Fic: Seed of Change, Blake's 7, Cally/Avon, R

[beren_writes]

Merry Month of Masturbation – Day 17
My MMOM Master List 2010
Title: Seed of Change
Author: Beren
Fandom: Blake's 7
Pairing: Cally/Avon (I know het!!!!)
Rating: R
Disclaimer: "Blake's 7" belongs to the BBC, no money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended, this is just a bit of fun.
Warnings: werewolves
Summary: Avon is lost on a wild world where the inhabitants are primitive and have unusual, dangerous abilities. Cally is the only one who can bring him back after he is bitten by one of the natives.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Soph for the beta.
Word count: 3,086
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They had thought they had lost him.

Avon was not the type to be self-sacrificing, or at least that is what he made out, but he had been the one to rip off his teleport bracelet and force it on to Vila's arm as Vila stumbled, half aware and injured from a fall. The last thing Cally had seen of Avon was the wolves circling him on that god forsaken planet. It had been news of Blake that had taken them to Lupinaris 12, a backward world with primitive people, but there had been nothing there, nothing but danger and death.

Cally had sensed the power lurking on the planet, felt it with all of her being, but when it came to Blake, Avon listened to no one. There were two dominant life forms on Lupinaris 12: humans and a micro organism with the most incredible properties. Only Liberator's advanced technology had been able to isolate it in the blood of one of its human hosts. Symbiotic, Zen had called it; frightening was how Cally saw it.

She had thought she had lost Avon to it, to wolves that were not wolves, but then she had heard him calling to her. His thoughts had been wild, desperate, but she had felt him like she never had before and she had known where to find him, which was why she had insisted on teleporting down immediately. Tarrant had wanted to go with her, but she had refused; one life risked for another was better than two and they had been driven off the planet once already.

When she rematerialised, gun in hand, she cast around her, expecting to have to fight, but all she saw was one old woman.

"He's this way," the woman said, taking absolutely no notice of her gun what so ever.

For a split second Cally tried to decide what to do, but she could still feel Avon and need outweighed sense, so she followed. She kept her gun in her hand, however; she wasn't stupid.

"It was surprising they deemed him worthy," the old woman told her as if they had known each other for years or something; "usually they just kill outsiders."

"Worthy of what?" Cally asked, since she really had no idea what the woman was talking about.

"To carry the Seed of Change," the woman told her as if it was obvious. "They bit him and brought him here; all that remains is to see if he will choose pack or man."

Cally really didn't know what was going on.

"I don't understand," she admitted since the woman seemed to expect her to know.

The woman looked at her, seemingly irritated.

"Outsiders," the woman muttered and then sighed.

Cally felt herself being examined and there was the touch of a mind on her own as well. She had not realised these people were telepathic, but clearly they had some form of mental control and they hid it well.

"You have seen the Pack," the woman said eventually; "the wolves that run wild, and you know they were once humans. When they were given the Seed of Change they chose to run free; they are of the pack and they only return to being human when they have need of us. Others who are given the Seed choose to remain in human shape and only become wolves when the need is great."

It sounded fantastic and when they had first arrived on the planet and Cally had seen a man become a wolf with her own eyes she had almost not believed it, but that was the power of the Seed as the woman called it; the micro organism that even Zen could not really explain. The transformation of one shape to another via a form of pure energy was how Zen had put it, but Zen had not been able to say how it did it. Their working hypothesis had been that all humans on the planet were infected by the organism from birth, since it had not infected any of them, but that was clearly wrong.

"And Avon?" she asked, needing to know.

"He hovers in between," the woman told her, leading her towards a small hut. "There is great weight in his mind and the freedom of the pack calls to him to release it, but he has not yet let go."

Cally felt the hope in her heart blossom a little more. He had only called out to her once and she had replied, but since she had only been able to sense him and he had not tried to speak to her again.

"How can I help him?" she asked, needing to know.

The way the woman looked at her inclined her to believe that the woman was not sure what exactly helping him would be.

"If you wish him to choose human shape," the woman finally said, "give of yourself completely, show him what there is to return to. If you cannot do that then allow him to go; the Pack will welcome him."

It was a big ask; they had been lovers once or twice, but Avon had made it very clear he was not available for anything romantic. It had suited Cally, because she feared what would happen if she did allow herself to care that much for another person again; she had lost so much.

"I do not know if he would want me," she admitted quietly and the woman's expression finally softened.

The woman placed a hand on her arm.

"You are allowed here because he called to you," the woman told her in a gentle tone; "all of us with the Seed felt it. He is of us, but he is also of you; allow him to choose."

