It wasn't really a surprise when he eventually did decide to join her. She felt his weight on the edge of the bed. She was sleeping on her side, her back to him, the covers around her waist. She rolled onto her back, red eyes watching as he put his gun on the side table. "Well I love to bite. But not when I'm this tired." She tucked a hand under her head so she could watch him lay down.<br/><br/>When he was situated, she rolled onto her side again. She could still feel him beside her. It was nice, not being alone. "Suck you in the morning, Carth," she whispered as she closed her eyes, letting herself drift.<br/><br/><i>They were dying. All of them. And she could do nothing. Blood seeped from under her body armor. The thermal cutlass had gone through her spine, come out her abdomen. Everything was smoke and fire and darkness on the edge of her vision. The blood loss would cause her to lose consciousness soon.<br/>
<br/>
She let go of the grip of her rifle, a bloody, gloved hand reaching for an inert body beside her. Bragg's red eyes were empty, stuck open, blood trailing from his mouth as he laid beside her, crushed under a fallen bulkhead. She could hear klaxons. The ship was going down. Boots thundered past as those left alive went for the escape pods. She could hear screaming, sounds of fighting. It was killing them all. It was like no gray she'd ever seen. Too strong.<br/>
<br/>
"We need to go! Hold on for me, Captain. Just a little longer!" Jenna's voice, strong hands hooking under Beretta's arms to drag her. She cried out, partly from the pain in her spine, partly from having to leave Bragg. She would never play cards with him again, never spar with him, never crawl into his bunk in the middle of the night when she was lonely, never hear his soft voice, feel his warm touch. "Almost there, Captain," Jenna said as Needle came to help carry her. His lips were cracked and bleeding, a dark hole burned through his chest from a thermal round. He was walking but he would be dead soon when the adrenaline wore off. And there was nothing she could do.<br/>
<br/>
Darkness clouded her vision and she felt herself slipping even as the other two surviving members of her squad jostled her into an escape pod.<br/>
</i><br/>Beretta's eyes fluttered open. It was midday. She still felt sluggish. The dream was the same as every night. She no longer woke up in a cold sweat. Watching her friends and lovers die around her had become a nightly occurrence, their ghosts constant companions. She wondered where Jenna was now...<br/><br/>She still felt Carth beside her, rolling over to face him, eager to forget the horrors of her memories in the arms of her new... business partner. Too soon to call him a friend. She willed herself to become wet, intent on obliterating her pain with a sexual release. A hand fell below the covers to stroke her pussy as she laid against Carth, just feeling him there, breathing and alive and gray like her.<br/><br/>She slid beneath the covers, finding her way between his legs and pulling down his underwear, her head laying on his thigh, still a little drowsy. His cock popped free of the garment and she slid it down his legs a little so she could get at his balls too. She stroked him, his hot length hardening in her hand. She rubbed it against her cheek, nuzzling the thick weight of it. Her tongue wetted the underside, drawing a hot stripe up to the tip. She slid him into her mouth and began tonguing his tip as her lips gently sucked at him. She lifted the covers, looking to see if she'd awoken him, eager to see his reaction at the site of what she was doing.