AN: I do not really know how often Aaron has been to the lab. They might have mentioned it in the movie but I don't remember. So I will develop my own story and make it 12 times. I also remember the one flashback when she tells him that there are cameras in the lab but I altered that a bit as well as some other scenes. Hope you don't mind... Also there might be some mistakes due to the fact that English is only my second language.

Aaron and Marta seemed so close in the movie. That is why I had to write this...

Warning: Language, some mature content.

Rating: M just to be sure

Disclaimer: Not mine...

Changes

#1

The first time he was in Dr. Marta Shearing's lab was shortly after he had started this outcome project. He felt strangely new, his head still hurt but he finally was able to make some connections, he felt smarter even and it was great. His body had changed, too, but this change wasn't as interesting as the change in his mind. The doctor told him to come in and – like the obedient Kenneth would do – he sat down on the cot and looked at her.

"So, what are you going to do to me? Am I your lab rat?" He tried to joke, but Marta's expression didn't change. So she was made of ice? Or she didn't want to joke around with the Outcome agents. Aaron eyed her more closely: her hair was tied back in a loose pony tail and she kind of looked strict with her glasses. Behind them were beautiful brown eyes that caught Aaron's attention. She was intelligent and efficient, he saw that within seconds.

"I will get some blood samples and inject you with some meds." Her eyes roamed over his naked chest but it was only with a doctor's eyes. "Please take these off" The woman said and Aaron obeyed. He grabbed the chain with his pills and pulled it over his head, his eyes never leaving Marta's. Damn he had seen the effect he had on women before but she simply didn't react to the looks he gave her. She was professional all over and ignored him like he really was some lab rat. And he admired it in her.

With sure movements she took the blood samples from him, injected something into his arm and gave him a small patch to cover the little wound. Aaron pressed it to his skin and watched her from behind as she carefully labeled the vials. She sure had some nice body, too. "Some man must be really happy to be your husband..." He tried, but Marta just turned and gave him a death glare. So she wasn't married. Maybe didn't even have a boyfriend. A smile crept to his lips, he knew what it meant when women reacted like this.

#2

"Where did you get this cut?" She asked like she didn't really care and it drove Aaron insane that she behaved so cold and professional. Well, he always did, too, when doing his job but Marta's cold exterior somehow got onto his nerves. He was hurt and she didn't even care?

"A fight. A knife. You know my work, right?" Aaron Cross asked her and raised his eyebrows. For a split second something was written all over her face, but it was too fast gone to really tell what it was, though he normally was fast with reading people. Comes with the job and the training. Perhaps Marta is trained as well as she has to deal with agents like him every day. His stomach felt strange when he thought about other agents sitting on this cot with their chests bare for her to see.

Doctor Shearing got some cloth and something that smelled so much like alcohol that Aaron gave her a surprised look but didn't say a word. The man didn't even flinch when she cleaned the wound and cared for it though the pain shot through his entire body. No one would ever see that he suffered from pain, he concealed it well. Still she was professional and fast. When Aaron got up and pulled his shirt back on he smiled at her over his shoulder.

"Shall I pick you up for dinner after work?" He asked and earned one of those looks again.

"See you in three months." The beautiful doctor answered with a voice like ice and Aaron shrugged and left. Well, three months are a lot of time to think of a new strategy.

#3

The third time Aaron just entered the room, got rid of his shirt and sat down on the cot, never making eye contact with Marta. She began getting blood samples in complete silence. Cross just stared ahead and she eyed him with suspicion. When she was finished she stood in front of Aaron and waited until he would look at her. Eventually he did with a smirk.

He stayed silent, got his shirt and went out of the door, never looking back over his shoulder though he would love to see her stunned face.

#4

The next time was nearly the same. Silence. Marta's dark eyes watched him with calm interest but Aaron tried to avoid them on purpose. He could sense it in her that she wanted to ask something, say something but she kept silent nevertheless. Today the needle stung harder when she pierced his arm and filled the syringe with blood. She looked for a reaction from him over the rim of her glasses but he kept his poker face.

"Lost your voice?" She asked. Still Aaron didn't say a word and the doctor gave a sigh, handed him his meds and watched him shamelessly when he put his shirt back on. With two long strides the man was by the door, grabbed the handle and stopped.

"See? You like when I talk to you." He smirked and left.

