PW The Girl Heero Couldn't Resist
DIMENSION: HERO’S WORLD
Roxie turned to the door and saw two people she'd never seen. One of them looked like a normal man, but the other was a girl with black spots in her long hair. She covered her mouth.
They were projects.
“The girl Hero couldn't resist.” The man grabbed her along with the other girl. “Rumor is he can't control himself around you. There's no project stronger than him, but with you? He could finally be killed.” He grabbed her hair, pulling it violently. “You're coming with us.” Then he gave her straight to the girl project.
“No.” Roxie struggled against them. “Never.”
The other girl let go of Roxie. She strolled over to the kitchen cupboard and opened it. Her parents were tied up inside. Roxie yelled toward them, but they were both unconscious.
“Pay attention, and be good.” They both chuckled as they dragged her out of the house.
What were they doing? Roxie was stuck in the middle of the road, at least ten projects surrounding her. For ten minutes, she was stranded out in the summer heat. Her body was getting sweaty with the female project both holding onto her hands.
Then, Hero came. He landed hard, hard enough to crack the cement. He approached quickly, but took a step back as he made contact with her. He seemed to actually stumble back, surprised. “Roxie?”
“No need to be formal,” one of the projects laughed. “Roxie Malone, the last of the Z's. Lucky you. Or unlucky you.”
Hero looked to his sides and watched at least ten projects gather against him. “Really? You would stoop this low to beat me?” He grabbed one of them and launched them into the nearest trashcan. “I'm not a pushover.”
“Not that faraway, but come closer.” The project with the spotted hair pulled out a knife against Roxie's skin. “You can take us and save yourself. Or, you can save her, and kiss everything goodbye. I know which one you'll pick.”
He muttered damn beneath his breath. What was to decide though? Roxie was being threatened with a knife! Why was he afraid to get close? Why did the projects want him closer? Roxie watched him take a long, deep breath. Then, he ran to her. In moments, she was freed. Hero had pulled the knife away, shoving it into the belly of the spotted project threatening her.
He didn't hold her long though, and quickly backed off to fight the others. Roxie was now free, but several projects were surrounding her again. While she watched them, her eyes kept shifting back to Hero.
His body twisted, flipped, and kicked with such power. No one moved like that. Her mind wanted to pay attention to the projects around her, while something else just wanted to watch him. She kept herself focused enough to begin to run as a project chased her.
Hero had ran back toward her, grabbing the project after her, and flinging him away again. Then, he tried to leave again to further projects.
He was fighting, but watching out for her at the same time. Roxie tried to run again, but two more projects tried to stop her.
“You may not be my type,” one of the men replied as they sniffed at her. “But I can learn to deal with a polite ma―”
Hero crashed right into his jaw. He took a few seconds to deal with the other project around her.
Wouldn't it be easier for him to stay around her? Then again, maybe this was the reason. Her smell. Had her smell attracted projects on the date Hero had paid for and it was covered up?
Or something else. What was it about her already!
The last project stayed right beside Roxie, refusing to move.
“Come over and get me,” he squealed in excitement. “Come on, Hero, you aren't afraid to get me.”
“You're a coward, hiding behind an innocent civilian.” Hero still kept his distance, but the project was right beside Roxie.
“Or a genius,” the project commented. “Come on and tell her the truth. Tell her what she is.”
Hero took another deep breath and came behind Roxie, trying to take care of the last project. The project stepped on his foot causing him to breathe deeply. He smacked the project to the ground, hard. Before it was all done though, Hero had cuts all over his arm.
“I'm so sorry,” Roxie whispered to him. “I don't know why they chose me.” She reached out, inclined to help with his arm. He shirked her off. “Sorry.”
“No. I'm s-sorry.” Hero held his nose, hoping she moved back soon. Stupid pheromones. “I'm . . .” He reached out to her arm and rubbed it. He still couldn't help who he was inside. “You're hurt.”
“Yeah. A little scratch,” Roxie admitted. “My parents are in the tall cupboard in my house. Did you save them?”
“Yes, we've got them,” Bose answered.
Thank goodness he wasn't far. Hero could get away from Roxie soon.
