Bacchus

Pietr didn't get to take many vacations as Premier. The job kept him extremely busy. He also rarely got to visit his daughter and her new family in Garroon, but he'd made time for that a few months back when the twins were born. Bran and Ashley were beautiful, perfect babies, and Pietr had shed tears of joy over them and his daughter. He was reserving his judgment on Dale as the man... well, no father thinks a son-in-law is worthy of his daughter.

Today he was visiting the second island in the chain, which was just a little smaller than the first but was less accessible because of its rugged coastline, the dangerous reef encircling it, and its single small bay with a beautiful crescent-shaped beach of fine black volcanic sand. Densely jungled, it had a huge bowl-shaped valley in its center with a crystal blue freshwater lake. Pietr loved this island more than the one his enclave was built on. As isolated as it was, it was perfect for a day of soaking in the sun and unwinding. The security detail on the boat he took to reach the island ensured their presence was as unobtrusive as possible as Pietr enjoyed his solitude during these breaks. Once they arrived at the island, two soldiers took him in to the bay with a dingy that they moored up on the beach before they slipped into the jungle's shelter to stand guard unseen. There was a huge umbrella on the beach and a few lounge chairs.

Pietr set his small beach bag down and kicked off his sandals. He went for a walk along the shore, feet in the shallow cool waters, feeling the fine sand squish between his toes. The small waves swooshed back and forth, and he felt a calmness settling over him. After a short time, he turned and made his way back. He was looking forward to getting back to his book. He'd visited this beach on the two prior days and found it to be the perfect place for him to lose himself in a delightful story.

As he made his way back, he saw today he would not be reading. He had company. A few minutes later, he reached the umbrella. He smiled down at the tall beauty with the long-toned limbs whose bikini showed off her sensual curves as she relaxed on the big lounge chair under the umbrella. Long, straight, ebony hair flowed down over mocha skin, and sunglasses hid her almond-shaped dark brown eyes.

"Hello, Bailley."

"Hello, Pietr."

"I'm glad you came to visit me today. I was beginning to wonder if I was alone on this island after all. Besides my escort, of course."

"It was time," was all she said.

There was a sound of shrieking laughter, and a young woman burst out of the jungle to run towards the water's edge. She wore a huge grin on her youthful face and wore a small bikini. She had a pail and shovel in one hand and waved shyly at Pietr with the other as she ran by. Kei was growing quickly and was excelling in her studies. She was on a break from school and should be in the care of... ah, there she was.

Hobbling out of the jungle onto the sand, Sasha's face and torso were soaking wet. Her bikini wasn't much more than a few string pieces and some stamp-sized patches of fabric. Pietr looked away with a blush. He noticed she was grimacing as she moved slowly towards them.

"Little urchin dumped a pail of cold stream water on me!" she growled as she carefully settled herself on a chair in the sun. She nodded to Pietr, then leaned back and sighed happily.

Pietr looked back to Bailley. "How are the accommodations? Do you need anything?"

"We're good. The peace and quiet are really refreshing," Bailley replied.

"Dull, you mean," Sasha mumbled.

Bailley gave a gentle snort but looked away before Pietr could ask what that meant.

The silence went on for a bit, and Pietr cast a few glances back towards the trail. He knew Asami and Rhonda were here as well, but maybe they didn't feel like a visit. Rachel and Sarah had moved to Garroon to help with the woman's shelter and found the men in the area to be quite entertaining. They were both being courted by a collection of local men the last Pietr had heard. Vicki and Van hadn't been available to join their friends.

He took a seat on his lounge and pulled out his book. He began reading but gave up after a few minutes of reading over the same line repeatedly.

"How... how is he?"

Bailley looked at Pietr, and even through the dark lenses of her sunglasses, he felt the intensity of her stare. His mouth went a little dry as he waited for her to respond.

"Oh, for fuck's sake Bailley, will you please let the man off the hook? Pietr didn't kill Bron!" Sasha barked.

