Fic: Red Petals [8/10]
Fic: Red Petals [8/10]
Previous: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Disclaimer: Sometimes I think this show was created just for me, but alas, still not mine. Definitely for the best, in this case.
Rating/warnings: NC-17. Sex pollen and sex slaves, dub-con and non-con (though mostly off screen), plus violence, cursing, lots of nudity, and forced druggings.
Pairings: (In order of apperance, not necessarily importance) James/Camille, Mercedes/Kendall, Kendall/Jo, Kendall/James, Mercedes/Kendall/James, James/Logan.
Notes: As always, enormous thanks to my fantastic and amazing beta reader, lielabell. Also, pay no attention to the science. Er, "science." Because it deserves the sarcastic quotation marks.
Summary: Kendall and his crew are supposed to be on a rescue mission, searching for someone on a black market planet. But he's the one who ends up needing to be rescued...
Eight.
Carlos let Camille sweep him into the hallway, trying doors. Most of them opened to reveal more people, more sex. Each time, she let out a drunken-sounding, "Oops!" and a laugh, but he didn't miss the way her gaze flashed around.
"What are we looking for?" Carlos finally whispered, as they skipped between rooms.
"Anything," Camille answered. "Either of your friends. Sounds like James has gone missing, so..."
Carlos nodded seriously. They were so close, and there was no way in hell he was leaving without James. So they made slow progress, searching rooms, with no luck. Until Carlos glimpsed back towards the lounge and caught a glimpse of bright blond. He nudged Camille, who glanced back.
"Mercedes," she said. "And Rebecca. Let's get closer. Something's going down."
Carlos took her hand and the two of them skipped towards the lounge together. She stopped right in the doorway, cuddling up against him, and murmured, "Shh."
Right. Biomech. She could hear from across the room, and he didn't dare even try in case he looked like he was trying. She mumbled into his ear, "Mercedes says she checked the tapes. Someone named Jo took him. Rebecca isn't happy, and Mercedes says -- oh, damn, she says Kendall was behind it. They definitely have him."
Carlos made sure he was facing away from the women in the lounge, since he wasn't sure he could control his expression.
"They caught him yesterday. They... fuck, they know where your ship is, and Mercedes has people on the way."
"Logan," Carlos said, tasting sharp fear and adrenaline.
"Okay, listen," Camille hissed. "James isn't here anymore, but Kendall is. If we move fast, we might have a chance to save him. Or you can get out of here and warn Logan. I'll do what I can for Kendall, but if I get a clear shot at Rebecca..."
Carlos felt like he was being torn in half. He knew full well the people Mercedes was sending to the shipyard weren't going to knock politely and have a friendly chat with Logan. And if Kendall really was behind James' disappearance, that's where he'd be going, too. After coming so close, the idea of losing James again was bad enough, and losing Logan with him...
But if he went, Camille might be too busy with Rebecca to save Kendall. He'd still be at Mercedes' mercy. And even if Camille tried to take out Rebecca and Mercedes, two on one was bad odds. She might not even make it, and then what would happen to Kendall?
Kendall would tell him to go. But just because Kendall wouldn't think to save himself didn't mean that Carlos had to do the same. He didn't know when Mercedes had sent her people, or when they'd arrive at the ship. So maybe there would be enough time to get help to Logan. And Kendall was in big, big trouble. Right here. Right now.
He looked at Camille. "We stay."
"Okay. Be ready. They're going to see him now."
Sure enough, Mercedes and Rebecca started down one of the darker hallways. Carlos started to move, but Camille grabbed his arm. She waited for the two women to be almost out of sight before nudging him forward. They followed slowly, carefully, still hand in hand, and once Camille stopped and pushed him against the wall, fake giggling. Someone came out of a room and walked past them, and she drew back as soon as he was gone.
Ahead of them, Mercedes and Rebecca disappeared down a set of stairs. Carlos glanced at Camille. They were definitely going down there, but it was dangerous. Up here, if anyone saw them, they could pretend they were just having fun like all the other couples and groups. The stairwell was poorly lit and obviously didn't go to a public area.
Camille glanced at him. "If we get caught, I'll do the talking."
"Yeah," he agreed, and checked to make sure both of his weapons were ready before they started down.
The rooms at the bottom were dark and small. Camille opened a couple of doors slowly, revealing empty bedrooms. She pulled him in to one and held a hand up to her lips for silence, concentrating. Carlos tip-toed towards the wall and pressed his ear against it.
He could just make out a woman's voice: "Where did she take him, Knight?" followed by broken, crazed laughter and the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh, hard. Then more laughter that was, undeniably, Kendall's.
Between manic giggles, "You drugged me too much, 'cause baby, that just turns me on."
Another voice, this one with an accent: "You should have killed him when I told you to. Don't worry. I'll fix that mistake for you. Knight. You have five seconds to tell me where Diamond is, or I will shoot you."
