Genesis or Exodus

Chapter Seven

"So you and the ice queen seem to be getting along a lot better," Mackenzie said as she threw several punches in her Comanders direction, which were easily avoided.

"You'll have to do better than that, Malicov, if you expect to win that bet you and the boys have going," Bo responded as she ducked to avoid the face level roundhouse kick that her subordinate had just let fly. Bo felt the disturbance in the air as the leg rushed over the top of her head and she swung her leg out and swept Mackenzie's other leg right out from underneath her, sending her crashing to the mat with an 'oomph'.

Bo quickly straddled the smaller fighter and pinned her hands at her side. Mackenzie grunted as she tried desperately to free herself from her Commander's vice like grip. Her legs and pelvis moved beneath Bo's weight in a futile attempt to overturn their positions. Bo let out a laugh, "What on earth are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying unsuccessfully to reverse our positions if you must know. But seeing as you are a mechanical super soldier, I know that my attempts are futile!"

Bo laughed some more and lifted her hips and little as she looking down at her second in command as Mackenzie continued to squirm. "And here I thought you were trying to get me off in another kind of fashion with the way you are moving your hips like that. Whatever would Hale say if he saw us right now? "

Mackenzie's face was shocked for a moment before a smile formed and her eyes glinted playfully. "He's a guy. He would probably ask to watch. What would Lauren think if she walked in here right now and found you pinning me down in your short shorts and sports bra all sweaty and panting?"

Bo's eyes widened as she considered that question for a moment and wished that she could get Lauren on the mat and squirming beneath her. Bo moved in a flash away and off of Mackenzie's body as the thought of sparring with Lauren affected her and made heat flush and course throughout her entire being. Bo stood up and then offered her hand to her friend lying on the mat.

"I'm surprised that worked," Mackenzie remarked as she took the Commander's offered hand. "What's going on between you and her? Have you hit that yet? Is she warmer between the sheets?"

Bo frowned and shook her head, "Nothings going on and it's not like that. And show some respect! This is Lauren's ship and we are uninvited guests aboard it, so I would appreciate if you didn't say things like that about her, Malikov, understood."

Mackenzie felt a twinge of remorse for her comments because she genuinely liked Lauren, even though she was a bit uptight and spent most of her time with her nose in test tubes and looking at crap under a microscope. She had said the comment to rattle her Commander who had denied and deflected any questions about her and the Matriarch's ever flourishing relationship since their sabbatical to Antrax. Things had been obviously different to everyone aboard Genesis, it was just The Matriarch and her Commander that seemed to be fighting the inevitable truth. Mackenzie focused on why she had said the crude comments in the first place. She was still holding Bo's hand, despite the fact that she was back on her feet and Bo's mind seemed to be elsewhere as her eyes focused on something over her left shoulder.

It's time, she thought as she tightened her grip on her Commander's arm and bent her knees readying herself for a new move that she hoped would knock Bo onto her ass and make her several hundred credits richer! I hope this works and I don't make a complete ass of myself, she prayed silently seconds before she sprung up, her legs launching her body up and back, her legs pressed in towards her own chest before quickly lashing out and catching her Commander square in the chest with tremendous force and completely had released her grip on her Commander's mere moments before her feet connected and she heard something break on impact before Bo went flying through the air for a few seconds before landing with a hard thud onto the mat. Mackenzie hit the mat herself, but with much more grace as she used her momentum to do a backward roll to come back up onto her feet a moment later. She rushed to her superior officer and best friend's side in a flash. She hadn't moved since crashing to the mat except for some laboured gasping and she heard someone call out, Bo's name from behind her.

Bo caught movement behind Mackenzie moments after scolding her friend for her harsh comments about The Matriarch. Bo's eyes locked onto Lauren with her flowing hair, looking like spun gold and a look of barely controlled desire shining brightly in her eyes that made the woman look like she was almost in pain because of it. She thought that her heart would burst with the need to both take care of Lauren's desire and to remove the pain that she was feeling because of her fighting the feelings they had. But the pain wasn't just emotional as a tremendous force hit her square in the chest and sent pain searing through her as she was thrown back onto the mat, her chest burning as she tried to take a decent breath.

Mackenzie was by her side in a flash as she continued to suck in short ragged breaths. Bo already felt that the nanomites were working to fix the damage she had just sustained at the hands, or rather feet, of her pint sized friend. If Bo had been able to talk at that moment she would have congratulated Mackenzie on a well executed move. Her friend was almost always the smallest and most underestimated soldier in any conflict and she had worked tirelessly since Bo had recruited her and taken her under her wing several years ago. Mackenzie Malicov had been a thief in her former life, a damned good one on all accounts, but after robbing the wrong person she had ended up running for her life. Mackenzie had been hiding in a dive bar a few miles away from an alliance academy that Bo was visiting for a conference and that was where she had saved the young woman's life. It had been five against one when Bo had come upon her and she hadn't hesitated to even the odds, they had been firm friends and comrades in arms ever since.

