(Untitled)

[skybot_snd]

Something, in an area of his mind he had no immediate access to, was wrong.

He performed normally, executing his duties, going through daily routines unerringly. But there was a component missing, as if a command was awaiting execution without his knowledge of it; seeking a trigger.

And there was something else… a feeling.

It didn't belong. He

Comments

[9mmshotglass]

Reese tugged her hair into a knot and realized it had grown to the middle of her back. It hadn't been this long since she was eleven years old taking swimming lessons at the Y. She had to remind herself it was Monday just to keep track because the days tended to melt into each other if she didn't. As soon as she crossed the bridge she knew there was something wrong. First of all, the fish were clustered in the river, second of all there was blood. It gave off a sour, iron smell, and she caught the unmistakable scent of decaying flesh.

"Jesus," she muttered under her breath just as she caught sight of the arm. Her eyebrows shot up as she moved to examine it. There was a razor glittering in the river, too. She could see it. But there was a hand with met-- "Shit."

The oath rung in the air for a moment and she shivered hard before moving inside her hut. He wouldn't have stayed. He'd have run. Reese grimaced and changed clothes quickly. some time ago, the box had seen fit to gift her with long cargo pants like the ones she'd used at the Academy as part of SWAT training, only they were dark brown instead of navy. She tugged a white tank top on and filled her canteen with water before heading out. For a moment, she paused, staring at her gun and cuffs, then grabbed them both and hooked them on her belt. Hopefully, she wouldn't need them.

Reese followed the blood trail for most of the day and only paused to take careful sips of water and scrounge for fruit when she needed the solidity and moisture. It was night before she heard a crackle, and drew her gun.

"Austin?" She really, really hoped he wasn't still bleeding.

[skybot_snd]

The last two days had passed in a haze.

He hadn't slept; it hadn't even been a consideration. He hadn't performed other mandatory human functions, either. There was a consistent throb on the side of his face, even obscuring his vision on occasion, though the bleeding had stopped for the most part. He ignored it. The blood didn't belong to him, it couldn't. Something was interfering with his perception, blocking it, accenting pain.

They were trying to break him. To corrupt him.

He couldn't let them.

The spear was raised into a strike position the moment he'd heard the approaching footsteps. He wasn't certain who this human was searching for, but it didn't matter. He'd been located.

While she'd definitely heard him, she hadn't directly spotted him yet, and he moved silently to circle her, keeping a measured distance. The lack of lighting served to his advantage. He'd gotten accustomed to these surroundings by now.

His gaze darted to the gun holstered on her belt. He would act the second she posed a tangible threat.

"Leave," it was a cool single syllable, and he wasn't going to repeat it.

[9mmshotglass]

"I'm not leaving," she said calmly. "I found that arm, the blood. I know you're hurt and I've got water if you want it. Austin...let me help." Her voice was pitched soothingly. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

She paused, closing her eyes to listen. To her left. She kept talking quietly, keeping her voice at a pleasant murmur. This wasn't good, she could feel it in her gut. It was that same worrying stab that always hit her when they entered a dangerous situation back in L.A., she could feel the edges and the sharpness.

[skybot_snd]

The human was lying; trying to provide misdirection while assessing his location.

She was referring to him by a name - 'Austin' - and while there was something recognizable about it, he didn't allow himself to access the memories that related to the data. They were all corrupted.

He didn't know what her objective was, whether it was to subdue or destroy him, but neither was acceptable.

A verbal reply wasn't necessary; he'd already provided an instruction, and she had refused to follow it. He kept moving, slowly, gaze locked onto her, now calculating the optimal angle for a strike.

[9mmshotglass]

No answer.

That feeling in her gut was growing into a full blown draw you gun whine, but she didn't. She ignored it because she didn't want to hurt him. There was tension so thick and charged that she shivered.

"Talk to me," she said quietly and knew her hand was hovering near her gun. He wasn't okay, she'd heard it in his tone. Don't touch it. She forced the shivers away and tried to grab her detective back, but this was personal. It was personal. "Austin, please, just talk to me."

[skybot_snd]

She was moving in for an attack.

His reaction was immediate - partially pre-measured, partially built on the fluidity of the moment. He needed to subdue her in a single motion, but not cause lethal damage. He required answers.

The strike was angled to her shoulder, quick enough to catch her off guard, strong enough to pierce her body and drive her to the ground, precise enough to miss vital organs and nearby arteries. His body obeyed his every command, and there were no miscalculations.

He kneeled almost at the same moment she struck the ground, maintaining his grip on the spear, not applying pressure, but in a position to do so if required.

She'd wanted him to talk. Now he could do that.

"Who are you?" he tilted his head as he studied her face, his voice neutral. He failed to keep the same calm intonation for his second query, and a grimace shadowed his face, "What are you doing to me?"

