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REUNION (A Slash Tracker Fic)
© Oct. 5, 2001 By Rory V. PascualAUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sure many of you would comment negatively on how I dared to write a Tracker fic without having seen a single episode and/or how I dared to write a Tracker fic that's SLASH (Yes, m/m sex, NC-17, you know the drill). Truth be told, I wrote this story BEFORE the show even premiered. I dared because I couldn't get this story out of my head. Besides that, it's a birthday present to myself.
Since I wrote the story, I've made a few revisions on it, hoping to include facts that were introduced in the TV show. In the end, I've decided to keep much of the original text. When you read it, you could probably consider it an AU version of Tracker or it's a "What if?" story that is set in a future season.
Anyway, it's here, and I'm proud to say that this story holds the distinction of being not only the FIRST Tracker fanfic, but also the FIRST SLASH Tracker fanfic to be written and posted on the Net. I hope some of you would take a chance and be objective enough to read it. Oh, in case you're curious as to who Kainan is, I think you would know just by his description.
This is for all my friends on HLM, particularly Camimac, Mary, Sheeza and Jeanine, who survived my relentless grilling for every minute detail of the show. Yes, there will be a sequel to this story.
"It's been three days and, up to now, I still can't believe that someone would dare break in and rob this place," Mel Porter remarked aloud with a forlorn shake of her pretty head. "The police said that he must've been in dire need of cash if he would take only a few measly dollars from the cash register. I gotta hand it to him though. Whoever this crook was, he sure has excellent taste in whiskey."
Mel was stacking the chairs on the tables when she happened to glance up to find Jess still behind the bar, right hand cupping her chin, a dreamy smile on her face. Even when trouble strikes, her bar maid always manages to get her mind back on the one thing that she enjoys thinking about the most.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, the proprietress of Chicago's still struggling bar, The Watchfire, sauntered over to her friend's side.
"Judging from the look on your face, Jess, I'd say it's a man." Mel reached over the counter for two glasses and a bottle of tequila, laying them on top.
"Close," Jess grinned, as she poured tequila for the two of them. "I was thinking about our not-so-handy handyman upstairs."
"You know that Cole had been tracking one of those escaped aliens. He couldn't be at The Watchfire all the time. Besides, give him a little credit. At least, when he's here, Cole is trying to do his share, not like someone I know." She took a swig of her drink, although her eyes remained teasingly focused on her bar maid.
"I get distracted by all the handsome legal eagle types who have decided to grace our modest establishment," Jess said defensively. "You can't blame me for that!"
"Thank God, Cole doesn't have that same problem when all those female lawyers come on to him! Even on his first date with that ditzy blonde what's-her-name, he was just using it as an opportunity to further expand his knowledge about Earth and human beings. He's more interested in getting all those intergalactic jailbirds back to Sar-Top and trying to fit in on this planet."
"You don't seem too happy about it."
Mel almost choked in her drink at that remark. "Now what brought that comment on?"
"Don't think I haven't noticed the way you've been looking at him," Jess pointed out to her friend.
"What kind of 'look'?"
"You know! That twinkly thing in your eyes when you think you've met Mr. Right. Your eyes are practically screaming that 'THIS man, this sweet, innocent alien from the Migar universe -- ALLELUIA! -- is the RIGHT guy for me!'"
"I think you've deliberately ignored something in your statement, Jess. Cole is an alien."
"So what?"
"'So what'? Jess, he's from another solar system, light years away. He's an alien. We're human. Lord only knows what kinds of organs he's got inside that body of his." Mel's traitorous mind brought her back to a scene on a deserted highway where she first met a very handsome alien, wearing only those oh so skin tight Cole Briefs.
Jess noted that her boss' thoughts had drifted away, judging from the distant expression on her face. "Wonderful body, isn't it." It wasn't a question. It was a statement of fact.
Mel shook herself out of her musings. "As I was saying, we don't know anything about Cole, except for the stuff that he's willing to tell us. We don't know what life is like on Cirron 17 -- how they live, their culture, what kind of...relationships...they have."
"It's probably not all that different from ours. I mean, you know how much Cole loved his wife and daughter."
Yes, she remembered. It had been extremely difficult to draw this part of his story out of the alien. Cole's family on his home planet of Cirron 17, who were brutally murdered by Rhee. One of the escaped criminals that he had tracked and successfully recaptured here on Earth.
"Let's not talk about this, Jess. And don't you dare open up this matter with him. He's hurting enough as it is, being so far away from home."
"Of course I won't. But what I'm trying to say is that surely we're not that different. If the Cirronians have families, then they must practice some form of sexual activity on their planet."
"Ah!" Mel nodded, not at all surprised by this sudden change in direction in their conversation. "Now we get to the heart of the problem."
"Come on, Mel!" Jess declared. "Aren't you the least bit curious to know how Cirronians have sex?"
An unfamiliar voice chimed in, "If you found out how, you'd be very disappointed."
Both women turned to find a man standing at the door. Like Cole, the stranger was strikingly handsome in his own right. Wavy black hair reaching down to his nape, green gold eyes sparkling with good cheer, skin as white as a marble statue, a distinguished nose. He was dressed in a fine black coat, just like the lawyers and judges who frequent The Watchfire. There was a curious smile on his thin lips.
"Excuse me," Mel began, "but we're closed."
"Oh, that's all right!" he reassured them. "Actually, I'm here to see Daggon."
Alarm bells rang in the minds of the two women. No one on Earth, except them and probably the escaped alien criminals, knew Cole's Cirronian name. Unless this stranger in their midst was from off-planet. Instinctively, they blocked the way to the stairs leading to Mel's apartment.
Jess said warningly, "We don't know who you are, Mister, but you're not going anywhere near Cole."
"So nice to see that Daggon has good friends on this planet. And that name -- Cole, is it? Daggon's Earth name?" Still with that smile on his face, the man said, "I don't mean any harm. Like I said, I just want to see Daggon."
Despite the absence of hostility in the alien before them, Mel hurried behind the counter and pulled out a shotgun, pointing it at the intruder.
"We're not letting you get anywhere near Daggon," she said in determination.
In the blink of an eye, the man was suddenly at Mel's side, easily plucking the shotgun out of her hands. Rather than destroy the gun, he simply laid it on the counter.
"I don't mean any harm," he repeated. "It's Daggon I came to see." To the women's surprise, the alien raised his head and practically sniffed the air. Grinning, he bowed to Mel and Jess. "It's all right, Ladies. I know where Daggon is. The scent is unmistakable."
"The 'scent'?" Mel frowned, not expecting to hear that last.
"And the heat! Don't you feel it?" he laughed, fanning himself with his hand. He gave the two women a sly look. "What did you give Daggon that has caught such an intense interest in my lovely fiancee?"
"EXCUSE ME?" Mel and Jess queried in unison, unsure of what they heard.
The alien, however, simply ignored them and swiftly walked past them, heading up to the apartment.
"What is Cole doing upstairs anyway?" Mel asked her bar maid, as they hurried after the congenial stranger.
"Sending a report to his boss and..." Jess came to a dead halt, mumbling, "Uh, oh!"
Sensing her friend's discomfiture, Mel slowly turned to glare at her. "Jess? What did you do?"
"Well..." Jess began sheepishly, twiddling her fingers. "I just thought I'd give Cole some preliminary instructions on Earthly matters."
"JESS?"
Closing her eyes, she declared in a rush, "I set Cole's computer to open to a porn site when he's not using it."
A groan escaped Mel's lips. She raised her hands as if to strangle Jess, who took a step back, but quickly lowered them. "I swear, Jess, I'm going to kill you one of these days."
As Mel hurried upstairs, Jess called after her, "Would it help to say 'I'm sorry'?"
Cole pressed a button on his computer, initiating the transmission of his progress report to his superior in Sar-Top prison. If he was lucky, it would only take five minutes. Then again, he dared not put too much hope on it, given the primitive materials on Earth.
