by Anna Lewis
At least if they died, they would all be together. That might not be the outcome that she wanted, but it was much better than nothing…
***
As soon as they stepped through the door, one of the guys inside grabbed Talia without her even seeing him, and he pulled her to one side, strapping her arms behind her wide back. She struggled violently against her captor, but she found herself so distracted by the three aliens looming over B that she didn’t keep up the fight for as long as she should have done. She was annoyed that they’d obviously been expecting them, and that they’d clearly walked into a trap, but her mind was currently spending most of its energy trying to work out what the hell was going on.
At first, she thought that the room was filled with an awkward silence, but she soon realized that the aliens were communicating in a way that seemed to be more normal to them – through their minds. Talia felt incredibly frustrated that she had no idea what was happening, but there wasn’t a damn thing that she could do about that. She was just going to have to wait and hope that soon things would be made clear to her.
She hoped that they were sorting something out, and that things would be peaceful, and that she and B and Wade might get a shot at a happy life together, but it quickly became clear that wasn’t going to happen. Her heart sank.
But as one of the alien attackers lurched out at B and started to fight him, a scream to burst from her chest and she snapped into action.
Once she realized that this was actually a dangerous situation, something flipped inside of her. As soon as that changed within her, she felt the old her come back, the badass one, the one who could take down any damn alien that crossed her path, especially in hand-to-hand combat. She had spent much of the war alone, fighting and defending just herself, and that had turned her into a capable warrior. As soon as she’d met B and Wade and they’d gone into hiding, she had softened due to love and the new emotions she was feeling. She had also found herself consumed by a lot of fear – it was a lot harder to survive when you actually had something to live for, someone to defend, but now that had all come to a head and her brain managed to zone in once more on only the battle, only what she needed to do to live. Of course she was distracted by B and his fight – she really didn’t want him to get hurt – but somehow she managed to ignore that and focus only on the thing she needed to do.
She yanked her arms away from the alien holding her, and turned to punch him violently in the face, knocking him to the ground. It was as though she was on automatic. She might not have understood just what was going on, but she was glad that her hand-to-hand combat skills could come into play. It was the one real advantage that humans had always had over the Ec’dua, and Talia felt good that she could use that too.
It had always been known that the aliens were good when it came to fighting with their superior technology – that left them leaps and bounds ahead of humans – but in one-on-one fights, with no weapons involved, humans were so much better, and in that moment in time, Talia was one of the best. She was always able to use her additional size and weight to her advantage.
Luckily B was holding his own too, attacking everyone fiercely, and despite the fact that he was Ec’dua too so he didn’t have that advantage, he actually seemed to be doing okay. Maybe it was because he had a stronger motivation to win, just like Talia did. With only Wade on both of their minds, and the incredible desire to at least try and keep him safe, they were both exactly as focused as they needed to be.
Talia just needed to get to Wade now. She needed to find him and to check that he was okay before all of this got out of hand. This was already getting pretty crazy, and she was still none the wiser on how he was doing. She wanted to ask the aliens, to try and get some answers for herself how he was doing, but she knew that was never going to happen in the middle of this violent melee.
But it suddenly hit her that B might know – he had been communicating silently with them after all. Maybe during their exchange he’s learned something that could give her that extra kick of motivation.
“What’s going on?” she screamed at B over the top of the chaos, praying that he could hear her. “What’s happening? Is Wade okay? Do you know?”
Her heart pounded noisily in her chest, but she didn’t stop fighting. Fear crept through her brains, but she continued to work through it and to punch and kick and elbow until she was all but standing alone.
“He’s okay,” B eventually replied, the second he got a chance to speak freely. “He’s their hostage. They haven’t killed him, he’s just hurt. He’ll be okay…”
“Don’t they know the war is over?” she screamed in frustration. What was going on here? It was supposed to be done now, things were supposed to be changing. Why were the Ec’dua now fighting among themselves? Sure, things hadn’t gone the way that they’d planned, but it was over now… why continue it unnecessarily?
She smashed her fist, and kicked her feet savagely, and hit whatever she could, not even looking at what she was connecting with anymore, desperate to put an end to this brawl. It seemed pointless when they had more important things to be worrying about. They had this peace treaty to understand, to know what was going to happen next. They didn’t need this. Talia was more concerned with what was going to happen next, how their future would pan out – another battle was the absolute last thing that she needed to be focusing on.
“This faction of the Ec’dua is angry at the rebels,” B continued, trying to help her understand what they were up against. “They blame them for the loss of the war and for some reason they seem to think that by torturing Wade, they gain information and scare the rebels. They hope to end the rebellion, regather their strength, and resume the invasion of Earth.”
“What?? Those bastards!” Talia screamed. “Haven’t they done enough?”
