Andromeda Rising: Chapter Four
Jul. 18th, 2008 05:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocus
Title: Andromeda Rising
Series: Jack's Path (compatible with Time Eternal)
Character/Pairings: Jack Harkness/Andromeda Harper, Ten/Rose, Cassi Tyler Harper/Daniel Harper, Dare Tyler/Martha Jones Tyler, Marsden Tyler, Teganna Tyler, Xanderius Tyler, Rafael Harper, Devora Tyler
Genre: Romance, Action/Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Implied Horror (non-graphic)
Summary: When Andromeda Harper, granddaughter of the Doctor and Rose runs away after a fight with her mother Cassioepia she encounters a mysterious older man named Jack Harkness who rescues her from danger. He falls head over heels in love with her and offers to show her the universe. She accepts but there's only one problem, she's lied about her age. Make that two problems. They're also being tracked by a group of vicious, cannibalistic, Orion Pack Hunters whose prince is set on having Andromeda for his own and perhaps killing her. Can her family track her down in time to save her? Can Captain Jack keep her safe? And what will happen when Jack discovers Andromeda's been lying to him from the start? Takes place during Jack's missing two years.
Previous chapters:
1A: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/47060.html
1B: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/47125.html
2: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/72189.html
3: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/73018.html
Link to Family Tree: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/81617.html
Chapter Four: Scented
Prince Acheron of Orion was biding his time. He had watched the girl for the past ten days and she was always in the presence of the man who had thwarted his wish to have her back on Deneb 8. It had been simple enough to follow them to the space port, simpler still to book passage on a vessel owned by his home world. He did not like the captain, did not like the way the man had gotten in his way on numerous occasions at Holy, and he had always managed to steer clear of the man he knew only as captain with the icy steel in the depths of his sapphire eyes. It had never been worth getting in his way before.
Despite his station, Acheron knew when to back off, knew when a man was stronger, faster, or more capable than he was. That did not however mean the captain was smarter. Acheron had outsmarted too many men in the past three years since he’d attained his majority to not believe he couldn’t do it again. The captain was no different. He would have forgotten the incident altogether and so would the girl in their infatuation. Neither would be expecting any kind of attack. They’d have their guards down. And this time his full pack was with him.
He fingered the large gold coin in his hand, flipping it end over end between his thumb and forefinger. It had always brought him luck, and he knew he’d need it this time. He had to be far more cunning than he was used to if he was going to succeed. Really, he didn’t know what it was about the girl that had gotten so into his blood. She had awakened his hunter’s blood, stirring something within him the moment he’d caught her scent.
Touching her skin had only enhanced the drive and made his tracking instinct kick in, her resistance to him marking her as prey. And then that man had interfered. His eyes moved about the bar seeking out the rest of his pack. Phineus had targeted a slightly older woman, all auburn hair and pale skin, luscious curves and long legs. He saw Cetus circling around behind them. A cruel grin rippled across his face as he caught sight of the others watching nearby.
It was not the preferred choice of prey, he thought, his eyes turning darkly towards the object of his lust, but there would still be a hunt tonight. He growled low and quietly in his throat. The alpha male moved in for the kill.
Later that evening, when the pack had finished with the woman and then feasted upon her, discarding her bones in the recycling unit, his thoughts returned to brooding over his lost prey. Sooner or later the captain was going to leave the girl’s side. And when he did, well… The prince licked his lips, his features suddenly bringing a jackal to mind, and he smiled a smile that did not touch his eyes. He wrinkled his nose, her scent still strong in them, easily rising above the others now he knew it.
This one they wouldn’t consume. This one they would leave alive. That day was coming and when he’d taken what he wanted from the insolent little thing and discarded her like so much refuse, he doubted the captain would even look twice at her again. Most men didn’t like brutally used leftovers in their beds. He’d have his revenge on both of them. And the girl would never hold herself above anyone again.
He returned his mind to his tracking, his eyes easily finding the girl and her captain in the dance hall. He watched as she spun in his arms. Soon, his mind whispered. Soon.
Andromeda had been racked with a sense of foreboding that had come and gone throughout the evening. She’d inherited not only her grandfather’s slight telepathy, but also her father’s second sight, and both had been nudging at her all day. There’d been a respite of three hours and then the feeling had returned, like a blazing ache at the base of her skull.
Jack had watched her quietly as she’d surveyed the room. She’d been on edge for the last couple of days, though she’d tried to hide it. Her smiles had been genuine but tired and he was unsure as to why. She had been sleeping well enough according to her answers to his solicitous questions each morning when he stopped by her quarters to retrieve her. But it was obvious something was eating at her.
Her eyes widened and she doubled over as if she’d been punched in the gut. “What’s wrong?” he asked her.
When she couldn’t answer him he swept her up in his arms and carried her out of the crowded dance hall. She clung to him. When he brought her to her quarters she shook her head fiercely. “No. Take me to your ship, Jack.”
Without a word he did as she asked, slapping his palm onto the reader and then hers as he entered the cargo compartment. He made to put her down on a chair but she didn’t loosen her hold from him so instead he slid down into the chair himself, his arms staying around her.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asked her again. “Are you sick?”
“Darkness,” she said. “Such cold darkness. And a chain against a stone. So much misery, fire and pain, and then nothing. Just the dark and the cold and…nothing,” she mumbled.