Hope, a new concept he had learned recently. To believe that even in the most troubled times, in the darkest of moments, things will get better.
That last criminal he captured -- that shape-shifting, EM pulse-throwing Zedrian -- was an adversary he never thought he would be able to defeat. An alien from the Migar system's neighboring galaxy, the Zedrian had crippled his hyperspeed ability and imprisoned him in an electromagnetic field. If it hadn't been for Mel and Jess, he would've been in the clutches of Zin at this time. He dared to believe that his friends would come. He dared to hope. And they did come.
Hope...a very powerful concept on Earth. Strong enough that he found himself believing that he could be able to accomplish his formidable task -- that he would bring back Zin and the other alien criminals back to prison. He was able to capture that Zedrian and a host of other aliens. Including Rhee, that evil bastard who murdered his family.
Cole shuddered at the memories Rhee evoked that he leaned back against his seat, gripping his arms. Contrary to what everyone believed, it hadn't been a random killing. Rhee had deliberately murdered his mate and his daughter to get to him. If it hadn't been for...a very close friend... That was the reason why he decided to become a guard at Sar-Top. More than anything else, he wanted the reassurance that Rhee, as they say on Earth, would remain behind bars for all eternity. He wanted to feel safe.
But then, that prison break happened, and his illusion of safety was shattered into a million pieces. Now, here he was on Earth, tracking a whole bunch of dangerous outer space hooligans. Surprisingly, Cole thought that he would attain some measure of peace, especially after he had successfully captured Rhee's life force from the body of the human female he had taken over. Nothing has changed, however. Cole still couldn't bring Rhee back to Sar-Top, his life force imprisoned in a special containment unit, waiting, along with many others in their tiny spherical cells, to be delivered to that intergalactic prison in the Migar System. Perhaps, only then would he be at peace. For now, the Tracker had to content himself with looking at his "collection" of criminal life forces. Especially to gaze with smug contentment and small relief at the tiny cell containing the life force of the Vardian who had murdered his family.
The Tracker's eyes turned to the filing cabinet where he had kept the containment unit. Mel would surely have -- what was that phrase? -- yes, she would have a hissy fit if she found out that the containment unit was lying cozily inside the inner recesses of the filing cabinet, instead of floating in some energy limbo. Unfortunately, he had no choice. When the Zedrian attacked him, the EM pulse caused major damage to his collector and the containment unit. It was practically a miracle that the life forces of the criminals remained imprisoned in their cells. Still, with its masking system damaged, Cole was unable to store it in a much safer, hidden place. The filing cabinet would have to do for now. His priority was to fix the collector. His tracking skills would be severely crippled without it.
Before he did, so however, instinctively, Cole stood up to make an inventory of his "collection", and to make certain that Rhee was where he was. He had spent three days tracking down the Zedrian. Given the break-in at the bar downstairs, the Tracker wanted to be sure that the containment unit remained sealed. But then, his computer began to beep softly, indicating that the transmission was completed. Before he could shut down his computer, bizarre images filled his screen. Cole's brows knitted together in a frown, seeing that buxom blonde human female, writhing and moaning beneath a muscle-heavy male. It took several minutes of observing those coordinated movements of groping hands, pressing lips and thrusting hips before he realized what EXACTLY he was watching.
Shock and disgust were clearly mirrored on Cole's handsome face. Strangely enough, he couldn't bring himself to close his computer. Instead, he got to his feet, sending his chair toppling to the floor. Cole held himself tightly, his eyelids fluttering shut.
It's been a very long time since he last experienced these...primal sensations. It had been on Cirron 17, during the Kal-el-Mana ritual, where he first met his future mate, Menron. Cole blanched. Was it that time again? He had gone so long without companionship. Is this a sign that... He thanked all the deities he remembered from his readings on Earth religion that he was on this planet. The heat he was generating would send Cirronians, and lord knows what else, flocking to him like -- what was that saying? -- like bees to honey.
Just as the thought escaped his mind, Cole's now highly attuned senses picked up the disturbing presence of another Cirronian within his radius. To add to his shock, given the way his body eagerly reacted to that presence, it was obviously someone he knew.
Then, the door to his small room opened, and Cole found himself staring at a very handsome man. His visitor was panting for breath, but not from his jog up the stairs. His body too was reacting to the aura of heat that Cole was unconsciously projecting.
"It's been a long time, Daggon," the Cirronian announced. On his face was that warm familiar smile that tugged at the Tracker's heart.
Smiling as well, Cole whispered, "Yes, it has been a long time." He raised both hands to his visitor, palms facing forward, in the traditional greeting of a fellow Cirronian who was considered more than a friend.
Rather than press his own palms to Cole's, the alien took the Tracker's hands in his, squeezing them gently.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "As they say here, when on Earth, do what the Earthlings do."
At these words, he pulled Cole into his warm embrace and kissed him passionately on the lips. Unable to resist that sweet caress, Cole hugged his visitor just as tightly, returning his kiss with equal ardor.
There were startled gasps from the doorway. Cole swiftly pulled away to behold Mel and Jess staring at them with shocked expressions on their faces.
"What the hell is going on here?" Mel demanded in confusion. "Cole, who is this man?"
"Yeah!" Jess nodded, arms crossed over her chest. "That's what I'd like to know too."
Granting them a gracious bow, the Cirronian introduced himself. "You can call me Kainan. I'm a...friend...of Daggon's from the old neighborhood."
"No, no!" countered Mel, wagging a finger before her. "You didn't say 'friend' earlier. You said something else." The Watchfire proprietress, however, couldn't bring herself to say that word.
"Very well then," Kainan began, "let me say it for you. Daggon is my fiancee. And it's spelled with two e's at the end."
"Fiancee?" queried Jess, even more bewildered. "When you say that, does it mean you're Cole's..."
Sighing, Cole finally broke his silence. "That's exactly what it means. I am betrothed to Kainan."
Mel shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Wait! You can't be his fiancee -- with a double e. Because that would mean..."
It was Kainan who concluded, "On Cirron 17, you could say that Daggon...more or less...is the equivalent of a female on your planet. He is, and I can't think of a better Earth word, my girlfriend."
A sound like strangled squeaks were elicited from the throats of the two women. Before either Cirronian could act, Mel and Jess dropped down to the floor in a dead faint.
Thirty minutes later, both Mel and Jess were seated at a table in the bar, both nursing splitting headaches, not from the fall, but from the shocking bombshell that was dropped on their heads like bird crap. Confused and bewildered, it would have bothered them considerably if they had noticed that Kainan was patiently fanning them with a table napkin. The object of the two disillusioned women's distress was seated uncomfortably before them, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
The blush on Cole's cheeks deepened in color when the two humans looked sharply at him and blurted out, "YOU'RE A GIRL?"
"I wouldn't put it that way exactly, but..." Cole's words trailed off. How could he explain something like this?
Kainan sat down, positioning himself between the women and the flustered Tracker like a mediator. "Let me try to explain this. It's a rather complicated thing."
At once, Mel and Jess turned their heated glares toward him. Nonplused, Kainan settled down and proceeded to elucidate.
"On our home planet, we do not place that big an issue over gender, perhaps because we have the...ability...to be one or the other."
"You're hermaphrodites?" asked Jess, her curiosity suddenly piqued.
"Not...exactly." Kainan scratched his head. This was a lot more difficult than he thought. "Cirronians are beyond gender. The best Earth analogy I could think of is that it has something to do with...hormones."
"Hormones?" It was Mel's turn to ask, her scowl growing darker.
"Cirronians have...cycles...that would determine which...gender would become prominent. This becomes particularly troublesome once the reproductive years are reached. A Cirronian could either have the characteristics of a male or a female, depending upon the cycle, but we cannot tell which, unless we go through the Kal-el-Mana."
"Kal-el-Mana?" the two women asked at the same time.
"On Earth, you would call it a mating ritual."
Jess looked at the still silent Cole. "So, it was during this Kal-el-Mana thing that you discovered you were female."