Bo had moulded Malikov into the lethal, silent killer that she was today. She was able to sneak into an insurgent camp in the dead of night and eliminate everyone within it without raising an alarm. The guards would return from their outer night watches to dozens of dead infantry and no sign of a struggle. It was the forced, frontal hand to hand combat that Mackenzie had to work on and Bo had been giving her intensive lessons for months. Bo's vision was darkening as she fought off unconsciousness from the pain and lack of oxygen.

"Oh Commander, please just tell me that the little robots inside you are fixing you up and you aren't going to die on me!" Mackenzie's eyes were wide with worry as she looked down at her friend.

Bo wasn't able to speak, but she gave her scared subordinate a small nod and she watched the young girl breath a sigh of relief and tears to form and slide down her flushed cheeks. Bo registered movement behind Mackenzie and then Lauren was beside the young soldier and she looked furiously at her. "I'm pretty sure when you are sparring you aren't supposed to actually kill your opponent! God, Mackenzie! What were you thinking using that move on anyone that you weren't wanting to eliminate permanently!"

Bo felt the tears escape from the edges of her eyes and roll down the side of her face and into her ears. Bo had wondered why Lauren hadn't been by her side earlier and a moment later she saw that the Matriarch had a small medical kit with her. Mackenzie was apologising profusely to the Matriarch as the blonde administered some kind of pain relief, which in turn aided the nanomites to work even faster to repair the damage now that Bo wasn't feeling any pain.

"Her heart could have ruptured!"

Bo managed to find her voice, "It's okay, Lauren. The nanomites are healing the damage as we speak." The way Lauren looked at her could have quite possibly made her heart stop. In that look Bo saw everything that she had hoped to see. The raw expression of worry and concern conveyed just how close they had become over the last couple of months. "We should get you to the infirmary."

Bo shook her head, "No. My room will be fine. Mackenzie?"

"Yeah, Commander?"

"Why don't you go collect your reward for knocking me on my ass from the guys," Bo said with a small smile and a wink. "I'm proud of you."

"Are you fucking kidding me! She could have killed you, Bo, and you are telling her how proud you are!" Lauren was beside herself as she looked from Bo to Mackenzie in disbelief. "Crazy fucking brainwashed Alliance soldiers," she muttered as she repacked the medical kit.

"And there she is," Bo said with a chuckle at the Matrairch's insult. Bo placed her hands over her chest as the laugh caused some discomfort, "Ow. Don't make me laugh, Lauren." Bo mouthed 'Go' to Mackenzie and she silently left, leaving Bo with the Matriarch who was looking at her incredulously.

"I wasn't being funny, Bo." Lauren reached out and ran several fingers over Bo's cheek. "That was incredibly reckless of Mackenzie. You could be dead right now. I would really feel much better if you would allow me to take you to the infirmary so that I can check you over thoroughly."

Bo caught Lauren's hand before she was able to fully pull it away from her face and brought it to her lips and kissed the fingertips lightly. "As much as I would love for you to check me out thoroughly, Lauren, I promise you that the nanomites are doing their job and I will be back to my obnoxious, brainwashed alliance self in no time," Bo said with a wink.

Bo noticed several emotions flit across the Matriarchs features. At the kiss and her words. Bo ignored the desire and settled on the last emotion Lauren still held on her face at the mention of the nanomites. Pure, unadulterated curiosity. Bo watched as Lauren opened her mouth several times as if to say something, but failing miserably she finally just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"What is it, Lauren?"

The Matriarch shook her head, "It's nothing, I just... Her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes and took a breath before opening her eyes again. "I just really want to examine you. You are fascinating and the opportunity to observe the nanomites healing your injuries would be..."

"A Matriarch's wet dream," Bo said with a huge, cheeky grin.

Lauren blushed profusely at Bo's comment. "Intellectually stimulating," Lauren responded, with an almost embarrassed smile.

"The Nano Project is highly classified as you know. The alliance guards their secrets very closely, Lauren."

"I know. I'm sorry. It was wrong for me to even suggest it and compromise your loyalty and duty to your Alliance."

"I'm not saying no. I just want to know what is in it for me. What will you give me if I allow you to run your tests and observations?" Bo smiled suggestively at the blonde and rubbed her fingers along Lauren's palm, which she still held in her hand.

Lauren cocked her head to the side and gave a small smile. "What would you like?"

Bo gave a small shrug of her shoulders before starting to sit up. Bo winced as pain shot out like a star from the centre of her chest, "Can you give me a hand getting up?"

"Of course! Are you sure you want to? I can get a stretcher so you don't have to walk."

Bo grit her teeth and got to her feet. "No. No stretcher."

"It won't make you look weak, Bo," Lauren said as if reading the Commander's mind.

"No stretcher." Was her response, refusing to acknowledge that there was truth in Lauren's statement.

"Fine! Then you will ride on the hover disc with me. No arguments!" Lauren pulled out her disc and activated it.

Bo watched as Lauren stepped onto the hover disc and then offered Bo her hand. The brunette couldn't help but smile as she accepted the Matriarch's help stepping aboard the transportation device. "Hold on to me tightly now, Matriarch," Bo said with a wink as she pressed herself tightly against the front of Lauren's body.

"For someone with your injuries, you are enjoying this way too much," Lauren murmured into Bo's ear making her shiver.

