Explanations
"Ivy?" Alex's first words rang out across the empty landscape. He was hoarse, but at least his vocal cords were not damaged.
"Yes. I'm here." She said, relieved that he had spoken. He would be okay.
"I'm sorry that I'm so... naked." Alex said. He struggled to sit up, but she held him down.
"Just relax." She said. "Help is coming."
"Who?" He asked, concern causing him to struggle once again.
"Phelps. Burns." She answered, pushing him firmly back into her lap. "It'll be alright."
"What did you see?" He asked. "I didn't try to hurt you, did I?"
"No, you just took the head off of someone that looked exactly like you."
"...Oh." Alex sounded mildly ashamed. "I'm sorry that you had to see that."
"It's okay. Burns told me it wasn't really you."
"No. It was a demon. What do you know?"
"About this place? Only that it keeps trying to get me killed. They wouldn't tell me anything. They said you explain it much better than them."
"The big picture..." Alex sighed and cuddled deeper into Ivy's lap. She felt the warmth in her heart grow for this man, who was like a child in her arms. "The big picture is that there's a portal to another realm, here on this island. And they're... they're not the Christian demons, but they're entities that usually cause mayhem, pain and death wherever they go. So we keep them contained here. Like I said before, way back. I'm the Guardian."
"So you're not a werewolf?"
"No, just a man who was given a little bit of extra power to make sure that this world stays safe."
"You sound so heroic." She said, and he laughed bitterly.
"It's a job. Some days I love it, but others, I wish that the Gods had gifted someone else."
"Why were all the demon skeletons human?"
"Not all of them." He corrected her. "Most. That's a hard question to answer. They can all shapeshift. A lot of them choose forms that will be hard for me to kill. They try to trick me, basically."
"So, what, they take the form of defenseless humans and you murder them?"
"It's not like that." Alex said defensively, then realized that Ivy had not been accusing him of anything. "Well. Yeah. It is sort of like that. The things I've seen..." He shuddered. "How badly am I hurt?" He asked suddenly. "I can't feel much."
"You're pretty bruised up. You probably need a brief hospital stay. But you're not bleeding everywhere on me or anything. I think you'll make it."
A moment of silence passed between them, then Ivy started a new conversation. "So Jon threatened to shoot you. As wolf."
"Oh, yes." Alex acknowledged. "That was our code. See, the demons... if they take human shape, they always try to be friendly, or taunting. They're never outright aggressive. That was Jon's way of proving to me that he wasn't another... thing."
"Do they imitate people you know?"
"Sometimes, yes. Those are the worst." Alex said. It seemed that he was reluctant to admit it to Ivy, and she realized what it meant.
"How many times have you ripped my head off?" She asked gently. He looked up at her, and she was calm, not angry. He shook his head.
"I'm not sure. A lot, recently." He admitted. He looked sheepish. "I'm sorry."
"Well, it wasn't really me." She said. "I suppose I can forgive you."
The sound of the jeep in the distance startled them out of their awkward but friendly silence.
"That must be Phelps. Or Burns." Ivy said. "Do you want me to cover you a little better?" She glanced down his body, and he shrugged.
"We'll figure it out."
The truck pulled up and both rangers got out. They saw that Alex was human, and both breathed sighs of relief.
"Hey, stranger." Jon said, walking up to the pair. "How was your trip to crazy land."
"Hey Jon." Alex said. He struggled to get up, but Jon waved him away.
"You stay put." Ivy insisted as she held his shoulders down. He shot her a look, but stilled.
"She's keeping me prisoner." Alex protested, and Jon laughed.
"Well, I mean, I would too. Look at that stark naked body you have! Its beautiful." Jon smiled slyly and for the first time, Alex blushed about his nakedness.
"So what's the story, chief?" Alex asked after a moment. He could see that Jon and Ranger Burns were prepping a makeshift stretcher to get Alex safely into the back of the truck.