"No. I discovered that I had the...gift...to bear offspring," Cole finally answered. "As Kainan said, we Cirronians are beyond gender, neither male nor female. I'm sure, given time, Kainan would be blessed with this gift too."
Kainan, however, shook his head. "I doubt it. I've observed that those who develop this ability are the stronger ones -- in terms of power, talent, spirit, and the capacity for affection. Cirronians who are most capable of having a family and raising offspring."
Mel looked at Cole in awe. "You gave birth to your own daughter? That's amazing! Cole, don't you know how lucky you are? Human males would never experience what you have gone through."
"You're still thinking of me as a male because of this form I had chosen to take."
"A form of a male human because it is this gender that is considered the stronger on this planet." Kainan winked at the two women. "But I'm sure that Daggon would agree with me that this is not true."
This time, it was Jess and Mel who blushed. Grinning, the bar maid exclaimed, "You would make a great speaker for the women's lib movement."
Kainan's green gold eyes shone as he looked at Cole once more. "Of all the Cirronians I've known, Daggon is very special. His aura, his scent, his heat... It is irresistible, desirable. Add the fact that he was, and even now in this form, very beautiful. Many Cirronians as well as other aliens from our galaxy vied to have him for their mate. Of this great number, three were very persistent. I was one of them, but I lost to my fierce rival." The Cirronian laughed wryly. Grimacing, he mused, "This never happened to me before."
Smiling fondly, Cole remarked, "That's because you thought, like all your other mates before, that I would be attracted to your lofty status. Am I right, Your Highness?"
"Your Highness?" Mel's eyebrows rose to form two perfect arches.
Grinning wickedly, the Tracker supplied the answer, "Kainan here is a Cirronian Prince."
Jess' interest perked up even more. She laid her right elbow on the table, hand cupping her chin, as she batted her eyelashes at the handsome alien. "You don't say!" she exclaimed. "Do you have a castle?"
The bar maid was brought back to her senses by a sharp kick to the shin courtesy of Mel. Turning to the Cirronians, she saw that Kainan and Cole were looking at each other once more, oblivious to the two women in their midst. Silent words were exchanged in the distance between their eyes. It was obvious to Mel how much the two aliens cared for each other. Jealousy pinched her heart. Oh, what she would give for Cole to look at her like that!
"I have no regrets though," Kainan broke the silence. He laid his hand over Cole's. "Menron was a good mate, and I'm happy and content that I could still call Daggon a dear friend."
"You mentioned a third rival," interrupted Mel. "Who was he, and what happened to him?"
At that question, the Cirronian turned somber. "That's the reason why I came to Earth."
A frown formed on Jess' face. "Perhaps you could enlighten us further. We don't understand."
Rather than give any explanations, Kainan faced Cole. "Daggon, you may not want to admit it, but your body, despite being in this earthly form, is responding to the call of Kal-el-Mana. You are projecting an aura that would attract Cirronians, and possibly other aliens to you. Because of the bond we have, I sensed your...need, even as far away as Migar. If I could feel you, then so would he, and he is much closer to you."
"He? Who's he?" Mel gazed at the two aliens in confusion.
"I don't need your help, Kainan," Cole said bluntly, as he got to his feet. "I'll handle this myself."
Angrily, Kainan stood up as well. "Do you think you could? Handle him, I mean. You certainly handled yourself pretty well that first time that..."
"I've changed, Kainan. I'm not the Cirronian you used to know."
"Oh, is that a fact? So what are you going to do when you find him, Daggon? What are you going to do if he tracks you first?"
"He is not going to do anything to me because I was able to track him. Kainan, I have already recaptured him."
The Cirronian Prince laughed wryly. "Have you? Have you even bothered to look if he's still there where you left him?"
A suspicious frown formed on the Tracker's brow. "What the hell are you talking about?" Without waiting for an answer, he ran toward the filing cabinet. Although his back was turned to them, Mel and Jess saw him take out the damaged containment unit and open it. They clearly heard his startled gasp.
"Cole, what is that...thing...doing in my apartment?" Mel asked suspiciously. She had told the Tracker before about her apprehensions over having the containment unit hidden in her home.
"Do you think you could still be able to handle him, Daggon, once he comes for you again?" Kainan asked in sarcasm, ignoring Mel. "In your present physiological state, you are vulnerable!"
Cole was stunned to hear his earlier thought thrown verbally back at him. With Menron's death, it was obvious that the bond between him and Kainan had strengthened -- all the more reason for the Cirronian Prince to leave Earth. Especially now that... He stared in disbelief at the cells neatly placed in their grids in the containment unit. Firmly, he told his fellow Cirronian, "And I said I could take care of myself! I've captured him before and I could do it again! Go back to Cirron 17, Kainan! I don't need you here!"
"So you want me to go, is that it?" Kainan's jaw hardened.
Cole hissed in his face, "Yes, I want you to go!"
Silence. "I always knew you were stubborn." Shrugging, Kainan made to walk away. "All right, I'll go! BUT NOT WITHOUT YOU!" Whirling, he laid a fierce chop on the nerve point at Cole's neck. The Tracker fell limp into his arms.
As he hefted the unconscious alien onto his shoulder, the two women swiftly moved to stop him.
"What are you doing?" Mel demanded. "Where are you taking him?"
"If you think we're going to let you waltz out of here with Cole, you're dead wrong, pal!" said Jess menacingly.
"I'm taking him to a safe place, at least until his body's stable. I suggest that you two do the same. With Daggon's scent, his heat so strong in this place, I'm sure that this will be the first place that he'll come to look."
"You keep talking about this 'he'!" cried Mel in growing alarm and frustration. "Who the hell are you talking about?"
Kainan didn't answer at first. It was obvious to him that Daggon had not revealed the entire story to the two human females. He wondered if he should, given how the Tracker valued his anonymity and privacy. But the lives of his human friends were in grave danger. They had to know.
"If I tell you who," the Cirronian began, "do you swear that you will leave this place and stay somewhere safe?"
Mel looked at Jess for a moment. Judging from the grimness on the alien's face, they knew it was serious. It wouldn't be that much of a hassle anyway to close The Watchfire down for a couple days.
The bar proprietress nodded, "Yes, we swear. Now, please tell us who it is."
Kainan breathed in deeply. "It's the alien who murdered Daggon's family." He gazed firmly into the eyes of the two women. "It's Rhee."
Hearing that name, Mel and Jess felt their blood run cold and their hearts stopped beating.
"But that's impossible!" Mel blurted out in shock. "Rhee's life force is right..."
However, as the two women turned to look at the containment unit, their eyes flew wide in horror. One grid was empty. The cell containing Rhee's life force was missing! Their mysterious bar thief had been after something else.
Before they could ask the Cirronian another question, Kainan had already disappeared with the Tracker.
A pair of evil eyes watched as the two female humans closed up The Watchfire and hung a 'Closed For Renovation' sign on the door. When the two women drove away at last, the alien quickly crossed the street. With a strong twist of his wrist, he destroyed the knob and casually walked inside.
For a moment, he paused to peruse his surroundings. Yes, this human he had taken over -- this greedy thief with the muscular body of a roughneck -- still held the memories of the layout of this establishment. It was easy to find the Tracker's room. His scent was so strong that, at first, he thought that Daggon was here. To his disappointment, the Cirronian was nowhere to be found.
Going back down to the bar, his eyes fell upon the sign hanging on the door. Grinning, he agreed that this establishment needed major renovations. With methodical ruthlessness, he began to wreck the place. First, the tables and chairs were broken into pieces. Next, he smashed the bar and its collection of wines, until the spilled liquor formed large puddles on the floor amidst the shattered pieces of glass.
When he was satisfied with the destruction he had caused, he strolled out of The Watchfire, whistling along as he went toward his Harley, which he had easily taken from its now deceased Hell's Angel owner, parked on the opposite curb. As he got on, he tilted his head back, and sniffed the air.
