Union(Izzie)

[Gordon McFadden]

Gordon put a hand on David's shoulder, giving him a sincere look as he told him:
"I know how you're feelin man. Just let me handle this. I've done this before." He looked over at Jude, saying:
"Just stay out of the limelight for a while, lay low. Your lines may be tapped, so talk to everyone in person. I'll keep you in the loop as much as I can." He paused for a moment, then told Jude:
"You'll get your...our family back. You got my word, pop."

Gordon knew that there was going to be a lot of leg work involved in this, including a possible trip to the Terminal systems where he may not return from without a few bumps. May not even be able to pilot a ship back home. He knew he had to muster up some resources and a running mate. With a few calls placed, he managed to secure an Alliance Special forces ship that could make intergalactic runs(He had to push a few buttons for that one, including his "I'm on the Venia crew" button. That one got the attention of the guy on the other line) and access to the armory at HQ. He would have to explain himself at some point to the brass, but he didn't have time. Gordon had a girl to woo.

The biotic hadn't told Anna he would be showing up at her apartment on New Earth(the Alliance had given her the place as a gift for her service. He had been jealous ever since), so he expected some kind of surprise. Or anger. Or both. Gordon had told the V.I. at the door his name, so hopefully she would let him in...he was also hoping that Anna wasn't in as bad of shape as she was when he had visited her a few months ago, still rehabbing from those injuries(first time he had seen her shed a tear..just one). Even if she was in bad shape, he knew she could point him in the right direction. When the door opened, Gordon held his arms out, grinning as he asked:
"Ain't ya happy to see me?"

[Izzie McFadden]

