He was gone before she could stop him. Clinging to the side of the natural hot tub, Claudia closed her eyes and rested her forehead against her arm. Emotions swirled through her in a chaotic jumble. 77… no, Drew, she corrected herself… had kissed her.

And it had been amazing. Right up to the point his arm had almost crushed the life out of her.

She bit her lip, shying away from that memory and choosing instead to focus on the good part of it. Being held against his hard, heavily muscled body… The feel of his skin against hers… Heat hit her cheeks as she recalled the hard sweep of his tongue plundering her mouth as the stiff buds of her nipples rubbed against the warmth of his chest.

That’s not all you wanted to rub against, the little voice in the back of her head said snidely. And if he hadn’t almost crushed you, you would have.

Her cheeks burned even hotter. She’d wanted to. Even though she’d told herself she was just showing him, scientifically, so he would understand the definition of the word… yeah, right.

She’d wanted to kiss him for months. The idea had haunted her dreams and dominated her daydreams… yeah, she’d wanted him. Hell, more than wanted him. She’d been halfway in love with him probably since before he’d rescued her from that hopper, she realized. And seeing him, looking into those brown eyes that had smiled and laughed but finding them cold and emotionless had shattered something deep inside her. Seeing him in cyber-form day after day had been sheer agony. Seeing him, but nothing had been there, nothing left of the man she…

But the nights were the worst. The dreams where he “woke” up and was Drew again. He smiled down at her, his eyes warm and smiling… and it damn near broke her heart all over again. Especially when she was forced to check him over the next day, calibrating his cybernetics, and he just sat there, staring straight ahead. No recognition on his face.

She’d taken to using sleeping tablets to ease her into a deep, dreamless slumber so she didn’t have those heartbreaking dreams. The trouble was, she always woke up groggy as hell.

The water moved around her and she winced, feeling the bruises around her waist and back. Her ribs ached and she realized how close she’d come. If he hadn’t let go when he did… she shuddered, and not in a good way.

Soaking for a little while longer, she let the heat of the water seep into her tired body. Then used her hands to scrub at her skin, trying to get as clean as she could.

Finally, she climbed out of the pool, shivering in the suddenly cool air as she pulled her clothes back on over her wet skin. She grimaced at the state of them. The lab coat was splattered with blood and lubricant, and her shirt and skirt hadn’t fared much better.

“Ewwww,” she muttered, but she had no choice. She didn’t have any other clothing with her, and despite the fact the cyber soldiers were technically machines… yeah, not going there.

She shivered again at the memory of 77’s expression as he’d reached out and touched her breast earlier in the forest. And before he’d kissed her in the pool. For saying he didn’t remember what a kiss was, he’d sure gotten the idea quickly…

She frowned. Perhaps a dormant memory? Could sensation, touch, be used to trigger memories in the bio-organic portions of the cyber soldiers’ brains? Recover something of the men they had been?

Her mind going ten to the dozen with thoughts and theories, she made her way back to the trunk and then stopped at the rough, natural doorway to the interior. Eyes widening, she looked in growing horror at the climb down. It was practically a smooth surface. 77 had made it without breaking a sweat, making it look easy. Her?

“You can do this, Claudia,” she told herself softly, studying the wood below her feet carefully. She could see hand and footholds… they were so far apart but it looked like she could reach them. Just.

Ignoring the fear that washed through her veins, she sat on the edge of the drop and carefully turned herself around. Her foot waved in the air for a moment as she slid herself down, heart in her mouth, until she felt something solid under her toes.

Carefully she moved her weight and then reached for the next hold. She carried on like that, not daring to look down as she warily made her way down the sheer surface.

Less than halfway down, though, her muscles began to shake, her hands cramping with the effort of holding on. She’d reached a slight incline where she could lie flat and rest up a little, but then she realized the bit directly below her was an overhang.

Tears filled her eyes as defeat washed over her. She couldn’t do this. She was tired, her body hurt and her heart ached. Resting her head against the wood, she let the tears fall onto it. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

“Hey, Doc. You okay there?”