“Everything is fine,” Bose assured her. “You get on home now. Hero, can I have a word?”
Back in the official territory meeting headquarters, Hero had his head on the desk. He didn't even do anything wrong and everyone was coming down on him.
“That was dangerous!” Bose shouted. “This scent is like a poison, it corrupts you. Not to mention her memory can become useless. How could you risk getting near her? She is a liability to you.”
They would never understand. Hero lifted his head toward Bose. “I can't ignore her because of her danger to me. She was made for projects, I can't ignore that.”
“She wasn't made for them. She is a normal civilian,” one of the other territory owners said. “What if her parents find out what's been going on?”
“She was in danger!” Hero shouted right back at them. “The enemy knew she was a weakness. I took care of them, but they were right. She is a weakness. We have to fix this.”
“We've been through this,” Bose said, “you cannot own her to fix this.”
“I know,” Hero yelled back, this time with a choke. He sunk his head to the table. “She was in danger. What was I supposed to do? She's still in danger. Someone else will figure it out. Others will come soon.” How could he make them understand? “If I could just keep her safe behind glass or something while we figured this all out?”
“No. If we could have done something legally to restrain her, it would have happened before this.” Bose folded his arms. “You said it yourself, she was held against her will by other projects, and none of them tried anything. She may have been a Z, but she is a citizen. She isn't like others, so you don't have to fight or bring her in. You need to leave her be.”
“They'll do it again.” Hero stood up. “They'll do it again and you know it.” He glared at Bose. “I will save her every time, and I don't care what nature does, I am a hero first.”
“It makes you happy,” one of the female officials said, “that you have an excuse to stay near. You probably are just waiting for another project to go after her.”
“Don't you say that.” Hero approached their round desk. “I don't want to ever see her hurt.”
“You don't even know her. You're just infatuated, like a school teen on a crush,” Bose reminded him, “and that will land you in trouble.”
“Then I'll land in trouble.” Hero pushed himself away from their desk. “Whenever she is in trouble, I will come. You want to minimize the risks? Then start setting some safeguards around her,” he yelled as he headed out the door.
Roxie looked through any information she could find online and off. After the incident, she asked about some of the things the project wolves brought up. Adopting children through regular channels was tough, so when she came up as a 'special case', they took it. Neither of them had any information about where she had come from.
So, this Project Z thing? It could be her. A project. Disgusting, vile animalistic things. Some were more beast than man. The only one the world appreciated was Hero. However, Hero was nice to her. More than that, he was so extra kind, even in his eyes. No more glare existed against her.
Roxie sighed. There wasn't much information about any alphabet for projects. Most information was kept confidential, but she was endangering her parents with what she had been.
Roxie jumped when she heard a sound. She turned off the computer, and checked outside. Three dark untagged vehicles. Roxie knew her neighbor's too, those cars couldn't be theirs. “They're coming again.”
Her parents were out right now for their anniversary. They wouldn't be back until tomorrow morning. She was alone in the house, with three cars she didn't recognize. She had to get out of there. Roxie grabbed a dark jacket as she snuck out the back door. She heard car doors slam. They were after her. She took a shortcut through the alley, wanting to get to Alexandra's house.
“So, what are you doing out at this hour?”
Uh oh. She turned and saw two wolves, both waving tails in the darkness. She started to run, but it didn't take long before they knocked her out.
When she woke up, she was in the hills somewhere. A sort of den with men all around her. Some looked human, while others had streaks of animal signs. Large teeth, pointed ears, and manes. Some were not even transformed, being their true wolf selves. Roxie tried to stand up, but the men were nearing to her closer. Why hadn't they just killed her, were they laying another trap for Hero?
“Oh, one of you beautiful things survived. I haven't seen a Z in a long, long time.” He reached out and touched her cheek. Her heart was beating fast, what was going on? “I remember my mom, one of the most beautiful Z's ever. You are the best, only worthy of a leader.”
“What?” Roxie pushed him away as the wolves gathered closer. “Leave me alone, get off!”
“Don't worry, no one will get near enough but me, so you'll just be mine.” Roxie began to scream for help, but the leader covered her mouth.
