DISCLAIMER: Cleo and all her friends from the TV show Cleopatra 2525 do not belong to me. The are the sole property of Studios USA/Renaissance Pictures. I just borrowed them for a while, purely for non-profit, of course. The following story (excluding the stuff I used from the episodes to set up the plot) is property of the author. Do not duplicate, archive or link to without the authors' consent.

RATING: R

WARNING: This story has alot of flirting and although it contains no sex...you can tell they'll be heading that way in the future. This story also has a little gore, some questionable language and suggests violence. If you think any of that will bother you, go away. ;)

The trip back to the lab was a relatively silent one. Sarges mind whirled. She wondered what she would say to Hel...and what Hel would say to her. Sarge knew why Hel had got so upset but she hoped that she'd had enough time to cool down and to maybe begin to see things from her perspective. And she hoped that what Hel had said about her intentionally putting the team in danger was said out of anger and frustration rather than her real feelings. She hated fighting with her comrad, but they were so much alike that it was inevitable.

And then there was Cleo. The girl had definitely grown on her these past few months and she was beginning to care deeply for the her. 'A little too deeply,' she thought.

Cleo lagged somewhat behind Sarge, although never letting the woman out of her sight. She still wasn't used to the underground and preferred not to traverse it alone, unless out of necessity. And Sarge had been a necessity. Hel couldn't have just let her run off angry and alone. Hel would've went herself if Voice hadn't insisted she leave immediately to retrieve the information disk, but Cleo was glad that it ended up being her, and not Hel, that went after Sarge. 'Those two just needed a time out,' she thought. 'I'm sure everything will be fine once we get back to the lab. I'm sure Hel is back from her mission and has cooled off by now.'

Since they found her all those months ago they had done nothing but protect and care for her. They had made her a part of their team, their 'family'. She cared about them alot. But she had often wondered about the extent of their relationship. Of course, she would never ask but she assumed there was a little more than friendship involved. Which was no big deal really except....she could've swore Sarge was just flirting with her! And while she did find Sarge attractive she didn't want to step on any toes...especially Hel's.

"She'd kick my ass big time," Cleo said aloud, but quietly enough so that Sarge wouldn't hear.

"Cleo!" Sarge yelled. "You coming?"

Cleo was so wrapped up in her thoughts she hadn't even noticed that she had fallen way behind. Sarge had stopped and was waiting for her. Cleo hurried to catch up. They were just about to the lab, standing at the ledge directly across from the holographic wall entrance. This was Cleo's least favorite part of shaft travel. No matted how many times she had done it, swinging towards what looks like a real wall was totally unnerving. 'Plus I always fall on my butt! Oh well...here goes nothing,' she thought as she raised her gauntlet ready to launch the web thingy.

Sarge, who was watching Cleo out of the corner of her eye noticed the slight grimace on the girls face. She knew Cleo hated this part and that she always made a less than graceful entrance into the lab and she had to suppress the urge to laugh. Instead she grabbed Cleo around the waist and effortlessly picked her up and said "Hold on tight!" and launched her web.

Cleos arms instinctively wrapped around Sarges neck and she held on for dear life as they swung towards the entrance to the lab. They landed inside, both on their feet.

"And that's how it's done," Sarge said as she set the girl down and unwrapped her arm from Cleo's waist.

"Impressive," Cleo said with a huge grin. The girl then turned on her heels began to head towards her room. "My behind thanks you ever so much," she called out to Sarge as she slowly and deliberately swayed her hips from side to side.

"Nice behind," Sarge mumbled under her breath while chuckling and shaking her head.

"Uh, you say something?" Cleo stopped and turned her head to glance back at her friend still standing by the lab entrance.

"Yeah, I said anytime!" Sarge lied. Then she watched as Cleo headed into her room.

Sarge paced the lab in a frustrated silence. What could be taking Hel so long? It was a simple retrieval mission and according to her calculations based on the information provided by Voice, Hel should've returned hours ago.

