11

It was quiet in the prison as they walked out of the gym and down the now vacant hallways. It was almost to curfew and most of the other prisoners were already in their cells, settling down for the night. Amanda hadn't had time to shower and she still wore her lime-green tank top and black shorts as they headed to Emily's cell. Emily smelled good, like floral soap and something else...headier....

Amanda's nostrils flared as she realized what mysterious aroma was. So that's why you took so long in the shower. Her body responded immediately to the scent and she had to fight to keep herself under control. She wanted to taste her kiss, run her hands over that body, hear Emily's moans as she took her. It had taken everything within her to let Francesca have her and not claim her for herself. Even the thought now made her body tingle. She swallowed; glad that in the dim lighting Emily didn't see her give a visible shudder.

"Well, here we are." She paused outside Emily's cell, unlocking it with her key pass. "Good night." Emily said almost shyly to her. "Good night." She locked the cell up again once Emily went in, then headed back downstairs.

"What took you so long." Grumbled an irritated Stevens as she entered the equipment room. "Sorry, got held up." Amanda said, taking the equipment Stevens offered. It was obvious that her second in command was in a foul mood, and they suited up silently. With all the inmates secured, now they could proceed with their real work.

It was freeing to be in the outdoors again, the dark night and the cool forest air helped relieve Amanda's heated body. As she walked, she kept an eye on the radar, always on the alert. Beside her, one of the women, a brunette with a pixie haircut let out an audible sigh. "Keep it down, Aella." Amanda said warningly. They had all been elated at the sudden discovery a few days ago, but now the trail had gone cold again. "Sorry, lieutenant." Came the reply. She could feel the frustration in Aella's voice, and knew several of the others felt the same way. "It's just...it felt like we were so close a few days ago." Aella mumbled. "I miss the hunting back on my home planet, the creatures here....they're no challenge."

Amanda could feel Steven's eyes on her, watching her, waiting to see if she would reprimand her subordinate. "I think we all do." Amanda said casually, noting that Stevens wasn't the only one listening in on the conversation now.

"And females." Angel said in her ever seductive voice.

"The younglings, especially when they first start learning how to fight." Came Stevens deep voice to her left. There were a few chuckles in the group, all remembering their own individual experiences with training the young offspring.

Then there was brief silence, Amanda felt the home-sickness within herself as well and let the conversation die. In the distance, she saw two figures embrace. That was one thing she was grateful was not waiting for her back home, the agony of being apart from her mate for so long would have probably driven her mad by now. Still, as she watched the two hold each other, enjoying the moment in each other's arms, her heart ached. She wanted someone to call her own.

"I'm going to miss a good steak when we're home; nothing on my planet quite matches what we have here." Amanda said admittedly. She could see Stevens watching her out of the corner of her eye. "And beer." Came the woman's rich, deep voice. "Ice cream!" Aella said with a grin. "Oh and techno."

"Techno's not a food, dumbass." That was from a blonde called Jesse.

"Well we're not just talking about food..."

Amanda tuned out the squabbling of the two women, which was quickly silenced anyways by Stevens sharp reprimand. She glanced down at her communications device. Hmm no luck from any of the other search parties. It was a few hours before dawn, it was time to wrap up the search and go home to get some much needed sleep. She tilted her face to the sky and let out a call loud enough for any of her warriors within distance to hear. It was time to go.

"She looks tired today." Emily commented, watching her crush as she patrolled the cafeteria. Amanda looked as jovial as always, but there were dark circles under her eyes that Emily didn't see there yesterday. "Eh, sometimes the guards stay up late, drinking or something. Who knows." Jenni said dismissively. "Well I'm glad you two have made up anyways." Emily's head snapped back to look at her cellmate, surprised that Jenni knew, but the dark skinned woman was cutting up her eggs, oblivious to Emily's sudden interest in the conversation. Ok, so she doesn't know... Internally, Emily let out a sigh of relief. She wondered what the prison's rules were about guards having relationships with inmates. Most likely it was forbidden, or probably frowned upon.

So far Amanda hadn't done anything that seemed like she wanted anything more than friendship with Emily, but maybe it was Emily's own wishful thinking, but Amanda did seem to find every excuse to make skin contact with her. She realized she was zoning out again and quickly focus on Jenni, who had been telling a story.

Unbeknownst to Emily, Amanda had been watching her too. She gave polite responses to the women that talked to her, occasionally being part of group conversations, but she was never really engaged.

