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“She talks to me sometimes, you know.” Raven blinks against the cone of light shining into her eyes, the brightness piercing in the low light of sickbay.
“Who? This A.L.I.E. person?” Abby asks, clicking off the light, her hand dropping away from Raven’s face. “Or… program? I don’t know what to call her.”
Raven nods, a slight wave of dizziness swirling around inside her skull. Her head’s felt so heavy lately, so unfocused, like there’s something pressing against her mind—something running along synapses, firing off new patterns and leaving a dull trail in its wake. Maybe she should be as concerned about it as Abby is, but the painful throbbing in her leg vanishes a bit more every day—every shitty thing about this shitty fucking planet vanishes a bit more every day, floating airily from her mind like leaves scooped up by a light breeze.
Abby straightens from where she’s hovering over Raven and tucks the pen light into the chest pocket of her lab coat. “What does she talk about?”
“She tells me all about the City of Light. It’s so beautiful. Quiet. She says we can all be at peace here.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Abby makes a noncommittal noise. “That’s what everyone who swallowed the chip keeps telling me.”
“Well it’s true.”
Abby smiles, tight-lipped. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” She picks up Raven’s hand, turns it over, and places two fingers against her wrist. After a few seconds, she frowns. “Your heart rate seems slow.”
Raven’s brow furrows. Every time Abby touches her it feels like fire, burning and blazing through her veins. Even like this, with a cool, clinical hand against her wrist, her pulse should be thundering against Abby’s fingers. Her heart certainly feels like it’s racing, and she can’t imagine how Abby couldn’t detect it, too.
She smirks, but the movement feels sluggish, her body slow to respond, like the signals between her brain and muscles aren’t quite in sync. “Maybe you’re losing your touch, Doc.”
Abby’s eyes flick up to meet hers, but her lips remain in that tight line. “Maybe so,” she says, and Raven’s smile falls, shifting into a pout—Abby’s placating tone doesn’t mirror Raven’s lighthearted teasing in the slightest. “But I know you, Raven. None of this seems like you.”
A spark of anger flares up, the same as it had when Abby gave her that condescending “you can still be useful” line.
“Oh?” Her jaw tenses, jutting out and tilting up at Abby. “You think you know me, huh? That you know how fucking tired I am of all of this?” Her mind flashes an image—twirling around in a sea of green, towering trees surrounding her and spongy grass underfoot as rain splashes down onto her cheeks. It’s the last time she can remember not hurting.
Wait. No.
She’d been distracted by her first steps on Earth, but at the time she’d thought Abby was dead. So yeah. Every fucking moment on this planet has been marked by pain.
“I’m sorry, Raven, I didn’t mean—”
Raven catches movement out of the corner of her eye, and a now-familiar blaze of color. A.L.I.E. stands, stiff-backed, in front of the empty cot across from the one Raven’s sitting on, her hands interlocked and resting against her stomach. She rakes her eyes over Raven in that knowing, analytical way that Raven has come to expect.
She doesn’t understand, A.L.I.E. says, tilting her head to the side. Her lengthy, loose ponytail sways where it’s draped over her shoulder, the shiny, chestnut-brown locks striking against the intensity of her dress.
“I know,” Raven says, responding to A.L.I.E., but it’s Abby who gives her a small, sad smile.
“Good. This has all been… new. Confusing. I don’t want you to think that I… ” Abby takes a step closer to Raven, wringing her hands out in front of her. “I’m just trying to keep everyone safe. Especially you. I know how much you’ve been through.”
She hasn’t seen the light, Raven. A.L.I.E.’s voice is even. Measured. She doesn’t really know you. Not like I do.
And it’s true—A.L.I.E. is always with her, seeing through her eyes, wrapped in and around her mind, linked with every thought, every emotion, every memory she’s ever had. No one knows her like A.L.I.E. does now.
“You don’t get it, Abby.” Raven’s lips curl into a pitying smile. “There’s nothing to fear in the City of Light. Nothing to need protection from.”
The City of Light radiates with the promise of a carefree, unhurried existence and A.L.I.E.’s right—it’s absurd that some people have been so resistant to follow the path to such a paradise.
Abby heaves out an exasperated sigh. “No, Raven, I don’t get it. And I don’t care who is in that brain of yours now, or what they’re offering you,” she says, jabbing a finger towards Raven, her voice rising, “but I do know you, and you are different, and I am worried.” Her chest heaves as she finishes her tirade, her eyes gleaming with both concern and frustration.
It normally sends a thrill through Raven’s body whenever Abby directs that caring nature her way, but in this case, her misgivings are unwarranted.