"Are you still awake?" Mauser asked as he entered the main part of the lab. He had been in one of the back rooms, working on strengthening the teams sheilds. Mauser had become a valuble assest since Hel had reconfigured his betrayer programming. Granted his model of betrayer was outdated, but he still possessed a great deal of technical knowledge and was very important to the team.

"Mauser, somethings gone wrong...I just know it. Hel should've been back by now. I'm going after her." Sarge stated.

"Not without me you're not," came a sleepy voice from another room. A few moments later, Cleo stepped out into the lab, sheilding her eyes from the lights with her hand as she yawned. The girl had been so tired that she had fallen asleep with her clothes and gauntlets on.

Sarge looked at Cleo with astonishment. She hadn't been talking that loud, she had made sure to keep her voice down. She knew Cleo didn't sleep well and she was relieved to find the girl sleeping when she had checked in on her a while back. She didn't want to disturb the little sleep she managed to get here and there.

Cleo, seeing the questioning look on Sarges' face said, "Did I ever tell you guys, that when I do sleep, I'm a really light sleeper? OK, so when are we leaving to find Hel?"

"You're not going Cleo." Sarge stated as she checked her gauntlets to make sure everything was working properly.

"Um, excuse me?"

Sarge looked up. "You're staying here. Look, I don't know what's going on but I don't have a real good feeling about this. I don't want you in the middle of whatever trouble I may run into."

"No, you look...Hel has risked her life for me and I'm not gonna just sit around when she could be in trouble." Cleo said emphatically. But her words fell on deaf ears. Sarge was ignoring her.

"Hello...did you hear me? I said I'm going with you."

"No!" Sarge simply said, not even bothering to look up.

Cleo walked over to where Sarge was standing and stood there in front of her, arms crossed, foot tapping, waiting for her to look up and acknowledge her presence. Finally, when Sarge was satisfied that every gadget on her gauntlet was in proper working order she looked up into Cleo's waiting gaze.

"Did you want something?"  Sarge asked sarcastically. But that didn't even phase Cleo.

"She's my friend too," Cleo said softly. "Am I a part of this team or not?"

"You know you are Cleo."

"Well?"

"Well...I guess you'll be needing this back," Sarge said as she reached her hand down the front of the tight fitting shirt to retrieve the laser she had taken from Cleo earlier, which was now nestled in her cleavage. Cleo tried not to glance downward. But as hard as she tried, it seemed her eyes had a mind of their own and she found herself looking ever so quickly at Sarges' chest. Cleo had wondered why no one in the year 2525 seemed to believe in pockets anymore!

Sarge was watching Cleo's face, and found it amusing that she was turning several shades of red and that her eyes kept darting to and from her chest. Oh how Sarge loved being a tease! But what she wanted to know was whether Cleo was watching intently because she was anxious to get her laser back and get going....or if there was something else the girl wanted. But there would be time enough to find that out, Sarge thought to herself.

When Sarge finally had the weapon in hand she reached down for Cleo's right arm, raised it up and re-attached the laser. She also checked to make sure her shields were working OK. She didn't want to take any chances...she had to be sure Cleos' gaunlet was working as well as her own. And only when she was convinced of just that did she let go of the girls arm.

"You ready?" Sarge asked.

"Let's see....laser, CHECK......shields, CHECK ...web-thingy shooter, CHECK! Yep, I'm ready!"

"Ah, just one question Cleo...."

"Shoot!"

"Exactly."

"Huh?" Cleo cocked her head slightly to the side and looked quizzically at Sarge.

"Shooting," Sarge explained. "Your laser....unless you've been getting lessons from Mauser on the side, you've never even shot that thing."

Aw, come on....how hard can it be? Just point and shoot. Besides, I saw Star Wars 17 times. I'd like to think I came away with a little something."

Sarge didn't bother to ask. She was used to Cleo's strange sayings and references to things she called 'movies'. Instead she said, "Come on. You're not heading off into who-knows-what not knowing what to expect when you fire your laser. But this is gonna be one quick lesson, then we have to go find Hel."

"Cool, a crash course in laser fire!" Cleo said as she followed Sarge out of the lab.

