Seasons

Jones smiled, taking a seat in the back of the black town car, eyes glancing over at the file left for him.

The evidence had been sent to the lab nearly an hour ago, and already they were drawing conclusions. He looked at his watch. It was just a little past 5 a.m, and he had a very special meeting in only a few hours. He briefly contemplated whether he should go to the lab or stop at his condo and catch a break.

A little ringtone sounded and he raised a brow, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell.

"Yes..."

He smiled, listening to the voice on the other end. Everything was going according to plan. They already had a weapon in addition to a new location. And what was this? A house that appeared to have played host?

Things were just getting better and better. What would Gary say now that they had more evidence? Little green men?

Green? Maybe. Little? They would see about that. Their special guest could confirm what was collected. He picked up the file lying beside him, eyes darting to the picture of the man he was most anxious to meet.

This man could ensure that they were headed in the right direction.

He turned his attention back to his conversation. The man on the other end paused for a moment, sorting out a new lead before his voice lowered.

The smile slowly faded from Jones's face.

"Oh my..."

There was some bad news lurking about he realized. So, they had dug up the file on the owner of the house that would be his new crime scene.

Sharon Weyland... the only neice of the late Weyland. The man who owned the company whose investigative unit he was assigned to.

By the sound of it, she was merely some secretary, favored by her uncle and probably pretty well off on account of his will. Only 23 and living by herself out of town.

He spoke firmly into the reciever.

"Put her on our persons of interest list anyway..."

That would do it.

He ended the conversation quickly and concisely before glancing down at the cell, typing in a new number. Why not check up on the weapon's production. Hell, after nearly a decade of more toiling, perhaps they really could bag this thing.

In seconds the line was open.

"This is Jones. I need to talk to agent Corriano immediately."

______


They had been running for what seemed like forever with little rest.

She grit her teeth, breathing deeply. Was he ever going to take a break? Perhaps he didn't need one, but she sure as hell did.

"Hey..." she puffed from behind, but he was still keeping on. Keeping on was an understatement. He was going strong.

Very strong.

To hell with that, she swallowed before inhaling deeply. She was exhausted. "I said HEY!" she shouted bitterly. The creature stopped, turning quickly to her and acknowledging her. "... Wait... I need a break..." she breathed, falling to her knees.

K-tch walked up to her silently, peering down at the exhausted creature.

A break from what?

He looked down at the device on his wrist. They had only been running for about 20 minutes now, slower than his usual pace, and only made about a mile and a half.

Unacceptable.

What was wrong with this girl...

He motioned for her to get up and she shook her head.

"God I'm tired..."

He sighed, staring at her a good few minutes as she calmed. After a moment, she looked up at him. "...Damn... did it ever occur to you that I was going to bed shortly before you crashed into my house?"

Silence.

"Did you ever think I might have had a long day's work before night?"

More silence, much to her annoyance.

"Do you even care?" she grit through clenched teeth.

To her surprise, he shook his head.

What an inconsiderate ass..

He was kneeling before her in an instant, head cocked.

She blinked twice when the deep voice sounded.

"Soon..."

"Huh?" her brows drew down. Did he just say soon? "W-what? Soon?"

K'tch nodded.

"...Whaddya mean soon? Soon what? Soon I can sleep?"

He nodded.

"Well then how much longer do we have to run?" He turned a little, pointing into the darkness.

She swallowed once more. Slowly rising to her feet. "Okay... Soon...I'm taking your word for it..."

He stood back to give her room to steady herself. What did she want him to do, carry her?

"...Can't you just..." she swallowed, breathing deep as he listened cautiously.

She'd better not say it..

"...just carry me?" she asked hopelessly.

He sneered mentally. He’d give anything to knock her head off, but he knew the very act would be dishonorable.
He sighed. He could... but why waste his reserves. He looked back down into the darkness, contemplating it. Well, they were only about ten minutes away from his camp. What harm would it do. He didn't carry her most of the way anyway. Besides, they could turn it in for the night as soon as they reached it.

He turned to the young woman who was looking nervously into the dark behind her. He reached forward, tapping her on the shoulder and she looked up to him quickly.

He pointed to himself first and she spoke.

"Ok... you?" she inquired.

He put his hands together, cupping each elbow opposite and rocked them back and forth slowly in a cradling motion.

"Ok.. you... Carry?"

He nodded. Then pointed sternly to her.

"Me?"

He nodded again.

"You'll carry me?"

He nodded once more, to her relief.

"...Oh... Well thank you for trying to- Whoa!" she was interrupted by the sudden motion of being slung straight over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

He growled quietly.

Why was he doing this...

Oh yeah.
He had to remind himself that the creature over his shoulder might just come in handy.

Moments later and he had settled back into a comfortable pace, thoughts drifting to the ship that he was scheduled to return to in a few days. He would drop this female off sometime before then.

Before the ship and after he had at least two trophies.

His thoughts briefly flickered to his cleaning devices. He needed to bring back a few good skulls as a gift to one of his companion's proteges. You didn't just come to Earth and return without a skull.

The same could be said for going to the beach without bringing back an awesome shell. It's just something you did either to please someone or to please yourself.

He kept his eyes fixed on his destination, senses alert as he made his way down a small hill and up another, dodging trees with striking agility.

