Lia sighed desperately as her baby sister walked out the door behind Ben, she managed a small smile as Jess turned back around, but she couldn't do much more without tears burning in her eyes. Lia felt a hand move around her shoulders and pull her tight against a hard chest. "They'll be fine." Hal whispered, pressing his nose into her hair, she shivered at the feeling but leaned in closer to Hal, relishing in the feeling of his arms around her.
"I bloody hope so." Lia whispered, watching as Jess smiled at Ben, her legs pounding into the ground as she disappeared into the forest. Hal laughed as she yawned and pulled her away from the window and led her upstairs, setting her down in the master bedroom. She laid down with a slight moan of the feel of the soft bed. Her hand shot out as Hal shot her a smirk and turned to leave, blushing she looked down as he spun around, looking down at her with shock in his eyes.
"Can you um… stay?" she whispered, her voice shaking with fear and embarrassment. He smiled brilliantly, happiness glowing from his face as he nodded. "Of course." he whispered, pulling off his shoes and slipping in beside her, planting a sweet kiss on her lips as he drew her closer, her head resting on his chest, finger splayed delicately against his shoulder.
She sighed contentedly, her breath sending shivers down his spine as it met his exposed skin. "Thank you." she breathed, feeling her worry for Jess sink away as he rubbed circles into her back, she relaxed into the bed and knew that, at least for a couple of hours, she would have nightmare-free sleep. "You're welcome love." Was the last thing she heard before she slipped into darkness.
Lia woke up with a start, breathing heavily as she felt the arm wrap around her waist pull tighter. She gasped and opened her eyes quickly, but instantly settled when she saw Hal's dark blue eyes staring back at her in worry. "Lia?" he whispered, running his fingers through her thick curls. Trying to calm her raging heart she rolled over on top of him and set her chin on his chest. She could feel their heartbeats racing against each other, pounding desperately to reach each other.
"Did you have a nightmare?" he whispered, looking at her seriously for a moment. She sighed and looked down, "not exactly." she whispered back. "I'm just… not exactly used to waking up and not being strapped down to a table." Hal instantly tensed, his hands locking around her, pushing her hair away from her face and sitting up. "Lia. Look at me." he whispered, pulling her chin up gently. She met his eyes, feeling her stomach start turning at the look in his eyes, she had seen it before, when her Father looked at her Mother.
"I promise you. You never have to feel like that again, as long as I'm around, they cant get you." he whispered, holding her head in both hands and speaking as if she was a small child. She sighed gratefully and felt her body relax as his words sunk in, she moved her head so it was fit into his shoulder, clenching her hand around his t-shirt. "Thank you Hal." she whispered, genuinely believing his words, she knew now that he would go above and beyond to keep her safe.
Though she was still unsure of his feelings for her. It seemed like he was really serious about them being together, though he had made no move nor said anything to reassure her that he wanted to be with her, that the kisses meant something to him. He must have felt her tense up again, because he leaned his head down and asked her what was wrong. Sighing deeply she looked up into his eyes, feeling her body shake with apprehension about what she was going to do.
"Hal…" she whispered before stopping, her mind shouting at her not to do it, not to ruin everything they had over a title. But she wanted Hal to be hers and hers alone, especially with Lourdes and that Maggie girl running around. She took a deep breath and steeled her nerves, looking into Hal's scared face. "What are we?" she said, finally giving into her heart. He let out a nervous breath and smiled shakily.
"For a second there I thought you were going to tell me that you didn't want to be with me anymore." he said, laughing a little. Lia smirked a little, feeling a small amount of weight lift off her shoulders. "I didn't think I needed to say it, but I thought we were… together?" he said, phrasing it like a question, as if asking for her permission, Lia wanted to laugh at the shy look on his face, like he was scared of her reaction. He let out a breath and looked at her seriously, like he had found some courage. "I thought you were my girlfriend." he said simply, looking at her.
Lia's heart stopped, before insane happiness sparked in her system, brightening her eyes. Hal must have noticed it because he started grinning like a madman, she grabbed his face in her hands and smashed her lips to his, groaning as his hands came up to encircle her waist, pressing her harder into his chest. They pulled away gasping, staring at each other and grinning like patients in an insane asylum.
"Good." Lia replied simply, pulling his lips to hers again. He smiled against her lips and gently squeezed her sides, making her squeak in surprise and lightly smack him on the chest. "Hal Mason." she whispered seriously, seeing the cheeky idea forming in his eyes. "Don't you DARE!" she screamed the last word as his hands began tickling her, sending her screaming with laughter, tears squeezing out of her eyes as she tried - and failed - to fight him off.
