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 Ten: Confrontation
Angelica rolls over with a soft groan, curling into the odd warmth next to her. It takes her quite a few minutes to realize that anything is off and when she finally opens her eyes, she draws in a sharp gasp. How did she get over here? SHE FELL ASLEEP. How is she going to explain a missing Hunter IN HER ROOM and she FELL ASLEEP with him! These thoughts still spinning in her head, along with wondering how Hannah got on her other side all come to a halt when there's a sharp knocking at her door, "Dr. Pavlov?" Her face pales and she manages to get out in a quavering voice, "W-what is it?" "You have a visitor," the guard announces from the other side of the door. "Crap," she hisses to herself. What the hell is she going to do? A desperate idea occurs to her and her eyes shoot to the vent just under the ceiling on her wall. "Just a bit," she calls out nervously, "I-I have to get dressed!" She nudges the Hunter's arm, "Get up, get up," she hisses at him.
He only groans some, blinking sleepily and yawning as he stretches. Angelica frantically points at the vent, "You have to HIDE! Hide, alright? If they see you, they are going to shoot you. BAM. Dead, got it?" she whispers at him and he grunts, sitting up and looking around. He stretches again, taking far too much time. Hannah continues dozing, undeterred by their commotion. "Dr. Pavlov?" the guard's voice rings out, "Are you alright in there?" "Yes, yes," Angelica laughs nervously, "I was just in the bathroom is all. Give me-give me just a minute!" As she speaks, she's frantically pointing upward at the vent, trying to convey the message. He blinks at her, eyes darting between her, the door, and the vent. His back starts to arch and a low growl starts to rumble through him as he bares his teeth, directing it towards the door. Angelica smacks a hand over his mouth and he looks at her, startled out of his growl as she hisses, "No."
He scowls at her and she fixes him with a pleading look, trying to be as convincing as possible, "Please." He backs up some but, after staring at her for a few moments, grumpily lets her hands guide him. She slides off of the bed with him, pointing at the vent and he grumbles as she lifts the grate and he manages to climb in. As she shuts the grate, she notices the particularly evil look on his face. Unconcerned for the moment, she rushes to the door, giving herself a quick pat down and opening the door, "Can I-" She falls silent. Standing in the doorway is the Survivor from earlier. He's lanky with pale, pale blonde hair, roughly her own age and surveying her without all that much interest.
Angelica stands there for a moment before he speaks first, "Angelica." She bites at her lower lip, then adjusts her tone to be as stony as his is, "Its Dr. Pavlov now, Joel." He smirks dryly and the expression barely registers on his cold face, "Well then, I suppose that I would be Dr. Lancaster then." He stands there, as though expecting to be invited in. The Hunter is quiet in the vent, instincts taking over as he hunches down, listening. Eventually, Angelica unwilling moves slightly to the side, allowing Joel to enter and then closes the door behind her. He glances around the room before his gaze rests on Hannah. He looks a little disapproving but again, the expression barely registers on his face. His tone is condescending as he looks down at the slumbering little girl, "I see that you decided to keep it." Her mouth drops for a moment in near-horror but she quickly composes herself. "No," she gets out, "I-I terminated the pregnancy. Her father was one of the men who was sent on the recon mission that evac'ed you. I'm not sure if you remember Officer Corbin?" she says it almost accusingly and Joel simply shrugs a bit, glancing at the destruction of her TV, "I can't say that I do."
Slowly, the scent of another male is coming to him and his pupils restrict to tiny pinpoints. Joel looks up sharply at the noise, "What was that?" Angelica is quick to cover it, her eyes widening, "The sound carries through the vents. We've been working quite a bit with the Infected, if you haven't already been told." He nods slightly, seeming to accept the explanation. "You don't look too happy to see me."
Her lip curls slightly, unable to control it, "I suppose I didn't wish you were dead." Hannah stirs slightly at the noise with a slight, "Mmm?"