Oh, he loved this new body immensely! It was much better, more powerful than the body of the female he had originally merged with. Aside from this, this primitive male form has the senses necessary to track a potential mate in heat.
Sure enough, it was there all right -- Daggon's scent, his heat like a warm breath on his face, almost like a kiss. It was faint, but the aura of the Tracker was there. With patience, he would find Daggon soon enough.
"I wonder if you're still in that lovely male form you chose to take, Daggon," Rhee mused aloud. "It doesn't matter. Once I do find you, you'll be truly mine at last!"
Kickstarting his motorcycle, the alien murderer wheeled away from the ruins of The Watchfire, his laughter echoing through the air.
Ironically, the same thought was running through Kainan's mind as he drove his black Porsche right by that Cole Briefs billboard. Smiling, he gazed at his fellow Cirronian still asleep on the seat beside him. Daggon couldn't have chosen a more beautiful human form.
Kainan's green gold eyes focused on those full lips, lips he had earlier had the pleasure of tasting with his own human mouth. Primitive though it may be, there was something truly exhilarating about the touching of flesh. If he wasn't in a hurry to get to the secluded cabin near the banks of Lake Michigan, he was sorely tempted to park his sports car and shower tender kisses upon that lovely face.
"It won't be long before we reach our destination, Daggon. I could afford to wait a few more minutes," Kainan mumbled, more to himself than to the sleeping Tracker. "Once we're there, we could finally begin what we never started back on Cirron 17."
"You call this a hiding place?" Cole complained as his brown eyes roamed all over the small cabin that his fellow Cirronian had taken him to.
"We're in the middle of nowhere, Daggon," Kainan glared at the Tracker. "I seriously doubt if he could trace your scent this far."
Earlier, he had left the car in the abandoned ruins of an old church and carried the slumbering Cirronian for miles across the forest before finally reaching this hidden cabin by the Great Lake.
"Rhee won't think of finding you here. He's probably still in Chicago," the Cirronian Prince continued. Noting the sudden worry in those pretty eyes, Kainan reassured him, "Don't worry about your friends. I told them to stay out of the city for the time being."
"You don't know Rhee like I do. He's very persistent." A soft curse flew out of Cole's lips, causing Kainan to secretly smile at how human his beloved was already becoming. "Damn it! We were robbed three days ago. The poor fool must have stumbled upon the containment unit and, unwittingly, freed Rhee from his cell."
"That fool got what he deserved. It's you I'm worried about. Well, even if Rhee does eventually find this place, before that time comes, your physiology would've become stable. And I'd have returned you to the safe company of your human friends."
"And what if my body doesn't stabilize?" queried the Tracker, cocking an infuriated eyebrow up.
"Oh, but it will," exclaimed Kainan confidently. "That's why I'm here!"
Cole glared accusingly at his ardent alien suitor. "Is that the real reason why you're here? Because you want to merge with me in the Kal-el-Mana ritual?"
"Is that how low you think of me, Daggon?" the Cirronian asked, unable to disguise his disappointment.
"Well, this won't be the first time that you tried to pull something like this."
"But did I ever force you to do something you didn't want to do...like Rhee?"
Cole stiffened at the mention of that name. He closed his eyes as unwanted memories filled his mind -- of his mate Menron and their daughter Talen, drained of energy, vulnerable, struggling in Rhee's hands. The flash of a large metal knife and blood splattering the walls of their home. Their screams of agony. Then his own terrified cries at Rhee's loathsome attempt to merge with him. Cole didn't know he was shaking until Kainan wrapped his arms around his body to steady him.
"I'm sorry, Daggon," the Cirronian Prince whispered, guilty for causing the Tracker distress. "I didn't mean to bring back bad memories."
"You don't understand." Cole turned around abruptly to face Kainan. "I've lost my family to Rhee. When you came to help me, I nearly lost you too. Rhee...he almost..."
"Yes," Kainan nodded, looking into the frightened brown eyes of the alien he loved. "I know."
"He's not going to stop, Kainan, not unless I stop him first."
"In your condition, I seriously doubt it."
"And I told you this before. Do not underestimate me. I am not the helpless Cirronian you knew."
"Perhaps. But what I see before me now is a helpless Earthling who can't make heads or tails of how his body is reacting to the alien instincts inside him."
Cole scowled darkly. "Is it really this impossible to talk to you?"
Kainan crossed his arms over his chest. "That's because I didn't come here to talk. I came to get your physiological functions, both Cirronian and Earthling, under control. You weren't even aware that you were projecting your...distress...throughout the galaxy. These human urges you've been saddled with have been amplifying your Cirronian aura. Better to control it now before some other aliens start crawling out of the woodwork."
"Are you so confident that you can do that?"
"I wouldn't be here if your aura hadn't sent for me. Besides, better me than Rhee, don't you think?"
Silence fell between the two aliens. It was Cole who spoke up first. "Being the scholar that I know you to be, it's obvious that you've done a lot of studies about Earth and its primitive customs. Perhaps too much that you've forgotten our ways -- that the ritual of Kal-el-Mana requires that the two to be mated should have mutual...feelings...and respect for one another."
"May I remind you that during Kal-el-Mana back on Cirron 17, you were torn between me and Menron. Although your heart eventually chose Menron, you cannot deny that you had feelings for me as well."
"But that was a long time ago."
"It seemed only like yesterday to me. I came so close. I've never felt this way for another, do you know that? Tell me, Daggon. Do you not want me as much as I do you?"
"Wanting is different from loving. Love...it is something I learned here. An apt word for those 'mutual feelings' of attraction. I know that I still love Menron. But you are right. I cannot deny that there is a bond between us, a bond that has strengthened since Menron's passing."
"Then why fight it, Daggon?" Kainan insisted desperately. "Why can't you bring yourself to love me?"
Cole blurted out in frustration, "BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU THE SAME WAY I HAD MENRON AND TALEN!"
At that outburst, Kainan took the distressed Tracker in his arms. "Daggon, you are not going to lose me. Rhee may have come close before, but it will be difficult for him to get through me this time."
"You don't have to face him," began Cole hesitantly. "Unless you and I..."
"Do you want to do it?"
"I don't know." An honest answer. Daggon always says what was on his mind.
"Then, let's take it a step at a time."
Cole sighed, seeing that there was no way out of his predicament except to do "it" with Kainan. "Please give me a few minutes to remove my clothes and revert back to my true form."
Kainan was about to say that it wasn't necessary, but the young Cirronian was already undoing the buttons of his slacks. Swallowing hard, he eagerly awaited the unveiling of the Tracker's magnificent human body. As Cole, however, slipped out of his shoes, Kainan saw that his feet were glowing with a bright white light. His disappointment grew as Cole's pants slid down his long, graceful legs, revealing smooth, shining white limbs. Peeling off his shirt revealed more of that glowing, pristine white skin and that broad chest with its tiny pink button nipples, the only things with color on his body. When he yanked the shirt from his head, Cole's round, golden brown eyes blinked back at him.
To Kainan's surprise, Cole's human form was not really all that different from his Cirronian body. Aside from the glowing skin, the Tracker was devoid of the lines and creases that were present in the human body. A being of pure light, it was like looking at a shiny, smooth white board. Cole's Cirronian face was remarkably similar to that of his human counterpart, the features a unique blending of the masculine and feminine that was uncommon to Earthlings. Although that stubborn set to his jaw remained, his now golden brown eyes and his full lips softened his male features. Add that wavy mass of short, but thick, silky bronze hair and, indeed, the Tracker was a sight to behold. The one major thing that differentiated a Cirronian's body from that of a human's was the absence of sex organs.
Dots of pink colored Cole's cheeks at the Cirronian Prince's intense perusal. "Well, Kainan, I'm ready," he announced, his voice tremulous. "Aren't you going to transform?"