The creature over his shoulder suddenly spoke.

Pity. He had been enjoying the silence.

"You smell like a faint musky pond ya know," she declared.

He made an odd grumbling noise. Annoyance she assumed.

He would just ignore that comment.

And he did.

He welcomed the silence once more, pacing himself as he noted that they were almost there. He focussed on getting there in one piece.

"...Like one of those big ponds with a lot of foliage around it. I could just see a frog hopping along the edge of it and then you creeping around the water. Have you been in the pond down on the other side of my house?" she suddenly inquired.

Her question was met with silence and she sighed.

"Ya know what, fine. Don't answer."

He grunted, eyes narrowing.

He wouldn't.

The only sound for a moment was the wind whipping past him as he sifted through the woods. They were getting much closer now that the trees were getting sparse.
He concentrated hard on listening as he slowed his pace, making sure that nothing else was around. He seriously doubted anything would be near his camp, but he had left it idle for a few hours, and there were other creatures on this planet. He kept his scanner alert as he came to a walking pace, hearing acute.

"Ya know you have some big feet," she conveniently chose to announce.

He would ignore that as well as he began to creep, keeping silent as he scouted the area around his camp, the sound of rushing water below getting louder. So far, the scanner was blank. A good sign.

"...Guess its true what they say about guys with big feet judging from the strip-tease you gave me back at my house..."

He stopped dead, resisting the urge to choke her. Instead, he roughly jerked her off of him, rolling his shoulder a little. She squeaked as she landed rather ungracefully upon a thatch of grass.

"Ow! Damn! You don't have to be a jerk," she muttered as she frowned, picking herself up, rubbing her side. "God, that hurt. We better be resting now. That's all I gotta say..."

That would be all she'd be able to say if she didn't stop complaining...

K'tch slowly got down on his hands and knees, Sharon following as they crawled through what seemed like a thicket in the early morning light. It came to an end abruptly and led into a small cave where the sound of running water was much louder.

K'tch would have raised a brow if he had any. Instead the muscle where it would be lifted as he sighed.

He hadn't thought to factor in sharing his hole in the wall with another, and the space was pretty tight. Well this was going to be interesting. He crawled in first before turning onto his side and pushing himself back to give the woman room. She made her way in soon after and halted almost immediately as she noticed the nearness of the glow of a few buttons on his wrist devices. There was barely enough room for her in there.

"Oh my god... This is IT?" her eyes widened. "Where the HELL am I supposed to sleep?"

At this point, K'tch really didn't know or care. If she didn't figure it out soon, he would do it for her. She wasn't essential to his mission and if she proved too cantankerous, he would simply get rid of her.

She turned this way and that, refusing to lie horizontal beside him.

This couldn't be happening.

She continued to shuffle and ponder for nearly ten minutes.

The soft thudding and pattering was really starting to get to him. He needed quiet, and if he didn't get it soon, someone was going to suffer for it.

Sharon cursed in frustration as she finally stretched herself out, turning toward K'tch, surprised that he still had his mask on.

Well... at least it wasn't very bright in here, even with the few glowing buttons on his strange devices it was better that she wasn't distracted by his face.

She put her head down on her arms and closed her eyes.

Her bliss was short-lived. Seconds later and she was startled by the rustle of a squirrel outside. She nearly jumped out of her skin, startling him in the process.

"OH my god... what was that?" she hissed.

K'tch swallowed, gathering his nerve.

He could take it no more...

Before she could protest, K'tch reached forward, pulling her up against him quickly.

What she couldn't see, wouldn't hurt her. Keeping the creature close and distracted might get her to calm down. What was that lesson he had observed so long ago? Out of sight, out of mind? Well, that was how he remembered it. The concept applied to small creatures of minimal intelligence as well. He looked down at her. She was small enough...

Her body, facing him, was pressed gingerly against his as he kept an arm on her shoulder to keep her from trying to peer out into the darkness. Her eyes widened, brain scrambling as she was caught between embarassment and utter awkwardness.

"Eh... Kuh-cha?"

He made a click noise which she took as a what.

"What was that noise outside?"

He rolled his eyes behind the mask. How the hell was he supposed to know? All he knew was that the scanner proved it was no threat, which meant she shouldn't be frightened, which meant she needed to go to sleep. Immediately.

His hand slid down her arm and then curved about her torso as he pulled her closer, briefly reminding himself that he'd had his shots...

"Kuh-cha?" she questioned nervously, needing a place for her leg so she wasn't lying against him like a board. She put her right leg up over his left, arm going nervously around the strong waist.

Just pretend like he was one of those body-length pillows she'd seen in the store.
"Ugh.." she turned her face away in disgust. The store would be out of business if they sold tight pillows that smelled faintly like musky ponds...

Why couldn't he have had a roomier place in mind.

"Gross..." she whispered.

The predator strained to calm his nerves. Good God, did this human ever shut up? K'tch groaned angrily, opening his mouth this time.

"Sleeeep..."

She tried to put her head down, realizing it'd be resting on the creature's chest.

Sharon swallowed, looking up to him for approval. The warrior said nothing more and she slowly relaxed against him, eyes falling shut.

She didn't care how offended he was.

He smelled like a stagnant pond.