Chapter Eleven

Encouragement

Desma's POV

All of my life I had been someone who cried easily, not out of petulance or as an attempt to inspire guilt in someone who'd been mean to me, but truly because my feelings were easily bruised, sometimes even damaged, but after years of being teased and having my emotions used against me I became someone who hardly ever cried, refusing to do so unless I was safe and sound and away from any and all who might see my tears and ridicule me. To sob was to show weakness, to admit that you weren't strength personified down to the marrow of your bones was a failing, yet here I was, on the verge of an emotional downpour once more…all over this one man, my protector, who peered down into the pit where The Doctor and I were being held, meeting my eyes over the other man's shoulder, the man who meant to kill me, and again, I couldn't remember a sight that was sweeter than that one.

I closed my eyes for a moment, certain that I had imagined him, certain that I was only seeing the deepest desires of my heart, which chose to play a trick on my mind and my eyes, but when I looked again I saw that he was there, my Nose was, he hadn't left me, and he was looking at me in a way that left no doubt in my mind what was in his heart. It was a sight that would have inspired me to jump and shout in jubilation, had I been capable of either, but as it was I couldn't move and I couldn't speak…I couldn't even warn him.

Several seconds passed by with the two of us just staring at one another, and I hoped that my eyes were conveying to him the same emotions that I saw looking back at me, because at that moment I realized that it didn't matter that we hardly knew one another, in fact we may as well have been strangers since I didn't even know his name, but nothing that had transpired on this accursed planet mattered, the only important thing was that he was there, he had come back for me, and I was determined to live, no matter what, so I could tell him how much I needed him, how much I wanted him, and that I'd be happy to follow him anywhere…if I could only live long enough to do so.

The Doctor finally caught onto the fact that both he and his scalpel no longer had my undivided, terror-stricken attention, and with a frown he turned to find out who it was that had interrupted us, and found himself staring up at The Nose. The look on his face at that moment was absolutely priceless, and with a speed I never would have believed he was capable of he hid the scalpel out of sight and offered a falsely cheerful greeting to the other man.

"Oh, hey…how about that," he called, "you decided to come back, huh?"

The Nose stared down at him with no expression on his face and I found myself wondering what it was that he was thinking. Damn him…this was no time for that stoic bullshit he was so fond of. "Yep," he answered, "I got the time wrong and missed my ride…isn't that just a kick in the ass?"

The Doctor giggled nervously in response, "Oh, well, thank God for that…now you can help us out of this hole."

Again, The Nose found my eyes with his, and his gaze softened considerably, though there was anger to be seen as well. The next thing I knew he'd lowered a net, the same one that had captured us earlier, into the pit and instructed The Doctor to secure it beneath my arms and using that he bodily hauled me up out of the hole.

I was all deadweight, since I was paralyzed and all, but I still didn't think that was any reason for him to carry on the way that he was, acting like I weighed a ton, for goodness' sake. In all fairness, he made the same noises as he was pulling the doctor, who was an absolute beanpole, out of the pit as well, so that soothed me somewhat…not a lot…but somewhat…jeez…what a stupid thing to be thinking of at a time like that, wouldn't you agree?

The Nose kneeled down on the ground to attend to me, and out of the corner of my eye I saw The Doctor watching us, that murderous look in his gaze once more. "I'm afraid that she's paralyzed," he explained, offering a reason for my inability to move or speak. "The monster gave something to her, I couldn't say what, for certain, but it paralyzed her."

The lying little bastard…I would have liked to have had my arms and hands back so that I could strangle him, but that was out of the question, at least for the time being. The Nose put his shoulder under my arm and helped me up onto my feet…not that I could feel them…and then he started to lead me away, carrying me along, whispering to me that everything was going to be just fine…which I thought was a nice sentiment, even if it wasn't true.

"Come on, honey babe," he said encouragingly, "don't give up on me now. I know I already let you down, but I'm here now, and I won't ever leave you again."

My damned feet refused to work, and I panicked when I felt my H & K slide off of my useless arm, crashing down onto the ground. I wanted to tell him to stop, to go back, but the words wouldn't come, and the next thing I knew he was lifting me for one wonderful moment into his arms, then setting me down gently on the ground, kneeling beside me once more, as his big hands cradled my face, and turned my head from side to side while he studied me.

"Ah, honey, you get yourself so damned busy taking care of everyone else that you forget to take care of yourself, don't you?"

It seemed like he was unwilling, or unable, to keep himself from touching me, and I reveled in the feel of his hand on my face, cupping, caressing, over and over, but I was also gripped by fear, by the need to warn him, an effort that escaped me in meaningless whimpers of fear.