"Actually," Kainan began hesitantly, "I was going to say that you didn't have to change shape. If we revert back to our true forms, it would only increase the possibility of our having offspring. I want to have offspring, but I don't think you would."
"You're right, I don't. Not now exactly. You should have told me at once."
"I'm sorry."
"Never mind," the Tracker said in mild exasperation. "I'll change back."
Closing his eyes, Cole willed his body to transform once more. Starting from his feet, his skin assumed the flesh tones of a human, although his alien genes gave it a slightly golden color. But what caught Kainan's avid attention were the impressive appendages that sprouted between the young Cirronian's legs.
Cirronian or human, mused the alien Prince in glee, Daggon is truly one fine specimen.
Cole cocked his head to the side, giving Kainan a curious, almost disgusted, glance. "Why are you drooling?"
"I am?" Flustered, Kainan swiftly wiped away the spittle from the corner of his mouth.
"That is supposed to be a sign that you're hungry," the Tracker innocently put in. "Are you hungry, Kainan?"
A low growl rumbled in the Prince's throat, as he hastily divested himself of his clothing. "Actually, I'm very hungry for you."
Cole had to admit that he shared the same sentiment. Like Kainan's earlier assessment of his human form, the Tracker noted that his suitor's Earthling shape was remarkably similar to his alien form. Even his skin was pale, almost as white as his alien skin. He was actually expecting the Prince to glow.
Seeing the way Kainan eyed his genitals, however, brought Cole back to the present and he blushed from the tips of his toes to the crown of his head, swiftly covering himself with his hands. Without warning, the Cirronian broke into a run, arms outstretched, eager to take the Tracker. Cole, however, didn't need hyperspeed to evade that enthusiastic embrace. He simply stepped to the side. Kainan tripped on a loose floor board and landed flat on his face on the bed.
As Kainan sat up, rubbing his nose, Cole remarked in sarcasm, "You haven't changed one bit, Your Highness."
"Why did you duck?" the Cirronian Prince complained, glaring at the younger alien balefully.
"I didn't want to get crushed. If you wanted to hug me, we could've just sat calmly on this bed and embraced." To demonstrate, the Tracker sat primly and demurely on the bed and wrapped his arms around his fellow alien.
There was a strange expression of perplexity on Kainan's face, feeling Cole patting and rubbing his back, like a human nurse offering comfort to her patient. "Daggon?" he inquired with suspicion. "You don't know anything about human sex, do you?"
Before the Tracker could reply, Kainan's fingers closed around his nipples and gamely tweaked the tiny nubs. A delicious tingling jolted Cole's body that he gasped in surprise. He was about to pull away, but the Cirronian's hold on his tits tightened painfully. Not releasing his startled fiancee, Kainan then leaned forward and kissed the younger alien on the lips.
Cole found that he couldn't breathe, unable to open his mouth for air. That kiss was so sweet, so tender. He didn't want it to end. But the desire for air was overwhelming. When his lips parted, what he gulped in was Kainan's heated breath. Yet, their lips remained joined. To his surprise, a probing tongue tentatively brushed against the inner lining of his cheek. That lingual organ tasted so good inside his mouth that he gingerly touched it with the tip of his own tongue.
Before Cole could trap that tongue between his lips, Kainan withdrew that the Tracker groaned in frustration. His senses, however, were drawn forcefully back to those playful fingers that still cupped his pectorals and teased his nipples into hard pebbles.
As the two aliens sank down on the bed, Cole's eyes flew wide as those fingers were replaced by hot lips upon his right tit. The sensations that were being drawn from him were devastating. Even he had not experienced such intense pleasure when he was feeding his daughter, Talen. At this thought, his body reacted instinctively, spurting sweet, nutritious fluid inside Kainan's mouth. The Tracker would have abandoned himself completely to these exquisite sensations that the Cirronian Prince was arousing in him.
But when one of those exploring hands descended to the region between his legs and enclosed the limp appendage and the twin sacs beneath them., at once, passion was replaced by fear. He remembered the images he had earlier seen on his computer screen. That woman seemed to be in great pain. Worse was that Kainan's own member was now as stiff as a cop's club, and it was knocking, prodding at the tiny orifice hidden within the firm mounds of his buttocks, demanding entry. When he dared to gaze at his suitor's face, what he saw was the face of someone else, someone he had loved.
Cole sat up abruptly, surprising Kainan. Taking the pillow, he hugged it close to his naked body, his eyes filled with shadowy images of Menron. "Forgive me, Kainan. I'm not ready. I doubt if I'll ever be ready."
The Cirronian Prince breathed in deeply, his gaze lowered to the floor. At first, the Tracker thought that he had angered his friend. But then, that gentle smile formed on Kainan's lips. Patting Cole's arm reassuringly, he stood up and started to get dressed.
"I'm hungry," he exclaimed cheerfully. "I'm going into town to get us a bite to eat. Do you want anything?"
Although perplexed by the sudden change of behavior in his friend, Cole said shyly, "Could you get me a hamburger, french fries and some ice cream? I love chocolate!"
"Of course I can," Kainan declared as he finished lacing up his hiking boots. "I aim to please. Anything else?"
The Tracker shook his head.
Standing, the Cirronian said, "You don't have anything to be afraid of, Daggon. We're too far from the city. Rhee won't find you here. To be on the safe side, though, I brought some Neromein back with me from Cirron 17. Not only will it help you sleep, it will dampen your aura. I'll be back in a half hour."
Kainan was about to leave when he heard Cole call out his name.
"Kainan?"
"Hmm?" he looked questioningly at the younger man.
"Are you mad at me?" came that timid query.
Again, there was that reassuring and breathtaking smile. "Daggon, I could never be mad at you. I'm a very patient fellow. Good things come to those who wait. You'll see." He winked at Cole. "I'll see you later."
"Kainan..." the Tracker began in hesitation. When the Cirronian Prince looked at him once more, he whispered, "Please be careful."
"Oh, I will! Don't worry about me!"
At these words, Kainan stepped outside. Halting at the door, he couldn't help shivering, but it was not because of the brisk mountain wind. Even outside the cabin, he could still sense Daggon's powerful aura. For a moment, he hesitated. With that strong heat the Cirronian was projecting, he doubted if the Neromein would prove useful. However, he needed to give Daggon some space. It's been a long time since he's had contact with any of his kind. No point in aggravating his condition any further.
Making the decision to return immediately to the cabin after running his errand, Kainan ran through the woods in hyperspeed until he reached his parked sports car. As he drove out of the church and onto the highway, heading back to town, he didn't notice the hulking figure on a Harley Davidson that rode past him.
"I thought you were going to stay out of town?"
That question flew out of the lips of Mel and Jess, pointing to the other, as they stood before the door of The Watchfire.
Mel scratched her head sheepishly. "I was fretting in my uncle's place all night. I couldn't get any sleep. I figured that I was never good at hiding anyway so I thought of opening up shop instead."
"Same here," Jess admitted. "I'd rather have something to do than just wait around, not knowing what's happening, and tearing my hair out in the process." A pout formed on her lips. "I'll never be able to get a decent guy or a Cirronian Prince if I end up bald."
The proprietress of The Watchfire burst into laughter at that remark. "No chance of that happening. You saw how Kainan looked at Cole."
"I guess there's no chance between you and Cole too," Jess thoughtfully commented. "I mean, he's his fiancee."
Mel shrugged as she pulled out her key and inserted it into the keyhole of the knob. "It's okay. There are a lot of fish in the sea."
"But I doubt if they would be as good as Cole. Cole is such a wonderful man...for a Cirronian, I mean."
"Let's not think about that, Jess. Even if we entertained such notions, nothing's going to happen. He's an alien, we're human and..."
Mel's jaw dropped as the door opened a crack. The two women looked at each other for a moment before running inside the bar.
"OH MY GOD!" Jess exclaimed, seeing the bar in shambles. "I thought you weren't serious about closing the bar for renovations!"
"COLE!" Mel cried as she hurried upstairs to her apartment.
