Title: Monkey Business
Chapter: 2
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Universe: Land of the Giants
Why: because they asked me to
Spoilers: Marionettes
Disclaimer: not mine, all IA's, all hail the actors, their inspirations, my admiration.

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For Valerie, the trip in Bobo's hand passed in a blur. She had all but passed out from lack of air after the initial landing, then when Bobo had scooped her up, his grip had been too tight and lack of oxygen had made her vision blur and a red mist seemed to mask everything. For a time she gave into the blackness and knew nothing, but eventually her captor stopped moving and Valerie was able to get her breath back and take stock of her situation. It was not exactly encouraging.

Bobo had decided to avoid his keepers entirely and leave the confines of the circus grounds. He was now deep into the dark wood, half way up a huge tree, nestled in a wide fork. He grunted softly to himself as he gave his tiny prisoner a close inspection. Valerie lay on his open palm and gazed fearfully up into the huge visage above her. In the dark the ape features took on the appearance of a demon, the weird shadows shifting as the Gorilla moved his head to look around. Only the liquid brown eyes gave her any hope for staying alive. Despite his gargantuan size he handled Valerie with a gentleness that was heartening for the terrified girl. With one leathery finger, Bobo poked at Valerie's arms and legs, occasionally pinching them between thumb and first finger, as if testing her brittleness. Valerie tried not to flinch as the Gorilla pinched and poked at her, only her heightened breathing an indication of how truly scared she was. Bobo pursed his lips and tried to taste her hair, his hot breath wafting over her as he explored his tiny captive. The sight of his yellowed teeth, as big as doors, coming so close to her head caused her to blanch and hold her breath, but Bobo was more interested in how she smelt, than how she tasted. His nostrils flared and snorted, exploring the different scents, not only of his tiny captive but of the forest around them. The warmth of Bobo's hand was keeping Valerie nice and warm in the cool night, and, for what it was worth, she was safe from the other perils of the night, for the time being at least. She hoped that Mark and Steve were going to be able to find her in the forest but, ever practical, Valerie knew that her rescue would largely be in her own hands. Bobo decided to get comfortable and closed his hand around Valerie, causing her to cry out in alarm. The sound of her voice startled Bobo and made him hoot in consternation.

" Hey big guy, don't squeeze so hard..." Valerie said, pushing against the yielding skin of Bobo's fingers. The ape appeared to understand and loosened his grip enough to allow her to move without falling through.

" You don't really mean me any harm, do you...you're just curious," Valerie continued, not really expecting Bobo to understand, but wanting to break the silence and help calm her own nerves.

Bobo seemed to be listening to her, his eye's bright and inquisitive. Valerie took heart that he seemed to be taking an interest in her voice and continued to speak.

" What are we going to do now ? you can't live here in the forest, you're not a wild ape, you'll have to return to the circus eventually,"

Bobo chuffed to himself, looking up into the branches above them and then back at Valerie.

" It's no good, you wouldn't survive the winter, plus there's no food for you here," she remarked, gaining courage from the Gorillas continued attention.

" Plus you couldn't look after me as well as yourself, eventually you'd have to put me down, and I'd run away," Valerie mused, trying to think of a way to get Bobo to release her. Bobo shifted on the tree branch, possibly already missing his warm, comfortable cage, despite the limitation. Since Brady had been replaced Bobo's life had become better, but it was far from perfect. Mostly he was bored, the only highlights being when he was asked to perform in front of an audience. Those times were infrequent, at best, and Bobo found his life made up of brief interludes of excitement with large stretches of nothing. To liven things up, he tricked his keepers and used his intellect and strength to escape them, leading them on a merry chase until Bobo 'let' them catch him. Tonight would be the same, his keen hearing had already picked up the sound of the keepers and circus people spreading through the forest in search of him, they would be near his tree very soon. He looked down at the creature in his palm and hooted softly at it, his finger tip brushing the soft hair on the creatures head.

" Hey, take it easy, it doesn't come off," Valerie chided Bobo, pulling her hair away from his roaming finger. Bobo chuffed and pursed his lips, picking up Valerie's foot and trying to pull her boot off.

" Stop that, I need those," Valerie's laughed, a tug of war ensuring which resulted in Valerie losing her boot. Bobo instantly put it to his nose and lips, tasting and scenting the tiny item.

" Don't blame me if it's not the sweetest, it's had a hard life," the girl explained, reaching up to take the boot from Bobo's unresisting grip. A sound reached Valerie ears, undergrowth snapping and people calling Bobo's name. She twisted round in the Gorilla's grip and tried to look out over the forest, one glance downwards quite enough to make her head swim.

" Oh lord, I sure hope you don't intend to drop me, like you did last time, I wouldn't survive that fall," Valerie murmured, pulling on her boot.

Bobo seemed to come to a decision and closed his hand over the girl, swinging himself down from the branch and reaching the ground smoothly and quickly. He held his hand close to his chest and Valerie could hear the distant boom of the apes heart. She laid her hands against his chest and felt the coarse hair overlaying the warmth of the skin underneath. As perilous as her situation had become, she couldn't hold Bobo responsible for his behaviour, he was only an animal after all, she just hoped she'd survive this encounter as well as she had the last.