Bailley looked at Sasha, and her nostrils flared with her anger. Sasha just looked back at her, daring her to make a move. Bailley finally took some deep breaths and calmed herself.

"He's a little better every day," she finally said, though Pietr had to strain to hear her.

Pietr was going to ask another question when he caught motion with the corner of his eye. A dark-skinned beauty was sauntering out of the jungle, her lush curves squeezed into a skimpy shimmering black bikini with gleaming gold rings. Rhonda was looking back and holding someone's hand. Asami also appeared, looking back. The alabaster skin of the petite Asian contrasted shockingly with her companion's chocolate brown coloring, as did her bright red bikini.

The last member to step out of the jungle's shade was huge compared to the two women guiding him out onto the sand. Massively muscled, blue-black skin of fine scales, shimmering iridescently in the strong sunlight.

Bron. Impossibly alive.

He favored his left leg. The sand gave him trouble. He relied on the women to guide him to the chairs.

He was wearing his goggles again.

Asami and Rhonda nodded to Pietr, who had risen to his feet when the three approached. Bailley was also standing and held out her hand to Bron. He looked in her direction and smiled. He took her hand, and she helped him sit on the extra-large lounge chair she'd been using. Once he was down and comfortable, Bailley snuggled in next to him, resting back against his broad chest.

"Bron. You are looking well," Pietr said with a smile.

The large Genie looked at him with a smile. "I know you," the deep voice rolled out slowly.

Bailley took his hand and raised it to her trembling lips in a supportive gesture.

"Pietr... Ry... Rykov!" Bron's smile grew wider.

"Yes, Bron, exactly," the man said with a pleased grin.

"His memories are there. They just take time to resurface," Bailley said quietly.

"That's wonderful! Astonishing, really!"

"He remembered what to do with my ass last night!" Sasha said with a wicked grin.

Pietr blushed, and Rhonda glared at her. "Yes, we all heard that last night. I wouldn't be surprised if every soldier on the army base from the neighboring island heard you!"

Sasha laughed loudly, which turned into whimpers and wincing, triggering chuckles from Rhonda and Asami.

Bailley was watching Bron, who hadn't looked away from Pietr yet. She worried her lower lip with her teeth. Visual clues often helped him regain blocks of memory. He'd had some dramatic breakthroughs when the gang arrived on the island a few days back.

"You're important..." Bron whispered, looking at the man.

"He's Walla's Premier, Bron. The most important position on the planet," Rhonda explained.

He shook his head slowly. "No, he's important... to me." He raised a hand to his forehead as the pressure built.

"Remember what I said, baby. Don't fight it. Open yourself to the experience. Let them flow over you. Don't try to make sense of them as they arrive. Butterflies."

Bron nodded to Bailley as the others watched. He lowered his hand and rested his head back. It was difficult to relax as it felt like he had an annoying itch in his brain and the pressure hurt at the same time. Their code word, butterflies, was a visualization exercise. A kaleidoscope of butterflies landing inside his brain is how he accepted the images flashing through his mind. He did his best to just let them settle into place and move on without-- "OH!"

"You... you saved me from Bacchus!" Bron's face showed his shock as the cascade continued. "You-I-" Bron's head dropped forward as he lost consciousness.

Pietr jolted. "Should we do something?"

"He's overloaded," Sasha said. "He'll come out of it soon. He did that when I showed up as well."

Tears ran down Bailley's cheeks as she clung to his hand. She climbed off the lounge and had Rhonda and Asami help her lower the chair's back so Bron could rest. Then she walked away down the beach, wiping the tears from her eyes. The two ladies went with her, talking softly.

Pietr watched them go and felt a deep sadness in his heart. He'd met Bailley when she'd arrived from her flight back from Garroon. He'd personally given her the news of Bron's death. He never wanted to witness such pain and anguish again. It destroyed the woman. The damage he'd done to the fragile woman that day still hadn't healed.

Kei came back up the beach to sit at Bron's feet. She looked at Pietr, and he smiled at her.

