Falling for the Beast
"LMFranklin20"
Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead does not belong to me and I do not make any money off of this non-canon fiction.
Summary: Dr. Angelica Pavlov is put on the worst possible job she could get: training and socializing a feral Alpha male Hunter. When he shows an unnerving interest in her, Angelica finds herself falling for the beast.
Rating: M+ due to blood, gore, violence, language, and intensely detailed adult situations (In other words, its Infected/Survivor SEX. Don't read it if you don't like it!)
Chapter Nine: Daughter
The Hunter wakes up slowly, still groggy from the tranquilizer. He gets up, trying to roll muscles that feel too heavy for him. His covering is back though and he's in HIS place but the female is nowhere to be seen. He glances up at the catwalk but she's not there and he frowns a little. Did he do something bad?
A guard paces through the hallway, flipping through paperwork and too absorbed to notice the small form walking past, holding in sniffles and trying to be as quiet as possible. She's still so scared...She wants to hide but doesn't know where.
The Hunter sighs and sits down, still tired from the tranquilizer but he's noticed that its effects aren't lasting as long. Each time, he wakes up a little sooner and a little less dizzy.
The little girl reaches the end of the hallway and spots a door that looks pretty heavy. Its dark done there, so…so maybe if she can get in there, no one will notice her. No one likes the dark. No one but them. She stands on her tiptoes and manages to turn the handle, then pushes as hard as she can to get the heavy door open, sniffling as she does so.
The Hunter turns as the door opens, raising his head to sniff. He stiffens and lets out a low unsure sound.
When she manages to get the door open enough, she slips inside, letting the door close on its own, her back turned to the room.
He sniffs a little more and then starts to stalk forwards, a low growl starting in his chest. He recognizes the figure, the little prey. The smell is that of a young female and he pauses some. He doesn't particularly care to hurt pups.
The little girl finally turns and gasps, her tear-streaked face filling with fear at the sight of a Hunter. She trembles but fists her little hands and puffs up, trying to look as tough as she can. "I'm not afraid of you," she says in her growliest voice and failing awfully.
The Hunter cocks his head and stalks closer to her, sniffing up and down and turning in a circle around her. He keeps up a low steady growl, unable to help the twitch at the corners of his mouth. She's acting awful brave for such a tiny prey. The little girl's eyes widen but she clenches her hands tighter and remains standing. Her Daddy was an Army man and he'd want her to be brave like him. Finally, the Hunter comes to rest in front of her, sitting down with his hands between his feet and knees drawn up as he leans towards her. When he sniffs at the little green doll clutched in her arms, she yanks it back against her chest, looking down slightly, "That's my frog."
He jerks his head back, studying her for a long, long moment. The little girl fidgets slightly under his scrutinization and then cries out in fright and surprise when he snaps forward, grabbing her by the back of her shirt. He buries his teeth in the cloth and turns, waddle-crawling her further into the pit. She clings tightly to her frog as she's dragged into the Hunter's pit, sniffling when he monster drops her by a crate. He sits down behind her though, petting through her hair and then he licks her! She wrinkles her nose in distaste but he continues, moving her this way and that.
She's a young female, a pup. He-he can't eat that. Too small and stringy, he justifies to himself as he "cleans" her. Not enough muscle to tear into. He ruffles through her hair and then yawns, laying down and throwing his arm around her as he huffs. She stays very still before turning to him slightly. He's acting like a-like a big doggy! She wiggles a little and then clears her throat. "S'cuse me," she nearly whispers, "Mister monster?"
He lifts his head slightly, as though addressing her and his nose twitching. "Are you gonna eat me?" She asks, her eyes wide. He blinks at her slowly, raising an eyebrow before he smacks his lips and turns his head away, snorting. The little girl frowns. She doesn't know what that's supposed to mean. She's quiet for a little while though before saying quietly and rather matter-of-factly, "I'm Hannah." He looks at her from the corner of his blind eye, his nostrils flaring some. He manages to find a piece of her hair and starts to chew on it, absently in thought. She can't help giggling a little before she stops. She doesn't even want to look happy right then so she stubbornly frowns and sniffles again.
