The Honey Trap
The Honey Trap
Author: SabaceanBabe
Word Count: 4,962
Date: May 31, 2005
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Helo/Sharon
Spoilers: Flesh and Bone
Disclaimers: Not mine.
Author's Note: This fic came about because some of the members of hidden_elysium were lamenting the lack of shower scenes for Helo and Boomer. Beta-free. If anyone wants to volunteer to improve this fic, let me know.
She was late. Six would have something to say about it, she was sure; the other was forever ready to pounce on any mistake Sharon made, regardless of how inconsequential.
As Sharon ran toward the rendezvous, muscles she had never noticed before ached. She felt herself grow warm with the memory of the things she had done with Helo the night before, the things that had brought those previously unused muscles to life. Distracted, she came too close to one of the ancient trees that inhabited this forest, slamming her left shoulder into its rough bark and almost knocking her from her feet.
She quickly recovered and, within minutes, reached the rendezvous point: a playground constructed within a wide clearing that was slowly being reclaimed by the surrounding woodland. As she suspected, Six and Five were waiting for her. Five merely looked at her, perhaps curious as to why she was late, but not concerned by it. Six perched on a swing - metal chains and thick rubber - and glared at Sharon with the blue eyes of a predator tensed to bring down her prey.
Deliberately dismissing Six, knowing that it would irritate the blonde, Sharon addressed Five. “We had sex.”
“Congratulations.” He cocked his head, looked at her as though searching for some visible difference in her aspect.
“Does he love you?” Six spat venom at her.
Sharon looked at her impassively. “I think so.”
Six smiled slowly and arched one fine brow. “Has he said it?”
“Not directly.” Sharon felt an unexpected pang as she answered, feeling as though she were suddenly somehow less in the other woman’s eyes, annoyed at herself that she even cared.
Which was exactly what Six wanted, Sharon realized a moment later. “Then you’re just guessing.” Her smile stretched lips that were designed to make human males think of sex and Sharon felt a chill at the thought of Helo in Six’s possession.
Interrupting yet another incipient argument in a long string of them, Five ordered, “Stay in your current location. We’re setting up a cabin for you nearby - food, water, electricity, all the comforts.”
Six’s voice dripped with irony, as though her meaning were the opposite of the words actually said. “Shouldn’t be too hard to convince him to stay and start a life together.” Idly swinging, she speared Sharon with her frozen gaze. “If not, kill him.” Her voice was ice. “Can you handle that?”
Rather than answer Six’s vicious taunting, Sharon looked to Five and then wheeled around. Without another word, she left them there, returning through the forest to her human lover. Returning to Helo.
***
Sharon was troubled as she walked along the path she had created during her journey to the rendezvous. The path wasn’t difficult to follow as she hadn’t been particularly careful when she had come this way previously. She had left Helo sleeping, her only thought then her progress report to Five and Six. Just as her thoughts now were all for Helo.
Making her way slowly back through the trees and brush, she scripted out in her head what she would tell him. It had to be something believable, something that wouldn’t arouse his suspicions. She rehearsed several different scenarios in her mind, paying no heed to her surroundings as she discarded each one in turn. Everything that came to her sounded wrong.
A warm splash of sunshine awakened Sharon from her near fugue state of indecision. She realized that she had been gone from Helo longer than she had intended - at least a couple of hours - much longer than was safe. “Dammit,” she said, sprinting back to camp.
Thoughts and memories, scents and sounds and sensations all jumbled together in her mind as she ran. Snippets of conversation - Helo, Five, Six - chased her, spurring her on faster and faster.
“…we’re gonna make it all the way…”
“If something happened to you…”
“If he flees, he dies.”
“Does he love you?”
And then Helo was there, clearly having missed her and preparing to track her down, worry for her etched into his beautiful face. She ran straight to him and he caught her, stopping her headlong charge.
“Helo... Helo!” She took a couple of great gulps of air, filling her lungs as though she were out of breath, as a human woman would be after running a great distance - he had begun to notice such small things, had begun to ask questions that became harder and harder to ignore.
“Hey. Hey! What’s going on?”
Helo didn’t relax his hold on her shoulders and, again recalling the night just past, Sharon was glad that there was a barrier of fabric between her skin and his, however flimsy that barrier might be, that allowed her to do what she must, to follow her orders, her programming. Forcing herself to smile for him, she said breathlessly, “Helo, you’ve got to see this! There’s a cabin…” She felt his fingers tighten on her biceps.
“A cabin…” He searched her face and then focused above her head, as if he could see through the tangle of bark and leaves and brush, see the cabin she said she had found.
Sharon took another deep breath, grinning like a fool, clutching his arms. “Yes. There’s food and water and a real… bed…” Her gaze locked onto his and she was shocked when she felt the blood rise in her cheeks. Was she blushing? Her eyes dropped to his mouth as he sucked at his lower lip.
“Show me.”
***
The playground was empty when they arrived, no obvious signs that anyone had been there within the last several weeks, if not months. Sunlight dappled the ground with golds and greens and browns at the edges of the clearing, which shimmered with the sway and dance of the leaves. The center of the clearing seemed to glow with the almost unfamiliar light. Sharon looked up, noted the flawless blue of the mid-morning sky, cottony white clouds drifting high up in the atmosphere. The sight of that sky without the threat of rain was as rare as the warm sunlight.
Just behind and to her right, Helo laughed. “A swing set…” She had stopped just short of it and he moved behind her, cupped her shoulders in his palms. “Wanna play, little girl?” he whispered into her ear, sending a spike of desire down her spine.
Without turning, Sharon knew he had a grin on his face that was all temptation. She smiled and leaned into him when she felt his lips brush the skin of her neck. She shivered, the response having nothing to do with the air temperature. God, how do humans ever get anything done…?