"Shush, baby," he said comfortingly, "we're going to get out of here, you just hang on, alright?"

Over his shoulder I could see the doctor approaching, looking at The Nose in that same way that he'd been looking at me down in the pit, after he'd cut me. "You know, to be perfectly honest, I'd made up my mind that there was no way that you'd come back, but not her…oh, no…she never stopped believing in you…I guess that means that I owe you an apology, doesn't it?"

He was letting him get too close…his back was turned and he was too busy comforting me, and now he was letting the little snake get too close. I gasped and my whimpers became more desperate, more insistent, as I begged him with my eyes to turn around, but he didn't listen to me.

"I guess you're one of the good guys after all," The Doctor continued, his scalpel sliding down into his hand. "Aren't you?"

"Not really," The Nose said, smiling for just a moment as he looked at me. "I'm not," and quick as a flash he turned and grabbed The Doctor's arm, taking immediate control of the situation. He bent The Doctor's arm back and buried the blade of the scalpel into the other man's chin, as deeply as it would go, "What I am is fast, Doc, I'm fast and I could smell the stink on your story a mile away."

He twisted the blade back and forth, and wicked as it was I couldn't help but feel a grim satisfaction listening to The Doctor as he choked and sputtered, a fulfillment that grew when I saw his blood pouring out from between his lips, making its way down his chin, and onto The Nose's hand. I found myself gasping with relief in those moments, knowing that there was at least one monster that wouldn't bother me any further.

The Doctor dropped to the ground, still sputtering and choking on his blood, only to have my Nose grab hold of him by the scruff of his shirt and drag him away, his bloody gasping joined by pleas to be shown mercy, begging my protector not to take his life, and the last thing I heard was The Nose answering that he had no intention of killing him. The Doctor undoubtedly found solace, at least for the time being, in those words, but I heard what it was that laid beneath them, and thought to myself that death might be something that The Doctor begged for, before all was said and done.

I lost sight of them as they disappeared into the trees and when The Nose came back, he was alone, and immediately went to work arming the camp, laying out a variety of booby traps, aided in his work by the goodies that he'd requisitioned back in Noland's hovel. It was quite a sight, watching him as he scurried about; hard at work…I only hoped that he would have time to finish before the monster returned.

Royce's POV

Everything was going swimmingly, all according to plan, which was a miracle, when you took into consideration that it was a completely half-assed plan to begin with. The hunter had made its way back into the camp, not even bothering with its camouflage any longer, and after scanning the area it found exactly what I wanted it to…the traitorous Doctor, bound and injured, the perfect bait to reel the monster in.

I suppose that it would have been the decent thing, the humane thing, for me to feel at least a small bit of sympathy and regret for The Doctor when the alien used its blade to ascertain whether or not the man was alive or dead, plunging it into his back in order to do so, but I was just a little short on compassion where the little bastard was concerned at that moment. He'd been intent on killing The Spitfire, my Spitfire, and would have succeeded had I not returned when I did, so as far as I was concerned, nothing would be too cruel of a punishment, and eventually, of a death, where the little maggot was concerned.

A few more moments passed by, and I thought that maybe The Doctor was speaking to the hunter, possibly pleading, maybe making an excuse for himself…I knew that he'd better not be warning the monster, otherwise I'd see that he suffered a horrific amount of pain before he drew his last breath. In the end I realized that his words would just have to remain a mystery, because the monster reached out and turned him over, more than likely so that he could gut him, and in doing so pulled the pins out of the necklace of grenades that I'd placed around The Doctor's neck, blowing the sick fuck straight into Hell and sending the hunter flying back to land with a crash…now, wasn't that a pretty sight?

A few seconds passed by while the alien bastard rose shakily to his feet and regained his bearings, and when he did come back to himself I was there, standing beside him, waiting for a chance to say hello. I'd removed my shirt and smeared mud all over myself, so chances were good all he was picking up on was the torch that I held in my hand, the flame hot against my bare skin, but that was all that I wanted him to see, to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that someone was there, but nothing else beyond that.

"That's right, Ugly," I whispered, "it's time for us to get past the handholding and on to the main event, wouldn't you agree?"

I tossed the torch onto the ground, "You wanted to kill me so badly earlier, well here's your chance to do it."

The fire took hold of trees and various memories of death scattered behind me, and the flames were uncomfortably hot on my back as they flared to life. "Come on and kill me," I continued to taunt, "what's the matter, did you change your mind or what?"