They went into a back section of the lab and thru a very narrow crevice into a large room that Hel and Sarge often used for training and target practice. Cleo looked around as Sarge set up the targets for her to shoot at. The room was sparce. A few bars hung from various places on the walls and ceiling and there were, what looked to Cleo like weights scattered around on the ground. Then there was a large round metal frame with a rubbery material stretched across the top.

"Hey... a trampoline! You guys didn't tell me you had one of these! No wonder you guys can do all those really cool flips." Cleo said. "When are you gonna teach me stuff like that?"

"First things first. Come here," Sarge ordered.

Cleo walked over to where Sarge was. She had set up targets along a natural rock shelf that had formed. There were large round pieces of plastic and tall discarded pieces of pipes of all different shapes and sizes. They were about 50 yards away from them and Cleo was startled when Sarge fired without warning and hit one of the targets with ease.

"Now you try," Sarge said as she turned to Cleo.

"OK. Like this?" Cleo asked as she aimed her gauntlet toward the target.

Sarge came up behind Cleo and put her left arm around her waist to steady her. Then, with her right arm she guided up Cleos' arm up while gently saying in her ear, "First you have to steady yourself, stand with your feet slightly apart." She let her own leg nudge Cleos' legs apart until she was standing square. She felt Cleo's slight intake of breath at the contact and was glad Cleo couldn't see the sly smile on her face. "The lasers have a little bit of a kickback when on a high setting," Sarge said into Cleos ear as she tightened her grip around the girls waist. "You want to be prepared and stay balanced. Then you take aim...line up the shot....and shoot." Cleo fired and she thought it was a good thing Sarge was holding her because she really wasn't prepared for the force that accompanied the blast. Her shot didn't come anywhere near the intended target and she dropped her arm, discouraged.

Sarge gently lifted her arm back up and said kindly, "that's OK...try again...now you know what to expect."

Cleo fired off a couple more shots, growing more and more confident after each one. She even managed to hit a few of the targets. She was so into what she was doing she didn't even realize Sarge still had hold of her around the waist until she heard, "great job, Cleo" spoken into her ear. The words sent a shiver down her spine and she became all too aware of the closeness and found she was disappointed when Sarge pulled away. Cleo could no longer deny it, she was attracted to Sarge. 'Get a grip Cleo...she's off limits,' the girl thought to herself. She hoped Sarge hadn't notice the trembling going on throughout her entire body.

Sarge had to admit she was impressed. In just the few moments she had been working with the girl, Cleo had picked up, and was pretty good with, the basics of laser fire. She was a natural and with more practice, Sarge didn't doubt she'd be as good as her and Hel. She made a mental note to work with Cleo when they got back and chastised herself for having not done it before. Besides, she had rather enjoyed the lesson. But first things first...and that was Hel.

Cleo turned to Sarge after admiring her handiwork with the laser. "Not bad for a beginner, huh?" she asked.

"Not bad at all," Sarge replied with a smirk and a slighlty raised eyebrow. "Come on, let's go find Hel.

The two women headed back into the main part of the lab. Sarge looked expectantly at Mauser. "Any word yet?" she asked hopefully. Mauser just shook his head. Sarge crossed over and took one last look at the directions that Voice has sent for Hel. The retrieval point was not far from a bar that she had been to on occasion. It was just one level down from there. She knew about where they were going which made her feel a little better, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"Come on Cleo," Sarge called and the two girls walked out the holographic door and began a freefall down towards the lower levels.

Level 23 section 4. They were there. It was dark except for some strange phosphorescent plantlife which cast out an eerie, dim, blue-green light. Both Cleo and Sarge could hear the music from the bar which was one level up. Cleo turned to Sarge, "She had SO better NOT be up there having a drink and kicking back while we're down here in this creepy ass tunnel looking for her!"

But Sarge didn't hear her. Her eyes had spotted something on the floor and she went running over and crouched down to get a better look. Cleo saw her reach her hand down and tentitively touch a dark spot on the ground, then slowly lift it back up.

"Oh no! Oh please NO!" Sarge exclaimed, sounding frightened.