Izzie went with the guys without a fight, she wasn't strong enough to take them both here, especially when she had no idea where she was or whether there was a way out. Also, she had to get out with Mia and Sara, and that was going to make things very problematic. Briefly, she thought that it was strange that they'd started this adventure with a wedding, they were going to end it with a funeral. If, no, when they got out of this. No if's. She had to remain optimistic.
Shouldering through another couple of gigantic metal doors, she was dumped in a chair and immediately strapped in via laser restraints.
"This isn't the eldest Fritz daughter," came a voice from the other side of the room.
"She said to bring her instead."
"And you take orders from the hostages now?"
"We thought she'd be more fun."
"You'd best be right."

~~~~

In the final fight against R4, both Anna and Ben, ironically (as they were both tactical officers, and damn good ones at that), had suffered badly. They had both been lucky to make it out with their lives, and all their limbs. The UGAP had taken them both off the ship and to New Earth where they were to be taken care of by the best of the best (those that weren't on the Venia), and they really were. Anna had been here before, and it was practically a paradise. Once they were both back on their feet, they were able to enjoy their extended vacation from the Alliance forces, a vacation which had lasted over a year now. They weren't going back to the Venia, that had been settled, but they would go back to work eventually. When that was... Anna didn't know, but for now, she was enjoying all the time she could get with the love of her life.

There was a person she missed though, whether she admitted it or not, and that was Gordon. He'd come to visit before, and she'd never seen someone look so distraught that she was hurt, except for maybe Ben. He was her family, not by blood, but that didn't matter. He was much better to her than her real family had ever been.

Ben had disappeared off for a few days, being all secretive about where he was going, leaving Anna alone in the apartment (the apartment which she still drooled over, and often wound Gordon up about having when he didn't). The first day she'd played about around the house, making a mess, before cleaning it back up again. Today, she was bored. She was about ready to try abseiling down the side of the building when there was a knock on the door. She bounced up out of the chair she was curled up in and wrenched the door open to find none other than Gordon standing there. Throwing herself into his open arms, she let out a laugh. "Of course I am, dummy," she said, messing up his hair, "to what do I owe this visit, hmm? Or were you just missing me?" She stepped backwards, tugging him inside via his sleeve.

[Gordon McFadden]

"Oh come on, off the do, sis!" Gordon said, attempting in vain to restore the mess that Anna had generated on top of his head as he allowed her to be led inside. The biotic whistled as he told her:
"Been updatin the place, have ya? Looks even swankier than before. You and pretty boy's commission must be through the roof." Gordon respected Ben and even considered him a friend, but the biotic's nickname for him BEFORE their improved relationship had stuck. It was more of a joke than a deragatory remark now. After briefly surveying the apartment visually, Gordon plopped down on one of the nearby couches and told Anna:
"I need your help."

The story was told: the holocube, the visit in the ruins, the assassins, the kidnapping, everything. Gordon leaned forward intensely as he continued to talk:
"I got a ship, I got guns, and now I need a running mate. I ain't goin into the Terminal systems by myself. I may be good, but I ain't that good. So I figured I swing around, see how you were feeling and pitch an offer to ya. Lemme tell ya Anna, it isn't pretty, you know that. These cats play hard and fast, even worse than R4. I don't think I have to say this, but there's a wee bit of a chance we don't come back." Gordon was telling the truth: the Terminal systems were on the very edge of known space; it would take a week, maybe two to just get into the first system alone. They would be hopping planets, probably fending off Black Sun scouts...dangerous to the max.
"I know Ben wouldn't want you hoppin around like you used to, but I need you on this. If I lost her..." He trailed off, not wanting to go down that mental pathway.
"But then again, I don't want ya to push the envelope. I know these Alliance boys have been working you down here probably. It's your call."

[Izzie McFadden]

Anna sat down opposite Gordon on the edge of the coffee table, her long red hair tickling her shoulders as he spoke. Gordon never caught a break, did he? Neither did Izzie, by the sounds of it, or her family. That was one way to ruin a wedding.
Of course there was a chance that they wouldn't come back, that was assumed on every mission that a combat officer ever took. If they didn't fear death, then they could go into the mission with a clear mind, regardless of how it may turn out. It was actually an asset to know that you may not come back, rather than a hinderance. It didn't dull your fighting spirit though, not a chance. You fought the odds, and if you were good, you came back in one piece.
And Anna, supposedly, was the best.

"I'm in," she said simply, "when it comes to you and Izzie, there's nothing I wouldn't say no to." She snorted, and tagged on, "except a threesome, that's pushing it."
"Let me change into something a little less floral, and grab my gear, there's no time to waste."
There really wasn't. If it was the Black Suns, and they had Izzie and her sisters, it wasn't going to be long before they started doing things to the girls that would scar them for life, physically and emotionally.
Jogging into the bedroom, she reappeared in her black weather-resistant leggings, grey tank top, boots and leather jacket.
"What are you waiting for? Come on."

~~~~

A week passed, and every day, Izzie was brought from the room with her traumatised sisters, to the room with the man with the laser chair, and the tools. And every day, she endured more pain than she ever thought possible. The sun went down, they healed her up, sent her back to the room where she slept, and then the cycle started all over again.
The men hadn't received what they wanted, that much was clear. Each day whoever it was didn't yield, the pain got worse; the man invented new ways to make her suffer. She was becoming accustomed to the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, her screams ripping her throat apart.
Where was Gordon?
Why hadn't he saved her?

[Gordon McFadden]

The week long trip hadn't exactly been the eventful one he had assumed it would have been. Each planet they stopped for fuel and supplies on didn't send them any kind of Black sun mercenary or spy(in fact, one of the planets near the Terminal systems had been so kind as to have one of the locals flirt with Anna. Gordon had almost broken the man's spine.). It was too quiet, as if the Suns were allowing them to pass through into their territory, beckoning them onto their turf.

As if Gordon didn't have enough of a bad feeling, Hugo had contacted the biotic two days into their journey to tell him that there was a hideout in the ruins of Old New York that had been raided by police. All they found was a small holocube in the center of the room that projected the words: "You're too late". Gordon had a hunch that the Suns wanted those coppers to find the place and get it out into the media so the Fritz family(and Gordon) could see the message. These guys were psycho to the core.