Reaching up, she took his left hand in her right, intending to lead him the rest of the way to the swing. If he wanted to play in this child’s realm, then play they would. Anything to keep that smile on his face, the teasing light in his eyes. But as they drew closer, her gaze fell on a thin strand of yellow as bright as the sunlight, caught in the swing’s chain and floating in the light breeze. Six. Suddenly, Sharon no longer wanted to play. She shivered again in earnest.
“You aren’t cold…?” Helo swung her around.
She stroked the side of his face, smoothed her thumb over his lips. “No, not cold.” Relaxing, he caught the pad of her thumb in his teeth, provoking a startled gasp from her.
With a laugh, he released her thumb. “Let’s go find this cabin of yours.” He took her hand firmly in his; hers seemed so small in contrast, fragile, and yet she could break him in half if she chose.
No. No, that was the others’ way of thinking about humans, not hers. Not about this man. Sharon gave Helo’s hand a slight squeeze and she led him across the clearing, past the swing and the chains and the drifting strand of hair.
***
Their first sight of the cabin was almost too perfect and Sharon wondered if Six had somehow found a way to force even the sun in the sky to do her bidding. The structure was small, its setting intimate, as if to foster in herself and Helo the feelings that Five, if not Six, wanted them to have for each other. Feelings that would further God’s plan.
Triangular in shape, built of warm wood, it was bordered by the overgrown remains of a flower garden. No longer manicured and trimmed, what was left was a profusion of colored blooms - reds, yellows, purples, blues - made more brilliant by the dark brown of the wood. The whole was surrounded by the forest, the path from the playground leading directly to the door, which was ajar. A stream could be heard gurgling merrily nearby, although they couldn’t see it from where they stood.
“Whoa.” Helo sounded stunned and Sharon had to admit that it was beautiful and inviting. The others must have chosen the playground as the rendezvous with just this setup in mind - keeping Helo a prisoner with silk and illusion rather than chains. He shook his head and sucked at his cheek, proceeded up the rough path. He pulled his gun before approaching that open door. Sharon knew there would be nothing overtly dangerous on the other side, but that didn’t make the more subtle danger to him any less real and she was perversely heartened by the fact that he was suspicious of their apparent good fortune.
Cautiously, Helo pushed the door open, gun held ready in case of need. “Hello? Anybody home?”
There was no sound from within. For that matter, the only sounds from without were the gentle rustle of the leaves, the burble of the hidden stream, and the crunching sound under Sharon’s boots as she moved to join Helo. Passing through the flowers to either side of the path and stepping onto the porch, she inhaled deeply of their sweet scent.
Helo took a slow step into the cabin and then another, coming to a stop about two meters into the single room that was the first floor of the A-frame structure. Peering from behind his shoulder, Sharon’s gaze was caught by a stream of sunlight flooding in from a window high up on the east wall, motes of dust caught in its snare, dancing and drifting as they swirled with the disturbance of air she and Helo had caused.
One brow raised in question, Helo turned to her. She shrugged in response and stepped around him. Spinning in place, she saw a switch next to the door. Five's words echoing in her head - food, water, electricity, all the comforts - she toggled it, but nothing happened. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” She shook her head. “Even if there is a generator, it couldn’t possibly be running after all this time.” But there was no doubt in her mind that they would find a generator and fuel to keep it running.
“There has to be one somewhere, though. This place is nowhere near civilization.” He gestured to a fixture in the center of the ceiling. “The place is obviously wired - maybe the generator is out back?”
With another shrug, Sharon surveyed the room. Her eyes having become accustomed to the light level, she saw a comfortably appointed living area: overstuffed chair and couch, a table between the two, all situated near a large and apparently well-used fireplace. To the left, below the window with its streaming sunshine, was an area that could be curtained off from the rest of the room to serve as a “bathroom,” complete with shower, sink, and toilet. On the opposite side of the room was a small cooking area; Sharon half expected to see a wood stove to go along with the rustic feel of the rest of the room, but it seemed to be quite modern.
“This is… unbelievable,” Helo said as he walked toward a ladder in the far corner. The ladder connected the plank floor to an octagonal hole in the ceiling. The second floor of the cabin, where Sharon could see part of a bed’s headboard peaking out above the railing, was itself a single “room.”
Helo holstered his sidearm and climbed the ladder to check out the loft. Sharon couldn’t help herself; she watched as he climbed, the way the flight suit clung to his ass. Smirking in self-mockery, she felt her face again grow warm.
A few seconds later, his joking voice drifted down to her. “Man, Sharon! Did we die and wake up in Paradise?” She looked up and saw him grinning down at her, but then he disappeared again. “If I get in that bed, I don’t think I’ll leave for at least a week.”
***
They had found the generator a short distance from the cabin. Its fuel tank was full and Sharon had found more fuel in a small tool shed hidden in the trees, as well as a toolbox that contained well-used, well-cared-for tools.
That had been about half an hour ago. Helo didn’t need her help for the simple repairs the generator required and so she had gone back into the cabin to explore it on her own. Both doors were open to allow the breeze to blow through, clearing the stale quality from the air, and she could hear the occasional curse whenever something didn’t work out quite the way he wanted in the repair process.
As if on cue… “Frak!” followed by a clatter of metal against metal.
Sharon rushed to the back door and poked her head out. Helo sat on the ground, legs bent. His elbows resting on his knees, he held his head in both hands. “Are you okay?”
He looked up at her question and she saw a long smear of grease extending from the bridge of his nose down and back to the point of his jaw. He quirked his lips and shook his head. “I’m fine. Just fighting the rust on some of these connections.”
“Kickin’ your ass, huh?”
In response, he stuck his tongue out at her and then waved her away, picking up the wrench that lay in the dirt by his left boot. Apparently, the wrench had fallen to the ground and collided with the shell of the generator - that had been what she’d heard.
