by Juno Wells
"That helps." She smiled, then winced. Her burned hand moved over her side, searching for something. "How bad is it?"
He hesitated, wanting to lie, but knew she'd want the truth. "It's not good. That cannon got you full-on, so you've got quite a few burns. I don't know if the transport made it worse."
"It sure as hell didn't make it better." Heidi sighed. "Pop that engineer in the mouth for me, for not testing his equipment before letting you use it."
"It was a last-resort option, so it's not entirely his fault." Vrix adjusted the oxygen mask on her, then pushed to his feet. "I'm going to check on Griggs, see if there's anything we can do. I haven't heard anything in a while."
Heidi nodded but there wasn't much strength in her. Vrix gritted his teeth and stumbled into the hall, trying to remember the way to the bridge or the security office or wherever Griggs might go to wreak havoc. He got only a few feet before shadows marked the hall ahead and he braced himself for a fight without his dagger or a stunner or anything, and managed to drop into a fighting crouch without falling all the way to the floor.
He'd die to give Griggs a few more minutes to secure the ship, to give her and Heidi a fighting chance. He owed them that. Vrix growled and dredged up enough rage to raise his spikes in warning.
He leapt the moment someone came around the corner, and landed full on Frrar, bowling into Rowan and Vaant as the engineer toppled over. Vaant cursed and picked him up. "What the hell are you doing?"
Vrix didn't bother with an explanation, and instead picked up the female doctor and carried her back to the equipment room where Heidi waited. He put the doctor down right next to the injured woman. "Fix her. Immediately."
Maisy squeaked, a little pale at being manhandled, but caught sight of the patient and immediately went to work.
When Vrix turned to join the group on the way to find Griggs, though, Mrax stood in his way with another set of medical tools. "Good job, Vrix. Now sit down so I can look at you."
"Not a chance." Vrix shouldered his way past the doctor, though he knew that Mrax let him shove him aside and probably could have knocked Vrix over with a well-aimed punch. "Griggs was headed for the bridge."
"She took control of the ship," Vaant said. Trazzak chuckled as he dragged Frrar upright, the engineer still dazed from being the brunt of Vrix's attack, and the captain looked at them both. "Have Mrax look at him while we assist Griggs. Engineers aren't meant for that kind of fighting."
Vrix snorted. "I'll consider us even for the transporter bullshit."
He wouldn't have admitted it for the world, but every bone in his body hurt as they headed for the bridge. He knew Vaant slowed their pace so Vrix wouldn't be left behind. Vrix was grateful the captain understood, and held his breath as they reached the door and finally stepped onto the bridge.
Griggs sprawled in the captain's chair, holding an impressive rifle on two disgruntled and restrained Fleet officers, but managed to wobble to her feet as they entered. "Welcome aboard my ship."
Vrix grinned and shuffled toward her, wishing he could move faster. "Congratulations. I knew you could do it."
She smiled back and took a step toward him. Rowan popped out from behind Trazzak, her expression comical. "What the fuck are you wearing?"
Griggs flushed and opened her mouth to respond, but Trazzak frowned at her and pointed at her legs. "And what's wrong with your feet?"
Vrix growled, feeling more protective of her, and Griggs put her hands on her hips as she faced them. "If your engineer had—"
Before she could finish, though, the color drained out of her face and her eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the floor. Vrix froze. He couldn't breathe. The entire ship collapsed around him, and he went to his knees next to her. She had to be okay. She still held his dagger, and she still owned his hearts.
She had to be okay.
Griggs
She woke up in a room she didn't recognize, but it wasn't on Caihiri, so it was fine by her. Everything was a blur after Vrix showed up at the warehouse as the Slasu beat her, and the hazy memory spared her some of the more gruesome details of what the Slasu planned.
Griggs opened her eyes and tried to lift her head, searching for Vrix, but Maisy popped up next to her instead.
The doctor exhaled a gusty sigh and immediately hugged Griggs where she lay. "Newton's spectacles, Cici, I'm so glad to see you awake. How do you feel?"
