These reviews are making me all giddy and motivated. I'm literally writing this instead of doing homework.

-[9]-

Things were quiet now. It had been an hour since Morsani had left, and David was clicking around the recorded history of the Engineer's planet, and the distribution of the cities. He had looked up the procedure to alter her speech capabilities and from what he could tell, it had a very high success rate. The details she read were a bit scary to think of, but she trusted them. Their technology was a lot better than what was back home.

Zarek had disappeared up the staircase after waving to them as a greeting after Morsani disappeared. He hadn't come down in the last hour, and was absolutely silent.

Ellie was sitting and getting tidbits of information about their history, culture, and traditions. The way she looked at it, the more she knew, the easier it would be for her to fit in. She also didn't want to step on the toes of any of the locals, she really wanted to make them like her. She knew that Morsani was being a tad optimistic when she said that many of their people liked her. Many of them probably saw her as the alien, and would be afraid of her. Some of them might really remember her, and what was going to happen to her people. Truth is, she couldn't predict the reaction she would get. The reactions would probably be different between all sorts of different people.

A deep breath filled her lungs as she pushed herself up on her feet, glancing back at David.

"I'm going to go outside, I want to get out a little."

The android looked at her with feigned surprise, he knew that she would want to go out sometime. He softly spoke up to her,

"I figured as much. You should probably take Zarek with you, or myself."

She shook her head and made her way towards the stairs,

"No it's all right, I'll take Zarek with me."

Although David was the one who could directly communicate with them, she figured she should take him instead of the synthetic. Taking an android was just asking for trouble, especially since no one knew who he was; and the fact they thought of him as a lesser being.

After making her way up the steps and to the master room doorway, she peeked around carefully. She didn't want to barge in, in case he was changing or something. As she peeked around the corner, she noticed he was standing in front of a computer screen. It was on the center wall, glowing between two bars she hadn't noticed last time she was in there. As she entered the room, she cleared her throat to let him know she was coming.

The Engineer was dressed differently, wearing a familiar looking silver plated armor. The armor was bonier looking than the two guards she had seen in the Council's throne room. Another thing that stuck out to her was the rigid looking collar that stuck out of the top of the cuirass. The stiff blue material wrapped around the back of his neck and down onto the armor chest plates. The wrists of the uniform looked like gauntlets, and his feet had large heavy looking boots. He was really intimidating looking now.

He looked stressed though, he wore a rather stoic expression. Ellie mentally kicked herself for not asking David to at least tell her how to ask him to go with her. The woman walked over to him and saw that he looked even more emotionally taxed than she had thought. Under his eyes had a slightly purple tint, and there were rings under his eyes. If he was troubled, it would probably be better for him to get out and get some air. She knew she needed it too.

Hesitantly, she motioned with her hand for him to come along. He nodded and followed her back out to the main room. The blond robot turned to face them as he noticed their presence, platonically smiling at the duo. The doctor pointed at the platform and asked David to translate,

"David, would you mind telling him I'd like to go for a walk, in a common place maybe. And I'd be really grateful if he'd come with me."

The android translated her question for the Engineer, and he nodded. A huge white hand nudged her toward the teleportation platform like he was telling her he was ready to go. The two of them stepped up onto the platform, and the synthetic stared at them pleasantly,

"Have fun."

…

There was a lot to take in when Ellie and Zarek arrived at their destination. Directly across from her were more teleportation platforms, the row went far to her right. The area they were in looked like a dead end street made of steel walls. The solid material went up only about twenty feet, and then there was fiberglass. The fiberglass formed a hall almost, over to her right, where she saw a huge dome over a larger area. In this huge area, there were many Engineers walking around. Some of them wore jumpsuits, some of them wore long robes, and some even wore toga looking clothes. They casually walked into the huge area, and she saw that small shops lined the curved dome. What stood out the most, was a massive crystalline formation in the center of the area. It looked completely natural, it was very jagged and reached up at least twenty feet. It reminded her of a tree, and was a beautiful aqua blue color, and was partially transparent. The top of the Dome was about thirty feet up, and there were four large vents on the sides of the dome.