Cally had not felt like she was the child being taught in a very long time, but she did at that moment and she nodded. This place was like none other she had ever been and it challenged her world view. She stepped into the small hut as the woman pulled back the blanket covering the entrance and her eyes zeroed in on Avon immediately. He was lying on his side in the far corner, curled in on himself and he was shaking. Cally moved over to him instantly and knelt down, placing her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Avon," she said, noting that someone had undressed him and placed him under a thin blanket, but where the blanket had slipped she could see rough bandages covered in blood on his thigh, "can you hear me?"

He moaned quietly, but did not give any indication he really understood.

"Avon," she tried again, this time with her mind rather than her voice, "can you hear me?"

This time he moved, lifting his head just a little and opening his eyes for a moment. Those eyes that she saw for just a second were deep yellow.

"Cally?" his mental voice was confused and lost, but sounded firmly in her mind.

It was like speaking to one of her own kind and she embraced it immediately.

"Yes, Avon," she told him with her thoughts, "it is me. I came when you called me."

"I'm sorry," Avon replied in kind, eyes still closed, head back down on the mat he was lying on.

"For what?" she asked, not sure what he was trying to apologise for.

For a long time she had thought the word sorry was not in Avon's vocabulary, but she had since come to realise that he only used it when he really meant it. Avon was nowhere near as self-centred as people seemed to think, but he did hide himself all too well.

"Blake," Avon replied, seemingly having trouble searching for the word, "another ... dead end."

She bent over him, smoothing his hair back from his face and seeing just a glimpse of those eyes again for her trouble.

"It does not matter," she replied and found that she actually meant it, completely and totally; "we will find Blake together, wherever he may be."

"Together?"

The loneliness in that reply nearly ripped her heart out; it was so like her own and she realised what she had been refusing to see all this time.

"Of course together," she replied, stroking the side of his face.

He opened his eyes then, looking at her properly for the first time.

"Are you real?" he asked aloud in a cracked and croaky voice.

"Yes," she said, using her audible voice as well, feeling his pain and confusion.

He stared at her for a while longer, eyes as golden as the wolves' who had chased them from their home and then his lids slipped shut again.

"Avon," she said quickly, but he gave no response, "Avon," she tried again with mind and voice, but still nothing.

The old woman's words echoed in her mind: "Give of yourself completely" and, without second guessing her instincts, she began to strip off her clothes. She was already giving of her mind, trying to connect with him as she had never been able to with a human before, but it was not enough and her other aspect was her body. It did not seem so important somehow, but it was part of herself and the old woman had been very insistent about the 'completely' part. Once she was naked, she lifted the blanket, slipping underneath and covering them both as she moved as close to him as possible.

With his curled position it was not easy, but she pulled him against her chest, laying his head on her breast and carding her fingers through his hair.

"I am very real," she told him, speaking with mind and body, "and I will not leave you."

They stayed that way for a long time, Cally talking to Avon constantly with both her voices until her throat gave out and she continued with just her mind and Avon shaking in her arms, but slowly uncurling so she could bring their bodies into line. The whole time he did not reply to any of her words, but she could feel his mind, twisting and turning in its turmoil.

"Come back to me," she whispered, what seemed like hours later, voice hoarse and almost completely gone.

She moved again, trying to bring them closer together, hooking her leg over one of his and that was when her thigh bumped into his very obvious reaction to being so close to a naked woman. It was only the smallest sound, a tiny gasp, but it was the most response she had had from him since she had crawled under the blanket with him.

"I know you are in there, Avon," she told him with her mind; "I feel you and it is time to choose."

With that she shifted position again, changing her angle and reached down to wrap her hand around his erection. He moved a little then, towards her, and she chose to believe that was a good sign.

"Come back to me," she told him as she began to move her hand. "Feel me and choose."

A small moan finally escaped him as she played him and his hips shifted and she could feel him in her mind. Things were stirring behind his eyes as they were in his body and Cally drove him on. He had to choose, one way or the other, or he would die as his body consumed itself, and she forced him on, made him feel. Avon was there, drifting just below the surface in his wild and confused thoughts and she pulled him closer to consciousness. She could feel his arousal building, dragging him nearer and nearer to reality and she fought to bring him the rest of the way.

"Show me you're alive," she demanded and flooded him with the sexual desire that was flowing through her own body as she touched him so intimately.

His eyes flew open as he came, bucking into her hand, and for a split second everything stilled as he looked at her and she back at him, but then something else started to happen. She had seen it before, the glow in the eyes as human being became wolf and she had no choice but to scramble back as Avon briefly seemed to lose clarity as if out of focus on a vid screen and then flowed into another shape entirely. Cally knelt on the bare earth floor of the hut, naked as the day she was born, and looked into the eyes of a wolf.

