Connor applied some of the sphere gel to Kaveman's arm, fascinated as the bullet wound vanished. They scooped what was left in the orb into a small jar in one of the medikits, and then proceeded up and out of the dark chamber, alert for any sign of trouble.

They had discussed trying to get another chaingun that was sure to be hidden in another nearby secret access tunnel, but decided not to since they'd have to jump into the toxic slime river to reach the nook where it was kept. Best to not risk it.

Back in the room where they'd temporarily set up camp, Kaveman stood at the opening to the O-bridge, deep in thought. They still needed to get the blue key. The night had descended rapidly and it was hard to make out the bridge leading to the dimly illuminated area across the way. Fortunately, it was dark enough to mostly conceal the hulking remains of the dead Cacodemon, lying in a sodden pile halfway across.

Connor, unable to contain her disgust at having to loot one of the dead zombies that still littered the floor of the room, removed a nearby corpse of it's shirt, and put it on in exchange for her torn and bloodsoaked one.

They had searched their little haven earlier, and had thankfully discovered a hidden niche that had opened onto a small head, containing toilet, sink and mirror. This wasn't the first washroom they'd come across, it was a military installation after all, and the enlisted marines would have been in need of such, except... (And this thought had REALLY unnerved Kaveman and Connor...) this was supposed to be a video game... wasn't it? But, at this moment, Connor was thankful for the realism as she washed her hands vigorously after having touched the dead ghoul.

She pulled on her green armor and walked over to Kaveman, rolling up her shirtsleeves. He glanced at her, then back at the opposite landing, his face concerned.

"We can do it," Connor said, peering at him, wondering what was on his mind. "We just have to frag anything that's guarding the blue key, then one of us grabs it, and we haul ass out of there before whatever's behind the hidden door can get a clean shot at us."

He didn't look at her, but continued to stare across the way. She sighed; turning away to go back and collect her gear, but Kaveman grabbed her arm suddenly, stopping her.

"What?" she asked.

He looked at her. "You're staying here and waiting for me," he said, releasing her arm.

She looked at him, puzzled.

"What are you talking about? I'm not gonna let you go over there alone..." She looked at him, not sure if he was joking. Her expression changed to astonishment as she realized he was dead serious.

"You're out of your mind!" she exclaimed. "I just found out the hard way that you were right! We should stick together!"

Kaveman squared his shoulders and crossed his arms in a decidedly stubborn stance.

"It's too dangerous ...I'm not letting you get hurt again!"

Connor's jaw dropped in amazement. Kaveman stood his ground, immovable. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I see... now you don't trust me... is that it?" She crossed her arms as well, drawing herself up and facing him defiantly. He glared at her.

"Well?" she exclaimed. "Say something." He shook his head and pushed past her, walking back and grabbing his pack, but Connor confronted him as he swung it over his back, not looking at her.

"Now you think I'm nothing but a royal pain in the ass, don't you?" she said, glaring at him. Kaveman swung the chaingun off the ground and slung it over his shoulder, then calmly proceeded to clip his holstered revolver around his middle.

Connor grabbed his arm, angry now.

"Well, shit, Kaveman... if you're upset because now you think you're gonna have to babysit me through this whole game, ...you're fucked!"

Now it was Kaveman's turn to get angry. He jerked his arm from her, suddenly turning to face her, and her eyes widened in surprise at the intensity of his glare. He got right in her face, forcing her to back up to the wall.

"Yeah, I'm mad all right!" he shouted at her, his face inches from hers. She was afraid to blink.

"I'm mad because it was MY decision to leave the other shotgun there in the first place, and then, right after I just said we shouldn't split up, I gave in and let you go back and get it by yourself! You almost died, and it would have been all my fault, and I don't want it to happen again!"

He glared at her.

"Got it?"

He turned away and backed off. Connor swallowed, still shocked, breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn't throttled her.

Kaveman irritatedly threw the rocket launcher over his back and strode back to the opening again, not looking at her, but stopping. Feeling rather sheepish, she pulled on her pack and gun. Slinging the shotgun over her arm, she approached him rather cautiously.

Hearing her footsteps approach, Kaveman turned around to face her, looking miserable. Connor couldn't help a wry grin as she came up to him. He eyed her expectantly.

"Look," she said, starting to understand that his protectiveness was probably equal parts of gallantry and ego. So much for equality of the sexes... she thought to herself. But she certainly admired him for it.

"What I did was really stupid..." she said, "I wasn't listening to you... and I should have. ...I know probably better than anyone else that you've got more talent in your little finger than I'll ever have for fighting, but I don't want you to feel obligated to look out for me." Kaveman looked away.

Connor continued.

"I can handle it, Kaveman... really! ...I trust you wholeheartedly, but... can't you trust me a little bit too?" Kaveman glanced at her, somewhat skeptical, but considering her words. Connor grinned at him, hopefully.

"Ok, Connor, you win... this time..." Kaveman said, warningly, starting out across the bridge. He motioned with his hand and Connor caught up to him, stopping momentarily as he put his hand on her shoulder, leaning toward her conspiratorily.