"Go ahead," Kendall said.
"Five. Four. Three --"
Carlos took off.
--
"Come on, this way, James, come on..." Logan mumbled, half-dragging James towards the medical bay. The woman -- Jo, she'd said her name was Jo -- followed. He glanced over at her and asked, "So did Carlos send you? How did you find James?" He paused for a second. "And why is he wearing a dress?"
"I don't know who that is, but Kendall Knight pretty much begged me to bring him here. And it was either the dress or naked."
"Do you want to see me naked?" James chimed in, a hand going to the small of Logan's back. "'Cause I want to see you --"
"James!" Logan squawked, dancing away as James' hand slid southward.
"He was drugged," Jo said. "Mercedes has been dosing him with --"
"Yeah," Logan interrupted, grabbing James' wrist to pull him down the hall and hopefully avoid further groping. "Camille told us, and --"
"The actress? Wait, what?"
"It's a long story," Logan said. "She said something about a show, I guess she's an actress, but -- look, that's not important right now. You saw Kendall? Is he okay?"
"Yes, I saw him, and... well, we'd just better get that under control," she pointed at James, "because I don't see Knight surviving more than a few hours once Mercedes knows he's gone. "
"Shit," Logan said, as he opened the door to his makeshift science lab/medical bay. "Okay, uh, James, can you just... just sit over there, please?"
He gestured at a bed and James grinned but didn't move. Instead he snaked an arm around Logan and murmured in his ear, "You're a doctor?"
Logan tried to push him away, but for all James was drugged, he was still tall and broad-shouldered and strong. He swallowed and said, "I'm a medic, and James, you know that. You know me. I'm gonna help you remember."
"You know what would help me remember?" James leered.
Jo grabbed James by the back of his dress and yanked. He stumbled and pouted as she pushed him on to the med bay's bed. James apparently decided to make the most of it and hitched his skirt up. "Mmm, this could work. I don't have anything on under this, all we have to do is push it up and --"
"I need a blood sample," Logan said, trying to ignore everything James said. He reached for a needle. "Is that okay?"
James scowled. "I don't like shots."
"It's not a shot. It won't hurt," Logan said, and glanced over at Jo. "Could you, like, hold him? Please?"
"Yeah," James said, smirking at her. "Hold me."
Jo rolled her eyes, but strong-armed James until he was lying on his back -- he didn't seem to mind that very much -- and grabbed his arm and held it in place. James went tense as Logan filled the syringe.
"Now can we fuck?" James whined.
"Can you give me one more?" Logan asked, dodging the question.
James considered it, then grinned. "Sure. But only because the doctor thing is sexy."
"Medic," Logan corrected again, and weirdly, felt himself blush. He knew James wasn't serious -- or more accurately, James was dead serious, but right now, James probably thought the ceiling tiles were sexy.
"Not a doctor," James said, nodding a little. "You want to play doctor?"
Oh, god. Logan laughed despite himself but held his hands steady as he drew another vial of blood. It was such a stupid James pick up line that it actually sounded like James, the real James, the one who was still in there somewhere. After months of forcing himself to believe that James was dead or lost forever, refusing to get his hopes up even when they started chasing Rebecca, here he was, and it left Logan warm and a little choked, which was so, so stupid.
James was sick. James needed help. Logan couldn't let himself get distracted. And it wasn't like he'd ever thought of James that way, anyway -- just because he was gay and James was attractive did not actually mean anything, despite all the times James had teased him. But James didn't even remember those times now.
But he was safe. He was safe, and he was here. And Logan was going to fix him.
Logan began calibrating his equipment, ready to focus. "Okay. I think I can handle things from here. This should give me plenty to work with, I think I'm on the track of some kind of cure. Do you want to fill me in on everything now, or...?"
"I should go," Jo said. "Someone can explain it all later, but right now --"
"Yeah," Logan agreed, then, "Wait, actually, shit. You didn't see Carlos, and he's somewhere over there, too, and we aren't leaving without the four of us --"
"Or without me," Jo said. "Knight owes me money, if he's still alive, and when I get him we need to get the hell off this planet."
"Then we need Carlos, too. Let me get you a picture." Logan called up the bounty notices on the four of them and paged to Carlos'. "He and Camille -- the actress -- they left not too long ago. If you can find them and work together..."
Jo nodded. "I'll do what I can. But Knight's life is in danger every minute he's trapped there. And I sure as hell hope you can cure Mercedes' drug, because they're dosing him with it, too."
Logan all but winced, picturing Kendall in the same la-la-land as James, who had apparently given up on the two of them. He was now lying on his back, skirt up around his waist, hand on his dick, and whoa. Logan did not have time to be distracted by that.
"That's Carlos," he said, pointing to the monitor. "If you can get him and Kendall here, I can take care of everything else."