#5

The door opened and Five entered the room. It was too early, he shouldn't be here in another three weeks or so. He stumbled and fell to the floor the sound of his labored breath filling the whole lab. With a whispered curse Marta was by his side and grabbed his shoulders so that he would not fall to the floor face forward but it was hard to hold him upright because his chin rolled onto his chest every now and then. The doctor steadied him and grabbed his chin, forced him to look into her eyes.

Five wasn't able to focus and as she had already seen that he was not wounded she reckoned that it was some sort of venom or medication that made him dizzy. With all of her strength she pulled him up and placed him on the cot, which was hard because Five was heavier than he looked. Pure muscle weighed more than fat and there wasn't any fat on his body. He made a sound like he wanted to say something but Marta ignored it and laid him down safely.

"I...I didn't know" He coughed. "Didn't know where else... to go." The Outcome agent breathed and coughed again. Blood poured out of the corner of his mouth and the sight made Marta work faster. She leaned over him, making some fast tests to verify what it was that made him sicker and weaker by the minute. For a short moment she looked into his stormy gray eyes and they seemed clear. He smiled. A true smile that reached his eyes. "Gods, doc, you're so fuckin' beautiful." He didn't see the smile that spread on the woman's face because he sank into blackness.

#6

"They make us do things that no normal man or woman would do." The man on her cot said with a dark voice, his eyes lowered towards the floor. He looked gloomy since he had entered the room and Marta wondered what this was all about. No other agent had ever talked to her when they were with her. "You see... they think we have no conscience. But killing is not as easy as they make us believe." A lump formed in Marta's throat and she thought of something reassuring to say but as she couldn't think of anything she kept silent.

"I hate it." Five said. "I always see the terror in their eyes when they die." Marta came close to him, pretending that she was looking closely at the side of his head.

"There are cameras in this lab. They can see you and hear what you say." She breathed with such a hushed voice that he barely heard it. But Marta knew that his senses were better than those of normal people and he slowly turned his head to look into her eyes. She didn't go back and so they stayed like this for a few seconds. Aaron could feel her breath on his face and locked his gaze with hers, nodding ever so slightly.

"Thanks for your help the last time I was here." Aaron changed the subject and Marta nodded and stood up.

"We're here to help you." She said with a slight smile and it melted the agent's heart. She really was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and it seemed as if she opened up on him. At least a little bit.

#7

Aaron sat on the cot and smiled when Marta watched him closely. With slow deliberate movements he pulled his shirt over his head and let it fall to the floor. She raised an eyebrow and the corners of her mouth twitched but she didn't break into the smile that definitely was there. She came closer and raised her hand that held a syringe but before she could pierce him with the needle he grabbed her wrist and held it firmly. She didn't say a word, she didn't seem afraid of him, the only reaction was a raised eyebrow and a question in her eyes.

It made an impression on him that she didn't seem afraid and it was strange but it warmed his heart. Most people were afraid of him. Most likely because they sensed the danger he brought. Five waited but the doctor didn't pull her hand back, she just waited. He looked at her, tried to read her mind but after some time he let her wrist go but not her gaze. She licked her lips and the agent watched her while she did it. It was the only sign that she was nervous in his presence. He had never seen it in her before.

Carefully Marta Shearing pierced his skin and watched as the blood poured out of his vein. They didn't say a word this time but when Aaron got up Marta followed him to the door and hid her hands from the camera while putting something into the back pocket of his jeans. He raised his eyebrows when she touched his ass but remained silent. Obviously this had nothing to do with her examinations, this was private. He hoped that it was her phone number when he pulled out the small piece of paper later. But it wasn't. It was just three words in a neat handwriting:

"You are different."

#8

When Aaron entered the lab for the eighth time Marta turned around and gave him a huge smile. Wow, that was more than unexpected... but such a beautiful smile. The agent closed the door and pulled off his shirt. It was his routine and he liked the way the doctor looked at him. When he hopped onto the cot Marta leaned against a table and crossed her arms over her chest.

"The cameras are turned off for maintenance today." She informed him and he eyed her carefully. He didn't believe a word she said.

"Proof it." He said, his voice commanding. Her face showed confusion.

"You don't believe me?" As if it was unbelievable that he was cautious. Within a split second Aaron jumped from the cot and had pressed his body against the doctor's, feeling her warmth on the naked skin of his chest while she gave a surprised yelp. She didn't try to get away from him, she just stood there, staring into his deep eyes. He lowered his head as if to rest it on her shoulder.