"Just between you and me," he whispered, "you're doing a hell of a lot better in this then I thought you would."

She grinned up at him. "...For a girl, you mean..."

He grinned apologetically. "Well ...that too..."

She smiled to herself, shaking her head as they headed across together, gingerly stepping around the dead monster lying in their path.

It was too quiet as they approached the landing where the Cacodemon had been, so they edged very carefully toward the turn of the hallway.

Backs to the wall, Connor and Kaveman looked at each other. Connor shrugged and shook her head, indicating no feeling of any presence. Kaveman cautiously peeked around the corner. There was no one there, so they inched around the turn and stopped at the last bend to where the blue key should be.

They tightened their grips on their weapons, and nodded to each other, stepping out into the open. Two zombies flanked the key, and Connor took out one as Kaveman sprayed the other. Kaveman moved into position, eyes locked on a spot where a hidden doorway would open, as Connor quickly scooped up the color-coded card-shaped blue key and jumped away, darting past him as the lights in the room went out and the hidden door slid upwards.

A deafening bellow poured out of the secret nook and not sticking around to find out what monstrosities emerged, Kaveman quickly took off after Connor.

Practically jumping over the remains of the CacoDemon and hauling ass across the bridge, they skidded to a stop on the first landing and wheeled around, waiting to see if anything decided to show it's face across the way.

"What was that?" Connor said, panting, swallowing to catch her breath. Kaveman using the wall as a leaning post, shook his head, breathing hard.

"I'm not sure, but I don't really want to know." He peered intently into the darkness but couldn't quite make out if anything was silently approaching, so he headed back past her to the sliding door.

"Let's go before we find out."

They trotted through the sliding door into the next room, moving quickly down the corridor and ducking under the next door as it opened. They cut around the center slime pit in the entrance room, heading for the blue door.

Connor gave Kaveman the key card, and he slipped it into a slot on the wall next to it. They heard a click as some kind of tumbler mechanism unlocked.

"I'll take left again, you take right," Kaveman said. Connor nodded in agreement and pounded on the door, Kaveman standing ready.

It was short work to take the four imps and zombies out. Connor and Kaveman quickly flanked the two sides of an intersecting walkway that surrounded a small pool of ooze in front of them, and caught a small zombie patrol coming around the next corner to investigate the commotion. Reloading quickly, they both knew that the biggest test was just around the corner in the giant hall leading to the exit.

"Should we stick together, or not?" Connor asked.

"You stay with me," Kaveman said. "They'll take you out if you cut solo. At least the chaingun will give us some cover while you pick off the ones on the ground level."

Connor squeezed his shoulder and together they headed in. The huge two-story room was very dark; the illumination from overhead seemed to stop before reaching the ground.

Splattering the nearest imps, Kaveman cut right with Connor squeezing off rounds, taking out two barely visible zombies on the floor and then picking off an imp on the upper landing. Kaveman was catching imps as they showed themselves on the upper left.

Strafing across to a retracted staircase that split the room in two, he caught a zombie, who fell off the upper landing with a sickening thud, as Connor quickly reloaded. She skirted around Kaveman to the other side of the staircase and picked off two more zombies, then hit the ground as a flurry of fireballs flew over her head.

Kaveman was right on it, however, and sprayed the three imps across the upper platform.

Silence descended as the last echos of gunfire died.

Connor got to her feet as Kaveman came over to her.

"You ok?" he asked, giving her a high five.

"Hangin' in there," she said, feeling a little overwhelmed. She was surprised they were both still alive. Kaveman walked over to the retracted staircase and took a step forward, activating it. They both watched in wonder as the stairway rose out of the ground with a loud rumble. It stopped at the second landing, providing a way to get to the exit of this level.

"Almost there!" Kaveman said, feeling rather confident. A look of remorse crossed Connor's face.

"What's the matter?" he asked, seeing her expression.

She shook her head. "Naw, it's just that it's too bad we didn't get the yellow key before we left the computer room. We could get that other soul sphere and the blue armor."

Kaveman reached around her and into a side pocket on her pack, withdrawing the yellow key card!

Connor laughed as he held it up for her to see.

"You're a genius!" she said.

Kaveman bowed deeply in gratitude.

"It's about time someone noticed." he said.

They trotted to a secret door just outside the entrance of the big exit hall. Connor put shotgun to shoulder, poised to take out the imp that would be on a high upper platform when the door opened.

One blast sent the imp tumbling.

They climbed up a steep, curving, open stairway right next to the door, and turned into the upper entry, stepping over the dead imp. Sliding the key into the slot next to the yellow door at the top, they walked up a couple more steps and saw the blue armor and soul sphere lying on the ground of the next room, along with more ammo, medikits and an invisibility orb.

There was some sort of invisible force field containing the area, which overlooked an open

courtyard that stretched out into the night. Connor kneeled down and started loading up her pack with goodies, pausing to take a long swig from a water bottle.

Kaveman brought the blue armor, which was stronger than the green, over to her.

"Put this on," he said, taking the water she offered him.

