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It was a glorious day. The sun was out, beating back the
clouds and the light smog of the city. Sea gulls were circling lazily above
the water, looking for a tasty catch or just enjoying themselves. A few
patches of snow were melting in the rising temperatures, forming reflecting
puddles that seemed to be mirrors to another world. The concrete and tarmac
was shining with the sheet of water from the melt-down, making everything
look so fresh and new. Still, despite the sun out and barely a cloud in
the sky, the temperatures were colder than it looked. Winter was still
here, barely beaten back by a week of good weather, and if the weather
channels were right, New York would get another bad week starting next
weekend.
Nothing disturbed the surreal beauty now, though. It
was perfect. Like time had stopped.
Dr. Nico Tatopoulos sat on the couch, a stack of science
magazines next to him on a table. There was a bottle of soda, some untouched
chips and other snacks, the remote and a notebook on the couch table as
well. He was glowering at the beautiful outside, brows drawn over blue
eyes.
Not fair.
Extremely unfair!
He was stuck here at H.E.A.T. headquarters while the
others could go out and enjoy themselves, even if dry fact research wasn't
really something to call 'enjoying'. But they could go out! They didn't
have to sit in here, occupy themselves with repetitive articles in his
magazines; or the rather dull TV program; or count the number of petri
dishes on the shelves.
His glare turned to the object of his annoyance: his
right leg. It wasn't in a cast, but the metal-and-plastic knee brace around
it didn't help either. A week ago, Nick had slipped in front of the ferry
building while walking back from the docking ramp after he had dropped
off some gear in the little boat they maintained beside the Heatseeker.
Mendel had planned on checking the buoys in the bay and Nick had helped
pack.
And then he had slipped. A patch of ice, a foot set the
wrong way, and he had ended up on his butt. Normally that would have been
a laughing matter, a reason for joking, as Randy had started out doing
so as well. But Nick had felt the momentary sharp pain, then he had fallen
turn into a glaring, mind-numbing pain. Everything had happened too fast
for him to act immediately. Caught in his own agony, he hadn't realized
that Godzilla had risen out of the water and had placed himself over his
injured parent.
Nick lay on the cold concrete ramp, biting his lower
lip hard to keep from crying out, his leg a blinding source of agony. His
knee seemed to be the center of all nerve endings coming together, flaring,
pulsing, telling him he had done something really bad to it. On top of
that, there was the fierce pressure in his mind, Godzilla forcing himself
through the haze of pain and the liquid fire that was his only perception.
The pain retreated slowly, the shock settling in, and Nick groaned in realization.
He had busted his knee badly. Very badly.
-- Nick?
He barely managed to acknowledge the contact, too
intent on controlling his own emotional display.
He had slipped.
He had broken or ripped something off. Probably both.
And the cold was seeping into his body from the ice-covered ramp.
-- Hurt.
Yeah, he replied as steadily as possible. Dumb accident,
he breathed in addition. Very dumb.
A giant foreleg descended next to him as Godzilla
hunkered down, the muzzle floating over the injured scientist.
-- Bad.
Could be worse, he sighed, still breathing hard from
the pain. It was ebbing away, but he knew the moment he moved, it would
be back. Not moving was a good idea. Not moving on the cold ground was
bad.
-- Defenseless.
The word floated through his mind and he tried to
bop to the surface of the empathic waves, but it was hard. Trapped between
the pain and the confusion, he was like a silent spectator.
Warm air gushed over him, Godzilla sniffing carefully
at him.
Going to be fine, he mumbled through the link.
"Nick! Effe, are you okay?"
A bellow silenced the worried shout and Randy stumbled
back.
"Whoa, big fellow, we're helping. You know.... right?"
-- Defenseless. Protect.
Nick turned his head and discovered Randy not far
away, making placating gestures toward Godzilla. O'Neal and Monique were
just running out of the ferry building.
They want to help me, he murmured. Let them.
-- Protect, Godzilla insisted.
I need their help.
Godzilla snuffled softly and lifted his head a bit
higher, taking in the air around them. Randy was inching closer.
"Nick?" he asked cautiously.
"It's okay," Nick managed. "He understands. He was
just confused."
"What happened, man?"
"Slipped. I think my knee's busted."
"Ambulance is on the way," O'Neal said, stopping next
to Randy, closely followed by Monique. He cast the giant lizard a suspicious
look.
