Chapter 8

Warning for mature content at the start!

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

My loose hair was brushed aside, and I felt lips touch the nape of my neck, gently sucking at the skin. I felt shivers go through my body, trying to ignore it as I went to fix my jeans up. I couldn't be distracted today...

Hands were now gently sliding down my arms, resting above my own hands at my waist, before one slipped up under my shirt, the other down my jeans. I moaned a little, collapsing back to the strong body behind me.

"S-stop" I tried to get out, feeling my body respond to what those hands were doing, letting out a whimper as I felt my bottom half of my clothing being slowly pulled off.

Soon, I found myself turned around, then picked up pressed against the wall, looking into passionate green eyes. He made me lock my legs around him as he pushed in gently, and I bit my lip, trying not to make a sound as we started to move in a rhythm.

I didn't know what had come over either of us, but for a good part of the night we had been like this. Hands all over one another, going through the heights of passion together, over and over...

And now... when it was almost time to leave, and we were at it again. Donnie was hard to say no to, especially at a time like this.

I moved forward, biting his shoulder and hearing him let out a throaty grunt, knowing I was trying not to make any more sounds. I just hoped the others weren't-

"Jade! Donnie! You up yet!" Came Leo's voice, and we both stopped moving, looking into each others eyes. Both of us were shaking uncontrollably.

"Uh... yeah" I managed to get out in the steadiest voice I could manage, seeing a little annoyance in Donnie's eyes. I knew... it was taking him a great effort not to keep going.

"Okay, good! You guys better get out here, it's almost time to go!"

"When we're ready!" Donnie called out this time, and I could hear the aggression in his tone. I was just hoping it wouldn't-

"Uh... okay then" Came Leo's confused response. I thought I heard him leave, looking back at Donnie as he started to move again, the motion causing me to forget about the interruption.

Finally, we both collapsed on the bed next to us, completely spent. I could feel my heart beating a mile a minute, looking over at Donnie. His eyes were half closed and he was trying to catch his breath.

A realisation hit me then; we were going back out there, into battle, and we...

Well, from what I could guess, we were both worried. And the way to deal with that worry was-

I suddenly felt a hand on my upper thigh, and I looked back at up at Donnie, seeing him smiling at me.

"Oh no, no you don't" I slapped his hand off me, going to grab my clothes and put them back on, feeling myself sweating a little from the exercise, as well as shaking from the intense passion I'd just experienced once again.

"Wasn't going to" Was his response as I heard the bed creak a little, and I went around the room to grab a hair tie from my bedside table, grabbing a brush and roughly running it through my hair. I knew he was close, but I ignored him as I brushed the knots out furiously.

Knowing almost everyone else was coming with us today... well, tonight... was troubling me a little. Especially after we'd failed our recon so miserably. Sure, we'd all gotten out, and we guessed Jake had gone back to the valley (as no Yeerks had come knocking at our door), but now the Yeerks were aware of us still being near the city. We had lost our element of surprise, and it was possible they would start to look for us again.

The thought of Donnie being hurt, or...

I turned to him as I felt him come up to me, putting my arms around him and pulling him close. He made a strange sound as I dug my head into his chest, breathing in his scent and hoping he would be all right.

"Jade?" His arms went around me, almost confused it seemed.

"Just... worried about you"

"And I'm worried about you" He hugged me a little tighter, and I finally forced myself to move away from him, doing my best to get ready and focus on what was ahead. I saw him putting the last of his gear on, grabbing his binoculars finally and slipping them on his head.

"You ready?" He asked, turning to me. I realised then that I had been staring, quickly putting my hair up as I slipped my shoes on.

"Sorry, yeah... the others are probably waiting"

"Gonna have to apologise to Leo too" He mused, and I nodded.

"Uh, yeah... you can get really moody when- omph" My voice left me when Donnie's lips trapped mine again, almost as if to hush me. But I knew...

He pulled away, moving his binoculars a little and resting his forehead against mine. I heard him sigh, his hands now resting on my waist.

"Come back to me, okay?"

"Only if you do"

"Okay" We lingered like that for a little too long, before another knock at the door brought us out of our tender moment.

"Dudes, uh... wakey wakey!" Mikey this time, and I guessed Leo had sent him instead to come get us.

"We're up Mikey, hang on" I went over to the door, opening it and seeing a very shy Mikey there, looking from Donnie to me.

"You guys look..." He scratched the back of his head, and I moved forward hugging him.

"You just take care of yourself, okay?"

"No promises Jade" He giggled a little as he hugged me back, then moved away from me so we could leave the room. The three of us then started to head towards the hanger.

"So... you guys were like... doin it, hey?"

I choked on my own spit, stopping dead in my tracks and looking at Mikey.

"Mikey! Really?!"