A quick glance at the sky told her the clouds were returning. It would no doubt rain again before the afternoon progressed much further. But she and Helo had shelter, this time, and something other than beans to eat. And there was fresh water in the tank they had discovered perched on a frame attached to the back of the cabin. As Five had said, all the comforts.
Thinking of Five and, by extension, Six, Sharon suddenly felt an almost overwhelming desire to be clean.
Her flight suit, her tanks, her underwear, all were filthy and she realized she hadn’t been truly clean in weeks. They had discovered clean clothes in the loft…
Not wanting to have the leather and plastic and cloth of her disgusting flight suit against her skin any longer, Sharon stripped off her boots, followed in rapid succession by the suit, her socks, and her outer tank. In just her underwear and inner tank, she dashed up the ladder to rummage through the dresser and closet in the loft.
“Yessssss…” She tossed her finds - clean tee, underwear, and jeans that would be a little bit loose on her, but not too bad - over her shoulder and practically slid back down the ladder, excited by the prospect of a shower even if the water was cold. She was used to being drenched by cold water, anyway.
Bare feet slapping against the floor, she ran to the shower and, wiping away a patina of dust, carefully stacked the pile of clean civilian clothes on a stool outside the range of any water that might splash past the shower curtain. She was going to have a shower if it was the last thing she ever did. There was shampoo and soap on a shelf just below the showerhead, which was large and flat to provide a gentle flow of water.
Tossing her underwear and remaining tank to the side, Sharon stepped under the showerhead and pulled the curtain around, creating a barrier between her and the rest of the cabin. She turned the knob toward red and hoped for the best. A delighted smile spread across her face - and seemingly through her entire body - when warm water began to cascade down on her head, plastering her dirty hair to her neck and shoulders.
“Helo!” she shouted. “There’s hot water!” She laughed and raised her face to the spray, enjoying the feel of the warm water sluicing the sweat of days from her skin. Reaching for the bottle of shampoo, she poured a bit into her hand and scrubbed it through her hair, reveling in the sensation.
“Did you say something?” Helo’s voice drifted to her from the direction of the open back door. “I think I got the generator working now.”
She heard the door squeak as he closed it and then she heard the scrape of his boots on the planking. “I said there’s hot water.” She rinsed the lather from her now-clean hair. “I think this really is Paradise…”
The front door snicked shut as well. There was a rustling sound followed by a thud as something hit the floor outside the shower area. And then he was there, as naked as she as he slid past the curtain and under the spray, bringing his body into contact with hers along the length of her back, running his palms down her shoulders and arms.
“Gods, this feels good,” he said and she didn’t think he was talking about the water that fell over them. She pressed her ass against his hardening cock, turned her head and rubbed her cheek against his smooth chest. His arms came around her, creating a shelf beneath her breasts where water pooled. She felt the stubble of a day’s growth of beard abrade her shoulder and neck as Helo leaned down to watch the water collect between her breasts.
Sharon looked at him from the corner of her eye and he turned his head slightly. They kissed, moving their heads to deepen the contact of their mouths, their tongues, and yet holding their bodies still, not wanting to break that greater contact. Sharon’s hands moved restlessly before finally settling, one on his arms, the other reaching up behind his head. Her fingers slid through his wet hair. Helo’s hand drifted down her torso to her hip, slid over the top of her thigh to rest for a moment between her legs. His fingers played with the hair there and she shifted against him. He slid a finger inside her and she bit his lower lip, sucked it into her mouth.
Skin slid on wet skin with no resistance. Helo turned her in his arms, brought them face-to-face. They kissed hungrily, devouring each other, as he reached for the soap and began to run the slick bar over Sharon’s body. Following the path of his hand with its payload of slickery soap, Sharon took the bar from him, ran the bar and her soapy hands over his hard muscles. He broke the kiss and she raised her eyes to find him watching her, watching the water glide over her breasts and hips and thighs, smooth as glass, but much more yielding.
She put some space between them, raked her eyes up and down Helo’s body, pausing for a moment at the sight of his cock, hard and ready for her. She ran soapy hands over her breasts and body, following the same path he had blazed a few moments before and his eyes followed her hands as though hypnotized. She watched as his pupils dilated in the fading light.
He took a step toward her, but she danced back, teasing. With a quirk of her lips, she came back to him and began to spread soap over his shoulders, chest, stomach, penis, thighs, wiped away the streak of grease on his face, then brought her body flush with his. She felt the water pool between her breasts again as she reached around him, smoothed soap over his shoulders and back and that tight ass.
With a groan, Helo kissed her again. No finesse now, just raw want. He rocked his hips against her, stroked his hands down her back, over her flanks, pulled her in tight. But then he surprised her, spun her around in his arms so that she was facing away from him. He sucked and nipped at her shoulders and neck, brought his hand up between her legs from behind, slid a finger insider her again.
For a moment, Sharon almost panicked - she couldn’t allow him to do this, to make her come while he was behind her, couldn’t risk that he might see the glow as her Cylon body shed excess heat. She spun in his arms again, aided by the soap and water that covered their bodies. As soon as she was able, Sharon pulled his head down for another soul-wrenching kiss. Before he had a chance to do anything else, she guided him into her.
Again he broke their kiss. There wasn’t leverage for him to penetrate deeply enough and so he pivoted, taking her with him. He pressed her back against the wall, and Sharon brought her leg up around his hip, helping him to thrust more deeply into her, again and again. With each thrust she gasped his name - “Helo… Helo… Helo…” - until the last repetition broke on a sob and he spilled himself into her, shuddering.
For several long seconds, they simply stood under the water. Their skin was rinsed of soap and the water from the tank outside, filtered through whatever mechanism had been designed to heat it, had begun to cool, the hot water reserves exhausted.