It was quickly uncovered though as that leader project went sailing through the air.
Hero went in and knocked everyone out quickly. Roxie couldn't see well in the dark, but she knew that white fur. “Hero?”
“What are you doing out here?!” He scolded her, but took several steps back, like he was allergic to her. “Leaving your house this late at night. Don't you have any common sense at all?”
“There were three cars I never recognized in front of my n-neighbor's house,” Roxie said. She wasn't in the mood for a scolding, she was still shaken up. “I know my neighbor's and their families. They wouldn't be caught dead in something of that class.”
Hero banged the fence. “Smooth. Three dark cars?” Roxie shook her head yes. “They were supposed to be surveillance. I told them to watch you.” He took another step back. “I've got to go. I'll inform them where you're at, it's not far.”
“Wait!” Roxie called, rushing toward him and grabbed his paw before he could leave. “What is a project Z? They called me that earlier today, and these wolves you just knocked out? That leader said his mother was one, and he wouldn't let the others get too close. Why?”
Hero groaned, trying to make her lose her grip. “Get away.”
“Get away why? I'm just a regular citizen, but you keep running from me,” Roxie countered as she hung on tougher and grew closer. “Am I a project wolf? I can't transform. How could I be one? And if so, why haven't you tried to take me to jail?”
“You haven't done anything wrong. I don't hunt projects because of what they are, it's what they all do.” Hero raised his other paw slowly and moved a strand of hair out of her face. “You're harmless.”
“How do you know that?” Roxie's voice was getting heavier as she grew closer. “What am I?”
“You go with project wolves.” Hero's paw touched her cheek. His voice hesitated on the last part.
Roxie stared at him. Here in the dark, she saw his eyes glow into a golden color. “Your eyes glow.” She reached her hand toward his muzzle. Roxie was hesitant, but she placed her hand on his soft, white and furry head.
“I told you once, but you don't remember. You won't remember.” Hero turned to rub his head gently across her hand. “Has anyone told you that your eyes glowed too?”
Roxie could only stare at him, barely hearing his words.
“Where are your parents?”
“Out, they won't be back tonight,” she said truthfully.
Hero looked around for Bose. When it came to keeping him out of trouble, he was someone Hero could depend on. He couldn't leave Roxie out in the dark, but he was too close. He did not want her nature to work on them.
Hero was only worried Bose's team wouldn't be good enough, so he wanted to check on her. Which turned out to be the correct instinct, considering Roxie was out there in a den of project wolves with one of the stupid alpha leaders! That so-called security never bothered to even leave the car. They didn't know anything, not enough to defend her from others.
“For your own good, I'm standing a little ways away,” he said. “I'll follow you back home. Then you should get in bed and go to sleep. I'll watch over your house tonight. No one will come back.”
“For my own good?” Roxie shook her head. “Fine, for my own good I guess?” She trotted back home, and Hero was only a few steps further away. Close enough that he could handle enemies, but not close enough that she could reach out to physically touch him.
When Roxie reached her door, she turned to look at him. “My parents anniversary is tonight, so they rented a hotel and won't be back before morning. Will you please talk to me about whatever is happening? I mean, I was surrounded by eleven projects. They could have killed me, but they never did?”
Don't. He couldn't. But she was all alone in a big house, and she didn't know anything. Her whole body was shook up because of those other wolves. “Okay.”
As he went into her house, her smell was all over. He dreaded going to her room.
“My computer is in my room. I've been looking at search terms like project and alphabet,” Roxie confessed. “There's nothing about any alphabet at all.”
“It's classified.” Hero's voice was already getting heavy, and his spirits were stirring as he entered her room. He strolled a few feet from her, looking to her computer. “The alphabet is nothing people need to be aware of. The worst beasts are the A's, but they tend to be clumsy and stupid. The longer the alphabet letter, the more intelligent and humane they become.” Hero sniffed the room against his mind's will. Her scent was all over. “Most of the X's were still too bad to handle, and most of the Y's were destroyed before the project wolves were released.” Hero kicked his hind leg against the computer chair, angry with himself for starting these feelings again. She was so nice to snuggle with. “The Z's should have been gone too.”