Every so often she would sneak a glance over at the small brunette, sitting with gregarious Jenni. God, she was so beautiful, quiet and assertive at first, but once Amanda had got her talking, the woman had delighted her with her witty and often sardonic humour. Amanda realized she had been staring at Emily for a few seconds and quickly turned away. Calm yourself, girl. You don't want to freak her out.

She was due for tower duty for most of today but perhaps after breakfast she could catch Emily on her own, have a brief conversation with her. "Richerds, the warden demands your presence." Oh fuck my life. The warden's command effectively ruined that plan. She straightened, making sure that her uniform was impeccable, not that it mattered, and headed for the exit. She passed by Emily's table and her heart beat an increased staccato when the object of her affection looked up. She gave her a warm smile before she left.

The announcement board of the rec room had a new piece of paper on it today, in blazing cartoonish letters it announced the zombie movie marathon that Amanda had suggested to Emily, and underneath the time and date there was a colored drawing of a horde of cartoon zombies running from a girl in heels shooting a machine gun. Emily chuckled at the cute picture, then looked a little closer at the girl in the drawing. Huh. It looked like her. A lot like her actually.

Although the drawing looked to have been quickly done, she could see her heart-shaped face, her pale blue eyes twinkling in mischief. Her cartoon alter ego even had the impish grin she had seen on her own face in pictures. She wondered if this was Amanda subtly giving her credit for helping her choose the movie titles. It really was a well drawn picture, she had no idea Amanda was an artist. She looked at the poster fondly, very tempted to take the poster and keep it for herself, but decided that tomorrow, after the showing, would be a better time to remove it.

She surveyed the rec room, taking in the room in its entirety. There was a large LCD tv in the corner with several couches surrounding it and if there were more people than the couches could hold then they could grab the one person seats that were scattered everywhere. She nodded to herself, it would be good. She couldn't wait to see the turnout, sure it was very last minute, but it was a prison, what else would people be doing anyways. Beside the tv area were several tables with folding chairs, and a basket of playing cards, chess and checkers and other board games.

Oooh hello. Beside those were two handsome wood pool tables. Wonder what time I have to be doing chores. She glanced at her pamphlet and groaned out loud, causing a few inmates to look over at her curiously. Bathroom duty, great...She wondered which guard would be supervising today. Oh well, there was still a few hours to kill before she had to go and so she played a few games of pool with some of the other inmates. They seemed to have really warmed up to her, and she enjoyed the playful jabs at each other as they played.

"A pity we can't place bets here." One of the women with a southern drawl commented as Emily pocketed the 8 ball after a very close game. "It would definitely make it more exciting." Emily agreed. "Well I gotta go ladies, it's been a pleasure." She waved goodbye to the few women still gathered around the pool table. They said their goodbyes, Emily promising them that they would play again tomorrow.

"Ah bathroom 1A...where are you...." Emily muttered to herself. She definitely did not want to be late again. "Oh here..." She spotted a familiar landmark on the map and quickly started to hurry in the direction. "Ooof!" She bumped into a tall, solid figure.

"I'm sorry, I'm-" She looked up into the face of an unimpressed Stevens. Shit shit shit. "Ah...Palmers... I was just looking for you." Strong hands grasped her shoulders and turned her around, marching her in the opposite direction of bathroom 1A. "I have to get to the bathroom, I have....bathroom duty." She stammered, lord knows what terrible plans Stevens had in store for her. "I know, you idiot. I'm supervising." Stevens' said, sounding annoyed. She was probably rolling her eyes behind her. Well you're not going a very good job, Emily thought to herself.

"I have other plans for you." The voice chilled her. She thought futilely of calling for help, but there was no one else in the empty hallway. Stevens unlocked a door and pushed her down a hallway. "I read in your profile that you've worked at a spa before. You better pray you can give a good massage." Stevens unlocked a door and pushed her inside. A strong wave of floral scent assaulted her nostrils. Oh, now it made sense.

She heard the door lock with a solid click behind her. It was a spacious, warmly lit room with a massage table in the center. Beside it was a counter with various oils. There was a blonde standing beside the counter, all dressed in white. There weren't that many six foot blondes in the prison, so Emily immediately recognized her. Angel looked up and her lips turned upward in a sensuous smile. Emily backed up instinctively and bumped into Stevens. Ooh this is not a good place to be, she thought to herself.