Gordon pulled the ship out of lightspeed(it had been his turn to pilot) and nudged Anna in the seat next to him, telling her:
"This is it. Sure don't look very hospitable." The system had pieces of debris floating all over the place, rings of the stuff suspended in mid-air in a circular fashion around a few of the many planets. No wonder the Suns went for a dive like this: there was no way anyone could find you out here...

But he was about to change that.
He just didn't know how.

"The only reported planet out here is Zenith-23, which is...there." Gordon pointed to the miniature map projected on the ship's front control panel, said map circling a small dot near their location as Zenith-23. It was the only dot on the map...the rest was blackness.

Gordon managed to get into the atmosphere of Zenith-23 and got down to about ten thousand feet above planet surface before the ship's control panel projected a warning:
"Alert: Planetary surface below unstable. Magma surges detected."

Magma?

"Could you ah...could you spin that to us again?"
"Repeat: Magma surges erupting from three sources. Scan for landing zone?"
"Yes...yes please."
"Scanning...landing zone detected: please follow course direction."

Gordon brought the ship down on a mesa that had a decent view of what went on below. The biotic exited the ship and walked towards the edge of the mesa(he was sweating profusely already) to look upon...

Magma rivers.

That's exactly what they were. Magma was moving over the planetary surface, oozing out of cracks in the ground and shifting in a very tide-like manner. It was like an ocean...made of molten rock.
"What have we gotten ourselves into?"

[Izzie McFadden]

"You mean," Anna said, hopping out of the ship, immediately peeling off her jacket and tossing it back inside, "what have you got me into?"
She was teasing, not that Gordon needed that right now. The more time they'd spent in space not finding anything, the more wound up he'd become. She'd practically had to restrain him when some guy had made a derogatory comment about her behind quarters, he'd looked about ready to murder the guy. Thank the Gods it hadn't been Izzie the man had made the comment about, otherwise his head would have been detached from his body and sent into orbit.
This was probably another reason why she was here, to stop him from doing something that what either completely reckless, or that he'd regret later.

Peering around at the magma, she stepped back on board the ship, dialling in the scanner to look for any abnormal bodies in the lava. The base had to be around here somewhere, they just had to find it.
"No abnormal bodies detected."
"Seriously?"

Okay, time to think outside the box.
Back outside, she stood with her hands on her hips.
"Okay," she decided thinking out loud would help, "this is the only suitable landing spot on the planet, yes? So, it must be here for a reason." Jumping and down didn't reveal any difference in what the ground was made of, it made a sound that one would expect to hear when they jumped up and down on rock. Kneeling down, she picked up a stray piece of rock and tossed it over the side into the magma. Instead of watching it hit the surface, and sink underneath, there was a distinct break in some sort of force field or hologram, and then an almighty clang. She grinned. Fake magma, genius.
"Get your stuff," she said, slinging her backpack over her shoulders, grimacing mildly at the cold material against her warm and sticky skin, "we're taking a leap of faith."

[Gordon McFadden]

Aww not that's just not fair. Holograms? How in the world did the ship not detect that? The magma did emit heat and a whole lot of it. Quite a tactic. Gordon jogged back inside the ship to grab his gear, then hurried back out only to realize that the drop was probably close to a hundred feet, maybe more. There was a chance that they could break both legs if they landed feet first. But Gordon had an idea.
"Chill here for a sec." The biotic took a dive off the mesa, now realizing that the drop was closer to two hundred feet. Gritting his teeth, he waited until he was halfway down before he altered his position to where he was upright, then thrust his arms downward, palms towards the ground. The biotic activated the nanomachines within his bloodstream, hoping that the trick would work. A moment later, Gordon was floating down, past the magma(no pain) and onto what he assumed to be the metal surface beneath the hologram. Smirking, he silently congratulated himself. Best biotic of all time? Oh yeah. Gordon activated his comm:
"Jump. I'll make sure you come down nice and easy."

