Last Hope

4: Past Memories

After finding a discarded keycard and gaining access to a locked office, Eric thoroughly searched the office while Leyla settled herself on the floor. The chip in the back of her neck itched, making her skin crawl and she used her nails to lightly scratch the raised skin.

Eric joined her and held out some food he had found in the bottom drawer of the desk. She took it and the two sat in silence eating and taking in their unfortunate situation before Eric sighed.

"In your memory, I saw you being harassed by Sam," Eric spoke, not turning his head towards her. Leyla watched him and leaned forward, trying to meet his eyes to see what he was thinking.

"Which time?"

Eric's head snapped towards her and she could see the anger sparking up in the darkness of his eyes.

"He slapped you." Eric forced out through gritted teeth as he watched Leyla.

"I remember that. He was so pissed that hadn't made time to cater to his every need." Leyla scoffed, her eyes briefly leaving Eric's before returning.

"No one ever did anything?" Eric questioned and Leyla's eyes saddened.

"They tried, but he has a lot of say on Chronos," Leyla explained and she swore she heard a low growl come from Eric.

"That doesn't mean..."

"I know. He was an asshole Eric, he wanted to break me down until I was nothing and when I was down he would beat some more. He wanted me to himself but I would bury myself in my research and never give him what he wanted." Leyla explained, interrupting Eric.

Leyla watched as Eric visibly relaxed and she lightly nudged him with her shoulder. "You were military before coming to Chronos, I saw that in my memory of you." She said, changing the subject from herself.

" I was and then I decided to come up here, work on fixing errors in the structure of the station. I didn't realize I would be fighting for my life again but on a different playing field." Eric said as Leyla pushed some of her brown hair from out of her eyes.

"Extra-terrestrial life, they always mess up everything," Leyla said, resting her head back against the wall. Eric flashed her a small smile before doing the same, meeting her brown eyes that peeked out from under heavy lids.

"Get some sleep, I'll take watch," Eric instructed, receiving a mumbled response from Leyla.

Eric shifted in his position to get comfortable, listening closely for any threats that might be approaching and keeping his eyes on the door just past the desk.

He was caught off guard when he felt a weight on his shoulder and looked down see Leyla's head resting there, her disheveled hair falling into her face. Her fingers lightly dug into the long sleeves of his shirt as they clutched his arm. He could feel the connection between them lightly sparking to life, but it faded soon after.

Eric turned back to the door as he heard muffled clicks closing in and shifted the shotgun in his hands.

It was later on in Leyla's slumber when a loud shriek jolted her from her sleep, the darkness spiking inside as her eyes searched for a threat.

"It'll pass," Eric spoke, gaining her attention. Leyla's head snapped towards him and noticed the tired look in his eyes when he met her gaze.

"Let me take watch." She offered, but Eric refused. "You're tired, you need to rest." She argued and he narrowed his eyes at her, but she didn't back down. Leyla gave him a glare of her own and watched as his own faded as the corner of his mouth twitched slightly upwards.

"Fine." Came his response and Leyla beamed at her victory before watching him readjust so that he was laying on his back.

Leyla focused all her attention on watching the door and noting how loud the sounds that passed by were, seeing if the creatures were aware of their hiding place or not.

However, it wasn't the monsters that caught her attention later on. Leyla's head snapped towards Eric when he began to talk in his sleep, his chest rising at an uneven pace. She slowly moved towards his sleeping form and saw his eyes shifting underneath closed lids, while his words became frantic.

Moving onto her hands and knees, she rose her right hand up to his cheek and allowed the back of her hand to run over the stubble there. In an instant, Eric's hand jolted up and clasped her wrist in a tight hold. In his eyes, Leyla saw the familiar panic that had plagued her days and nights for as long as she could remember, and she forgot all about his tight hold on her wrist. She stayed still, waiting for him to wake up from whatever memory he was reliving and when he did, his hold loosened.

Eric abruptly sat up, almost knocking Leyla over as he did, and stared into her soft brown eyes. He looked down at his grasp on her arm and immediately let go, meeting her gaze again with eyes filled with concern but he didn't find her in any pain.

"Are you alright?" She asked softly and Eric tilted his head away from her gaze, running a hand through his hair and lightly pulling at the tangles.

"Yeah, it was only a...dream." He managed out, lightly shaking his head as the memory tried to make a reappearance.

She gave him a comforting smile before moving to her feet, her hand coming up to flick the hair out of her eyes as she towered over him. "I think the way is clear."

Leyla outstretched her arm out towards him, offering him her hand. He took it and she helped him to feet. Eric picked up his shotgun and moved past her as Leyla armed herself with the pistol, following behind him willingly.

"You ready?" Eric asked as the two positioned themselves near the door.

"For anything," Leyla replied firmly, a fire in her eyes as she motioned for Eric to make the first move.

Eric smirked and looked into the determined brown eyes of his partner. "Stay close."

"Always."