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 Sixteen: Realization

Angelica slowly eases herself onto the bed, led by the woman's hand, "Here, sit yourself down girl." The Hunter paces back and forth, his shadow moving in the little slit under the bathroom door. Angelica can hear something clattering to the floor and his yelp of surprise before he resumes his angry pacing. "My name is Brittany and that Hunter in there, his name is Scott," she finally states, settling onto the corner of Angelica's gnawed and scratched desk.

"Scott...?"

Brittany nods in affirmation, crossing one leg over the other, "That's right. And, frankly, you look just like Karen, his wife." Finally, Angelica clears her throat with a soft sound, reminding herself of her supposed professional demeanor, "I see."

"She died two years ago, in a car crash. He had a little girl, about five or six, like your little girl there. The silly man wanted to name the poor child 'Shiela'. Karen was the brain there though..."

Angelica studied the other woman's face with a soft frown, "You knew them?"

"Knew them?" she laughs, "I was Robin's godmother. I've known Scott and Karen since high school. I was the girl Karen had her 'college experience' with, if you get my drift. Scott was always jealous he never got details."

Slowly nodding, Angelica took a deep breath, her mind spinning and reeling with too many questions to pin down. She leans forward, cupping her forehead with one hand, "Can you...Can you tell me more about him? Where is his daughter? What was he like?"

Brittany bit at the corner of her mouth before sighing, "Robin didn't make it. He came to my apartment, to get me when the world went to Hell...

A sharp knock on her door sent Brittany running. Her bag was packed and she flung the door open, shocked when Scott dragged her out of the door and down the hall. He had Robin under his arm, running at a fast jog so that her blonde curls bounced and rolled as she sobbed, "Daddy! Let me walk!"

He shook his head defiantly, "We've got to move and fast, baby girl. You're fine right there." Scott's hold on Brittany's wrist was painful but she could sense the urgency in his movements as he dragged her down the hall, past a milling crowd of people trying to get into the same elevator. He ran towards the emergency exit instead, lifting Robin onto his shoulders instead. People were bustling, shouting and screaming and Brittany turned to see a woman screaming insanely, running down the hall in nothing but her underwear. Her nails had grown out to a ridiculous length...it was with white hot shock that Brittany realized they weren't nails. They were talons.

"Scott!" he turned sharply when she screamed, his eyes flying wide before he squared his shoulders and bulldozed through the crowd, dragging her after him, "Keep your head down, Brittany!" "Daddy, what's that lady doing?" Robin screamed from on his shoulders.

"Don't look baby! Look ahead of us, tell me if you see anything!"

The little girl's gaze was fixed on the carnage though. He started jogging down the stairs quickly, so quickly his feet slipped from underneath him and he slid down a couple of the steps, dragging Brittany with him.

"Scott, what're we going to do once we get outside? Where do we go?!"

"There's military jeeps lining the roads. We just have to crush ourselves onto one!"

She trusted him though and it wasn't long before he had them bursting through the apartment lobby's front doors. There were only two jeeps left on the road and he squared those big shoulders again, lowering his head and holding onto Robin's back as he shoved his way through. Brittany was horrified. There were people on the sidewalks, already dead, obviously trampled. She nearly tripped over a body that Scott seemed to have just ignored. How could he do this? She was about to throw up when he swung her around, shoving at her to try and encourage her onto the jeep.

He let go of her hand...

He let go of her hand to lift Robin off of his shoulders. He was starting to smile with relief when something came sailing off of the side of their apartment building, shrieking inhumanly. It tackled Scott and Karen tried to get off of the jeep as she watched Robin roll along the street. The little girl sat up slowly, sniffling and pushing her curls back, screaming and sobbing, "Daddy?!"

Scott was trying to fight off the creature but it bit him repeatedly, long claws streaking down his chest and shredding his shirt. "DADDY!" Robin shrieked, trying to run towards him when a woman caught her around the waist.

Brittany was dragged back onto the jeep by a man, kicking her legs as she held her arms out for Robin. But the woman who had grabbed Robin turned a strange expression towards the jeep and dread flooded through Brittany. The woman was infected.

"No! There's a little girl right there! ROBIN!"

She watched in horror as Scott managed to launch the creature off of himself and scramble to his feet, tackling the woman and sending Robin to the ground again as the jeep started to pull forward.

Brittany realized she was screaming as she fought against the hands holding her in place. Scott stood over Robin, bleeding profusely and ragged as he tried to fight back the Infected. He clutched at a few of his wounds, howling in pain and dropping to his knees. Robin tried to support him, grabbing his shoulders but was wrenched away by another Infected.

The Infected jerked Robin's head back far enough that the little girl's eyes rolled as she screamed. Blood spurted as the creature bit into her viciously. Scott tried to reach for her, roaring and his voice flexed oddly as he tried to jerk Robin back. Another Infected was on her though and soon it was a hoard.

Even with the growing distance, Brittany saw one of Robin's arms fly free of her body, an arc of blood following the limb. Scott looked horrified but the two were quickly hidden from sight by the hoard and by the distance between them. Brittany's shrieks filled her head until blackness overtook her.

"And that's the last I saw of him, before the other day," Brittany finishes softly. Tears streak her face now and her hands shake in her lap as she rocks herself slightly.

Angelica covers her mouth in horror, her eyes wide and fixed on the door. His daughter was killed so viciously...

Brittany takes a shaky breath, standing, "I'm sorry. Let me just...I gotta go now. I'll...I'll look for you later." Angelica nods in understanding, shooting up and opening her door for the woman, "Yes..Thank you for the...for the information."

