A/N: Yeah, I got no excuses folks, and I'm sorry for everyone who's been asking for more from this story. Hopefully it should just be two more, maybe three chapters, and an epilogue. After which I may have other things planned for fanfiction in this fandom, but with all of the lovely and interesting things that may or may not be happening for me this year I don't know when I'll have the time for the extra stuff. Trust me though, this will not be going unfinished if I can help it, and I thank you all for sticking with me on this. Enjoy this chapter, and please, please let me know if there's anything wrong in terms of grammar, spelling, and all that good stuff. Or if you just really like something then let me know, I'll be glad to hear that too.
Chapter 5: Trusting And Common Ground
When Godzilla had dozed off that night, he had tried to be doubly sure that nothing would sneak up on the pair. With their security fragile, and one of them exposed, the new scent caught the semi-conscious kaiju's attention nary a minute after it first came. In response, the dark green head, armed with a mouthful of teeth, snapped up to deal with the threat while one arm curled protectively around Godzooky.
If anyone tried to get through, they would be met with one very angry King of the Kaiju, as the people that were standing just at the treeline were finding out.
"Quinn, what do you think that is?" Carl asked, for the second time in his life feeling totally out of his element. The rest of the party was similarly stunned, until Pete noticed a familiar blur of light green partially hidden by the larger monster's arm.
"…Godzooky?" He squeaked out, catching everyone, even the snarling kaiju himself, by surprise. Partially out of habit, the aftermentioned mini-monster tried to at least sit up, but was too sick to do more than lift his head. The sight of the once animated creature seemed to be enough to put a thorn through Pete's mood, and the boy immediately turned to his aunt.
"Can we help him, Aunt Quinn?"
"Possibly, though I do not think we can do much good from here."
"And I don't think big and green is going to let us get close." Brock remarked, tense and ready to bolt for the somewhat dubious cover of the forest at a moment's notice.
Pete looked up at the adults pleadingly as he tried to keep his eye on Godzooky. Noticing his gaze, Godzilla started to shift, blocking the younger kaiju from view as he growled low and threatening in the back of his throat, something that Darien Quinn, a seasoned field biologist noted with no small amount of trepidation.
"It probably wouldn't be a good idea to approach them so soon. That one's already on edge. Coming any closer might be disastrous."
"I second that emotion." Brock muttered, tensing as he felt more than saw the eyes of the much larger being on him and measuring his every move.
"Should we even be here?" Carl questioned as he kept the much larger beast directly in his line of view, for all the good it would do if the great reptile decided to charge.
"It might be a good idea to move away from the lagoon. We are already too close as it is. He most likely won't go very far with the younger one so ill." Her own opinion came with years of fieldwork and experience with other specimens, even if they weren't this large or formidable. However, field experience didn't come with instructions on how to deal with a preteen that had a nurturing attachment with one of the local wildlife.
"We will be helping him though, right Aunt Quinn?"
"Yes, Pete, we will. It probably wouldn't help us though if his parent grows too uneasy for us to be in the area." The biologist replied, soothing her nephew's fears. Yet she wasn't entirely certain of how to go about getting a sample of the infection itself so that they would have something to work from. After all, while they did have medicines to help deal with such illnesses on the Calico, it wouldn't do much good if they weren't sure what to administer.
"Let's head back to the Calico for now, we need to form a plan."
A few hours later saw the ship in a state of tense energy and activity, as Darien Quinn attempted to deduce the cause of the infection. Their lack of a sample was a definite problem, but hopefully she could have the next best thing.
"Here you go, Doctor Darien. This was all we could find." Brock announced as he came into the lab, gently putting a sample bag on the lab table filled carefully with coral, the kind that the mini-monster had been stuck in when they found him.
"Thank you, Brock." She replied absently, already scooping up the sample and heading towards the different beeping machines and instruments and getting started on her work.
Sighing lightly, the assistant noticed Captain Majors standing just behind the doorframe, edging over so they could hold a conversation without disturbing Doctor Darien.
"Do you think this is a wise idea, Captain?"
"To be honest, no." The answer was hesitant, though Brock needn't have worried as the seaman agreed wholeheartedly.
"I know what you mean. It would probably be a good idea if we got as far away from this place as possible."
Unfortunately for the two men, a certain preteen had been privy to the conversation, having been in the process of coming down the hall as they were talking. Despite his closeness and inability not to hear the topic of conversation, Pete feigned ignorance.
