only_one_rule | Aria/Jackson rendezvous

Aria/Jackson rendezvous

The room had probably been a supply closet at some point; certainly its size and shape seemed to suggest that, as did the heavy shelves that had been bolted to the walls, though they were devoid of anything by the time they had discovered it not far from the living quarters and the barricade they had set up against roving monsters. It added a little thrill to the proceedings to know they were beyond the 'safe zone' and more than once had necessitated a quick retreat when the halls were too full of foes.

Aria slipped into the room to find Jackson already there, just as she had known he would be. She allowed another sly smile as she spotted him, though she turned her attention towards using her biotics to shove the remaining shelf up against the door before greeting him properly. Only once the heavy shelving was firmly in place did she turn, sauntering towards where he waited. "Well now, where were we? Planning an invasion, I believe..."

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"I'll give you one thing - all that talking has certainly done wonders for your stamina," Aria chuckled when she had regained proper use of her own tongue. She sighed as she shifted, raising her forearm and laying it over her eyes to block out what dim light they had. "If I had you back on Omega I'd have cloned you in a heartbeat - would have had plenty of happy customers to swindle then."

"It's for the best, really," Jackson stated in a lazier drawl than usual. Stamina or not, his tongue and, well, his entire mouth were feeling the strain of the workout. And it had been entirely worth it. "The world's better off with just one of me in it."

He certainly was better off knowing there weren't other ones of him around, anyway.

"Rarer commodities are good too - drives up the price." Aria grinned - not that she was planning on pimping him out, at least not up here. "I coul--" She bit off her sentence as a loud crash sounded in the hallway outside their door, and a moment later the door itself rattled as something large and heavy collided with it.

From lazily resting his head against her thigh, casually sprawled between her legs, Jackson reacted immediately, reaching for his rifle and getting to his feet, pointing the weapon at the door. It was holding, for now.

"Get dressed," he told Aria in a whisper, not an order - he was letting her know he'd keep watch on the door as she did, and expected her to return the favor afterwards.

She was on her feet in an instant, slipping into her clothes and boots as the shelf juddered and shook. Perhaps stupidly all she had brought with her was a small pistol in an ankle holster, but then, she had recourse to other defenses.

Drawing the gun, she took up position next to Jackson, nudging him with her shoulder as she drew a bead on the door. "Go on."

It was a quick affair, throwing clothes on, pulling his boots on, then immediately picking up his rifle again. He was all business now, as he set his sight back on the shaking door, but it didn't mean he wasn't himself about it.

"Let's go, darlin'," he murmured with a half smile, trusting her by his side as he had any good man in the army.

A nod, and then a flair of blue as the shelves were shoved roughly to one side by Aria's biotics to allow them access to the door. They managed to set themselves at appropriate angles to the door just as it burst open to reveal a hulking amphibious-looking creature, all limbs and gills and teeth. It was too large to fit through the doorway, though it flailed its main arms into the room - Aria heard a BLAM beside her as Jackson unloaded a shot into its chest. This was enough to drive it away from the door long enough for them to slip outside and Aria did so, preferring the slightly more open space of the corridor to being trapped in the small room like some sort of offering.

"Come on then, fuckhead, let's see what you've got."

They made a good team, all the more so by now. When the thing leapt towards them again, a telekinetic blast disoriented it long enough for Jackson to get another good shot at it - this time, at its head. It was the weak spot of most creatures they'd met, except a few, usually very notable, exceptions. It was always a good bet, as far as Jackson was concerned, much better than guessing at where its vital organs might be.

The shot reached its mark, drawing a guttural sound of agony out of the creature before it charged again, fury renewed by pain.

Never one to give ground without a fight, Aria refused to budge as the monster thundered towards them. She raised her handgun and trained it on one of the creature's small, piggish eyes, waiting until it was almost upon her before pulling the trigger. With a howl of pain it struck out in anger, though half-blinded all it succeeded in was sending its claws raking across Aria's arm and throwing her against the wall before turning its attention to Jackson. As he watched, its outer jaws opened wide, long tongue whipping out to taste the air as it chattered its inner teeth at him threateningly.

"You're one ugly sonuvabitch," Jackson commented as he fired again, a round of shots at its head, stepping back as it came at him until, finally, it collapsed. The sound of steady gunfire was followed by an eerie silence, and Jackson looked over at Aria to see her get to her feet. He'd check her over when they were back behind the barricade, but right now, their priority was getting there (and, if possible, bring the creature with them for Andras to do his thing). The gunfire would have drawn attention, and not just from their side.

