Chapter 10: KEEP PUSHING

Ashleigh felt weak and tired when she dragged herself out of bed Wednesday morning; two months into her workout. She'd again skipped dinner the night before and her stomach hurt because it was so empty. She grabbed a banana and ate it as she drove in to work. God, she was tired.

She put her things into the locker room and headed for the gym. She was so tired that she didn't even pay attention to what song was playing, only happy that it was something with a heavy bass line so that she could get motivated. She glanced at Mr. Mysterious, as always, pounding away on that treadmill. He never used the weights or anything else, just the treadmill.

She plopped down on the recumbent bike, too tired to even think about the elliptical. Then she began pedaling. I'm getting skinnier, she thought. Each pedal I'm getting skinnier. Each bead of sweat is a drop of fat melting off my body. Push it girl, push it…

Her ears began to ring and her body began to tremble as black dots began to form in front of her vision. She stopped pedaling and tried to stand up, but suddenly it was as if the floor had come flying up to meet her and then there was nothing but blackness.

Christopher heard the sound of a body hitting the floor. It was a pretty distinct sound; one he was familiar with since he'd caused a lot of bodies to hit the floor. The woman who smelled like pink was laid sprawled out on the floor. Christopher leaped from the treadmill, and was knelt at her side in seconds. He swept back his hood. Shit! Was she having a heart attack? He quickly checked her pulse. He could tell that it was weak. He quickly placed his hand behind her neck and made sure that her airway wasn't obstructed. She breathed fine.

Christopher looked up at the camera and gestured for someone to bring smelling salts. Gently he touched her cheek. Her skin was like silk and his hands were so rough.

"Hey?" He said softly. "Wake up, sweetheart. Open your eyes." Roddy and Carlos were suddenly there with the first aid kit. "Get the salts!" He commanded. TK located them and broke the caplet under her nose. The woman twitched and tried to turn her face away. She brought her hand up weakly and pushed TK's hands away. Her eyes opened and she looked up into the Beast's face.

He watched her eyes blink and try to focus. "Wha--?" She muttered in confusion.

"You blacked out, Ma'am." She kept blinking rapidly and he suddenly realized that one of her eyes was brown while the other was hazel…She'd lost a contact.

Ashleigh sat up. Three men were hovering over her and she felt instantly foolish. She'd fainted! She tried to stand and the man in black kept a hold of her arm.

"Careful Ma'am. You're not ready to stand up yet."

"I'm okay." She said in embarrassment. She touched the back of her head, and felt a lump forming. The Man in black's hand was instantly there. She looked up at him but had double vision and couldn't seem to focus. His fingers gently touched the lump forming.

"Ma'am?" His hands suddenly gripped her. "Ma'am!" and then the world went black again. Christopher caught her and swept her limp form up into his arms.

Bruce was suddenly there. "Get her inside," meaning into the secure zone. Civilians were strictly prohibited from entering it. But Christopher didn't hesitate. He carried the limp woman into their headquarters after Roddy scanned them in.

Christopher headed for the commissary. The woman's body felt soft in his arms. Her head was propped on his shoulder and he could smell her distinct aroma, beneath the flowers—fresh like baking bread. He sat in one of the metal chairs; there were no cots, no infirmary here. He propped her up on his lap carefully as everyone trailed in. They had a 16-man crew and every one of them was present and watching intently as if he carried a rare specimen.

"Ma'am?" Christopher slipped his hand behind her neck so that his thumb gently stroked her cheek. "Wake up, Ma'am. Open your eyes." He spoke softly and as if on command her eyes began to flutter open. A slow gasp filled the room.

He saw her eyes open and she squinted up at him. Everyone seemed to hold their breath as if waiting for her to scream and runaway. Instead she started blinking rapidly. When she tried to stand, Christopher gripped her gently but firmly.

"You're not ready to stand yet." She had a confused expression on her face as she looked out at the room full of men wearing fatigues. Bruce came forward.

"Ma'am, when was the last time you ate?" He demanded.

She pressed back against Christopher as she looked up into the mean face of the army guy. The man holding her rumbled, "Let me handle this, sir."

She turned to Christopher when he spoke. "Have you eaten anything?" His voice was gentle.

Ashleigh was so confused and still half out of it. She didn't realize that she was sitting on a strange man's lap. She was just so tired.

"I think she just crashed, sir." Christopher spoke to his Supervisor. Bruce nodded and sighed.

"Well, someone get her some orange juice. Beast, you are not to let this civilian out of your sight. Follow protocol. The rest of you; OUT!"

Everyone grumbled but left. Someone pressed an orange juice into his hands before retreating. Christopher shook it quickly and twisted off the top.

"Drink this, Ma'am." He pressed it to her lips. She squinted at him but took a sip of the offered beverage. Her stomach suddenly began to rumble and groan.

"You're hungry," he said. "Your body crashed."

And then it hit her. She'd fainted. And she was sitting in a man's lap. And where the hell was she?! Again she tried to stand but couldn't because he was holding her.

"You shouldn't try to stand. You're going to blackout again…remember? I mentioned that the last time?"

"Yeah…" She said distantly. Why couldn't she see? She rubbed her eye and gasped when something foreign caused her discomfort. She kept rubbing until she rubbed it out.

Christopher leaned forward. "Wait. You rubbed out your contact." He reached forward and gently grabbed the delicate lens from her cheek.

Ah. Her contact had rolled up behind her eyelid. She tried to take it but her hand was too unsteady. She looked at her uncooperative appendage in surprise.

"Look up at the ceiling. I'm going to put it in for you."

She nodded her agreement. Once she wasn't looking, Christopher quickly placed the lens into his mouth to re-wet it and then placed it on his fingertip. He had never done this before but had seen it done. She tried to peek at him and he waited patiently for her to look at the ceiling again. Then he pressed the lens into her eye and she quickly blinked it into place.

"Better?" he asked.

She looked up into his face, now able to see him clearly. "Better." She managed to smile. He pressed the juice to her lips and she took a longer swallow. Then she took the drink from his hands, her hands covering his for a moment and then she gulped down the orange juice spilling some down her chin. When the container was empty she belched. He hid his smile. She was still half out of it but the sugar would bring her around fairly quickly.

Ashleigh closed her eyes and placed her head on the man's massive chest. She smacked her lips and then promptly fell asleep.

Christopher was unsure what to do but he wasn't going to wake her. He settled back in his chair and held her. She felt so damned good in his arms. He looked down at the top of her head. She was so little…well she was a big girl, but in his arms she was dwarfed. He wanted to…

His arms tightened protectively around her.

Ashleigh felt a sense of relief that she hadn't felt in months. She didn't remember what all had gone wrong but so much had been wrong for so long and now it was all right. She snuggled deeper in to DeAngelo's arms. She'd missed him so much and it felt so good the way he held her in her sleep. Sometimes she knew that he'd think she was asleep and would hold her tightly against him and that's how she knew that deep down he loved her; because if he didn't why would he bother to hold her while she slept?

"DeAngelo…" She muttered softly and sighed. Christopher watched her face. He instantly hated this 'DeAngelo.' He wanted to kill DeAngelo. Some other man got to hold her and she spoke his name in that way. But then her head snuggled against his chest again and all thought left him. Damnit, why did she have to feel so good in his arms? All softness and curves…