Dr. Snip

'I'm sorry Angel, I was sure you had chosen the bed nearest the View screen.' He whispered back. 'Excuses, excuses, you were going to ravish me weren't you, you bad boy.' 'No, it was just a mistake, I'll get out and get in the other bed.'

'OK then I forgive you, but as a punishment you will have to leave this here for me to play with.' and she gave her prize a gentle pull, before sliding down under the covers. Steve gave up and accepted his punishment like a man.

The next morning he got up early and was dressed in his new gear so it was the first thing she saw as she emerged from the bedroom. She was putting the final touches to her hair when she saw him and stopped in surprise. 'Hey, big boy don't you look good, where did you get that?'

'I just popped over to New York last night and picked it up' he replied offhandedly secretly hoping to impress her with his achievement. He was about to tell her the whole story when he noticed her face had lost its colour and with a scream of rage she threw herself at him.

The next thing he knew was that he was being held up at arms length and she was slamming him against the nearest wall screaming at him in rage. 'You stupid, stupid fucking Bastard, stupid, stupid, stupid,' with each 'stupid' he was slammed hard against the unyielding steel.

He tried to loosen her hands from his jacket but they were like steel clamps and her eyes were blazing with fury, and surprisingly tears were running down her face. He decided to go limp and hope she would think he was unconscious, but before he could try it she threw him across the room onto the bed by the view screen. Angel collapsed to the floor hugging herself and rocking back and forward as the tears ran down her face.

Angel was terrified; Steve had been jumping across space, from the moon to New York City and back as if it was nothing. There were a thousand ways he could have been killed, and it would have been her fault. He obviously didn't take her seriously.

It must be because they were lovers that he was dismissing her warnings so cavalierly. A sharp pain seemed to rip through her as she realised the only way to do her job and keep him safe was to end her sexual relationship with him.

She suddenly realised what the expression 'Broken Heart' meant, she had felt her heart break at the realisation of what she must do. Angel also had answered her own previous question, did she love this hairy primitive stupid arsehole of a man, and yes she did. Fuck him, fuck all men.

She got up and walked into the bathroom where she spent an hour composing herself, and repairing the damage her tears had done to her face. She took a deep breath and opened the door, to find that Steve had wisely left the room.

Steve had watched in horror as she had sat and cried after hurling him away from her, he had never seen Angel cry before, and certainly not in such a broken hearted way. She suddenly stopped crying and with a cold expression on her tearstained face got up and went into the bathroom.

'I'm in the shit, I don't know why but I'm certainly in deep shit,' he thought to himself. Steve didn't have a lot of experience in these matters but he knew enough to realise that his best course of action would be to make himself scarce until things cooled down.

He painfully stood up and crept out the door, every bone in his body hurt. Hobbling down the corridor he made his way to John's quarters, luckily John was in and Steve was invited in to join him.

John was shocked to see the state Steve was in and assumed that he had been in an accident. Steve didn't know if John could get Angel into trouble with the WTO so he told him he had fallen down some stairs. It was a pathetic story, as in a sixth gee environment such a fall wouldn't hurt an egg, let alone a big strong man like Steve, but John accepted it without a murmur.

He allowed Steve to freshen up in his bathroom, and then they went to a nearby bar for a drink. Steve was surprised that alcohol was readily available on Selene, but John just ordered him a brandy and joined him in sipping it as they chatted about Steve's century.

An hour and six brandies later Steve had told John the truth about his dice with death and that he had upset Angel badly, Angel found them chuckling together over an old earth joke. Steve was drunk and gave no protest as she picked him up and half carried him out of the bar and towards the Portal room.

The Portal engineers wouldn't allow a drunken person to use the device so she had to take him back to their room to sober up. All the time she was dragging him around he was apologising to her, he kept saying that he was sorry to have made her cry. Worst of all he kept on telling her that he loved her, over and over. She finally had enough of listening to his babbling and taking his QT from him, locked him in their room while she went for a drink herself

John was still at the bar and she joined him for a drink, her choice was Vodka and she threw the first one down her throat so fast she didn't taste it, she then had a few more to keep John company. John had taken a liking to Steve for some male reason that she didn't understand, and the first thing he did was to ask her why she had beaten Steve the way she had.