“You don’t have to worry about me anymore, Abby. A.L.I.E. can keep me safe now. Can keep us all safe.”
Abby scoffs, her mouth agape. She squeezes her eyes tightly shut, pinching at the bridge of her nose with one hand. “This is insane, Raven. I can’t imagine what this… person is like, to have this kind of influence over you.”
A slow, sensual smile forms on A.L.I.E.’s face.
Abby’s been fucking with Raven for weeks now, meddling with her work schedule, getting her thrown off her favorite projects. It’s time to take her out of her comfort zone for a change.
“She’s ridiculously hot, for starters. Dark hair, dark eyes.” Raven fixes her gaze on A.L.I.E. as she speaks, and those deep, brown eyes stare right back at her. “Legs for days. This dress that just… ” Raven inhales a sharp breath as a shiver works its way up her spine, and her voice quiets. “It’s so red.”
Abby looks down, scratching at the back of her neck, and Raven probably shouldn’t feel so satisfied at making her squirm.
“Well, I doubt an attractive woman is enough to get you to ditch all your friends and spend all your free time zoning out with Jasper.”
Raven quirks an eyebrow. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you thought, Doc.”
She’s only teasing but Abby’s eyes cloud over and her shoulders sag. “Maybe I don’t,” she says, and her voice sounds so small, so dejected. Raven shifts slightly on the cot, clasping her hands in her lap. She’s already had enough of toying with Abby.
A.L.I.E.’s heels click against the tiled floor and a hot, electric current buzzes along Raven’s skin as she comes to a stop next to her. Tell her what you think about, Raven. She leans down, whispering in her ear. What only I know.
“No.” Raven purses her lips and shakes her head. “She’s not ready.”
Abby cocks her head, her brows drawn together in confusion. “I’m not ready? For what? For joining you in the City of Light?”
“No, that’s not what I was—”
“Well you’re damn right, I’m not ready,” Abby says, the volume of her voice growing again. “Raven, we do not have enough information about this, about how dangerous it could be or what kind of side effects… ” Abby stops short, narrowing her eyes. “Wait… you said she’s not ready. Are you talking to A.L.I.E. right now?”
“Yes.”
Abby glances over each shoulder, surveying the room. Even Jackson has left for the evening, so the room is empty except for the two—three—of them. “What are you two talking about?”
“You. We talk about you a lot.”
Abby arches an eyebrow. “So what is it that I’m not ‘ready’ for?”
Tell her, A.L.I.E. says again, her voice a purr, vibrating against Raven’s skin.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes. I do.”
A.L.I.E. places a hand on top of Raven’s knee, all long, lithe fingers and perfectly manicured nails the same red as that damn dress. Raven’s chest constricts, her heartbeat roaring in her ears, as her breathing accelerates.
“Oh, Abby,” she says, swallowing against the hard lump that’s formed in her throat. “You have no idea.”
“So tell me. I want to understand.”
Yes. She wants to understand, A.L.I.E. echoes, and that hand on her knee slides higher up her thigh, heat surging straight to her core.
Some part of her brain tries to remind her that A.L.I.E.’s not real, not in a physical sense at least—but her breath is scalding against her ear, her nails sharp as they drag along the surface of her jeans. Raven’s leg jumps, her whole body twitching, when those nails bite against her inner thigh.
“Raven? Are you ok?”
Abby takes another step towards her, their knees bumping together, and now Raven’s flanked by Abby on one side and A.L.I.E. on the other. A hot, tight pulse flutters low in her belly and her head swims with that foggy heaviness once more. She leans back, resting her weight on her hands, steadying herself against the cot. “Oh, I’m great, Doc.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Abby huffs in frustration and scrubs a hand through her hair. Raven’s hands clench, fisting the sheets between her palms.
How many times have you wanted to do the same, Raven? To run your fingers through her hair?
“I bet it’s soft.” Her gaze swings from Abby over towards A.L.I.E, her voice a mere whisper. “So soft.”
“Raven, what is going on? Talk to me.” And now Abby’s hands are on her thighs, too, gently rubbing and squeezing, and Raven feels like she’s going to explode into a million points of light.
Talk to her, Raven.
“She knows everything, Abby. Everything. About how I feel. About what I want to do to you.” Her heart hammers in her chest, and surely Abby must be able to feel her thrumming pulse now. “What I want you to do to me.”
A.L.I.E. removes her hand from Raven’s thigh, placing it on top of Abby’s instead. She pushes on their joined hands, hard, driving Abby’s into the muscles of her leg. Raven gasps at the increased pressure, but Abby doesn’t even flinch.