"Well, first, we have to get you dressed, and then we'll bring you out to the ferry. We've called the others back from their searchers, so everyone should congregating there soon."
"We were thinking rock slide." Burns offered. "We weren't sure, until we were able to see your injuries, but you just look a little banged up. I think it'll fit."
"Rock slide it is. Earthquake, too?"
"Sure. Why not?" Jon asked. He moved with Burns and a stretched out sheet covering a plank of wood. "Minor earthquake caused some rocks to fall on you. You were trapped and bruised, but just hungry, and thirsty. And bruised. You'll understand that we plan to take you to the hospital, right?"
"I figured as much." Alex said. "Its ok. I need a vacation anyway. Just for a few days. Sleep off some of this... experience."
Ivy gently disentangled herself from Alex's upper torso and stood back as the men laid the sheet next to Alex.
"You ready, Bud? This might hurt a bit." Jon asked, and Alex nodded. With Burns at his feet and Jon at his head, the two men gently lifted Alex and put him on the sheet.
"Alright bud, don't go rolling over while we lift you. Don't need you getting more hurt. We'll try to be gentle." Jon grunted as he nodded at Burns and they slowly lifted their quarry to waist level and began moving him towards the truck.
#
Haywood stood up first to speak. He gave the rangers an introduction to the ecology of their own island, and then began talking in detail about the two things that he and Emily had studied. He chose to present the data on the insects; and Emily presented the data on the stream invertebrates and chemistry. Their presentation went smoothly, although everyone could tell that Emily was terrified of public speaking. Haywood, himself, had only finished his slides the night before, which may have contributed to Emily's nervousness. Next, Ivy stood to speak, as did Terrance, about what they had done in the last three months. Terrance went first, speaking about the plant diversity transects they did all over the south and west of the island; and then Ivy picked it up with her discussion of the unique bog ecosystem in the restricted area.
She made no mention of wolves, or almost dying, or even Alex's almost dying not a week earlier. He had just been released from the hospital, and she hadn't had a chance to see him again yet. She had felt as if they had parted on good terms, and she had the answers she wanted, but she still missed him in her daily life. But there he was, standing in the back, leaning on his crutches, as she began their acknowledgements slide, and specifically thanked Ranger Phelps, the committee that granted them funding, and Alex for his special help in the restricted area. He smiled when she said his name, which is what made her notice at all that he was there, for the presentation seemed to reflect brightly off of his not quite human teeth and eyes.
The rangers stood in an ovation which seemed to last for minutes at a time, although most likely it was not as long. The four scientists were surprised -- normally, people who had to sit through presentations for an hour were half asleep when they were finished. But this crowd was responsive and full of questions, and the questions session lasted a half an hour as Ivy explained the ecosystem she loved, Haywood flipped back to the more interesting insects' slides and rangers offered hints and honest, interesting questions about things they had observed in their time on Kir'nu.
It was no surprise then, that by the time they were done, Alex was nowhere to be found. Ivy did not think he was avoiding her, but instead, she knew that he was probably exhausted and had stayed as long as he could. The other rangers fawned over the scientists though, sad to see them go. Many of the familiar faces, including Ranger Johnson, who had spent the search effort chatting with Haywood about insects; and Ranger Burns, who had counseled Ivy away from dead bodies, were all there, and interested in hearing from the other scientists, as well as catching up with their new friends.
The highlight of the evening though, at least to Ivy, was meeting a kindred soul in Miriah Phelps. Miriah had approached her with a dazzling smile after the presentations, and being one of the only women there, Ivy valued her presence. She wasn't sure why more of the rangers' wives didn't come, but she supposed that a lot of the rangers were still single. But Miriah was hysterical, instantly sharing some of the crazy things that Jonny (her nickname for her husband) did in college. After a few minutes, Emily joined them, and all three laughed at Jon's expense until he came over to save his reputation. It was well into the night before the rangers began to make their ways back to the ranger station -- the event had been held in the field research station -- and Ivy realized that she was exhausted.