Brittany shoots out of the door, half-jogging and holding a hand over her mouth, apparently trying to make it to her tent before she breaks down.

Hannah looks up at Angelica as she closes the door, her eyes wide and she's hugging her stuffed frog with fear on her face, "What was that story?" Angelica jumps some, feeling terrible she hadn't though to stop Brittany, "Oh...oh dear. It was just-don't worry about it, okay? Its not going to happen honey." She takes a moment, petting the girl's head and then sliding her hand down to cup her cheek, "I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

After a quiet, tense moment, Hannah nods, "Okay. Can we let him out now?"

Angelica turned, staring at the door for a long moment before nodding with a small, "Yes." She opens the bathroom door, standing behind it for protection before she peeks into the bathroom. The Hunter-Scott, she has to remind herself-Scott immediately drops the corner of the shower curtain and offers her a guilty expression.

She surveys the destruction of the bathroom before she sags, sliding down against the wall to sit with her legs folded underneath her. He whines softly, attempting to awkwardly put the shower curtain and its rod back in place, unsuccessfully. It immediately falls back down and he jumps back, arching. He glances at her over his shoulder and attempts to stuff most of his mess back into the tub.

She looks up when he sits down next and leans against her with a soft huff, her gaze on something far away. "Scott," she muses, patting his back, "That's your name, isn't it?"

"Like the toilet paper!" Hannah helpfully chimes in and Angelica feels the corner of her mouth tilt up. He cocks his head and presses his cheek to her's, his tongue flicking over her jawline in concern.

Slowly, she eases an arm around his shoulders, tucking her face against the crook of his neck, "That woman told me a little about you." After a pause, she continues, "She told me that you had a wife, and a little girl. You don't...you don't understand me or remember anything, do you?"

His knuckles slide against her cheekbone before he touches her hair, leaning forward to press his mouth to her cheek. He presses soft kisses to her cheek before he turns, scuttling across the room to sniff over Hannah inquisitively. Hannah giggles as Angelica finds her cheeks warming a little.

The little girl giggles, reaching towards him as Angelica fidgets with her fingers, "What about Karen?" She watches the Hunter go completely stiff, his hood turning just slightly towards her and a low rumble leaves him.

Suddenly, he seems like his brethren, a stone still statue poised for attack and Angelica feels her heart clench. Even Hannah pulls her fingers back, her eyes going wide again as she watches the two adults.

"...Karen was your wife."

He half-raises himself, his arms held out slightly in a show of aggression as he curls his lip in a snarl. Angelica is quick to look away from him, trying to keep her heart out of her throat, "I-I'm sorry." He jerks his head back suddenly, his face relaxing into a normal, albeit confused, expression. He slowly lowers himself, leaning back against the bed and whining. He looks between the two frightened females and moves slowly to a corner of the room where he lays down, facing away from them.

Angelica watches him before she crawls on hands and knees towards him, whispering hoarsely, "Hey..." When he tries to press himself further against the wall, she draws her hand back, "I'll leave you alone, if you want...but I'll be right here."

The tension in the room is near-palpable. The male curls up, hiding his face in his hood and folding his limbs underneath himself, becoming nothing but a big lump of fabric. Angelica cringes, reaching for him but her hand hovers in the air, her fingers shaking. He seems to sense the movement and turns his hood up just enough that he can look at her.

A ripple passes through him and he suddenly reaches out, jerking her towards himself hard. It takes her a few moments to register that she's pressed tight to him, his face in her hair and whining with tension keeping his muscles locked in place. A strangled sound escapes him, as though he's holding something back while he cups the back of her head.

After a moment of that crushing hug, he opens one arm for Hannah. The little girl hops off of the bed, dragging the blanket and her stuffed frog with her. He folds her into his hug, rubbing his chin along the top of her head and his muscles slowly, very slowly, relax.

Scott leans against the wall, the females folded against him as he turns to look down at Angelica. She locks her gaze with his. Some sort of communication passes between them and her lips part as he leans down, pressing his mouth to her's tightly. The heat of his body spreads through her's even while Hannah gasps.

"Miss Angelica, I didn't know you guys were married," she says innocently, leaning her head against Scott's shoulder.

He pulls away, tracing the end of his nose over her cheek before she leans her head on his shoulder as well.

He releases the two with a long, drawn-out sigh, closing his eyes as though a weight has been lifted off of him. He chucks Hannah lightly under her chin before dragging her into his lap. After a grunt and a lick to Angelica's chin, he crawls towards the bed. Angelica slowly stands, feeling oddly light as she watches him. Hannah perks up as the male lifts her onto the bed, "When 'm I gonna get to go outside? Its boring in hree since you don't got a TV no more. I want to play!"

Drawn out of her thoughts, Angelica shakes her head with a little smile, "We'll be going outside later, actually. You won't be allowed into the same courtyard as us but you can watch through the fence."

The Hunter watches Angelica as he starts to groom Hannah's hair, stopping short and gagging when he realizes that Hannah has longer hair. Hannah giggles regardless though, holding up her fists slightly, "I feel like a kitten! Me-ow!" Angelica smiles more, shaking her head again, deciding that she can go and pick up whatever is left of her bathroom.

At her direction, the Hunter looks off to the side, mimicking the actions of a guilty dog as he refuses to look at the doorway.

Angelica sighs again, glancing at him over her shoulder, "What am I going to do with you?"

A/N: Yes indeed-y Angelica. What are you going to do with him? There you go guys. A few feels for you. Yeah, I'll admit it...I cried when I wrote this. Might be more mistakes than usual.

Just...just gonna go and crawl under a rock now...