by Jolie Mason
He tweaked a nipple through her shirt causing her to squeak. "You're the one who's got a needle in his arm," she warned.
He leaned in next to her ear. "I fear nothing with a beautiful woman before me."
She hid her smile and tried to look severe as she pulled the extractor away and ejected the vial. "Can we set up a schedule of blood tests today? Everyone involved in the experiments needs a baseline blood test today,"
He nodded and blew a tendril of dark hair away from her neck before running two fingers along the spot that made her go weak. "You know, I feel perfectly fine. I feel great, excellent even."
She leaned into him just a little, with her eyes tightly closed, letting herself enjoy the indulgent feeling of being special. She opened her eyes and sighed.
"All right. I have to get to work here, and you are a distraction."
His comm started beeping. He looked down at it on his wrist, annoyed. "Do I get my treat later?" he asked her.
"I'll be here this evening. I really want to get this baseline done."
He looked at the comm screen. "You may have to wait on some of your donors. We're going out."
She nodded. Then, as he started to get up, she pressed his arm and stepped into his line of sight. He'd already begun tuning the world out. "Be careful. Come back."
His slow smile spread like a sunrise. Her breath caught. He'd looked at her sometimes in the last few hours like she might be a miracle. "Oh, I'm coming back." He kissed her and was gone.
Eisley stared down at the vial still in her hand. Maybe, there would be answers here that could distract her from the certain knowledge he was headed out into the world to risk his life. Again. And, that was his job.
*
Several hours later, Eisley had results from Samuel's blood and many more questions. She wasn't sure what the ramifications were, but she had to talk to him soon.
She wandered in behind Star's comms desk. She needed to know how long this mission was going to take. The woman's short blond hair was, as usual, elegantly cut and completely in place, unlike Eisley's drooping bun. It wasn't just the woman's acidic nature that put Eisley on her guard around the comms officer. She was so… perfect. Such an ideal girl. How could she ever relate to Star being such an opposite?
Two screens filled with images hung above the desk and several other screens she didn't understand. The comms officer kept a tense calm over the comm. "Thompson, you have hostiles on your flank, at three o'clock."
Eisley could hear Samuel's voice in the background, and it sounded wrong; anxious, excited. "Malina, guide us out of here,” one of the men shouted. She couldn’t tell which one.
Eisley caught a fleeting glimpse on one of the two displayed helmet cams. Thompson was holding onto Samuel whose eyes glowed golden like a cat’s. Eisley put on a comm headset and tuned it in. "Thompson, this is the doctor. Plug me into Sam's comm."
"A little busy, doctor."
"Just do it!"
Star started to protest and Eisley shot her a look. "Samuel, can you hear me?"
"Eisley."
"Yes, you can hear me? You have to stop fighting Thompson, Baby. Do you understand? You promised. You said you were coming back."
She stared wildly at the cam his face was turned toward as if he could see her on the other end, even though she knew he couldn't. "You promised you were coming home. You swore. Keep your god-damned promise, Samuel. Stop fighting. Let them get you to the helo." She used her doctor voice. The one that usually got her what she wanted out of a patient.
He settled, his golden eyes turned in confusion toward the cam. She heard him whisper, "Promised."
"Star, cut the chief's comms for a moment."
Star looked at her in amazement and, perhaps, some concern. Very few ever got to see her stern side. It was reserved for when it was really needed, like this moment.
"Thompson, as your medic, I'm giving you an order, okay? Stun him. You stun his ass and get him on that transport. I think I know what's wrong. Get him back here."
Thompson grinned as he fired at oncoming enemies. "Yes, Ma'am," he answered crisply. She understood full well that it was an order he agreed with or he wouldn't do it. Thompson looked at his partner, who she thought could be Tanner. The light was dim where they were, and punctuated by quick bursts of gunfire.