[9mmshotglass]

Reese knew the spear had gone straight through her shoulder, she also knew that she hadn't made a sound yet. She'd stuffed it down somewhere in her stomach, but it should have been torn from her. She focused on breathing, but the movement tore streaks of pain through her body. Short, light gasps, just enough, would have to do as she stared up at Austin.

"Reese," she said and swallowed, dragging in a sharp breath. "I'm Reese." Her vision swam in red and she could feel the way blood was soaking into her tank top, staining the fabric a deep crimson. "Austin. That's enough." Her fingers found his cheek through sheet will alone. "Enough. Come home. I need you to come home."

She forced herself to take a deep breath and squeezed her eyes tight. The last thing she needed was to hyperventilate. Calm. She had to be calm.

"Come home."

Jesus, there was so much damned blood. Maybe more blood than she could ever remember seeing coming from her at one time. More than being shot. Bile rose in her throat and she struggled to keep it down. She'd...get him back and go from there.

"Austin, look at me. Really look." She was struggling to see him, to keep her eyes on him. There wasn't anything major hit, no sprays of blood. He'd just wanted to keep her from shooting him. God, she wouldn't have shot him. "I'm Reese. Remember the fish? And the fork? Remember swimming? You. You speared fish for our dinner. Stayed. I helped. I helped you sleep for the first time. I'm. I'm not doing anything to you. Here to. Help. I came to help."

[skybot_snd]

There was something off about her reaction; too calm, too accepting, too quiet. Humans weren't supposed to respond to pain that way. There was an unsettling quality to it, surprising in a familiar way, and he failed to move once she'd initiated the physical contact. It was as if he almost... wanted it.

He didn't understand, but he kept completely still. He only listened to her relay information, attuned himself to her touch, felt her heartbeat silently vibrating all the way to his hand. The moonlight shone through the treetops, and everything felt quiet, contained in a moment.

It couldn't stay that way.

Reese. It was familiar. Kyle Reese, Derek Reese, Tech-Com 132, Detective -

He looked at her.

"I'm tired of looking, Austin."

"I'm tired too."

"No."

He wasn't certain what he was objecting to, he hadn't even processed anything yet, but he was starting to and it was at the edge of his throat, he couldn't stop it anymore.

He was supposed to be hugging her. Why wasn't he hugging her?

There was blood. More blood than there should have been.

"Reese," the name slipped out, fuelled by desperation. His gaze shot to the source of the blood, the wound, the spear, his hand - he was shaking; he needed to let go so he wouldn't accidentally hurt her. "What-" the spear stayed upright, rooted in the ground, and all he could manage was a shaky whisper, "What happened?"

And then his hand was sliding in her blood, and there were flickers in his mind - he'd made her angry and she'd wanted him to leave but he couldn't just leave, he needed to find another way - and he was carrying her while she was bleeding, so quiet, and then there was nothing and termination and reprogramming but it was all vague and none of it mattered - Reese was hurt, and it was bad, and he was trying to evaluate the damage, blood staining his hands - her blood, there was also blood on his face and it stung but it was his and it didn't matter either. She was hurt. Reese was hurt.

He knew. He knew what had happened.

He'd done this.

The realization caught him from the inside out, sharp and real, slicing into him and outward and for a moment, there was only freezing.

Home. She'd asked him to come home.

He was never going home now.

[9mmshotglass]

"Shh," she murmured and kept her fingers touching him. "It was just an accident." Reese blinked, willing herself to stay awake, to stay on him. "Everything's gonna be fine. It'll be fine, Austin, do you hear me? I want you to go to the clinic and find a doctor, find help. Look at me. Austin, can you do that for me? I swear, it'll be okay. I'm fine. I'll be."

Stay here. You stay here and you look him in the face and you tell him you're not going anywhere. Because you aren't.

"I'll be fine, I won't go anywhere." She almost laughed. Of course she wasn't going anywhere. She was stuck. She was stuck and had never been so calm in her entire life. That was probably shock setting in. "Shhh. I promise. I think you're going to have to run, though. Take my water." It had been on the other shoulder, the one not impaled, and she worked it off, fighting the rising pain as she passed the canteen to him. "Drink. Five sips. Then run."

[skybot_snd]

It hadn't been an accident. The wound was too precisely placed to have been an accident. For a moment, his gaze was just stuck on it, on the blood, as he tried to work out what had happened, and why. But Reese was telling him to look at her, he had to look at her.

He did look at her - she was calm, so calm. Her fingers brushed his skin. It felt as if her touch was the only thing connecting him to reality. But he couldn't return it. He couldn't understand why she wasn't drawing her gun and shooting him for what he'd done.

He wanted to apologize, to beg her to stay, but there was no time to talk, or even to think. Anything but following her orders would be disruptive, dangerous.