“How?” Roxie asked. “Why are they all gone?”
“Project wolves ganged up on each other, not everyone could get along. Didn't care so much about the same thing.” His eyes wandered around her room. There were posters and wall frames of wild animals. Her room was painted with spots, and the border on her wall was striped like a zebra. Even her bedding, it had a large primal tiger over it. She must have sensed the connection, but didn't understand it.
“But you survived?” she pointed out. “You're the strongest and smartest of everyone.”
“Strong, yeah, I was what was always wanted.” Smart though, not exactly. At least not around her.
“Okay, but I'm attached some way to you,” Roxie said as she moved over toward him. He moved away to the side of the bed instead. “How?”
“Your scent.” He had to be honest. “Project wolves are attracted to your scent.”
“So, pheromones?” Roxie sniffed the air. “I don't smell anything.”
“No, but don't do that.” Just because she couldn't smell anything, didn't mean it wouldn't affect her.
“So it was my scent? You actually smelled me all the way from the bridge?” Roxie asked again, moving forward. Hero moved backward a step, but ran out of room. He jumped on top of her bed. “I'm just trying to understand.” She gestured to his spot. “I'm not trying anything, and I'm not bad. You said so yourself. Why do you keep backing away? What's wrong with me?”
“Don't you get it?” Hero groaned. “Woman, what do you want to hear? You are creating a fake illusion to the senses, making projects feel like you are their mate. No, those wolves didn't kill you. They'd die protecting you if they got close enough, because you feel like their mate, and yes even I feel it! The closer I am to you, the worse it gets.” He sniffed the air, then regretted it again. “I cannot afford to have any crush or love interest so stay away from me.”
“I've never heard about smells doing that, even pheromones.”
“It's not natural, projects aren't natural, it's all experiment,” he admitted.
“But you've never done anything and you've been closer.” Roxie sniffed the air too. “I don't get it.”
“You don't remember.” She was too close though. “Back off, Roxie. There's a second part to it.”
“You act like your so familiar with me.” Roxie didn't back up. “Almost like I've known you my whole life. Your like my best friend or something? Does that have anything to do with it?”
“Sort of. Just.” Hero looked over at her bedroom door. Maybe he should separate from her now?
“You feel so familiar to me.” Roxie reached out and touched his paw. “Why? I would have only been maybe three or so? I don't remember anything. Did we know each other?”
“No, it's the other part of the problem. It works the other way too, when you stay too close for long.” He should remove her hand from his paw. Tell her to back up, but he gave her plenty of warnings. “That feeling you feel, it's the same as a project wolf with it's mate. We hardly know each other, but our connection is so strong, we'd die for each other.” There, he said it.
“I . . . it's so strong. I just want to hug you.”
“Yeah, I know, you nestled with me before,” he told her. “You don't remember that though because you aren't supposed to. You need to choose one proper mate to release your memories.”
“Oh.” She smiled. “I choose you. You are so wonderful. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Hopefully, I mean?”
He shook his head. “Hopefully not. It won't happen, I don't need another project in my life, good or bad.”
“Oh.” She reached around his neck for a quick hug. “I am going to miss you. Even though I don't even know you. It's so strange.”
“Don't hug me, you are losing it again.” She's such a sweet hugger. “Get in bed and stay there.”
Hero wished it didn't have to be this way. That after this, she would purr and snuggle up next to him. That he could actually go on a real date with her. Movie. Popcorn. Laughing.- A sound?!
Hero quickly jumped down the staircase. He growled on all fours, poised and ready for a fight. Her parents were scared stiff as they opened the door, yelling in fright and dropping their keys. “What are you doing here?”
“What are we doing here?” Roxie's mother having come to her senses took off her coat. “There is only one white wolf, you are Hero. What are . . . you doing here?”
“Project wolves came after your daughter.” He didn't need to lie. In fact, he was thinking hard. He'd never met her parents face to face. This might be exactly the excuse he needed. “Your daughter was used against me not long ago, and you were out all night leaving her behind?”