Once Anna was safely on the ground, Gordon noticed the magma disappearing completely, leaving nothing but a gray, metallic surface beneath their feet. A few seconds later, a pod emerged a few feet away. It was large enough to accommodate at least three people. Gordon stepped inside, noting the greenish interior. Looked almost like puke.
"Lets go say hi."

After a long descent, the pod doors slid open, revealing a hallway lined with sheets of black metal, every other sheet displaying a symbol: a red sun with white interior. Oh yeah, they were here. Gordon stepped out into the hallway, taking the plasma rifle off of his back and leveling it, walking forward slowly, noting a door at the end of the hall. As they got closer to the door, Gordon could hear whispers of what sounded like a chant. These boys were into some demonic stuff, that was for sure.

The door slid open, revealing nothing but a circular platform in the center of the room that was illuminated. As Gordon stepped onto the platform, the whole room brightened, revealing several hallways that split in every direction possible.
"As if we needed any more of a headache." The whispering that had stopped when Gordon and Anna entered the room returned, this time more vehement and malevolent. Gordon could see figures coming towards them from each of the hallways, all of them dressed in a blood red robe, equipped with some kind of melee weapon. They surrounded the duo, their chanting growing in volume.
"We're in for a scrap, aren't we?"

They charged.

[Izzie McFadden]

Oh boy was it handy having a biotic for a brother. If he hadn't been here, they probably both would have landed with a nasty splat at the bottom, which wouldn't have been pretty, and would have ended their mission before they'd really begun.

Gordon barged in head first, as always, and Anna didn't protest. Whoever was in the base probably already knew they were here, it would be an ambush whatever way you painted it. Might as well go in all guns blazing. Or in her case, using her fists of fury. All too soon, they were standing surrounded by a group of red robed ninja nuns, all with the intent of iradicating the intruders.
"This is going to be fun."

There were about fourteen in total that Anna could see, and more would no doubt be on their way when they heard the commotion that they started. She worked on a principle of half and half, she'd take seven, Gordon could mess around with the other seven. Fair play.
Men always made the mistake of underestimating women, and they paid for it. Drawing her gun at lightning speed, she sent two clear shots into the first attacker's knee caps, dodging the swipe of a sword to hit the next one of the back of the head with the butt of the gun. He crumpled to the ground.
Two down, five to go.

Now that they'd seen their two mates go down in seconds, the others were more careful about how they framed their attack, deciding to work as a whole, attack from all sides. Not a problem.
For what it was worth, they were good, and a couple of them even managed to get blows in, a knife cut to her right bicep and a punch or two to the face, but before long, and an impressive succession of flips kicks and whatever else, all seven of her men were now lying unconscious on the floor.

And now, to see how Gordon was doing...

[Gordon McFadden]

"Come on now! Get with the program ya red hooded honchos!" Gordon threw out yet another blast of gravity altering energy from his fingertips, throwing three newcomers against a nearby wall. It hadn't been the bloodiest battle Gordon had been involved in, but it sure was getting to be. Gordon had taken a few shots at the charging Suns, but knew that this was going to be close quarters all the way. So, after disarming a cultist/terrorist, he allowed his close combat and biotic training to take over. Blood ran freely as Gordon entered a kind of "zone", severing limbs and snapping spines, all the while realizing that Izzie was here...somewhere. And if he was going to have to kill every single Black Sun in the compound to find her, he was more than happy to oblige. Gordon threw down the scimitar he had been using as the final Sun collapsed in front of him, head separated from his body. He looked over at Anna, who had cleaned up her side quite nicely...except for the fact that the punks were still alive, one of them crawling on the ground, attempting to escape. Gordon strode over to the cultist and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, asking quietly:
"Where are the hostages?"
"In another time, the world will collapse and all will fall." Gordon delivered a sledgehammer of a blow before he asked again, louder:
"WHERE ARE THEY?!?"
"You will not get an answer from him." In the center of the room stood a green-tinted hologram of a man dressed in similar fashion. His eyes looked like they were ablaze with energy and his stance conveyed a kind of power that Gordon couldn't grasp.
"You the big daddy around here?"
"I am the leader of the Black Suns, and you two are my guests, like the others. I presume you want them back?"
"They're comin back with us, Jolly Green, with or without your approval."
"I cannot allow that. Their family took one of our family members and took him away from us. I must repay."
"Oh what, your boy back on earth who got locked up cause he couldn't keep the po-po off his back? Please, he needed to be locked up anyway."
"I would be careful about what you say. I have something you want and in order to have them, you will have to choose." The walls around the chamber slid away, revealing three large tube-like machines, each containing what looked like...