Go to the water, Nick told his charge gently. I'll
be all right.
Doubt floated through him. He reinforced his statement,
adding the worry that something might happen to Godzilla if he stayed while
the paramedics arrived.
Godzilla gave him an amused look. Happen? What should
happen? Two small humans and a car.
Thank you, Nick muttered sourly, but with the same
amusement.
Godzilla snuffled again, giving him an odd look. Nick
was human, yes, but he was also his parent, and as his parent, he was not
like others. He relayed that and Nick laughed silently.
He had left then, but he hadn't gone far. By the time
the ambulance arrived, Godzilla was a worried presence underwater, following
Nick's order to stay hidden but hating it. He wanted to be there to protect
his parent and whenever Nick felt pain in his knee, he was close to lurching
forward to protect. It was something even two years of an empathic bond
couldn't erase.
His knee in a kind of air-filled cast, Nick had been
transported off to the hospital. The doctor in the ER had told him that
he had badly twisted it, that he had torn off some ligaments, and that
he would need to lay off the leg for a while. If he had to walk somewhere,
he had to use crutches, and the brace his knee was caught in would allow
him only a minute movement. Pain medication took away most of the discomfort,
but not all.
Nick absolutely hated it. He lay back in the couch's
soft cushions and glared at the ceiling. He had read all kinds of science
magazines in the last week, he had worked on a paper, but without much
enthusiasm, and he had gotten some order into his notes. Still, he hated
to be immobile. He was restless, he needed to be out! He felt close to
pouting.
Amusement flooded through him.
Oh, right, you go on and tell me I'm childish, he grumbled,
the words forming only in his mind.
You are, the images coming in told him.
They weren't words. They weren't real pictures. They
were a jumble of all, transmitted empathically, and it was like Nick sent
his own thoughts as well. Godzilla had learned a lot in the past years.
His skill of communication was immense. Nick had barely any trouble relaying
what he wanted, except when he had to do so through a battle rage, but
that was okay. Godzilla in turn had begun to understand and use Nick's
own mind language, teaching him how to read the lizard's alien mind as
well. It had been a painfilled and long process, but now....
Nick smiled.
They had a kind of translation between them no one could
explain. It worked, it helped, and Nick didn't have to struggle to form
his thoughts so a slight bout of annoyance didn't bring a monster lizard
down on whoever he was annoyed at.
Godzilla's presence smiled as well -- well, as much as
a lizard could smile, but Nick got the drift --, curled around Nick and
rumbled softly.
I just hate it, he finally sighed.
-- Your own fault, was the reply.
Rub it in, will ya?
Amusement again. The presence drew him in. -- Move?
Before he had time to even think about it, Godzilla dove.
Nick was in the alien reptile mind, a watcher, a passenger, along for the
ride, feeling every move of powerful muscles, feeling the water on the
thick hide, the glorious sensation of being free. He sat back, awed by
the experience just like every time Godzilla did this. In the beginning
he had been freaked. Completely and utterly freaked. He had fought to regain
control, to rise from this passive state, and it had confused his charge.
Nick had managed to suppress the initial response after a while and had
learned to enjoy the mind-rides. Even if Godzilla did nothing but float
and sunbathe, it was something incredible.... something only they could
share. So beautiful, so alien, so familiar.
He returned after a while, feeling much better than before,
as if he had actually been the one swimming and chasing schools of fish.
He had, but not in this body.
-- Better?
He laughed. Yes.
Godzilla rose out of the waters outside the building,
rumbling softly, pleased with himself. Nick swung his legs carefully off
the couch, grabbed the cursed crutches, hobbling over to the door leading
to the roof.
The large, scaly head was such a normal sight. Barely
any New Yorker, or tourist, called the military if he saw Godzilla, though
some freaked still. Well, so be it. Nick just felt warmth course through
him, and pride. Such pride. An orange eye blinked lazily, large nostrils
opening to exhale softly. Godzilla smelled of salt water and sun, and faintly
of fish.
Nick gazed out over the ocean. It was really cold up
here despite the sun and he shivered once. Godzilla rumbled and lowered
his head. He had always known his parent was different from him, right
from the start. More frail, smaller, unable to defend himself against most
threats, yet he was strong. Very strong. An inner strength the lizard had
witnessed countless times before the empathic link had grown, and intimately
afterwards. Nick was a fighter, he risked everything for his friends, and
for the people he wanted to save, and he risked twice for Godzilla. Size
didn't matter in this relationship.
