Revolting

"Son of a bit--" Michael hurriedly shook himself off and yanked up his pants before he took off after his wild mate. "Hannah! Hannah don't do this!" He called after her as he crashed through the underbrush. She was tiny, and fast, and even with her hands tied, she was still skimming through the trees like it was second nature. Michael was big, broad shouldered, and he was bushwhacking his way through the trees behind her like an angry gorilla.

She glanced back over her shoulder, ducked under a low hanging pine bough and momentarily disappeared from view. Michael felt a sudden panic grab hold of his heart. No! No, he couldn't lose her again. He swore and plowed through the trees, ignoring the fact that he was being snagged and scratched on the way. He forced himself to slow down long enough to pick up her scent trail, and corrected his course toward the north. She was fast, but his legs were twice as long, and her hands were still bound, which made running awkward. He gained on her steadily until he finally reached her and grabbed her waist with a growl.

He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. "I said... DON'T RUN!" he growled at her, panting heavily.

She growled back and tried to kick him. He responded by swatting her on her backside, which was bare, since the t-shirt she was wearing had bunched up around her hips. She yelped at the stinging contact and jumped against his shoulder. He couldn't see her face but Michael imagined he could feel her eyes staring daggers into his back. At least she had stopped squirming. With a tired sigh he turned around and marched back to camp.

By the time he arrived back, the others were awake and moving around. Someone had rekindled the fire, and the smell of coffee was drifting through the air. It was instant coffee, but still, it was coffee. "Someone give me a hand here?" He growled, balancing Hannah's slight body on his shoulder while he fished the rags out of his pocket. Caroline came forward cautiously and helped him tie her back up. "Did your prey get away from you, boss? You are all sweaty." Michael grunted and set his mate back down gently. "Nah, I just felt like going for an early morning run." He sank down beside her, and adjusted her t-shirt to make sure she was modestly covered. Frankie came and offered him a hot cup of black coffee. He took it with a sigh of appreciation and lifted it to his lips.

"We are getting low on supplies, boss," Frankie told him, shifting from foot to foot nervously. "Coffee is almost gone. We ran out of sugar." He lifted a thin shoulder. "I could kill for a good bagel. With cream cheese."

"Man, a bagel?" Lonnie snorted. "Thats the best thing you could think of? Man, I want a big, juicy, double cheeseburger with bacon on top-"

Michael ignored the men's bickering and turned his eyes to his mate. Her eyes were wide and puzzled, and she was sniffing the air. "Hey," he smiled. "Do you like coffee? It's kind of weird... I don't even know what you like." He took a sip off the cup to make sure it wasn't too hot, and then offered it to her. Curiosity was momentarily stronger than her animosity, as she took the cup eagerly and sniffed the contents. "Smells good, right? Well, it's not the best. Some day I'll take you for a cappuccino, but this is what we have out here."

She brought the cup to her lips and sipped it. Michael thought he saw something like recognition flash in her eyes, as her brows drew together. She swished it thoughtfully in her mouth. She made a gagging sound and pushed the cup away before she spit out the dark liquid. She spit again and wiped her tongue, giving Michael a glare as though he had just offered her poison.

"Okay, coffee is a no. At least not black coffee, hmm?" He took back his cup and continued to sip it. She narrowed her eyes at him, her expression accusatory, and scrunched up her body to be even smaller.

"I found some things," Sarah approached quietly. She offered a hair brush, and a set of women's nursing scrubs.

Michael accepted the things on Hannah's behalf, with a raised eyebrow. The older woman merely shrugged and went back to packing up her things. "They left the back door unlocked."

He knew better than to ask too many questions. "I'm going to need help getting her changed."

The woman put a hand to her cheek, where the scratch marks from the ravine were almost totally healed. "Yeah... why doesn't Caroline help you this time?"

Michael finished the last of his coffee and stood. "We will have to stop at the next town on the way, and get more supplies." He said with a dark frown. Occasionally he was able to pick up odd jobs in town to actually earn money to buy what they needed. But there was no time now to dilly dally around doing odd jobs now. He needed to get Hannah back to her brother as soon as possible. He hated that he had been reduced to petty theft, but a man did what he had to do to survive. He looked at his little golden-haired angel. Even though she was staring at him with enough hatred to set his hair on fire, he knew in his heart he would do anything for her. He would see those golden-brown eyes smile again, or he would die trying.

He picked up the hair brush and moved closer to her. She squinted her eyes at him and growled softly, but she didn't move away. He began carefully working the brush through her hair, starting at the bottom where he had started to separate out the matts yesterday.

"It would be easier if you just cut it," Caroline advised, "and start over fresh. You'll never get all those knots out."

Michael set his jaw stubbornly. "I won't cut it." He shook his head. To him, it would be like shaving the head of an angel - something close to sacrilege. He wasn't normally a patient man, but he vowed that he would untangle it all, strand by strand if he needed to. It was one small thing that he could do for his mate while she was in this state of confusion. "Hannah," He spoke softly as he worked gently on her hair. "I am going to fix this. I will make it right." Of course, he was talking about a lot more than just her hair. He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head, which earned him a ferocious snarl. He chuckled and leaned back. "Tell me how you really feel."