The New Haven Incident - Part Thirty-Three

Sebastian turned his head at the sound at the door, his body tensing in preparation for a fight. He relaxed as Lilith walked into the room. She smiled at him, then held up a piece of paper with the words Welcome back written on it. Sebastian smiled.

“Thanks,” he murmured.

Lilith dropped the paper to reveal another. Need to treat the wound. Can you sit up?

Nodding, Sebastian attempted to do just that, but his body wanted nothing to do with movement. After a moment of struggle, he let himself relax and prepared for the next attempt. As he tried to pull himself upright, he felt Lilith’s arm snake around his back, helping him up. He grunted in surprise, his eyes snapping open. He turned to her, suddenly acutely aware of her proximity to him. She cocked her head at him, surprised at his response.

Sebastian offered a brief smile. “Thanks,” he said again, as she made sure he could remain sitting up before turning away to gather and prepare the supplies. Sebastian watched her. It was strange how normal it was to have her around now; this human-sized fairy woman who could not speak. The four wings on her back shimmered as she moved, faint rainbows dancing across them even in the fluorescent lighting.

Lilith turned and offered Sebastian another smile. She approached his bed, tray of supplies in her hand, and sat down. She placed the tray on Sebastian’s lap and turned her attention to the gauze taped onto his chest. Sebastian kept his eyes on her face as she worked to remove the tape keeping the gauze against his chest. It surprised him how much he could read in her large, dark eyes.

They ought to give nothing away; those deep pools of fathomless black. Yet, in every meeting of their gazes, she effortlessly conveyed meaning. Usually, those eyes were warm, full of compassion. Often, the spark of humour would light in their depths, accompanied by an impish twitch of her lips. Realising he was staring, Sebastian turned his head to gaze past her at the cupboards beside the bed.

He turned back as the tape came away and Lilith gently pulled the gauze from the wound on his chest. He looked down as Lilith’s gentle fingers lightly touched the skin around his burn.

Lilith looked up to catch his gaze. She turned, grabbed her pad and pen and scribbled something. She turned the pad so Sebastian could read.

It’s healing very well.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Sebastian said. “It still hurts like hell.”

Lilith scribbled. Baby.

Despite himself, Sebastian laughed, pulling a bright smile from Lilith. She put down her pad and turned to prepare the next piece of gauze with ointment for the burn. She placed it on his chest. Sebastian started as the cold unguent touched him, but quickly settled. The medicine doing its work immediately to sooth the burn and dull the pain, and then taped the edges down. She took the tray from Sebastian’s lap and slid from the bed. Placing the tray on the counter, she turned with a new message for Sebastian to read.

Can you walk?

“No idea,” Sebastian replied. He tossed the blankets aside. The cold air slammed into his bare torso and feet, making him shiver. “Let’s find out.”

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and slid himself off. His legs gave way almost immediately. He attempted to catch himself on the bed, but it was Lilith’s strong arms that stopped him from falling to the floor. Sebastian grunted, taking a moment to find his balance again. Lilith didn’t let go.

“You fell for the oldest trick in the book,” Sebastian said, smiling. He found his feet and steadied himself.

“I’m good,” he murmured, and immediately regretted it. Lilith pulled away from him. Sighing, he forced his legs into motion to prove to himself as much as her that he was not rendered useless by either the infection or the cure. It proved more than his ability. His legs buckled a second time and he felt himself fall. Once again, Lilith caught him.

“And again,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You’re such a sucker.”

Lilith’s soft laugh made him smile. Permitting her help, Sebastian regained his balance again. Lilith was slow to let go and, as it had been the first time, he regretted her absence. Taking a deep breath, Sebastian attempted to walk again. He was unsteady at first, but quickly recovered his normal gait. He turned to Lilith.

“It appears I can walk,” he said.

Lilith breathed a sigh of relief and Sebastian frowned.

“Was there a concern I wouldn’t be able to?”

Lilith nodded. She turned to her pad and scribbled.

The infection was quite advanced when we were able to finally administer the cure. Father worried that it had integrated too much into your nervous system. The damage of its removal may have left you disabled.

“Hm,” Sebastian replied. He looked down at his toes and commanded them to wiggle. They did. He did the same with his fingers, then rolling his wrists. “Well, everything seems to be working as they should.” He looked up at Lilith. “There’s one more test, though.” His smile was small when she cocked her head questioningly at him. “Command me.”