“Number one,” her father started in on him. “It's our anniversary, and we planned this for some time. Not only that, but we were worried, so we cut it short this year. Number two, we aren't any better at fighting than her. She has a surveillance team watching for her outside.”
Hero chuckled as he jumped to the counter and stuck his nose on the windowpane. “That surveillance still doesn't know she left this house, that I saved her, and that I've been in here with her. They aren't any match for a project wolf.”
“Boy, there were useless then.” Her father tossed his coat onto a chair. “Then what do we do?”
“She wants to know about project Z.” Hero watched their expressions as he jumped back to the floor. “Did you two know she was a project?”
“She's not a bad person,” her mother chimed in quickly. “She isn't a wolf. She can't even transform.”
“I didn't say wolf. Did you know she was a project?” Hero repeated himself. “Well?”
“Yes. She was small though, and if we nurtured her correctly, she would be fine,” her father countered. “No one ever knew before, why now?”
“That's classified, as is the information she wants.” He tapped his paw on the wall. “She is an extremely rare project and she is in great danger. Regular security detail isn't enough.”
“Then what?” Her mother asked.
“She should be put in a stable area, and I can give her the information she wants,” he said.
“I don't understand. What could you tell her that would make these project wolves leave her alone?” her father asked. “Why are they even bugging her?”
“That's classified,” Hero said again.
“Fine.” Her mother nodded toward her father. “That sounds best, and she deserves to know who she is.”
It worked. This time, Hero would be ready. He could talk to her without them being under the influence of each other. He'd let her understand the truth once and for all, and the pieces would fall where they had to in the end.
“Mom?” Roxie said from the stairs. She moaned. “What are you doing here?”
“We were a little worried about what happened yesterday,” she admitted. Roxie came down the stairs and stretched by the counter like a cat. “Are you okay, dear? No bad dreams?”
Roxie chuckled pleasantly. “No, I woke up feeling kind of funny, but I'm okay.” She scratched her head and noticed Hero. “Thanks for the help, I think? You helped me with something?”
Hero really tried not to smile back, but watching her stretch using the counter didn't help matters. He moved away from her to the other end of the room behind the counter. He transformed quickly into a human, but behind the counter, it wouldn't offend. He grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper nearby, and wrote down a number. “This number is Bose's, he's an official territory leader. He works with me on the most classified projects. He'll come and bring her safely to me for our conversation.” After that, he changed back to his wolf form, and headed out the door.
Bose didn't make much eye contact the whole trip. Truthfully, Roxie felt like an inconvenience herself, but Hero had recommended she have a private talk to him. This would be some talk though. She felt more like a criminal as she walked into the police station. There was no one around, but Bose led her to one of the areas to talk to people in the jail. Hero was there sitting down, holding the phone on the other side of the glass.
“Before we begin, you will need to sign this,” Bose said to Roxie as he handed her a paper and a pen. “Anything that is discussed between you and Hero is not to become public knowledge, and cannot be held against him. To break this contract, there would be some nasty damages, that, frankly, your family could not afford short from winning the lottery.”
That didn't sound good at all, but Roxie wanted to know what she had to do with project Z. She signed the paper and then grabbed the telephone. “Hello?”
“Hello.” Hero smiled, yet at the same time his eyes looked sad. “How are you, Roxie?”
“I'm okay,” she answered, “I just want to know about project Z.” She knew that she should have been more polite, but she really wanted to know. “I can't find any information about it.”
“You won't.” He held his hand up against the glass as he spoke through the telephone. “This time, you'll remember when I tell you. Then it will be by your own choice what should happen.”
“Are you talking about project Z?” she asked.
“In a second.” Hero took his hand off the glass, making a stroking motion with his hand against hers. “If you decide after you know to leave, then I won't stop you. The choice is yours, when you fully understand it.”
“I don't understand.” Roxie said shaking her head. “What choice is fully mine? What are you saying?”
“You're not a wolf, but you are a project. You are known as project Z. You were created to be a mate.” He stood up in his chair. “Not like the act, but to be . . . listen, wolves mate for life. They take one person as theirs. You were created to have that happen, but with any project wolf close to you.”
Roxie covered her mouth in shock “I don't understand.” She grabbed her head. “Why? What do you mean a mate?”