She saw Thompson pull out a stunner and hit Samuel who jerked and fell into the bigger man's grip. She watched tensely as the remaining members of the team put down cover fire, surrounding Thompson who hefted their commander onto his shoulder for the run to the helo.
Eisley watched until the transport rose into the air and shot away with Samuel still unconscious inside. "How far out are they?"
Star touched one of the comm controls, then turned to look at her. Confusion written on every inch of her face. "Bout two hours."
"I'm gonna go prep my lab. Get two of the men to come get a gurney to take to the roof, then tell them to double time it back with my patient."
Eisley left with the expectation that it would happen because no one wanted to be the one to send her into a temper today. This problem with Samuel may be beyond her skill set. She hated feeling behind the game.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
He still hadn't come out of stun by the time they arrived, but it wouldn't be long. She and Livvy strapped him down, and then Livvy prepared a sedative in case it was needed.
"How long did it take him to get like this?" Eisley asked the question of Tanner, the only member who'd remained.
"A while. Maybe an hour into the mission."
"How many minutes into the firefight?" She asked as she checked his pupils.
"Just a few. That's when he started to go wild."
She nodded. "Adrenaline. Livvy, let's see about a dopamine inhibitor and that therapy we talked about before. Prepare the nanite solution just as it was in the lab notes." Olivia nodded and rushed to act.
Tanner still wore his battle dirt and a scowl. "What's the matter?"
"His change was, and probably all of them, begun with nanites and a retrovirus genetically modified to alter your DNA. Most of his are inert, but there are still a few actively changing him. Something in this change is hormonally triggered or triggers hormones. I don’t know. Basically, he's high."
"As in drugs?"
"No, as in the same effect as drugs. Drugs cause your body to produce hormone levels that make you feel high. His body is doing the same thanks to these nanites.”
Livvy brought back the injector. Eisley gave him the injection, even as she noticed he was coming to.
"Come on, Sleeping Beauty. I need your permission to fix you."
He groaned, then said her name on a whisper. His hands reached out and found her with a soft grip. "I have a headache, or I'd be very hands on right now," he told her.
She looked over at Tanner who smiled knowingly. "You are being very hands on," she said as she moved his hands from her hips.
He smiled, happily. "Have you seen you?"
Tanner snickered from the end of the hospital bed, then covered his lips and straightened his face. "Sorry," he said with a wave of his fingers. "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, Livvy's going to do some blood work to get an idea of how much stress he’s under and how many active nanites we’re looking at." She put a hand on the girl's shoulder. She nodded and went for an extractor. "And, we wait till this medicine reduces his levels. Then, I have to get him to sign off on the treatment for the nanites, and we have to hope that it works on these nanites in particular."
"Why not just treat him?"
She looked down, taking his wandering hand in her own. She ran a thumb up and down the back of it. Strong and masculine, those hands. He smelled faintly of mud and the outdoors.
"It's going to hurt. He has to choose it." She looked at the other man. "They should have completed their task and died off by now. Why they haven't is far beyond my knowledge. Today illustrates just why we have to do it. He can't live this way indefinitely."
>
"No, that could have gotten one of our team or himself killed."
She jumped a little when she felt his hand on her ass in a much more intimate way. Eisley looked at Samuel in complete surprise. It was completely outside his nature. "Samuel, you can't do that here."
He smiled again. "Tanner will leave, won't you, Tanner?"
The Tanner in question was enjoying this immensely. "I leave when Doc says I can leave. You're having trouble right now, sir."
Eisley felt his hand slide down her leg to grip the back of her thigh and tug her closer. "I do have trouble, Tanner. Woman trouble. Isn't that right, Eisley?"
She blushed, though thankfully it was hard to tell with her olive complexion, but her expression said it all. Private by nature, much like Samuel come to think of it, she was more than a little exposed here. He kneaded the back of her thigh, holding her there, and letting his fingers drift a little upwards. She closed her eyes.