A numb nod was all he could offer her as he reached for the water. He didn't want it, but he needed it. He hadn't consumed liquids in too long; he could collapse and then Reese would be left here alone. He drank the exact amount she'd instructed to, rising to his feet unsteadily.

He could run. Maybe it was the only thing he could do.

Time was the only thing he was outrunning, but he ran faster than he had when dinosaurs had been chasing them - he ran so fast he wasn't even sure he was breathing. Breathing wasn't important. He ran and something struck his shoulder - a tree, maybe - there was pain and then numbness set in, but he didn't stop.

He didn't stop until he reached the clinic.

[9mmshotglass]

Reese heard him go, heard the sound of him running until everything was silent save for the whispers in the trees and throb throb throbbing of her heart in her head. She wanted to just sleep and settled into the darkness until help came, but if Austin came back he'd need her awake. She kept breathing and used the pain to keep her awake. There was a tree. A twisted, crooked tree that was festooned with vines, dangling tendrils and beneath it was the delicate curve of a blooming orchid. She'd have to tell Garak. Tell him. Show him. It was white, pale as the moon.

You've gotten yourself into trouble, I see. When wasn't she in trouble? The orchid was blurry and she blinked, half sliding into darkness. If you don't stay awake, how are you going to tell if you're alive or dead? Good point. Then again, if she was dead, it wouldn't matter. Also a valid point. She was talking to Garak (except it wasn't Garak and she knew that) in her head and almost laughed. Same tone, though. Dry, smooth, just soothing enough to keep her together. Soothing was very go--

WAKE UP. Ah. There we are. You're really going to have to stay awake, now, my dear. You really don't have any other options left. Point. She really didn't. And I suggest you breathe. She did and it was like fire spreading through her chest. Dani Reese wasn't going to die from a bamboo spear to the shoulder. Hell no.

Of course you aren't. You're much to stubborn to die. I thought you'd figured that out ages ago, but it appears your mental state is perhaps not as sharp as it was a few moments ago.

Oh shut up.

[doublefricked]

It was technically Tuesday. After midnight on Tuesday, anyway, so Elliot had an excuse to be in the clinic, right? Even if I don't, I'm not leaving. If my ovaries are all shriveled up what good am I except as a doctor? That was the tiny, insecure, neurotic (okay, maybe not so tiny) part of her brain talking, one she'd been steadily trying to ignore since the interview with Juno.

After that, throwing herself into her work seemed like the best thing to do, and so she did it. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot to do.

Until that Terminator dude came running into the clinic. Clothed, she was rather relieved to see.

"Uh, hi there. What's up?" she asked cheerfully, noticing his generally disheveled appearance and...was that blood on his hands? Oh, frick. Don't tell me he's gone and terminated someone after all. I could be next!

[skybot_snd]

Once he'd stopped running, he was hit by vertigo at the sudden lack of motion. He fought to remain upright, glaring at the human in front of him, attempting to piece together all the relevant information. Elliot Reed. She'd seen him naked. She talked a lot. He'd given her an autograph.

She was a doctor.

"Reese is injured," he informed her. She probably didn't know who Reese was. It didn't matter. "Come with me. Now."

He paused. Further instructions were necessary.

"Bring all the supplies you need to treat a puncture wound. To the shoulder. Caused by a sharpened bamboo stick. No arteries hit," he relayed, abruptly factual, eliminating all shakiness that threatened to enter his voice. His gaze then lowered to his hands, and for a moment he couldn't say anything at all. "Blood loss, there's... blood loss."

He moved to grasp her wrist, making absolutely sure she would give the matter all the proper attention. "Let's go."

[doublefricked]

"Reese? Who's Reese?" But at the mention of an injury - A bamboo stick? Seriously? Did this Reese person run into a horde of angry pygmies or something? - Elliot became all business. She gathered together the things she'd need and some things she hopefully wouldn't need in a shoulder-bag as quick as she could, and was stuffing another roll of gauze in when the Terminator dude grabbed her wrist.

"Hey! N-no grabbing! Just lead the way, I'll follow."

What I wouldn't give for a tazer right now. Do they work on Terminators?

[skybot_snd]

The T-1000 frowned at her instruction, but let go, leaving a vivid blood print on her sleeve. Antagonizing the doctor would be a faulty tactic, especially at such a critical moment. "Can you keep up?" he inquired intently, glaring down at her. "Can you run?" the emphasis placed on the word made it very clear that he wasn't referring to ordinary running.

[doublefricked]

Gah. This was my last - no, my ONLY - white coat, too.

"Don't worry, I can keep up," she told the Terminator. "And if I fall over or something, well...you can just carry me." Okay, Elliot, now is NOT the time for joking around. He'll probably take you seriously.

She hoisted the shoulder bag over her neck and gave him a nod. "I'm ready." I hope.