Neither of them noticed the growing chill of the water as he lifted her face to his, smoothed her wet hair from her wet forehead and kissed her gently. Sharon felt something melt inside…
***
She knew it the moment she conceived.
For a solid week they had lived in the cabin in the woods, no signs of pursuit or danger. A solid week of clean sheets and clean clothes and sex; of hours spent just talking, or listening to music on the disc player they had found in the loft, of Helo teaching her to dance to that music; of rain pounding on the roof and thunder shattering the quiet, as the two of them remained warm and safe and dry in their new home.
In this lovely, inescapable trap. For it hadn’t been long after Sharon had delivered him into this trap that she had discovered the transponder in the light fixture, high up on the ceiling. She knew that the others were watching their every move, probably listening to everything they said, as well. The idea of Six avidly watching them make love - it wasn’t just sex anymore - made her feel sick.
The more time Sharon spent with Helo, the more time she wanted to spend with him and the more she wanted to keep him as far from Six as possible. She became more and more convinced that this was indeed a part of God’s plan, their time in Five's and Six's trap. She became certain of it the morning Helo told her he loved her, for it was later that very day that she conceived.
She had known for weeks that she truly loved this man. But it was when he joined with her in love that God gave them - gave her - a child, the fulfillment of that love and the beginning of God’s plan for them all, Cylon and human alike.
And here she lay, cocooned in the warmth and comfort of Helo’s arms, her body still singing from their lovemaking, the spark of life ignited in her womb.
Sharon didn’t realize that tears leaked from her eyes until Helo stirred. “Sharon?” He pulled his arm out from under her head, propped his head on an elbow to look at her more closely. Gently, he stroked his thumb across her eyelid, her cheek, wiped away the tears. “What’s wrong?” He frowned and leaned down to place a feather-light kiss on her brow.
Grasping his hand, holding it captive against her lips, she kissed his palm. His frown faded, but the concern was still in his eyes. Coming to an abrupt decision, one that she wouldn’t allow herself to regret later, no matter what came of it, Sharon slid out of bed and padded over to the player. She turned it on, turned the volume up to a high level, hoping it would mask what she had to say.
It wasn’t cold, but still she shivered as she slipped back into the bed, allowing Helo to pull her close. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“No. No, Helo, I’m not okay,” she whispered. She sucked in a great gulp of air, suddenly frightened of what she had resolved to do.
“Hey, whatever it is, we can handle it.”
She sat up again, knowing she was stalling but helpless to stop it. Leaning over the end of the bed, she grabbed up the first piece of clothing she could find - the tee Helo had worn earlier. Pulling it over her head, she felt almost as though his arms were still around her, holding her safe and giving her support.
Not yet understanding what was going on - how could he? - Helo followed her lead. It gave her a few minutes to compose what she had to say. Wearing only his tee, she sat again on the bed, facing Helo.
He had pulled on his jeans. He leaned back against the headboard, looking mystified. Curling her legs in front of her, Sharon wrapped her arms around her knees and said, “Helo, there’s something you should know.”
“Okay.” He sucked at his cheek and all she wanted to do was kiss him.
Another deep breath. “Helo, I’m a Cylon.” She didn’t know how else to put it. He didn’t react and she went on, before she lost her courage. “I’m a Cylon and I was assigned to you, to keep you moving along a certain path which would lead to a certain conclusion.”
He laughed, the sound uncertain. “You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not joking.”
Helo stared at her, intense. He held himself very still. His eyes - those eyes that had looked at her only moments before with love and tenderness - seemed to flay the skin from her, centimeter by centimeter.
“You’re a Cylon.” His voice sounded dead.
She couldn’t look at him. “Yes.”
“Why are you telling me this?” And still, he displayed no emotion.
“Because I can’t go through with it. The plan.” Sharon did look at him then. “Because I love you.”
He flinched at that. Then slowly he got to his feet. “This isn’t happening.” His eyes were wide when he finally pulled his gaze from her. He blinked once and then took a careful step toward the closet, pulled out a shirt and dragged it over his head.
“Helo…” She watched as he calmly took a fresh pair of socks from the top drawer of the dresser. “Helo, please say something.”
He turned his back on her and she realized that he was headed toward the ladder, that he was leaving her there. “Helo, please don’t go. Please, just listen to what I have to say.”
He stopped then, still with his back to her. “Why? It seems like everything you’ve told me has been a lie. Why should I listen to you now?”
She stopped. Why should he listen to her? Why should he trust her? “Not everything has been a lie,” she whispered. Her voice was so low that she couldn’t be sure that he heard her. “Not everything.”
His back still to her, Helo turned his head. She could see his profile, see how stiffly he held himself. “You’re not who I thought you were. You’re not what I thought you were.” He turned to look at her then, and Sharon almost wished that he hadn’t. “You used me.” She couldn’t bear the contempt in his eyes. “You took my family, my friends, my home. My frakking sperm. And now you’re what? You’re trying to take my… my soul?”
He shook his head and turned, slid down the ladder.
“Helo!” Sharon’s voice broke as she rushed to the railing.
He stomped his feet into his boots, not even bothering to lace them. He already had his pack over one shoulder, his belt with his sidearm slung over the other. As she watched, unsure what to do, what to say to stop him from walking out that door, he looked at her one last time, love and hate clearly at war within him.
“Helo, please.”
“Go to hell.” And he was gone.
***
Sharon dressed methodically. And when she was finished, she packed a survival kit of her own - food, ammunition, water, anti-radiation meds, although she suspected they were no longer necessary for how could she have become pregnant if the residual radiation was a problem?
She left the player on, music swirling through the cabin, otherwise devoid of life. With one last look at the light fixture that housed the transponder, she left. She would find Helo and she would keep him safe and she would make him understand and believe if it was the last thing she ever did.
