[Makebelieve] Fic: Brothers Of The Blood 27 (please FB)

[makebelieve archive]

Summary: Dalton has lost consciousness , the team waits

Previous Chapters can be found
http://www.squidge.org/peja/cgi-bin/viewstory.php?sid=37198&warning=FRM

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

"Has he come around?"

"He's been restless. Moving around a lot."

"But has he regained consciousness?"

"'Fraid not. Guess he's maybe not over the hump yet."

"Sure and I thought we be going to lose him."

"We'll never get that lucky."

"Come on, boss. Wake up."

"Come back to us, Dal."

His companion's desperate urgings penetrated the deep recesses of Dalton's
unconscious mind where his exhausted spirit had retreated, mingling with the
mocking ghost whispers of his past. Groaning a soft protest, he allowed the
urgent pleas to draw him away from the comforting darkness, into a
half-awake, apathetic state. Fever-dulled eyes opened and a despondent smile
curved his dry, cracked lips.
"Tamara?" he whispered in a voice rough from disuse.

Arissa shot a curious glance at Adric and Paris. "Who the hell is Tamara."

"Someone he knew a long time ago," Domani said softly.

"I believe the commander meant to take her to wife before it all went sour."

"Ah, my sweet Tamara." Dalton stretched out a trembling hand, touching
Arissa's tear dampened cheek. "I've thought of you often."

Arissa brushed a lock of dark hair off his sweat-beaded forehead. "Dal, I'm
Arissa. Not Tamara."

"Tamara is dead, Commander," Domani added. "Do you remember?"

"Remember?" Dalton's fuzzed mind struggled to separate reality from the
dreams. But it was too great an effort. His weighted eyes fluttered shut for
a brief moment, then snapped open again. "Ah, no Tamara."

"Yes, Commander, Tamara is dead."

Gazing at a woman who existed only in his clouded mind, a somber smile
tugged at Dalton's lips. "Tamara, why?" he choked.

Tamara's quiet entrance into his reclusive life had been meticulously staged
from the first moment. She had been a natural actress, had played him like a
master, tempting him out of himself and slowly teaching him to trust her
with his very life. A trust she had cruelly flung back in his face when she
played her final card. When she handed him over to his enemies.

"I trusted you. Why have you betrayed me?"

Her soul-destroying deception had crippled his very will to live. Left him
open for attack from those who would see him dead. But his enemies hadn't
reckoned on the fact that survival had been drilled into their intended
victim from birth.

"No-o. I won't die. Not even for you. I won't let them kill me."

At the last moment, the desire to live had resurrected in his breast. He
reclaimed his life with an act of blood-thirsty vengeance, shooting it out
with his enemies, including the woman who had taken him for a ride.

Watching her crumple before his horrified eyes had brought him back to
sanity, but not before his violent killing rage had redeemed a terrible,
crimson reward.

"Ah no, Tamara. I didn't want...No, I didn't mean for this to happen."

The only comfort left to him was holding her in his arms while her life's
blood had saturated his shirt, burning through to his soul, branding him her
murderer.

"I loved you..." he whispered brokenly. "To death."

Arissa winced. "Ah, Judes, I can't listen to this."

"You made me acknowledge the fool I never knew myself to be. Made me
recognize a part of me I thought no longer existed. You proved me weak."

"Sure and he's gone delirious, Domani," Ian whispered. "It must be a sign
he's failing."

"You never let me go, my Tamara. No, you never did."

Arissa pressed trembling fingers against his lips, shushing him. "It's over,
Dal. Forget."

"Forget. If only...."

Fever driven delusions flooded his mind, stirring rabid nightmares, folding
and twisting reality into a caricature of life.

Tamara alive.

Tamara dying in his arms.

Adric alive.

Adric dead.

Paris screaming as he fought to survive.

"Paris?" he moaned, reaching out a trembling hand.

* * * * *

Paris clutched Dalton's outstretched hand in both of his. "I'm here, Dal."
He shot a desperate glance at Domani, concern stamped deeply on his anxious
features. "He's awake, right? He knows we're here. Knows what he's saying?"

Domani shook his head, shrugging. "I wish I could tell you, Paris. The
commander's alpha waves reveal he is in a secondary dream state. He appears
to be caught between waking and sleep. I have no idea how much he perceives
as reality, or as the dream. Or even if he can differentiate between the
two."

"So, he doesn't know we're here?" Paris pressed.

"In his mind he is not alone."

"Tired," Dalton moaned. "No time. No time. Must protect my ship. My ship."
His head rolled on the pillow. "Five minutes, Cheska, I promise to train
double hard, if you just give me five minutes sleep."

"Cheska?" Adric demanded. "Who the devil is Cheska?"

Domani stared at the pale man who moved restlessly on the bed, watching them
through misted eyes that saw, but at the same time, did not. "Francheska
Maria y Reyes. The commander is with his mother."

"Domani, have you scanned him for brain trauma?" Ian asked.

"I did."

"And you found nothing?"

"As I have already explained, the commander is suffering from acute physical
exhaustion compounded by malnutrition. I have done what I could to nourish
his body. The only thing I can do now is let him sleep."

"Yeah, only I wish he'd wake up, though," Yessenia murmured. "I wish he'd
actually look at us. That he'd really see us with those frozen eyes of his,
not a bunch of histrionic phantoms." Her emerald gaze met Domani's. "There
are so many questions only he can answer. Surely there must be some way to
hurry his recovery. Can't you give him a stimulant?"

