Sorry about the long time between updates. Between the last update and now, I've had homework, university prep, and a second concussion in one year…

And to the "Guest" reviewer who reviewed on Fanfic's "January" to me: I wish I could update all the time, I really do. But like I said up there, I'm busy and it's hard, and I spend a lot of time on my work because I choose quality over quantity. I don't update until I'm satisfied and I have been known to scrap entire chapters and re-write them if I'm not happy. I review because it takes two seconds and it helps other authors and shows my support. So I hope that clears things up and next time you want to contact me, please do so on my own work and not someone else's (or get an account so we can PM). It's not fair to them.

Skipping On Glass

Chapter 4: The Shadowed Man

It was the kind of dawn that made Jenny wish she hadn't slept in her own room. Zap was a distraction. Often it wasn't welcomed, those blue eyes burned through her, and she couldn't fathom how she was supposed to get any work done when he kept sneaking in to her lab to check on her. His boredom was her downfall. And his mouth was her breaking point. The countless times he had sauntered in while her attention was directed at her workbench and taken every once of self control she had and ripped it out of her flooded her mind. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when he had gotten so cocky that he thought they could get away with fooling around during work hours. Worse, she could never say no.

But maybe there was something to it – and she hated to admit it. They hadn't gotten caught, yet she insisted, but the word quickly faded from sight. They had come close too many times. That should have been evidence enough. But he knew all the right buttons to press, and she caved every time.

When did that happen? Usually she held all the cards, and it was him that squirmed under her reach. He knew how to approach her, especially when she was working with tools that could take his head off like butter. He knew where to put his hands, and his lips. He knew exactly how to take her down. She frowned, he was so damn captivating, and she hated it. When he had come to realize how much power he truly held over her, she could never figure out. One moment, she's pulverising him with snappy comments, and then next he had her shimmed up the nearest wall with her pants down.

This morning, she woke with a heavy stomach and her yearning for his distractions was understandable. The fleeting moment of oblivious bliss from waking was gone all too soon and replaced with the stress of the world weighing on her gut. She forced herself out from the haven of her covers. She went through her routine in auto pilot. Shower, brush teeth, wash face, brush hair, get dressed… None of it seemed to matter, and none of it went by fast enough. She had beaten her alarm clock to the punch, but she had no doubt that Dex was already awake, waiting. She wondered briefly if he would have bothered to go the sleep at all.

She opened her door, only to come face to face with Zap. He looked tired, and untidy. His fist was up in the air as if he were about to knock. She cocked an eyebrow at him, her head tilting naturally. His hand dropped and he stuffed them both in his pockets.

"Hello," she greeted curiously, "I didn't know you knew that there was a five in the morning to get up for."

He snorted, "Dex was pacing his room all night. I didn't sleep a wink."

"Why didn't you come and sleep with me," she asked him. The innuendo that left her mouth went completely unnoticed by her ears. However, it didn't by his. His cheeks flushed a deep red and she smiled gently. He was certainly a very welcome distraction today.

"Where's Dex now," she continued.

He shrugged, "I think he's in the kitchen. Either that or he's wandering the Habitat staring at his babies."

"I've never seen him like this," she admitted, "We've all been kidnapped and swallowed by bugs and nearly killed on several occasions, but he's never reacted anywhere near this before."

"He's in love with her."

Jenny's eyes drifted to the floor for a second and her stomach twisted uncomfortably, "We have to find her today."

"I still don't get why Syrrus would take her," he mumbled, walking into her room and slouching onto her desk chair. She turned to face him, lips pouted in thought. She stopped herself from swatting his hands when he began to fidget with her pencils.

She huffed openly, "We can't be sure it is Syrrus."

"Why do you keep saying that," he asked her hotly. She shifted on the spot before approaching him. This time she didn't hold back and slapped his hands away from her stuff. His arms crossed over his chest in rebuttal.

"Because," she snapped, glaring down at him. Distracting and infuriating as he always was, "I don't want us to go rushing off to pick fights when, one, it may not be necessary and, two, it could be more disastrous than anything. We could be doing more harm than good if we just run around assuming things!"