A male voice just below her made her gasp and she twisted around so fast she nearly lost her grip on the handhold. Grabbing at it quickly, she watched in relief as Unit 80, Jake Wilkins her memory corrected her, climbed up past the overhang with easy grace.

“Yeah, you know, just hanging out and chilling here,” she tried to joke, but her laugh fell flat. Even she could hear the fear and panic in it. “I’m stuck,” she admitted. “Drew… Unit 77… brought me up here and I can’t get back down.”

The big cyber soldier gave her an easy smile as he climbed level. “Well, we can’t have that now, can we? Want a lift back down?”

“Yes! Yes, please,” she gabbled in relief. He wasn’t Drew, but his smile was easy and he didn’t seem to have the coldness about him that some of the others did.

“Okay. Stay there a moment.”

80’s face was a mask of concentration as he altered his position and then reached out a big hand and arm. With relief she realized it was his organic one. He had a similar configuration to Unit 77, just reversed, although she knew his organic arm was laced with internal cybernetics as well. He’d been more damaged than 77 and she’d practically had to rebuild his entire shoulder cradle.

“Thank you,” she murmured as he easily lifted her from her perch and into his arms.

“No worries, Doc,” he smiled down at her. “If I’d known all I needed to do to get you in my arms was get you on a sheer wall, I’d have done it months ago. Need you to climb around onto my back. Can you do that?”

She nodded, carefully doing as he asked. Halfway, she almost lost her grip and slipped. A cry of alarm escaped her, but 80 had her, looping his arm around and holding her in place until she could get her arms and legs around him.

“Thanks,” she murmured, huddling closer to his broad back.

“No problem, sweet thing.”

She blinked. “You’re a charmer. You seem… different than the others? More like you might—”

“Remember?” 80 asked, a smile on his face as he negotiated the overhang. “I do. Bits anyway. Enough to remember you looking after us before. Then on the table after… You saved me, Doc. Put enough metal in me that I lived.”

She started in surprise. Wilkins had woken up on the table as she was implanting his cybernetics, but the technician monitoring the vitals console had said it was an automatic reaction. That Wilkins was...

“You were supposed to be brain dead,” she blurted out, her gaze seeking out the vicious scarring across the back of his head, just visible beneath his hair. Wilkins had been shot point blank in the skull. Catastrophic brain damage.

He shrugged. They were making quick progress down the wall now. The nearer they got to the bottom, the easier her breathing became.

“I remember you helping me. Pain and then waking up like this.” He twisted to reach a handhold slightly out of reach and she shifted on his back. Gasping, she clung tighter.

“It’s okay, Doc, I got you,” he murmured, a big hand covering hers where they were clasped around his neck.

“I woke up a few times, feeling like one of those robots… you know? Do this, do that… like I was watching myself from far away. I liked waking up when you were touching me,” he admitted, climbing one handed now.

She daren’t pull her hands from under his in case she fell but his words both intrigued and concerned her.

“You were aware when I was performing maintenance on your cybernetics?” she asked, curiosity filling her as they reached the bottom and he crouched down so she could slide off his back.

“Get your fucking hands off her.”

The vicious snarl made her jump and they both turned to find Unit 77 behind them. But not as she’d seen him most of the time before—implacable and remote. Now his expression was twisted into one of fury, murder in his eyes as he looked at Unit 80.

“Hey! No harm done, boss,” 80 said quickly, lifting his hands in the universal sign of surrender. The easy smile on his face had disappeared, leaving the mask of the cyber soldier in its place. “Just helping the lady down!”

77 stalked toward them and she shrank back. As soon as she realized what she’d done, she forced steel into her spine and stood her ground.

“Just make sure that’s all you’ve done,” he growled, getting into 80’s face, a physical display of threat and dominance. It was all about proving to the other man that 77 was bigger physically. She watched, fascinated. It had to be a genetically hardwired response because it certainly wasn’t coded into any cybernetic protocol she’d ever seen. “Now leave. Before I make you.”

80 didn’t smile, didn’t even look at her. He simply nodded, turned mechanically, and then left.

