FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ashes

Bile and the remains of dinner lurched out of Abel's mouth, slopping on the floor. His skin was ice cold and as pale as a sheet despite his normal tan complexion. The world was ringing, the blast of the gun deafening him.

Hada, oh god...why…

Abel's hand was still clutching the pistol, his fingers locked in place.

I had to...I had to open the vents...I had to…

No, I just hit her in the arm, she moved at the last second, she...she should be fine, she…

Yes, I just can't hear her over the ringing, I'll turn around and she'll be pissed, she'll be mad but she'll…

Abel peered over his shoulder and felt his blood run cold.

Stomach churning, Abel spun back around to the corner just in time for another gulp of vomit to erupt.

Hada...I killed her…

No, it must have been an accident, Abel reassured himself for a moment. A twitch of the finger, a misfire...

I killed my friend…

Abel thought back to how angry him and Gure had been at Hada when she killed the Regulian truck drivers. Righteous or not, they were still working for the enemy, the invading force that conquered Earth.

Abel had just gunned down his friend.

Justifications floated around in Abel's head, perhaps they were even correct ones: Hada had joined a racist group of rebels, she was taking part in a genocidal research plan, and she stood between venting enough air to save Asha.

All of those could be justified but Abel's brain would always fire back with the simple truth that he just killed one of his oldest friends.

There was no good way to feel about that.

“I'm sorry."

The words felt hollow. They did not sum up remotely what Abel wanted to say or how he felt, but there was nothing else he could say.

His older friend was dead and now there was nothing more to do but save his newer one.

The choice was made.

Amidst the constant remnants of smoke, Brolath caught a sniff of disinfectant lurking in the air of the lab that he had just entered. Dr. Meyer lead the way, taking a moment to lean against a table and cough.

“I'm sorry," she explained, her voice raspy. “The smoke did a number on me."

“I understand," Brolath nodded, resting his pistol at his side. Brolath flared his nostrils, breathing in the relatively more clean air. “Imagine how I feel."

“My husband has such a sensitive nose," she chuckled and shook her head. “He'd always gag whenever I overcooked dinner even by a tad, such a silly wolf."

Meyer closed her eyes and clutched her chest.

“I miss him," she whispered. “I just want this to be all over with."

“Where is Asha?" Lashar asked, the black-scaled Lacertan blending in well with the smoky din.

“Your friend?" she asked, coughing once more before pushing herself off of the table. “Come."

The human led them towards a plate-glass window covered in metal shutters. She pressed a few buttons on a computer panel and there was a sharp click.

“Door's just down there," she motioned down a short hall running just past the window.

“Thank you," Lashar led the way down the hall with Brolath trailing behind.

A steel door greeted them at the end of the hallway and Lashar wasted no time in pulling it open and rushing inside. Brolath heard a series of guttural hisses and clicks from inside as he slowly approached.

One thing they'll never convince me of...the Lacertan language is hideous to the ears!

Weaving around the corner of the doorframe, Brolath spotted Lashar on the ground, embracing his green-scaled compatriot. They were both deathly still, far from the emotional reunions Brolath would expect from any other species of the galaxy, but there was something about it that stirred his heart.

They have their own ways…

Brolath waited in the doorway, not daring to enter in case it was a trap of some kind. There was no reason to assume the doctor had any ill-intent, but it always paid to be careful.

After a long wait, Lashar helped Asha up. The green Lacertan was completely nude, his pale belly and under-arm scales were covered in dots of dried blood, no doubt from blood draws and other experiments. When he saw Brolath, the Asha flared his nostrils with a sharp hiss.

“You trusted him?" Asha whispered to his partner in Regulian.

“We found common ground, what can I say," Lashar nuzzled his snout against Asha's neck.

“We're still doomed though, yes?"

“Absolutely," Lashar sighed, “but we'll go down doing something meaningful and fun."

“Good."

Standing tall and without shame despite his injuries and nudity, Asha walked towards Brolath and patted him on the shoulder with a nod.

“Lets go."

Nodding back, Brolath let Asha slip out and follow him from behind. The moment Asha entered into the main lab area, he froze and stared to the right.

“She's a monster," he pointed at Dr. Meyer, who was busy typing away at a computer panel. “She did things to me..."

“Captain!" Lashar slipped up behind and planted his palm on the larger Lacertan's shoulder. “Dr. Meyer helped us get in here and rescue you."

“She tortured me."