Apparently the hunter had taken all that it could stand of my teasing and started in my direction. "Aw, shit," I hissed and got my legs moving, running as fast as I could, which was really a pretty good clip…there really was nothing better than having a murderous alien on your ass to get you up to speed. I weaved in and out of the flames, knowing that they would help to throw it off of my trail…and it would appear that my plan was successful, if the monster's roar, filled with rage, was any indication.

My cloaking via flames worked so well that I was able to run up to the hunter and bash it in the face with a bone that I'd found in the camp, one of many, before disappearing again…returning and striking numerous times, fueling all of my fear and my aggression into each blow, then hurrying to take shelter behind a tree, while the monster did its best to shake off the beating I'd just delivered.

I could hear the damned thing growling softly, standing still, more than likely scanning the area, and tried to stay as quiet as I possibly could while I caught my breath and did my best to slow my heart, which was galloping like a racehorse in my chest…and that's when I heard it's weapon come to life, and realized that my heartbeat had just given me away.

"Aw, fuck me," I gasped, dashing away, though not as quickly as I needed to, thinking to myself that I'd underestimated the bastard as the explosion rocketed behind me…yep…I'd picked one hell of a time to get cocky, don't you think?

Desma's POV

The explosion woke me, not from a sleep, exactly, put more like a trance, and I found my eyes traveling around as I searched for my Nose…and they found him lying on the ground a short ways away from me, struggling to get to his feet. I began to struggle myself, against the odds and the paralysis that still gripped my body, knowing that he needed me, this man who'd done so much for me was in need of my help, and I'd be damned if I was going to let him down.

I glanced away from him and saw my H & K resting on the ground, again only a short distance away, though it may as well have been a mile for me in my condition. It was going to be hard, no doubt about that, but one thing I'd been raised with was the firm belief that quitting was tantamount to a sin as grievous as blasphemy in the Reed household, and it wasn't a practice that I had ever, or would ever, take up, so I did the only thing that I could do at that point…I flipped myself over onto my tummy and started the long crawl toward my firearm.

I heard The Nose scream behind me, I heard the thud as he hit the ground, no doubt flung through the air by the monster, but I didn't look back, I didn't stop, I kept going until I reached my rifle…my Nose had saved my life so many times since we'd landed on this godforsaken planet…it was time that I returned the favor.

Royce's POV

I was having a hard time breathing, as a matter of fact it felt like a four hundred pound woman was laying on top of me, riding me like a bucking bronco, not that I'd ever actually experienced anything like that personally, but I have a pretty good imagination and could presume that finding myself on the receiving end of that sort of experience would feel exactly like what I was going through at that moment.

One minute I was lying on my stomach, doing my best to catch my breath, watching my Spitfire force herself into action, and then the next I was being grabbed by the back of my neck and flung bodily through the air, landing with enough force that it served to push the remainder of the breath from my body.

I tried to get up as the monster made its way toward me, but all that I could do was scurry backwards on the ground, which was both infuriating and embarrassing to me. If this was the way that I was going to go out, then I at least wanted to meet it on my feet…I guess we didn't always get what we wanted, did we?

It certainly wasn't going to be the first time that I took a beating, hell, I'd had my ass handed to me on a platter more times then I cared to remember throughout my life, but damn, I was already suffering, and the kicks to the jaw and punches to the ribs only served to add insult to injury…apparently I'd been a little too successful at pissing the hunter off, wouldn't you agree?

Desma's POV

My H & K had never been an easy load for me, but I'd always told myself that the weight, almost eighteen pounds, would work wonders for the muscles in my arms…that was all fine and good when I wasn't recovering from an up close and personal encounter with a neurotoxin, but now, with my body not quite operating as it should, the weight may as well have been a ton.

Finally I managed to lift the weapon into my arms, bound and determined that I would do so or die trying, and fought with my fingers to make them trace the trigger. It was quite an ordeal, because they seemed to have no desire whatsoever to bend, and I cursed, tears leaking out of the corner of my eyes, as I struggled. I could see that things were getting out of hand for The Nose, and the monster would surely kill him if I wasn't able to save him.

The hunter had taken hold of my protector by his throat and was slowly, chokingly, drawing him up off of the ground, releasing his blade from the sheath on his wrist, raising it menacingly into the air…and finally my fingers cooperated with me. Amazingly I was able to raise the rifle, bringing the scope to my eye, and after taking quick aim I fired…it was a good shot, one that threw him back away from The Nose, one that had vile neon green hued blood flowing out of its chest…one that drew the attention of the monster to me.

It turned the blade protruding from its wrist toward me and the next thing I knew it had hit me, driving itself into my flesh, just below my shoulder, bringing with it a pain unlike any I'd ever known in my life. I fell back against a log that was lying on the ground, gasping for breath as the agony seemed to radiate from the spot where I'd been hit outward down my arm and chest and upward to my neck, all the way to my jaw.