"Oh, is that all I have to do?"
"Hey, I've got to deal with that." He gestured at James, who looked up.
"You can deal with me however you want to," he offered. "The rougher the better, actually. I might need to learn a lesson, now that I think about it."
"Yeah, my job might be easier," Jo said. "Okay. I'll be back."
Logan nodded. She started for the doorway, but had only gone a few steps when an explosion rocked the ship. Logan threw himself at the lab equipment, holding it carefully so his samples didn't break, as Jo braced herself against the wall. Even James froze in place, eyes widening.
Logan scrambled for the ship's screen. The camera mounted above the ramp showed him a line of what looked like local police, weapons out, and smoke roiling up from beneath the ship. "What the hell? We didn't -- we haven't --"
"They work for Mercedes, I can guarantee that," Jo said grimly. She pulled a weapon from her holster. "Fuck. If we're surrounded, then I'm trapped here."
"But... oh shit," Logan said. Jo had told him Kendall didn't have more than a few hours, and he hadn't heard from Carlos, but considering the ship was under attack, nothing good could be going on.
"Look," Jo said, as she checked her weapon's ammunition, "we've got a good position here, for now. They don't have the weaponry to blow the ship open, so until they bring that out, all we need to do is keep them off the ramp. I can do that."
"But... Kendall," he said, stomach twisting.
Jo met his gaze. Her expression was guarded, professional, completely cool. It was the look he'd seen on Corps members who'd been through real battles, a focused stare with all emotions shut off. He gave Jo a long, studying look, wondering how the hell she could have that kind of experience when she clearly wasn't any older than he was, but all she said was, "If he's still alive, he's going to need that cure, too. And neither one of them will get it if Mercedes' thugs drag you out of this ship. So get to work."
The soldiers opened fire again, shaking the ship. Jo was right that it was too tough for hand-held weapons to take out, but if they damaged the light drive... "Can you get them to back off?"
She reached for a second gun and nodded. "Like I said. We've got a strong position here -- and if need be, we can go airborne."
"We're not leaving Kendall and Carlos --"
"A last resort. Get to work. I'll deal with this."
Logan nodded. He didn't feel good about it, but it was obvious Jo knew what she was doing, and he needed to focus. He couldn't do anything for Kendall or Carlos at the moment, but he could fix James. He had to believe that.
--
"Carlos --" Camille tried, but it was too late. He thundered past her.
God damn it. Mercedes had seen them together, which meant keeping her cover was going to get a lot harder, unless she just let him go. She could play it off as shocked, as if Carlos had used her, but Mercedes and Rebecca would still be suspicious of her. And that only worked if she let him go, which meant waiting here while they killed him.
Shit.
She ran after him. He'd skidded into the room next door, gun drawn and trained on Rebecca. Knight was tied to a chair, naked, blood dripping down his face, one eye so swollen and purple that it probably couldn't shut properly. Even so, he'd broken into an enormous smile. That was the good news.
The bad news was that Rebecca was holding a gun to his head.
"Camille?" Mercedes asked. "What the fuck?"
Rebecca waved her free hand in Carlos' direction, and Camille's equipment pinged. Rebecca had at least some of the same biomech as she did -- but if Carlos' vision blurred at the ID scan, his arm held steady, at least. Rebecca announced, "He's CivCorps. Knight's crew."
"And I'm not leaving here without him," Carlos said.
Camille gaped, still hoping she could play it off, as if she were shocked by the reveal. Rebecca turned and scanned her, too, but frowned. Of course nothing came up. Her alias was good enough to stand up to an identity scan.
"Camille, who -- how?" Mercedes demanded.
"I just met him," Camille lied quickly. "We were fooling around and then... I had no idea he... what's going on, Mercedes?" She threw a horrified look at Kendall.
"This is my business. Go wait for me in the lounge. And don't say a word to anyone."
Camille hesitated. If she walked away, her cover might stay in tact. She might be able to stay in good with Mercedes, find out her plans, and get close to Rebecca, prove there was a connection between her and the Red Petals and the mindwipe cases she was investigating -- but Carlos and Kendall would both end up dead, and who was to say she'd ever be closer to Rebecca than this?
"Camille! This is serious fucking business, so --"
Camille took a breath and went for her gun, simultaneously bringing her full biomech roaring to life. She sent out a distress call on all channels, blasting it so strong that might actually blow out Mercedes' equipment and get through to the authorities.
Rebecca brought her gun around to face Camille, doubtlessly feeling the blast in her own equipment. "An inspector. I should have known there'd be one around."
Camille fired first, but Rebecca's biomech must have enhanced her reflexes, too, because she dove for the floor behind Kendall, crashing into the chair and sending it toppling over sideways. It hit the floor with her and Camille hesitated for a heartbeat, not wanting to shoot Kendall by accident.