"I've been trying for months to get your arms around me. This is like Christmas!" Lauren let out a small chuckle at the woman's words, trying to ignore just how right it felt having Bo so close to her. Bo snuggled into Lauren's body even more as the Matriarch placed her arms around Bo's waist and they started their journey.

"Where are we? Bo asked as she allowed Lauren to help her off the disc before she deactivated it. The pain relief had well and truly worn off about halfway through the trip and only Lauren's firm hold had kept her upright. Bo reached out and used a nearby counter to keep her on her feet.

"This is my private laboratory and research area. No one is allowed in here unless I am with them. It was the closest place to the gymnasium with the right equipment for me to be able to observe you. Lauren administered another dose of pain killers into Bo's system, "Better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"The first dose should have lasted longer than it did. Are you sure your injuries aren't more serious than you are letting on?"

"I metabolise drugs faster than regular people of my species."

"Faster than most species," Lauren remarked as she helped Bo up onto an examination table.

"I wouldn't know. You are the all knowing Matriarch of the universe, not me," Bo said with a smile. Lauren just gave a small snort in response as she went about setting up the equipment and flipping switches. "We have come a long way, Lauren. If I had said that to you a couple of months ago, you probably would have strapped me down and decided to open me up instead of just using the imaging equipment!"

"Perhaps, because I now know that that was actually a compliment coming from you and not an insult." Lauren typed in a few commands into her console and the machine hovering above Bo whirred into life and images started to display on the floating monitor with lines upon lines of numbers and data scrolling along side it.

"And because we are friends now and you don't just see me as just an Alliance stooge?"

"Hmm," was Lauren's response and Bo wasn't even sure if she had even heard her comment. "This is remarkable, Bo. Look at the way the nanomites work together. I wonder if..."

Bo wished that she could see what was going on in Lauren's head. That there was an imaging machine floating above her head showing her pictures of the Matriarch's brain lighting up with the intellectual stimulus Bo's unique condition was creating. "What do you wonder?" Bo asked, but she didn't receive a response. Lauren was too lost in the data and images flashing across the screen, so for the time being Bo stayed content just watching the woman that she was falling, ever so further in love with.

Bo woke up unsure of how much time had passed and glanced around the room looking for Lauren. Bo tested her strength and found that she was able to sit up without much discomfort at all, which meant that she must have been asleep for quite some time. She wrapped the blanket around her that Lauren must have tucked her into while she slumbered and slid off of the table and made her way over to where Lauren sat, her head resting on the desk, her hair cascading over her face as she slept. Bo reached out and brushed that golden hair away from the sleeping woman's face and gazed down at the defined and sculptured beauty of the Matriarch.

"Lauren?" Bo said before leaning down and brushing her lips softly against her cheek. Her lips tingled at the contact and she expected to see sparks between her lips and Lauren's cheek as she moved away so she could watch the Matriarch's face as her eyes fluttered open and locked onto hers.

As Lauren woke up and gazed at Bo a hand raised to touch the cheek that she had just kissed as if Lauren could also feel the after effects of that smallest touch. She then reached out to Bo with that same hand, "You're awake and you look so much stronger."

Bo wanted to kiss the woman in front of her so desperately. To feel what kind of spark they could produce with an embrace that was harder, deeper. "I feel good. How long was I asleep for?" Bo said, a little breathless as she continued to hold Lauren's gaze, trying desperately to communicate without words the longing that she felt to be close to the woman that set her ablaze.

Lauren laid a hand against Bo's face, "You seem a little breathless. Are you sure you're okay? Are you having trouble breathing?"

Bo closed her eyes and leaned against Lauren's warm palm against her face. When she opened them again, she saw that Lauren's eyes had darkened and her breathing was shallower. "You leave me breathless, Lauren. You must know that."

Bo sensed Lauren would shrink away from her at any moment. She didn't want that to happen. She didn't want to move two steps back when she was so close to completely breaking through the Matriarch's resistant shields. She feels it as much as I do. If I kiss her will she have the strength to pull away and deny what we both so desperately want? Bo didn't let the question linger and reached out to Lauren, putting her fingers through those silky golden locks and wrapping them around her neck.

"Bo? Please." Lauren's voice came out strained as if she was in physical pain, but her hand remained on Bo's face and the Matriarch's eyes gleamed with unfathomable need and desire. Bo closed the distance between them and locked her lips onto Lauren's and kissed her for all that she was worth. She needed to make it memorable because Bo knew that this kiss would mean either the first of many, or it would be their first and last. Bo closed her eyes and held on tighter, pulling Lauren up from her chair as the Matriarch finally began to kiss her back and she silently prayed that it wouldn't be their last because she thought that it might just kill her if it was...

Author's Note: I know it has been a while since I updated. Between being ill and life in general, I have really been getting my ass kicked, so I hope you will forgive me. I wonder what will happen in the next chapter. Will this kiss make or break Bo's and Lauren's burgeoning relationship? When I know you'll know, I promise. ;)

I would love to hear from you all because it always lifts my spirit's. Take care and thank you as always for your support.

Doccubus21

xoxo