Out of the Shadows by Galenn Every way I turn my eyes Shadows pass in the night Haunted by reality Living out of dreams Nothing is the way it seems Let me go home, I've had a bad night leave me alone Let me go home, I've had a hard time being on my own. --Let Me Go Home Alan Parsons Project Garibaldi sighed and shifted his weight uncomfortably, trying to rest while his Starfury hurtled through hyperspace on the back of a Shadow ship. He'd given up trying to break free -- all he had succeeded in doing was nearly overheating his engines and using up more fuel than was wise. He was trapped. He tried desperately not to think about *where* he was trapped, tried to keep his attention glued to the instrument panel, the tac display -- *anything* other than looking out the canopy. He'd spent the last ten minutes staring at his hand, wishing he could see some of the stars and universes Jeremiah had mentioned, instead of gloved muscle, tendons, and bone. At least then there would be something interesting to hold his attention -- something other than Out There... It was Out There, however, that caused the morbid fascination -- so compelling that it took all of his will to keep from looking. It was also Out There that brought the terror, crawling on its icicle icepick-spider legs, piercing right through his mind, his heart, even his soul. Especially his soul, with the gaping wound in it that nothing could heal -- not even time, as it had been time that tore away that part of himself in the first place... It wouldn't have been so bad if it were just hyperspace, with its slightly nauseating undulations. Hyperspace itself would have been a welcome change. No, it was the Shadow ship itself that was the problem -- the Shadow ship's skin had engulfed his 'Fury, enclosed it like some gelatinous mass. _Or,_ he thought uncomfortably, _like one of those old glue traps Grandma used for pests..._ Then he swallowed hard, realizing he was staring out the canopy, staring out into the wavering blackness, feeling the hopelessness flood him again. He knew they were taking him to their homeworld, Z'Ha'Dum, where Captain Sheridan had almost certainly sent the *White Star* to a fiery death. A death Sheridan had most likely shared... Who even knew if radiation affected the Shadows? Those not caught directly in the explosion and firestorm could still be thriving, for all they knew. And he wasn't too sure he wanted to be the only human alive in an irradiated city with no companions but Shadows... He finally forced his eyes away from the view before him, stared at the instrument display again. The prospect of being totally alone, surrounded by enemies, weighed him down. He was so tired of pain, tired of loneliness... _Goddamn it,_ he thought, frustrated, _there's got to be some way out of this!_ Out There was beckoning again, something far too seductive in that blackness. It was offering something to him -- a way out? Oblivion? An end to the pain? But how -- and would the price be too high? He wanted to close his eyes, wanted to sleep, but it was even worse when he couldn't see it...then the buzzing that crawled around the back of his mind got louder, and the things he could *almost* see in the blackness were much closer, and visible... Part of his mind wondered what the pilot of the ship could feel -- was there a human inside the ship? One of the telepaths from the PsiCorps' 'reeducation' center? What was it like being bonded to this -- thing? Did he or she remember life outside the ship? Did the things in the blackness talk to him, too? _Damn,_ he thought, _I'm so tired -- my mind is wandering. Gotta sleep sometime, or I'll be worthless by the time we get where we're going..._ He tried to focus on pleasant things, but everything only served to remind him how much he hated being alone: the last long flight with Jeffrey Sinclair, or the beautiful smile on Sinclair's face when he laughed at a joke. Or Sinclair's hands touching him everywhere, warm bodies straining together towards completion... Memories became dreams when he drifted off, a combination of stale air, depression, and the buzzing in his mind dragging him down into a fitful doze. They were there, waiting for him. Shadows -- coming out of the darkness, their little slithering hisses of sound wrapping around him. It was then that he realized that was what the buzzing in his mind was. They were talking to him -- tens -- hundreds of them, talking to him! Sectioned eyes, like rows of glowing coals, looked at him in the darkness, and the one nearest him seemed to smile. It reached out towards him with one of its clawed hands and he tried to back away, only to find himself surrounded with nowhere to run. The claws touched him on the arm, and he shivered. This was not what he had been expecting -- it didn't hurt...and they weren't swarming forward trying to tear him apart... _Oh -- no... This is bad. Gotta get away!_ part of his mind thought, panicked. And yet, something kept him from moving -- something beyond the fact that he could feel them everywhere around him. Tantalizing, just out of reach, was the promise that all of his pain could fade -- that the horrible gnawing emptiness in his soul could be filled, that his recent loss would no longer burn so painfully within... The claws stroked this time, tracing icy shivers down his arm, skipping gently to his abdomen and trailing ever-so-slowly up his chest (when had his clothes vanished?!) and carefully, applying just the right pressure to avoid breaking the skin, pinching a nipple. Garibaldi moaned, feeling sudden heat blossom in his groin, rapidly burn its way through his veins. His head was spinning, and he could feel his pulse thundering in his cock which stirred and lifted towards the creature touching him. The creature made a noise -- some kind of buzzing hiss -- and Garibaldi cocked his head, confused. Then the creature slid its claws down to his groin, its other forelimb joining it to fondle and tease his cock. For a moment the sharp claws brought a flash of terror to Garibaldi's mind, until the creature began toying with the small opening with one of its thicker claws. Garibaldi gasped at the feeling -- the fear only served to sharpen his pleasure, and suddenly he wanted this -- craved it. The creature wiggled its claw into the opening and Garibaldi cried out, the cry becoming a long moan as the creature squeezed his rock hard cock with its 'hands' and continued to tease the opening. His legs gave way, muscles refusing to support him with the pleasure burning every nerve. The creatures lowered him carefully to his knees, the one before him still manipulating his weeping member. "Ohgod -- please!" he gasped, helpless under the onslaught. Suddenly something approached him from behind and he felt a confusing mix of icy chills and inferno heat. The Shadow masturbating him said something, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. It had almost sounded like an order to relax, but... And suddenly there was something hard -- almost armored, chitinous -- rubbing up and down the crack of his ass. Something with a point that wasn't *quite* sharp, that bumped up against his twitching anus. Suddenly that point bubbled forth a gush of burning hot (or was it icy cold? He couldn't tell anymore...) liquid, some of it spilling down his trembling thighs, the rest slick between his asscheeks stoking the fire in his blood, and the creature behind him pushed forward. His body opened to the armored invader, craving the penetration, welcoming it. It slid deep in one devastating thrust, the Shadow covering him with its body, bearing him down under its bulk. And then it began to pump, the achingly huge member plowing deep, burning him, the pleasure bringing tears to his eyes and reducing him to desperate whimpering moans... Later -- although how much later he couldn't tell, nor how many of them had taken him, touched him, called up such obscene pleasure from the depths of his soul -- he blinked sleepily and shook himself awake. He was back in the cockpit of his Starfury, clothed -- and alone... <> a voice said quietly. He turned to his left and sighed, feeling the claws caress his cheek ever so gently... Close call there in the shadows There's no end to the dark Cause there's no one out there, no one but me... The hours pass so slowly the life's slipping out of me No way's the right way is there a way out for me My life's slipping out... -- Out of the Shadows Sarah McLachlan --==END==-- Babylon 5 is (c) 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights. 'Out of the Shadows' is (c) 1996 Galenn. Song lyrics used without permission.