"Naw," she said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve as he drank. "You're the frontman, you need it more than me. I'll take your green armor though, I'm getting sick of wearing my own blood on this one."

He looked at her, deciding, but Connor was insistant.

"Come on," she said, grinning, "if you get killed, who's gonna be around to save me?"

Kaveman reluctantly gave in, taking the armor from her, but deciding not to put it on just yet. He took off his pack and laid it and his weapons down on the ground, next to the armor. They were both tired, not having been prepared for actual combat to be so utterly exhausting. So far, they hadn't been able to find anything that remotely resembled food and their stomaches had been growling for a while now.

Kaveman watched Connor as she dragged his pack over to herself and continued to load supplies. Although she hadn't complained, he knew she had to be feeling miserable, especially after nearly being ripped apart earlier. They both needed to be in top form if they were going to face more enemies in the upcoming levels.

Kaveman strolled down the few steps leading to the yellow door. Connor looked up, seeing him leave the immediate area.

Kaveman came back a minute later with the yellow key in his hand.

"What's up?" Connor asked, concerned. Kaveman came over to her and crouched down beside her, slipping the key into her pack. He sat down on the ground and started slipping off his green armor.

He grinned at her, reassuringly.

"Go ahead and take off your gear, we're gonna stay here in this room tonight. I took the key out of the slot, so it's locked... We should be safe in here... I think we'll be ready to face the next area better in the morning."

Connor looked a little relieved. Kaveman lay back, resting his head on his pack, shifting till he found a comfortable position.

Connor shrugged out of her armor and boots, laying them to one side within reach and laid her pack next to Kaveman's. He looked at her as she collapsed on her side, facing him. She closed her eyes, sighing wearily. The whole day had been very overwhelming.

Kaveman threw an annoyed glance at the dim lights overhead. "I wish there was some kind of switch in here so we could turn those damn lights off..."

Connor opened her eyes a little. "Not me... I'd be too freaked out if it was pitch black in here."

She closed her eyes again, but too many disturbing images swam through her head. She sat up, aggravated. Kaveman lay quietly, watching her.

"Not sleepy?" he asked.

"Too stressed out, I guess," she said.

"I'm here if you need me," he said.

She looked at him for a moment, thoughtfully.

"Be careful," she said. "…I just might take you up on that."

Much later, Kaveman couldn't help quietly laughing. She glanced at him, curious.

"What?"

"You know how you asked me if I'd rather be in here with CG instead of you?" he asked.

"Yeah...what about it?"

Kaveman propped himself up on one elbow, looking at her.

"Maybe it would have been better after all…"

Connor sat up, suddenly, looking like she'd just been slapped in the face.

"What do you mean? I sure didn't hear you complaining…" Kaveman reached out and clamped his hand over her mouth, effectively shushing her before she could continue.

"Wait a minute, Connor…" he laughed, "you didn't let me finish!" Connor just stared at him, wide-eyed. He took his hand away, and Connor was silent, one eyebrow raised, totally confused.

"All I meant was…If I'd been in here with CG, I wouldn't be as exhausted as I am right now, that's all. I didn't mean for you to get upset." He grinned at her, apologetically.

Connor let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Geez, Kaveman!" she exclaimed. "Don't scare me like that!"

She curled up on her side, watching him with wary eyes. He could tell it was becoming a struggle for her to stay awake.

"I'm sorry, Connor," he said. "Forgive me?"

Connor nodded, feeling her eyes growing heavier. She gave in and closed them, her shoulders shaking as she couldn't help laughing to herself.

"You're such an asshole, Kaveman…" she whispered, grinning.

Kaveman smiled and started to lay back down, but stopped. Reaching over to one side, he picked up the blue armor, draping it over Connor's shoulders. She barely stirred. He watched her for a few moments, until he was certain she was asleep, then he lay down. Yawning, he closed his own eyes, feeling sleep swiftly start to steal over him.

"Goodnight Connor..." he murmured, allowing himself to finally drift off.

Connor sat up with a gasp, throwing the armor aside and making Kaveman jump, startled.

"What?" she exclaimed, eyes wide, instantly alert, alarmed at seeing Kaveman staring at her with his mouth open and an astonished look on his face. She was panting slightly, her heart beating in her throat, confused.

Kaveman, feeling his own pulse doing triple-time, gave a strangled gasp, which quickly turned into uncontrolled laughing as Connor continued to stare at him, uncomprehending.

Kaveman wiped tears from his eyes, cracking up again each time he glanced at her, incredibly relieved.

Connor started to get a little miffed at his glee, misunderstanding. "Geez, Kaveman..." she said, growling, "I know I don't look that great in the morning, but, come on..." She started to get to her feet, grumpily, but Kaveman grabbed her arm and pulled her down, surprising her by giving her a warm hug.

"Never mind," he said, chuckling. "It's hard to explain."

Later that morning, after they'd both washed up in a nearby restroom, Kaveman and Connor stood before the exit, geared up, rested, and ready for the next round. Kaveman, having been reluctantly forgiven for his outburst earlier, smiled wryly as he took Connor's outstretched hand and pressed the switch.

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