To her relief, the Tracker was not inside his room, which meant that he was still with Kainan somewhere. She was particularly thankful that she had decided at the last minute to take the containment unit along with her. Her feet heavy with worry, Mel went back down to the bar. Just as she reached the bottom step, there was a sharp pain in her chest. Her hand flew to her breast, rubbing it gingerly.
"He's not up there, is he?" asked an equally worried Jess.
"Thank God, he isn't. Let's close up the bar, Jess. There's no point in staying here. Rhee might return."
"But what about Cole and Kainan? Don't you think we should find them and warn them?"
"Chicago's a big place, and I seriously doubt that Kainan would hide him in the city. They're probably far away from here."
Jess bit her lower lip. "I hope they're all right, especially Cole. I don't want anything bad to happen to him."
Mel remembered the pain she felt earlier. Gazing up into the morning sky, she mumbled, "Neither do I, Jess. Neither do I."
What a strange thing this human form is! Cole commented to himself as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. How could this chaotic bundle of tissues and nerves arouse such an intense reaction in me? Was it, as Kainan said, because of the...hormones...in the human body and my own Cirronian's reaction to the call of Kal-el-Mana?
Whatever the reason, his desires -- there was no better word for what he was feeling -- had not diminished with Kainan's departure. Even the Neromein that Kainan had left for him was of no help. All he could feel was that sensation of drowsiness, which was being counteracted by the strong desires within him. Now, he was deeply regretting that the Cirronian Prince had left him all alone here.
With a sigh, Cole's hand went to his chest, feeling the rapid thumping of his heart within. As he closed his eyes, concentrating on that rhythmic beating against his palm, the tip of his middle finger brushed the hardened nub of his breast. Again, there was that luscious tingling that Cole's brown eyes flew wide in startlement.
"You don't have anything to be afraid of, Daggon," Kainan had reassured him earlier. "Rhee won't find you here."
Since he was all alone in the wilderness, a bright idea crossed the Tracker's mind. Surely no one would stumble upon him here in this deserted cabin, as he...studied and experimented...with his present human form. Perhaps, with the satisfaction of his curiosity, the call of Kal-el-Mana would be silenced once and for all.
The decision made, Cole took several deep breaths to calm himself. Closing his eyes once more, he willed both hands to rise to his face. Carefully, he caressed the oval-shape of his head, tracing the lines from temple to chin, his fingertips teasing his closed eyelids and its long lashes as well as his fine nose. Crossing over forward, his fingers found his full lips. Again, there was that delightful tingling, though not as intense. A small smile quirked up his mouth at the memory of Kainan's lips upon his own. He pressed his fingers over his lips, hoping to mimic that sensation of a gentle mouth kissing his lips. Alas, however, as he discovered, nothing could compare to the real thing.
Of their own accord, like the light beating of butterfly wings, Cole's hands drifted lower -- from his neck and shoulders, going around once more as they descended to his chest. Gingerly, he cupped his pectorals, taking care not to touch the tiny nubs that have jolted him with pleasure. But as he moved his hands, again, his palms scraped over the tips, sending tingling waves coursing all over his breast. Such was the intensity that Cole felt his knees weaken. Fearing that he might fall to the floor, instead, he sank down on the chair he had positioned behind him. Now that he was in a comfortable position, Cole surrendered himself completely to his little experiment. Leaning back into the seat, his chest thrust forward, his fingers pinched the tiny pebbles of passion. He moaned in bliss, as he tweaked and pulled on his tits, his entire body shuddering with pleasure. It wasn't only those small nubs. The Tracker discovered that even the flesh surrounding it was greatly sensitized. His hands closed around the areolae and he squeezed that bit of flesh, causing pearl white drops to form at the tips.
As he played with his aching breasts, Cole soon felt a tightening in his groin, something he had not felt earlier because of his abrupt withdrawal from Kainan's passionate embrace. Daring to open lust-heavy eyes, he saw that the limp appendage between his legs had jutted up to attention, the sacs shrinking as the balls within tightened. Although frightened of these strange bodily responses, Cole found his right hand drifting down to his genitals, his left still playing with his nipple. After a moment's hesitation, his hand closed around that formidable erection.
At once, an intense sensation of euphoria seized his entire body. It seemed as if all the pleasure in this human flesh was concentrated in that rigid rod in his hands. Cole didn't think any more. Instead, he abandoned himself, like a wanton, to the ecstasy. Draping his long legs over the armrests of the chair, Cole spread his sweat-sheened thighs wide that his genital region lay completely exposed to him through the mirror. Not getting his eyes off his reflection, he watched as he pumped that hard member, gasping as it seemed to grow bigger and longer before his startled brown eyes. His aching nipples had assumed a dark pink color, his breasts fuller as he tweaked his tits in time with his strokes on his cock.
Cole found himself laughing. Cock... What a funny name to call this formidable human appendage! Would it crow perhaps when I am spent?
Surprisingly, the Tracker saw that the tiny opening beneath his sacs was contracting, like small lips pursing for sweet kisses. As the scenes that had graced his computer screen filled his mind, he remembered that the man had inserted his member in a hole just as small as this. Cole couldn't fathom how such an enormous projection as this flesh of steel in his hand could fit such a tiny opening. If he had gone all the way with Kainan, he wondered if he could take his suitor's cock inside his body.
Just the thought of Kainan's member filling his body was enough to send Cole over the edge. With a cry, his hands tightened around his cock and nipple, causing copious juices to spurt from the openings. It seemed like his orgasm went on and on, almost for an eternity. He didn't want those feelings to ebb. Not yet.
But then, that sinister voice from the doorway brought him back to reality, like being drenched with a bucketful of ice cold water.
"What do we have here!" that voice declared. "Daggon, I never knew you had it in you to be such a tempting whore!"
Cole's head snapped to the side to behold a hideous human face, a fiendish leer on that large mouth.
Kainan, you said that I'm safe here! thought the Tracker in growing panic. You said that he wouldn't find me! And here I am, all alone, without my collector!
Rhee took a step toward him, hands waving eagerly to him. "Come here, Daggon! Time we finished what we started!"
"NO! NEVER!" Before the Vardian could get close to him, Cole kicked out, catching Rhee in the jaw. Without thinking twice, he quickly got to his feet, his wobbly knees nearly caving under him, and leaped through the window, breaking the glass. The Tracker didn't bother to look back. Instead, he immediately willed his body to go into hyperspeed and fled inside the forest.
Cole ran on and on, hoping that he could reach the highway to safety. His route, however, took him deeper and deeper inside the woods. Worse, he felt his body growing heavy with every step he took. To his increasing horror, the Tracker remembered the Neromein he had taken earlier.
Sure enough, Cole just found himself emerging from hyperspeed, weaker than he had ever felt before. He was dismayed to find that he was covered with scratches from his swift jaunt through the forest. His feet were bleeding and painful from trampling across the thorns of the wild roses in his path. Before he could look for a place to hide, a large beefy arm encircled his waist and a heavy hand was clamped over his mouth.
"No more waiting," Rhee whispered in his ear. "This time, Daggon, you're mine!"
Saying this, the alien murderer threw the Tracker inside a small opening under the wild roses which Cole hadn't noticed earlier. He found himself lying inside a low dome, surrounded by roses and thorns. The cramped space was only enough for two people in a kneeling or lying position. There was not enough room to maneuver around. To his horror, there was only one exit and Rhee was blocking it with his large bulk. He was trapped!
Despite this, Cole was determined to fight back, especially when a huge hand clamped down on his calf. With a cry of rage, he lashed out at Rhee with his feet, hoping to dislodge the Vardian's hold on his leg. But Rhee was more determined to have his way with him. With a hard yank, the alien murderer pulled the struggling Tracker into his arms.
Rhee bent down and rained kisses and licks on Cole's handsome face. "Don't fight me, Daggon. You know that you and I are meant to be. With no one else vying for your hand, I claim you now by the rules of Kal-el-Mana."