"Why am I different?" He asked close to her ear, his breath tickling the sensitive shell. "Tell me, doctor Marta. Do you drop a paper into the back pocket of every agent?" Five definitely sounded possessive when he spoke.

"No." Was the simple answer. This time he believed what she said. And now he also knew the camera really was off, otherwise her reaction would be different. He could read people like open books and she told the truth.

"So, why am I different?"

"You are not the obedient agent like the others. They never say a word when they are here, they just sit there and wait until it's over, but you... And you question what you do. What they do. You think for yourself." With sudden shock in his eyes Aaron stumbled back from the woman and stared at her eyes. His lips moved like he wanted to say something, but he was silent. Marta looked concerned.

Kenneth had never been intelligent, he never thought for himself, he was always glad when others made decisions for him. But he wasn't Kenneth any longer. He was Aaron, now and people didn't see the dumb child in him any longer.

"What's wrong with you?" Marta asked and came closer to him. She was missing the warmth and strength of his body.

"Nothing." Five mumbled and gave a smile. He changed back to the man, the agent Marta had seen before. But she knew there was more to him. He really was different from the other agents, he cared, he had a conscience and a heart. She had felt it beating against her chest and now she wished to feel it again.

#9

The cameras were back on again and Aaron eyed them suspiciously. It had been nice to talk to Marta openly the last time but now she was profession all over again. The agent still thought about her words, they had made him feel better. It had been the only nice words that a person had said to him in a long time. Since he had started as an Outcome agent.

"We need to do some more examinations this time." Marta told him. "I need to get you to sleep."

"Anesthesia?" Aaron asked alarmed but she already had the injection ready and pierced it into his biceps. He stared at her with wide eyes and fought the sleepiness that wanted to take a hold on him. "No!" It was a nightmare to be exposed to another person and completely helpless. The doctor's delicate hands gently grabbed the sides of his face.

"Count backwards from hundred. Relax and let go." Her soft voice said and Aaron enjoyed the skin contact and obediently began to count as she told him.

"Hundred, ninety nine..." Did he count in Russian? He didn't realize it for his vision went black.

When he woke up again, Marta was there with him and held his hand in hers. At first he thought that she was checking his pulse but she just held his hand. It was a nice feeling and he remembered her hands on his cheeks. For the first time in his life Aaron realized that he liked to be touched, it made him feel a little bit safer. Strange how things can change...

#10

As he was an agent – and a very good one! – Aaron now knew where Doctor Shearing lived: a huge house deep in the woods, all on her own, no husband, no boyfriend, no children, seldom visited by friends or family (the man had seen another woman with her just once) and most of the time she was late at home after work. He felt bad for spying on her but he desperately wanted to know where she lived and what her habits were but it seemed as if she only lived for her work as a scientist. It fitted the image he had of her. Still Aaron remembered the feeling of her warm skin against his and what it had felt like when she had held his hand when he woke up last time. It was strange that he reacted so intense but closeness was something he had never experienced in his whole life and only now did he feel the loneliness and the emptiness it brought.

When he entered the examination room this time it felt different. Marta was there, a tiny smile on her lips and Aaron wished that it was there because of him. Nevertheless he doubted it somehow. She was his doctor, he was her lab rat. With a sudden pang he noticed that she didn't see him as a man but as an interesting test object – he hated it, because it meant that Aaron Cross would never lead a normal life if he really wanted to. Sometimes he mused what might happen when he grew older. Outcome wouldn't need him any longer and he would sometime be Kenneth again. Dumb. Weak. Useless.

"Hey doc." The agent greeted her and tried to act like he usually did but she had noticed the change in him.

"Do you feel sick today?" She asked and stepped closer to him to examine his face. With her pen light she looked closer at his eyes, then she put it back into her pocket and grabbed his face in both hands, gently examining his face and down to his neck. Aaron couldn't help shutting his eyes and before he was able to do something about it a slight gasp escaped his lips. "Oh." Was all Marta said, when she realized how he reacted to her touch and Aaron opened his eyes with an apologetic look in them.

"Sorry." He whispered and tried to smile but it wasn't easy this time. 'She is just a doctor' He reminded himself, stepped back from her to remove his shirt and sat down on the cot. Marta came over with the strangest expression on her face, her eyes roaming over his body and face. "Like what you see?" The agent asked. He was his usual self again when he caught her staring at him.

"Depends." Marta answered without a smile.

"On what?"

"Your blood sample." A syringe appeared in her hand and she pierced his biceps before the man could say another word. It stung. Not the needle but her words.