'It was for his own good,' she replied tersely. 'You know he loves you, don't you?' 'He loves my tits and ass.' 'You know he was nearly killed last night?' 'Yes I do, the stupid arrogant bastard, if he had only listened to me it wouldn't have happened.' She spat.

John was clearly puzzled, ' did you tell him not to visit the Lunar Lander, why would you do that?' 'What Lunar Lander?' I'm talking about him jumping to Earth the stupid Fuck Pig Bastard.' She replied.

'Whoa, Angel, I think you are confused, Steve was nearly killed when he visited the Lunar Lander exhibition on the surface last night. The dome was holed and he was trapped in the dome with no way out. From what you have just said he was lucky to have a QT on him, he must have panicked and jumped for the best known place he could think of, his home.'

'How was the Dome holed, a micrometeorite?' 'We wish it was, but we found footprints outside the part of the Dome where the hole was, someone deliberately tried to kill him.' Angel put her head in her hands and sat quietly for a while. It was just possible she had misjudged the situation and been a bit too hard on Steve.

'I can accept that he may have jumped to Earth to save his life, and I could forgive him for that. However, why the fuck did he then jump back here again?' she asked John coldly.

'I asked him that, he said he didn't want you to worry where he was, and he was afraid you would be attacked next, so he took the risk. As I said before, he loves you, and he wanted to be here to protect you' John replied gently.' Have you never done anything foolish for the one you loved?

'I've never loved anyone in my whole life,' she answered sadly, ' I wouldn't recognise love if it bit me,' she lied. Much to Johns surprise Angel reached up and kissed him, 'Goodbye John and thank you for everything.' She walked out of the bar and back to her room.

Angel felt that she could breath again, the crushing bands of tension had relaxed around her chest and she even felt a small smile trying to manifest itself on her mouth. It had not been his fault after all; the poor baby must have been terrified to be trapped on the Moon with his air whistling out like that.

Some bastard had tried to kill him; she would rip them to pieces if she got her hands on them. Nobody would hurt her man while she could help it, nobody. When she got back to her room Steve wasn't there, her heart jumped into her throat in anxiety, she called his name and to her total relief he answered from the bathroom.

'It's OK 'she said 'I just wanted to know where you were, take your time in there.' 'I think I'll stay in here till we leave the Moon,' he said through the bathroom door. 'Are you sick?' She asked with concern. 'More scared than sick, I must confess.'

'You don't have to be scared now, I'm with you.' 'At the risk of sounding like a big Jessie, It's you I'm scared of.' 'What, you don't have to be scared of me, I wouldn't hurt you for the world.' 'Tell that to my bruises.' He groaned

Angel suddenly remembered slamming him over and over against the steel wall and felt such a rush of remorse that tears again filled hers eyes. 'Steve please come out, I'm so sorry that I hurt you, please I want to see you.' The bathroom door slowly opened and he peeped out at her, the moment he saw she was crying he threw himself towards her and swept her into his arms, hugging her tightly.

'Don't cry again Angel,' he begged, 'I'm so sorry for hurting you really I am I won't ever do it again I promise.' She hugged him back and felt him gasp as his aching body protested at such treatment. She sat him down on the bed and removed his clothes to see the extent of his injuries.

She was dismayed to find that his entire back was covered in bruises, as were his arms where she had thrown him across the room. 'I'm so sorry Steve, I didn't realise I had hurt you like this, what must you think of me?' She said sadly. 'Hey, I'm a big boy you know, I'll get over it.'

He said bravely. ' Oh by the way, I didn't say anything silly when I was drunk, did I?' 'You were muttering to yourself a lot, but I couldn't understand any of it I'm afraid,' she lied. 'Good, I rarely drink at all and I probably talk a load of bollocks anyway,' he explained.

Angel rubbed some pain killing cream onto his back and arms and he relaxed as it eased the pain in his body. At her prompting he told her all about his adventure in the dome, and how he had acquired the protective gear before coming back. 'Why did you come back here?' she asked quietly.

