a/n: I still don't own it.
If David had had any doubt about the relationship between Elizabeth and Dr. Holloway, her tear-stained face in the lights of the observation table would have banished them. He reached out and stroked the dried path of a tear from her cheek to just adjacent her mouth. His finger's sensors could detect a minute difference in her skin where her tears left a trail of saline residue. He touched his finger to his tongue to taste it.
Her cross had slid on its delicate chain and was resting above her left shoulder. He knew from her dreams that it had belonged to her father and he had never seen her without it.
David had no context for what the symbol of her faith meant to her. He had never encountered anything like it in the humans he knew. He had seen movies where people used crosses and saints and altars to comfort themselves, though. He found himself wondering if the cross would ease the pain of Elizabeth's loss.
He wanted to see what Elizabeth would cling to in the absence of her tangible symbol of her faith. He wanted to take away her memento of her father. Looking at her, clad only in the thin gown they used for medical exams he saw that taking away her cross would take away everything that she had that made her special, that made her an individual. She didn't even have her own clothes.
He wondered if she would feel like a robot, like a David 8, arriving at its location in a plastic bag filled with packing foam.
He reached for her cross.
As his fingers lifted it away from her neck she started, her hand jerking up to his to stop him. Her eyes took him in without seeming to see for a second and then she frowned at him.
"My deepest condolences. I'm going to have to take this. It may be contaminated," David made sure his voice contained a proper ratio of concern to professionalism.
"If there's a contagion, we were all exposed," her voice sounded thick and contained an element of panic. "We need to run blood work on everyone who set foot in the pyramid." Her hand was still on top of his, preventing him from taking the cross.
"Yes, of course," he answered her. She seemed placated by that and she removed her hand from his to let him take her cross.
He glanced back at her as he tucked her cross away next to the monitor.
She seemed so vulnerable lying on the table. He wondered if she would be receptive to discussing matters which his programming told him were private.
"I understand how…inappropriate this is, given the circumstances," he said, getting the scanner ready. He pushed the button to start the scan and kept his eyes trained on the monitor as he spoke. "But, as you ordered quarantine fail-safes, it's my responsibility to ask. Had you and Dr. Holloway had any intimate contact recently? Since you and he were so close I just want to be as thorough as poss… "
David's voice did something then that it rarely did. It stopped mid-word as he beheld what was on the monitor. Dr. Shaw's, Elizabeth's abdomen contained what appeared to be some sort of fetus. It was approximately 17 centimeters in diameter. It's morphology made it clear that it was not a human fetus, however. It bore more of a resemblance to a that of a cephalopod.
Suddenly David's objective became both easier and more complex. Easier because he had the perfect way to keep Dr. Shaw away from their meeting with the Engineer; more complex because David suspected that her current condition had everything to do with his having infected the unfortunate Dr. Holloway.
"My, my," David breathed. "You're pregnant." His word, even to his own ears, held a tinge of…accusation. Wasn't this the product of her alliance with Dr. Hollaway that had been so distressing to him the night before? He felt a twinge of gratification that she should have such immediate repercussions for her betrayal.
"What?" she sat up quickly.
"From the look of it, three months so," he said.
"That's impossible. I can't be pregnant." Dr. Shaw's voice was breathy and strained with emotion.
"Did you have intercourse with Dr. Holloway?" He pushed, wanting her to admit it.
"Yes, but ten hours ago. There's no bloody way I'm three months pregnant."
"Well, Doctor, it's not exactly a traditional fetus." He had to admit to a thrill at the look of horror on her face. He could hardly disguise his mirth.
"I want to see it," she said, determined.
"I don't think that's a good idea." He turned off the scanner and pushed the monitor so it faced away from her. She slid off the table, clearly still weak, and began pushing buttons to turn the scanner back on.
"Now Doctor," he said smoothly, observing her rising level of hysteria with interest.
"I want to see it and I want it out of me." Elizabeth insisted, clearly trying to hold herself in a way that he would perceive as commanding.
"I'm afraid we don't have the personnel to perform a procedure like that. Our best option is to put you back into cryostasis…" David put his hands out to her soothingly.
"Please get it out of me. Get it out of me please." She was begging now and she grabbed onto his shoulders before doubling over in pain.
"It must be very painful. Here, let me give you something." David wasn't even sure where his words were coming from; they must have been automatically programmed for these situations. He grabbed a syringe and injected her with a sedative. As she slid to the ground he caught her and lifted her onto the table.
"Someone will be along shortly to bring you back to cryodeck," he said.
He paused to regard that tower of faith, Elizabeth Shaw, stripped of her partner, her cross and any control over her body. He couldn't resist.
"Must feel like your God abandoned you." He leaned over her slightly and gazed at her curiously.
"What?" She was startled out of her coming stupor.
"To lose Dr. Holloway, after your father died under such similar circumstances. What was it that killed him? Ebola?" He could see her squirm slightly under his gaze.
"How do you know that?" There were tears in her eyes and she regarded him with disbelief, as if he were omniscient. That she would think that of him pleased him greatly. Perhaps Elizabeth could appreciate that he knew more, could do more than any of them. Could he be like a god to her?
"I watched your dreams," he said, his voice gentle. He couldn't suppress the smile.
He took the vial containing her cross and left her to her approaching oblivion.
a/n: Thank you so much for reading and your lovely reviews! I promise I will eventually get to the end of the movie; since this is David's POV we'll obviously be able to skip the alien baby extraction party.