Like warmed-over shit in a puddle of warm spit. Griggs winced and gingerly patted Maisy's back. "Not great. What the hell happened?"
Maisy retreated and fussed with some of the machines hooked to Griggs. "Let me get that pain medication adjusted. Let me know when you feel it."
Almost instantly, a strange warmth rushed through her and Griggs felt herself floating at least a foot off the bed. Everything got slow and soft; even the pain dulled to a distant ache. "I…wow. I think that's it."
"Good." Maisy sat on the edge of the bed, flipping back the sheets to look at the lash wounds all up and down her chest, back, and sides. "What's the last thing you remember?"
The medication made it tough to concentrate, but Griggs wasn't about to suggest that Maisy turn it down. "I was in a warehouse and one of the slavers beat me. Then Vrix was there, and we tried to get Heidi. Everything else is kind of... hazy."
"Mmmm." Maisy nodded, then shined a small light in Griggs's eyes. "It could be the trauma or the transporter. We'll have to figure that out."
"The transporter?" Griggs stared down at herself, trying to remember. She thought transporters were impossible, or at least still in testing. No one had successfully jumped through space-time to another physical location. She blinked, head tilting as she saw her feet for the first time. "Wait…what the hell is wrong with my feet?"
"They're backward," Maisy said, matter of fact. As if it wasn't something to be concerned about. "Your arms, too. That was definitely the transporter. Rowan and Frrar weren't sure what the side effects would be, but we've identified a few."
"This is a side effect?" She held up her hands and stared at the thumbs on the wrong sides. Griggs's head swam as she tried to process the new information. "Is it permanent?"
"We don't think so. I wanted to wait until you were awake to attempt the next couple of procedures, but we should be able to get everything back to normal." Maisy sounded damn confident, but Griggs wasn't so sure.
Before she could dig through the porridge in her head for something else about a transporter, a bigger concern flashed through her mind like lightning. "Heidi. What about Heidi?"
"She's safe," Maisy said. The doctor's smile wavered as she patted Griggs's uninjured leg. "She was hurt in the fight to get out of the warehouse, from what Vrix said, and she's still in the sick bay on the Argo. We brought you back to the Galaxos when it was safe to move you. Heidi was burned quite a bit from some of the weapons, and we're not sure how the transporter affected her. She's breathing okay, though, and she's talking. It's just her progress is slow."
Griggs blinked long and slow, the porridge getting thicker with each passing moment. "Vrix. Where's Vrix?"
She couldn't admit it to Maisy, but she'd hoped that Vrix would be there with her when she woke. She didn't want to feel disappointed, since he deserved a good rest after all they'd been through, and infirmaries weren't particularly restful for the well.
"He's right over there," Maisy said, a hint of a smile crossing her face as she gestured at the next bed over. "After you passed out on the Argo, he went a little... berserk is the best word for it, I think. Completely ape-shit is how Rowan described it. His wounds caught up with him about then, and Trazzak and Vaant had to drag him back to the Galaxos so we could treat him. Vrix lost a great deal of blood, and apparently the Xaravians have a tough time generating more. Since the Galaxos is optimized to treat them, we brought him here and he's receiving a few transfusions and a little help creating more blood. We figured you'd want to be in the same room."
Griggs flushed and tried to scowl. "I don't think—
"
"There's this," Maisy said, and patted the bed next to Griggs's shoulder. "He gave you his dagger. Apparently that's quite a big deal. Vaant was speechless for a good half hour, which Isla found very amusing."
Griggs blinked, trying to remember how she ended up with Vrix's dagger. She definitely remembered their night together, which contributed to her burning cheeks, but after the space chickens showed up at the warehouse... It was all a blur. She rubbed her forehead with her left-right hand, struggling to focus. "Wait…we were on the Argo?"
"Oh yes, Captain." Maisy smiled more, and got up to fuss with some of the monitors. "The transporter sent you to the location of the Heisenberg engineering room where it had been a few moments before, but apparently because the ship moved, you ended up in the location, except the Argo was there instead. You're lucky the Argo moved in, otherwise you could have ended up transporting into space."