"I hope I'm the only lab rat that you look at like this…" Aaron tried. Marta's eyes shot up from the needle to his eyes with something in them that hadn't been there before. Realization. Something in the woman shifted and she stood up again, clearing her throat.

"Well, I can't say you aren't interesting." She murmured and turned away from him. A smile spread on Aaron's lips. Maybe he shouldn't give up getting through to her.

#11

Five wasn't walking into her lab this time. They brought him to her on a stretcher, his face swollen, cuts and blood all over his handsome features. His clothes were torn, his shirt mostly ripped off his upper body, his jeans also covered in blood. Marta gasped and after her initial shock she switched to being all professional and put on gloves before she took a closer look at him. He had some minor cuts on his forehead, temples and all over his head but she found a huge wound at the back of his head where someone had hit him hard. That blow to the head must have knocked him out for sure. She hoped that there was no serious damage. Of all Outcome agents he was the one she found most interesting and would hate to lose him. And he was always so nice to her.

"Don't die." She whispered while caring for his wounds. She checked his pulse and his heartbeat. It beat strong in his chest and Marta breathed a sigh of relief. His pupils gave normal reactions. He would be okay, but it would take a few days. Any other man would be dead by now... Marta shivered at the thought.

When the doctor was finished with her treatment she stepped back and called for a colleague. They would bring Five into another, secluded room where he could sleep and heal over the next few days. Shearing knew the routine: whenever an Outcome agent was wounded like this they would take him to the infirmary for three days. If he didn't wake up within three days he would be out of the program. Five had become something special to her and she pleaded to whatever God there was that he would wake up in time. She hated to admit it, but she would miss the examinations on him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was a dream, he was sure. He was captured and chained to a chair or something like that. With hard pulls he tried to get his hands free, when he heard a distant voice reach him.

"You should wake up, handsome one." It said and he stopped struggling against the chains to listen. Aaron knew the voice, he knew the face that belonged to this voice and it gave him a feeling of comfort to hear the gentle voice. "Time's nearly up. Open your eyes!" The voice was barely a whisper but his enhanced hearing caught them easily. Gods, he wanted to see the woman. He wanted to feel her hands on his skin. It was hard but he opened his eyes.

Cold light from the ceiling greeted him and beeping noises told him that he was in a hospital. His doctor was next to him and gave him a relieved smile. The beeping increased when he tried to move but couldn't. His arms and legs were fixed to the bed and instantly the disorientation was replaced by a feeling of alarm and Aaron looked at her with huge eyes, the question openly on his face. Marta grabbed her stethoscope and pressed it to his upper chest, then went lower.

"Shh..." She hushed him. "You're safe. Everything will be fine." The woman placed the stethoscope around her neck again and grabbed his wrist to check his pulse. Aaron instantly relaxed at her touch even if it was just medical attention. But her hand lingered when she was satisfied that he was okay and her thumb gently caressed his hand. With a confused look Aaron watched her hand on his but hastily averted his eyes so that she wouldn't notice what she did and wouldn't stop.

"Thanks, doc." Aaron breathed, his voice rough. He tried to move again but wasn't able to shift one little bit. The woman's hand gently went up and down his lower arm and the agent closed his eyes with a relaxed sigh. He would lie here for ages if she would just touch him in such a gentle way. No one had ever touched him like this and it felt great, he wanted more. He had been told that social contacts were dangerous but how could something so enthralling be a danger to him?

"I will take off the restraints. You tried to fight us in your sleep, so it was safer to bind you." Marta explained and began to open the straps. Aaron hated when her hand stopped caressing him. He wasn't even sure if she had noticed what she had done...

"Will you stay with me tonight?" The agent asked, again with that sly smile on his lips. Marta smiled back at him. An open and honest smile.

"Though I would like to, I have paperwork that will only grow worse when I don't do anything about it." She said.

"Too bad." Aaron felt his eyes close again as he drifted off to sleep. He was so damn tired "I would have loved you to hold me..."

#12

"Will you go out with me, doc?" Aaron asked straight out and she looked at him blankly. She was tempted to say yes because she wanted to see him outside of her lab, how he would react when he was around other people. It would be most interesting. And maybe, just maybe she was even interested in him. Her heart beat in her throat when she thought about an answer. "You want to, beautiful scientist." Aaron breathed and her eyes caught his.

"I will let you know when you come to me the next time."

There was no next time.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

TBC

AN II: The second chapter is nearly finished.

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