'You could have been next on their hit list, I came back to look after you of course.' He said as she rubbed his back. Steve felt warm drops hit his naked back, 'what's that your putting on me now, It's nice and warm whatever it is, I love you rubbing it in.'

Angel let her tears fall onto his poor bruised back and gently rubbed them in as he asked. They waited until the cream allowed Steve to get dressed and move without groaning, before they again attempted to leave the Moon. There were no problems this time and they walked hand in hand through the Portal and back to Earth.

This time it was Earth's gravity that saved his life, weak as he was, the moment his legs felt the six times pull he simply collapsed to the floor. He thought he heard a vicious crack as something brushed his hair, before he banged his head against the hard floor.

He must have been concussed because he could have sworn that he heard Angel screaming like a banshee, and tearing someone to pieces. Arms and legs flew everywhere and to top it all he definitely saw a severed head roll past his eyes. He thought it best to pass out, and did so quietly.

As Angel stepped out of the Portal she saw a sudden movement in the waiting crowd, a shot rang out and Steve went down, she went insane. The military boost slammed into her body as she went ballistic.

Before the assassin could even lower his gun she was on him, her fingernails glowed as the monofilaments on their leading edges cut through the molecules of dust in the air. She didn't register the fact that she was screaming so loudly that all in range had to put their hands over their ears to protect them.

The military boost used every weapon possible, and its hard for an enemy to fight you with their hands over their ears. The assassin however didn't have time to put his hands over his ears, as she first cut off the hand that held the weapon, along with his entire arm.

Before they reached the ground, his other arm was following them down. His legs went next, and as his torso fell towards the floor his neck met her hand coming up the other way. Angel's hand sliced through the assassin's neck, and she saw his head bounce away across the floor.

Finally the boost cut out, and she collapsed unconscious onto the cold floor of the concourse amidst the pieces of her enemy. Angel awoke to the feel of kisses on her face, and looked up to see Steve with a silly grin on his face beaming down at her.

He was sitting on the floor cradling her head in his lap and stroking her hair. 'Welcome back princess, I wondered what was happening for a minute, but I should have known you would be alright.' 'Are you OK?' She asked exhaustedly.

'I'm fine I just couldn't take the change in gravity so suddenly, so I fell down.' He bent over and kissed her again, 'Sorry about kissing you so much but I just love to kiss you, and this has been a good opportunity to do it without you telling me off.'

She reached up and pulled his head down so she could kiss him back, 'I thought you were dead, I saw the gun too late and then you fell and I lost it totally. The boost should only be used for a few seconds at a time otherwise it can damage the users body.'

'Guess what, It was a robot that shot at me; there are bits of it all over the place. I thought that robots weren't allowed to hurt people.' He complained.

He was babbling on a bit but she forgave him, 'Steve, get me out of here please, take us to someplace safe for a bit till I get my act together.' Steve thought for a second and asked Merlin to take them both to a place he remembered. DONE.

Chapter Nineteen Seven Veils.

Angel woke up in a clean warm bed; above her were old wooden beams and the pillows smelt nice and fresh. She could hear Steve's voice from a distance, he sounded calm and unthreatened so she relaxed and carried out an internal diagnostic.

The rest had done her good and she was back in the green on all systems. She released a general purpose stimulant into her blood and felt herself reacting to it. Her implant recorded the fact that she was now in the year 1943, she researched the time period and swotted up on all the things an agent has to know to blend into a timeline.

She heard Steve approaching accompanied by the chink of cups and saucers, she smiled as he came into the room carrying a tray of tea and biscuits. 'Hello beautiful, how are you feeling?' He asked with a smile. 'Fine, where are we?'

Steve told her about the pub he had stumbled upon during his first jump; he had thought it would be a good place to hide. Steve had arrived at the Pub with Angel in his arms unconscious, and wrapped in a big blanket.

He told them that there had been a raid in London and his wife had been hurt by the blast. They needed a place to stay until she recovered, the barmaid remembered him from his first visit and escorted them to a guest room upstairs, where they put Angel to bed. Knowing that her cat suit would be a dead give away that they were not from London, he told the Landlord that the bomb blast had ripped his wife's clothes to pieces.