Royce's POV

I was very grateful for the fact that my Spitfire was able to move, I was even more grateful for the fact that she had done so in order to save my life, but I was having a hard time dealing with the fact that in doing so she'd been shot with the business end of the alien hunter's blade…as a matter of fact the sight of her slumped against that log, gasping for breath filled me with rage, a strengthening fury that brought renewed determination forth to course through me…the bastard had done it now…he'd messed with the wrong person, and that wasn't something that I'd forget anytime soon, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

I hadn't been happy, taking a beating myself, but I would have rather taken a thousand beatings then see her hurt, and it was an affront that served to bolster me into rolling over and taking hold of an axe laying on the ground beside me, an axe that I used to knock the mask off of the ugly mofo's face, revealing him in all of his gruesome terror, a countenance that I made even more ghastly with numerous blows from the axe, allowing my rage to spill out of me in the wallops, smiling grimly as its alien blood gushed forth from its skull…and from the place where it's left arm had once rested.

Slowly it raised its head and growled at me, defiant to the end, something I would have admired at any other time, in any other place, but which now only inspired me to finish what I'd started, which I did, with one final blow that split the creature's neck, opening it in a wide yawn, that continued to grow until the hunter's head became too heavy to hold and it peeled off with one last gush of its alien blood, and the headless warrior sank to the ground, dead at last.

I took a deep breath, filled with relief, then stumbled and sank to my knees. It was over…finally…it was through, and miracle of miracles, I was still breathing…I guess that old saying about wonders never ceasing was true.

Desma's POV

I was still alive…that was the only explanation for the pain that I was in…either that or I had died and gone to Hell, which would account for both the pain and for the flames around me…but I was more inclined to believe that I was still alive…at least, I hoped I was, because my Nose was slowly walking toward me, looking like he hurt as much as I did, maybe even more. After what seemed like an eternity had passed, he reached me, dropping down to his knees in front of me, and I found myself thinking through my haze of pain that it was a sight that I could get used to, that I could love, as a matter of fact, him kneeling in front of me.

I was happy to see him, overjoyed as a matter of fact, but not so happy that I didn't grimace with pain when he reached out to take hold of the hunter's blade protruding from my shoulder. "Did you get it?" I gasped, "did you kill the bastard?"

"Yeah, honey," he said, smiling at me, "I both got and killed it…there's no need for you to worry anymore, okay?"

Amazingly enough, despite my pain, I was able to smile at him in return…I even managed a little giggle, which served to make the smile on his face grow even larger. "By the way," he said, "my name is Royce…just in case you wanted to know."

Royce…it was a nice name, a sturdy and strong name, just like him…though, to me, he'd always be my Nose. "I'm happy to know you Royce," I answered, "I'm Desma…just in case you wanted to know."

Royce's POV

Desma…it was a pretty name, one that fit her very well and I thought to myself that I'd probably call her Desi…but to me she'd always be my Spitfire. I reached out my hand and cupped her cheek, and slowly lowered my head, ignoring every pain screaming through my body as I pressed my lips against hers.

There were a lot of mouths that I had kissed in my time, but for the life of me I couldn't remember another that had felt so soft, so right, nor could I recall another time that something as simple as a kiss, just that effortless contact, had caused such a reaction to take hold of my heart…it was scary, but it felt so good that I didn't waste any time obsessing over what I was getting myself into. I was already in this spot with her, and there was nowhere else that I'd rather be.

Amazingly enough she kissed me back, returning each hesitant stroke of my lips with one of her own, then she shocked…and pleased…me when she shyly parted her lips and stroked me with the tip of her tongue…oh, damn…if she could do what she did to me with something so innocent as the feel of her tongue against my lips, what would it do to me when we really got down to the heart of things…the pleasure might be strong enough to do me in altogether.

Oh, well…what a way to go, am I right?

We sat still in the camp together, each wrapped in the arms of the other, taking our rest while the sun rose once more in the sky…bringing with it a sight that filled us both with fear as we rose to our feet. It was a sight that we recognized, but it's familiarity did absolutely nothing to lessen our trepidation.

Parachutes…too many to count, burst open in the sky, bringing with them cargo of all different sizes, and I knew, as well as she did, that the pursuit was starting all over again, that three hunters would be on the loose…and it also meant that there'd be a new ship to hijack…the one bright spot in the murk of the shit-storm surrounding us, I guess you could say.

"Alright, honey," I said, tightening my arm around her. "Let's find our way off this planet."

~The End~