"Mikey!" Donnie sounded just as shocked.

"What? Not like I don't know what it's like..." He shrugged, walking ahead of us.

Donnie and I looked at each other, both of us wide eyed and open mouthed.

I don't know what shocked us more. The fact Mikey had been so blunt, or that he'd just openly admitted to doing the same thing.

Perhaps both.

-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-

I felt a bit nervous as I stood at the door of the fighter, looking down to the city below us. I just hoped this cloaking technology Ithiell installed was actually working. Also, there was that fear about falling out the door again...

Below us, it looked like the Controllers were once again out, but not in the force that they were before. Which confused me. I thought I'd heard April... I mean, Visser Two... to get everyone out of the massive ship to come and help?

Perhaps Visser One had a hand in it. After all, I knew she was around here somewhere, and I knew Yeerks loved embarrassing one another...

"All right, I've calibrated my instruments. I should be able to scan for the creature now"

The fighter jolted a little as we moved forward, and in an instant a hand was on my arm, making me jump a little. I looked up, finding Leo there, smiling a little at me.

"Don't want a repeat of last time" He said, and I shook my head, looking over at where Donnie and Ithiell were working away, Rtaia and Mihra not far from them.

"Are you okay Leo? I mean..." I scratched the back of my head, trying to think of the right words to say. This was going be be dangerous mission, and I just wanted to make sure we had smoothed things over properly before we all headed out.

"Yeah, why?" He looked a little confused, and I leaned my back against the wall near the door, looking at the others. The Animorphs were half in the other rooms, and Rachel was out in the main area with Raph, and they were whispering to each other. Mikey was nudging Marco, giggling about something or other.

We'd decided to leave Splinter, Kristiana and Serah back at the base, knowing those three wouldn't be able to defend themselves in a real firefight. I half wondered if they would be okay there. I was worried that the Yeerks would find the base... or that Jake would show up again...

"Well... we haven't really talked about what happened. I just want to make sure that it wont like..." I trailed off, sighing and wishing I knew exactly what to say.

Leo let out a small laugh, shaking his head and putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Jade, I haven't thought about that in months. I have no hard feelings against you, and I know what I did was wrong. I am sorry I hurt you, but I do hope you can or have forgiven me"

I smiled at him, giving into the urge to go and hug him "Of course I have, I just didn't want any bad feelings between us"

He hugged me back "No Jade, I could never hate you"

I moved away to look up at him, taking his hands in mine "I see you like another brother Leo. I just hope... well, I just hope we can start talking normally again"

He winked, smiling at me "Of course. I need someone to talk to when..."

He looked a little shy then, shaking his head and just smiling, but I had a feeling I knew what he wanted to say.

"Someone to talk to about Serah and her craziness?" I half asked, smirking. He nodded, moving away from me to stand at the other side of the door, looking outside.

"She's amazing"

"I'm glad you two are happy" I turned to look outside as well, seeing buildings go slowly by.

"More than. Jade, I... " He shook his head "Now I know how Donnie feels with you... well, how all my brothers feel. It's just amazing"

I looked at him, finding him smiling a strange, sweet smile I'd never seen on him. He looked truly happy and at peace with himself, even for just a moment.

"It is" Was the only thing I could think to say, unable to keep myself from smiling at him. To me, it looked like his world was complete. Him and Serah...

Made me think of me and Donnie. When I first met him...well, when I was conscious enough to meet him properly... I knew there was something about him I couldn't put my finger on. We'd been through so much together...

I looked over at Donnie, only being able to see his back as he half bent over the controls, talking with Ithiell about sectors or something, feeling a warmth in my heart again. I'd never been so passionate about someone...

"I can't wait til these ugly slugs are out of our city, and off our planet" Leo's voice made me turn to look at him. He looked downright determined.

"Same" Another thing we were both passionate about.

"What is that?!" Donnie's voice sounded almost panicked, and we all turned to look at the boys.

"Whats wrong?" Rachel asked, and Marco half ran past us to get to the front.

"Well... we found something, but... I don't know if it's alive or not" Ithiell mused, his fingers working away as Marco went to stand next to him, Rtaia moving out of the way so he could. Rachel wasn't far behind, moving between Mihra and Donnie.

"Are you going to tell the rest of us?" Raphael huffed, folding his arms and leaning back a little, annoyed.

"Well... it looks like a massive vine or something, but the size of it... its, well, not normal" Ithiell looked back at us, and I was tempted to go up beside them, knowing that even in this bigger fighter, there still wouldn't be enough room.

"A vine? Seriously?"

Donne nodded "But the scanner is going crazy!It's reading as alien..."

"That... can't be the alien, can it?" Leo asked, sharing a look with Raph.