She had lost him; he had chosen, only she didn't know why, but she didn't feel as if she had lost him. For long moments neither of them moved and then Avon stood up and padded over, placing his furred muzzle against her skin and snuffling gently. He did not feel wild and uncontrolled, but he was a wolf and she only slowly brought her hand up to touch his head. Those golden eyes blinked at her and her mind was touched by something alien and yet not-alien at the same time.

"Avon?" she asked, not understanding what was happening.

He blinked at her a second and then there was that glow again and then she was sitting there with her hands in Avon's hair. His golden eyes slowly faded back to their usual colour and she felt him tentatively reach out to her with his human mind.

"I never knew," he said quietly, as if still unsure, so she smiled at him.

"Neither did I," she replied and then leant forward and kissed him.

There was water in a bowl in one corner of the room and both their clothes were inside as well, so they cleaned up and dressed. The wounds on Avon's leg was healed to no more than a scar, but the rips in his trousers showed where the wound had been all too clearly. Avon was not quite Avon anymore, that much was more than obvious as Cally felt him at the edges of her mind, but she found the new man to be far more interesting than the old.

"We should return to the ship," she said as soon as they were dressed and handed Avon a teleport bracelet.

"We should," Avon agreed, but although he snapped on the bracelet, he stepped out of the hut first.

Cally followed and found the old woman waiting for them. The woman smiled at them, a secret knowing smile.

"That it good," the woman said and took Avon's hand, "now come and eat before you return to where you belong."

If she was truthful, Cally was a little shocked when Avon agreed, but she followed along and found herself enjoying the food the old woman presented to them. It was strangely relaxing and the old woman talked about people they did not know and things they had not seen, but it didn't matter. Only when her communicator bleeped did she remember there were others waiting for them.

"Cally, are you there?" it was Vila's tentative voice.

"We are both here," Avon said, answering for them; "we will be ready to come up in a moment."

"Avon, you're alive!" Vila sounded delighted.

"It would seem so," was Avon's response, but it did not hold his usual caustic tone.

"Are you alright," Vila came back almost immediately, "you sound funny."

That made Cally laugh and Avon made a face.

"I am perfectly fine," Avon replied and managed to summon up his usual attitude it seemed, "we will contact you when we are ready."

Cally decided that it was going to take a little while for everyone to adjust to the new Avon and, for that matter, it appeared it might take Avon a while to adjust as well. She looked forward to the adventure.

"Remember," the old woman said as they finally prepared to leave, "return and run with the pack once in a while; it is good for the soul."

The Avon who had come to Lupinaris 12 would have scoffed at her, but the new one actually smiled at her and said: "I will try."

That seemed to be enough for their hostess and she patted him on the arm and then looked at Cally.

"The pack would welcome you also," the woman said and took her hand.

"Thank you," she replied, genuinely touched, but she did not know if she could face the same choice Avon had had, at least not yet.

"Bring us up," Avon spoke into his communicator and Cally released the woman's hand just as the teleport kicked in.

It was only when they appeared back on Liberator that she realised she had never asked the woman's name and never given hers in return.

"What the hell happened to you?" Tarrant asked and distracted her from her thoughts and she turned to see the pilot looking at Avon's leg.

"I was bitten by a wolf," Avon said simply and then stepped off the teleport pad and demonstrated quite distinctly that he was not injured.

"But ... how?" Vila sounded happy that Avon was alright, but totally confused at the same time; not overly unusual for Vila.

"Being infected with the microorganism from the planet has its advantages," was what Avon said and placed his bracelet back in the rack. "Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to change."

He sent a small smile at Cally and then walked off.

"I will expect to be rewarded for answering all their questions," Cally told him silently as he left.

"And I would not dream of anything else," was Avon's amused reply.

Oh yes, he was definitely very different.

"Local organism?" Tarrant said, apparently making sure he had heard correctly.

"Yes," Cally replied with a smile of her own; "that is why we did not return immediately."

Vila had a thoughtful frown on his face; clearly he was thinking and then his eyes opened in shock.

"Does that me that Avon ..?" Vila did not finish the question. "Is he a werewolf?"

That made Cally laugh, it was such an ancient term; even Auron had had its werewolf legends.

"You have such a colourful way of putting it," Cally said and headed towards the flight deck, neither refuting nor endorsing the enquiry.

"Cally," Vila complained and followed her, "tell me please."

She smiled again; maybe she could have a little fun with all the questions after all.

The End