"Mr. Rykov, may I ask you a question?" the young girl asked.

"Certainly."

"No one speaks of what happened to Bron. I found videos of the news conference online and watched them. They all show the same thing. Bron died. You can see it in his eyes." She looked over at Sasha, but the woman looked away. "They won't tell me what happened next. They won't tell me how or why he's alive today."

Pietr looked over at Sasha, but she wouldn't face him either. He considered what Kei was asking and why the women were behaving as they did. To acknowledge death is not a simple thing. It's saying goodbye. Maybe they just weren't ready to do that. Especially since they miraculously got him back. No one understood why or for how long. To acknowledge he'd been taken is to accept he could be taken again. He nodded to the girl, whose expression was showing frustration.

"You're right. Bron died. I was there, and I saw it happen right before my eyes. I can still feel the spray of his blood and flesh against my skin. It was an absolutely horrifying experience that to this day gives me nightmares." He took some deep breaths to calm himself and saw Sasha shiver in reaction to his words. He continued because Kei deserved an answer.

"The mini rail gun used to fire the metal pellet through him was extremely powerful, and his body sustained a terrible injury. Terrible enough to stop his heart. He stopped breathing. Everything stopped. The Chief Medical Examiner was there that night and pronounced him dead. Yet he came back. When the chief coroner retrieved his body to do the autopsy, she discovered he was breathing once more. His heart was beating." Kei's eyes were wide with wonder.

"The only reason the doctors could come up with for his survival was that none of his major organs were directly damaged by the pellet. From previous hospital stays, we knew the autonomous healing mechanisms in his body are very efficient and quick, but this... no one should have survived what happened to him. It's too bad Gregory Taggart was killed as learning how he designed Bron might give us the key to human longevity and a host of other medical miracles."

"What happened to his mind? He did not remember me at first when we arrived," Kei asked quietly.

"His brain stopped being fed oxygen for a time. That these memories are coming back at all is yet another miracle. He should be a vegetable. Without being dropped to very low temperatures, a human brain can't endure more than ten minutes without oxygen before irreversible brain damage occurs. Each of these miracles makes the Confederacy's Scientific Community demand he be handed over to them for medical experimentation."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Sasha yelled as she glared at him.

Pietr smiled at the woman. "Don't worry. There is no chance of that happening now. The people of Walla now consider him a symbol of their tenacity, endurance, and strength. He selflessly gave his life to save their Premier, and Walla gave him his life back. That's how our spin doctors have been playing this, and the people are eating it up. He's part of Walla now. Binding him to the planet and its people finally gave him the acceptance we needed to protect him. He died for them."

"Was this your idea?" Kei asked, and Pietr looked into her smart, curious eyes.

"I wish I could say it was, but no. The idea came from Angelina."

Bron jerked awake. "Angelina!" he rasped and looked around in confusion.

Sasha stood ignoring her cramps and hobbled over to Bron's lounge to raise the back so he could rest back against it in a seated position. He reached over and casually lifted her up and onto his lap.

She hissed when her ass came into contact with his legs. "Easy! It will be a few days before you get another ride!" she growled.

Bron blinked at her, and then he smiled. He kissed her cheek, and she pushed his face away, but she couldn't completely hide the smile that flitted across her face. Kei saw it as well and grinned at her.

"Don't you have some water to splash in?" Sasha growled at her. The girl rolled her eyes theatrically and, with a smile at Pietr, rushed off down the beach to inform the others that Bron was awake.

"How much can you remember now, Bron?" Pietr asked.

The big Genie looked at the man with a puzzled expression. "There is no way to say. I have no gauge to tell me how much is missing."

Pietr blushed in embarrassment. "Of course. Forgive my stupid question."

"It's all right. I-I remember being on Bacchus. I remember protecting Angelina from the workers, and I remember you saving me from being sent to the fighting pits. I don't recall if I thanked you for that."

"Yes, Bron. You did."