Mia...Sara...IZZIE

"Whichever one you free, the other two will perish."
"You're bluffin."
"Each girl is suspended in a liquid filled with chemicals set to react at a certain temperature. All three tubes are linked. If one tube is drained, the other two will receive a temperature increase and will die." Gordon grit his teeth as the man continued:
"Not to mention that I will send my elite guard. If you do not defeat them within the twenty minute time period I have allotted, all three will die. Choose wisely." Gordon ran over to the tube to his right, looking at the closed eyes of his lover.
"Izzie...baby, I'm here. You're gonna get outta here baby, just let me handle this..just let me..."

He was losing it.

Gordon took his upper body armor off, his muscles slick with sweat as he picked up two scimitars, testing each one's weight before standing in the center of the platform, awaiting the promised guard.
"Anna...figure out a way to get all three of em outta there. Let me handle these jokers."
Not a moment too soon, Gordon saw guards rushing towards their position, weapons wielded. Gordon let out a shout before he sent two crushing waves of energy at the initial batch, the audible cracking of bones reverberating throughout the chamber.
"MESSIN WITH THE WRONG MAN TODAY!"

[Izzie McFadden]

Anna had been witness to some pretty horrific things over her career with the armed forces, but watching Gordon murder... no, massacre every last man made her insides contort in pain, sorrow and anguish. This was the Gordon that she'd read about in his file, the one from his past that killed mercilessly and without regret. The only saving grace was that he was doing it in order to save the woman he loved, but even then...

Not wanting to play a part in his killing spree, but not stopping him either, she gladly went over to the pods, giving them all a once over. At first it appeared there was no flaws to them, no access points or vulnerable circuits. Not that tampering with one of them wouldn't cause the temperature increase. She needed to figure out a way to disable and/or open them all at the same time... and time was running out.

Finally, at the bottom of the pods, she found a power conduit. If she could short the system somehow, the pods would probably go into an emergency release procedure. Probably wasn't as good as certainly, but it was all she had. Whipping out her pocket knife, she peeled the outer layers off each of the conduits then stood back and fiddled with her gun, disrupting the laser so that it would send out a broken beam. Now, she had to aim carefully, and hope.

Pulling the trigger, the gun shot several weaker pulse blasts, each frying one of the circuits. A siren went off and the front of the pods opened, the girls falling out onto the floor, coughing and wheezing as they sloshed around in the chemicals. Anna immediately skittered back round to the three, Mia grabbing at her wildly.

"Hey, hey, I'm here to help."

Looking across, Izzie was curled up in a ball on the floor, shaking, her arms wrapped around herself. That couldn't be good.

It was like information overload. After a week of being ferried between two dark rooms, one where she was tortured half to death and the other where she huddled with her sisters, struggling to sleep, each day and night (whenever they were, she'd lost track of reality completely), seeing the bright light and hearing all the noise sent her system into shock. Her brain was paralysed with fear.

Hearing a vague Scottish accent somewhere, she curled up tighter, then several hands, their touch light but comforting, seized her, red hair falling into view.

"Izzie? Izzie, it's Anna. I've got you. We've got you."