The Hunter is arguing internally with himself. His instincts demand that he protect HIS females, that he fight the other male and demolish him! But the tiny bit of rationality Angelica's brought out in him tells him that the Female hid him for a reason? The other male is stronger? NO! His thoughts get more erratic and his fit louder as the argument continues.
"So then, Dr. Lancaster," Angelica spits out, trying to cover the slight noises the Hunter is making, "What brings you here, anyways?" She's half-expecting some sort of half-assed apology. Joel just turns casually. "Curiosity," he explains, "I was curious as to whether it was actually you here. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised. I'm glad, though. I suppose the involvement warrants that." "Involvement?!" Angelica nearly shrieks, fury overtaking her as she pushes him, "You used me and wouldn't speak to me again when I was having your baby!" Hannah cries out in fright, now fully awake and cringing back into the corner of the bed. Joel waves it off, hardly batting an eyelash, "You're being childish. We're both rational, scientific profession-" "GET OUT!" She shrieks, shoving at his chest to get him to leave as tears well over in her eyes.
She had thought she loved him at one point.
The Hunter's screech rings out as the grate flies across the room and he leaps out at the offending male. His hands wrap around the other male's neck instead of sinking into his ribs as he snarls furiously. Angelica gasps in horror and staggers back as Joel's eyes widen in shock but he doesn't really seem terribly surprised. Hannah's sobbing grows into a shriek and she pulls the blanket up over her eyes, clinging to her frog as though her life depends on it. The Hunter jerks in surprise at the child's shriek, whipping his head around with a snarl. He still has his hands around Joel's neck but his expression softens at the sight of his frightened females. They're scared of him.
He gnashes his teeth, arguing with himself again before turning a furious glare on the male, squeezing slightly and shrieking in his face but releases him, dropping into a crouch and backing himself up against Angelica's legs. His bare chest is heaving and he digs his claws into his own palms, attempting to fight the instincts screaming at him. He gives wildly hateful glares at the other male, baring his teeth and snarling, arms spreading with aggression. Joel gasps for air, stumbling back and a hand covering his throat as he fights to recover himself. Finally, in a hoarse croak, he gets out, "You've been keeping secrets, haven't you, Angelica?" She just glares back, pointedly kneeling and wrapping an arm around the Hunter's shoulder as if to support herself. "Get out," she hisses again.
The Hunter snarls, as if for emphasis, tensing up and swiping his claws through the air threateningly. He turns his head some, facing into Angelica though that evil glare remains fixed on Joel. He keeps his teeth bared, putting himself between the females and the strange male. Joel finally seems to wise up, stumbling to his feet and managing to get the door open but pauses to stare back at the odd scene for a long moment, "Goodbye Dr. Pavlov." He closes them in and Angelica blinks, in a relative amount of shock as Hannah continues to hide under the blanket.
The Hunter is still tense, trembling with rage and he retreats to a corner of the room, knocking Angelica's arm from around him. He snarls and growls as he faces into the corner, wrapping his arms around himself and digging his claws into his own arms as he fights for control. Very slowly, angelica makes her way to her feet, approaching one step at a time with one arm out slightly, "Are you…?" He turns slightly, fixing her with a dirty yellow gaze and letting out a slow, careful rumble. He lets out a deep breath and then rubs into her leg before walking past her and jumping onto the bed, gathering the Little Female into his arms.
Hannah sniffles slightly, her eyes wide but she hesitantly clings back, tucking her head under his chin. Angelica lets out a deep sigh and sits on the bed behind them both. She eventually leans again the Hunter's back, still shaking from the confrontation, "That was…very good of you." He turns slightly, nuzzling at her hair and checking the both of them over. He laps at Angelica's wet cheeks, giving a soft comforting sound and nuzzles the top of Hannah's head. Angelica turns slightly and stares at the door with a shuddery sigh. Any moment now, the guards are likely to come in and she's going to have to offer some kind of explanation.