By the time the other aliens were all knocked down and beaten, Talia was done with even looking at them, so she rushed into the other room to check on the other love of her life, Wade. She knew that they didn’t have long before the aliens came back around and called for reinforcements and she didn’t want any of them to be there for that. If Wade could move she needed to get them out before things got out of hand all over again.
“Wade,” she touched his body lightly, her body trembling with fear, shaking him, half expecting him to feel cold. He was bruised, and bloodied. One of his eyes was closed and swollen, having been hit there. “Wade wake up.”
As he stirred, making some noise, relief flooded through Talia – he was alive! That was really all that mattered by that point. He was okay and they could now save him.
“Wade, are you okay?” she gasped loudly, clinging onto his hand tightly, not wanting to let him go.
“They… they want to kill me,” he rasped, struggling to even get any words out. It was even more difficult that he had to speak in English, rather than his native language, but of course he would do it for Talia, she meant the world to him. He would do anything for her. Plus he really needed her to understand – this was vital. “They think I started the rebellion and that it’s my fault they lost war. They blame me for what they think is the demise of the Ec’dua race. One of them is the ring leader of the group that kidnapped you, which has made them even more annoyed. The fact that B and I have broken the cardinal rule to sleep with you has made this even worse.” He was babbling, not sure if he was making any sense, but from the look on Talia’s face she had at least gotten some of it.
“B is out there, with them still,” Talia whispered as guilt flowed painfully through her. She felt like all of this was her fault, and that if B and Wade hadn’t met her, things could be so much better for them both. “They are subdued for now, but won’t be for long. What are we going to do?”
“Tell B to kill them while he can,” Wade sat up, panicking but his body was in too much pain for him to actually get up and do anything. “He needs to murder them now while they’re down before they do it to him. They won’t show any mercy; they only stopped
torturing me because they sensed him nearby. Don’t let him die. Please.”
Talia was forced to leave Wade, which she hated to do, but she knew that was what she needed if she was going to rescue her other love. She couldn’t have just Wade or B, she needed them both. Her life didn’t work without both of them involved, and she couldn’t lose them, not yet, not like this…
“Kill them!” she screamed through the door at B. “Wade says to kill them now, they need to be dead!”
***
Talia couldn’t get the image of the aliens being killed by B out of her head, no matter how hard she tried. The scene had been brutal, and made even worse by the fact that she had to help him dispose of the bodies. But a few nightmares was better than what could have happened. She could have lost everyone, and after losing her dad before she was ready to do so, she knew just how painful that could be. She tried to keep that thought at the forefront of her mind at all times.
After the bodies were disposed of and the mess cleaned up, they made the snap decision to stay back at the cottage for a while, citing Wade’s injuries and his intense need to recover. Although, that was entirely true. The real reason had a lot more to do with the fact that they didn’t know anything about what was happening in the rest of the world, and they didn’t want to go out and face that just yet. All three of them needed time to get ready for that.
Another reason was that they hadn’t expected to get any extra time together at all, and they really wanted to make the most of their reunion before they were torn apart again. If the Ec’dua race was sent back out there into the galaxy, then their relationship would fall apart for sure, but they weren’t sure that they would be able to keep it together even if they could stay on Earth either. How would people react if they found out what the three of them had been doing together? They would be disgusted about it, that was for sure, and most likely reject them. That thought plagued Talia the entire time.
She just wished she could live in the fantasy for a little while longer, to enjoy what she had before her world was forced to change all over again. She wasn’t anywhere near ready to return to a solo life. She wasn’t sure how she would survive without Wade and B. But she knew that she was going to have to prepare herself for that possibility, just in case.
“How is he doing?” she asked B for what felt like the hundredth time, needing a distraction from her constant negative thoughts. “How are his injuries?”
B kept telling her that Wade was getting better and that he was making some very obvious improvements, but she couldn’t see it for herself. He didn’t look any better to her, he looked sickly and ill. He still looked like he was dying, that his vitality as not returning. She didn’t want him to die now, not after all that they’d done to try and keep him alive.
B told her exactly what had been done to Wade and why, and that made her feel sick to her stomach. It really put a dilemma in her heart. One the one hand, she really couldn’t stand the idea of B and Wade leaving, but on the other, she didn’t really want the rest of the Ec’dua race to stay on Earth. That seemed far too dangerous, if the ones unhappy with the war result were going to do things like that had done to Wade. But of course she couldn’t have one without the other.
“He’s getting there,” B smiled at her, doing his best to reassure her. With his telepathic ability, he knew just how deep her feelings ran, how concerned she was, but no matter what he said he couldn’t seem to get through to her that everything really was going to be okay. Wade was doing really well, he was pulling through this fine, and she would soon see that everything would work out in the end. “He’ll be alright soon enough. Time is a great healer. Just you wait and see.”
B pulled her in for a deep hug and he tried to use that to calm down her mood, but even his ability to manipulate the mood of the room wasn’t enough. She so utterly distressed that it was beyond his abilities to help her.
