Love Me Dead

by Antidaeophobia

AN: My second chapters tend to run a bit slow so please don't judge me to harshly please LOL.

Corrected and reedited to my max capacity. Also trying to find a really good, honest editor to correct my chapters- please send me a message if interested.

Space Cowboy By Steve Miller Band


Chapter 2 "Space Cowboy"

"Ow! Jeez, what are trying to do? re-snap it? Shit!" Frea chided him- flinching when he wrapped the mending bandage tighter around her crushed wrist.

Lore hadn't given her a sedative or pain killer hoping the experience would teach her a lesson about picking her battles better but instead she merely sat there patiently as he wrapped and set her broken wrist with his limited medical experience and old medic bone mender. He'd never had to use any of it until now- but he had cleaned the dust off it and the medical table for this special occasion to mend his new 1st mates shattered wrist bone and heal other injuries.

"It needs to be wrapped in the mending bandage in order for it to heal properly and mend the crushed tendons. The bone knitter isn't going to do it alone so shut up and let me work." Lore gripped

"I understand that, but why do you have to be so rough with me. Haven't you got any pain killers?" Frea winced in pain, an dark bruise lining around her right eye and across her neck.

"No, fresh out of pain killers" Lore smirked to himself as he bent down to grab the bone scanner from the table nearby to monitor the healing progress.

"You mean these pain killers?" A thin dirty hand came into his view, grasping a small hypo-spray that had been neglected at the bottom of the med kit. Lore's gold eyes glanced up at her and he said nothing. Frea merely grinned gloatingly as he snatched it from her and forcefully injected the spray into her blackened neck hearing her yelp due to his aggressive treatment.

"Awww come on- why are you so serious? We're going to be stuck together, why don't you lighten up a little bit?" Frea's voice cut out hoarsely as she negotiated.

Lore glared at her "I am not stuck with you and may dump you on the next asteroid I pass if I so choose. I don't like humans; I must have had a temporary lapse in judgment in order for you to convince me to bring your sorry ass along."

"Temporary lapse in judgment?" Frea mused and chuckled softly.

Lore could feel anger rush through him again. He hated that she was so pleasant despite his rudeness to her. It was odd, annoying and it made him fell uneasy. He realized that not getting the proper negative response he was used to bothered and unsettled him greatly and made it extremely hard to keep his anger up. It was also a sudden change from when he'd first met her and she'd cursed him out and told him what he could do with himself.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you being so nice? Can't you see I've been a jackass to you!? I could kill you if I wanted to? Why aren't you scared? Are you crazy? Are you stupid?!" Lore slammed a fist down suddenly on the medical table next to her; it bent easily under his fist.

Frea merely stared at him in question but seemingly unafraid as if his tantrum was no more dangerous then that of what a two year old might throw. Lore couldn't understand it; his show of strength always scared anyone straight. She'd seen him throw an alien across an alley with ease- he could crush her. Several minutes passed and neither one said anything, Lore's eyes stared at her unblinking.

"Are you done throwing a temper tantrum? I want to take a shower. Unless of course you want me grungy and dirty so you can resist me" Frea joked and patted a thin hand against his pale cheek sweetly leaving smudges of grim on his smooth white flesh before jumping off the table and walking away.

Lore's face fell before giving her an angry look. In one swift moment, the wind was taken from his sails and he was left alone in the sick bay staring towards her retreating direction. "I hate you!" he finally yelled, but by then she had already disappeared down the hall.

"I know, you'll get use to it!" Frea laughed and continued towards her room, walking with all cockiness and arrogance as he would. Lore grumbled, but a slight feeling of amusement passed through him and he felt his mouth unwillingly turning into a grin. He loved a good challenge and this girl certainly had kept him interested. Perhaps, she'd be useful in keeping him getting bored; after all, it was the eternal challenge of one as brilliant as himself.