She shivered as 77 just stood there, his back to her. Like he was a statue. Finally, the silence got to her and she reached out, gently touching his arm.

“80 was just helping me dow—”

He moved like lightning, grabbing her wrist and turning to stalk away. She gasped, forced to keep up at a run as he led her through the interior of the tree. It was that or end up with a broken wrist.

He ducked and wove through the small corridors until they reached a switchback kink that seemed to operate as a door to a small room. She had a brief glimpse of a neat pallet and blankets, a living space, before he spun her around, backing her up against the smooth wood of the tree interior behind her. Her back hit, the breath escaping her lips with a small whoosh.

“Never touch him again,” 77 snarled, his eyes glittering in the darkness as he glared down at her. “Ever. Understand?”

He didn’t press into her, his big body barely touching hers and his hands spread on the wood either side of her head. He had her pinned. There was no escaping him. And even if she could, where could she go? He could easily catch her. He’d already proven that.

“Of course,” she said quickly, trying to head off his anger. She didn’t point out that he’d brought her here to treat his men and Unit 80 was one of his men. Instead, a part of her was fascinated by his reaction to her interaction with the other soldier. Was he… jealous?

“Good. Make sure of it and I won’t rip his spine out,” 77 growled, but his voice was softer. “I shouldn’t have left you up there on your own.”

He eased himself away, looking down at her. The mask slipped and she saw the guilt and worry in his eyes as his gaze flicked down to her mid-section. Slowly, he reached out, silence stretching between them as he pulled her shirt slowly free of her waistband.

She didn’t stop him, her breath caught in her throat as he bared her bruised skin, his expression tight.

“Lie down,” he ordered roughly, nodding toward the pallet behind him. “I need to check you for internal injuries.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine. Honestly. Just a little bruised. Y-you stopped in time.”

He lifted his head, spearing her with a direct look. “I need to check. If you’re injured, you’ll be unable to care for 78 if he suffers complications.”

“Right. Of course.” She nodded tiredly and made her way over to the pallet to lie down. He was more concerned with her continued ability to carry out her duties. She’d thought that kiss… meant something was waking up within him. That there was hope that Drew was still in there somewhere. Apparently not.

She lay on her back as he knelt beside her. She couldn’t stop the small shiver as he lifted her shirt up again, out of the way. His gaze flicked to her face.

“It’s okay, no pain,” she told him, closing her eyes. She couldn’t look at him as he touched her. He’d see the emotion in her eyes and she was too tired to conceal it anymore. “You can carry on.”

He rumbled in the back of his throat and the next moment his hand slid over her waist. She bit her lip at his touch, trying to relax so he could palpate her abdomen and check her ribs.

His touch was firm and as professional as any medic’s… but then, he’d have had battlefield medic training, and all the cyber units had been installed with advanced medical training in case they were needed as medical staff in the event of a natural disaster. They just weren’t installed with any cybernetics training, ensuring they had to return to a CyBRG base for repairs.

That had been the plan anyway. Until Unit 77 had found a way around it.

Her.

His hand was big, warm, and surprisingly gentle. As his fingers brushed her skin, she struggled to stop herself responding. She bit back the moan when his fingertips traced the line of her lowest rib gently and stopped her back arching when they traced lower, exploring and just dipping under the waistband of her skirt.

Her eyes snapped open and she found him watching her intently. His expression was focused, but his eyes were warm brown, not cold, and her breathing caught. When he was like this she could almost believe it was Drew in there, not 77.

Perhaps, the little voice whispered, there is no difference. And perhaps you’re being stupid. Too old for him in life, this is the only way you can have him. If he wants you now.

“I could really have hurt you,” he murmured, his voice low, and she could hear the regret in it. Suddenly she became aware he was using his organic hand only.

“You didn’t,” she replied softly, reaching for his metal hand. He stiffened as her fingers closed around his but let her pull his hand toward her. She laid it over her stomach, praying silently to whatever gods might be listening that she was right about this.

“Touch,” she ordered gently. “Use touch to calibrate the pressure,” she added, staying away from the verbal commands she’d had to use during their maintenance sessions.

