FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The indicator showed the injector was empty.

What had he done?

The human was saying something, but Tristan wasn't listening. What had he done?

He'd needed to use the cure. Of course he had to. Tristan's life was in danger and that was unacceptable. He'd put the vial in the injector, and switched it on and then? He was going to use it on himself, except...

The human was silent. Tristan looked up. Alex had an expectant expression. "What?" Tristan snapped.

"That was for you." Alex's tone was measured, calm, neutral.

"You think I don't know that!"

"Then why?" His tone was demanding, which Alex caught and he tried again. "What do you gain by giving me the cure?"

Tristan didn't know. There was no tactical advantage to himself for Alex to be cured. For Tristan's life to still be in danger when the human's wasn't.

"I'm not here to answer your questions." Tristan put menace in his voice, threat, anger. He pointed to the computer. "Find me the computer core. I'm fed up with these games. Shut the whole thing down."

"Everything? Even life support?"

Tristan felt something dig in his palm. He hadn't lost control of his claws when making fists since being a kid. "Wasn't I clear? Everything." His arms were shaking from keeping himself from hitting Alex.

Why wasn't he hitting him?

Just when Tristan had convinced himself he was going to strike the human, Alex turned and typed at the computer. Tristan opened his hands. The injector was crushed in one, the jagged pieces dug in his palm, one piece had broken the skin. Tristan flung them aside in annoyance.

"I can't do that from here."

Tristan snapped out of where ever his mind had been. "What? I thought you could do anything to computers."

"I can, if I can reach them. You want me to take control of the core, but Baran's made that difficult, he--"

"I don't care if it's difficult, the only reason I keep you around is to deal with computers."

"Baran has arranged it so the core can only be accessed from a few locations. He knows what a coercionist can do, so he's taken steps to make my job more difficult. I can get in from the medical bay."

"No. Find another place." He wasn't setting foot in there again. He wasn't getting close to that machine. He wasn't risking it spouting something else that could put his life in danger.

"Then we need to go up two levels. There's a conference room where I can get in from."

"Fine." Tristan left the room and hesitated. In the distance he could hear people walking away. He wanted to run at them, sink his claws into their flesh, hear them scream. He wanted to hear someone scream.

The human stepped around him and headed in the opposite direction. "There's an access to the maintenance conduits over there. It's the fastest way to reach it."

But Tristan wanted to wrench arms out of bodies. He wanted--What was wrong with him? Want? There was a job to do. That was what he had to focus on. The only thing he wanted was some peace and quiet. Anything else was only for those people who didn't have control of themselves.

He followed Alex.

This was his fault. Tristan knew it. The universe was chipping at his self-control bit by bit. He wouldn't let that happen. The universe wasn't going to win. It wasn't the first time it had played that game with him, and he'd beat it again.

He'd kill Alex right now, grab his leg, pull him down, smash his head against the conduit's wall until it was nothing but a bloody mess, but he needed him--He wanted him.

He growled. He didn't want anything. He hated that he even needed him to finish this job. When it was done Alex was dead. Alex was a tool, nothing else, and tools could be disposed of when they'd outlived their usefulness. He wished he hadn't spent all those years honing him into such a perfect weapon. Weapons were things Tristan appreciated.

That would make it difficult to kill him. Not this unwanted sense of desire toward the human. He would miss the--

Alex was out of the conduit, fighting.

Tristan hurried up the rest of the ladder and stepped into a corridor where Alex was fighting three mercenaries while keeping them in the way of the four other ones who were trying to shoot him.

With a roar Tristan was on them. He broke a neck, then ripped an arm out of the next man. He felt the burn of blasts hit and turned. The man shot him over and over. The pain was welcome, but too short. He wanted the pain to be from an outside source, not from inside him. He could do something about outside pain.

Three steps and he had the man by the neck. Lifted him, slammed him against the wall so hard the back of the man's head left a bloody spot there. The fourth gunman was running away and Tristan had to fight the urge to chase after him. He'd get him later, right now the mission came first. The mission always came first.

Alex was covered in yet more fresh blood as three bodies lay at his feet, giving some final twitch before they died. He was smiling. Alex enjoyed letting loose like this now. He no longer held back, felt shame at being able to kill with such ease.

Their eyes met and Tristan's body reacted to the desire he saw in the human's eyes. He wanted, needed, to take him right there, to show the human he was his and his alone. And Alex wanted it too.

"Job," Tristan growled, unable to keep from shaking, "Now."

Alex regained control of himself faster than Tristan did. He gave a nod and was walking away.

Tristan shoved those unwanted emotions down. He needed to be calm, controlled, if he was going to find a way out of this trap the universe had put him in. When he felt he had control of himself again he stalked forward.

And found Alex in another fight.

The merc who'd run off had found friends and thought they would be enough to take them on. Tristan didn't roar. He didn't make one sound as he ran at them, he just smiled.

* * * * *

Tristan was panting hard. His fur was matted with blood and normally he didn't care for that sensation, but right now all he cared about was that Alex was pinned against the wall, and that they were almost touching.

Tristan was growling, low and deep, looking into Alex's eyes. There was no fear in them. Tristan wanted him to be afraid, usually. He normally wanted Alex to know that his life depended on Tristan's whims, that the moment he ceased to be useful he'd be discarded.

But for the moment he just wanted.

With an effort he clamped down on the emotion, and slowly pulled away from Alex. He wasn't giving him the satisfaction of knowing how hard it was. Of just how little self-control he seemed to have at this point.

"The job."

Alex didn't respond. His eyes were unfocussed, he was still panting and even through the blood Tristan could smell what he wanted. That want of Alex battered at his self-control even more, because he wanted to respond to it.

"Alex," he growled, "Focus."

He tried to apply that to himself. The job was to destroy the virus and get the target back to their employer. Thinking about that man made Tristan angry and he focused on that instead of what he felt for Alex. That man was responsible for his predicament. He'd released the virus. He was trying to kill Tristan.

"Right, the job." Alex's words were slightly slurred. He smiled and looked up and down Tristan. He seemed to realized what he was doing and shook himself. He rubbed his face, which just spread more blood on it. "It's behind the door. They were guarding it."

Tristan ripped out the front of the controls off. He found the wires he needed and touched them. The door opened. He didn't bother putting the cover back on. He was done being subtle.

In the room Alex headed for the terminal and immediately began talking and typing. The human was lost to the world. Tristan could kill dozens of people in this room and Alex wouldn't notice it.

He was utterly vulnerable in this state. This was one thing Tristan hadn't been able to break him out of. It hadn't bothered him before, he'd thought he'd accepted that this was simply a quirk of his weapon, every weapon developed them.

Only now, it was one more aggravation he had to deal with. And with Alex being cured, now he could be killed, which meant Tristan had to make sure that didn't happen. For the good of the mission, only for that. There was no other reason he needed Alex to live, absolutely none.

How had he let things get to this point?

Alex. He was the reason for all this. The universe had put him in his path And Tristan had thought he could handle it. He could. It was simple, all he needed to do was remove Alex.

Did he really need him? No, Tristan didn't need anyone. The mission would be more difficult, but difficult was something Tristan didn't mind.

He took one of the Kentrics out of its holster.

His life would be so much simpler without the human in it. All he'd brought him were complications, and Tristan hated complications.

He aimed at the back of the human's head.

He was done dealing with this complication.