Hoshi sat alone in her small apartment, staring out the only window that had a view of something other than the dirty, crumbling building next door. She pulled the soft shawl a little tighter around her shoulders as an early spring breeze blew in, carrying the chill from the mountains in the distance. She gave a contented sigh as the sun began to set over the mountains; the icy peaks glinting slightly as the sunlight caught on them.
Her shawl was the same color as the sunset, she noticed absently. With one last sigh, she pulled herself away from the window and headed to stir the fire.
At least the guilt and dirty feelings were starting to disappear. He was a good man, he really was. He treated her kindly, gave her everything she asked for and some things she didn't. As soon as he had learned the truth about her being human, he mad an effort to track down human . . . artifacts, as they were now known. And when he discovered her gift for language, he began showering her with literature and programs from every race he knew of and a few that he didn't.
She hadn't talked to Trip since the last time they had fought, though. That hurt a little. Jon assured her that he was alive and doing ok, but that didn't really make her feel any better.
Hoshi wandered to the bedroom once she was satisfied that the fire would last the night. She dropped her shawl on the bed and headed to her closet to pick out something to wear for an evening of dinner and dancing. She dressed quickly, threw her hair -- now longer than ever -- up into an elaborate knot and touched up her makeup before picking up her shawl and heading for the door.
She cried out as she felt the strong arms wrap around her waist and mouth, silencing her quickly as a second set of hands pulled her head to the side. She felt something cool on the side of her neck, heard a hiss and then nothing.
***
"I told you not to hurt her!" Malcolm yelled Heru and Reenoo when he saw the state Hoshi was in. "You promised me she would be fine."
"She put up a fight, made it difficult," Heru said slowly, crossing his large, muscular arms over his chest and pulling himself up until he towered over Malcolm.
"She weighs all of 100 pounds soaking wet! How much of a fight could she have put up?" he demanded as he stepped up, toe-to-toe with the larger male. Heru and Malcolm stared each other down for a long moment.
"Crant paid us to bring her to you alive. She is here, alive, and our work is done," he said firmly as he took a step back from Reed. Reenoo fell into step beside his partner and the two quickly left Malcolm's suite.
Malcolm watched them go, cursing them behind their backs before he went to Hoshi to take a closer look at the damage the brutes had caused. He cleaned up the injuries; a small abrasion on her forehead and the mark from where they had pushed the hypospray into her neck too hard. He then gently covered her with her shawl and a blanket.
With a sigh, Malcolm wandered into the main room and settled himself at his desk. He still had plans to go over before he presented his latest innovation to Crant.
*****
----------
**Fanfiction stats**
----------
**The 4400 - 1
**Andromeda - 3
**Dead Like Me - 1
**ER - 2
**Enterprise - 9
**Gilmore Girls - 8
**Harry Potter - 17
**Voyager - 3
----------
Total: 44 stories in 8 fandoms
**Tweets**
**Chat**
**My other sites**
----------
Special thanks to Celestial Star for the programming tutorials. Visit them and take a look at all the great, easy to follow tutorials they offer!
Thanks also to Gertie and fan-sites.org for hosting us!
And finally, thanks to new-place.org for the icon sort script.
