trans_9 | A Most Sinister SCIENCE [Closed]

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A Most Sinister SCIENCE [Closed]

The downside of gathering long term supplies for the crew, was that Lex did have to make sure they were all brought on board and stowed away properly. It cut into his vacation time, but it was a small price to pay to get some business done, and make a few connections that he'll be able to call on later. Besides, with 99% of the crew off the ship, for once, it allowed him freedom to do a few things, like have a word with a certain AI that wasn't Stacy.

Sitting at one of the terminals in Neuropathy, Lex navigated his way through part of the AI multiplex, until he came across the one he wanted to speak to.

"Hello, GLaDOS. I need to have a word with you."

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"It's not pleasant," Luke agreed, "But not worth hatred. And the more you hate, the more you suffer and cause suffering."

Taking Steve's arm, Luke looped it over his shoulders and put his own arm around the other's torso. His fingers brushed the extra, slender arm, but it didn't bother him. Many species had more than four limbs, and Luke had worked alongside several of them. Slowly, making sure Steve could keep up, Luke began walking toward the door.

"Hopefully the door opens, or I'm gonna have to make my entrance wider." He looked a little sheepish. "I hope Stacy's not mad I cut her up. I had to get to you."

Steve flinched and pulled away at the touch on his new... whatever those were. "No. I'm pretty sure I hate it," he replied deadpan.

Everything hurt-- like the growing pains you felt in your legs when you were a kid, except everywhere and all of them, ever, at once. He limped along with Luke and eyed the hole in the door. He'd had no idea what was going on and didn't even notice it before now.

"Probably gonna give you a violation," he said under his breath. "Figures."

'Speaking under one's breath' didn't apply with Jedi, who had Force-enhanced hearing when they wanted to. "Hopefully the fact I did it to rescue you will be a mitigating factor, but if it's a violation, then that's what it is." Luke shrugged the shoulder that wasn't supporting the other's weight. "Your life's more important to me than that."

Luckily, the door opened, and Luke made his slow and methodical way out with Steve in tow. "What were you doing up here, anyway? I thought all you kids would be down planetside."

"I was," Steve said, his voice a mixture between irritation and a groan of pain. Luke might have noticed him holding on a little tighter. "I had to come get my treatment in medical. I-I was going back down and they called me to the sensorium, and that's when she-"

He sucked in a breath through his teeth. "A lot of goddamn good treatment does, huh?"

"You're better off with it than you are without it, I've found." Luke shifted his grip, using the Force subtly to help lift Steve, make his steps easier. "And I'm sure all the Rogue Squadron pilots would agree. They've done their time in bacta tanks."

He smiled a little. "And now we know not to talk to strange AIs, right?"

"Yeah, maybe I would've grown arms on both sides if I didn't get my shots." It was easier to walk for some reason, and it let him stop tensing quite as much. He still held on tight to Luke.

"It didn't sound like her," he protested, a glare set on his face. "S-somebody set me up."

"Or maybe you'd have lost it completely," Luke pointed out. "Which was probably what whoever started this wanted, and what you refused to give them. Like I said, Steve, I'm real proud of you. This doesn't change anything with me."

Steve didn't have much to reply to that. He wouldn't even have known if he did lose it completely, thanks to the virus turning his brain into scrambled eggs for a few minutes.

He stopped, readjusted himself on Luke's support and took another shaky breath, punctuated with groans. "God, it hurts."

"It doesn't look like a walk in the park," Luke commented, looking around with interest at Steve's new arm when they stopped and he shifted his grip on Steve's body.

"Here, I'll support you with the Force a little more to make it easier. Or I could just float you along, if you like. I've been told that's kinda fun."

He eyed Luke almost suspiciously, trying to cover them up with his hand.

"I can walk myself," he murmured. This was already completely humiliating, he didn't need to be carried all the way there like he was a child, too. He didn't sound especially convinced about it, though.

Besides, they were almost there.

Steve leaned on Luke for a moment to reach up and attempt to scrub the sticky tears and the remnants of blood from his face.

"Did I really... attack you?"

Luke shook his head, limping them along. "No. You were about to, but you didn't."

Despite Steve's insisting, Luke used the Force a little more, but also took more of the teen's weight onto his own shoulders. No need to add more injuries to all this, even as they finally got to Quarantine and Luke paused by one of the beds, gently lowering Steve onto it.

"You stopped yourself," he continued, expression serious.

He thought so.

Steve lay his head back on the bed and it was like all the pain had quickly rushed back into him. He gave a long sigh, then reached up to clutch at his forehead like he was getting a headache.

"God," he mumbled, "What are they gonna do to me?"

"Worry about that when it comes," Luke said. "Dwelling too much on the future clouds it, because the future isn't something set in stone, no matter what we may think."

That, Luke thought, was a point he'd learned the hard way. Absently he reached over with his left hand and gripped his gloved right hand.

"For now, all you have to do is get better." He put his left hand on Steve's forehead, pressing the Force inward. Healing techniques with the Force weren't his strong point at all, and not for the first time Luke wished that Stacy had woken the Mon Calamari Jedi Cilghal, or her Chandra-Fan apprentice Tekli, both of whom were much better healers. There was something he could do, though.

"I'd like to put you in a healing trance," he said. "It's one of those Jedi things, but trust me, it works. And it's perfectly safe--I've done it many times, and I'm still all in one piece. You'll wake up feeling better."

Steve reached up instinctively and grabbed Luke's wrist, like he was going to pull his hand away. "No-" he said instantly, and he sounded panicked.

But when Luke explained himself he relaxed a bit, still grasping his wrist.

"What does it feel like?" he asked after a few seconds. He had felt both mindlessness and death before, and didn't much feel like experiencing either of them at the moment.

"Like a deep sleep," Luke replied. "And I can make it so the medics have a phrase that'll wake you up when they speak it. And you can pick that phrase." He laid his right hand on top of Steve's. "How does that sound?"

He still didn't look thrilled about the idea, but Steve didn't look especially thrilled at anything right at the moment.

"I don't care," he said quietly. "Whatever makes it stop."

Fortunately, Luke wasn't swayed by teenage misanthropy, and simply began gathering the Force, letting it flow through him and into Steve in a rising tide that would put the young man to sleep in a few minutes. "I'll put out a comm call to the medics," he said in a low voice, choosing a phrase to wake Steve and weaving it in. "So they know how to wake you up. When they do, you'll probably feel a lot better because of the trance. At the very least the headache will be gone."

Steve's body tensed up and he tightened his grip around Luke's hand.

"The virus won't," he muttered.

Luke's face fell a bit, for a moment worry making him seem far older than he was. Then his serenity was back. "No. It doesn't have that kind of capability," he replied. "But physical damage to your body, and other things like that--those'll be taken care of."

He pulled a hand away, stroking Steve's hair back from his forehead. "Just close your eyes and relax," he said. "I wouldn't do this if I didn't think it would help you out."

He finally closed his eyes and let out another deep breath. His body felt even heavier than before and everything was finally catching up to him.

"I just want it all to go away," he said softly. "Please?"

Luke had experienced a lot of heartbreaking things, but the ache was worse when the ones being hurt were close to him. His heart went out to Steve, and as he gave the final 'push' in the Force that would slide Steve into sleep, Luke leaned over and hugged him.

"It'll be okay," he said. "It'll be okay, Steve."

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A Most Sinister SCIENCE [Closed]

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