Cross-posted all over the damn place.
Author: SabaceanBabe
Word Count: 4,962
Date: May 31, 2005
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Helo/Sharon
Spoilers: Flesh and Bone
Disclaimers: Not mine.
Author's Note: This fic came about because some of the members of hidden_elysium were lamenting the lack of shower scenes for Helo and Boomer. Beta-free. If anyone wants to volunteer to improve this fic, let me know.
She was late. Six would have something to say about it, she was sure; the other was forever ready to pounce on any mistake Sharon made, regardless of how inconsequential.
As Sharon ran toward the rendezvous, muscles she had never noticed before ached. She felt herself grow warm with the memory of the things she had done with Helo the night before, the things that had brought those previously unused muscles to life. Distracted, she came too close to one of the ancient trees that inhabited this forest, slamming her left shoulder into its rough bark and almost knocking her from her feet.
She quickly recovered and, within minutes, reached the rendezvous point: a playground constructed within a wide clearing that was slowly being reclaimed by the surrounding woodland. As she suspected, Six and Five were waiting for her. Five merely looked at her, perhaps curious as to why she was late, but not concerned by it. Six perched on a swing - metal chains and thick rubber - and glared at Sharon with the blue eyes of a predator tensed to bring down her prey.
Deliberately dismissing Six, knowing that it would irritate the blonde, Sharon addressed Five. “We had sex.”
“Congratulations.” He cocked his head, looked at her as though searching for some visible difference in her aspect.
“Does he love you?” Six spat venom at her.
Sharon looked at her impassively. “I think so.”
Six smiled slowly and arched one fine brow. “Has he said it?”
“Not directly.” Sharon felt an unexpected pang as she answered, feeling as though she were suddenly somehow less in the other woman’s eyes, annoyed at herself that she even cared.
Which was exactly what Six wanted, Sharon realized a moment later. “Then you’re just guessing.” Her smile stretched lips that were designed to make human males think of sex and Sharon felt a chill at the thought of Helo in Six’s possession.
Interrupting yet another incipient argument in a long string of them, Five ordered, “Stay in your current location. We’re setting up a cabin for you nearby - food, water, electricity, all the comforts.”
Six’s voice dripped with irony, as though her meaning were the opposite of the words actually said. “Shouldn’t be too hard to convince him to stay and start a life together.” Idly swinging, she speared Sharon with her frozen gaze. “If not, kill him.” Her voice was ice. “Can you handle that?”
Rather than answer Six’s vicious taunting, Sharon looked to Five and then wheeled around. Without another word, she left them there, returning through the forest to her human lover. Returning to Helo.
***
Sharon was troubled as she walked along the path she had created during her journey to the rendezvous. The path wasn’t difficult to follow as she hadn’t been particularly careful when she had come this way previously. She had left Helo sleeping, her only thought then her progress report to Five and Six. Just as her thoughts now were all for Helo.
Making her way slowly back through the trees and brush, she scripted out in her head what she would tell him. It had to be something believable, something that wouldn’t arouse his suspicions. She rehearsed several different scenarios in her mind, paying no heed to her surroundings as she discarded each one in turn. Everything that came to her sounded wrong.
A warm splash of sunshine awakened Sharon from her near fugue state of indecision. She realized that she had been gone from Helo longer than she had intended - at least a couple of hours - much longer than was safe. “Dammit,” she said, sprinting back to camp.
Thoughts and memories, scents and sounds and sensations all jumbled together in her mind as she ran. Snippets of conversation - Helo, Five, Six - chased her, spurring her on faster and faster.
“…we’re gonna make it all the way…”
“If something happened to you…”
“If he flees, he dies.”
“Does he love you?”
And then Helo was there, clearly having missed her and preparing to track her down, worry for her etched into his beautiful face. She ran straight to him and he caught her, stopping her headlong charge.
“Helo... Helo!” She took a couple of great gulps of air, filling her lungs as though she were out of breath, as a human woman would be after running a great distance - he had begun to notice such small things, had begun to ask questions that became harder and harder to ignore.
“Hey. Hey! What’s going on?”
Helo didn’t relax his hold on her shoulders and, again recalling the night just past, Sharon was glad that there was a barrier of fabric between her skin and his, however flimsy that barrier might be, that allowed her to do what she must, to follow her orders, her programming. Forcing herself to smile for him, she said breathlessly, “Helo, you’ve got to see this! There’s a cabin…” She felt his fingers tighten on her biceps.
“A cabin…” He searched her face and then focused above her head, as if he could see through the tangle of bark and leaves and brush, see the cabin she said she had found.
Sharon took another deep breath, grinning like a fool, clutching his arms. “Yes. There’s food and water and a real… bed…” Her gaze locked onto his and she was shocked when she felt the blood rise in her cheeks. Was she blushing? Her eyes dropped to his mouth as he sucked at his lower lip.
“Show me.”
***
The playground was empty when they arrived, no obvious signs that anyone had been there within the last several weeks, if not months. Sunlight dappled the ground with golds and greens and browns at the edges of the clearing, which shimmered with the sway and dance of the leaves. The center of the clearing seemed to glow with the almost unfamiliar light. Sharon looked up, noted the flawless blue of the mid-morning sky, cottony white clouds drifting high up in the atmosphere. The sight of that sky without the threat of rain was as rare as the warm sunlight.
Just behind and to her right, Helo laughed. “A swing set…” She had stopped just short of it and he moved behind her, cupped her shoulders in his palms. “Wanna play, little girl?” he whispered into her ear, sending a spike of desire down her spine.
Without turning, Sharon knew he had a grin on his face that was all temptation. She smiled and leaned into him when she felt his lips brush the skin of her neck. She shivered, the response having nothing to do with the air temperature. God, how do humans ever get anything done…?