"We should be moving out soon, we wouldn't want Clayton catching up with us." she whispered when he finally stopped. He looked down at her, pouting a little, but conceded, rolling off her and helping her up off the bed. They padded downstairs softly, boots making barely any sound as they came out onto the hardwood floors.
Lia heard the small sounds of combat boots on the wet ground and flinched, looking up at Hal as his eyes came to rest on her shaking form. "They've found us." she whispered, looking up into his wide blue eyes. A few seconds later the sounds of shifting guns met her ears, along with a louder than usual "Good Morning!" from outside. Clayton and his group had caught up with them.
Hal froze, his eyes tearing away from hers and out the window to see them all lined up behind trees, guns pointed on the house, and awaiting the reply. "Come on out, we're taking you home!" Clayton called when the reply didn't come. "Oh god." Lia whispered, feeling bile rise up in her stomach at the thought of going back to the Skitters, of the machines they would use on her to get the information.
"Hey." Hal whispered, grabbing her shoulder and shaking it slightly. "They aren't going to get you. I made you a promise." he whispered, kissing her cheek lightly before moving closer to the door to look at Clayton. Lia let out an audible sigh of relief as her nerves calmed, she trusted Hal like no other, she'd never had someone that she could fully and wholly rely on to keep her sane, to love her with all her faults and fears.
Thank god for Hal Mason. She moved in closer to Hal, holding her rifle close to her body and staring out at the man who had sold them without a second thought. "Don't make me come in there Hal, no body wants to see you get hurt." Clayton called again. Lia huffed, annoyed at the gall of the man. "He needs to learn to shut the hell up and sit down." Lia whispered angrily, hoisting her rifle higher. Her quip earned a chuckle from Hal, before he turned back to Clayton.
Hal opened the door and peeked out the small pane of glass to the side. "We know about your deal!" Lia called, "You need us all alive… me especially!" Clayton chuckled. "Well I need you Lia. But as for your friends… theirs a term in war… 'Acceptable Losses' One of your friends gets hurt or killed, I can live with that." Lia growled, anger seizing her entire body and threatening to send her sprinting onto the yard to rip Clayton's throat out herself.
"Go to hell!" she screamed, turning the corner and shooting wildly, managing to clip one of his men in the side, he went down and the warm feeling of victory flushed through her body, before the return fire came and she rolled out of the way to avoid being hit. They ran back to the living room and behind the couch as Clayton's men scrambled for cover. "What are we gonna do?" Lourdes whispered frantically, the fear palpable in her eyes and the violent shaking of her hands.
"Hal and I will try to lure them off. You take them out the back and get the hell outta here." Lia whispered, nodding the the frightened girl, who visibly relaxed at the mention of a plan. Lia looked back out and saw a man raising his gun to take a shot at Hal, but before she could jump and push him out of the way, a shot came from behind Clayton and knocked the shooter through the head.
Lia frantically watched for a sign to see who had saved Hal, but she saw none, only Clayton's group spiriting and reeling to find the shooter and get to cover. "Get your damn head down kid!" someone yelled. Lia had never been so happy to hear a degenerates voice in her life. "Pope." she whispered,pulling Hal down onto the floor next to her, covering her head. "Hey Clayton! How's that Skitter deal working now huh?" Pope yelled. Lia giggled at his words more so to relieve the tension.
Tom's voice came from the other side of the forest, calling that Pope was dead and they should hold their fire. "It's dad!" Matt cried, stepping forward. Lia looked up and shook her head, motioning for him to move back. Lourdes grabbed him right on time, "don't move Matt." Lia whispered, heart pounding in her chest as the curly haired boy pouted and curled in on himself.
There was a short conversation before Tom called out for his boys. "It's all over!" Tom called, Hal immediately stood, dragging Lia with him and taking them slowly outside, hands raised in surrender. Hal walked over to his father, anger on his face as he stared down his Dad, there was a short argument before Tom effectively ended it with a short sentence and a warning look, before he turned away and back to Clayton. Hal sniffed and turned away, back to Lia and Matt, grabbing him around the shoulders and pulling him close as they began to walk back to the farm house.
Lia's heart rammed in her chest, she could already hear the hissing of the skitters and the feeling of the Overlord's breath on her neck, as they looked down at their experiment. She could feel the needles boring into her skin with copious amounts of the 'Venom' they had used to transform her in the first place. Hal leaned over and took her hand, grimacing at her and giving her hand a comforting squeeze. "It's all going to be okay." he whispered, staring her down, not allowing her eyes to stray for a moment. "We'll figure this out, I told you I'd never let them get you, and I'm keeping that promise." Lia sighed and looked down, defeat stuck against her heart, a slow and mournful rhythm that threatened to drag her back under.
"You cant promise that." she whispered. "No one can promise that."