"Hi Captain Majors! Hey Brock! What're you guys talking about?"
Despite the boy's 'innocence', it was easy for Captain Majors to figure that he had been present for much more than he was pretending to be.
"How much did you hear, Pete?"
"Not that much." The boy partially confessed, squirming a bit at the direct question. Despite his initial discomfort, he tried to make up for the unease by pleading his point more directly. "I still think we should help Godzooky. We already did by helping him out of the reef and if we just…let him die now….why help to begin with if we're not going to finish the job?"
The main bulk of his argument came in a rushed outburst at the end, but it did get the attention of Quinn Darien from her work.
"What's going on?"
A brief stretch of silence traveled through the group before Captain Majors stepped up to the task of filling Quinn in on their conversation.
"Quinn, do you think we should be doing this?"
"We have to, Aunt Quinn! We already saved him once, we can't let him down now!" Pete tried, though his efforts only seemed to glean a slightly sour look and it was only after that he realized that perhaps he should have waited to make his point. "Sorry…"
"It's fine, Pete, though you do have a point, Carl. The bigger of the pair is obviously uncomfortable with our presence, and to even have a hope of working more directly with Godzooky…" Doctor Darien trailed off in her thoughts, though Brock had already caught where her mind was wandering, and chose that moment to interject.
"We'll need a distraction of some kind, just long enough to administer an antibiotic."
"We'd also need to keep the Calico well away from the excitement, that thing could easily cause damage."
"Good point." Doctor Darien murmured as she considered this bit of thought.
"We could try using the hovercraft to create a distraction." Pete hesitantly interjected, more wary about his role in this discussion then he had been earlier. However, his hesitation was unfounded, as Doctor Darien brightened a bit at the idea.
"How about it, Carl?"
Godzilla felt the pounding of the sun dry out his scales as the mid-noon sun hung in the air overhead. Growling irritably, he briefly slid further back into the lagoon, though putting his forearm within reach of Godzooky the moment the smaller monster fussed. This heat couldn't be good for the child either; he seemed to have grown even warmer since the sun had reached its zenith. Gently controlling his strength, Godzilla slipped his fingers under the prone reptilian form, making sure not to bump the sores. Even with the surprising show of carefulness from the large creature, Godzooky still whined a bit in his semiconscious state. The wasted effort was enough to make Godzilla's unoccupied paw gnash at the ground in frustration. The larger kaiju had fought monsters, powerful forces of nature that had tried to claim his territory as theirs. He was the type of creature who had withstood the tests of both nature and time, growing into a far more powerful force himself, something that others knew to think before reckoning with. And if they didn't know, then they learned fast.
This was something beyond even his capabilities. There was no enemy to directly fight, nothing to break, and no problem that could be put in its place by his might.
Simply put, it was the strength of the younger kaiju that would be needed, and that seemed to be in an ever-dwindling supply at the moment.
But still there was nothing that the elder kaiju could do, and the next few minutes passed in tense silence, broken only by the somewhat shallow breathing of Godzooky.
And suddenly the quiet was entirely shattered by a far-off thrum, coming closer to the lagoon. Though his memories of the exact inanities of humanity were a touch dim, Godzilla did recognize the sound when he heard it; a machine. Judging from the way the sound was traveling it was one of their vehicles. And it was trespassing on his territory.
Despite his initial rage at the infraction, Godzilla was loathe to simply leave to deal with the intruders. Godzooky was barely conscious as it was and could hardly be relied on to defend himself. Gently, Godzilla scooped up the mini-monster in a clawed paw, quietly and carefully placing him in the shade of some trees and not as immediately visible. Just as Godzilla finished setting the smaller body down, the human vehicle passed across the opening of the lagoon, though it did not continue onward. Instead, Godzilla could hear the drone of the motor go only a small ways further ahead before turning around to circle and pass by the opening again, this time closer. Where they specifically looking for the lagoon?
All the more of a reason to drive them away then. And if he did this quickly he could be back before Godzooky even realized he was gone. Moving with a speed that would have been more expected from a creature half of his size, Godzilla returned to the lagoon, sinking under the water as he moved toward his quarry.
A few minutes passed before a certain pair of humans emerged from the greenery ringing the lagoon, briefly hesitating in the wake of the vengeful titan that had just left before hurrying on to do what they came for.