“The hard part is over now,” he tried to tell her, wanting her to focus on something else instead. “The war is done. At least we can stop fighting.”
Talia nodded against his chest, refusing to vocalize her feelings inside. She wanted to be as confident as he felt, she wanted to feel the same way that he did. But to her it felt like the true fighting had only just begun.
The war had been a fight for the planet, a battle that she’d gotten involved in because she had no choice, but the battle to save her relationship was one that she would fight because she truly believed in it, in them.
Their relationship would never be accepted by anyone else. Firstly, because they were from different planets, and secondly, because they were a threesome. Even the Ec’dua and their notions of free love might not accept their love, because inter-species relationships were truly frowned upon.
Everyone was surely going to be against them, and that was going to be really difficult. In the war, even though she herself had fought alone, she’d at least had the rest of the human race on her side. Now there would only be the three of them against the rest of the galaxy – and that was totally daunting in every way possible.
Maybe they would have to just stay in the cottage where everything felt safe. They could just be there forever, surely. Couldn’t they? It was the only place that they’d ever been safe from the rest of the world, and Talia was becoming increasingly convinced that it would be the best place for them to just live out the rest of their days. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but surely it’d be better than any alternative?
She glanced over to B, wondering if she should just suggest it to him now, to try and get him on board with her crazy plan, but she could see from the expression on his face that he was back to solely focusing on Wade and his improvement.
No, she was going to have to tackle where they would live at a later date, when the possibility to move on was more real. For now she was just going to have to try and stop panicking about the future, focusing on the present moment instead.
***
B was right when it came to Wade’s recovery. Despite her initial doubts, Talia started to see a very quick improvement in him. She was so glad, she cried tears of relief. In what felt like only a very short time, he went from being practically comatose, to standing up, walking around, and even making jokes. His complexion became healthier, and his eyes started to shine.
It made her happy that he was coming back around, that he was becoming himself again, but there was the deep seated feeling that this was forcing them towards the destiny that she really wasn’t looking forward to. The dreaded outside, the unknown. What would happen to them out there? What new threat was waiting for them?
“Stop worrying,” Wade eventually whispered into her ear. She spun around and smiled thinly at him. She kept forgetting about the mind reading ability that the Ec’dua race had, and every time she was reminded, it freaked her out a little. She needed to try to keep track of what she was thinking so that she didn’t end up thinking something inappropriate.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered sadly, hanging her head as she spoke. “I can’t help but worry about the future.”
Rather than reassuring her with words in the way that B would do, Wade grabbed her and kissed her hard, sending the good memories of their time together tumbling through her mind. She remembered her first time with B – and how kinky that had been – then she recalled her insane first time with Wade. And she remembered how, after that, they had experienced their first time with the three of them all together. That time had been incredible, like nothing Talia had ever known, and it was the first moment that she’d realized that she had fallen in love.
“Are you okay?” she said. She pulled back to look at Wade, suddenly recognizing that they were probably kissing a little too hard and fast considering his injuries. “Is this hurting?”
“No, I’m fine,” he gasped, a fire in his eyes; a fire that she recognized from all the times beforehand. But she didn’t know if this was a good idea. “Get B, call him in here.”
Talia knew exactly what he was
after, but her reason for calling B into the room was for something totally different. She needed his reassurance, his in-depth knowledge of Wade that she didn’t share. She wanted to be certain that he would be alright about this before kissing Wade again. She knew that Wade would say anything to get his own way when he was turned on, and much as she was starting to feel that way too, she wanted to be careful.
“What… what’s going on?” B gasped in a panic as he raced into the room, but he quickly realized just by looking at the pair what was happening – a realization that shocked and excited him in equal measures. “Are you sure?” He asked Wade, speaking over Talia’s head, just wanting to be sure. He could tell that Wade was okay for himself, but he needed that verbal confirmation too. “Are you ready?”
“You know I am,” he all but growled back. “Now get over here, it’s already been far too long.”
The atmosphere in the room was electric, and Talia couldn’t help but get caught up in it. Waves of passion were practically rolling off of Wade, and the sparks flying from B, and she quickly began to feel that familiar heat coursing through her once more. With that any doubts simply slipped away.
Without even thinking again, she stepped closer to them both, her heart going as crazy as a jackhammer. She had been wanting to do this again for what felt like forever, but until quite recently she thought she might never get the chance.
At least if she did end up losing everything, she could have this one final memory to keep her going through it all.
“Are you okay with this?” Wade asked. He could sense that she was still a little worried, and he didn’t like to see that in her.
“I am,” she gasped, knowing that she couldn’t ignore her feelings any longer. In normal circumstances, she might have pushed her sexual desires aside until she was convinced about Wade’s heath, but she couldn’t now. Not when there was so much temptation surrounding her!