“What do you mean? What is it that you want me to do?”
Raven licks her lips and looks up at Abby from beneath her lashes. “I want you to touch me,” she says, and some of that constriction in her chest abates as the desire she’s secreted away for months finally slips out.
“Look, I am touching you.” Abby pats at Raven’s thighs, unknowingly bucking A.L.I.E.’s hand off to the side. “You can feel this, right?”
“No.” Raven shakes her head. “Not like that.”
A.L.I.E. reaches up and trails her fingers down the plane of Raven’s stomach, over the waistband of her pants, grazing against the seam of her jeans. Like this, she says. This is what you want.
“Yes.” Raven hisses, spreading her legs a little farther apart, her knee connecting with Abby’s again. “Like that.”
Abby turns at the waist, like she’s about to head towards the door. “I think I should go get Jackson, we need to examine—”
“No.” Raven’s hand shoots out, grasping Abby’s wrist. “Please don’t go. I’m fine. Please… just let me have this.”
Raven releases her but Abby stays, cupping one hand against the back of Raven’s neck.
“Have what? What is happening?” Abby’s eyes shift around like she’s trying to get a good look into Raven’s, but Raven can’t keep them open any longer. Her eyelids drift shut and she tilts her head back, letting Abby’s hand support its weight.
You’re so tired of the pain, aren’t you, Raven?
“Yes.” Raven bites her lip, whimpering and thrusting her hips at the hand stroking her through her jeans. She hears Abby gasp at the unmistakable signs of her pleasure.
This is so much better, isn’t it? Even with her eyes closed Raven can still see A.L.I.E. standing in front of her, one corner of her mouth quirked up as she runs her fingers against her center.
“Oh, fuck, yes.”
She’s dripping wet, soaking through her jeans, her body trembling beneath both sets of hands on her. It feels so good—so good—but it’s not quite enough, and she still aches for something else.
You want Abby to touch you, don’t you? Really touch you.
Raven nods. “Please.” Her voice is hoarse, thick with need.
So tell her. Make her understand.
Raven’s hand darts out again, her fingers brushing over Abby’s free hand. “Please,” she repeats. “I want you to touch me. It’s always been you.”
There’s a long, charged pause and something like doubt tickles at the back of Raven’s mind, but she’s too far gone, too far lost in heat and ecstasy to dwell on it. Then the fingers at her center disappear, only to be replaced by a hand popping open the button of her pants, tugging the zipper down. She doesn’t dare open her eyes to confirm whose hand it is, but slender, warm fingers slide underneath her layers of clothes, gliding across her clit as they dip into the wetness pooled between her legs.
Raven moans, long and loud enough to echo against the metal walls. She leans back farther on the cot and arches her back, fingers grasping at the cushion underneath her.
A.L.I.E.’s voice returns, murmuring against her ear. You want her inside you.
“In,” she says, panting too hard to be able to get anything more complex out.
The hand at the back of her neck tightens, Abby’s fingernails digging into her skin, and she can hear Abby breathing heavier now as well. Two fingers slip into her and she draws in a ragged breath, hips undulating at the edge of the cot as she grinds against the thrusting hand. She lets out a low, keening moan when a thumb adds pressure against her clit and fuck—if Abby takes one of those chips, follows her into the City of Light, they could feel like this all the time.
You want her mouth on you—her lips, her tongue—but you’re too close.
“Fuck. So close.”
Abby’s breath catches, and she finally speaks. “Raven,” she says in a rushed breath, that husky timber to her voice somehow even deeper, and Raven’s name coming out of Abby’s mouth like that is enough to tip her over.
Raven gasps out a choked groan, and then those million points of light detonate behind her eyes and she’s coming in her pants, her inner walls clenching and fluttering around the fingers buried inside of her.
She collapses backwards onto the cot, the sheets cool against her heated skin, as her body twitches and spasms. When the contractions start to cease the hand at her center gradually—almost reluctantly—pulls out, and there’s silence as Raven takes in deep lungfuls of air, struggling to recover her breath.
Raven’s eyelids flitter open, her gaze slowly focusing in on Abby as she stands above her. A.L.I.E. looms directly behind her, smirking devilishly, hands clasped against her stomach again.
Abby’s eyes are wide, her pupils dilated, her cheeks flushed almost the same color as A.L.I.E.’s dress. “Raven, what the hell was that?”
“Peace, Abby,” Raven says, chest still heaving. “That was finally peace.”