"We... don't know"

(Could it be possible that the alien has created this...vine?) Ax asked, coming into the main room with the rest of us, Tobias landing on Raph's shoulder. Raph didn't seem to mind, probably more distracted with this new discovery. Cassie came out last, looking worried.

"Quite possible" Rtaia spoke up "Perhaps we should go and obtain a sample of this vine, so we can run tests"

"It's an idea. My scanners can only tell so much from up here"

"But... it looks like it's attached to something bigger" I saw Marco point, a strange look on his dark features.

"Yes, but as you can see, whatever this is may also be giving off some sort of energy that is interfering with my scanner. This spot here next to it-" I saw Ithiell point "-to my scanners, is completely blacked out"

"A plant can do that?" Rachel now looked shocked.

"It could be a defense mechanism" Cassie spoke up "I mean, I'm no biologist, but I know some animals-"

"You could be right Cassie" Rtaia interrupted her, and Cassie suddenly looked sheepish. After all, Rtaia was a herbalist "This creature...if this is the creature... could be emitting some kind of defense mechanism, and this is why the Yeerks have not yet found it in all their searches"

"All right, but only a couple of people go down. Just in case this thing sees too many of us as hostile"

"I will go" Rtaia spoke up "I may be able to take samples without enraging the creature"

"Jade, do you mind going with her?" Ithiell asked, and I nodded. He probably knew it was easier for the two of us to get down there as shifters.

"I may be able to scan this creature a little more from one of the rooftops while they're gone, and relay it up here" Donnie said, suddenly turning and tapping away on his arm at his little blue screen.

"All right, but everyone be careful" I felt the fighter start to descend, seeing Ithiell was heading for a rooftop to drop us off. Rtaia moved around us, grabbing her medical bag from a little compartment near us, and the three of us lined up, getting ready to each drop onto the rooftop. Soon, Ithiell was hovering only a few feet above the ground.

Donnie dropped first, then Rtaia, then me.

"Don't do anything stupid Donnie" Leo called down to him, and Donnie gave him a thumbs up, with Leo responding with his own thumbs up, going to stand up in the fighter as it started to lift back up into the sky. All I could see of it was the hatch, but as soon as Leo moved back, I saw the hatch start to shut.

"Should have done that before" I muttered, looking at the two. Rtaia moved her bag up so it was over one shoulder, her ears folded slightly back and looking at me.

"Are you ready to descend?"

"Yep, lets go the safer way" I pointed to the door, indicating we head down through the building, and she nodded.

I turned to Donnie, who was tapping away still, looking a little confused and annoyed, pursing his lips a little.

"You take care, you curious ninja you" I moved up to give him a quick kiss, which he half returned, finally just grabbing his face in my hands and making him look at me.

"Ya hear?"

He smiled, nodding at me as he gave me a proper kiss, and I moved away, going to follow Rtaia to the stairwell.

"We should be able to collect a sample from the smaller-" Rtaia and I stopped, as the building started to shutter, finally finding the earth below us started to shake violently.

"Whoa!" I half pitched forward, catching myself and ending up half kneeling as the building shook even harder, turning to look at Donnie who was trying to keep his footing as well. He and I locked eyes-

"Look out!" Rtaia pulled me out of the way just before the ground underneath us exploded, and something came shooting up through the building.

"Donnie!" I yelled, panicked as I looked up to see something massive and black floating twisting and turning in the air above us, seeing it went down through the building.

"I'm okay!" He called out, at that moment all of us seeing what this thing actually was.

"It's not a vine, it's a-"

"Tentacle!" Rtaia cried out, as we both managed to get shakily to our feet.

"We need to get out of here!" Donnie yelled, but I couldn't see him.

Suddenly the massive tentacle slurped back through the building, crashing into more of the sides.

I looked over at Donnie, who was now on his knees, looking terrified. I'm sure my face said the same.

"Where'd Ithiell go! We gotta-" I felt a crunch under my feet, seeing a whole piece of the ground we were standing on start to crumble.

"Rtaia!" I grabbed her, shoving her roughly off the piece, feeling myself start to slip.

I went to move, instead jumping off it when it fell, my hands barely catching the edge of the rest of the building.

"Jade!" Rtaia's panicked face appeared above me, grabbing my arms and trying to haul me up.

"Ithiell!" I heard Donnie yell "We need you!"

I could only guess he was talking into a communicator, and I felt the whole world shake again, slipping back down and yelping.

"Jade, you must-"

FWWAP!

Suddenly something latched itself around my middle, and I looked down, seeing the very edge of this massive tentacle had grabbed me.

"Ohshi-"Was all I got out, before it started to pull, yanking me cleanly out of Rtaia's grasp, and the last thing I heard was the two calling out to me as I screamed blue murder, the tentacle dragging me down through the destroyed building.

x -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Constructive criticism appreciated!