Had he remembered those like 80 seemed to?

“You won’t hurt me,” she encouraged him when his gaze shot to hers. “I trust you.”

He nodded, a stiff, jerky movement of his head, and for a moment she thought he was going to pull away. Instead, his hand, the metal one, started to move. It slid gently over her skin. She bit her lip as the slide became a stroke, both of his hands moving in concert to explore her. She closed her eyes again so he wouldn’t see how he affected her, but then his fingertips brushed up under her folded shirt and traced the underside of her breast in her bra.

Her eyes shot open again and he was kneeling over her, his gaze latched avidly onto her face.

“Calibration,” he said. “Different textures and softnesses.”

“Uh-huh,” she nodded, not stopping him as he reached out and undid her shirt, one button at a time. His expression tightened, eyes flaring in the semi-darkness as he parted her shirt. Her bra seemed to offend him, a curl on his lip at the sight of it that made her reach up and unsnap the clip in the middle. The undergarment gave with a click, releasing her breasts to his gaze.

Silence and tension stretched out between them as he looked at her. Heat crawled up her skin, and for a moment she wondered what the hell she was doing, letting a machine look at her and study her as he was. No, she argued with herself for a moment, there was more than the machine. She had to believe that. Needed to believe that.

“I-I wanted to see you like this,” he whispered, the admission so low she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.

Reaching out, he cupped her gently, his hand big and warm around her. She wasn’t the largest of women, her bust modest and definitely unenhanced. She’d never seen the point in surgery… but sudden nerves about those young girls she’d seen him with when he was human assaulted her. Did he like what he saw? Did he remember anything?

His thumb, the skin rough and calloused on the pad, brushed over her nipple. She bit her lip again, her back arching slightly and offering more of her to his touch.

“You like that. Your heart rate is up again, your breathing different.”

“Uh-huh. Sorry, I’ll keep still,” she promised. This was about him, not her. She had to remember that.

His reply was to stroke her again. Her nipple pebbled to a hard point under his touch, eager for his touch. The soft growl took her by surprise. Was she that bad that she’d—

The sound hadn’t come from her. It was him. She looked at him in surprise, the heat and desire in his eyes freezing her into place as he said, “I want to touch… taste the rest of you.”

“You…you want to taste me?” Her voice sounded breathless and uncertain.

“I think more contact will help calibrate my senses,” 77 (Drew) said roughly.

Liar, whispered the voice in his head. You’ve always wanted to taste her. You used to watch her walk around the base, watch her hips sway and imagine how it would be to get your tongue between her thighs…the way she’d moan your name and pull your hair. The way she’d come so hard when you licked her soft little pussy…

But Doc Chambers—Claudia, he reminded himself—didn’t seem to sense his deception. Or if she did, she didn’t call him out on it.

“I was thinking earlier that the use of your senses—touch, smell…” She cleared her throat, her cheeks going pink. “Er…taste, might help to bring back your past…help you remember yourself. Do you…would you like to try it? As…as an experiment?”

He could almost feel the embarrassment radiating off of her. But there were indications that she felt other things as well. Her scent, for instance. The warm, feminine perfume coming from her skin…and from between her legs, drew him to her.

“Yes,” he growled. “An experiment.” Anything as long as he could touch her…as long as he could taste her.

“Good.” She reached for him and drew his head down to her breast. “So go on…taste me.” There was that look in her eyes again—the same look he’d seen when she had dared to show him what a kiss meant.

77 was happy to comply. He ran his tongue over her soft flesh, following the curve of her breast until he found her nipple. He teased around it, circling the wide band of her areola and lapping gently until he felt her shift restlessly under him. She gave a frustrated little moan.

“Drew,” she said, her voice tight and breathy. “Tell me—how does this make you feel? Do you…do you remember anything about your past?”

“Some,” he admitted. “Mostly that I wanted to do this with you…that I wanted to suck you.”

She drew in a breath. “My…my nipples you mean?”

Slowly, he nodded. He wanted to suck and lick much more than that but they were taking things slowly and that was fine with 77.