"We can't just do nothing," he insisted. Her palm hit her face and stung her forehead.

"You are impossible sometimes!"

He stood up from the chair swiftly and faced her. They were nearly nose to nose. Her eyes never faulted from his. She kept a smile from surfacing when she found herself distracted by the fact they were still relatively the same height. It didn't make him very intimidating when he was trying to win an argument – not that he would ever win an argument against her. His temper and sarcasm got him fairly far, but her quick tongue often gave her the leap.

She looked at him confused when a hand suddenly laced with hers. His attention dropped from her face to the hand he held. The flush of anger had left him in all but an instant. Jenny sighed, her own grief subsiding. She watched as he gently slid the glove off her hand and tossed it to her desk. His thumb drew circles across her knuckles, taking care to avoid a scar that ran through the dip between her index and ring finger and over both fingers. It often looked as if it would split at any moment, despite the fact it had been healed for almost a year.

"Stop staring at that stupid thing," she muttered. He rolled his eyes and used his free hand to ensnare her waist and pull her in. She didn't fight him on it. Zap had a slight obsession with affection, but when they were alone, she was willing to indulge his touchy quirks. The hand on her waist rubbed up and down, crinkling her dress. A wave of tingles shot up her spine. He smirked as he leaned in and left a trail of wet kisses up her neck.

"I still feel a little guilty over it," he told her. She shivered as her skin vibrated under his voice.

"I'm not going to say it wasn't your fault, because it totally was, but really, it's been like eight months," she insisted. He chuckled to himself a little, gently playing with the area around the scar.

He corrected her, a rare and frankly rather obnoxious sight, "Eight months, fourteen days."

"Okay…," she punched him in the arm lightly. He wobbled on the spot a little, "I'm not even going to acknowledge how creepy that was."

He kissed her forehead and murmured against her skin, "It was our first date. Well, our first real one."

"Oh so, now you're a romantic," she teased. He left her hand and propped her up in his arms by her thighs. She yelped, immediately grabbing at his shoulders to steady herself in his grip.

"Kind of hard to forget considering I, you know, did that."

He plopped her down on her desk. The pencils he'd been playing with earlier had tipped over and spilled onto the floor. Her first instinct was to push him aside and pick them up, but he kept her pinned. She huffed and leaned back on her hands as he nestled his waist between her legs and kissed her cheek. Her face flushed, and she tried her best to swallow the heat pooling in the back of her throat.

She audibly gasped when he nipped along her jaw, "it wasn't that bad."

"You needed stitches."

"Only two," she replied insistently, "I've hurt myself way worse than that in my own lab."

"I try not to remember that time you got a laser pen stuck in your thigh," he returned to her neck from earlier, taking care to re-touch the hickeys from two nights prior. She smiled and pulled his face from her throat to kiss him hard on the mouth.

"Dex looked like he was about to have an aneurism when I came hobbling in," she mused against him.

He froze and removed himself from her. She couldn't help the whine that left her mouth as he did. She looked up at him, miffed. Her insides were bubbling. Her fingers were tingling. The heat between her legs had peeked and he had left her to cool off. But beyond it all, her eyes caught hold of his frown and her frustration slowly disappeared.

"Dex," he said. Her still churning stomach rose up her throat. She couldn't believe she had completely forgotten. Well, she had wanted a distraction. She should be more careful what she wishes for. She sighed, and reached behind her for her glove, slipping it back over her fingers.

"We really do need to find her today."

"No kidding."

"I'll meet you downstairs," she said, jumping off her desk. She pondered retrieving her pencils from the floor for a moment, but left them be. She could get them later, "I'm going to go find Dex and see if he has a plan."

He nodded, and straightened out his shirt. Her eyes drifted to his groin for a moment; this time the dourness of the situation kept her smile down.

"Zap," she piped up at her doorframe, "I'd take the time to shower if I were you."

His eyes shot to his erect crotch and he groaned, "This is so your fault, you know."

When she didn't answer him, he looked up to find her already gone. He moaned again, kicking at the floor before he left as well. He peered out from her door, making sure the halls were clear. Another run in with Dex, or God forbid Tung, was not what any of them needed right now, especially while he was so compromised. But luckily, fate gave him a break, and neither was in sight. He could hear Tung snoring when he tiptoed past his door. Still, he covered his loins for good measure as he trotted speedily to his room.

