Mask and Dilemma

[Windwalker]

The darkness cradled eastern coast of states, the waters cradled DEJA-VU, and exactly at 00:00 living quarters lights went out.

 

"Good night ladies! Don't see me in your dreams!" Helga shouted. Her German accent echoed trough the corridors of base, and many soldiers smiled. Most of them were quick to sleep as it was a difficult day; the third USO was catched in touchdown, and every single bugger in it was alive when they landed.

 

All slept in half an hour, except for Levent, who was waiting patiently, with a smile in his face. Then he slowly crept out pf his bed, and walked on top his toes, silently striding to their secret haven.

 

Meanwhile, far on the other side of the base, Delilah was concentrated on the monitor mounted on the wall. Another scientist passed by her, carrying a cold-chain organ case.

"Well, you can watch the mission tape tomorrow honey! Seems to me you need some sleep." he said.

Delilah glanced and saw Martin Fisk, the lead of Science team on DEJA-VU.

"Ah... Thanks sir Fisk. I was ... just trying to understand... their psycology by checking their reactions on various situations and..."

" First of all, not sir Fisk, its Martin. And as i said, you can do it tomorrow. Now off to your bed!"

"Well.. as you wish s... Martin."

"Good, thats better! And dont worry. I 've got the Gill-man brain here, and will find out about their psycology for you." He raised the case a bit.

"Well, sir.. I mean Martin, i'm eager to see the results."

"Dont worry! You'll be the first one i share. See you tomorrow!"

 

Delilah smiled back as the elevator swalloved 65 year old scientist. As soon as the doors were closed she turned back to screen, and pressed stop on the control panel.

The video stopped and was showing the moment an X-Com aquanaut entering the wholly intact enemy submarine, leading his team inside.

 

"I' m gonna kill him this time!" She murmured, switched off the monitor and went to Scientist's sleeping quarters. She used her card on the reader of the door, but she did not enter. Instead she ran straight back the corridor, took the second left and found the young man she was searching.

 

"Whoo, the princess is here!"

"Cut it short Zip! Did he come alredy?"

"Yes, ma'am. He is right in there!" The young boy pointed a narrow and dark corridor, leading to a new addition to base which was still under construction.

"Good. Now give me your wrench and open the door."

"Wh.. Wrench? What will you do with that!?"

"I'm going to fix his head!"

"Who ho hoooo, someone is angry here! Heh heh heh."

 

Zip got up from the small chair he was burrowed in, moved close to door. He put his hand inside his working suit, and brought out a magnetic card chained around his neck. Card reader beeped as he slided it over.

 

"Here is your payment" Delilah said and put a bottle on the desk. It was a Dom Perignon.

 

"Ahhh, at the very last, i'm going to sleep again!" The young engineer took the bottle from the desk with a touching care. He had already begun to drink as the doors closed shut behing Delilah.

 

The room was dark, and very messy. Huge piles of steel and plas-steel slabs were scattered around, many wires hanging on the ceiling like killer wines, and only one light was alive but it was also flickering.

 

There were six great tanks placed evenly in the center of the room.

 

"Allright thats enough, come out where ever you are." shouted the scientist.

"Boooooo" that came from one of the tanks.

"Yess.. Booo! Now come and meet your destiny."

"Ohohoh! So you are my destiny eh?" Levent stepped out from one of the tanks. As soon as he showed up, Delilah attacked him. She was screaming, slapping and biting, and the man was trying to stop her but she was enraged. They lost balance and fell, and Levent hit his head hard on the floor.

Delilah quickly recovered and attacked again but young man was not attacking back or defending himself. He was not even moving!

"Levent! Levent!" she shook him hard but he didnt respond.

"You cant kid me with this stuff ok? I'm a doctor remember!" She pinched off his hip hardly. But he did not respond again. She pinched harder but now she was also beginning to panic.

"Oh my god.. Oh my god Levent please wake up! I didn't mean to.... Oh My god!"

She was shaking, so was her voice, and just as she stood up to bring help, a hand grabbed her by her wrist.

"Then you are not a good doctor, because i faked you..." altough he smiled, his voice was low.

"Ohh thank god... And you pervert!" she pinched him again.

Then he reached her neck, his fingers dove into her hair. He pulled her close on top of her, and they were kissing. Gently at first, strongly then, and furiously later.