He turns his head more, looking at her speculatively and tugs on her hair some, sitting up to nudge her. "Ow," Hannah complains when he pulls a little too hard. "Stop that! You're going to rip it out and then I'm going to go bald." She looks back up at the monster with a pout and he only grunts in return, tilting his head the other way. He rolls onto his back and swats half-heartedly at her hand, trying to provoke her and careful of his claws. She jerks her hand away but then smiles lightly and smacks the back of his hand. He snorts, rolling into a sitting position and rocking a little. Hannah imitates him, giggling slightly.
The Hunter abruptly leans over, grabbing her by the back of her shirt and picking her up, waddling some when he has to walk over her and then leaps onto the top of his Hunterhouse. He straddles it and then sits her between his legs and begins, once again, to groom at her hair. The little girl giggles when he sniffs at her, pushing his face away, "You have a name, don't you?" He seems to ignore her, yawning again and flashing all of those dangerous, mutated teeth before resting his chin on top of her head. She frowns slightly at being ignored but then wiggles around until she's facing the 'monster'. She smiles up at him, enjoying his body heat. "This is my frog," she says, holding up the toy as though to introduce him, "He can hop, like this." She mimics a hopping motion with the frog, making rather loud ribbiting sounds to go along with it.
He watches her for a moment and then sits up, gathering his legs underneath himself and "hopping" off of the house, landing roughly and turning back to her, "Rrrrgh?" She's clapping, her eyes wide in delight as she laughs happily at his antics. He cocks his head in return, narrowing his eyes at the strange reaction before shifting back. He awkwardly stands, hunched and bowlegged and then drapes himself over the Hunterhouse, looking at her from under his hood with a curious sound. "Do it again!" Hannah enthuses, bouncing on her butt, "Like a froggy!" She's like an excited pup.
Something in his chest hurts and he absently rubs it before picking her up, holding her with one arm and then swinging her onto his back, making sure she gets a good grip on his hoodie. Her little hands fist in his jacket, confused. What is he…? He tenses, looping an arm behind himself to support her weight and then leaps, springing across the small environment. His claws scrape the walls and propels himself off of walls, flipping and rolling in the air. At first, the little girl screams but then squeals in delight, clinging tighter to him. "I'm flyin'!" she crows, clenching his jacket tighter and pressing her face to the Hunter's neck.
He can't help grinning as he leaps around the pit, for her sake. When he finally does come to a stop, he's panting and he glances back at her when she wiggles. She lets out a soft sound of distress, "Uh-oh…" He turns some, frowning at her and giving a short inquisitive bark. He lets her down onto the gently padded floor and turns her around, inspecting for injury. She clenches at the hem of her shirt, doing a little 'dance' and pouting, "I have to peeee!" She darts for the door, straining to reach the handle and then pulling hard. He trots after her as she struggles with the door. She squeezes her knees together, frowning at him, "No! You stay here!" She finally manages to get the heavy door open enough to slip through and he catches the door with a clawed hand, rumbling deeply and following after her.
His lip curls at the smell of Others, strange Others he doesn't know. He can scent the red-haired Female and Little Female too though and he sees her darting down the hall. He frowns a little with worry but sits down, trying to inspect this new emotion. It doesn't make sense. He had been content to hunt and kill outside the walls of this compound but now…now he's …he's caring about things.
Something pangs in his chest again and he clutches at it, looking down with confusion before he hears Little Female's rapid footsteps and he follows after her. His claws tick against the floor and he can hear Survivors working beyond entrances. He snarls at each one, baring his teeth, daring them to come out and face him but none take him up on the offer. He turns down a hall, following Little Female's scent and pauses. Red-Haired Female's faint scent has grown stronger and his interest piques. The doors are closed and all he can hear from most are the sounds of even breathing. Sleeping Survivors. Easy prey.
Red-Haired Female will scold him though…if he does something. He gnashes his teeth, outraged that he would even care but continues down the hall, until he hits a door where he can hear water running and he frowns, sitting down again. He's not sure what to do and after a long moment, he lets out a loud croon, trying to call Little Female out. There's a faint muttering from the room to his right but otherwise all is silent. Down the hall though, behind him, a door cracks open and someone peeks out. Angelica cringes to see THE HUNTER SITTING IN HER HALLWAY. Clad in her tank top and pajama pants, she's not quite ready to go out but he is going to draw attention to himself and get put down!