“All right then…” Her fingers were restless in his hair. “Go…go ahead. Suck my nipples…see if it helps you remember anything else.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Eagerly, he sucked one stiff bud between his lips, lapping gently at first and then drawing hard on the tight pink point. He took as much of her breast as he could into his mouth at once.

Claudia’s reaction was immediate. She arched up toward him, her fingers tightening in his hair and her back arching with pleasure.

“Oh…Drew,” she gasped. This time, instead of pain at the sound of his old name, 77 felt a shiver of pleasure run down his spine. Goddess, she was beautiful—spread out before him like a feast. Offering herself to him to help him remember…to bring him back to himself…back to Drew. Maybe someday he would even feel like that name fit him again—if she kept calling him that.

“Drew!” she moaned again as he released her first nipple, now bright pink from his attention, and moved on to the other. His heightened senses were all attuned to her now. The accelerated rhythm of her heart reached his ears and the scent of her desire—warm and wet—reached his nose.

She wants this, whispered the little voice in his head. She needs it—maybe even as much as you do!

Because he did need her—so damn much. Too damn much. Needed to run his hands all over her soft, giving flesh…needed to suck her sweet nipples until she cried and moaned beneath him…needed to lap her pussy until she came for him…came so hard…

77 released her second nipple, letting the ripe tip slide slowly from between his lips, and looked up at her.

“More,” he growled, unable to keep the lust out of his voice. The CyBRG device seemed completely overwhelmed by the intense emotions swamping him now. Though it tried, there was no way it could dam them all. “More…I want more.”

His hand slid down her waist and under the hem of her sensible black skirt to stroke her inner thighs.

Claudia’s breath seemed to catch in her throat.

“All…all right,” she whispered breathlessly. “You can have more. But first—tell me if tasting…tasting my nipples helped you remember anything. Anything about your past.”

77 opened his mouth to say no when a ghost from his past whispered in his ear.

“I…I remember saving you from the hopper,” he said at last, roughly. “Shooting it and dragging you out from under it. The way you shook afterward. The way you…you came to me for comfort.”

“You saved me.” Her eyes were shining as she spoke. “You told me to call you by your first name—to call you Drew. Do you remember?”

The ghost of memory wavered and flickered before his mind’s eye…then solidified.

“I…remember,” he acknowledged. “And I remember how soft you felt in my arms…how good your hair smelled…how badly I wanted to be close to you. Like I am now.” He cupped a breast and squeezed lightly at the nipple—with his organic hand, not his metal one.

Claudia gasped and jerked at his touch. Clearly her breasts were extremely sensitive. He wanted to find out how sensitive she was lower down. Moving his hand beneath her skirt again, he stroked her inner thighs until he came to the soft triangle of silky fabric between her legs…her panties.

She tensed, her breath coming in soft little pants.

“Drew,” she whispered. “Wait…”

“Don’t want to wait anymore,” he growled, looking up at her. “Want to taste you now, Claudia. Want to spread your legs and lap your soft little pussy.”

Her eyes widened. “This must be helping, Drew! You must be coming back to yourself. There certainly aren’t any language parameters for dirty talk in your cybernetic circuitry.”

“Dirty talk?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Why is it dirty to say I want you…to say that the scent of your skin…the taste of your flesh makes me remember I’ve always wanted you.”

“You have? You do? I mean, that’s what you remember of your time before?” Her eyes widened.

77 nodded. “Always. I remember watching you walk—the way your hips swayed. Thinking about how I wanted to kiss you…how I wanted to put my mouth on you everywhere. Lick you…taste you…give you pleasure…”

“I…I want that too,” she admitted. “And I think these memories we’re bringing back—these emotions—are good. I feel like the further we go…the more you remember.”

“Then help me remember more…” His hand worked restlessly beneath her skirt, rubbing the soft silk of her panties and feeling the heat underneath. “Spread your legs for me, Claudia. Let me taste you.”

Moaning softly, she nodded. 77 felt her resistance fade. He felt her thighs fall open as she stopped trying to keep him out…and invited him in instead.