The red head literally had to force herself to close her mouth because she was in awe at the bazaar-like area. These must be the common Engineers, she didn't see any with colored collars right away. There were at least a hundred space jockeys in the area, some carried some strange objects, some had children with them. A young Engineer ran right in front of her and paused when he got a look at her face. The Engineer was almost a foot shorter than her, and had a scrawny look to him. He wore a navy blue toga looking thing around one shoulder, and a small silver plated belt held it around his small waist. His eyes went from Zarek to her a couple times as he stepped out of the officers way.

Ellie slowed her walk to look into his eyes as they walked passed him. The kid's mouth was hung open as he eyed her like an animal in the zoo. The woman smiled and waved at him, causing him to look around in surprise and dart off. It was a reaction that a child on Earth would have had. As she lost sight of him, she turned back to gaze up at the magnificent crystal formation that stood in the center of the shopping area. As she gazed around, she noticed a couple children darting around on what looked like skateboards without wheels. It made her chuckle and watch them weave in and out of the older Engineers. Her brown eyes then turned to the nearest little shop, that had what looked like potted plants on it. Something about the plants was off though.

A slight tap on Zarek's arm made him realize what she was looking at. The huge alien followed her over to the small hovering tables that had these little potted structures on them. They looked like vines reaching up towards light that didn't exist, there was nothing supporting them either. They were just the base of a vine, no leaves or flowers were on them. The doctor leaned in close, looking at them. It looked hard, and also rather crystal-like. She gently reached out and touched the tip of one of the 'vines'. It was hard to the touch, and the one she had touched was a rich blue-green color, with flecks of what looked like gold in it. A small sound escaped her mouth that sounded like a 'wow'.

The delicate looking formation was metallic, like it was blown glass. It looked like it could be natural, but at the same time, looked almost fake because of it's crazy shape.

Zarek seemed to take interest in another male Engineer that began speaking with him. The two looked like they were having a rather friendly conversation, she couldn't understand so she decided to press on. She didn't want him to hover over her like a guard dog constantly, and was curious about the other little shops.

The woman didn't stray too far from the two as she kept admiring the trinkets for sale, and observing the behavior of the Engineers around her. Many of them gave her surprised glances, and some even moved away from her. She definitely stuck out in a crowd with her peachy skin and red hair. As she neared the next small shop, she noticed a small child sitting on a hovering bench crying; to her right.. Her maternal instincts kicked in and she walked over and knelt in front of the child. The ground here resembled a silvery cobblestone, and was hard to kneel on.

The young female Engineer rubbed at the corners of her black teary eyes. A gentle hand touched her knee and the red head smiled warmly at the young alien. The small Engineer stared at her for a few moments, her crying ceased fairly quickly. The sadness was replaced with unbridled curiosity. A small pale hand reached out and brushed at some of her hair, and a small smile lit up on the young girl's face. The doctor found herself grinning like an idiot as this little girl ruffled some of her hair, now smiling up at the human. Children were so innocent, and so intrigued by others. The small lighthearted moment didn't last long, a huge male Engineer came barreling over and pushed Ellie aside, knocking her to the ground on her left elbow.

The human's head whipped in the direction of the assailant, a mix of disbelief and anger playing her face. How dare he just knock her aside while she was comforting the young Engineer?

The doctor jumped to her feet and stood right up in front of the Engineer, earning glances from those passing by. The male had tried to turn to the young girl, but stopped to glare down at the defiant human when she jumped back to her feet. He smirked and reached out to grab or smack at her, the woman angrily knocked the half assed attack to the side. She was tired of getting pushed around. After the encounter with the other huge male Engineer on the mineral ship, she was done taking shit from everyone. She wasn't out to start trouble, but would not stand for being shoved around by those who didn't like her. It was time for a little respect to be had. She also didn't want Zarek constantly sticking up for her either, she wanted to be respected because of her bravery. After all, their DNA was identical; so what if she looked a little different.