"Think it'll taste like fish?" he asked hopefully, keeping his rifle drawn, ready to fire, but grabbing the creature by one of its legs and waiting for her to do the same, so they could drag it together.

"As long as it tastes better than it looks," Aria replied, gritting her teeth as she leaned down to grab hold of one slippery limb. Her arm was dripping blood, dark purple against the black of her jumpsuit, but she ignored it as they began to drag the carcass backk towards the barricade. If there were any other creatures in the vicinity they'd find out soon enough.

They thankfully managed to make it to the barricade without trouble, and the sentinels on duty just then took charge of the animal while Jackson nodded for Aria to follow thim towards the medlab. It was a nasty-looking cut, but he was mostly worried about whether the creature might have secreted poison.

"Take a seat," he told her with a nod at the room in general, so that she could choose which seat she prefered. There was a table, for their surgeries, but people generally prefered one of the chairs.

He washed his hands quickly, then grabbed a clean rag to clean the wound. They had a few mad devices which Tam had taught him to use, but they were mostly stuck with the basics as Jackson knew them.

Aria sank into one of the chairs - she wasn't about to lay herself out on the dinged-up table like some sort of invalid. Looking over the wound herself she made a face at her own sloppiness and the nanites that swam through her bloodstream; without them she would have had no problem facing down the creature, even alone. She hated feeling weak and vulnerable, and her irritation was such that she snapped at Jackson as he started dabbing at the wound. "Do you mind? I'd rather not lose the arm thanks to your cackhandedness."

"I don't mind at all, darlin'," Jackson replied without so much as looking up at her. He had dealt with far worse patients than her, and he went about his work indifferently. There was no odd colouring of the flesh around the wound (the purple had long since stopped being odd to him, to become merely exotic), and that was a good sign in terms of poison, but he still let her blood drip into a small vial for later analysis, just to be on the safe side, before he finished cleaning the wound, and grabbed the thread and needle.

She bore the stitching stoically; they had a small supply of anaesthetic but it would have been stupid to use it for a job like this. This wasn't the first time she had needed stitched up, but due to her healing factor was lucky enough to boast few scars from her years on the station. Jackson was a good surgeon, his fingers quick and nimble, and though she knew he wasn't 'taking it easy' on her it was still a relatively bearable procedure.

She surveyed the ripped sleeve of her jumpsuit when he finished, frowning deeply. The likelihood of finding a similar garment any time soon was slim. "I'll need to barter some thread from you."

"Chiana got her hands on some too thick for us to use," Jackson offered, standing back up to wash the needle and put away the precious thread. "I recommend talking to our local seamstress. I don't want you asleep for the next six hours. If you feel anything out of the ordinary..."

He didn't need to finish the sentence, of course; he hadn't really needed to start it in the first place. Aria was much too down to earth for that.

"I'll be sure to panic and hide away until it's too late to possibly save me," Aria finished for him dryly, standing and tugging on her cuff to straighten her sleeve. Blood and stitches were one thing, but they were no excuse to look sloppy. "I think I'll live, Captain."

"Well, I sure hope you will, darlin'," Jackson shot back, looking back at her with a smirk. He could only get away with saying shit like that to her because he said it to every other woman on board, too - the ones they had access to, of course - but it didn't mean that he didn't particularly enjoy saying it to her.

If she had had an eyebrow to raise at him she would've; as it was Aria settled for a roll of her eyes. Sentimentality was dangerous, which is why she couldn't thank him for fighting by her side or being there to stitch her up. It was also why she surprised herself by saying, "I'm sure you wouldn't mourn for too long."

"My entire life, I would feel your absence," Jackson replied, with another twitch of his lips, before he moved to get to what little equipment they had for analysis. If there was anything in her system and he could get to it before it got to her, all the better.

"Well, that's certainly true. Human women are nowhere near as flexible as asari." It was a good thing he was distracted with his equipment so that he didn't see the small smile she gave. "I'll leave you to your investigations - if you need any more samples you know where to find me."

"Tell Andras to send me its claws?" Jackson requested, without looking away from what he was doing. That was the best sample he could get, after all, and he doubted even Andras could make those palatable, assuming they weren't in fact poisonous.

"I'm not your errand girl, tell him yourself," Aria said moments before stalking out of the room. Despite this claim the claws arrived not twenty minutes later, hacked off at the knuckle and oozing blood. They weren't wrapped up in a bow, but they were as close to a present as Aria ever sent.

Women, Jackson thought as he contemplated the bloody present with a quirk of his lips. He'd never get the hang of them (although he had a better idea than most men, if he might say so himself), but he wouldn't mind dying trying.

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Aria/Jackson rendezvous

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