As the sound of booted footsteps approach, the Hunter gives Hannah a brief squeeze and purposely hands her off to Angelica. The girl gives a small sound as Angelica shakes her head, setting her down, "Don't…" She stands in front of the door, confronting the Hunter with a frown. Eventually, a knock sounds and a Guard's voice rings out, "Dr. Pavlov." He sounds worried and Angelica sighs slightly as she opens the door a crack, remaining between the door and the growling Hunter. "We heard there was-" she waves a hand dismissively, but does throw a worried glance back, "The issue has been resolved. As for my subject, he's been safely confined in here the entire time.
The Hunter is glaring heatedly at the other males, his hands travelling possessively to her hips but he doesn't try to move her, for fear of hurting her. He does lean over her though, baring his teeth and the guards automatically raise their weapons, and for a moment, Angelica panics. She looks between the Hunter hovering over her and the Guards with their raised weapons, "They're not going to hurt anything." She sighs some, "Just, just tag him and get him back. I'm going to discuss this with Dr. Katz later."
The Guard shakes his head disbelievingly but raises his weapon, "What have you been doing, Doc?" The Hunter snarls at the sign of weapons, yanking her back by her hips and then tucking her behind himself, leaning forward and making it very clear that he will attack. "No," she scolds, trying to push her way in front of him. For a moment, he struggles with her, clearly confused about why she insists on putting herself in danger. Angelica makes a gesturing motion with one hand behind her back and one of the Guards tosses a tranquilizer into her waiting fingers. "I'm sorry about this," she mutters and then quickly slides the needle of the syringe into the Hunter's shoulder, depressing the plunger.
He jerks in surprise, looking down at his arm and then at her in confusion. He gives a soft whine and stumbles back before crumpling at her feet. He struggles for a minute, flailing and half-glaring at her, feeling betrayed. She frowns with guilt as he struggles on the floor and then frowns a little deeper. The tranquilizer isn't working nearly as well as it should be. Soon enough though, he's mostly out. Angelica sighs and reaches a hand out to the sniffling Hannah who glares at her, "NO!" "Hannah," she says softly. "NO!"
"NO!"
Its been several hours now and that's all Angelica can get out of Hannah.
"Hannah, do you want to talk about-" "No!"
"Do you want me to fix you something to eat?" "NO!"
"How about I get you something to play with?" "NOOO!"
The girl huffs and buries her face against Angelica's bed. Angelica sighs, shaking her head and trying to think of some way to placate the kid. Finally, she asks, "Do you want to go see him?" "N-" Hannah starts up, then looks up and nods with a sniffle. "Yes." Angelica sighs, gathering the girl up in her arms, "Up you go then."
The Hunter is awake in his pit, searching under and around everything and calling for his females with a loud howl. Damned survivors… they turned one female against him and TOOK his young. He starts a little at his own thoughts but then shakes his head, determined to find them. He looks around, feeling an odd new weight on his neck but he doesn't pay it any mind, too intent on getting the two females back. Oh and when he got hold of HIS female... oh she would learn a lesson.
Hannah is still pouting from her perch on Angelica's shoulders as she walks down the hall. "You shouldn't have done that, ma'am," she states oddly solemnly, "Being sneaky isn't nice." Angelica sighs deeply. "I had to do that, Hannah," she explains, "They would've hurt him if I didn't." Hannah just grumbles and presses into her shoulder. As they reach the door leading to the pit's catwalk, a Guard stops them, "Are you honestly taking a child in there, Doc?" Angelica keeps her expression composed. "She'll be perfectly safe. Its not as though he can reach this level." The guard shrugs after a moment, looking between Hannah and Angelica, "Well, this is for you." He passes off the remote to the shock collar. Angelica only nods, tucking it into her coat pocket, "Thank you sir."
The Hunter appears to have a permanent snarl on his face and he's pacing back and forth when they enter. His shoulders roll and he looks up furiously at the catwalk. Not only have they put something round his neck, but they've taken his coverings again. He snarls, swiping his claws over a wall and his wild gaze darting around. Oh, oh he was going to make her pay for betraying him.