"W-w-what is it?" Cleo asked with big eyes and a quivering voice. She hadn't like the sound of Sarges voice and was not expecting good news.

"It's blood. Alot of blood." Sarge stood up, still staring down at the blood which covered her fingers. Then her eyes caught a glimpse of something metal glimmering in the blue-green glow and she slowly crossed the space between the object and her and then stooped ever so slighly to scoop it off the ground. She turned to Cleo with an look of incredible disbelief and horror and said "It's the Voice receptor."

Cleo closed the distance between them in seconds and she took the small metal cylindrical object into her hands She immediately recognized it as the Voice receptor, for she had held it in her hands once before......the time she had extracted it from Hel to save her life. She looked over at Sarge and began to cry. "What are we going to do?" Cleo asked.

"Maybe voice knows what's happened to Hel...who did this to her,' Sarge said, anger beginning to replace fear and sadness.

"But we can't hear Voice! And can she even hear us??"

"I think she can hear us....but we can't hear her unless....," Sarge started and let her voice dwindle off as she looked at Cleo. She knew what she was about to propose was barbaric but there was no other way.

She saw the way Sarge was looking at her and knew exacly what she had in mind. "You want to put that thing in my head, don't you?!" Cleo asked, knowing full well what the answer was. She knew they couldn't waste time going all the way back to the lab when Hel was very obviously in serious trouble.

"We can't put it in me, it would interfere with my eye and I won't be of much use to either of us if I can't see," Sarge explained and hoped Cleo didn't think it was some lame excuse. The truth was she would cut open her own head and put the receptor in there herself if she could. But she couldn't and that left Cleo. She had half expected to have to argue with the girl but Cleo surprised her again but turning sideways and saying, "Hurry up before I change my mind."

"You'd better sit down," Sarge told her and guided her towards the wall. Then she sat down next to her and took a small laser tool from her gauntlet. "Turn your head sideways and place it against the wall, I don't want you to move when I start cutting or you might end up with out an ear," Sarge tried to ease the mood ever so slighly. She then placed her left hand against Cleo's head to press it to the wall to keep her still and before Cleo knew it, Sarge used the laser and quickly made a small incision behind her ear just above the jawline.

Cleo let out a cry of agony that Sarge felt tear right through her soul. She hated having to inflict this kind of pain on someone she cared so deeply for. She wanted this to be over as quickly as possible so she immediately slipped the receptor into Cleo and used the small laser's lowest setting to cauterize the wound. Cleo passed out and Sarge layed her down onto her lap. She took comfort in the fact that when it came time to remove the receptor from Cleo and return it to Hel, Mauser would be able to do it painlessly. And they WOULD return it to Hel. 'She just has to be OK,' Sarge thought. 'She just HAS to be.'

"Cleopatra....," Sarge called out soflty. She was cradling the girls head and gently stroking her hair. "Cleo....wake up."

Cleo opened her eyes and an excrutiating pain shot through her head. "Owww! Did someone get the number of the truck that just hit me?"

Sarge smiled a quick smile of relief. She didn't know what a truck was and she didn't care...she could tell Cleo was OK by the return of her strange sayings. She helped the girl sit up but didn't let her go.

"How are you feeling Cleo?" Sarge asked.

"A little dizzy....and my head hurts...but other than that, I'm alright."

'Cleopatra, is that you?"   Can you hear me?

"Voice?" Cleo asked.

Cleo turned to Sarge, "It's Voice!" she said.

"Ask her what happened to Hel," Sarge demanded.

"Voice, do you know what happened to Hel?" Cleo asked and held her breath awaiting the answer.

'Yes.....Raina has Hel,' Voice said.

"Well??" Sarge was growing impatient.

Cleo reached out to take Sarges hand.

"Sarge....., " she began then paused, then started again. "Raina has Hel."

In that instant, Cleo saw a hatred ignite in Sarges eyes.....a hatred so intense it frightened her. And then Sarge spoke in a cold and angry voice, "We are going to find Hel and when I get my hands on Raina....I'm gonna kill that bitch."