Rebecca clearly knew that. She sprang up, firing continuously, forcing Camille to rely on her own enhanced reflexes and speed to dance out of the way of the bullet spray. It drove her further into the room, away from the door, and a moment later, Rebecca was gone.
Camille sprinted after her.
--
The inside of the ship's loading bay was crowded with the folded ramp that would extend down to the ground outside. Jo clamored up it and hit the emergency escape hatch. No way was she letting the ramp itself out, but she needed something to fire through.
From the hatch, she had a perfect view of the south side of the hanger, and probably half of the soldiers Mercedes had sent. Deciding to be methodical about it, Jo started at the far right. The only ammo she had was what she carried on her -- more than enough if she used it well, but she didn't have a lot of spare shots.
Luckily, Jo didn't need a lot of spares. She squeezed the trigger and fired, and the first officer dropped. She had another two down by the time anyone realized where she was shooting from, and a fourth before anyone managed to take a shot back at her. But the hatch was small and all she had to do was keep herself pressed to the floor to avoid being a target herself.
Like she'd told Mitchell. It was a strong position -- but now she saw it was dangerously limited. She couldn't see the north side at all, and the soldiers must have realized that as they scrambled out of her range. She managed to get another off -- five bullets, five hits, all clean enough to make her father proud -- and rolled to the side as a few return volleys made their way in through the hatch.
She just hoped things were going as smoothly for Mitchell up in the lab.
--
"I need you to hold still. James -- James! Hold still!"
"Hold me down," James suggested. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Logan gritted his teeth, scanner positioned at the head of the table. "I'm really, really close, okay --"
"You want to get closer?" James asked, gesturing down his body. "I'm ready whenever you are." The dress was now balled up in sticky heap next to him, where he had tossed it after cleaning himself off. Thanks to the drug, James was already half-hard again, without even a trace of modesty or embarrassment about it.
"Please stop," Logan begged. "I've figured out how this drug is working, I think, but I need a scan to confirm --"
"If I let you, will you let me suck you off?" James asked.
"James --"
James propped himself up on his elbows, and smirked. "You would like that, huh? I bet you're all kinds of dirty when you let loose.... Want to show me? You can come on my face if you want. Mmm, or grab my hair and come down my throat --"
Logan's voice cracked when he said, "Lay still."
James did as he was asked, though Logan suspected it was only because he hoped Logan would crawl on top of him or something. Either way, Logan would take it. He flipped the scanner on and it hummed softly for a moment. The image appeared on the computer console and Logan moved over to examine it.
"I wish you were half as into my body as you are into my brain," James pouted. "Seriously, you're so hot, and I'll do anything. Any fantasy you've got, anything you've wanted to try but haven't ever admitted..."
Logan tried to block it out, but apparently James got bored of laying on the bed, because a moment later he was mumbling in Logan's ear, body pressed to Logan's, dick pressed into Logan's hip. Logan whimpered. "I really need you to stop that," he managed.
"That's not what you want," James murmured, hand coming around Logan's body to his stomach, then inching downwards. "I know what you want."
"James. Stop. Stop!" Logan yelped, pushing James away. James stumbled back a step, lower lip stuck out in an annoying appealing pout. Logan managed a deep breath. "I need you to sit down. Please. I'm working really hard to help you. You... you didn't used to be like this."
"I didn't?" James asked, brow crinkling.
"No. Well -- no. You've always liked, you know," he gestured vaguely at James, "but you're an officer, and a pilot, and you love CivCorps more than anything. I wanted to be a doctor, but you convinced me to join instead."
"I... I can't remember any of that." James frowned. "Why don't I remember that?"
"Because you were drugged," Logan said. "Your memories are blocked and instead of being able to think of anything, all you can think of is sex."
James blinked, then blinked again. "But -- I -- I like this, but I don't remember... I'm a pilot?"
Logan nodded. "A great one. Not even Kendall can outfly you."
"Not even..." he repeated slowly. "I like to fly. I remember -- but it's not -- it's right out of reach, but I can feel it. What...?"
Logan's voice softened when he said, "Just sit tight, James. I can fix you. I can get those memories back."
James swallowed, and nodded. He sat on the edge of the bed, gripping the side so hard his knuckles went white. "I'll try, but... but it's hard to concentrate and... I'll try."
"Good." Logan turned back to the computer console. The image looked almost exactly like he thought, which meant his theory was right. James' memories were all still there, in tact, but nothing was activating them. There was some kind of chemical blockage, something an equally strong chemical might be able to get past, but how to do that without destroying everything that was blocked off? No wonder Civ scientists hadn't been able to do much for the burnout cases Camille had shown him in the repository. He'd never seen anything like this before. But he wasn't going to let James end up like that, permanently strung out and lost.
Logan took a deep breath and moved back to the slide. He could do this.