The male furiously reached out and snagged a handful of scarlet hair and yanked her close to him, her toes barely touching the ground. Ellie dug her uncut fingernails into his gloveless hand as he pulled her over, earning a teeth clenching glare form him. He spat enraged words at her, she assumed them to be curses toward her. A larger crowd gathered around, a few spoke out to try and calm the huge brute. He ignored them and squeezed harder on the hair he had in his enormous hand, pulling tighter on the strands.

After a couple seconds contemplating her next move, the woman used her right foot to kick him in the kneecap as hard as she could. The Engineer chuckled at her attempt to harm him and tossed her back on her rear end, her elbows half catching her upper half. She winced and sat up, noticing that Zarek was staring at her from the other store. Had he been watching her? He was letting her stick up for herself finally? Although a small part of her wanted him to intervene, it was uplifting to know he was allowing her to take care of herself.

A young male Engineer walked over and gently touched the arm of the troublemaker, cooing something in his ear. He seemed to be trying to diffuse the situation. Ellie slowly got to her feet as the larger Engineer shifted his gaze to the smaller male that spoke to him. A huge left hand reached over and knocked the smaller Engineer back into the gathering crowd, a few random space jockeys offering an arm to catch him. This infuriated the woman further, she couldn't believe he would strike someone who was just trying to help, on top of throwing her to the ground. As soon as the young male had been thrown aside, Zarek rushed forward and grabbed the male's arm and turned him. As soon as the huge male turned back, the larger one was struck in the left side of his jaw with a swift punch.

Ellie darted over and scooped up the young Engineer from the bench and carried her over to some random females in the crowd, holding her out with a friendly smile. The females instantly took the young girl to protect her from the worsening brawl in the bazaar. As the red head glanced back, she saw the huge Engineer had struck Zarek back and cut his cheek under his left eye. As Zarek lifted his fists like he was going to box with him, the troublesome Engineer seemed to notice something. As he dropped down on his knee in front of Ellie's friend, the crowd seemed to move away, whispering to one another as they dissipated.

Her friend then lowered his arms and shouted at the kneeling Engineer, and pointing in a direction. The larger one just kept nodding and shaking his head, a remorseful expression on his face. He surprised Ellie as he stood up, and turned to walk away to her left. The large alien shot her a hateful glare as he passed by her, heading in the direction to leave the shopping area. The space jockey officer scared her as she turned back to see him directly in front of her, a tiny sheepish expression on his face. It looked like he had a tiny bit of pride in his eyes, and nodded his head to thank her.

…

They had poked around the marketplace for a couple hours after that incident, and there wasn't much excitement after that. The Earthling got a bunch of questioning glances, and smiles from other female Engineers, perhaps they respected her strength. She wasn't sure. Once they were back at their home, Zarek went up to the room again. Ellie assumed he was showering after fighting and going out into the market. The blond android was still on the computer, looking through files when they got back. She decided to wait her turn to shower and speak with David,

"You're still looking through their history?"

He nodded, not looking over to her as he sifted through pages; memorizing them as he read them. The doctor plopped down beside him casually, she was starting to get used to their home. It was so peaceful here, so quiet. The android then asked her a pointed question,

"You going to call that Engineer Morsani and inform her of your decision anytime soon?"

The red head gasped and put a hand to her chest,

"I totally forgot! Please, would you dial her up?"

The synthetic agreed and began the process of calling her through the computer, it was a visual call. The female Engineer picked up fairly quickly, and smiled when she saw the two of them.

"Good to see you, how are you Dr. Shaw? Come to a decision have we?"

The woman nodded and shifted her weight uncomfortably as she explained her reasoning,

"Yes, I'm doing all right. I'll go through with it I think, I mean… your technology has to be much better than ours on earth, and I trust you. And I'm fine with you taking blood and tissue samples."

The procedure didn't require her skull being cracked open, it was an injection into the base of her brain. The injection would leave stem cells and some artificial cells, pre-programmed with DNA and information that was needed to be carried to the Wernicke's area of her brain.

Morsani's wide grin didn't change as she continued,

"Great to hear! I'll set it up for this evening, in a couple hours, if that's all right?"

The sudden proposition made a tingle of nervous energy jump up Ellie's spine as she straightened up. Her gaze fell as she tried to take in the quick offer, it was so soon. She expected to have some time before the procedure, but it was happening sooner.