“You're the last of the Z's.” Hero tried to speak more, but she wanted to get up and run. It sounded terrifying so far. “Relax. I need to explain what happens when you get near a project.”
Roxie took a deep breath. “Okay, I'm listening.”
“The first reaction is the illusion that you are actually their mate. They will feel in love with you, and they will be willing to protect you even with their own life,” he said. “The second reaction happens to you as you stay close to their vicinity. You will feel similar to them, like you know them, you love them, and you would give anything to stay near them.”
This wasn't romantic at all. This was terrible.
“I have told you all of this before, twice,” Hero admitted. “You don't remember because your mind is part of it too. Since you were designed to be the most loyal mate to a project, you aren't allowed to harbor feelings for others. Your mind erases the time you were with one, to the point you only remember meeting them.”
“My memory is affected too?” Roxie felt her stomach turn. “You've told me all this before, and I can't remember. So? Does that make me the same around you?”
“Yes,” Hero admitted. “We both have the same weaknesses. You now know everything you have before. Now I must tell you one more thing, and it's something I haven't told you yet. It will be the hardest to hear.”
Roxie wiped her eyes. She felt legs tremble, knowing that she had already heard some scary things, so she didn't know what could be worse. “Tell me.”
“Your mind is influenced by your future selection,” Hero said. “Your future selection happens when you stay around the same wolf a prolonged period of time and your memories are released. Every Z was considered not only beautiful and loyal but brilliant. Able to stand mentally on any ground, for any project.”
“What does that mean?” Roxie was trying to understand.
“It means if you choose a Project A, you would hiss and growl like an animal, but be loyal. If you choose a Project D, you would have a little talking ability, but nothing compared to the standard you use now.” Hero put his hands together. “To keep the males happy, the females minds would be naturally matched to the abilities of her chosen mate.”
“But that, is that naturally, or experimental?” Roxie asked. “Does that just happen, or did whoever make this happen . . . fix the Z's afterward?”
“I don't know, but you should know that if you dwindle and see humans as nothing more than meat, I will kill you,” Hero warned her. “If you have children, and they are primal, then I will kill them. In this way, I could be your worst future enemy.”
Roxie covered her eyes. She didn't want to hear any of this! A thing? A thing to be loyal to projects? She banged on the glass wall. “So wolves want me thatn? Am I a target?”
“Yes,” he said honestly to her. “Your scent is getting stronger, and it will eventually attract even more projects. The fact is that you will at some point have to accept a wolf or a pack as yours. To choose this, you will need to stay in their vicinity. That is also a difference with Z's, a whole pack could take care of you. It would be like a pack of husbands instead of one.”
“Never.” No way, nuh uh! “There must be something I can do.”
“Roxie.” He lowered his voice. “I can't watch out for you forever. Your choices are limited on what will happen in the future.”
Roxie dropped the phone in her hand. No. She lowered her head, and her voice went dry. She took a moment for herself, trying to understand what he said. She didn't know how much time passed by before she picked up the phone again. “I have to choose someone?”
“Yes.” He bit his lip, hard. “I cannot just put the world on hold and watch over only you, to make sure you are safe and sound in your ordinary life. I am a hero, I am out there defeating projects and saving the world.”
“So even though you said I had a choice in my actions, I really don't!” she yelled at him.
“You have the choice to choose right now. You don't have the best choices, but even a V would help you speak properly afterwards at least.”
Ugh! No wonder he wanted her here. It was harder to scream and run off in a police station. “Roxie.” She heard his voice through the phone slightly, but she had pulled it away from her ear. “Roxie.” She held it back up, but her tears were too thick to look at him anymore. She didn't care what else he had to say now.
“If you stay loyal to me, you will not a free life, but your mind will stay at the level it is now.”
She lifted her eyes toward him.
“I am the only choice to stay as you are, but I can't watch out for you. You will be locked up on my property, but I would―”
Nothing in the world could have stopped her from getting out of that police station.
Hero stood there, watching the phone dangle. “ . . .I'd do everything in my power to cure you.” And let her go if he found it. He hung the phone back up. The next move was now hers.