Chapter Nine
Previous: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Disclaimer: Sometimes I think this show was created just for me, but alas, still not mine. Definitely for the best, in this case.
Rating/warnings: NC-17. Sex pollen and sex slaves, dub-con and non-con (though mostly off screen), plus violence, cursing, lots of nudity, and forced druggings.
Pairings: (In order of apperance, not necessarily importance) James/Camille, Mercedes/Kendall, Kendall/Jo, Kendall/James, Mercedes/Kendall/James, James/Logan.
Notes: As always, enormous thanks to my fantastic and amazing beta reader, lielabell. Also, pay no attention to the science. Er, "science." Because it deserves the sarcastic quotation marks.
Summary: Kendall and his crew are supposed to be on a rescue mission, searching for someone on a black market planet. But he's the one who ends up needing to be rescued...
Eight.
Carlos let Camille sweep him into the hallway, trying doors. Most of them opened to reveal more people, more sex. Each time, she let out a drunken-sounding, "Oops!" and a laugh, but he didn't miss the way her gaze flashed around.
"What are we looking for?" Carlos finally whispered, as they skipped between rooms.
"Anything," Camille answered. "Either of your friends. Sounds like James has gone missing, so..."
Carlos nodded seriously. They were so close, and there was no way in hell he was leaving without James. So they made slow progress, searching rooms, with no luck. Until Carlos glimpsed back towards the lounge and caught a glimpse of bright blond. He nudged Camille, who glanced back.
"Mercedes," she said. "And Rebecca. Let's get closer. Something's going down."
Carlos took her hand and the two of them skipped towards the lounge together. She stopped right in the doorway, cuddling up against him, and murmured, "Shh."
Right. Biomech. She could hear from across the room, and he didn't dare even try in case he looked like he was trying. She mumbled into his ear, "Mercedes says she checked the tapes. Someone named Jo took him. Rebecca isn't happy, and Mercedes says -- oh, damn, she says Kendall was behind it. They definitely have him."
Carlos made sure he was facing away from the women in the lounge, since he wasn't sure he could control his expression.
"They caught him yesterday. They... fuck, they know where your ship is, and Mercedes has people on the way."
"Logan," Carlos said, tasting sharp fear and adrenaline.
"Okay, listen," Camille hissed. "James isn't here anymore, but Kendall is. If we move fast, we might have a chance to save him. Or you can get out of here and warn Logan. I'll do what I can for Kendall, but if I get a clear shot at Rebecca..."
Carlos felt like he was being torn in half. He knew full well the people Mercedes was sending to the shipyard weren't going to knock politely and have a friendly chat with Logan. And if Kendall really was behind James' disappearance, that's where he'd be going, too. After coming so close, the idea of losing James again was bad enough, and losing Logan with him...
But if he went, Camille might be too busy with Rebecca to save Kendall. He'd still be at Mercedes' mercy. And even if Camille tried to take out Rebecca and Mercedes, two on one was bad odds. She might not even make it, and then what would happen to Kendall?
Kendall would tell him to go. But just because Kendall wouldn't think to save himself didn't mean that Carlos had to do the same. He didn't know when Mercedes had sent her people, or when they'd arrive at the ship. So maybe there would be enough time to get help to Logan. And Kendall was in big, big trouble. Right here. Right now.
He looked at Camille. "We stay."
"Okay. Be ready. They're going to see him now."
Sure enough, Mercedes and Rebecca started down one of the darker hallways. Carlos started to move, but Camille grabbed his arm. She waited for the two women to be almost out of sight before nudging him forward. They followed slowly, carefully, still hand in hand, and once Camille stopped and pushed him against the wall, fake giggling. Someone came out of a room and walked past them, and she drew back as soon as he was gone.
Ahead of them, Mercedes and Rebecca disappeared down a set of stairs. Carlos glanced at Camille. They were definitely going down there, but it was dangerous. Up here, if anyone saw them, they could pretend they were just having fun like all the other couples and groups. The stairwell was poorly lit and obviously didn't go to a public area.
Camille glanced at him. "If we get caught, I'll do the talking."
"Yeah," he agreed, and checked to make sure both of his weapons were ready before they started down.
The rooms at the bottom were dark and small. Camille opened a couple of doors slowly, revealing empty bedrooms. She pulled him in to one and held a hand up to her lips for silence, concentrating. Carlos tip-toed towards the wall and pressed his ear against it.
He could just make out a woman's voice: "Where did she take him, Knight?" followed by broken, crazed laughter and the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh, hard. Then more laughter that was, undeniably, Kendall's.
Between manic giggles, "You drugged me too much, 'cause baby, that just turns me on."
Another voice, this one with an accent: "You should have killed him when I told you to. Don't worry. I'll fix that mistake for you. Knight. You have five seconds to tell me where Diamond is, or I will shoot you."