Nick touched the lowered jaw, smiling. Godzilla might
not really feel the actual touch, but he felt the mind touch.
"I won't catch pneumonia, don't worry," he said aloud.
"You will if you keep standing out here, Doc," a voice
from behind him said, criticism swinging heavily in it.
Nick turned awkwardly with his crutches. "Hi, Jeff."
Lieutenant Jeff O'Neal shook his head. He was a tall,
broad-shouldered man with dark blond hair and bright blue eyes. Right now
there was a deep scowl in them, disapproval. He was dressed in civvies,
not his usual uniform. O'Neal had been part of the team for the last ten
months now, fitting in seamlessly, though he had had a few problems in
the beginning. But who wouldn't have? H.E.A.T. was a tightly bound group
of friends who had gone through hell and come back, and O'Neal had been
an intruder. He had proven himself, though. He had shown the skeptics that
he was on their side and not undermining their operations. Even Monique
had finally given him the chance he had needed, and now he was one of them.
"What are you doing up and about out here?" he
now asked.
Nick shrugged. "I felt like it."
"Felt like breaking another bone?"
"It's not like I'd fall off the roof, Jeff."
O'Neal glanced at the mountain of scales and muscles
that was Godzilla, then at Nick. "Right."
Nick shook his head, amused. So was Godzilla. "I'm just
getting a bit of exercise. The doctors said to carefully move and not just
lay around. It's bad for the knee. Might stiffen."
O'Neal, who had opted to stay behind to keep an eye on
Nick and to aide him if he needed help, rolled his eyes. "Come on, Doc,
you'll catch a cold for sure out here. And if you do, Dr. Chapman will
kill me."
Godzilla snuffled, agreement floating through Nick.
"Oh, cut it out. Two against one isn't fair," he mumbled.
O'Neal grinned. "He has more common sense than a certain
scientist."
Godzilla rumbled amiably.
"See?"
Nick shot them both a dark look, then sighed and limped
back.
"You know the doc also said not to overdo it," the soldier
told him as he helped him inside.
"I'm not cripple," he muttered. "I can do stuff."
"Sure. You can do the sitting on the couch and resting
stuff." When Nick was about to say something, Jeff raised one hand. "Humor
me, Nick, do it."
"Okay, okay, okay..... Sheesh!"
Godzilla had slipped into the water again, smugly flexing
his limbs, and Nick sighed silently. Right. Rub it in. The moment the brace
was off, he'd be out of here and on the next mission.
"One stupid accident...." he muttered aloud. "We go up
against all kinds of monsters and all I get are a few bruises. And a stupid
patch of ice does that!" Not entirely true since he had been banged up
pretty badly as well, but most of the time dumb luck and Godzilla's timely
arrival prevented the worst.
O'Neal laughed. "Gives you time for some R&R, Doc.
Come on, enjoy it. There's nothing happening out there anyway. You'd be
bored stiff if you had to do the research trip, right?"
Okay, so the other man was right. As much as Nick was
a scientist, he had come to love the action, the challenges, and dry research
for days, nothing but cold hard facts on end, was nothing to make him break
out in joyful happy dances.
He shrugged.
Godzilla whispered in his mind, swimming lazily through
the Atlantic, and he shoved him away. He wanted to pout a bit and didn't
need cheering up.
A grin split Jeff's face. "Knew it." He walked over to
where the TV sat and flipped it on. "Say, you into Ice Hockey?"
"No, but I don't think that'll keep you from watching,
right?"
Another grin. "Nope. Come on, unwind, Nick."
"Been doing nothing but." Nick settled on the couch anyway,
leg propped up, unconsciously massaging the muscles of his thigh.
Half an hour later both men were busy watching the game,
O'Neal giving him a run down on the season so far, who was who and what
he should know about the game.
Out in the ocean, Godzilla blew sea water into the calm
afternoon sky, then rolled lazily through the waves. Nick was finally calming
down, which was a good thing. As much as he understood the grumpiness,
there was nothing his parent could do about the injury. Unlike himself,
Nick couldn't heal quickly. Another difference between them. But no difference
would ever invade the bond, nothing could destroy what had been created.
Satisfied that Nick was relaxing and no longer agitating
himself, Godzilla decided to chase down the Heatseeker.