“If you think it will help,” she whispered as he pushed her skirt up to her waist and nuzzled between her thighs, rubbing his cheek against her panties.

“I know it will,” he growled. And he wasn’t lying. Every touch…every scent…every taste of her seemed to carry him farther away from the cold, sterile existence he’d woken up to after the CyBRG device had been implanted and closer to the past. To the male who had been a soldier and a man, not a monster.

Then he was pulling her panties down, baring her pussy as he had always wanted to, drinking in the sight and scent of her.

Goddess, she was beautiful—her soft little mound crowned by golden curls. Lower down her outer lips were swollen and already starting to get slippery with desire. Clearly the way he’d sucked her nipples had had an effect on her.

“Drew…” she whispered restlessly and he realized he was just staring and breathing in her scent. He needed more.

Leaning forward, he wrapped his arms around her thighs—careful not to bruise her with the metal one—and split her wide.

Claudia gasped and started to fight him but he looked up, catching her eyes.

“Please,” he whispered, his voice low and grating in his own ears. Needy…hungry. “Please, I need to see you…need to open you and taste you.”

“I…I understand.” She nodded and quieted, though he could still feel her body trembling in his grasp.

“Do you fear me? Are you afraid I’ll hurt you?” he asked. “I am trying to be mindful of my cybernetic enhancements.” He nodded at his metal arm.

She shook her head at once.

“No, no—nothing like that,” she said quickly. “It’s just… a little embarrassing, that’s all. I’ve never had anyone so…interested to, uh, do this—to taste me—before.”

“Why not?” He was honestly confused. “You’re beautiful. That’s what I mainly remember, Claudia—thinking how beautiful you were. How much I wanted you.”

“You…used to go with younger women,” she said tentatively, as though she didn’t really want to remind him.

77 shook his head, brushing off the idea.

“Only because I couldn’t get you. I remember thinking you were beautiful…yet unobtainable. Now you’re letting me have you…letting me taste you.”

“To help you remember,” she reminded him breathlessly. “But please, Drew—I feel kind of, uh, exposed here.”

“Then I must cover you.” He pressed forward and lapped her pussy, starting at the bottom and allowing his tongue to slip into her wet folds as he dragged it upward over the rigid little bump of her clit.

Her sweet, salty, secret flavor exploded on his tongue, sending his brain into overload. His shaft was achingly hard between his thighs and he groaned hungrily as he lapped her again…and then again.

Claudia, for her part, seemed almost overwhelmed by his eager tongue. She moaned and arched her back again, just as she had when he sucked her nipples. Then she threaded her fingers through his hair and cried out breathlessly as he teased her sensitive clit.

“Drew…oh, Drew,” she gasped, bucking up to meet him. “Oh God, that feels so…so…”

But she didn’t seem to have words to express her feelings. She just moaned and shook under his mouth.

77 knew how she felt. The emotions washing over him now went beyond anything he had felt before. Hunger…lust…desire…need—they tore through him like a hurricane looking to make land and shook him to his core—the private core so deep inside him he barely even knew it was there.

Goddess…Claudia…so fucking beautiful…so sweet and wet and open just for me…

He lapped her again and then sucked her tender clit into his mouth, lashing the sensitive pearl with the tip of his tongue just to hear her moan and feel her tremble. He wanted to taste her all night—to feel like a man instead of a monster for once—but he could sense she was already getting close to coming.

“Drew…Drew!” She was gasping his name again. His name or the name of the man he had once been? The man he might somehow, someday be again? 77 didn’t know or care. He only knew he wanted to make her come—to feel her pussy quivering under his tongue and know that he was the author of her pleasure. He wanted to know he was responsible for making her lose control.

Claudia was moaning steadily now—fighting her way as her lithe body twisted under his. If he hadn’t had such a firm grip on her thighs, she might have wiggled away from him as her movements became erratic. She was close…so damn close. He could tell it. But she needed just a little more to help her make it over the edge. A little more…but what?

Suddenly the little voice in his head—helpful for once—brought up some knowledge from his past—an understanding of what to do.