"Go ahead," Kendall said.
"Five. Four. Three --"
Carlos took off.
--
"Come on, this way, James, come on..." Logan mumbled, half-dragging James towards the medical bay. The woman -- Jo, she'd said her name was Jo -- followed. He glanced over at her and asked, "So did Carlos send you? How did you find James?" He paused for a second. "And why is he wearing a dress?"
"I don't know who that is, but Kendall Knight pretty much begged me to bring him here. And it was either the dress or naked."
"Do you want to see me naked?" James chimed in, a hand going to the small of Logan's back. "'Cause I want to see you --"
"James!" Logan squawked, dancing away as James' hand slid southward.
"He was drugged," Jo said. "Mercedes has been dosing him with --"
"Yeah," Logan interrupted, grabbing James' wrist to pull him down the hall and hopefully avoid further groping. "Camille told us, and --"
"The actress? Wait, what?"
"It's a long story," Logan said. "She said something about a show, I guess she's an actress, but -- look, that's not important right now. You saw Kendall? Is he okay?"
"Yes, I saw him, and... well, we'd just better get that under control," she pointed at James, "because I don't see Knight surviving more than a few hours once Mercedes knows he's gone. "
"Shit," Logan said, as he opened the door to his makeshift science lab/medical bay. "Okay, uh, James, can you just... just sit over there, please?"
He gestured at a bed and James grinned but didn't move. Instead he snaked an arm around Logan and murmured in his ear, "You're a doctor?"
Logan tried to push him away, but for all James was drugged, he was still tall and broad-shouldered and strong. He swallowed and said, "I'm a medic, and James, you know that. You know me. I'm gonna help you remember."
"You know what would help me remember?" James leered.
Jo grabbed James by the back of his dress and yanked. He stumbled and pouted as she pushed him on to the med bay's bed. James apparently decided to make the most of it and hitched his skirt up. "Mmm, this could work. I don't have anything on under this, all we have to do is push it up and --"
"I need a blood sample," Logan said, trying to ignore everything James said. He reached for a needle. "Is that okay?"
James scowled. "I don't like shots."
"It's not a shot. It won't hurt," Logan said, and glanced over at Jo. "Could you, like, hold him? Please?"
"Yeah," James said, smirking at her. "Hold me."
Jo rolled her eyes, but strong-armed James until he was lying on his back -- he didn't seem to mind that very much -- and grabbed his arm and held it in place. James went tense as Logan filled the syringe.
"Now can we fuck?" James whined.
"Can you give me one more?" Logan asked, dodging the question.
James considered it, then grinned. "Sure. But only because the doctor thing is sexy."
"Medic," Logan corrected again, and weirdly, felt himself blush. He knew James wasn't serious -- or more accurately, James was dead serious, but right now, James probably thought the ceiling tiles were sexy.
"Not a doctor," James said, nodding a little. "You want to play doctor?"
Oh, god. Logan laughed despite himself but held his hands steady as he drew another vial of blood. It was such a stupid James pick up line that it actually sounded like James, the real James, the one who was still in there somewhere. After months of forcing himself to believe that James was dead or lost forever, refusing to get his hopes up even when they started chasing Rebecca, here he was, and it left Logan warm and a little choked, which was so, so stupid.
James was sick. James needed help. Logan couldn't let himself get distracted. And it wasn't like he'd ever thought of James that way, anyway -- just because he was gay and James was attractive did not actually mean anything, despite all the times James had teased him. But James didn't even remember those times now.
But he was safe. He was safe, and he was here. And Logan was going to fix him.
Logan began calibrating his equipment, ready to focus. "Okay. I think I can handle things from here. This should give me plenty to work with, I think I'm on the track of some kind of cure. Do you want to fill me in on everything now, or...?"
"I should go," Jo said. "Someone can explain it all later, but right now --"
"Yeah," Logan agreed, then, "Wait, actually, shit. You didn't see Carlos, and he's somewhere over there, too, and we aren't leaving without the four of us --"
"Or without me," Jo said. "Knight owes me money, if he's still alive, and when I get him we need to get the hell off this planet."
"Then we need Carlos, too. Let me get you a picture." Logan called up the bounty notices on the four of them and paged to Carlos'. "He and Camille -- the actress -- they left not too long ago. If you can find them and work together..."
Jo nodded. "I'll do what I can. But Knight's life is in danger every minute he's trapped there. And I sure as hell hope you can cure Mercedes' drug, because they're dosing him with it, too."
Logan all but winced, picturing Kendall in the same la-la-land as James, who had apparently given up on the two of them. He was now lying on his back, skirt up around his waist, hand on his dick, and whoa. Logan did not have time to be distracted by that.
"That's Carlos," he said, pointing to the monitor. "If you can get him and Kendall here, I can take care of everything else."