Reaching up, she took his left hand in her right, intending to lead him the rest of the way to the swing. If he wanted to play in this child’s realm, then play they would. Anything to keep that smile on his face, the teasing light in his eyes. But as they drew closer, her gaze fell on a thin strand of yellow as bright as the sunlight, caught in the swing’s chain and floating in the light breeze. Six. Suddenly, Sharon no longer wanted to play. She shivered again in earnest.
“You aren’t cold…?” Helo swung her around.
She stroked the side of his face, smoothed her thumb over his lips. “No, not cold.” Relaxing, he caught the pad of her thumb in his teeth, provoking a startled gasp from her.
With a laugh, he released her thumb. “Let’s go find this cabin of yours.” He took her hand firmly in his; hers seemed so small in contrast, fragile, and yet she could break him in half if she chose.
No. No, that was the others’ way of thinking about humans, not hers. Not about this man. Sharon gave Helo’s hand a slight squeeze and she led him across the clearing, past the swing and the chains and the drifting strand of hair.
***
Their first sight of the cabin was almost too perfect and Sharon wondered if Six had somehow found a way to force even the sun in the sky to do her bidding. The structure was small, its setting intimate, as if to foster in herself and Helo the feelings that Five, if not Six, wanted them to have for each other. Feelings that would further God’s plan.
Triangular in shape, built of warm wood, it was bordered by the overgrown remains of a flower garden. No longer manicured and trimmed, what was left was a profusion of colored blooms - reds, yellows, purples, blues - made more brilliant by the dark brown of the wood. The whole was surrounded by the forest, the path from the playground leading directly to the door, which was ajar. A stream could be heard gurgling merrily nearby, although they couldn’t see it from where they stood.
“Whoa.” Helo sounded stunned and Sharon had to admit that it was beautiful and inviting. The others must have chosen the playground as the rendezvous with just this setup in mind - keeping Helo a prisoner with silk and illusion rather than chains. He shook his head and sucked at his cheek, proceeded up the rough path. He pulled his gun before approaching that open door. Sharon knew there would be nothing overtly dangerous on the other side, but that didn’t make the more subtle danger to him any less real and she was perversely heartened by the fact that he was suspicious of their apparent good fortune.
Cautiously, Helo pushed the door open, gun held ready in case of need. “Hello? Anybody home?”
There was no sound from within. For that matter, the only sounds from without were the gentle rustle of the leaves, the burble of the hidden stream, and the crunching sound under Sharon’s boots as she moved to join Helo. Passing through the flowers to either side of the path and stepping onto the porch, she inhaled deeply of their sweet scent.
Helo took a slow step into the cabin and then another, coming to a stop about two meters into the single room that was the first floor of the A-frame structure. Peering from behind his shoulder, Sharon’s gaze was caught by a stream of sunlight flooding in from a window high up on the east wall, motes of dust caught in its snare, dancing and drifting as they swirled with the disturbance of air she and Helo had caused.
One brow raised in question, Helo turned to her. She shrugged in response and stepped around him. Spinning in place, she saw a switch next to the door. Five's words echoing in her head - food, water, electricity, all the comforts - she toggled it, but nothing happened. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” She shook her head. “Even if there is a generator, it couldn’t possibly be running after all this time.” But there was no doubt in her mind that they would find a generator and fuel to keep it running.
“There has to be one somewhere, though. This place is nowhere near civilization.” He gestured to a fixture in the center of the ceiling. “The place is obviously wired - maybe the generator is out back?”
With another shrug, Sharon surveyed the room. Her eyes having become accustomed to the light level, she saw a comfortably appointed living area: overstuffed chair and couch, a table between the two, all situated near a large and apparently well-used fireplace. To the left, below the window with its streaming sunshine, was an area that could be curtained off from the rest of the room to serve as a “bathroom,” complete with shower, sink, and toilet. On the opposite side of the room was a small cooking area; Sharon half expected to see a wood stove to go along with the rustic feel of the rest of the room, but it seemed to be quite modern.
“This is… unbelievable,” Helo said as he walked toward a ladder in the far corner. The ladder connected the plank floor to an octagonal hole in the ceiling. The second floor of the cabin, where Sharon could see part of a bed’s headboard peaking out above the railing, was itself a single “room.”
Helo holstered his sidearm and climbed the ladder to check out the loft. Sharon couldn’t help herself; she watched as he climbed, the way the flight suit clung to his ass. Smirking in self-mockery, she felt her face again grow warm.
A few seconds later, his joking voice drifted down to her. “Man, Sharon! Did we die and wake up in Paradise?” She looked up and saw him grinning down at her, but then he disappeared again. “If I get in that bed, I don’t think I’ll leave for at least a week.”
***
They had found the generator a short distance from the cabin. Its fuel tank was full and Sharon had found more fuel in a small tool shed hidden in the trees, as well as a toolbox that contained well-used, well-cared-for tools.
That had been about half an hour ago. Helo didn’t need her help for the simple repairs the generator required and so she had gone back into the cabin to explore it on her own. Both doors were open to allow the breeze to blow through, clearing the stale quality from the air, and she could hear the occasional curse whenever something didn’t work out quite the way he wanted in the repair process.
As if on cue… “Frak!” followed by a clatter of metal against metal.
Sharon rushed to the back door and poked her head out. Helo sat on the ground, legs bent. His elbows resting on his knees, he held his head in both hands. “Are you okay?”
He looked up at her question and she saw a long smear of grease extending from the bridge of his nose down and back to the point of his jaw. He quirked his lips and shook his head. “I’m fine. Just fighting the rust on some of these connections.”
“Kickin’ your ass, huh?”
In response, he stuck his tongue out at her and then waved her away, picking up the wrench that lay in the dirt by his left boot. Apparently, the wrench had fallen to the ground and collided with the shell of the generator - that had been what she’d heard.