"What you plan to do is wrong!" Cole shouted. "If you force your will on me, you violate Kal-el-Mana! I do not love you!"
"Yes, you're right. But you know I never cared about the rules. I don't care about human emotions even more. To hell with the rules! To hell with love! It's payback time, Tracker! Now, I will take what has been due me for a very long time!"
At these words, Rhee leaned over the helpless Tracker, crushing the Cirronian's body in his loathsome embrace. Cole shuddered as the Vardian smothered him with disgusting kisses, his breath stinking with stale whiskey and beer. He pounded his fists desperately on the murderer's back, but weak as he was, his blows had no effect. Gritting his teeth, he tried dragging his fingernails across that broad back, creating deep, bleeding furrows in the skin. In retaliation toward the superficial wounds that the Tracker had given him, Rhee descended to Cole's chest and, with utter viciousness, sank his teeth into the tiny nipple. Cole cried out in pain, trying to twist his body free, but the alien only bit down harder. Unable to endure the pain, the Tracker helplessly flopped back down on the ground.
Seeing the Cirronian finally compliant, Rhee proceeded to make full use of the younger alien's luscious body. Cole tried to distance his mind, his soul from the torments that were being inflicted upon his human form, but his traitorous new body demanded his unwilling response to the murderer's revolting advances. As Rhee swallowed his organ whole and forced him to an unwanted release, Cole was unaware that tears were trickling from his eyes.
Weak and in shock, the Tracker was nothing more than a plaything for the alien's perverse pleasure. Knowing that there will no longer be any resistance from the Cirronian, Rhee spread Cole's shapely thighs and positioned himself in between.
A scream of agony was torn from Cole's throat as Rhee brutally penetrated him. The thrusts came hard and fast, and all the poor Tracker could do was cry and whimper in pain, his fingers digging into the dirt beneath him. Merging with Menron was never like this. The images on his computer returned to him. It was much worse than he thought. How could humans endure such torture? Cole prayed that this horrible nightmare would end. Still, despite the horror, he had one thing to be thankful for -- that in his present male human form, he would not bear this loathsome alien's offspring.
With his body aching all over, Cole didn't sense when the Vardian yanked his now flaccid sex out of the Tracker's battered flesh. Neither did he feel the atrocity that Rhee was inflicting in the region between his legs. Cole was already beyond pain when the alien jabbed his erect cock inside the new, glowing orifice he had created. The Tracker's mind was focused on one thing.
When this is over, Cole promised inside his mind, you will pay for what you did to me. Rhee, I swear I'll kill you!
An hour and a half later, as he opened the door to the cabin, Kainan found himself dropping the food he had bought, seeing the place empty and broken glass where a window once was.
The Cirronian reached out with his senses, hoping to track Cole via the bond they shared. Sure enough, he felt the Tracker's aura, but it was very faint.
Going through the same window, Kainan dashed into the woods in a burst of hyperspeed. It didn't take long before he found the rose dome where Rhee had taken Cole. A dark scowl formed on his face, seeing Rhee himself emerging from that dome, fixing his trousers.
"RHEE!" Kainan roared in fury as he lunged at the criminal, knocking him to the ground.
The Cirronian Prince didn't give Rhee a chance to recover, bombarding him with strong chops and well-placed kicks. By the time Kainan was through with him, the alien murderer could hardly stand.
Kainan jerked the criminal up by his collar. As he raised his right hand, a collector appeared in his open palm. However, as his fingers slowly closed around it, the collector folded into itself, transforming into a small cylinder with grooves on its length. From that cylinder extended a beam of light about a meter long. Gritting his teeth, the Cirronian Prince raised his laser blade.
"This is for all those whom you killed," he exclaimed in rage. "This is for Menron and Talen and Daggon!"
"NO!" a familiar voice shouted from the rose dome.
Without releasing his tight grip on Rhee, Kainan turned to find Cole standing before the rose dome. He was horrified to see the damage that had been inflicted upon the Tracker. There were dark bruises all over the young alien's body. Blood dripped from the bite mark on his nipple and streamed in rivulets down his legs.
"Let him go, Kainan!" Cole ordered his suitor.
Kainan stared at the Tracker in disbelief. "Are you insane? Rhee's here, helpless! You don't even have to take him back to Sar-Top! Just one sweep of my exterminator and he's dead!" Raising his sword once more, the Cirronian was about to bring his blade down, but a strong hand suddenly stayed his arm.
"Vengeance is not yours to take, but mine," the Tracker hissed in his face. "Rhee owes a blood debt to me. I myself shall claim that which is owed me. Not you! Not anyone else!"
The Cirronian Prince was stunned to hear those words. The blood debt... By the laws of Cirron 17, no one else could pursue the criminal except Cole himself. The punishment for any Cirronian who takes the fugitive's life was very severe. The blood debt would be transferred to his head, and the Tracker will take his life as replacement for the prey he had lost through the interference of this other.
"Kainan, release him!" Cole repeated sternly. "Despite what we have between us, if you take his life now, I will not hesitate to kill you!"
Kainan glared at the Tracker, but Cole was firm in his resolve. With a frustrated growl, he shoved Rhee to the ground. Storming toward a tree, the Cirronian punched the trunk, creating a depression in the bark.
Laughing, the Vardian eased himself up on one elbow and reached out with his other hand, his palm caressing Cole's lower abdomen. "Wise decision, my lovely Daggon! You wouldn't dare kill me, not after what happened between us."
Cole slapped his loathsome hand away. "The only reason why I spared your life is because I want to kill you myself. Neither of us is in fighting form, Rhee. I intend to take your life in a duel, as is the law. I want to see you suffer at my hands first, before I take your life. Menron and Talen would've wanted it this way. I want it to be this way. Now, go! Leave this place before I change my mind!"
Rhee slowly got to his feet, a wicked grin on his face. "I'll be waiting for you, Daggon. But when that time comes, I doubt if you would want to battle with me. We are bonded now -- you and I. Fighting and killing me would be the last thing on your mind when we see each other again." Bowing mockingly to Kainan, he declared, "Farewell, Your Highness! I'm so sorry that my head would not be adorning your Trophy Room."
Neither Cirronian turned to witness Rhee's departure from their midst.
When the Vardian was gone, a seething Kainan rounded on the Tracker. "You sorely disappointment me, Daggon! There was the perfect opportunity to kill that bastard, and you tell me to let him go? After what he did to you? You really have gone crazy!"
"Kainan..." a soft interruption.
"WHAT?" the Cirronian retorted in extreme displeasure.
Although very angry, Kainan just found himself crossing the distance between him and the Tracker, as the young alien began to collapse. He caught Cole in time before he could hit the ground. Kainan then lifted the exhausted Tracker in his arms and carried him back to the cabin.
Two hours later, the two Cirronians were seated in a large wooden tub. Having carefully cleansed all the traces of the Tracker's brutal defilement earlier, Kainan thought it would relax his beloved if they soaked in the tub together. With Cole seated before him with his back turned to him, Kainan gently massaged his tense neck and shoulders. He couldn't help wincing whenever his eyes focused upon a bruise.
Hoping to soothe the troubled younger alien, Kainan kissed a small bruise on the Tracker's right shoulder blade. Immediately, Cole stiffened and he curled up into a tight ball.
"Daggon, I'm not going to hurt you," said Kainan softly.
"I know," answered Cole, just as quietly. "But I don't want to be touched. Not that way."
The alien Prince pressed his forehead to the Tracker's back, tears of guilt trickling from his eyes. "I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! If only I hadn't come, if only I hadn't interfered..."
"Rhee would've come after me anyway. It was inevitable." Cole fell silent for a moment. "Kainan, could you please take me back to Chicago? I want to go home."
"Why there? Daggon, I can't let you stay here. Don't you want to go back home?"
"Home?" Cole asked softly. "There is a way home?"