Samuel leaned back and closed his eyes himself, but his hand never let go. "She doesn't seem like she'd be much trouble, does she? But, she is. I think about her all the time, man. I mean, all the time. Can't focus on much else."
Eisley rushed out. "Are you two close, Tanner?"
Tanner smiled. "Close enough that he's not telling me anything I couldn't guess at." To his commander, he said, "You have been distracted lately, sir. The doc here thinks she knows how to get you right again."
Samuel nodded with his eyes closed. "I'm really tired. She'll do it. She’s really smart."
He was crashing, coming down from the high. "Samuel, I need you to focus. I'm going to have to inject a serum that is commonly used to stop nanite function. It burns, Samuel. It will be very painful, even with pain meds, and there’s some risk."
He moved his hand sensuously up her back pulling her even closer till she leaned over him. "Okay. I trust you, but can I rest first? Just gotta rest my eyes." He faded off into oblivion with those words.
Eisley rested one of her hands on the side of his face. "I really don't want to hurt him."
"You didn't," Tanner growled, bitterly. "Central did. They hurt us all."
"I've never asked, Tanner. What was your...?"
"My torture?" He asked her sharply.
"Mine is permanent. I could do things before they messed with my brain. I was in a group called special project, very classified."
She inhaled deeply. "Messed with your brain?"
"Surgery, training, drugs." He laughed sharply and pulled his arms protectively in front of his chest. "They didn't get quite what they were looking for though. I don't read minds. I read feelings. More like a lie detector than a weapon. A ridiculously expensive lie detector." It was clear he enjoyed the idea that they hadn’t got what they wanted. She agreed with him, except that there was no telling what it had done to Tanner.
"You read feelings? How is that possible?"
"I don't know. How is any of this possible? I don't talk about what I learn that way much, and it's difficult to block it all out. Sometimes."
"Did they do any genetic alterations on you?"
"Not that I was made aware of, but I'm learning that what was true and what I was told weren't always the same thing." He turned toward the door. "I'll go get cleaned up while he's out."
She looked over at the man she'd spent the night before making love with, and she'd come to realize that was exactly what she'd been doing. "I doubt he'll have any problems tonight. That state should wear him out completely. I'll call you if there are any issues."
The other man nodded, and she watched him leave. She couldn't imagine knowing all that about every stranger you encountered. How confusing would that be? Now, she understood his presence in the room with Korsky. Samuel had been getting a feel for her intentions, literally.
She shook her head. That meant, of course, that he'd done the same with her. Eisley rubbed her hands over her face, pressing them against her tired eyes. She'd think about all this later. Right now, she needed to prepare the nanite treatment and work on those results from the blood tests. She had her baseline on most of the soldiers in the detachment. She'd have to figure each problem out individually.
She looked at the sleeping cyborg patient on a gurney across the infirmary. Starting with John, she thought. He had less time that the others.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The infirmary was very quiet, almost restful with the lights dimmed. John curled in his bed on the far side of the room, while she sat in a deep chair next to Samuel's bed. She rubbed eyes that felt gritty and sore as she leaned back and thought a nap might be safe. Livvy would be awake in a bit to take a shift, and Eisley wanted to stay here with Samuel anyway.
The silent world around her must have done the trick because she slept.
*
She woke up to a world not so silent. It took a moment to distinguish the sounds of objects sliding across the floor. There were shouts from across the room, and she found Livvy trying in vain to push her cyborg’s hand off her throat. In seconds, Eisley was in the fray, shouting at the very unaware man to let go.
They struggled like that for only a few moments before Eisley felt a strong arm toss her gently away from the cyborg. She turned around to see Samuel touch a stunner low to the man's body, and the jolt went through him and the young woman. But he released her as they both fell.
Eisley ran to her. "Livvy?"
Checking her pulse and her breathing, she started trying to lift the girl. She’d be all right when she came to, she thought. Samuel moved her out of the way and lifted the girl in his arms. "Where do you want her?"