Lilith scowled.

“I wasn’t in control of myself,” Sebastian said. “Reinhert had somehow gotten into my head… into me. I shot Mendez. I nearly shot Hannah. When it wasn’t him, it was you.”

Lilith blinked rapidly in surprise. Sebastian smiled ruefully.

“It was you that showed up in my head, telling me where Reinhert was. You told me to shoot.”

Lilith looked down at the ground, as if in shame.

“That wasn’t a rebuke,” Sebastian said softly. “I’m very glad you did. But I can’t go back out there with the risk that it will happen again. So, command me. Make me do something I don’t want to.”

After a moment of thought, Lilith nodded to herself. She straightened and looked directly into Sebastian’s eyes. Sebastian stared back. There were no voices in his head. Nothing seemed to be happening at all.

“Are you doing it?” he asked after a moment. Lilith smiled and nodded. She held his gaze for a moment longer, then relaxed.

“Well,” Sebastian said, “that answers that.”

Lilith smiled, then scribbled. You still need rest. Bed.

Sebastian grinned, suddenly turning his unhappy features bright and boyish. “You can’t make me,” he said.

Lilith rolled her eyes. She stepped forward, grabbed Sebastian by his ear, and dragged him towards the bed.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Sebastian exclaimed as he stumbled in the direction Lilith pulled him. He stood straight, rubbing his ear, beside the bed. “That was cheating.”

Lilith laughed, making Sebastian smile. For a long moment, they simply stood, gazing at one another. Finally, Lilith turned to leave. Sebastian’s arm shot out, his hand taking her at the waist. He could barely believe his own audacity. This was not like him at all. For a brief moment he feared that he was still not in control of himself, but no.

He wanted this. He had wanted this for a long time; long before meeting Lilith. He just didn’t know that it was her he was waiting for. “Stay,” he said, his voice quiet and so very earnest.

Surprise widened Lilith’s eyes, her mouth pursing slightly. Unable to bear the silence that followed, Sebastian stepped close and brushed her lips with his before kissing her. Though her lips parted for him, her body remained tense. Sebastian stopped and pulled away, though his hand still rested on her waist.

Dark eyes bored into his, questioning. Sebastian looked away. He let his hand drop. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Sorry.” He turned to the bed, cursing himself quietly. A firm hand on his bicep stopped him. He turned back in surprise. His eyes met her dark gaze again, though this time her surprise and confusion had been replaced. He couldn’t identify the light in Lilith’s eyes, but it pulled at his core.

They stepped closer.

Placing a hand against his cheek, Lilith kissed him. It was hungry and hard. Sebastian matched her intensity.

He reached around her waist again and pulled her close, walking forward until her back pressed against the counter beside the bed. He felt her hands on his shoulders slide down, caressing his torso. He started when her fingertips touched the scar on his left shoulder; the stab wound left by Berkley. He pulled back with a grunt, grabbing her hand and pulling it away. The women he paid for all knew they were never to touch his scars, or even mention them. Lilith could not have known. He looked down at her, noting her surprised expression, and relaxed a little.

“Not there,” he whispered to her, slowly releasing her hand.

She cocked her head at him, offering a sad smile. Somehow, she understood. There was trauma in those marks. Sebastian nodded and stepped forward again, kissing her. Sensing her hesitation, he pulled back again.

“Do you want to stop?” he asked. For a moment, he feared Lilith wanted to, but she shook her head. Sebastian relaxed a little. He moved closed again. He brushed his lips against her. “Are you sure?”

A nod.

Sebastian smiled slightly. “Good.” He kissed her and felt her respond. His hands moved around her body, tingling as they slid over her skin, lower and lower until his fingertips brushed the top of her skorts. He followed the waistband until he felt the top of the zipper that held them together, slowly sliding the zipper down. The garment fell to the floor in a quiet whisper.

Wrapping his arm around Lilith’s waist, his hand on her lower back, he pulled her in close. Lifting his thigh slightly, he applied gentle pressure between her legs. She gasped and Sebastian smiled. He bent his knees and lifted, placing Lilith on the countertop. She complied, letting him explore her, letting his fingers slide from her hip to her thigh. She followed suit, letting her finger tips brush the top of his pants. She noted the involuntary twitch as she brushed the front of the pants with the back of her fingers. Smiling, she searched for and found the button and zipper.

Sebastian shuddered as he felt zip unfasten. He was losing himself too quickly. His hand snapped around Lilith’s wrist.