She dodges out of the room, "How the hell did you get out?!" She's whisper-shouting and looking in every direction when he seems to perk up at seeing her. He turns and gives a happy sound, standing and wrapping his arms around, giving soft happy croons. "Shh, shhh!" Angelica tries to silence him, but she knows its not going to do any good. She frowns deeply, finally trying to tug the Hunter down and back up. "Come on, come on," she hisses, her eyes darting around warily. He remains where he is, tugging back on her until he frowns. She's panicking for some reason. Danger?
He backs her into a wall, framing her with his arms and growling lowly as he looks up and down the hall but doesn't readily see a threat. Angelica scowls at him but goes still when a flushing sound rings out and a moment later, Hannah exits the bathroom. Angelica gasps, locking onto the kid with near-horror on her face. "NO!" she shouts when he grins and barrels right into the little girl, swooping her up and tearing out her insi-Ok, no he's not doing that. She freezes in her tracks as the Hunter presses his face into the little girl's hair and sniffs her. "Hey," the little girl protests, looking up at him, "I thought I told you to wait there."
He huffs, making a soft murmuring sound at her before turning to look at Angelica with an arched brow. He sits down in the hallway with Hannah in his lap, rearranging her hair once more. Angelica's mouth simply hangs open for a long moment, speechless. Just when she's beginning to regain her voice, a door is heard opening some distance away and Angelica's eyes widen. "Shit!" she hisses. In desperation, she pats on her thigh, now backing up towards her room. "Come on, come on," she whispers. The Hunter only blinks at her, holding the little girl in his lap as he frowns some.
Hannah giggles, not quite realizing that anything is wrong. Angelica nearly groans, "Oh for the love of-" She hurries forward, giving a firm tug on the Hunter's arm. "Come ON," she pleads. He grunts but swings Hannah onto his back, following after Angelica with grumpy mumbling. Angelica nearly sighs in relief, backing into her doorway as the footsteps get closer. Her heart is racing in her chest as she tries to lure him in. The moment he gets near her door though, he's darting in, sniffing at everything. They discover the bed and he crawls onto it, his eyes going wide and what's left of his pupils huge as he buries his nose against her covers. Angelica closes the door and leans against it, letting out a relieved groan as she slides down against it.
She suspects he might be drooling on her covers.
After a few minutes, Angelica looks up at the two of them, pushing back some stray locks of hair, "I know you…what's your name?" Hannah blinks. "Hannah Corbin," she answers simply, wrapping both herself and her frog up in a blanket. The Hunter glances at Hannah and shifts closer, earning him a quickly "No-" from Angelica. She's still not entirely sure that he won't decide to just snack on the little girl. Hannah merely giggles, not quite realizing the danger she's in as she bounces slightly on the bed. Angelica stands and begins pacing around the room, covering her hand with her face. The Hunter watches her, only his eyes moving as he keeps his nose buried in her bedsheets. It's a little unnerving, his obsession with her bedding but she ignores it, "I-I've got to call security. Or something."
She finally walks to the bed, picking Hannah up and the Hunter stiffens some, raising himself up and a hard look painted on his face. His gaze darts between Little Female and Red-Haired Female. He's not really sure what he can do if Red-Haired decides to hurt Little Female. Maybe he can subdue her somehow. "Put me down! I was playing," Hannah whines, stretching her arms towards the Hunter and trying to wiggle out of Angelica's grip. The woman sighs deeply, "You really shouldn't be here. Isn't there somewhere else you're supposed to-" She cuts herself off. Oh. Right. Hannah goes still though, knowing what she was going to say and blinks sadly. Angelica sets her down and frowns some as the little girl looks at her shoes and scuffs them against the floor. "So…I gotta leave?" she asks quietly.