"That seems okay… I guess."

"I understand your apprehension Dr. Shaw, I assure you we will not harm you. I'll do the procedure myself. We will come pick you up in about two hours, please stay hydrated."

…

The world seemed hazy as she opened her eyes. The world was blurry as she blinked repeatedly, trying to get her bearings. Her mind was numb as she looked around. It was still dark in the room, she hadn't remembered even making it back from the lab. She faintly remembered Morsani telling her it would make her recent memory a bit fuzzy, and cause her to wake from sleep a bit more frequently. From what she could tell, it was still dark, the only light came from a large computer screen at the wall nearest the foot of the bed.

Thats when she saw him.

Zarek was sitting at the foot of the bed, his head in his hands. His huge body was trembling and he was breathing in slow forced breaths. The red head sat up and clenched her hands around the blanket on her chest, realizing she was wearing an loose robe. The alien was silent, the light of the screen barely lit up his shoulders and head. He was wearing just a robe as well, but his body was visibly shaking beneath the dark fabric. Her eyes looked up to the hologram screen, a list of Engineers decorated the screen with pictures beside each little section. It was a list.

Then the realization hit her like a ton of bricks as she noticed something familiar in each of the pictures, they were all wearing royal blue collars.

It was the list of his deceased family.

Her hand left her chest and covered her mouth, he had finally stopped and looked at them. He had been gone a terribly long amount of time, and all of his immediate family must have passed on. Stasis is what kept him alive for so long, and that made him outlive his family. Her eyebrows pushed together in anguish and she slowly shook her head.

The doctor slowly found the courage to lean up and crawled on her knees to the foot of the bed, right up behind him. He didn't move or make a sound. She sat on her knees and reached out, gently touching his shoulders and leaning forward,

"Zarek…"

The alien took a deep breath when she said his name, he didn't speak a word though. As she leaned slightly to see the right side of his face, she noticed he had his head in his hands. It was hard to see his whole face, but she could tell...

He was crying.

An icy chill covered her body like a blanket of snow as she took in what she saw. This huge, tough, and ferocious space jockey was crying. It was the first real weakness she had seen in him, and it was too human for her to bear. The tenderness he had shown her was comforting, and it made her understand he was compassionate. However, seeing him break down like she had done, was shocking. The woman pushed his shoulders slightly, trying to get his attention. He didn't budge.

Ellie realized that wouldn't get her anywhere, and she settled for hugging him. Her arms didn't make it around his barrel-like torso, and her head leaned into his bulging shoulder muscles. She hugged him firmly, and weakly smiled. It was nice being the one to comfort someone else now. He needed someone, and she was it. This sort of thing never occurred to her when she saw him come out of his stasis module. He was sharing his planet with her, his home, his bed. It felt like she truly mattered again. He must have been trying to resist looking at his families obituary files for the first few days, to keep himself together. She had almost forgotten about it since she hadn't seen much of a reaction.

His large chest rose and fell, tugging on her arms slightly as he took deep breaths to calm himself. The red head squeezed him and began to hum. It was all she could think of to comfort him. Her father used to hum to her when she was afraid to be left alone when she went to bed. Her father sounded terrible, but it was relaxing to have him there and trying to comfort her while she was afraid of the dark. She hummed an old folk song from her childhood to his back, her cheek was pressed into his right shoulder blade.

Even though he was distraught, Ellie really enjoyed sitting with him. He was hurt and lonely like she was, and it was great to have someone who knew how you felt around. She really looked forward to when she could directly communicate with him. Morsani had said it would take around twelve to sixteen hours to fully kick in. The red head had only slept for about five hours, and knew she would probably be able to speak in the morning. Being able to speak was a truly exciting thought, she would be able to converse with him directly and have him understand her better.

Her jumbled thoughts were dissipated as he turned to look back at her. The doctor sat up, releasing him slightly, her eyes meeting with his saddened dark ones. Out of instinct, she tried to comfort him,

"I'm so sorry Zarek…It'll be okay."