[Gordon McFadden]

"YAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Gordon let out a scream as a Sun landed a slash on the biotic's back, about to go for the finishing blow when Gordon lifted the thug into the air and threw him against the floor, a sickening splatter signifying another demise. It had been an intense few minutes and Gordon, for all of his conditioning and battle tested mettle, was beginning to tire. His muscles were locking up and he had suffered several wounds, two major ones on his back that still had blood flowing. Thankfully, the rush had stopped, giving Gordon the ability to sink to a knee, breath coming in ragged gasps. A few moments later, Gordon mustered the strength to rise, walking over to Anna, who was attempting to get Izzie onto her feet.
"Baby...baby..." Gordon knelt in front of Izzie, gently taking her hands away from her face to reveal his lover at the most frightened state he had ever seen her at. The lust for revenge coursed through Gordon's veins, but something caused him to stop...it wasn't important at this point. He had killed enough.
"Baby, it's me..." Gordon put a hand on the side of her face, his eyes beginning to water slightly as he told her quietly:
"I'm gonna get you outta here." He took Izzie into his arms, cradling her gently as he stood up, grimacing as pain shot through his back. Gordon then looked at the other two girls who, to their credit, didn't appear to be as shellshocked as Izzie was. That would make their escape a bit easier.
"Anna...get the girls together. We're bustin outta this joint."
"You are not going anywhere." Gordon turned to the source of the voice, which stood in the center of the room. It was him...the leader of the Suns. He stood at least six foot five, hair completely shaven, an intense look on his face.
"Jolly Green! Good to see that you got the guts to show your ugly mug."
"You will not leave this place alive. I will see to that." The Suns leader sunk to both knees, the center of the platform depressing. A moment later, the entire complex began to shake, walls beginning to crumble.
"NOW IS THE TIME OF THE PURGE! BE BURIED IN THE LIGHT OF DARKNESS!"
"ANNA! MOVE IT!"

[Izzie McFadden]

Anna didn't need to be told twice, shoving both Mia and Sara onto their feet, they all sprinted back towards the entrance, Anna leading the way. It didn't take long for them to break back out onto the metal surface, but now they had 200 feet to climb, and not a lot of time. No, no, no, wait, they didn't have to climb at all. Sliding a tiny computer out of her pocket, she touched the screen, hearing the engine of the ship fire up. With some difficulty, she managed to maneuver the ship down onto the surface, ushering everyone on board.

Izzie just about had the wherewithal to realise that she needed to hold on tightly, her hands grasping onto the front of Gordon's shirt as the group ran like hell.

Once the group was on board, Anna jammed her hand against the control that sealed the doors and dived into the pilot's seat. The ship only just made it out of the pit before the magma caved in around the entrance, destroying whatever was left of the base. Only once they were back in space and speeding far away from the planet did Anna relax. Even then she had an injured brother and three traumatised women to deal with. It was going to be a long flight back to New Earth.

Izzie felt her back touch the surface of a bed or a seat, and she shivered, the beads of sweat dripping down her forehead, her clothes and hair matted with the chemical that she and her sisters had been frozen in. She tried to speak, but she couldn't bring herself to open her mouth. Instead, tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, her whole body shaking with silent sobs. Through the tears she could see Gordon staring back at her, but once again he was covered in blood. How was it that it always ended up like this? Would there ever be a time where they were at peace?

"Ladies," Anna said, breaking the silence that had fallen, "you can get cleaned up through there, my bag has spare clothes in it, use them." Considering she stood at least four or five inches above both of the girls, the clothes would probably dwarf them, but it was better than nothing. "Gordon," she said, approaching cautiously from behind, "I need to patch up these gashes." They were more like cravasses, she didn't know how he was alive right now.