He nodded and absent-mindedly nuzzled Sasha's ear. She trembled, then pushed herself free of his arms to hobble back to her lounge chair. Out of the corner of his eye, Pietr caught the look of love in her eyes as she glanced back at Bron when she settled down to bask in the sun.

"You have been a... central part of my life on Walla. Many memories are returning now. It's a little overwhelming. I think that's why Bailley kept us apart for this long. To prepare me for this."

Pietr kept his opinion of Bailley's motives to himself. Sasha snorted quietly, but Bron didn't pick up on that clue.

"Bron, I want to thank you for saving my life once more. What you did was beyond expectation and touched me deeply. Please don't do it again," he smiled to take the sting out of the words.

Bron returned his smile. "Don't ask me up on stage in front of reporters anymore. That should do it."

Pietr grinned at him. "Done. In a couple of months, you can return to Brisbee, and there won't be any fanfare or a press conference. Your job is still open, and now that I've moved out of my house into my new apartment, I'd like to give it to you and Bailley. It's a very safe house, and it's in a great neighborhood. You will need to get some furniture, though."

"Thank you very much! I look forward to going... home," Bron said, and the last word felt... right. It was very generous of Pietr to give his home to them.

He looked up the beach and saw Bailley walking back with the others. He turned back to Pietr. "If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with Bailley." Pietr nodded. Sasha made to get up, but Bron gestured for her to stay.

Bron pushed himself to his feet and walked carefully down to the water's edge. The sand was harder here, and he got his footing back. Kei rushed up to him, and he gave her a hug. She moved on to sit with Sasha. Bailley stopped walking a distance away. Rhonda walked forward, and as soon as she was close enough, Bron pulled her in for a kiss. She squealed into his mouth, then wrapped her arms around him to squeeze her body against his. When he pulled back, she looked at his mouth with hunger.

"You are going to finish that tonight!" she growled at him. He smiled and nodded. She walked back to the chairs, grumbling about him getting her all worked up.

Asami reached Bron next and pulled his head down to hers, and kissed him firmly. This time it was Bron who swooned a little when they separated. The petite woman prowled away as Bron looked at her in surprise.

He turned his head and walked carefully across the sand to Bailley, who stood waiting for him. Her nervousness was apparent in how she gently chewed on her lower lip. He reached out and touched her lip to pull it gently from her teeth.

"That lip is not for chewing," he said with a smile.

"Do you remember? Do you remember her?"

"Yes."

Bailley's eyes became glassy with unshed tears. "I knew when you met Pietr, you would regain your memories of your first love. I knew."

"My first heartbreak as well. That was something I wish had remained lost." She looked up into his eyes and saw the pain there. "She left me Bailley, but you never did. Your love remained true from the first time we spent the night talking in that dance club to the night I confessed my love to you on your couch in that dumpy rental in Garroon."

"Dumpy rental!?!" she gasped with a grin as joy exploded across her face.

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings at the time, but yes, it was kind of a dump," he grinned. Then he scooped her up as she beat on his chest. He kissed her, deep and long, expressing his love for her, his need for her. When their lips parted, they were both gasping.

"Bailley, I love you! Please say you'll always be with me. Pietr gave me his house to live in when I return. It's not furnished, so help me pick out furniture--nicer stuff than what you had at the rental. Live with me. Always be mine!"

Tears were pouring down her cheeks, but they were tears of joy, and she grinned widely at him.

"Yes!" she squealed, though she still pummeled his chest for his comments about her dumpy furniture.

He hugged her and set her back on her feet. They stood side by side looking out over the waters, basking in their love for each other.

Bron felt the soft warmth of Bailley pressing against his side and realized how incredibly fortunate he was. Even with all the pain and suffering he had experienced in his brief life, this transcendent moment made it all worthwhile. He'd been created to be a monster--a violent destroyer of dreams and lives. Fate had intervened, and his life took so many unexpected turns to bring him to this one moment of true happiness.

He didn't know how many more moments like this he was going to get. He'd just have to keep living like every day was his last so he could truly appreciate them.