The Hunter is off of the bed, sniffing over Hannah worriedly and then tugging her to himself. Hannah wraps her hands in his jacket, clinging tightly to him and starting to sniffle. Angelica closes her eyes. Great, so the Hunter seems to have attached himself to the little girl or something. She takes a deep breath in and out, "Let me…just let me think about it." Hannah lets out an unintelligible mumble, pressing her face into the Hunter's hoodie. She can't help feeling a sharp pang at that and then glances around the room. "You like movies?" she weakly offers.
Hannah finally looks up enough to nod slowly. The Hunter glances down at Little Female, petting her hair back and whining as he wraps his arm around her. He hugs her, rocking some as he rolls his eyes accusingly up at Angelica. "Don't look at me like that," Angelica mutters, more self-consciously than she should. She sighs, cutting across the room to her TV. "Alright then," she sighs, flicking on the TV, "We'll watch a movie." She hits play on her DVD player, and after a moment, the BBC theme and logo spring to life on the screen.
The Hunter tilts his head in curiousity, keeping an arm belted around Hannah and waddling over to it. He sniffs curiously before sitting down with Hannah in his lap. Angelica can't help her mouth turning up a fraction as the menu comes up, panning out over a rainforest landscape. "Oh this is going to freak you out," she hits play and Hannah looks up and gasps, her sadness immediately forgotten. "Is this the one with the frogs?" she asks excitedly. Angelica's brows shoot up in surprise but she smiles a bit more, "Uh-huh."
A long silence stretches between them as the Hunter manages to pull his hoodie open, showing a long expanse of muscle and Angelica flushes slightly before he maneuvers the little girl into his hoodie and then pulls it closed, setting his chin on top of her head. She blinks in confusion at the sight before her, "What are you-" She's starting to turn pink in the face, covering her hand with her mouth. What the hell?! He's like a mother possum or something! Hannah snuggles in closer to the outrageous body heat and stares up at the movie, attempting to clap her hands but failing given her current position, "Yay!"
The Hunter blinks down at her and Angelica finds her lips parting a little at the gentle expression on his face before he looks up at the screen and looks completely shocked. He sits up, keeping his hoodie together with one hand so that Hannah doesn't fall out and then pawing at the screen, growling lowly. A bird squawks on the screen, as if in offense and then an entire flock takes off, making him jump back in surprise. "Silly," Hannah giggles as the Hunter backs up and then looks up at Angelica for guidance, whining softly. Angelica chuckles at him, "They're not real." She tries I vain to explain to him, "See? There's nothing there. You're just supposed to watch it."
After a moment, she sits down on the edge of her bed, trying to figure out what to do. The little girl and Hunter continue to watch the TV, the girl occasionally trying to imitate the animals on screen. Angelica snorts some, her serious moment interrupted when Hannah attempts to flap her arms inside the hoodie. The Hunter glances down at himself and blinks in confusion. His brows shoot up and he lets out a strangled shriek, reaching down to hold his hoodie still. Hannah squirms against his hold, "I'm gonna fly away!" Angelica bends over with laughter at the distraught look on his face as he hugs Hannah tightly to prevent her from "flying away".
"What? Did I do something bad?" she asks, looking up at him and he only whines softly, sniffing at her. He wraps his arms around her, sighing some and settling his chin on her head again. After calm settles over them, Angelica sits up, wiping at her eyes. Oh jeez, she doesn't know if she can call security on the poor guy. She watches him for a moment longer and then makes a decision. He can stay. For the night. But that's all. Hannah yawns after a little while, nestling in deeper against the Hunter and staring at the TV. Angelica stands again and stretches, "Well, I can see you two are preoccupied." She needs a shower and then she can think about what to do in the morning.
As she gathers her clothes and heads for the bathroom, she hears Hannah getting excited about a frog on the screen. She smiles lightly, shaking her head some. Well…everything was already pretty damn unusual. Might as well add letting a Hunter spend the night. On the screen, the life of a frog goes by and the Hunter shifts Hannah out of his hoodie, gathering up the blankets from the bed and wrapping them around her. He settles the frog next to Hannah, who is far too sleepy to protest as the Hunter scuttles off to investigate where Angelica's disappeared to.
