Author's Note: I've been getting so many favs, follows, and reviews lately that I felt like I owed you another chapter. I hope this lives up to the others and hopefully I can post again soon now that I am over this chapter which was painful to write. Ugh!

Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Explanations

Stinger stood in front of where Jupiter was seated. Quickly he sorted out his thoughts, trying to decide how much to tell her. He didn't feel right speaking on behalf of Caine about the splice's feelings but giving an explanation without them would be tricky.

"Your Majesty, I know what Caine did might have looked aggressive and scared you a little-" Stringer began, only to be cut off by Jupiter.

"No, I wasn't scared. I'm just very confused. What the heck was he thinking?" She asked. Her face was set in a frown, eyebrows drawn together in confusion and thought.

Stinger resisted the urge to sigh or rub a hand over his face. He really did not want to have this conversation with his Queen, but it was what she needed right now, and he would get through it. He waited for Jupiter to meet his gaze before continuing, "You know that Splices are programmed with protective instincts for those they serve?" He waited for her to nod, "Well, Caine has those turned up way past normal. The need to protect you is as ingrained in him as the need to breath. When I hit you, even though it was in training, he just acted to protect you."

Jupiter thought that through for a minute. So many thoughts crowded into her mind. She liked the idea that Caine was so drawn to protect her but felt a little sick that it had more to do with mental conditioning than any feeling for her, probably. The thought of him jumping in to rescue her like that was also very romantic. A knight to come to her aid. She tried not to laugh at that thought because this conversation felt too serious for that.

"So, is Caine going to react like this every time we spar? What if I get a papercut or something?" Her mind was already turning over the implications of his need to protect her and what that would mean practically for their future.

Stinger was glad that his simplified explanation of Caine's feelings was sufficient. He really did not want to get into a conversation about mates and love between these two stubborn beings. That was on them to work out as far as he was concerned.

He answered her question with his usual cool detachment, "Most likely you will not see this level of reaction again unless there is true danger. I am sure that Mr. Wise was also surprised at his instinctive actions and will work on controlling that in the future." At least Stinger hoped so, because a territorial and protective Lycantant acting on instinct was not someone he could have on his security team and that was NOT a conversation he wanted to have with either his Queen or Caine.

The conversation over, Stinger waited and watched Jupiter for a sense of what to do now. She seemed lost in thought still so he decided they had enough of sparring for the day. He needed to track down and speak with the close guard anyway. Wise needed to be spoken to and as the security chief he needed to come up with a plan to deal with any feelings of distrust from the team towards his sergeant before it became a bigger problem.

"Let me take your wraps off your majesty. I think we had enough excitement in the sparring room for one day." He said, moving to help Jupiter remove the boxing wraps on her hands. She just nodded absently while he worked, her thoughts on Caine.

Once free of the wraps, Jupiter decided she needed to find Kiza. As she leaves the room, her guards fall into place around her.

xXx

Stinger found Caine pacing in his tiny barracks room. He could hear the Lycantant splice muttering and growling, most likely berating himself. For the second time that day the gruff bee splice resisted the urge to sigh. He thought raising Kiza through her teen years was difficult, but managing these two as they danced around each other was so much worse.

Unable to delay the second awkward conversation of the day any longer, Stinger opened the door to Caine's room. The Lycantant immediately whirled to face the door and dropped his head submissively when he saw his commander there. The urge to whine clawed at his throat but he did not give in to it. Whatever his punishment, he would accept it. He only hoped that Stinger would not send him away from his Queen.

It had not escaped Caine's notice that Mr. Quell had thought he was attacking Jupiter and if Stinger thought the same, he would never be permitted to remain. Pain seared through his chest as if he was living through explosive decompression again. This time a sound did escape as a breathy sound of pain.

Stinger watched as the pain crossed Caine's face. The whimper from the normally stoic splice surprised him. Caine had faced his possible death at trial for attacking an Entitled with more poise than he now showed at the thought of Stinger's reprimand.

Caine composed himself and came to attention before Stinger; Teeth clenched against the urge to beg his commander not to remove him from his post. Whatever Stinger decided, Caine deserved it. That was the mantra he repeated to himself as he held his gaze at the top of the doorframe where Stinger stood.

Seeing Caine so affected made Stinger re-evaluate the conversation he had planned to have. Clearly the Lycantant was already punishing himself for the outburst in the sparring room, but Stinger also knew that he had to address it still. Adopting his usual commanding tone Stinger finally spoke for the first time since opening the door, "Mr. Wise, that display in the sparring room was unacceptable. If you can't manage your instincts, you are no good to me here and certainly no good as a sergeant."

Caine clenched his fists but otherwise remained still as he was dressed down. The wait to find out his punishment was tearing him apart, but he was determined not to make another sound. His mantra continued. He deserved this. He deserved every bad thing Stringer could come up with because he had scared Jupiter. His Queen was mad at him.

Suddenly the thought that Jupiter might not want him around finally occurred to him. He had been so worried about Stinger sending him away that he had not though of Jupiter's anger at him. What if Jupiter no longer wanted him near her? It hurt to breath all of a sudden. He turned his focus back to the Stinger's rant. The painful clench of his fists brought him focus.

"You will be running extra perimeter patrols for the next week as punishment, and you will take over Jupiter's defense training." Stinger finished up quickly. No need to torture the boy in suspense over his punishment after all.

Caine finally took a full breath for what felt like the first time since he had heard Jupiter's soft cry of pain in the sparring room. Extra patrols were his punishment? That was it? Then his brain finished processing what the commander had said, "You want me to train Jupiter? I can't spar with her!"

The outburst had been expected. Stinger thought that working with her closely would solve the problem of Caine's instincts getting in the way of training and it would hopefully help the other splices in the guard trust him more not to hurt Jupiter. Yes, he though it over again and decided it was a good plan. "That was not a suggestion sergeant."

The firm command from the bee splice made Caine shut his jaw with a snap. He couldn't believe he had an outburst like that. Being on Orus away from Stinger's command must have addled his brain. Of course he couldn't question the order, even if he had no idea how he could comply with it. At least he had not been sent away. The thought dulled the ache in his chest. Now he had no choice but to face Jupiter's anger with him. The thought was both comforting and terrifying.

xXx

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