Oblivion // One on One // Closed

The ship finally appeared in the sky, shaped like a giant spearhead bristling with lights and crazy-looking laser cannons. It set down about 20 meters away from Jack's ATV, the propulsion system rocking the vehicle like an earthquake. Jack let out a small sigh, gently setting his chin on Brooke's head as he watched the alien creatures exited from the ship and headed straight for the ATV.

"Remember," he whispered, gritting his teeth. "Hold your breath."

The door was thrown open and the alien stuck its ugly face into the vehicle.

Brooke didn’t even have to respond but she did as instructed, holding her breath so she wouldn’t give them away. She’d seen the aliens before, but at a distance, and she didn’t realise how ugly they actually were up close. She resorted to closing her eyes so she didn’t have to look at it.

It let out a puff of air as it looked around the vehicle, its face so close to Brooke's back Jack thought it was all over for them. But after a stressful minute of holding his breath, the thing pulled its head back and slammed the door.

"Fucking Christ,"Jack mumbled, letting out a long sigh as he glanced down at the brunette in his arms. "you feelin' any better?"

Brooke breathed out long and hard, almost out of breath, “Stars, those things somehow managed to be uglier then me.” She mumbled. Slowly, she lifted her head a centimetre to look at Jack, “The world is slowly starting to stop spinning, but other then that… no.”

"As soon as they fuck off," he said, making a small gesture to the aliens shifting around the crash site, "We can get back to home base and I can fix you up. Jus'….sit tight for now, I guess."

“I don’t really have any other choice. Plus you’re a comfy seat.” Again, the small flicker of a smile crossed her lips but she stayed still, not daring to move and cause herself more pain. Now that the shock has worn off from the initial crash, she could really feel the pain in her arm.

"Pshhhh," he said, the right corner of his lips twisting upwards slightly. "I get I saved your life and everything, but I didn't expect the flirting to start this quickly."

“It’s not flirting,” Her own smile grew a fraction, “It’s called stating the obvious. And you were the one who asked me to get in your lap first Jacky boy so…”

"Trus' me," he mumbled, frowning as the aliens turned back to the ATV for a second, "this isn't by choice. I woulda had you back and the base and on the med table by now."

She sighed softly, “Yeah, I figured.” She replied quietly, blinking her eyes open and staring out the window. A shiver went down her spine, her body visibly shaking with the force of it.

"Your arm's probably out of its socket," he mumbled as the alien investigators began to head back to their ship. A door opened and they all slipped inside their ship. "As soon as we get back to HQ, I'll put it back into place and fix up whatever else you got going on."

She gave him a weak thumbs up, "Gotcha captain." She mumbled. Sleep was catching up on her again, eyes slowly drooping only to quickly open them a moment later, the thought of putting her shoulder back into place keeping her mind racing.

It took another 15 minutes for the aliens to load into their ship and fly away. They didn't exit the atmosphere, however, just zoomed off in a northward direction.

"Can you get up, or would you rather just stay where you are?" he asked, starting up the engine of the ATV.

“I can try and move.” She replied. Slowly, she tried to use her good arm to manoeuvre herself into the other seat, only to move her dislocated shoulder uncomfortably,

“Fuck me..” Brooke fell back down into Jack’s lap, “Shit, sorry.”

He winced slightly, but didn't jerk around as he put the car into drive and stepping on the gas.

"You're fine, don' worry 'bout it. I've been hit a lot wors'." He had various scars across his bare torso. Some looked like slash marks from a blade, some looked like he was shot by a gun, and others looked like someone set him on fire.

“If you say so.” Brooke mumbled, sighing through her nose. She looked out the window, scanning the terrain, “Jack? How long have you been here for?” She looked up at him for a moment then back out the window.

"'Bout 4 years, now. I got decommissioned from the military after I lost my arm, but Apex took me in. Game me my job and my arm back." He leaned his head to the side slightly so he could get an unblocked view of the windshield, flipping on the headlights as it was still pretty dark outside.

“Wow…” Four years? She knew she could never do something like that, she’d get bored or something along those lines, “Do you know when you go to the Colony? Or are you stuck here?”

"Actually, I'm headin' there in a couple of weeks!" he said cheerfully as they reached his home base. "They say Mars is wonderful this time of year, so I'm pretty fuckin' excited to see it. It'll be the first time I've ever left the planet."

“Don’t get your hopes up.” She mumbled under her breath. She took in the base, scanning and assessing quickly but not entirely retaining the information gathered.

"Alright," he said, turning the ATV off and shifting the car into park. "I'mma get you inside. The initial step out is probably gonna hurt like a bitch, but there's not much I can do about it."

“Just do what you gotta do. As long as I survive then I don’t care.” She replied, already bracing herself for the pain that was about to shoot up her arm.

He opened up the car door and slipped out, trying to stay as stable as possible as he walked for the door.

"Mind typing in the passcode?" he asked, nodding towards the keypad next to the door. "It's 7645."

When they got out the car, she let out the faintest whimper before nodded, “Yeah, I got it.” She reached out, mumbling the numbers to herself as she punched them into the keypad.

Jack immediately turned to the right and took her into the closest room, gently laying her down on the table/.

"This'll analyze your wounds and figure out the best way to fix it, alright?" he said, picking up a tablet from next to her and tapping on it idly.

The room's lights went dim as the table lit up. It produced a slight bit of heat that seemed to move from the top of her head to her feet and back again. The lights cut on after the third scan and Jack read off the readings: "Well, you got a concussion, a dislocated shoulder (called it), and a broken rib."

“I could have told you that myself,” Brooke replied, lifting her head slightly to get a good look around the room. She hadn’t seen anything this high tech for a while, and this clean, “Well, apart from the broken rib.”

"Alright, um….this is a bit awkward, again, but I need to actually see your shoulder to fix it." He gestured to her shirt. "That needs to come off so I can put it back into place."

Brooke sighed, “You gotta do what you gotta do I guess.” Carefully, she removed her good arm from her jacket sleeve, then slowly took the entire jacket off, wincing occasionally. Then with great skill, managed to take her shirt off.

"This is going to hurt. Badly," he warned, walking around behind her and putting a light hand on her shoulder. "It'll be quick, though, I swear. You ready?"

“Yep, do your worst.” She gritted her teeth, prepping herself. The quicker they got this done the better.