He tightened his arms, holding her firmly against him. Slowly she began to calm. “We need to leave the Megaliner,” she said. “Something is wrong on this ship.”
“All right. If you want we can take off at the next space station.”
“No,” she said. “We need to get off the ship now.”
“Andromeda, we can’t just leave mid-flight,” Jack said.
“Are you telling me there’s not a way?” she demanded.
“Not until we’re out of hyperspace. And if we do leave once we come out but before we dock, we’d never be permitted on an Orion ship again. Not that that’s a big loss. It’s not exactly the best liner company of the spaceways. Can you tell me why, Andromeda?”
“I don’t know why.” She shook her head miserably.
“Look, we’re two days out from Danzibar. We’ll drop into normal space tomorrow. If you still feel this way then, we’ll go, okay?” he suggested.
She picked at his shirt, her fingers mindless though her head was not. Time lines were shifting around her and though she daren’t look too closely at her own future she could feel the subtle changes. There was a crossroads coming. It was coming and she was frightened.
“What’s frightening you?” he asked as if he had heard the words.
‘I can’t tell you,’ she thought.
“Why can’t you tell me?” he asked.
‘Can you hear me, Jack?’ she thought towards him.
“Of course, I can hear you,” he said. “Plain as day.”
She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. ‘Only I’m not talking,’ she thought. ‘You’re hearing my thoughts.’
His eyes widened in shock. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Are you telepathic?”
“Vaguely,” she said aloud, “with my family, normally. But I shouldn’t be with you. Not, like this. Not until…oh, no.” She expelled a deep breath. “Oh, Jack, I’m sorry, no. My mother must have thought this might happen. That’s got to be why…oh, no.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“No, I don’t suppose I am.” She sighed and buried her face in his chest for a moment.
“Explain it to me.” His strong fingers pried her chin up and she looked at him. She rose from her seat on his lap and sat down in another chair.
“My grandfather was the last of his kind. The last of his species. In order to repopulate his race, my grandmother, originally a human, was genetically altered by nanogenes and something else that they’ll never fully go into, but it’s something to do with his ship. It changed her, made her more like him, gave her a binary vascular system, a longer lifespan and a bigger brain, and made her compatible to bear his children.”
She looked down at the floor. “It was determined that their first born son’s wife would need to use the nanogenes to be able to produce children with him, but their daughter, my mother, was different. She needed no alterations, though they didn’t know this at the time. She was born with the ability to procreate with a human if his DNA was of superior quality and when she met the proper specimen it brought her into direct heat. My father reacted similarly, their genes calling to each other. They bonded almost instantly and much too young.” She looked up briefly and then away again.
“Grandfather tested my DNA early on and it was determined that although I wouldn’t go into any kind of direct heat if I came across the proper breeding partner…” She buried her face in her hands. Very gently she felt her hands being pulled away from her face and she saw Jack kneeling before her, his eyes gentle.
“Tell me,” he said softly, continuing to hold her hands in his.
“If I came across the right genetic specimen, my body might put out certain mating pheromones tailored specifically to that male and he would become irrevocably attracted. And there was the possibility of a bonding link being established before any mating could occur. Though it wouldn’t be a full bonding link. That’s impossible without…sex. A full bonding link will allow mates to be in each other’s minds.”
He stroked her face and patiently waited for her to continue. “You’re the perfect genetic specimen for me to breed with, Jack. And my body’s been shooting pheromones at you since we met. That’s why the attraction. And now the partial link. And I’m so sorry, because it’s taken away your choice. You’re going to crave me for the rest of your life.”
“Sweetheart, if it had taken away my choice we would have had sex when we ingested the aphrodisiac. Though it explains my unwillingness to go shag someone else to get it out of my system.” He shrugged. “Well, what’s done is done,” he said philosophically. “All in all, I’m rather pleased with the result.”
“You’re…pleased?”
“Sure,” he said with a grin. “It’s not every day the most beautiful girl in the world tells you that you’re a perfect genetic specimen for breeding. Rather good line, that.”
Andromeda burst out laughing. Jack was actually preening. “You’re amazing,” she told him.
“I really am,” he agreed, and then very slowly leaned forward and kissed her, his lips soft as they nibbled at her lower lip, gently sucking it into his mouth. Andromeda felt her pulse quicken and her blood warm and involuntarily her tongue flicked out, seeking his own. But Jack kept the kiss controlled and then slowly pulled back from her.
“Don’t stop,” she told him.
He shook his head ruefully at her. “I don’t want to sweetheart. But I need to know that you’re ready. And despite genetic compatibility and pheromones and all that I want you reacting from here.” He placed a hand over her heart. She was glad that she only had the one until the first time she regenerated, for if she’d had two, they’d have both been pounding so out of control, she didn’t know if she’d be able to control them.
She nodded at him, her eyes going down to where his hand rested against her chest and she swallowed hard. Hastily he pulled his hand back away. “We’ve got time, sweetheart. I want you, but I want you to be sure. Up here.” He tapped her forehead lightly. “And not just driven by hormones. Because if I understand what you’re telling me, we’re both off the market for the rest of our lives.”
“And that doesn’t disappoint you?” she asked scared of the answer.
He simply shook his head no. “Never.”
That was the moment that Andromeda Harper fell irretrievably in love. Jack Harkness was mere seconds behind her.
Ch. 5: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/132705.html
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-07-19 02:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-20 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-21 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 09:09 am (UTC)