“No,” he said. He closed his eyes and shook his head when she looked up at him. Placing his forehead against hers he explained. “Too soon. Not yet.” He pulled away and looked her in the eye. Reaching out, he stroked her cheek. “You can do whatever you want to me after. But not yet. Not yet.” He kissed her. “You first.”

The hand on her thigh slid slowly up, making its way between her legs. She quivered at his touch. His kisses made their way along her jaw as his fingers caressed and gently massaged; slowly at first, lightly. Lilith drew in short, trembling breaths, exhaling sharply as Sebastian let his fingers explore deeper, noting all the places that made her shudder, or gasp. He smiled to himself as he felt her dig her fingers into him, running his lips over the nape of her neck and across her clavicle, enjoying the rash of goosebumps that followed.

When she climaxed, he pulled her close to him, holding her tight as she lost control of her body. He needed to feel her shudder against him, to feel her heat; the reminder of life and passion he needed.

Lilith clung to him, one hand wound through his hair, the other around his back, her head resting on his chest as the wave of pleasure hit. He kept her close as she struggled to recapture control over her breathing. Only when she was calmer did he pull away. She caught him in her dark gaze, holding him in place with the light that shone from those strange depths. Then she leant forward and kissed him; hard.

From here, Sebastian lost himself and Lilith gained control, taking both his hands at the wrists and sliding off the counter. She gently pushed him back until he felt the bed hit the back of his body. Sebastian yielded to her silent demands until he found himself on the bed, his hands held above his head. Lilith clasped both wrists in one hand and pushed down, ensuring that he could not move his arms at all. Straddling his waist, she let her eyes and her free hand explore. Sebastian’s muscular frame seemed to fascinate her, and she traced the lines of his musculature across his torso, outlining each muscle with the light touch of her taloned fingers. It sent tingles all over him in mind-numbing waves.

The brushing of those fingers against the three close bullet wounds on his right side sent a sharp spasm through his body. He flinched away from the touch. Forgetting he was trapped beneath Lilith, whose genetic alterations gave her superior strength, he strained against her to bring his arms down to stop her. It was futile.

“Don’t,” Sebastian gasped. His scars were never to be touched. They pulled memories from him; memories he wanted forgotten. His failures, the cost of his successes, reminders of the monster he had become. The wounds, though healed, burned with those memories. The pain of the wounds was matched with the heavy, torturous weight that bloomed in his chest.

Lilith paused only briefly, her eyes meeting his again.

“Please,” Sebastian whispered, squirming as she traced each bullet hole lightly. He closed his eyes, fighting the tears that welled there as the memories of that failure returned to him.

It was his second solo mission. He had been sent to Serbia to bring a rogue military scientist to justice. The objective was capture or kill. He arrived in a nearby village to begin his planning. No sooner had the helicopter pulled away and out of sight was the village attacked. The scientist in question, Harvard Michaels, had been working on mind-control techniques. Those fools attacking the village were his half-starved subjects, made single-minded and aggressive by whatever techniques Michaels had discovered. Sebastian had been entirely unprepared. The three shots hit him as he ran towards the attack, dropping him immediately.

He was saved by what remained of the villagers, waking some hours later. His wounds had been treated as best they knew. He did the rest, creating and installing a valve that he could use to relieve the pressure of escaping air from his lungs. One of the villagers, a young woman, tearfully explained that her child, just a few months old, had been taken. He promised her he would rescue the child.

The heinous doctor had decided to test the veracity of his mind control by having his subjects engage in the most appalling behaviour he could think of; the murder of a child. Sebastian had fought his way through the entire encampment of these enslaved drones. He had found the doctor and had, as per his mission objective, executed him. But he arrived too late. Just moments before, the child had been killed; laid on an altar with a large silver nail piercing her tiny heart.

By every measure his superiors considered, the mission was a success. But in every measure that mattered to him, Sebastian had failed. He had never forgiven himself. He could never forget the despairing wail of that young mother as he returned to her, his broken promise in his arms.

The memories drew a sob from him. He tried to speak, to beg forgiveness, to explain how hard he tried, but the excuses would not come. Forgiveness could never be granted. The sobs calmed as he felt Lilith’s lips brush the scars, then kiss them. He opened his eyes, aware of and not caring of the tears that streamed down the sides of his face. He stared at her, finding in her expression the compassion he craved, but could not find for himself.

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