They got rid of clothes rapidly. In the dim light that flickered, Levent could see his lovers green eyes, her half open lips, round and silken body. He could also see her love for him.

So they loved eachother, deep down under the ocean, in a room where captured live alien were going to be held soon.

 

After the storm, she was lying on top of him, and he was holding her in his arms. She slowly spoke, her voice still low with exhaustion.

"You promised me."

"On what?"

"That you were'nt going to enter first. But you did it again."

"I didnt..."

"Dont lie, i saw the record!"

"No! I wasn't going to lie! I just didn't want them to get hunted. They are all so... young, and.. they are so fresh that they are almost green!"

"And what about me? You dont want them get hurt but what will happen to me when you are gone!?"

"I won't be gone! I promise nothing will happen to me ok? Dont you remember?"

 

Oh she remembered. On the second week the DEJA-VU began its operations, aliens attacked it. All so sudden, all so quick. Levent was a new recruit then, and Delilah was a working on an aquatoids stomach when the sirens began. It was all planned and drilled; how to evacuate, how to reinforce, how to react. But still they were inexperienced. Before she knew what was going on, airlocks were shut, and she was left behind. Later, when commander Jack "the Wind" learned about this, many staff from the evac team was fired.

 

And that day, aliens attacks were brutal. They outnumbered the soldiers, they had better weapons, they came from everwhere around the base: the 3 sub pens and trough the air lock. X-Com soldiers were hunted down one by one. Delilah could hear the shooting, explosions, and men and women screaming in agonizing pain, but she was paralysed. She hid under her desk and kept trembling.

 

Slowly the screams ended. She was crying, trembling where she hid. Then she saw the door opening slowly. She swalloved her scream, but she could hear herself moaning.

 

"Who is there!" Someone asked in low voice.

And this was where they first met. Levent and Delilah. As she crept out from under her desk, she saw him. His black eyes penetrating her, behind a mask blood. In fact, blood was all over him. He looked fragile, long and thin, but he moved with a force and grace unknown to Delilah.

 

"Are you wounded?" they both asked eachother at the same time.

"No" they answered again.

And then, Delilah laughed in relief, and Levent knew he was hunted, maybe even unbeknownst to his hunter.

"This is not my blood" he said. "It's Greg's. He was wounded... I wanted to carry him back, but he insisted that i left him there. He was holding his grenade in his hand. And he... He..." Levent stopped as he heard footsteps on metal.

"Get back to your place!" he pushed Delilah gently back.

Raising his harpoon rifle, he began walking towards the door. Trough the gap he could see the shadow of the aquatiod getting larger in the corridor. Without thinking, he threw himself to corridor, and sent a volley of auto shot of harpoons. The alien was hit directly between its big, insectoid eyes, and was threwn back by the momentum of 6 inch steel harpoon.

Just as it fell down, a round object, red and blue in color flew in the air and landed in front of him. It looked malign and he instinctively grabbed it and threw it back where it came from: to other side of corridor.

He dove back into to the room and shut the door. Then the thing exploded, shockwave removing the door from its case towards Levent.

The steel door toasted him between itself and the wall, then it fell back. He knew his nose was broken, and he knew his right shoulder was dislocated. After the door, he fell on his knees, and their eyes met again.

"So it's true" he tought to himself. Maybe it was a masculine instinct to protect his probable counterpart, maybe it was love. Something gave him a new power. He stood back, took out his pistol and staggered towards the door.

Delilah couldnt see him anymore. She was very frightened but also she was very worried about him. She couldnt decide for a moment, then she heard zapping sounds and dart gun answering back. The shooting kept on going and going and going.

Unbeknownst to them, Levent was shooting the last alien, and alien was shooting the last human. As both their rounds were about to go empty, they left their cover in the same time.

And with his new power, Levent was faster. He shot the thing twice. It shot back once.

And it was Levent walking back in the room. The sonic round flew so close to his head that he was deafened.

Suddenly the red-lights went out and normal lightning came back. She got out again and held him. And he held her back.

 

"You cannot do this forever."

"But someone has to do it..."

In their haven, they were caressing eachother still lying naked.

"Why you?"

"Because I can. And I know that as long as you love me, I am immortal."

"Ahhh... Levent... aren't you exaggerating a bit?

"No honey... No..."