Lore sat silently in the pilots' chair absently pressing buttons and setting directions. He was often deep in thought at times like this. Being able to make trillions upon trillions of calculations in a few seconds it being able too pilot his ship across the universe as well as think deep thoughts easy and near infinite to him. However, he had one particular thing on his mind; the human female Frea.

The female who had in just a few hours ago been a significance annoyance in his day; now had made herself quite at home on his ship as if she'd always been there.

A part of him liked her. Not only was she not up on social graces like him but she was fairly witty as well- for a lower life form.

Frea also seemed to have no apprehension like many female hitchhikers: that he could simply rape and violate her and leave her body drifting through the emptiness of space when he was finished or tired of her.

Lore sighed, she was obviously mad, and she apparently didn't seem to take into account the seriousness of traveling alone with a stranger. Although he never had, nor would be interested in keeping a female hostage for the purpose of forced sex- he preferred them to want him.

Lore knew he could easily dominate physically whoever he pleased given his superior strength; it was no contest or thrill. He'd rather they want him, begged him to dominate them. Lore knew well the dangers of the universe, and how cruel people could be, and her ignorance infuriated him for some reason. Like a child she seemed blissfully unaware how dangerous and untrustworthy taking a ride from a stranger was. Frea should pray to whatever deity she prayed to in thanks that she was blessed with his company and not perhaps a Ferengi that might demand her nightly company and then sell her off the first chance they got regardless of what she wanted or they'd promise.

Although many categorized him as a being with no morals, he did however have some standards and the violations of people's rights did not suit him one bit. Seeing the slave trades; both for labor and sexual pleasures that took place in distant plants he'd visited had disgusted him. Probably because he understood what that felt like all to well to be viewed as a thing, not a person.

Lore had seen that she seemed to be able to defend herself somewhat. But her sudden and almost naïve trust nagged at him. Her attitude towards him annoyed him as well. Lore couldn't understand it. Everyone he'd ever known he'd easily been able to control; through violence, threatening, charm, intelligence, cunning, physical appearance, sex. He could always get whatever action and emotion he desired from anyone through calculating means of manipulation. Frea for the most part seemed to be obnoxiously immune to his outbursts however. Perhaps he had judge incorrectly and she wasn't intelligent- perhaps she was extremely dumb. After all, fate protects little children and the extremely stupid.

Lore loved a challenge though and he enjoyed the thrill of proving his superiority through whatever means. He however despised ignorance of the cruel reality of the universe and how she simply dove in and trusted him so eagerly and openly. Maybe he would have to crush her spirit?

"Are you just going to sit here in the dark?" Lore glanced up in surprise as Frea slipped into the co-pilot seat near him and smiled at him. His gold eyes frozen on her as he took her in, wrapped in overly large bathrobe; her shoulder length, brown hair which had been snarled and tied up was wavy and damp- a hair brush in hand. Her gaunt face and sunken eyes now finally visible without the grime of the street and the bruising and the swelling had all but disappeared to show her true appearance. It certainly wasn't a sexual feeling, but the shock of seeing her clean, fresh, and new, it was like seeing a completely different person.

Frea was very pale, with skin pulled tight over her high bony cheeks. The muscles, he could see; strained harshly against her skin as if she might blow away in a strong breeze. Terribly thin as could be and very malnourished but had a very bright look in her blue eyes as she grinned at him. Lore nodded blankly as he stared at her. She was so young- how old was she? He hadn't taken a teenage girl with him had he? Early, he'd thought about pursuing her for sex but if she was a young girl that would be wrong. He hadn't even bothered to ask if there would be any family looking for her.

"Let's get a little light on the subject why don't we?" Frea mumbled to herself, reaching up to the buttons overhead and switching a few lights on. Any other time Lore would have complained, he didn't like when people bothered his things, but he so shocked by her appearance that he'd barely noticed.

Frea glanced over at Lore, he stared at her silently a blank look on his face. "What?"

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-Four." Frea mumbled, confused at his sudden interest.