It felt so good to be comforting someone. It really lifted her up, feeling that someone needed her. Zarek truly needed her; needed her there to comfort him since he was alone now. They had so much in common, and only a speech barrier keeping them a little apart. The alien blinked a few times, looking back over his right shoulder at her. The woman smiled and lightly scratched his upper back, she just wanted him to know it was all right. The Engineer had a small hint of emotion of contentment on his face, he looked grateful to her for being there with him.

The woman kept her small smile on her face as she moved around him, scooting up to sit beside him. Her legs below the knee hung off the edge of the bed, not even close to the ground. Zarek's dark eyes were locked on hers, his stoic contemplative expression didn't falter as she gazed up at him.

There was something frighteningly handsome about him. It tugged at her heartstrings to sit and look into his eyes. He had protected her because of his belief that it was right, but why was he still sitting with her? Why was this Engineer bending so far to allow her to stay with him? Did he see her as an object? She couldn't answer any of these questions yet. It would take another couple hours before she could speak to him.

The rings under his eyes were deep and dark again, he looked like he had been destroyed. His eyes fell back to the floor, glassy with sorrowful tears. He didn't gasp or sob, he just looked at the floor with his thousand yard stare. It made her want to jump up and hug him around the neck, but that was just her instinct. He was such a powerful being, he was usually so knowing; and here he was breaking down. Family was so important to their society and it must be devastating to him to know he had no direct relatives left.

A small hand reached out and grabbed the Engineer's larger one. The doctor pulled his hand over and clasped both of her hands around his, pulling it in to her chest. Those black eyes stared into her kind ones, he wasn't moving an inch. The woman held his hand close, a friendly and kind expression playing her face.

Zarek seemed to tense up as she lifted his hand and gently kissed the palm of his hand. She wanted him to know she was there, she cared for him. He was all she had, and she wouldn't lose him to grief and depression. There was a stagnant quietness between them, he didn't seem to know how to react. The woman leaned over and against his bulky right shoulder, humming emanating from her throat again. The Engineer sat quiet for a few moments, unsure of how to react to her sudden cuddliness.

There wasn't really a good way to explain her feelings, she wasn't sure what she was feeling. She didn't mean to come on strong, or make him think she needed taking care of. She just wanted him to feel less alone. Loneliness was always in the back of her own mind, and it made her ache for this small contact. Even when Charlie upset her on the Prometheus, she had not resisted when he held her and tried to comfort her for his mistake. She felt like she had switched places with Charlie now, she was the one comforting someone who needed her.

She wasn't weak. By no stretch of the imagination was she weak. And now, this strong willed Engineer was crumbling, and she wouldn't let him fall. It was her turn to be the rock for someone else, she was the lighthouse in the storm now. It made the loneliness fade as she sat with him, feeling like they could just have each other and be fine.

It wasn't love, not from what she could tell. It was a blinding admiration. He and his people were her creators, and here he was allowing his creation to be close to him. She could comfort her creator, and it was an empowering feeling. It felt similar to comforting a deity, if one could imagine such a thing. She was the first to test the waters here, and see how he reacted toward her. She smiled as she hummed the song to him, her head leaning into the large muscle on his right shoulder.

A small movement on his part made her lift her head and look over to him. They were too close now.

His hand gently grabbed hers and pulled it over to his muscular chest. She could feel herself arching back away from him as he put her hand against his large chest muscles, pulling her close. The moment seemed to last forever. That stoic looking face gave her chills, her lips parted slightly as she stared down at his powerful looking jaw and perfect looking lips. The red head could feel her heart pounding in her chest as he admired her with those abysmal eyes. This intimate moment was making her more nervous by the second, her stomach fluttering as she felt his heart against her hand.

The heavy beating into her palm made her come to reality, and pull her eyes away. She turned her head down to the right, away from that grecian looking statue. Her mind and body were telling her two totally different things, and her heart was simply being left in the dark.

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Teehee. I'm a horrible person for ending the chapter here. And I'm sorry I didn't go into details about her actual surgery, I figured her getting a special injection wasn't all that exciting. The results will be though. *wink wink*

I've decided I'll try and update when I get five reviews a chapter… That'll keep me motivated. :D