His hoodie gapes open as he slips into the bathroom, where the water is already running and Angelica is humming softly to herself. The white rooms aren't…terrible. He manages to slip his head between the shower curtain and the wall, peering in and making a low curious sound. Angelica turns, sees his jaw dropping and lets out a shriek, scrambling and slipping on the wet floor of the shower while trying to cover herself up. She falls to the floor, striking her leg quite hard. "OW!" She looks up, her expression screwed up in pain and surprise, "Out!" She gasps when she realizes she's uncovered herself and at the same time, Hannah begins crying rather loudly. The Hunter looks in distress between the two females. He moves quickly, snatching her leg but seeing no immediate injury and then releasing her only to spring into the bedroom, swooping Hanna h up and sniffing her over. She's not injured but he growls lowly at the distress they're causing him. Hanna points at the screen where a leopard has killed a monkey and is now messily eating it, sobbing as she does so.
He snarls, turning to the box and setting her down as he smacks it off of its shelf. He shrieks when it keeps playing and then slams a clawed hand into it, grabbing a handful of wires and yanking. He yelps in shock when he's burnt and yanks his hand back, hissing at the pain. Hannah's cries escalate at his killing of the TV and he picks her up, crooning softly. Angelica limps out of the bathroom and then groans, "My TV!" He whines again, hugging Hannah tightly and then pulling her into his hoodie and sitting down, rocking her slightly, trying to calm her. He looks up at Angelica in panic who looks far from amused.
Hannah does settle down though, dissolving into sniffles. She sighs in exasperation, shaking her head and rubbing her temple. She's starting to get a headache from all this insanity. His hand tingles painfully and he licks at it as Hannah settles against him, hiccupping. She'd been nearly asleep and now, next to his warmth, she's starting to fall asleep again. Angelica looks at the two of them and sighs, kneeling down, "Let me see your hand." Her expression softens when he whines, obviously intent on inspecting her injuries. She waves him off, "Its fine," and takes his hand, checking for burns. He watches her for a moment and then takes her hand, turning it over in his and rubbing his jaw across her knuckles.
Hannah is sound asleep against his chest now and Angelica blinks, "What?" She tugs on her hand, trying to pull it away some but he pulls gently, looking down at Hannah and then back up at Angelica, trying to convey some sort of message. He slides his thumb over her hand and then her pulse, drawing a soft mumble and flush from Angelica. He rubs his jaw over her knuckles again and then peers up at her before releasing her and cradling Hannah tightly.
Angelica sighs softly, looking over Hannah's head at his gentle expression and then she tucks some of Hannah's hair out of her face. The Hunter is staring openly at her, occasionally touching her hand or her arm. Angelica makes a shushing motion and carefully lifts Hannah up and out of the Hunter's hoodie, laying her down on the bed. The girl shifts slightly but doesn't wake. Angelica covers her with a blanket, smiling slightly, "There."
The Hunter watches her for a moment and then crawls onto the bed. Hannah shifts, making room but the Hunter drags her back, making room for Angelica near the wall. She hesitates but her leg is aching too badly to object and she crawls over him, "Fine. But don't think too much of it." She's rewarded with his crooked grin and his hand brushing over her arm before he settles down again. Angelica presses her face into a pillow before tilting enough to look up at him. He's again staring at her openly, his eyes slightly hooded and he's starting to purr, a chest-deep sound that Angelica finds herself relaxing to.
She's vaguely aware of him wrapping his arms around both her and Hannah but is already too far gone in sleep to tell him no. He smiles after another long moment, watching the both of them sleeping before he settles, yawning widely. He brushes his knuckles over Angelica's cheek, feeling a little lost that she doesn't seem to return his feelings before he feels himself falling asleep along with her.
A/N: Awwww….lookit that sweet moment! ;A; I'm gonna have to draw this…some time. You folks better leave me some reviews! Good, bad, just give me some constructive criticism! And as always, the lovely and charming Angelica Pavlov (Blue-ball-giver-extraordinaire) is TVirusRose's creation, along with Hannah Corbin, the cutest wittle Hunter-wuvver ever!
XD GIVE ME LOVE PEOPLE I NEED IT