Steve had to go into town and buy all new for her; the barmaid accompanied him into town and chose the right sizes for him, they were in the wardrobe awaiting her recovery.

Angel sat up in bed and enjoyed her tea and biscuits, while listening to Steve chatter on about the war and associated things. 'What time is it Steve?' She asked. 'It's half past ten at night,' he replied. 'No it isn't, it's bedtime, come and join me please, I need you.'

The next morning Angel was up and dressed early, and they were both eating a full English breakfast in the small area of the pub set aside for bed and breakfast guests. Steve loved his bacon and eggs, although as a single male he normally made to with toast in the mornings.

He watched with delight as Angel demolished her breakfast, he had never seen her eat so much. She explained that the boost used up her energy extremely fast and her body needed all the help it could get to recover. She was dressed for the period and she looked a knockout.

The barmaid was a large bosomed girl herself and she had chosen a dress that made the most of a big girls assets. On the moon Angel had tied her hair up to save it getting in the way, but now it was left loose and fell down her back, it was just wavy enough to remind him of a waterfall made of gold.

'Steve, can I ask you something?' She said. 'Anything.' 'Would you climb the highest mountain for me, if I asked?' 'You know I would.' 'Would you swim the deepest sea?' 'With lead boots on,' he smiled. 'Would you give me your toast?'

The other guests looked up in astonishment as the large man at the corner table suddenly laughed out loud, and passed his share of toast to his wife. Steve watched as she finished off his breakfast as well, she delighted him; he couldn't get enough of her.

He was trying his best not to fuss over her too much like a young lad with his first real girlfriend, but he loved her so much that it hurt to not see her. After breakfast they went for a gentle walk in the country to get some fresh air and discuss what their next step should be.

Steve had brought a blanket and they sat on it by a small river and talked. Steve didn't know how to bring the subject up gently, so he just asked her straight out. 'Angel, although I was a bit stunned from banging my head on the floor, I'm sure that I saw a beautiful young woman ripping a metal robot to pieces.

I know you have this boost thing, but that just makes you move quicker. How did you take apart that robot so easily?' He was dreading that she might tell him that she was some kind of cyborg, or indeed a robot herself, although as he had made love to her more than once he was sure he would have noticed if she was.

Angel had been waiting for this question since the attack and had considered various replies, ranging from the very technical to the one she had decided on using. 'Pass me the spoon please Steve,' she asked.

He handed her the metal spoon and watched as she held it up in front of his eyes. He jerked back in surprise as her fingernails began to glow, she gently brushed the spoon with the edge of one fingernail and the spoon was neatly cut in half.

'It's all done by a monofilaments and nanosurgery, I've had them implanted into the leading edges of my fingernails. They are retractable and can cut through almost anything. The glow is caused by dust molecules being cut apart as they blow into them.' She clarified.

Steve had a worrying thought, 'Angel the first time we made love by the pool, apart from wearing me out totally. You also scratched my back pretty thoroughly, why am I not in pieces like that robot?'

Angel leaned over and stroked his face with her fingers, to his credit he didn't flinch. 'They are retractable, and they stay that way unless I consciously need them to deploy, you never need worry about my hurting you, I would rather die.' She finished by kissing him soundly.

'While your being so forthcoming, could I also ask you about love in your century?' He asked cautiously. 'Sure, fire away.' 'You told me that recently your social life had been non-existent and I understand why, but how about before you got involved with the B.T,O.

Have you ever been in love with someone. For all I know you could have been married and divorced and have children somewhere. Angel lay back on the blanket and considered his question carefully, this was going to be difficult to answer. She would have to pick her words carefully unless she stepped on one of his taboos.

'Without trying to avoid your question, we will have to be sure we are talking about the same thing here. What does a twentieth century man mean by saying he loves a woman?' 'That's easy, it means that he thinks about her all the time, he wants to be with her.

He obviously wants to make love to her, and eventually give her his children, spend the rest of his life with her, and if necessary die for her without hesitation.' Steve replied confidently, he had thought about this for so long that he had it down pat.