"Yes. That's the reason why I was able to come here in the first place. The scientists on our home planet were able to reconstruct the wormhole. You don't have to stay here any longer. We could send other Trackers now. Why don't you come back to Cirron 17 with me?"
"Because I haven't fulfilled my mission. Tracking, recapturing these criminals is my responsibility, and no one else's. I can't leave Earth. Not yet." There was a weak smile on the Tracker's face as he granted the Cirronian Prince a side glance. "Besides, Earth is such a beautiful planet. It's a second home to me, and I have good friends here."
Kainan remembered the two women at The Watchfire. Having been acquainted with Daggon's habits very well, he knew that the young alien was harboring secret feelings for one of them, probably the taller one named Mel. He also knew that Mel also cared for the Cirronian as well, despite the uncertainty of a future between them. Kainan felt a dull ache in his heart at this thought. Was this how it felt to be jealous?
"There's no need to be jealous, Kainan," whispered the Tracker. "I know that there are limits. And, in my own way, I DO love you too. You know that, don't you?"
Kainan nodded. "Yes, I know."
"I have one great regret though."
"What is it?"
Cole turned slightly to give Kainan a gentle kiss on the lips. Finally facing the older alien, he then embraced the Cirronian Prince tightly, fighting back the tears that were filling his eyes. He had sworn to himself that he would not weep over his tragic misfortune.
"I wish it had been you," said Cole sincerely. "I wish it had been you."
It was the middle of the night when the two Cirronians finally arrived in Chicago. As if sensing their presence, Mel herself popped outside the door of The Watchfire. Instead of rushing toward them, she stood at the doorway, hands clasped before her nervously.
Getting out of the car, Kainan went to the other side and gallantly opened the door for Cole. He even held the Tracker's arm and escorted him to Mel's side.
Not knowing what else to say, the young woman blurted out, "I was worried sick about you!"
Smiling wanly, Cole answered, "Well, I'm here now. Anything happen while I was gone?"
Instead of waiting for Mel's reply, the Tracker quietly went inside the bar.
"Rhee came here, didn't he," Kainan asked the proprietress of The Watchfire.
Mel placed her left hand on her waist while her right rubbed her brow. "Yeah! You were right. Rhee came and trashed the bar."
"I'm sorry," said Kainan in all sincerity.
"No, it's okay! I have enough money to fix the place up. I'm just glad to see that Cole's fine."
The Cirronian didn't speak at that remark. Mel looked at Kainan suspiciously. Judging from the guilty expression on the alien Prince's face, she knew something was wrong.
Rather than answer her unspoken question, Kainan took Mel's hand in his and squeezed it gently but firmly. "Take care of him for me, Miss Porter. Perhaps, I will return to this planet someday to see him."
"Why don't you stay for awhile? We'd love to have you here."
Kainan, however, shook his head. "No. Daggon needs to be alone for awhile. My presence here would only bring back bad memories." He laughed bitterly. "Some protector I turned out to be. Goodbye, Miss Porter."
Before Mel could ask what happened, the Cirronian Prince strode toward his sports car and quickly got inside. Giving The Watchfire one last look, Kainan drove away.
Apprehension seized Mel's heart. She wondered what had happened to the two Cirronians for Kainan to act so guilty.
No, I mustn't pry, she swore to herself. This is a private matter between the two of them.
When she entered The Watchfire, however, she saw the Tracker standing right in the middle of the shambles of the bar. There was a stricken expression on Cole's face as Jess bombarded him with her fierce tirade.
"Where the hell have you been, Cole?" Jess exclaimed. "Do you know, that while you've been running around with your prince, that bastard Rhee tore this place up?"
"I'm sorry," Cole whispered guiltily.
"Mel and I have been cleaning this place up for the entire day and we don't know where we're going to get the money to replace all the stuff that's been broken!"
"I'm sorry!" The Tracker seemed about to burst into tears.
"Jess..." Mel interrupted.
"If I know better, you probably went to some hidey hole somewhere and..."
"JESS!"
The bar maid immediately fell silent, seeing the glare in her boss' eyes.
At that moment, Judge Arthur Barrett waltzed in through the door. The Black judge's eyes widened, seeing the mess. "What the hell happened here, Mel? It looks like a tornado went through this place."
"We're...uh...renovating." Mel didn't have any other explanation prepared.
Sheepishly, the good judge asked, "I hope you don't mind if I could get a little drink. It's been a trying day at court and I..."
"Oh, it's all right, as long as you don't mind the mess. Do you want the usual?" Mel gestured to Jess to get behind the bar and prepare Judge Barrett's drink.
"Yeah!" the judge quipped. "Thank you!"
Taking advantage of the distraction, Cole stammered, "Let me get changed and I'll help you clean up!"
"Oh, why don't you kids stay for awhile and have a drink on me?" Judge Barrett declared, laying a hand on the Tracker's shoulder.
At that contact, Cole practically jumped, a mewling cry escaping his full lips. Whirling, he found himself facing the three humans, who were staring back at him in shock. Having known the Tracker for quite some time, none of them expected Cole to react the way he had. Neither did they expect to see terror reflected in his sweet eyes, that were always filled with child-like good cheer.
"I'm sorry," Cole said again as he hurried upstairs to his room.
"What's going on?" asked Jess in confusion.
"Something's wrong with Cole and you're too blind to notice. You just wouldn't shut up!" Mel retorted in anger. "Listen, Jess! Why don't you go home? It's been a hard day and we both need the rest. I'll take care of Judge Barrett here."
There was embarrassment and guilt on the bar maid's face as she took her things from the counter.
Before she left, she told her boss, "I'm sorry, Mel. I didn't know."
Neither of us did, The Watchfire owner answered inside her mind. Verbally, she said instead, "It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow."
Nodding, Jess sadly walked out the door and headed home.
The judge drank his Jack Daniels in one swift gulp. "I'd better be going home myself."
"Oh, please, Judge!" Mel exclaimed, fearing she may have offended one of their favorite customers. "Why don't you stay for a few more minutes? You know The Watchfire is always open for you."
"And it will be open for me in the days to come. But for now..." Judge Barrett laid a gentle hand on Mel's. "That boy needs you, Mel. That haunted expression in his eyes... I've seen it many times before in my courtroom. Like a 'trapped' look in a deer's eyes. Of having suffered so much and being treated like nothing more than some old rag doll."
No! thought Mel in horror, hearing her suspicions voiced by the good judge. It couldn't be that! Certainly not Cole! But a tiny voice inside her heart told her that it was true.
"What am I going to do, Judge? What am I going to say to him?"
"You don't have to say anything, child. Just be there for him. May I suggest that, when he's calm, you try and convince him to go to the hospital and the police."
Shocked, all she could utter was, "Thanks, Judge."
Smiling, Judge Barrett patted Mel's hand. "Good night, Mel. If you need my help, just call me." He then sauntered toward the door and headed out into the night streets of Chicago.
Still, Mel waited a few minutes more, her mind a-whirl with soothing words that she could say to the hurt Tracker. In the end, she realized that she was only avoiding what could be an unpleasant confrontation with the alien. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Mel slowly went up to the apartment.
"Cole?" she called out the Cirronian's name, knocking first before entering his room. Mel saw the light emanating from Cole's computer screen. Before he had hit the SEND key, she was able to read two words in his brief report -- "blood debt." For a moment, there was silence between them. Not knowing what else to say, she called out his name again, "Cole?"
The Tracker spun his swivel chair around to face Mel. Whatever it was that he saw on her face was enough to cause tears to fall from his eyes. With a heartbreaking cry, Cole launched himself out of his seat and into Mel's arms, shaking like a frightened animal. Bursting into tears herself, Mel slowly slid down to the floor, taking the Tracker with her. For the entire night, she stayed with him, simply holding and rocking the weeping alien back and forth.
"Just be there for him," was the wise advice that Judge Barrett had given her.
I'll never leave you alone, Cole, Mel swore strongly inside her mind. From this moment on, I'll always be here for you.
THE END?
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