77 released one of her thighs and, making sure to use his organic hand, sucked two fingers into his mouth. When they were wet enough, he slid them between Claudia’s thighs and slipped them into the hungry mouth of her pussy.

“Oh…Drew!” Her tight inner walls clamped down on him at once, squeezing him in a way that made him wish it was his cock inside that velvet vise, not just his fingers.

Her back arched and she let out a wail as her grip tightened in his hair. Then he tasted fresh wetness and knew she was coming—so hard she could hardly breathe—and it was because of him. Because of the pleasure he had given her.

Claudia bucked and moaned and thrashed but he stayed with her—refusing to be thrown off until he felt her spasms of pleasure turn to occasional quivers and she began shying away from his tongue on her pussy.

Enough—she’s had enough for now, he realized. Now what?

The question puzzled him. His body knew the answer it wanted. He wanted to bury his cock deep in her tight wetness and fill her with himself. He wanted to claim her in the most primal and final way possible.

But the little voice in his head whispered that she hadn’t agreed to that. Claudia had only said he could taste her. And so he didn’t know what to do.

Until she beckoned to him.

“Come here, Drew.”

Uncertainly, he came out from between her thighs and came closer. She was holding out her arms to him, her eyes filled with hope, and he realized he didn’t want to disappoint her.

“Claudia?” he rumbled, making her name a question.

“Come here,” she said again, softly. “Hold me.”

77 understood then. He wrapped her in his arms—being careful of the metal one—and pulled her close to his chest. She snuggled against him and sighed contentedly, reminding him of a sleepy kitten.

A kitten—what’s that? Oh, an animal—from Old Earth, remember?

And strangely, he did.

“What are you thinking about?” Claudia asked, looking up at him, her silver-gray eyes sleepy and content.

“Just that…we used to have kittens at the place where I grew up,” he said slowly. “We had a cat and my mom forgot to have her spayed. She wound up having kittens on my bed in the middle of the night. I woke up to all this mewing and crying—there were eleven of them and…” He shook his head as the memory faded, like the brightest flare will fade to a dull after image a moment after it’s extinguished. “No, I lost it—it’s gone now.”

“But you had it for a moment!” Claudia sat up, excited. “Don’t you see, Drew? You had a piece of your past—you remembered. And not just about me—about your childhood. Oh, this is so exciting!”

She was looking at him with bright, starry eyes and 77 (Drew) felt her excitement jump to him as well. Could it be there was more to him than the bleak existence he’d been leading since he woke up on a cold metal table with the CyBRG device implanted in his spine?

“It shouldn’t be possible,” Claudia said, clearly still thinking about his memory. “Every subject was supposed to be brain dead. That was one of the prerequisites to implanting the device. But the brain scan monitor malfunctioned and Pike wouldn’t let me wait to get another. He said there was no use in wasting perfectly good subjects just because…”

She trailed off, her cheeks suddenly dull red with embarrassment.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s all right,” 77 assured her roughly. “It’s as Unit 80 said. You brought us back to life. This existence…is better than none at all.”

“Well, it’s going to be even better once I figure out how to turn off those pain sensors,” Claudia said decisively. “I’m going to go over the device you got from the other cyber soldier with a fine tooth comb and find out exactly what makes it tick.”

She was starting to get up but he pulled her back down and nestled her into the crook of one arm.

“Not tonight,” he told her, shaking his head. “You’re too tired. It’s been a long day. Tomorrow is soon enough to start. For now…stay here with me.”

Claudia looked up at him shyly.

“You mean…sleep together? Like this? I’d like that.”

“I would too.” He reached down and pulled the blanket over both of them. Claudia sighed contentedly and snuggled close to him, her head resting on his chest like a sleepy child.

A new emotion stole over him—tenderness. The wish to cradle and comfort and protect—the need to keep her close to his heart and make certain she was safe. Gently he stroked a strand of hair away from her eyes and watched as she fell asleep in his arms, her breathing even and steady.

After a time, he drifted to sleep himself…

Only to be woken by the braying of an alarm klaxon. They were under attack!