"I think I need to strangle Rowan. What the fuck were they thinking?" Griggs collapsed back against the pillow, exhausted, though she kept Vrix in her peripheral vision. He was so still and silent, completely unconscious. She didn't like seeing the Xaravian like that. She wanted him teasing her about her jacked up hands and feet, not sedated and silent.
Maisy glanced at a communicator on her wrist, then patted Griggs's hand. "I know. She's ready to get her ass kicked, as soon as you're feeling up to it with your two left feet."
"Seriously, I'm going to get out of this bed and—" Griggs lurched up to swat at her as Maisy giggled and retreated.
The doctor winked, gesturing over her shoulder. "I'll get you some food so you can keep up your strength. We'll start the procedures to fix your limbs tomorrow, once you're a little more steady."
She disappeared out the door, still laughing, and as the door whooshed shut, Griggs found herself alone with Vrix once more. It was the quietest he'd ever been.
She didn't like it.
Griggs checked the various wires and tubes connected to her, figured they were all long enough, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Luckily Vrix was just a short distance away, almost close enough to touch from her bed, so it didn't take long for her to pick up his dagger and bring it with her over to his bed. She meant to just give him the dagger back, uneasy with the weight of responsibility for carrying it, but he looked so peaceful and warm. All she could remember was how well she slept when tangled up in his arms.
For the first time in a long time, she didn't care if everyone knew how she felt. She loved Vrix and missed him, worried about him, needed to be next to him. The rest of the crew could all go fuck themselves if they didn't like it. She could deal with the teasing later. So she placed the dagger on the mattress near his head and crawled onto the massive bed next to him. At least the Galaxos sick bay had enormous comfortable beds, with more than enough room for both of them to fit easily. Griggs winced as her wounds pulled and a few started to bleed, but she dragged the sheets from her bed over to cover them as she lay on her side next to Vrix.
When she rested her head on his chest, she could hear the double beat of his hearts in a reassuring, steady thump that dragged her toward sleep. Just before her eyes settled closed, Vrix grumbled and moved until he held her close to his side, wrapped up in his arms, and his chin rested on top of her head. Griggs sighed and closed her eyes. Perfect.
As soon as they were feeling better, they could go kick Frrar's ass, maybe Rowan's too. Together.
Vrix
It took several days for them to feel back to normal. Vrix didn't realize he'd lost so much blood, and hated being tied to the machines in the sick bay that helped regenerate what he'd lost. It helped that Griggs remained in sick bay despite how much she argued and threatened Maisy and Mrax; in the end Maisy threatened to tie her to the bed so they could finally fix her arms and legs. At least he had entertainment.
Vaant still wouldn't let him ignore that Vrix gave Griggs his dagger, and badgered him about going back to Xarav to make it official. Vrix hesitated, and not because he didn't want Griggs as his mate. He worried she'd accepted the dagger without knowing what it meant. That wasn't the kind of conversation he wanted to have in the sick bay, when anyone could just walk in to say hello. He put it off again and again, instead enjoying the time they spent dozing in the sick bay.
The ships retreated to a wilder part of the quadrant so the crew could repair and refit the Galaxos and Heisenberg, and Vaant and Isla decided the fate of the Argo crew. They didn't deliberate very long on the officers who helped restrain the female crew and hand them over to the Xaravians, and dropped them off on a moderately inhospitable planet being terraformed into a livable colony for Earthers and similar species. The younger officers and enlisted were given two choices: serve as crew on one of the other ships, or take their pay and be dropped off on a neutral planet so they could decide whether to return to the Fleet or not. Griggs didn't really like either of those options, at least from what she told Vrix, but he didn't mind. Young males and females often followed authority without question, and he couldn't blame them for following most of the orders they received.
And since Witz handing over the female crew brought Griggs into Vrix's life, Vrix thought it all worked out in the end.