"Oh, is that all I have to do?"
"Hey, I've got to deal with that." He gestured at James, who looked up.
"You can deal with me however you want to," he offered. "The rougher the better, actually. I might need to learn a lesson, now that I think about it."
"Yeah, my job might be easier," Jo said. "Okay. I'll be back."
Logan nodded. She started for the doorway, but had only gone a few steps when an explosion rocked the ship. Logan threw himself at the lab equipment, holding it carefully so his samples didn't break, as Jo braced herself against the wall. Even James froze in place, eyes widening.
Logan scrambled for the ship's screen. The camera mounted above the ramp showed him a line of what looked like local police, weapons out, and smoke roiling up from beneath the ship. "What the hell? We didn't -- we haven't --"
"They work for Mercedes, I can guarantee that," Jo said grimly. She pulled a weapon from her holster. "Fuck. If we're surrounded, then I'm trapped here."
"But... oh shit," Logan said. Jo had told him Kendall didn't have more than a few hours, and he hadn't heard from Carlos, but considering the ship was under attack, nothing good could be going on.
"Look," Jo said, as she checked her weapon's ammunition, "we've got a good position here, for now. They don't have the weaponry to blow the ship open, so until they bring that out, all we need to do is keep them off the ramp. I can do that."
"But... Kendall," he said, stomach twisting.
Jo met his gaze. Her expression was guarded, professional, completely cool. It was the look he'd seen on Corps members who'd been through real battles, a focused stare with all emotions shut off. He gave Jo a long, studying look, wondering how the hell she could have that kind of experience when she clearly wasn't any older than he was, but all she said was, "If he's still alive, he's going to need that cure, too. And neither one of them will get it if Mercedes' thugs drag you out of this ship. So get to work."
The soldiers opened fire again, shaking the ship. Jo was right that it was too tough for hand-held weapons to take out, but if they damaged the light drive... "Can you get them to back off?"
She reached for a second gun and nodded. "Like I said. We've got a strong position here -- and if need be, we can go airborne."
"We're not leaving Kendall and Carlos --"
"A last resort. Get to work. I'll deal with this."
Logan nodded. He didn't feel good about it, but it was obvious Jo knew what she was doing, and he needed to focus. He couldn't do anything for Kendall or Carlos at the moment, but he could fix James. He had to believe that.
--
"Carlos --" Camille tried, but it was too late. He thundered past her.
God damn it. Mercedes had seen them together, which meant keeping her cover was going to get a lot harder, unless she just let him go. She could play it off as shocked, as if Carlos had used her, but Mercedes and Rebecca would still be suspicious of her. And that only worked if she let him go, which meant waiting here while they killed him.
Shit.
She ran after him. He'd skidded into the room next door, gun drawn and trained on Rebecca. Knight was tied to a chair, naked, blood dripping down his face, one eye so swollen and purple that it probably couldn't shut properly. Even so, he'd broken into an enormous smile. That was the good news.
The bad news was that Rebecca was holding a gun to his head.
"Camille?" Mercedes asked. "What the fuck?"
Rebecca waved her free hand in Carlos' direction, and Camille's equipment pinged. Rebecca had at least some of the same biomech as she did -- but if Carlos' vision blurred at the ID scan, his arm held steady, at least. Rebecca announced, "He's CivCorps. Knight's crew."
"And I'm not leaving here without him," Carlos said.
Camille gaped, still hoping she could play it off, as if she were shocked by the reveal. Rebecca turned and scanned her, too, but frowned. Of course nothing came up. Her alias was good enough to stand up to an identity scan.
"Camille, who -- how?" Mercedes demanded.
"I just met him," Camille lied quickly. "We were fooling around and then... I had no idea he... what's going on, Mercedes?" She threw a horrified look at Kendall.
"This is my business. Go wait for me in the lounge. And don't say a word to anyone."
Camille hesitated. If she walked away, her cover might stay in tact. She might be able to stay in good with Mercedes, find out her plans, and get close to Rebecca, prove there was a connection between her and the Red Petals and the mindwipe cases she was investigating -- but Carlos and Kendall would both end up dead, and who was to say she'd ever be closer to Rebecca than this?
"Camille! This is serious fucking business, so --"
Camille took a breath and went for her gun, simultaneously bringing her full biomech roaring to life. She sent out a distress call on all channels, blasting it so strong that might actually blow out Mercedes' equipment and get through to the authorities.
Rebecca brought her gun around to face Camille, doubtlessly feeling the blast in her own equipment. "An inspector. I should have known there'd be one around."
Camille fired first, but Rebecca's biomech must have enhanced her reflexes, too, because she dove for the floor behind Kendall, crashing into the chair and sending it toppling over sideways. It hit the floor with her and Camille hesitated for a heartbeat, not wanting to shoot Kendall by accident.