/

Dex was sitting silently at the kitchen table. Papers covered in illegible scribbles were strewn in front of him. He slowly shuffled them through his fingers, ignoring the fresh cuts across his pads. Jenny stood at the door frame and watched him intently for a moment before entering. He made no motion to acknowledge her.

She strode across the kitchen and sorted through the cabinets for bowls and spoons. Tung always insisted on keeping the cutlery with the dishes – it was quicker. She thought it was a pain. She opened the fridge for milk but was immediately hit with a medley of sour smells and slammed it back shut. Dex had decided to let maggots fester on the bottom shelf again – wonderful… She poured cereal into the bowls, not having the patience to prepare anything heartier, and picked one up in her hands.

She turned to Dex and with her free hand ripped the papers from his grip. He looked up, shocked, and opened his mouth to protest. She rolled her eyes and placed the bowl in front of him, "Eat."

"Oh, thank you Jenny, but I'm not hungry," he insisted as he tried to gather his papers from her. She held her ground.

"Eat."

He sighed and shoved a spoon full of sugary coated grain into his gob, if only to appease her. She took the seat across from him and looked over his work. She winced. Most of it was absolute gibberish and she was quite sure he'd made the many of the words he had used up. It was all very unlike him. When he bothered to make a plan it was meticulous. She glanced up at him over the papers' edge and he finished off his bowl. Her gaze turned back to the papers as she tried to dissect its contents from its confusing shell.

"Morning, dudes," Tung greeted sleepily as he strolled through the kitchen. No one questioned him on his early rising. Everyone was off balance. He immediately veered for the fridge and dug through it. The maggots didn't faze him; in fact Jenny swore he slurped one up when Dex wasn't looking. Her lip curled in disgust for a moment. He pulled the milk from the fridge and took over the bowl of cereal she had left on the counter, "Have you guys seen my toothbrush?"

Dex shook his head and collected his papers back from Jenny. She gave them willingly. She couldn't make heads or tails of his nonsense. It made no sense to continue keeping them from him.

"That's so weird… I can't find it anywhere…"

Jenny spoke up dourly, "Did you check the freezer?"

He snorted, "The freezer? Please Jenny, I would never leave my toothbrush in the – oh look at that."

She smirked as he fished an icy, green toothbrush from the freezer. He shrugged and stuffed it into his back pocket. He scooped up the bowl of cereal and milk and chugged it happily. She gagged, a hand shooting to cover her throat.

Zap walked in moments later. He didn't bother with the fridge or the cupboards. Instead, he sat down at the table with Dex and Jenny and waited. For once, he kept his mouth shut. Jenny inwardly sighed. She couldn't tell if she was thankful that his cynical comments were being kept under wraps or if she wished for them to lighten up the mood. She was really coming to hate how indecisive she'd become because of him.

"Good, we're all here," Dex said; everyone nodded in response, "Today's going to be a long day."

They had all already assumed that. Jenny prodded him gently, "What's the plan exactly?"

"We're going to all split up and search the planet in four quadrants," he pulled a somewhat coherent map from his pile and slammed it into the middle of the table, "I'll go north. Jenny you'll take the east quadrant, Zap, you're west and Tung you're south."

"Is it a good idea to split up like this," Zap piped up with a sneer.

"We'll cover more ground this way," Dex insisted, "If Jane's still out there, she won't have a lot of time left."

"And if those hornets are still out there none of us will have a chance against a swarm alone!"

"Zap, I have no idea what would have possessed Pyro Hornets to react in such a way – but we can only assume they were provoked. It's the only logical answer," he sighed, "I think it's safe as long as we avoid them. If anyone runs into an issue, we all come running, alright?"

Everyone nodded, though Zap was still hesitant. Dex clasped his hands together with a smack and everyone followed him outside obediently. Zap came up beside her as they walked, purposely letting Tung run ahead of him. His shoulder nudged hers and she looked at him. His eyes were focused straight ahead. His hand hit her wrist and slid down to lace their fingers briefly. Dex and Tung were far enough ahead that she didn't need to worry about being caught; although the paranoia was still evident. He looked nervous, or scared. She couldn't pin point which.