"What I can give him, what I will give him, is time," Domani snapped. "You
may not have noticed, but I am the only plasmoid on this ship. The
commander, on the other hand, is all too human, with all the needs that go
along with being human. Including the need for a minimum of rest. Which he
has not been getting."

"Aye," Ian said."Only sometimes 'tis na so easy to remember that, is it?"

"Sadly even he tends to forget his limitations. All too often he disregards
the rest he needs. This time he pushed himself beyond endurance. His body
has rebelled against the mistreatment and shut down in order to rebuild
strength. When he has rested sufficiently, he will awaken. But until that
time, I will not allow him to be disturbed, nor will I allow drugs to be
used."

"We should take him to Euzkadi," Adric said grumpily. "Nicki should look him
over. After all, she is a qualified physician."

"Not bloody likely," Ian snapped.

"Why ever not?"

"Dalton would na' approve."

"Damitall, man. Dalton needs a doctor."

"Dalton has the only doctor he'd be wanting in Domani."

"Domani, skilled though he is, is not a trained doctor. Don't get me wrong,
Domani. I have no doubt you would make an excellent diagnosis in a pinch,
but I do have some of the best medicals available on that base. Why not make
use of them?"

"Be ye crazed?" Ian's eyes blazed. "After all that's happened, you must
realize you have a traitor on the base. Judes, the attack on Hellequin alone
should have convinced you Dalton's been right all along."

"As it did you?"

Ian sent him a sheepish grin. "Aye, just so. Look, 'tis a simple matter of
security, Adric. And Dalton's safety."

"My security is...."

"Limited," Ian finished. "You can na' protect Dalton from an unknown enemy."
Contempt tightened his lean good-looks and he shook his head. "You have na'
figured it out yet, have you, friend? You have complete trust in the one Dal
suspects. Why else would he be needing absolute proof before he's willing to
give us a name? Judes, you might conceivably assign the mole to guard him.
Would na' that just about do it?"

"Paris, tell them you trust my judge...."

"Sorry, Adric, but I gotta side with the rest." Paris said, running his
fingers through his thinning, brown hair. "We can't risk Dalton's life on
faith. Not yours, and not mine. See, love him or hate him, one thing's for
certain, we do need this man. And if your mole suspects he's onto him, Dal
wouldn't stand a chance. Not in this condition."

"Stop it," Arissa said, her temper snapping. "Just stop it all of you.
Dalton is here and he's going to stay right here. He trusts Domani with his
life and so do the rest of us. Your lady friend, we can't say the same for."

Yessenia dropped her hand on Arissa's shoulder. "Take it easy. We're all
worried about him, but falling apart isn't going to help. We'll just have to
see that he recovers as quickly as possible."

Arissa's stricken eyes sought assurance. "He'll be all right, won't he?"

"Of course he will," Adric said. "You heard Domani."

"Yeah, I still wish I knew why he did it, though," Yessenia murmured.
"Doesn't he realize we're willing to help him? That we want to help him?
What makes him keep us in the dark all the time?"

"Have you ever known him admit he was less than totally invulnerable?"
Arissa's trembling smile flashed and she clasped Dalton's large hand tightly
in both of hers. "He doesn't know how to ask for help."

"Sure and we've known that for a long time," Ian sighed.

"Yes, we knew. But we didn't see this coming, did we? We never question what
Dalton accepts as his private burden. We just let him do what has to be done
and expect him to keep us alive. So who's looking out for him? Not us. Oh
no. Not us."

"Arissa, calm down. He's going to be all right," Paris said.

"This time. But what about next time?" she snarled. "You want to know why he
does this, Yessenia? I'll tell you why. Dalton does it for us. That's why he
does everything." Her stormy glance traveled over them, daring them to deny
it. "I'm right. You know I'm right. Ah Judes, we saw him rushing the
repairs. We knew something was pushing him to get us off Euzkadi. Hell, he's
been saying all along we were in danger and we just laughed it off. Did any
of us bother to find out why he was so damn determined? Did any of us really
care? We even told him he might be imagining it." She laughed bitterly.
"It's ironic, don't you think? We're always calling him on his lack of
emotion, but when we're in trouble, he shoulders it all."

"That's probably all true," Yessenia said. "I'll willing admit we let him
down. Does saying it heal him? And for what it's worth, do you think he
would have us any other way?"

Arissa's anger drained away suddenly and she turned back to Dalton.
His coal black lashes rested lightly on pale cheeks and his breathing had
deepened.

Asleep at last?

"No, he wouldn't have us change. He thrives on the power we give him."
Yessenia laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We do understand, Arissa.
We all hate seeing him like this just as much as you do."

"Aye, but it do be like Domani says. He'll come out of this soon enough on
his own," Ian said quietly, pulling Yessenia back against his chest. "Until
that happens we'll have to stay on top of things. And make no mistake, we
are smart enough to handle whatever comes down. We've simply gotten used to
Dalton doing it for us."

Yessenia nodded, her green eyes glistening with unshed tears. "He really is
only human, isn't he?"

"Aye, he's human. But he's also strong, Yessenia. He'll be fine. He be too
damn stubborn to be anything else.

She smiled sadly. "You're right, of course."

Ian's fingers curled into a fist and he rubbed his knuckles down her cheek
gently. "In the meantime, what say you, we do what he brought us up here to
do. Make sure Hellequin will stand up to anything the boss can throw our
way."

"I thought we'd given her a pretty thorough testing already," Arissa
grumbled. "But what the hell. Anything's better than standing here imaging
the worst." She patted Dalton's overheated hand, then followed Ian and
Yessenia out.


end part 27



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