Angelica walks onto the catwalk and sighs, letting Hannah down and heading for her usual chair. Hannah gasps and runs for the edge of the catwalk, laying down on her stomach to look down at him. "Still not happy with me?" Angelica asks, sitting down and wheeling herself to the guardrail. He whips his head around, pinning her with that heated gaze before he turns to look at Hannah a little softer. Angelica sighs some while Hannah waves her fingers, "Hi."
"Alright look, I'm sorry, ok? I wasn't about to let you get yourself killed."
He turns to glare fiercely at Angelica again, letting out a snarl, making it clear he intends to show her who's boss. He jerks at the collar around his neck and then paces madly, occasionally glancing back up at them. Hannah gets a soft reassuring look and Angelica gets an icy glare of fury. The young girl blinks at Angelica, "I think he's gone crazy." She wrinkles her nose a little, looking back down at him, "Probably 'cause he thinks you're gonna stick him full of needles." Angelica squirms in her seat. Great, so she's being judged by a Hunter and a toddler.
The Hunter pauses and then slowly turns, fixing Angelica with a positively evil look as his mouth turns up in a parody of a grin. Angelica's expression drops, "Oh no, you wouldn't…" He lets out a deep growl, rolling his shoulders and then backing up against the wall beneath them. He takes a running start, leaping towards the wall and hitting it dead-center. He twists, pushing off of the wall with all of his strength and just barely managing to grasp the edge of the catwalk with his claws. They scrape loudly over the metal before catching on the edge and he pulls himself up, shaking some before settling down.
Hannah's eyes widen in shock but Angelica gasps, standing up out of her chair, nearly tipping it back and her hand diving into her pocket, "Don't you dare…" He does not look happy. He growls lowly, keeping her fixed with that evil look and stalking towards them slowly. He takes a moment to check Hannah, sniffing her over and stroking her head before huffing in approval and turning back to His Female. He pauses, eyeing her hand warily and growling lowly. Its in her coverings, hiding what she has…
Angelica slowly removes her hand from her pocket, trying not to look threatening. Her hands shake slightly. "Alright," she tries to assure, "Nothing, see?" Hannah watches on warily, one of the hands of her frog toy in her mouth. He turns slowly, purposefully and makes Hannah turn around and sit down. He pats her head and then turns back to Angelica. He's deadly still before he leaps at her, knocking her to the ground. He pins her, snarling in her face and trying to get his point across while she cries out, trying to reach into her pocket. Hannah turns at the yelling in time to see that Angelica is being pinned. "Hey!" she shouts, "Don't you hurt her! That's bad!"
The Hunter leans his face in close to Angelica, ignoring Hannah as he growls lowly, narrowing his eyes. He sniffs for a moment before backing up and turning his back on her. Angelica remains there on her back, breathing quickly. Hannah watches carefully, planning to throw her frog should the Hunter decide to hurt the Doctor. The Hunter sits down in front of Hannah, grumbling and obviously quite a bit more grumpy than before the whole ordeal. Hannah eyes Angelica and then looks back at him, "Is it because she stuck you with a needle?" He grunts some, watching as she picks up his hand and then gives a heavy sigh. He offers a quick hurt glare over his shoulder and then whips back to look at Hannah instead. Hannah takes that as a yes and sticks her tongue out at Angelica.
Angelica sits up and blinks, giving a weak little, "Hey…" He lays his head on Hannah's leg, sighing heavily. He's been hurt, betrayed, and another male intruded on his territory and made His Female upset. He defended her without spilling a drop of blood, even though he had really wanted to! And she had stuck him with a needle! Hannah huffs, petting his head, "See, look, you made him sad!" She frowns at Angelica, "He's giving you the cold shoulder." Angelica sighs and sits up, leaning forward, "I know." She groans, "What now?" He closes his eyes with a huff, blearily looking through his lids at them. With his anger subsiding, he's groggy from the tranquilizer. He turns over so his back is to Angelica and her shoulders sag, "Hey…I'm sorry. That's about as much as I can do. Look though, you behave and there might be a surprise for you later, alright?" Hannah blinks, looking up at her with confusion, "What, is it his birthday?" The corners of Angelica's lips twitch in a semi-smile at that, "Well, no…Actually, we don't know. For all we know, it could be. But that's not it."