A quick glance at the sky told her the clouds were returning. It would no doubt rain again before the afternoon progressed much further. But she and Helo had shelter, this time, and something other than beans to eat. And there was fresh water in the tank they had discovered perched on a frame attached to the back of the cabin. As Five had said, all the comforts.
Thinking of Five and, by extension, Six, Sharon suddenly felt an almost overwhelming desire to be clean.
Her flight suit, her tanks, her underwear, all were filthy and she realized she hadn’t been truly clean in weeks. They had discovered clean clothes in the loft…
Not wanting to have the leather and plastic and cloth of her disgusting flight suit against her skin any longer, Sharon stripped off her boots, followed in rapid succession by the suit, her socks, and her outer tank. In just her underwear and inner tank, she dashed up the ladder to rummage through the dresser and closet in the loft.
“Yessssss…” She tossed her finds - clean tee, underwear, and jeans that would be a little bit loose on her, but not too bad - over her shoulder and practically slid back down the ladder, excited by the prospect of a shower even if the water was cold. She was used to being drenched by cold water, anyway.
Bare feet slapping against the floor, she ran to the shower and, wiping away a patina of dust, carefully stacked the pile of clean civilian clothes on a stool outside the range of any water that might splash past the shower curtain. She was going to have a shower if it was the last thing she ever did. There was shampoo and soap on a shelf just below the showerhead, which was large and flat to provide a gentle flow of water.
Tossing her underwear and remaining tank to the side, Sharon stepped under the showerhead and pulled the curtain around, creating a barrier between her and the rest of the cabin. She turned the knob toward red and hoped for the best. A delighted smile spread across her face - and seemingly through her entire body - when warm water began to cascade down on her head, plastering her dirty hair to her neck and shoulders.
“Helo!” she shouted. “There’s hot water!” She laughed and raised her face to the spray, enjoying the feel of the warm water sluicing the sweat of days from her skin. Reaching for the bottle of shampoo, she poured a bit into her hand and scrubbed it through her hair, reveling in the sensation.
“Did you say something?” Helo’s voice drifted to her from the direction of the open back door. “I think I got the generator working now.”
She heard the door squeak as he closed it and then she heard the scrape of his boots on the planking. “I said there’s hot water.” She rinsed the lather from her now-clean hair. “I think this really is Paradise…”
The front door snicked shut as well. There was a rustling sound followed by a thud as something hit the floor outside the shower area. And then he was there, as naked as she as he slid past the curtain and under the spray, bringing his body into contact with hers along the length of her back, running his palms down her shoulders and arms.
“Gods, this feels good,” he said and she didn’t think he was talking about the water that fell over them. She pressed her ass against his hardening cock, turned her head and rubbed her cheek against his smooth chest. His arms came around her, creating a shelf beneath her breasts where water pooled. She felt the stubble of a day’s growth of beard abrade her shoulder and neck as Helo leaned down to watch the water collect between her breasts.
Sharon looked at him from the corner of her eye and he turned his head slightly. They kissed, moving their heads to deepen the contact of their mouths, their tongues, and yet holding their bodies still, not wanting to break that greater contact. Sharon’s hands moved restlessly before finally settling, one on his arms, the other reaching up behind his head. Her fingers slid through his wet hair. Helo’s hand drifted down her torso to her hip, slid over the top of her thigh to rest for a moment between her legs. His fingers played with the hair there and she shifted against him. He slid a finger inside her and she bit his lower lip, sucked it into her mouth.
Skin slid on wet skin with no resistance. Helo turned her in his arms, brought them face-to-face. They kissed hungrily, devouring each other, as he reached for the soap and began to run the slick bar over Sharon’s body. Following the path of his hand with its payload of slickery soap, Sharon took the bar from him, ran the bar and her soapy hands over his hard muscles. He broke the kiss and she raised her eyes to find him watching her, watching the water glide over her breasts and hips and thighs, smooth as glass, but much more yielding.
She put some space between them, raked her eyes up and down Helo’s body, pausing for a moment at the sight of his cock, hard and ready for her. She ran soapy hands over her breasts and body, following the same path he had blazed a few moments before and his eyes followed her hands as though hypnotized. She watched as his pupils dilated in the fading light.
He took a step toward her, but she danced back, teasing. With a quirk of her lips, she came back to him and began to spread soap over his shoulders, chest, stomach, penis, thighs, wiped away the streak of grease on his face, then brought her body flush with his. She felt the water pool between her breasts again as she reached around him, smoothed soap over his shoulders and back and that tight ass.
With a groan, Helo kissed her again. No finesse now, just raw want. He rocked his hips against her, stroked his hands down her back, over her flanks, pulled her in tight. But then he surprised her, spun her around in his arms so that she was facing away from him. He sucked and nipped at her shoulders and neck, brought his hand up between her legs from behind, slid a finger insider her again.
For a moment, Sharon almost panicked - she couldn’t allow him to do this, to make her come while he was behind her, couldn’t risk that he might see the glow as her Cylon body shed excess heat. She spun in his arms again, aided by the soap and water that covered their bodies. As soon as she was able, Sharon pulled his head down for another soul-wrenching kiss. Before he had a chance to do anything else, she guided him into her.
Again he broke their kiss. There wasn’t leverage for him to penetrate deeply enough and so he pivoted, taking her with him. He pressed her back against the wall, and Sharon brought her leg up around his hip, helping him to thrust more deeply into her, again and again. With each thrust she gasped his name - “Helo… Helo… Helo…” - until the last repetition broke on a sob and he spilled himself into her, shuddering.
For several long seconds, they simply stood under the water. Their skin was rinsed of soap and the water from the tank outside, filtered through whatever mechanism had been designed to heat it, had begun to cool, the hot water reserves exhausted.