Rebecca clearly knew that. She sprang up, firing continuously, forcing Camille to rely on her own enhanced reflexes and speed to dance out of the way of the bullet spray. It drove her further into the room, away from the door, and a moment later, Rebecca was gone.
Camille sprinted after her.
--
The inside of the ship's loading bay was crowded with the folded ramp that would extend down to the ground outside. Jo clamored up it and hit the emergency escape hatch. No way was she letting the ramp itself out, but she needed something to fire through.
From the hatch, she had a perfect view of the south side of the hanger, and probably half of the soldiers Mercedes had sent. Deciding to be methodical about it, Jo started at the far right. The only ammo she had was what she carried on her -- more than enough if she used it well, but she didn't have a lot of spare shots.
Luckily, Jo didn't need a lot of spares. She squeezed the trigger and fired, and the first officer dropped. She had another two down by the time anyone realized where she was shooting from, and a fourth before anyone managed to take a shot back at her. But the hatch was small and all she had to do was keep herself pressed to the floor to avoid being a target herself.
Like she'd told Mitchell. It was a strong position -- but now she saw it was dangerously limited. She couldn't see the north side at all, and the soldiers must have realized that as they scrambled out of her range. She managed to get another off -- five bullets, five hits, all clean enough to make her father proud -- and rolled to the side as a few return volleys made their way in through the hatch.
She just hoped things were going as smoothly for Mitchell up in the lab.
--
"I need you to hold still. James -- James! Hold still!"
"Hold me down," James suggested. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Logan gritted his teeth, scanner positioned at the head of the table. "I'm really, really close, okay --"
"You want to get closer?" James asked, gesturing down his body. "I'm ready whenever you are." The dress was now balled up in sticky heap next to him, where he had tossed it after cleaning himself off. Thanks to the drug, James was already half-hard again, without even a trace of modesty or embarrassment about it.
"Please stop," Logan begged. "I've figured out how this drug is working, I think, but I need a scan to confirm --"
"If I let you, will you let me suck you off?" James asked.
"James --"
James propped himself up on his elbows, and smirked. "You would like that, huh? I bet you're all kinds of dirty when you let loose.... Want to show me? You can come on my face if you want. Mmm, or grab my hair and come down my throat --"
Logan's voice cracked when he said, "Lay still."
James did as he was asked, though Logan suspected it was only because he hoped Logan would crawl on top of him or something. Either way, Logan would take it. He flipped the scanner on and it hummed softly for a moment. The image appeared on the computer console and Logan moved over to examine it.
"I wish you were half as into my body as you are into my brain," James pouted. "Seriously, you're so hot, and I'll do anything. Any fantasy you've got, anything you've wanted to try but haven't ever admitted..."
Logan tried to block it out, but apparently James got bored of laying on the bed, because a moment later he was mumbling in Logan's ear, body pressed to Logan's, dick pressed into Logan's hip. Logan whimpered. "I really need you to stop that," he managed.
"That's not what you want," James murmured, hand coming around Logan's body to his stomach, then inching downwards. "I know what you want."
"James. Stop. Stop!" Logan yelped, pushing James away. James stumbled back a step, lower lip stuck out in an annoying appealing pout. Logan managed a deep breath. "I need you to sit down. Please. I'm working really hard to help you. You... you didn't used to be like this."
"I didn't?" James asked, brow crinkling.
"No. Well -- no. You've always liked, you know," he gestured vaguely at James, "but you're an officer, and a pilot, and you love CivCorps more than anything. I wanted to be a doctor, but you convinced me to join instead."
"I... I can't remember any of that." James frowned. "Why don't I remember that?"
"Because you were drugged," Logan said. "Your memories are blocked and instead of being able to think of anything, all you can think of is sex."
James blinked, then blinked again. "But -- I -- I like this, but I don't remember... I'm a pilot?"
Logan nodded. "A great one. Not even Kendall can outfly you."
"Not even..." he repeated slowly. "I like to fly. I remember -- but it's not -- it's right out of reach, but I can feel it. What...?"
Logan's voice softened when he said, "Just sit tight, James. I can fix you. I can get those memories back."
James swallowed, and nodded. He sat on the edge of the bed, gripping the side so hard his knuckles went white. "I'll try, but... but it's hard to concentrate and... I'll try."
"Good." Logan turned back to the computer console. The image looked almost exactly like he thought, which meant his theory was right. James' memories were all still there, in tact, but nothing was activating them. There was some kind of chemical blockage, something an equally strong chemical might be able to get past, but how to do that without destroying everything that was blocked off? No wonder Civ scientists hadn't been able to do much for the burnout cases Camille had shown him in the repository. He'd never seen anything like this before. But he wasn't going to let James end up like that, permanently strung out and lost.
Logan took a deep breath and moved back to the slide. He could do this.
Chapter Nine