Asha pointed to the dots on his forearms along with some other healed lacerations that Brolath had initially mistaken for older scars.

“I really am sorry for that," Meyer paused and rested her head against the computer monitor. “I know that means nothing, words mean nothing, but if I could have avoided this..."

Sighing, Meyer shook her head.

“They threatened to kill my husband if I didn't comply, but it's time to make things right."

Lashing his tail silently, Asha turned away from the human and sat down at one of the lab tables while Lashar joined him. Brolath, meanwhile, crept up behind Meyer with his pistol in hand, peering at the alien letters flashing across the screen.

“What are you doing?"

“Destroy the sample by introducing enough chemicals to turn it into waste," Meyer sniffed. “Then deleting all the backup schematics."

“There are no offsite backups?" Brolath asked.

“Glass considered it too risky copying them over the network," Meyer paused before entering in a password. “We were in talks about arranging a regular courier service to another base with copies of the backups but Glass was waffling on which one to trust with the secrets. If this got into the wrong hands...a bit of modification and the Regulians could use this to exterminate all humans if they pleased and we pissed them off enough."

“All the more reason I want to make sure it's gone for good," Brolath examined the screen. “I have no way of knowing if you're actually purging it."

Meyer blinked, staring back at the Regulian.

“You'll just have to-"

“Abel!"

Lashar's voice cried out, snatching Brolath's attention. Outside the lab windows, Brolath caught a brief blur cross by before the airlock doors. Lashar sprang to his feet and went to the panel by the door, hitting an override button.

“Are you sure?" Brolath asked, stepping towards the black Lacertan.

“I saw him, he was-"

With a hiss, the internal airlock door opened and answered Brolath's question. The tan-skinned human stepped inside, though froze up at the sight of Brolath, his eyes going wide.

“What the hell is she doing here?" Abel asked as Lashar wrapped his arms around him and Asha rushed to embrace them both.

“It's okay, he's helping us out," Lashar whispered.

“No, you can't trust-"

Abel went silent and kissed Lashar on the bridge of his muzzle and then Asha on the tip of his snout's horn. Despite his immediate outrage, the human had been yoked into letting his guard down and relaxing with the two lizards.

Once and for all, Brolath finally understand he never had a chance with Abel. He had made too many mistakes as a result of his Regulian upbringing and the very foundation of his infatuation with the human was based entirely on him being his prisoner and at his mercy. Brolath was so off-putting to the human that he found common love with two species that were far more alien than a Regulian to him in a short manner of time.

Abel never had an ounce of attraction for him, Brolath knew this now.

And for once he felt okay with that.

Brolath wanted to issue an apology of some kind, but felt there was no point in trying to guilt Abel into accepting an apology.

It wouldn't be earned, Brolath thought as he imagined a hypothetical where Abel accepted his apology. It would be no different from when I hoped to break him into a slave using his vulnerability and confinement against him.

Unless one was a slave and expected to apologize under any circumstances, one did not apologize in the Regulian Empire unless they were willing to back it up with actions.

And Brolath was left pondering what he could do for that, if anything.

Surrounded by bare scales and Lashar's armor, Abel felt safe for the rst time in ages. Not since his time resting in that lone dacha in the wilderness with his two loves did he feel so secure.

It did not negate what he had just done moments before nor remove the fact that there were in a hostile area in grave danger.

But it helped. It was a happy moment that Abel could die cherishing in what little life he potentially had left.

“Abel," Asha suddenly said with typical bluntness. “Make sure she's not betraying us."

“Captain!" Lashar hissed. “Show some-"

“Agent, no," Asha's green eyes slid to the side, staring over Lashar's shoulders. “I don't trust her."

“Neither do I," said Abel.

Giving his beloved Lacertans a kiss atop their snouts, they broke away from their group hug as Abel walked up towards Meyer. The doctor was standing by the monitor, waiting for a progress bar to complete. Brolath was standing beside her and for once the Regulian seemed to be paying little heed to Abel.

“Meyer," Abel said with a voice reeking of bile.

“Abel."

Abel stared at the screen. The words were thankfully in English rather than Russian and it clearly said, “Neutralizing prototype," above the bar.

“What made you change sides?" Abel asked.

“Abel, I could have reported you for being a lizard-fucker, but I didn't," Meyer rolled her eyes. “I, myself, am a wolf-fucker and one whose husband is being threatened. Why is it such a surprise that I'm not loyal to Glass and his crew?"

