Paths Crossed

Chapter 5

Here's another one for my lovelies! Hope you enjoy it! And as always thanks to all those who review, favourite or follow my work! Love you all!

Aria tugged the NSO t-shirt Field had given her over her head and stared down at the picture she presented. The large black shirt fell almost to her knees but Field had assured her it was the smallest size he could find. Guess that made sense given everyone she'd met here besides the small female doctor was built like a tank.

With a wistful look at her now not-so-white blouse she reached for the hem of the t-shirt and gathered it into a knot in the front. Satisfied, she pulled her mid-thigh length black skirt on and slipped into the pair of flip flops Field had left for her.

Apparently in the course of being mauled by drunks and hit by a car she had torn and bloodied her work shirt, lost a shoe and her purse had gone MIA Her purse was the only thing that really worried her. Field had said it had probably been left in the SUV that had picked her up in all the commotion and had left her to change while he called security to bring it over.

She stuffed her ruined dress shirt in the garbage can beside the nightstand and hopped up to sit on the bed. She reached for the remote, figuring she'd watch some television until Field returned with her purse.

"May I speak with you?"

Aria gasped and slapped a hand to her chest as if she could catch the heart that was suddenly striving to break from her rib cage. "Oh my god! Do you guys ever make noise when you move?"

The dark haired Species Field and Shane had referred to as Ascension stepped slowly past the threshold, looking hesitant. "I'm sorry I startled you. I was just hoping you'd let me speak to you for a moment."

Aria stared at him carefully for a moment trying to figure out why he had returned. He hadn't seemed to like her very much the last time she'd seen him so why was he back? Slowly she nodded. "All right, just leave the door open."

Ascension glanced at the open door and back at her before what looked like a wince crossed his sharp features. He gave her a brisk nod and stepped farther into the room. He approached the end of the bed cautiously and stopped when there was still about eight feet between them. He glanced around the room, seemingly looking for inspiration, and she let the silence continue, curious as to what he was going to say.

"I need to apologize for growling around you earlier. It was ... an accident."

Aria blinked. That was unexpected. For some reason this man didn't seem the type to offer apologies lightly. She was just opening her mouth to accept when he continued.

"I was angered because you had been hurt and seeing you sitting there with bruises on your face bothered me. Than the other males were touching you and I was worried that they wouldn't use the proper care with your injuries and ..." The big male sighed and ran a hand through his hair before meeting her eyes head on. "I reacted badly. I'm sorry."

"I accept your apology. I'm glad it wasn't me that caused you to be so angry." Aria couldn't help the smile that stretched her lips even when it tugged painfully at her injured mouth. "Perhaps we could both use a do over."

Ascension cocked his head to the side, reminding her of a puppy intent on understanding its human. "Do over?"

"Yep. We'll completely start over. Like this..." Aria stepped toward him, putting her hand out to shake his. "Hello, I'm Aria. Nice to meet you."

Ascension stared at her hand for a solid minute before gently taking her palm in his. His fingers were warm and the skin was rougher than normal but his grip was careful as they shook. "Hello. My name is Ascension." He glanced down at their clasped hands before giving her a curious look. "Are we done over now?"

Aria couldn't help the chuckle that escaped at his question. "Yeah, we're good."

Ascension let out a breath he seemed to have been holding and smiled shyly at her, his lips carefully sealed to cover his fangs. "Good."

Aria let go of his hand and stepped back, retreating to sit on the bed. Ascension was a big man and his presence was kind of overwhelming to her senses. "I actually wanted to thank you."

"Thank me for what?" Ascension asked, looking puzzled again.

"Field told me you were one of the ones who brought me here after the accident. I just wanted to thank you. I don't really remember much of what happened but I do know there were men in that alley that were chasing me when I ran out in the street. If you guys hadn't taken me with you who knows what would have happened."

Ascension stepped forward slowly, walking past her to sit in the armchair that sat in the corner of the room. "There was no way we could have left you behind. No Species male would ever have left you so undefended."

"Well thank you anyway." Aria responded quietly. She stared at her hands in her lap, unsure where to go with this conversation. Ascension sat across from her and she could feel his steel colored eyes roaming over her skin.

Seemingly decided on something, the big male sat forward, opening his mouth. "Would you..."

"Turn on the TV!" Field ordered, interrupting Ascension as he raced into the room. His hair was disheveled and his complexion appeared paler than normal.

Aria held up the remote and gestured to the television which was showing an old sitcom rerun. Field crossed the room in three long strides and took the remote she offered, flicking the channel to a news station. He turned up the volume and the three of them stared at the screen.

Aria blinked as a picture of herself flashed across the screen before the news anchor took over again. "Police have finally released the name of the woman in the video and have requested anyone with information on the whereabouts of Aria Dawn Keegan to call the number at the bottom of your screen." A telephone number flashed along the bottom of the screen as the news studio's image was replaced with one of a group of people gathered in the street among the dark of night. The video was shaky but it obviously showed a group of large men dressed in black surrounding the figure of still woman on the ground.

"Our sources say that the vehicle involved in the hit and run was one belonging to the New Species Organization but the NSO has so far refused to comment." The news anchor droned on, turning her feed over to someone else for their 'expert' opinion on the relation between the NSO and the hit and run kidnapping video.

"Oh my god..." Aria breathed slowly, stunned. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The video looked pretty bad but they had it all wrong. How could the situation been so blown out of proportion like that?

And that video, the only ones close enough to catch that would have been her attackers. She tried to remember if one of them had had their camera phone out but her recollection was fuzzy at best.

For that matter, how did they get her name? She was suddenly getting a sinking feeling that her purse wasn't in the SUV that had taken her to Homeland.