Neither of them noticed the growing chill of the water as he lifted her face to his, smoothed her wet hair from her wet forehead and kissed her gently. Sharon felt something melt inside…
***
She knew it the moment she conceived.
For a solid week they had lived in the cabin in the woods, no signs of pursuit or danger. A solid week of clean sheets and clean clothes and sex; of hours spent just talking, or listening to music on the disc player they had found in the loft, of Helo teaching her to dance to that music; of rain pounding on the roof and thunder shattering the quiet, as the two of them remained warm and safe and dry in their new home.
In this lovely, inescapable trap. For it hadn’t been long after Sharon had delivered him into this trap that she had discovered the transponder in the light fixture, high up on the ceiling. She knew that the others were watching their every move, probably listening to everything they said, as well. The idea of Six avidly watching them make love - it wasn’t just sex anymore - made her feel sick.
The more time Sharon spent with Helo, the more time she wanted to spend with him and the more she wanted to keep him as far from Six as possible. She became more and more convinced that this was indeed a part of God’s plan, their time in Five's and Six's trap. She became certain of it the morning Helo told her he loved her, for it was later that very day that she conceived.
She had known for weeks that she truly loved this man. But it was when he joined with her in love that God gave them - gave her - a child, the fulfillment of that love and the beginning of God’s plan for them all, Cylon and human alike.
And here she lay, cocooned in the warmth and comfort of Helo’s arms, her body still singing from their lovemaking, the spark of life ignited in her womb.
Sharon didn’t realize that tears leaked from her eyes until Helo stirred. “Sharon?” He pulled his arm out from under her head, propped his head on an elbow to look at her more closely. Gently, he stroked his thumb across her eyelid, her cheek, wiped away the tears. “What’s wrong?” He frowned and leaned down to place a feather-light kiss on her brow.
Grasping his hand, holding it captive against her lips, she kissed his palm. His frown faded, but the concern was still in his eyes. Coming to an abrupt decision, one that she wouldn’t allow herself to regret later, no matter what came of it, Sharon slid out of bed and padded over to the player. She turned it on, turned the volume up to a high level, hoping it would mask what she had to say.
It wasn’t cold, but still she shivered as she slipped back into the bed, allowing Helo to pull her close. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“No. No, Helo, I’m not okay,” she whispered. She sucked in a great gulp of air, suddenly frightened of what she had resolved to do.
“Hey, whatever it is, we can handle it.”
She sat up again, knowing she was stalling but helpless to stop it. Leaning over the end of the bed, she grabbed up the first piece of clothing she could find - the tee Helo had worn earlier. Pulling it over her head, she felt almost as though his arms were still around her, holding her safe and giving her support.
Not yet understanding what was going on - how could he? - Helo followed her lead. It gave her a few minutes to compose what she had to say. Wearing only his tee, she sat again on the bed, facing Helo.
He had pulled on his jeans. He leaned back against the headboard, looking mystified. Curling her legs in front of her, Sharon wrapped her arms around her knees and said, “Helo, there’s something you should know.”
“Okay.” He sucked at his cheek and all she wanted to do was kiss him.
Another deep breath. “Helo, I’m a Cylon.” She didn’t know how else to put it. He didn’t react and she went on, before she lost her courage. “I’m a Cylon and I was assigned to you, to keep you moving along a certain path which would lead to a certain conclusion.”
He laughed, the sound uncertain. “You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not joking.”
Helo stared at her, intense. He held himself very still. His eyes - those eyes that had looked at her only moments before with love and tenderness - seemed to flay the skin from her, centimeter by centimeter.
“You’re a Cylon.” His voice sounded dead.
She couldn’t look at him. “Yes.”
“Why are you telling me this?” And still, he displayed no emotion.
“Because I can’t go through with it. The plan.” Sharon did look at him then. “Because I love you.”
He flinched at that. Then slowly he got to his feet. “This isn’t happening.” His eyes were wide when he finally pulled his gaze from her. He blinked once and then took a careful step toward the closet, pulled out a shirt and dragged it over his head.
“Helo…” She watched as he calmly took a fresh pair of socks from the top drawer of the dresser. “Helo, please say something.”
He turned his back on her and she realized that he was headed toward the ladder, that he was leaving her there. “Helo, please don’t go. Please, just listen to what I have to say.”
He stopped then, still with his back to her. “Why? It seems like everything you’ve told me has been a lie. Why should I listen to you now?”
She stopped. Why should he listen to her? Why should he trust her? “Not everything has been a lie,” she whispered. Her voice was so low that she couldn’t be sure that he heard her. “Not everything.”
His back still to her, Helo turned his head. She could see his profile, see how stiffly he held himself. “You’re not who I thought you were. You’re not what I thought you were.” He turned to look at her then, and Sharon almost wished that he hadn’t. “You used me.” She couldn’t bear the contempt in his eyes. “You took my family, my friends, my home. My frakking sperm. And now you’re what? You’re trying to take my… my soul?”
He shook his head and turned, slid down the ladder.
“Helo!” Sharon’s voice broke as she rushed to the railing.
He stomped his feet into his boots, not even bothering to lace them. He already had his pack over one shoulder, his belt with his sidearm slung over the other. As she watched, unsure what to do, what to say to stop him from walking out that door, he looked at her one last time, love and hate clearly at war within him.
“Helo, please.”
“Go to hell.” And he was gone.
***
Sharon dressed methodically. And when she was finished, she packed a survival kit of her own - food, ammunition, water, anti-radiation meds, although she suspected they were no longer necessary for how could she have become pregnant if the residual radiation was a problem?
She left the player on, music swirling through the cabin, otherwise devoid of life. With one last look at the light fixture that housed the transponder, she left. She would find Helo and she would keep him safe and she would make him understand and believe if it was the last thing she ever did.
Cross-posted all over the damn place.