He eventually falls into a doze and Hannah leans into his side, looking at his face worriedly then back up at Angelica, "Is he ok?" Angelica nods, assuring her, "He is. He's just sleepy." Hannah pauses some and then stuffs her frog into his arms. He opens his eyes slightly and looks at it before yawning and curling up tighter around the toy frog. Angelica smiles lightly at the little girl's behavior, "Where'd you learn to be so nice?" Hannah looks down at the question, muttering softly, "My daddy."
Sensing the change in mood, the Hunter lifts his head and then sits up. He yawns and places the frog in her arms and then opens his own arms to her. Hannah sniffles and moves into his arms, burying herself against the Hunter's warm chest. "He just got home," she abruptly lets out, "He wasn't supposed go out and fight again! He said-he said he was going to be home with me and mommy from now on, he promised!" Angelica lets out a soft little, "Oh…" and her fingers lightly graze Hannah's back. She's more intent on clinging to the Hunter though and looks up almost pleadingly through a haze of tears , "He promised!"
The Hunter looks down at her with an odd look before his expression turns fierce and he hugs her tightly to his chest, pressing his face into her hair with a low, deep rumble. Hannah continues to cry into his chest and Angelica looks at him oddly. "You're…you're an odd one, aren't you," she murmurs, her tone almost tender. He cradles and rocks Hannah, unsure what's made her so upset but distressed about it. He strokes her hair, gently untangling his claws when they get stuck and looking up at Angelica for help, his anger forgotten.
Angelica lets out a long sigh, edging a bit closer and rubbing Hannah's shoulder with one hand. "Someone's had a long couple of days," she says, mostly to the little girl. Hannah is shuddering and just tired but she mumbles unintelligibly in response. The Hunter gathers Hannah up and he goes to reach for his hoodie but its not there. He whines, having to settle for holding Hannah close in his lap as he sighs.
Hannah's sniffling has trickled to a stop and she dozes lightly. Angelica edges even closer, eventually to the point she can feel his body heat and she finds herself flushing again as she looks up at him. "There's someone I've got to talk to," she mutters awkwardly, still not quite over the habit of speaking like that to him. He studies her back, leaning close to her and she flushes further and ducks her head, shaking Hannah's arm gently, "Hannah, I think I might know what will cheer you up. Do you want to come with me and help me get something ready?" Hannah tucks her face in closer to the Hunter, "Like what?" Angelica puts on a chipper tone, trying to get her excited, "It's a…surprise." Hannah brightens a little, sitting up and facing the Hunter who wipes his palms gently over her face, "Well…I guess…"
He glances between them and makes small frantic sounds, realizing they're about to leave him again. Hannah frowns and tucks her frog into his arms again, "There. Now I have to come back 'cause my frog's here." He looks at the frog and picks it up, his eyes widening a little further with panic. He hugs the little frog and then reaches out, grabbing Angelica's butt pocket and refusing to let go. Angelica unintentionally keeps walking, unaware at first, until there's a tug on her pants and a sharp riiiiip. She freezes for a second in complete surprise and then Hannah begins giggling, "Ma'am, I can see part of your butt!"
"Oh god why," Angelica groans slightly, hurrying to be out the door now that there's apparently a decent-sized hole in the back of her scrub pants. Hannah turns backwards, still giggling at Angelica.
"Don't worry, we'll be back!" she manages as Angelica rushes her out the door. He blinks at the sight of bare skin and lets out a small growl before he sits back some. He holds the fabric he got and then looks at the little frog before eyeing that small purchase of skin. He stuffs the fabric and the arm of Hannah's toy in his mouth and launches himself back into the pit, landing with a roll of muscles and a grunt before trotting to his Hunterhouse and stuffing them under a few ratty old blankets, alongside the rabbit pelt.
Angelica hurries out the door, trying to cover the ripped side of her pants.