She stopped him, double checking to make sure they were safe; Dex and Tung had already left the ship. She turned back to him pushed her mouth onto his dryly. He smiled against her. She pulled back, her cheeks tinged red, and grinned meekly. He let go of her hand and she left the ship. He trailed hotly at her heels.

They joined Dex and Tung at the epicentre of Jane's destroyed campsite. Habi shot out of the ship's door and perched on Jenny's shoulder. She tapped his head affectionately.

"Okay, everyone – lets get going. We'll meet back here at five o'clock tonight. Communicators stay on at all times, no matter what," Dex instructed starkly, "Don't try to handle anything on your own. And if you find Jane, call in immediately."

Without another word, the group split. Dex had shot off into bush like a bullet. Jenny took her time to watch him, his determination, before turning to the east. Habi chirped and nuzzled her ear. She smiled to herself solemnly as she waded into the woods.

/

The woods were as they were the day before – lifeless. The bark under her feet cracked like frail bones as she walked. The naked trees seemed to wilt, leaning on the others to keep from failing.

"Would they make a sound," Jenny muttered to herself, uneasily. Habi buzzed contently from where he lay, sprawled on her shoulder. She bit the side of her tongue as the trees began to fill in the path. She groaned as she struggled through the underbrush. Plants, more dead than alive, were grabbing at her clothes, stalling her. Habi was beginning to fuss, chirping with fright and tugging on her loose hair as they continued through the woods. Jenny tried to shush and calm him, but cussed between breaths as more fallen trees and large thorn plants attacked her ankles and the hem of her dress.

It took no time at all for her to whip her communicator out while she fought her way through the vegetation, "Anybody else having trouble with the plant life around here?"

She realized as she spoke that her call was less for information and more for confirmation that she wasn't alone. Habi had been slightly comforting at the beginning of the day, but her faith in him had steadfast dissipated with the hours. It was now nearly noon, with no sign of Jane or Pyro Hornets, and the odds of her finding either at this point were reaching zero had surfaced. Still, the ominous signs of the forest left her breathing shallow. In laments terms, she was scared and she wasn't too big of a person to admit that (to herself, at least. She wasn't about to let anyone else in on that little tidbit).

"It's like a swamp down here," Tung answered awed, his eyes glinting with wonder behind his goggles. She grinned briefly at the scene on her screen.

Zap's voice rose up above his and his picture replaced Tung's on her communicator, "Do you need any help?"

Jenny suppressed the smile coming to her face, "No, no. I'll be fine. Just a little frazzled."

"Frazzled," he teased. She yelped as she stepped into a thigh-high thorn bush. They pricked her through her tights, "Jenny, you okay?"

"Yes, once again I'm fine," she insisted, "I'm not made of glass you know."

"You're not made of steel either."

Her brows furrowed and she pushed her way past another fallen tree, clambering to climb over it without injuring herself further, "Something on your mind, bug-boy?"

She smirked when she picked up his muted growl over the communicator, "Look. I've got a bad feeling. Just be careful, alright?"

"Of course," she muttered. The information doesn't perk him up; his frown only intensified on her screen. A hard lump developed in her stomach. Something wasn't right, "You still look like something's bothering you."

"I don't like this," he hissed bluntly and for a moment she's afraid he's going to say something he shouldn't. Something quite possibly explicit and to do with their nightly, and more recently, morning escapades – and this was not the best moment to break it to the team that they'd been hiding a relationship for far longer than socially acceptable (if such a thing could even be consider such), "being split up and so far apart. What if something happens?"

"Nothing's going to happen," she told him starkly, to which he just stifled a huff, "Dex, how are things on your end?"

Zap grumbled incoherent curses that her communicator couldn't pick up. His picture left her screen and Dex's appeared. Jenny frowned mutedly. He looked like a wreck. His hair was tousled with thorns and sticks poking out from his scalp. He had blotches of mud splotched across his face as well as what she could only deem as a nasty prick under his left cheek bone that had started to swell.

