Without Control ((FULL))

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Dr. Sirrah Rawlings

Sirrah couldn't help but smile at the use of Ash's nickname for her. "Of course Erin can stay, as long as you want her to. Room 116, first floor. It's a single room, so you'll have privacy. Erin, the head of security for that floor should be waiting outside the elevator; he's going to be posted outside Ash's room for safety." As she spoke, Sirrah was making sure Ash was covered, folding the girl's stained clothes carefully and sending them off to be washed.

She ushered the girls slowly from the room, smiling tensely at Josh as they entered the hallway. "Okay, Erin, why don't you go ahead and take Ash to her room? I'll be by as soon as I can." Sirrah waved at the girls and watched them to the elevator, then turned and looked at her former colleague. "Hello, Josh," she said softly. "Have you seen Kevin? I thought he was out here..."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Dr. Sirrah Rawlings

Sirrah smiled weakly at Josh and then went to find her husband. She didn't like leaving Erin and Ash without her, but trusted their head of security to keep the evil clone from getting into their room. She found Kevin washing up in the bathroom and walked up to him silently, wrapping her arms around him gently from behind as he stood at the sink. 'Are you okay?' she asked him timidly in his mind.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Aaron Royce Lee

Aaron's first clue that he was finally really waking up was the horrible, pounding ache in his head. He opened his eyes and closed them again immediately, moaning and clapping his hands over them when the light pierced right through his head. "Owww..." He recognized the scent of the place and realized he was somehow in the city's hospital.

He gasped and sat up when he remembered why he was in the hospital. "Ash!" he cried, ripping the IVs out of his arms. 'I have to get out of here... I have to warn Ash, maybe there's still time! I have to find Kaino and stop him now!!' Aaron gritted his teeth against the pain, getting out of bed and stumbling out into the hallway, ignoring the fact that all he was wearing was a skimpy hospital gown and the same shorts he'd had when he came into existence.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Aaron Royce Lee

Aaron snarled at the doctor who dragged him back to his room, embarrassed that he was so easily overpowered. "I suggest you get out of my way," he hissed through clenched teeth. "I have nothing against you, but I WILL take your head off if you keep me from protecting her." Aaron felt a slight bit of relief when he heard that the doctor knew Kevin. "Fine! Let me go to Kevin, then! Kevin will take me seriously. Ash's life is at stake, and I'm not going to sit here and sulk. Now move!" Aaron tried to shove Josh away, humiliated that he couldn't even do that much.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Aaron Royce Lee

Aaron froze up when he heard that Ash was in the hospital, his mind immediately jumping to the worst. Horror and crushing guilt washed over him, immobilizing him in the chair. The next thing he was aware of, he was in a different hospital room, his female counterpart and her girlfriend only a few feet away.

He looked at Erin for a moment, then stood and stumbled over to Ash's bedside. "He... He got to her... I was... too late to save her..." He slumped down into a chair and covered his face with his hands. "I'm sorry, Erin... It's all my fault... I tried to stop him, but I was too weak, he crushed me... Damn it!" Aaron stood and punched the wall, hating Kaino and hating himself. "If I'd even woken up sooner, I could've stopped it!"

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Erin Joyce Lee

Seeing Aaron, hearing him talk with her own inflections, was beyond weird. But Erin felt an overwhelming sense of kinship with the boy right away, which was appropriate considering their relation. She placed her hand on his shoulder until he calmed down, then guided him silently back to the chair beside her own. Ash was asleep, thankfully, so she had missed Aaron's tantrum.

"Mind explaining all this?" Erin asked him calmly.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Aaron Royce Lee

Aaron was crying silently by the time he calmed down enough to sit. He kept brushing away the embarrassing tears until he was sure they were done for the moment, and took a shuddering breath before he began. "I still don't completely understand it. My last memory of being joined with you was when we killed Tsubatsu... Then I woke up inside some kind of tank in the Naruse's lab." He shuddered. "The body we were all in... It was pretty damn gruesome. Burn scars all over, mismatched eyes, and our looks... God, it was... I was terrified. I mean, you go to sleep as a girl and wake up a guy, that's confusing all on its own, but waking up as a guy sharing a brain and body with Tsubatsu and Richard Naruse... It was a nightmare."

He sighed and ran a hand through his black hair the way Erin did when she was anxious. "My screaming woke them up... They were a lot stronger than me. I wasn't going to sit by and let them... hurt her... I tried to stop them inside the mind, but they shoved me out, hence why I have my own body now." He chuckled bitterly. "The two minds combined... he called himself Kaino Naruse."

Aaron shuddered. "He said... Horrible, disgusting things... He flat-out told me his plans... I tackled him from behind, and he slammed my head on the floor until I blacked out. That's the story. I just barely woke up... I wanted to go, to warn Ash, but... I wasn't strong enough even to do that... I can't tell you how sorry I am... This is all my fault, I should have found a way to stop them... Erin, you know I'd rather be dead than have anything or anyone hurt Ash, I'm so, so sorry..."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Erin Joyce Lee

Erin listened to Aaron's explanation in silence, nodding and grimacing in parts of the story. She kept her eyes on her sleeping fiance, hating herself just as much as she knew Aaron was hating himself. When he finished, she took his hand and finally looked at him. "It's not your fault. It's not my fault. It's this... Kaino thing's fault. Let's quit blaming ourselves; we didn't have any say in this, and we both tried our damnedest to keep her safe. Our damnedest just... wasn't enough this time..." The two sat for awhile, not speaking. The silence didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable, though. Both of them felt they had gained a friend, an ally.

Because without speaking, Erin and Aaron both knew several things simultaneously. Both of them loved Ash beyond all reason, beyond all belief, beyond anything else in the universe. Both of them knew she was a lesbian and loved Erin. And both of them knew that because of those three facts, Aaron would not try to get in Erin's way. He would stay nearby, he would protect Ash, but he knew he could never have her. Erin pitied him greatly for that, but had to admit she was glad, also. "Hey... you'll find someone else, Aaron," she said quietly. "I know you don't want to hear that right now, but... you will." She smiled at him mischievously. "We're an amazing person, after all."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Aaron Royce Lee

Aaron shrugged slightly at Erin's reassurance. He still felt like s**t for letting Kaino get to Ash, and he hated the fact that he could never, ever be with the girl he loved, but he knew none of it was anybody's fault but the scientists who had made him, and Kaino's. "To be honest, I'm not really worried about that right now... I want Ash to be really safe and happy before I start thinking about myself." He looked at Erin, his expression grim. "We'll keep her safe this time. He's not going to touch her again. We're going to hunt him down and kill him, too. And when that time comes, I call ripping his balls off."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Erin Joyce Lee

Erin nodded solemnly at his first words, and chuckled at his last ones. "Agreed... I call ripping his d**k off." She sighed and looked back at Ash. "First things first, though... Apparently, he hurt her so badly that the mental trauma caused her to lose all her memories. She remembers some things, but it's choppy. We need to get her completely better... Help her remember everything before going out and killing Kaino."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Erin Joyce Lee

Erin and Aaron both leaped to their feet when Ash began thrashing and screaming, both reaching for her and drawing back at the same time. "Ash..." they both whispered, clenching their fists and gritting their teeth, knowing what Ash was having a night terror about and hating the man who had caused it.