Regardless of how they fell asleep or what machines were hooked up or how vehemently Maisy warned Griggs not to move, inevitably Vrix woke up to Griggs curled up into him. He loved every minute of it. He knew she had trouble opening up and being vulnerable, and he was more than willing to wait for whatever she wanted to say, but the small gestures meant even more even in their silence. His presence comforted her in the sterile sick bay, and she wanted to be next to him. Vrix felt more like a badass warrior every morning when Griggs chose him again.
Which was hard as hell, when he couldn't take action on how much he wanted her. Mrax warned him against having relations with Griggs when they were both weak and the engineers were sorting out the possible side effects from the transporter, because the consequences couldn't be foretold. It took a few years off Vrix's life not to drag her clothes off and roll her under him the moment they were both awake.
After three days, Mrax finally shook his head and said they could go, though he advised at least a week of rest and recuperation before anything... strenuous. Vrix was out the door with Griggs in his arms before the doctor could even finish the sentence.
He headed straight for his quarters, snarling at anyone who looked at them, and nearly whacked Griggs's head against the wall as he dove through the doors before they opened more than a sliver. She gave him a dark look, rubbing her neck. "Patience, man. Patience."
"You drive me wild," he said. "I have no patience when it comes to you."
She started to smile, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Clearly."
Vrix dropped her on his bed and stood back, surveying how she looked sprawled across his sheets, and bit back a groan of satisfaction. Finally.
He wasted no time whatsoever in getting her undressed, quickly pulling the pants from her legs and the top from her chest, every shred of fabric practically torn from her in a matter of moments. She was his, and he fully intended to enjoy everything she had to offer now that everything had fallen into place. Nothing could have possibly made him wait a moment more—not a fire, or Alliance communique, or spatial anomaly. Nothing.
Vrix closed the distance between them quickly, sliding onto the bed to kneel between her legs, his hands roaming over her sides and belly before trailing up her arms, pinning them to the firm mattress.
“No more risks, you hear me? I can’t stand the thought of something happening to you. No… weaponless warehouse raids, no solo missions to take whole Alliance ships. I’m with you, Cecily. You’ll never have to do that, or anything else, alone again.”
She nodded her agreement, her bottom lip tucked lightly between her teeth in anticipation.
When he was sure she understood, he leaned down to kiss her softly before easing both hands down her full breasts, squeezing in admiration as he licked his lips.
They truly were strikingly beautiful—pale, save for the prominent rosy-pink nipple situated just-so at the center. To him, it seemed every bit a target, and one he couldn’t ignore.
He leaned down to take the right nipple into his mouth, setting immediately to suckling and nipping gently, sending Griggs groaning and kicking beneath him at the suddenness of the sensation. Either he was really good at what he was doing, or she wasn’t used to having her breasts lavished so eagerly—didn’t matter to him. He’d been aching to spend more time appreciating every inch of her, and no amount of kicking or wild giggling would dissuade him now that he had her all to himself.
The other breast was taken in hand, the silken texture of her skin a stark contrast to his rough palms. It felt almost sacrilegious to press something so dissimilar to the alabaster flesh, so he took care to squeeze gently and move with feather-light care, causing the nipple beneath his palm to harden at his touch. At that, he abandoned the thought entirely and took it firmly between his fingers, pinching and pulling until he drew an entirely different sort of cry from Griggs.
It was alien—of course—but more specifically it was something he’d never heard from her at all. It was pained, no doubt about that, but it barely hid a deep pleasure in the pain, something he’d only seen from her as she rode him. She seemed to derive a good bit of enjoyment from that pain, and he was more than eager to be a little rougher with her. He raked his nails lightly over her sensitive flesh, sending her shivering beneath him, her moan growing louder as his suckling intensified. The twisting and pulling motions at her nipples soon had her making sounds not entirely unlike those that passed her lips as she approached climax, and he brought his eyes up to her flushed face.
“Mm… going to come for me already?”
She shot him a strange sort of look, somewhere between sheepish and annoyed. “N-no…”
Lie. Just gyrating her hips against him and having her nipples played with, she was obviously close, but he certainly wasn’t going to let her get there. Not before he’d had all he intended to.