"Plants getting to you to," she mused, feigning a smile. He snorted lightly, but dourness was obvious behind it.

"A little bit," he murmured, "I haven't seen anything else. Just a lot of fallen trees. It's very strange."

"It's the same everywhere, almost like someone did this."

"C'mon," Zap piped up forcefully over the speaker, "Who would knock down a bunch of trees for kicks?"

"The Timber Tribe again," Dex answered.

"They wouldn't come back to Arilyss. Not after last time," Jenny said starkly, "And even if they did, they would take the trees or at least light everything on fire and they don't

talk hostages-"

"Wait," he interrupted, and everyone fell silent. Jenny nearly lost her footing on another small fallen tree. She gripped a climbing vine to keep from toppling over, "I think I've got something, Streuth!"

"What is it?"

"A nest," he replied, "A hornet nest by the look of it!"

"We're on our way," Zap announced, and Tung and Jenny added in with mutters of agreement.

Her feed cut out and Dex's position flashed on the screen. Jenny turned to bolt back off into the underbrush when her dress snagged on another ragged branch. A surprised cry shot from her mouth as she fell, hitting the uneven ground face first. She groaned frustratingly as she propped herself on her elbows. A large smear of mud was smudged across her torso and hips – her dress now looked more brown than pink. Her lips pursed in annoyance and she sighed, picking a rouge thorn from her hair.

Suddenly, a stick snapped, breaking the dead air around her. She froze, sinking back into the ground as slow as possible. A shadow walked, a mere arms length in front of her, casually. The body was blackened by the sun behind, and they appeared like an ominous silhouette. Her jaw tensed firmly and ached from the pressure; she couldn't talk this way – not a sound. The shadow stopped and turned sharply towards her. Jenny's heart was caught in her throat, pulsating and booming in her ears. She could hear little else above it.

The shadow continued on with a sly shrug. She sighed with relief, her head dropping slightly, but careful not to dip into the dirt. She bit her cheek when another stick snapped, followed by a rusting of dry leaves and mud as it sucked at passing feet. Her tongue was overwhelmed by the salty taste of blood swimming across it; she nearly gagged, but suppressed it painfully. A swarm of silhouetted creatures passed in front of her, stomping in line and howling and snorting uncontrollably. They moved as one like soldiers; a grotesque, blackened shape, with more heads and pointed feet than she could count. She didn't dare try to decipher the random spikes that shot out from the army's body, afraid she'd be counting teeth and talons.

Then, with the force of a bullet, a misshapen head shot out from the group. Its face was sharp, with a large ridge protruding from the end of its snout back into an elongated skull. Its head raised higher, a long neck protruding with odd grace above the others; its jaw craned upwards toward the sun. She gasped and her hands flew to cover her mouth, slathering chalky mud across her face. It snapped towards her at the sound, curiously. Its eyes dimly shone from the distorted mass below it, a cold blue that was oddly reminiscent of a sunny day in winter. A snarl emitted from it, rising up its throat and erupting from its mouth savagely.

The rest of the army joined in like a chorus in twisted harmony. Their heads rose, thrashing through the air. The growling escaladed to screaming. Their feet stomped at the ground, wailing shaking with the ground. Another voice joined in, tormented by bleeding ears and anger.

"Shut up! Shut up!"

He waited, but the beasts continued their frenzy.

"SHUTTUP!"

They stopped, almost in a single instant. All but one head lowered back into line. The eyes of the defiant creature still lingered on her. Her chest ripped with pain and she realized she had been holding her breath. Unable to control her, a gasp tore from her. The silhouette turned to her and back to the creatures' head.

He paused for a moment, gently stroking the mass.

"What do you see?"

The creature snorted in return. Jenny's eyes began to blur with tears. From her mouth, a small trail of blood leaked from the corner. The man faced her again, holding himself like a king. The creature leaned in to nuzzle his face lovingly, and he laughed, holding the snout against his cheek.

"Well," he muttered against its nose, but Jenny heard it clearly, "You know what to do."

She held her breath again, shivering in the mud.

"Retrieve it!"