Looking over at Brolath, Abel was surprised to see the Regulian didn't so much as react to hearing that he was in a relationship with two Lacertans. Abel was already courting the death penalty and with all the attempts Brolath had made to manipulate him into a sexual relationship, this would have been the perfect chance to use that as leverage against him.

But the Regulian seemed almost uninterested, even ignoring that Abel existed.

It was a relief but at the same time, it made Brolath seem unpredictable. That he would suddenly spring something on him, something that would anger Lashar and Asha.

“Abel," Brolath's voice was dry, almost weak, “is she deleting the backups and destroying the prototype?"

“If you don't trust me," Meyer grabbed the mouse and clicked through all the various tabs. “Look, take a good look!"

Though the screens were full of jargon that Abel could not understand, there were clear actions being performed by the computer that pointed exactly to what Brolath asked for.

“It looks like it."

“Good," Brolath briefly paused his gaze on Abel and opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing and looked away.

“So, who'd you kill? Hada or Yuri?" Meyer suddenly asked, peering back at Abel. “Both?"

Abel's skin went cold and despite his better instincts, looked away from the doctor.

“Hada at the very least, hrm..." Meyer tapped the screen once more, “...killing your friend, didn't take you for the type."

“Hey," Lashar stepped behind Abel and slapped the side of his rifle, “knock it off."

“Very well, I think we're done here," Meyer tapped the screen. “Go on, Abel, tell them."

Once again, Abel scanned the screen as Meyer flashed through the windows.

“It's done," Abel sighed. “At least I hope so."

“You may hate me Abel," Meyer sniffed, “but I have every desire to make sure this abomination remains destroyed and forgotten."

There was a sharp hiss across the room, by the entrance to the lab. Abel could not move his head in time to look, not before Meyer screamed.

“HELP!" Meyer suddenly dipped her hand in her labcoat pocket and threw a cloud of some kind of powder. Abel caught it straight in the eyes and fell to the ground, blinded. “THEY DESTROYED THE PROTOTYPE AND TOOK ME HOSTAGE!"

Rolling on the ground, Abel felt cold scales on his right and warm fur on the left. Both Brolath and Lashar were down as well, both were screaming in pain.

Gunfire roared and Abel heard Asha's heavy body slide down next to them. There was a rattle of metal, barely audible over the gunfire, but it sounded like Lashar's rifle was being pulled from his arms.

Two brief explosions rang out and then there was silence.

“It's okay," Asha whispered, patting Abel on the shoulder. “They're gone now."

“My eyes..." Abel cried as Asha helped him to his feet.

“I'll take care of you," Asha said, stopping Abel at an eye-wash station and leaning Abel over. “It will sting, don't move."

Lukewarm water shot Abel straight in the eyes. It stung, but he held himself still as his vision started to return, albeit watery and blurry. At the very least, he was glad not to see any blood in the yellow eyewash basin below.

After thirty seconds had passed, Asha patted Abel on the shoulder and the human removed his face from the station. Asha was holding Brolath now, who was clutching at his eyes with his paws.

“Help Lashar, please."

Turning around, Abel saw the two soldiers by the door. One's head was completely scorched black while the other's chest was burst open. Though his blood ran cold, he continued on, helping the black Lacertan to his feet.

“Sand," Lashar hissed, “fucking sand, can you believe it? An elite agent of the Logos and a Regulian Guard Captain taken down by a handful of fucking sand!"

Brolath chuckled as water shot into his eyes, “We're both pathetic, guess we're not so different after all?"

Lashar laughed and as soon as Brolath left, shaking the water away from his facial fur, Abel put the Lacertan in place and activated the jet.

“She got away," Asha muttered to Abel. “You're sure she deleted the prototype?"

“Relatively," Abel sighed. “Nothing is certain with her, but the screen sure as hell looked like she did."

“Whatever happens," Asha brought Abel into a hug. Despite all the wounds covering his chest, the Lacertan was still strong and safe. “I love you."

“I love you too," Lashar joined the hug, water dripping from his face onto Abel. “Both of you."

Beyond the wall of scales, Abel saw Brolath standing alone. For a moment, he almost thought to invite him to the hug just out of sheer pity. However, he didn't want to give Brolath the wrong idea and Abel felt he still had a right to not trust him, no matter what his Lacertan partners might think of him.

He has a long way to go if he wants forgiveness...if he even wants that.