[Gordon McFadden]

Gordon had put Izzie on a cot in one of the two rooms that split off from the main area of the ship(the other room acted as a kind of makeshift medical center), sitting on the floor next to the cot as the ship bolted out of Terminal system, making the jump to lightspeed with minimal rumble. It was a miracle that they had made it out, let alone with all three girls intact. But were they really? The girls looked like they were in terrible shape, both physically and mentally, a few recent wounds visible on each of their arms. Izzie looked like she had gotten the worst of it though. Gordon had lifted her shirt up to find several scars across her abdomen, each looking like they had been inflicted during the week. He wanted to change her, get her some fresh clothing, food, blankets...anything to get her recovered. Anything. Gordon looked over at Anna as he heard her spoke, nodding in agreement. He had received quite a few blows himself and couldn't be of any use to Izzie or any of the other women on the ship if he bled to death. Gordon wiped away the now noticed tears, the biotic whispering:
"I'm gonna be back, baby. Just rest up. I'm not goin very far now." He kissed her gently on the lips before walking to Anna, asking:
"How bad is it?"

Apparently it had been pretty bad. There hadn't been very much of anything useful on the ship except for a few first-aid sprays and one canister of arti-flesh, all of which he believed Anna had used up along with all the bandages and painkillers that the ship had come with. They were going to have to stop for supplies soon or else the whole party on board would die of either starvation or mental exhaust. As Gordon walked back into the main hallway of the ship, he spotted Sara, the poor kid looking almost as scared as Izzie. Gordon walked over to her, kneeling in front of her and taking both of her hands, asking:
"How you holdin up, kid?" A dumb question, but at least he was showing that he cared.

[Izzie McFadden]

Sara ran a hand through her wet hair - Mia had let her shower first, the older sister was in there now - before Gordon came along, seeming concerned. All those ridiculous girl crush feelings had faded, right now she was trying shake off the feelings of terror that she'd been experiencing for the last week.
"Holding it together," she said a little breathlessly, "just about." She sucked in her bottom lip in an effort to control her emotions. "Izzie, she..." Breathe. "At the beginning of the week, the man wanted to take Mia to the other room, she was the oldest, but Izzie stepped up, went instead. He did... it was terrible. Every night she would come back and..." she realised she wasn't making much sense, but it was hard to form proper sentences, "she took all the heat for us, suffered so much. I just want her to be okay."

A little while after Gordon left the room, Izzie managed to find enough strength to sit herself up, hating how horrible she felt just lying there. In an effort to make herself somewhat more human, she peeled off her tank top and jeans - the only clothes left on her when she'd been taken - and made for the shower. She'd only got as far as doorway when she caught her reflection in the mirror; the scars on her chest, the rings under her eyes, her pale, bony body. Swallowing down what she assumed was going to be a sob, tears dribbled down her cheeks. What had these people done to her?
It wasn't just the physical scars on the surface either. It felt like they'd ripped at her insides, torn at her soul. They'd worn her down until there was practically nothing left. A shower wasn't going to heal her, it was powerful enough.
Was anything powerful enough?

[Gordon McFadden]

"She will be, baby girl. You just hang in there and tell one of us if you need anything. We should be gettin to the nearest planet sometime soon." Gordon squeezed her hands gently as he got up, walking back into the room where Izzie had been laying to find her clothes in a rumpled heap. He turned to find the bathroom door open and Izzie standing, looking in the mirror, completely naked. Gordon couldn't help but do a double take, walking over to his lover and silently putting his arms around her emaciated frame. He wouldn't speak...words couldn't justify what Izzie had gone through or what she was feeling. He could only be there as support, someone who she could lean on through her recovery process. Gordon realized that he was returning all the things that Izzie had done for him over their relationship together: all the hugs, all the consoling words...he had to be the stable one. How ironic.

Gordon released her slightly, arms still around her waist as he looked into the sparkling pools of color that he fallen in love with, noting the lifelessness they had within them. She was dead on the inside, with nothing left to give. A burst of anger flowed through him, but he did something that was unnatural: control it. He pushed it back into the recess of his mind, knowing that Izzie didn't need the old get angry at the world Gordon. She needed someone to help her. And that he would.
"Iz...tell me you're alive. Give me somethin. Anything." He leaned in and kissed her lips, which were usually warm with life, but were now ice cold.
"Please..."