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Mark was frantic, Steve had only waited until the bulk of the circus people had left for the search before leading Mark across the chewed up ground and back into the forest. They didn't really know where to start looking, anymore than the circus people and Bobo's keepers, but they headed out, keeping eyes and ears open for any clue to the Gorilla's whereabouts. Remembering that Bobo liked to climb trees, they kept an eye on the larger trees, checking them to try and spot the Gorilla, but as the time wore on they're frustration grew. They reached an outcrop of boulders and paused to rest.

" This is pointless," Steve exclaimed, wiping the sweat from his face.

" We can't give up, Valerie is out there, maybe injured," Mark responded, panting.

" Where would you like to look next ?" Steve shouted, flinging an arm out to encompass the dark wood around them.

" Well at least I don't want to give up !" Mark shouted back, finally losing his temper with Steve's attitude.

" Be my guest, choose a direction, any direction, it'll be as good as any....admit it, we don't know where to look, and even if we did, what could we do...last time, we were helped by the puppeteer, I don't see anyone around here to help, do you ?" Steve shouted back.

" What the hell is the matter with you, are you saying we just forget about Valerie ??" Mark retorted, his fist clenched.

" We might as well, there's not a chance we'll find her tonight, if ever, she only has to be dropped by that Gorilla, or squeezed too tight and she's history !" Steve replied, making a chopping motion with his hand.

" No !!" Mark yelled, his anguish and anger boiling over.

Mark lunged at Steve, the two men falling to the dirt and rolling over, throwing punches as they wrestled and thrashed. Steve rolled clear and got to his feet first, aiming a kick at Marks side. Mark's breath whooshed out as Steve's foot connected, and he threw himself to the side. Clutching his bruised ribs, Mark picked himself up, swung his other arm and connected with Steve's jaw, sending the man to the ground. Pain shot up his arm and made him gasp. Steve clawed his way back onto his feet and threw himself at Mark, wrapping his arms about his waist and carrying them several feet before crashing to the leaf litter. Both men had the wind knocked out of them and lay there gasping for a second before getting to they're feet and squaring off, facing each other. They were both sweating and covered in dust, a bruise already darkening Steve's jaw as Mark clutched at his painful side. They would have had another go at each other if a sound hadn't interrupted their focus and made them both turn around in surprise.

Poised above them, watching intently, was Bobo, sitting large as life in a tree behind them. Mark could see his paw was held against his chest and a flash of yellow indicated that Valerie was still his prisoner. Whether she was still alive remained to be seen. Bobo chuffed and chittered to the two men, as if trying to talk to them. Steve and Mark watched helplessly as the Gorilla came slowly down the trunk of the tree and squatted a little way away, his huge eyes keeping the tiny men in his line of sight. Bobo pulled his hand away from his chest and spread his fingers, letting Valerie sit up on his palm and look around. She couldn't see Mark and Steve from her elevation, but Bobo could, and he gently extended his arm until his hand was directly over the two men. Mark had an inkling what the ape was going to do and kept a close eye on the hand. Bobo hooted and suddenly tilted his hand, Valerie screamed in surprise as she was pitched headlong. She only fell about ten feet, but Mark was directly underneath and neatly caught her in his arms, the force of the drop making him stumble, but, just as quickly, he regained his balance, clutching his precious burden to his chest. Valerie pushed her hair out of her eyes and, seeing who held her, threw herself against Mark and wrapped her arms about his neck in relief. Steve stood back, one hand absently rubbing his sore jaw. Bobo watched the reunion with bright eyes, then he raised his hands and beat on his chest, drawing his lips back from his teeth and letting go a muted roar, making the Little People back up in a hurry. Mark let Valerie down and together they watched as Bobo got to his feet and turned to lumber back into the forest.

Valerie watched as the Gorilla paused and took one last look over his shoulder at the tiny people watching him, then he swung up into a low branch and disappeared from sight as silently as he'd appeared.

" I don't believe it, how did you do it, Val ?" Mark asked, his fight with Steve forgotten in view of Valerie's safe return.

" I didn't do anything, I think he just wanted some company," Valerie answered, brushing down her crumpled clothes and finger combing her tangled hair. Steve was standing a little way to the side, hands on hips and face averted. Mark indicated to Valerie to stand back, then walked over to where Steve stood.

" No hard feelings Steve, we were both angry and frustrated," said Mark, holding out his hand. Steve gave him a quick, remorseful look, then grasped Mark's hand and shook it. Valerie looked on perplexed, just glad to be back on the ground.

" I guess we should start back to camp, we've wasted quite enough of the night, and I think you've certainly had enough excitement for one evening," Steve announced, giving Valerie a cautious smile.

" What about the black powder, didn't you bring it with you ?" Valerie asked, rubbing her arms as the night chill, and reaction, made her shiver.

" We can go back and get it tomorrow night, when Dan returns," said Steve. Mark had taken off his jacket and wrapped it around Valerie, receiving a wide smile for his gallantry. Steve looked on, wishing he had someone to smile at him like that. He really was going to have to have a word with Betty when they got back.

The three friends made their way back into the forest, the darkness hiding them from the pair of large brown eye's that watched their progress from behind the trunk of a nearby tree. Bobo turned and started back towards the circus camp. He had enjoyed his little trip and was now more than happy to return to his warm cage and regular meals. He loped off, heading for the sound of his keepers still crashing about looking for him.

The End.