#
The next day, the scientists finished packing their bags. They were due to leave Kir'nu in the morning, and so had spent the day gathering everything they thought they needed. In addition, they prepped boxes of materials for postal transport back to their home University, because they just couldn't fit the insects and collections into their suitcases. They had wonderful hors d'oeuvre from the night before the fill their tummies as they packed, and more than once, one of them sat in a chair in the kitchen or library or living room, as if blindsided by the upcoming air travel.
Packing was stopped early in the afternoon, when a knock at the door provided them with a reason to pause. Ivy's heart fluttered, because she had a feeling it might just be the wolf ranger who had tried to steal her heart. Terrance opened the door, and sure enough, there he was.
"Are you the door guardian or something?" Alex remarked and Terrance laughed.
"I'm just faster than everyone else." He admitted, swinging the door open for Alex and retreating to the living room.
"I just wanted to come by to thank you guys for your search efforts." Alex said, removing his hat. "I could've been stuck out there for a lot longer if you hadn't offered to help the rangers with the search." He gazed at each of them in turn, until finally, his smoldering eyes rested on Ivy's face. Her heart began to beat faster, and she wondered if wolf-man could smell it or taste it or something. They hadn't talked beyond that one day: she had no idea if he retained wolf characteristics in human form.
"I wanted to thank you, too, for making it an interesting summer. I'm sure you've heard apologies from all of us about the first incident, and then about the earthquake and possible volcanic eruption, but considering both were, in a roundabout way, related to me, I wanted to thank you for your patience. Not every group of people would have responded as well to adversity as this group. You are a wonderful collection of people, and I hope that we get to see you guys again soon."
"We'd love to come back." Haywood assured him, walking from his perch near the men's bedroom area to extend a hand. Alex took it, shaking it, then pulled Haywood in for an awkward hug.
Alex repeated the process with each of the others, and when he came to Ivy, the other three vacated the room as quickly as if it had been on fire, or someone had filled the room with fart.
"Intuitive crowd." Alex murmured as he approached her. Ivy was unsure of what to do, and so just stood there, watching him approach as a wolf stalks its prey. "Listen..." Alex said.
"It's ok. I know you weren't avoiding me." Ivy cut him off, and Alex laughed.
"Yes, well, a hospital visit does tend to inhibit my ability to lead you around the restricted area."
"Are you okay now?" She asked him, and he nodded.
"No scars. The ankle was just a minor sprain. I didn't even notice it until they filled me back up with fluids."
"Good." She said, and they stared at each other awkwardly.
"Anyway, that's not what I came to tell you. I came to say..." Alex took a breath. "You're near graduating, right?"
"I'm, as they say, all but thesis." Ivy agreed.
"Good. There might be a permanent scientist position opening soon -- because this went so well. I want you to strongly consider applying for it." Alex said. Ivy scrutinized him closely.
"Was that a job offer?" She finally asked, and Alex shrugged.
"Make what you want of it, but both Phelps and I feel that the island could benefit from a full time scientist. It might help legitimize some of the things we do." Alex lowered his voice for the last part, and Ivy laughed.
"You mean the whole demon portal to hell thing?" She asked him, just as quietly, her voice a theatrical whisper, and he raised his eyebrows at her, insulted. But then he nodded.
"Yeah, that."
"I'll think about it. Ranger Phelps knows how to contact us."
"Okay." Alex agreed, then scooped her into an unexpected, much needed hug.
"I don't know what this is." He said in her ear, "But if you make it back here again, I'm willing to try. I can't leave, my duty demands I stay. But you can come back if you want. I'll be waiting."
Ivy was dumbfounded when he drew away from her and planted a quick kiss square on her lips. He was out the door before she could react to his job offer, his kiss, and his... what was that? A "I'll date you if you take the job" proposal? So weird.
Yet her heart was beating fast and she wondered if it was an option. After all, a job was a job, and Ivy wouldn't mind being close to the Rangers Phelps and Burns. And of course, Alex.
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