering itself into the clearing. What the hell is that?One of the cruiser ships on the Vione. We don't use them often, since they're outdated and bulky, but for this case they're perfect.

As the cruiser landed several men with a stretcher leaped out of it and hurried over to where Karina and Dilandau were sitting amidst the rubble. Roughly they scooped up Karina and dumped her onto the stretcher, ignoring her protests that she could walk and wasn't a sack of potatoes. They began pushing her toward the cruiser and Dilandau followed slowly after, pulling his shirt back on and fingering the bandages as he did so.

Karina cried as they pushed her into a small room and were about to leave her.

The men stood looking at her, waiting for her to say something.

Where's Dilandau? she asked meekly, unnerved by their lack of speech and their shadowed faces.

Right here. A voice spoke at the door and Karina felt a little flood of relief. She had never been so glad to see him in her life. What is it?

She bit her lip and said quietly, Do you think you would, um, stay with me? Just for the trip back.

Dilandau studied her for a moment, a strange expression on his face, an odd flicker in is eyes.

A/N: I'm sorry that was such a short chapter. And so un-action filled. But I had to get them out of their predicament and introduce certain thoughts into Karina's head. It's important. Next chapter will be quite interesting, I think. Teehee. Review for me, s'il vous plait!