"I'm serious; I need to know if your family is going to be coming to look for you. I have no interest in having to deal with the Federation or angry family members claiming I stole or raped their young daughter. I also will not play baby sitter to some runaway angsty, teenage girl" Lore's eyes bore into her suspiciously, debating turning towards the nearest star base and doing a quick drop and run.

"I'm serious, I'm twenty-four. I don't have any family who cares about me and I don't want to have to deal with the Federation either. You don't want to know what I think about them." Lore cocked his head seeing for the first time since their first encounter, true anger, it made him smile slightly. Good, she wasn't going to be annoyingly nice.

"What sort of alien are you then?" Frea's fingers glided over some of the buttons on the co-pilot console, he tensed slightly; mistaking his posture for annoyance she waved him off "I know what I'm doing, settle down."

"I'm not an alien, I am an android. Yes, I'm sentient, no I don't follow Asimov's three rules of robotics and yes, I am fully functional and no I will not have sex with you and no, I was not created to be a servant." Lore snapped harshly at her. Ok, the sex thing had been a lie but he wasn't going to let her think she had any leverage against him.

Frea raised a brow; she sighed and shook her head. "I had no idea you were a mind reader, I didn't even have to say anything. Quick, what number am I thinking of?" Squeezing her eyes shut, irritation ran through Lore for an instance but was quickly replaced by something else, an emotion he hadn't felt in a long while.

Frea peeked an eye at him when she heard the sound. Slowly at first then louder and looser as Lore chuckled deeply. Frea grinned at this and watched him as he let loose a deep laugh. "You're so stupid."

"Well, well, it has a sense of humor after all. I thought you were only capable of having a bad attitude- that would make for a very long trip." Frea gave him a smirk

"Oh god, I hate you so much" Lore chuckled slightly

"I can already tell we're going to get on really well. I can tell this is the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship" Giving him a nudge with her elbow teasingly.

"You're more annoying than before. I think I liked you better when you were cursing me out and telling those aliens to go fuck there mothers." Lore grinned at this last bit widely.

"Krilliss" Frea stated

"Pardon"

"That's what they're called. I had you fooled though didn't I. You thought I was a completely mean bitch and I turned out to be charming and lovable." Frea gave an unladylike snorting laugh.

"Charming and lovable?" Lore scoffed but gave into a small smirk.


Frea sighed comfortably in her new bed. It was incredible how things had happened. She'd wanted to leave for years, and then finally got her wish; albeit she did invite herself along, but anything was better then back there. She'd rather risk her life then to live in that shit hole anymore and end up pregnant or dead. She was willing to take her chances even if it did mean getting killed.

Frea could hear Lore shifting around the ship corridors, the ship was small and she could hear him walking silently past her door as he went about his business. Lore had told her he rarely slept, and it wasn't needed besides for occasional rest periods and he assured her that he would rarely be in his room next door.

Frea smiled at this; as if he'd wanted her to feel comfortable that he wasn't going to try and pay her a midnight visit.

Frea was a pretty good judge of people- she always had been. Taking care of herself most her life, having seen the best and worst of people; you learned quickly or died young. Lore was damaged, like her. He was angry and bitter, but had a deep kindness to him she could tell disgusted him.

She'd seen this before, people so used and abused they lashed at everyone and everything. Her father had taught her that patience and tenderness was the way to heal that sort of wound. Course her father was one of the most wounded men she'd ever known.

Frea's sudden disappearance wouldn't be missed. She was a street urchin, a thief, a homeless girl amongst many in the population just trying to make it through the day. She had no family anymore, no real friends. Frea snuggled under the warm blankets. It was the first time she'd been in a bed in years and she reveled in joy at the fortuitous turn of events which had led to her sudden freedom.

Sighing deeply; clean, contented and happy for the first time in a decade and listening to the soft thump of silently footsteps in the hallway. She would make a better life for herself and she hoped she'd find herself a new friend in the android named Lore.