Eisley nodded at a bed. He placed Livvy gently on it, then turned to grab Eisley and haul her into his arms. "You don't ever do that."
"What?"
"Take on a half man, half machine singlehandedly."
"There was no time, Samuel. He wasn't going to stop. I didn’t think." She was close to crying, until he pressed her head to his chest and curled his head over hers. Then, she sobbed. "How could they do this?"
Samuel continued to rock her as he called for reinforcements and the lab filled with the men of the detachment. "Let's get the cyborg locked down, and get Star to come down and sit with Olivia to make sure she’s all right," he told Tanner as he led her out to her apartment.
It was best, she told herself. All the while, her heart broke for the man who had very nearly destroyed the only person he loved in the world. He would wake up in a cell with no idea how or why he'd been put there.
Samuel swept her into her own quarters. She cried in his lap, until she thought she couldn't cry anymore. When the storm finally passed, she pulled away. "This can't go on. They can't be allowed to continue this. They can't just cut and chop on men, until they turn them into something else." Her hands cupped his face.
"You're awake," she sighed in stark relief, because she’d only just realized it.
He pulled her face down to his, and she kissed him, determined he could have whatever he wanted just for not being dead. At first, he used force, as if he was storming a fortress. Eventually, he settled into the kiss calmly with a contented sound. It tasted of the salt from her tears and him, whatever that flavor was that was all Samuel.
She pulled back. "We have to shut down the remaining nanites in your system. They're trying to continue the change. It's giving you rushes of whatever hormone you're producing most of, I believe. That's why the battle rage. I imagine you’ve had episodes of euphoria, and probably a host of other problems you haven’t noticed yet because you’re a tough guy. Will you let me fix it?"
Eisley leaned in to brush her lips over his, pleading with him. She didn't know why she feared he'd say no, but she did. Samuel answered by wrapping his hand in her long ponytail, and kissing her again.
When he finally released her mouth, he stared into her eyes. "I'm in love with you."
"That makes no sense," she said.
He laughed. "You could argue with a fence post. Why does it make no sense? It's how I feel."
"I did this to you… . I… ." His face grew storm cloud angry. She was shocked at the visceral reaction from him. His next words were staccato in tone and vehement.
"Stop that. You stop now." He gave her a light shake. "I did this to myself. They were selling something, and I was buying. You got a grant that was intended to help people. I don't want to hear you blaming yourself for this again, understood?"
Eisley let her head fall forward to rest on his forehead with a teary smile.
"Bossy," she whispered.
"You have no idea. Now, let's get rid of these nanites, so I can get you naked again."
Laughter bubbled up from her nearly involuntarily. She laughed, and she petted him lightly on his chest. "That's your motivation? Getting me naked?"
"I've done a lot worse for a hell of a lot less. Have you seen you?"
"Yes," she answered his usual question. "I have, and I think you're crazy."
His index finger of his left hand slid down her neck and into the v of her neckline. He hummed a sound. "You are the softest place I ever landed."
She gasped a stuttered breath when that finger flipped over a nipple causing her to arch into his hand. "Treatment. We can't do this till we do the treatment."
He growled and buried his face in her chest, squeezing her tightly. "Let's get it over with."
*
She had him in the med chair in the back of the lab. The injector was on the tray beside her as she moved to secure an arm strap. He looked down with a raised eyebrow. "Believe me, it's necessary," she said. He was going to fight to move, to run from the pain. She feared he might hurt himself.
Two of the guys entered the small room to stand by the door like they wanted to run. She gestured to them to stand out of her way. She picked up the injector once she had secured his arms, and looked at him, sitting there with that earnest look on his face. She stared a moment, and stood there.
She suddenly realized a tear had tracked down her face. "I don't want to do this," she said shakily.
His eyes never wavered from that earnest, little boy look he had, as if he'd been raised on one too many tales of valor and courage that had stuck. "Too bad because I don't trust anyone else to do it. I need this, right?"