[Locked to 45825243_t78_a]

[miss_gaila]

According to the briefing, the Zolii away team was relatively routine. She and another engineer were headed down to the planet to help repair their reactor, and Ensign Bree was coming along to pilot the shuttle. When she showed up at the docking port, she certainly wasn't expecting to see Logan standing there. "Hi," she said, quirking a curious

Comments

[45825243_t78_a]

If Logan didn't actually greet Gaila with words, his expression relaxed noticeably, almost coming to a smile before he broke it all off with a small nod. For his part, he had only the most basic idea of what the others were going in to do - but, since he was going along for the ride, it was probably just a cover story anyway

[45825243_t78_a]

((No problem! I'm out of the country right now, so kinda slow myself. Also trying to keep it short for that reason.))

Logan could practically smell the lack of light; the cool dampness, the stale sweat. There were other scents too: blood, something like burned... hair? He barely remembered what had happened when his eyes fluttered open, but everything came back soon enough, his eyes quickly adjusting to the soft light. And then he noticed what he was smelling but hadn't worried about, the smell comforting by now: Gaila. After making sure she was all right, he checked every corner of the small cell for weaknesses, finding none. He might try his claws, but until Gaila was up and about, he didn't want to risk setting off any safety measures.

Focused on the walls, his attention was suddenly attracted by movement in the corner of his eye, and he turned to find Gaila coming to. Immediately, he kneeled next to her. "You OK?"

[miss_gaila]

It took Gaila a long few moments to sort out the various sensory stimuli and realize that it was Logan who was talking to her. "Logan?" she whispered, her voice cracking a bit. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Yeah, I think I'm okay... Are you?" Glancing over at him, her eyes scanned him for injuries. The events that had brought them here weren't easy to sort out, but she thought she remembered him being shot. Repeatedly. Yet he looked all right.

Next she tried slowly pushing herself to a seated position. Her head was pounding, and her limbs felt a bit weak, but she didn't think she was seriously injured.

[45825243_t78_a]

"Yeah," he replied, the question not worth thinking about; he was always all right. Explanations could follow if need be, but it didn't occur to him to give her any. Of all the things going on right now, his healing factor was surely the least important. He was used to it. What actually mattered was trying to get out of there, but protestations aside, he didn't know if Gaila was as OK as she said she was. It looked like he might have to be patient. Well, he could do that.

He helped her up so she could sit, watching her like a hawk to spot the first sign of trouble, but she seemed to be handling it well enough. "That was quite a blow you took." From him landing on top of her, especially. He wouldn't apologize, but he still hoped he hadn't done more damage than good.

[miss_gaila]

"Thank you," she said as he helped her to a seated position, one hand going to her temple as she tried to make the world stop spinning. There was also a bit of an odd pain in her side, but she was pretty sure it was just a bruise. Slowly the world started to compose herself, and she glanced around the cell before looking back at Logan. "I've had worse," she said quietly, the full memory of what had happened coming back to her. He'd thrown himself on top of her to protect her from the blast. "You saved my life. Thank you." He'd been incredible, and incredibly selfless, as they fought their way back towards the shuttle. She was only grateful they hadn't gotten there in time to be blown up with it... Though the rest of the away team was undoubtedly dead. It saddened her, but now wasn't the time to mourn. "Have you seen any our captors since they put us in here?"

[45825243_t78_a]

He shrugged his head a little at her thank-you. No big deal, really. Perhaps he, too, should have felt sorry for the rest of the team, but he didn't. Didn't allow himself that luxury now, maybe never would. If he hadn't exactly mellowed with old (or, rather, even older) age, he had at least got some focus, for better and for worse. Maybe he cared a little less. Maybe that was the only way to keep going.

"No. Ain't been up an' about that long myself." He had to wonder how long it had been - how quickly he'd healed. Had he been thrown into the cell extra crispy? Probably. Shame... Would've been nice to freak their captors out a little. Healing from deadly injuries before their eyes had that effect on people. Oh well, not dying in their absence would have to do.

[miss_gaila]

It didn't surprise her when he shrugged off the apology, but she wouldn't forget that he'd thrown himself in harm's way for her. Where she came from, no one ever did that for anyone, but humans were strange creatures. Perplexing creatures. But wonderful, in their ways, and she counted herself lucky that she'd had the chance to live among them.

"I see... Well, I'd rather not wait around for them to show up. Do you think there's any chance we can break out of here?" The cell walls looked pretty stable, but if there was a way, she had no doubt they'd find it. Slowly she pushed her way to her knees and then tried to stand up, her legs swaying a little beneath her.

[45825243_t78_a]

Logan didn't like risking it while she was still a bit wobbly, but she had a point: if their captors came back, they'd be in worse trouble. Breaking out it was. The walls were definitely solid, and while Logan might or might not have been able to hack his way through them eventually, they really didn't have that kind of time. That left the door. It was incredibly old-fashioned, with the exception that it was built into the wall, both hinges and lock well out of reach from any regular attempts at sabotage. But then, Logan was anything but regular.

Giving her a quick nod, he ordered: "Stand back." And out came the claws. Not that that was why he ordered her to stand back, of course; it was more to keep her safe in case the door was somehow boobytrapped.

[miss_gaila]

Breaking out when she was still a little unsteady on her feet was certainly far from ideal, but she didn't want to stick around. If they were lucky they'd simply be used as political prisoners, and she wasn't entirely sure how much the Federation would give to retrieve an Orion and a man who wasn't even part of Starfleet. Jim, however, wouldn't give up on them; she knew that much. If they were unlucky, of course, then she'd be treated the way Orions were in many parts of the galaxy, and he might be subject to experimentation, slavery, or worse.

She followed his instructions, eyes widening slightly as the claws came out. "Those certainly are handy," she commented, tone mild though slightly impressed.

[45825243_t78_a]

"You don't know the half of it," he said, and with a sweep from his arm, proceeded to cut through the cell door like a hot knife through butter. So far, so good. Nothing electrified; no alarms going off that he could tell. No poisonous gasses being released in response to the security breach. (Hey, he'd seen worse.) The Weapon X project had cost him more than words could describe, but that was ages ago, and the adamantium was still getting him out of more trouble than he managed to get himself into - which was no mean feat. The rare metal was almost as much him as his own body, by now.

A few more slashes, and the hole was big enough to climb through, which Logan quickly did, head first, just to make sure no one was out there, waiting for them. Once on the other side, he turned to help Gaila through.

[miss_gaila]

Gaila generally had no interest in imitating Spock, but in this case one of his oft used phrases seemed apt. "Fascinating," she replied, wanting to know more but knowing that now definitely wasn't the time to ask. Strange as he was - she'd never seen a human with claws before - he actually made more sense to her this way. It helped to explain the fact that he seemed like a bit of an outsider even among her own species. Humans really were endlessly complicated.

Once he'd climbed through the hole she followed after him, lightly resting her hand on his shoulder for support as she stepped through. "Thanks..." After glancing both directions, she opened her mouth to speak, then hesitated. "I don't suppose you have any idea which way we should go?"