Business Unfinished

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

What Leah Dreamed

 

A voice, a mere whisper on the wind, calls, “Leah.” A dream?

The moon shone full through the leaves of the trees. Behind Leah stands a small cabin. A glider on the porch is swinging in a gentle breeze. Lights glow warmly through the windows and the open door, beckoning Leah to return.

 

“Leah,” a gentle wisp of breath through the trees.

Through the trees before her, Leah sees a soft silver-white light. Curiosity, or perhaps something stronger, draws her closer to the light. She followed it as it moved, weaving its way between the trees. Her path leading her upward.

In time the light leads her to a rock promontory that overlooks a valley, dark in the night. The moonlight is reflected off the surface of a silvery, winding river. Beside Leah is a boulder. She leans against it. Her breath coming in short ragged bursts from the exertion of climbing.

 

“Welcome, Leah.” The voice is sweet and melodious. Leah looks up on the boulder, where sits a young woman. Her hair is brown and long. Her eyes are green and sparkling in the moonlight, reflecting her smile. Sandy Wilson.

 

“We need to talk, you and I.” Sandy holds her hand out for Leah to take. Reaching up, Leah took Sandy's hand in her own. Sandy assisting as Leah climbed up on the boulder.

Sandy gave Leah a sad look. “You have something that I cherish very highly, and I want you to be happy with him. Jason never fully healed from my death, Leah. It still hurts him inside today like it did when it happened. He blames himself and cannot let go of the fact that the blame is not his.” Sandy looked up to the stars. “Jason and I came here often, when we could. His mother left him the cabin when she died. He hasn't been up here since the last time he and I were here. This is his hideaway from the real world. He always said that time here always put the rest of his life in perspective.

 

“Jason hides much of himself. There were sides of him that only I saw and only when we came here alone. His father never came here after his wife died, figuring that it was left to Jason and that he was responsible enough so that he wouldn't use it for... 'gamey pursuits' was his father's term for it.

 

“Jason brought me up here one weekend for a much needed vacation. I never knew that Jason could cook until we came up here that night. He had planned the whole thing in Jason Scott style. Soft music playing, candles lit, fire burning... A very quiet night of romance. Not the image that he had in school, I can tell you! He made love to me the first time that night. It was kind of funny, you know? Here is Jason, rich Jason who could have had any girl that he wanted, and he wanted me! He very gently took my virginity that night. Jason had a reputation at school of using women. He had conquered many of the girls and supposedly some of the teachers, as well. Jason didn't know anything of his 'reputation'. It was his first time, too.” She looks at Leah and smiles wistfully.

 

“You know how gentle he is.” Leah nods softly. “There is a dark side to him, as well. He is capable of great violence, but he tries to keep himself in check.” Sandy gazed into Leah's eyes, searching for something. “He doesn't always win those battles with himself.

 

“There was a boy in school who had more than a little interest in me. His name was Art Rocco. He was a jock; football, wrestling, track, baseball. You name the sport and he was involved. Art and his little clique were always teasing Jase.

 

“Jason never involved himself in sports that I saw. I asked him about it and he said he wasn't interested. I knew about his interest in the martial arts. I saw Jase talking to the coach one day and I started asking the coach questions about Jason. Coach Rogers told me that Jason used to play, as a freshman. One of the best, natural athletes that he had ever seen.

 

“Jase had been a running back. Supposedly real fast. The track coach tried several times every year to recruit him, as did Coach Rogers.

 

“Coach Rogers told me that during an important game, Jason was carrying when he got hit by two bruisers. The coach showed me the medical report. Jason had a broken arm, three cracked ribs, four ribs that were actually broken, a punctured lung and several of his organs had been bruised. The season was over before Jase could rejoin the team.

 

“Jase turned to his drawing and painting. My parents have a portrait of me that he had done.” Sandy smiled.

 

“A friend of mine gave a large party near the end of the year. There were over two hundred people there, including Art Rocco. Jase was talking to a couple of girls from the cheer leading squad. Art wanted to talk with me, he said. Something that he wanted to show me, to give to me. He led me upstairs.

 

“He took me into a room where his four followers were. I felt uncomfortable. I asked Art what he wanted. He asked me why I was dating a loser like Jason Scott, asked me if I was only interested in his money. He asked me why I always turned him down when he asked me out. He asked me why I wasn't interested in a 'real' man.

 

“Two of Art's buddies grabbed me and carried me to the bed and held me down. Art ripped my blouse off. His other friends grabbed my legs.

 

“I didn't know how he knew, but Art's buddies never knew what hit them. Art got up and I looked. I saw Jason, calm, like the eye of a storm. I got the impression that the storm was about to break. Art charged at Jason, and Jason moved out of the way. Every time that he hit Art it was calculated to hurt. No lasting damage. That was what he had told me. The last punch that he threw, Jase knelt as Art ran at him. He punched Art in the stomach, or so I thought. Art laid there, doubled up, arms wrapped around his legs. I found out later that Jason had ruptured him.

 

“Jason gave me his jacket and apologized to the people for the incident. We left after the ambulance took Art to the hospital. In school people made a big thing out of it, but every time that someone asked him about it, he walked away from them. Jason was ashamed of what he had done. The only way that he could reconcile the incident with himself was that he was defending me.” Sandy stood and stretched.

 

“Jason isn't a pacifist, but there are times that it's like he really can't justify the use of violence to himself. He felt he had gone too far with Art. That he had done more than was warranted. Jason earned a reputation that night and no one else ever asked me out. I had become known as Jason's girl.

 

“It was interesting at times. There were all these girls that were interested in him because of his money. I knew that he had money, but it never interested me. He made a big thing out of not spending more money on me than any other high school student could afford to spend. I guess it was because he didn't want me to be uncomfortable. We had our share of his dad's social events, but he made an effort with my parents, too. He took them out to an expensive restaurant on their anniversary. A restaurant that my father never could have afforded.

 

“I have to say, my parents never knew what to make of Jase. He offered to help my father with a deck that my father was planning on having made for the house. My father thought that Jason was going to have it contracted out. My father told him no, that he wanted to do it himself. Jason was there with the rest of my family when we started to build it. It shocked my father because he thought that Jason would never want to get his hands dirty.

 

“Jason became more relaxed around my parents, and they learned that his interest in me wasn't due to his reputation at school. My brother had told them about Jason. It took a lot of effort for me to get them to accept him before they got to know him.

 

“His father took to me like I was the daughter that he never had. A lot of the money that was spent on me was actually spent by Jason's father. Any time that I needed something Mr. Scott made sure that I got it if my parents couldn't afford it. He was spoiling me!” Sandy grinned.

 

“When my father got laid off from his job, Jason made an effort to get him a job somewhere in the company. When he found one for him, my father got upset. It took a lot of talking to get him to understand that the job wasn't his, but he would go through the process like every other applicant. He was actually excited when he came home and told us that he got the job. He never asked Jason if he had gotten him the job.

 

“After the incident with Art Rocco, Jason made himself scarce. We hardly ever saw each other and it was a while before he took me out again. My parents were wondering if we had broken up. It took a while, but I finally cornered Jason and asked him why. He said that he never wanted me to see that side of him.

 

“Jason made our senior prom something really special for me. I felt like Cinderella or something. Jason picked me up in a stretched limo. We had dinner at a very romantic restaurant. Then we went to the prom. Art Rocco was there with his buddies. I thought there was going to be trouble. Was I surprised when he apologized to me!

 

“My parents made graduation special for both of us. They knew that they couldn't afford anything expensive, but they took us out to dinner. My father bought me a car. They never expected Jason to buy things like that for me. Mr. Scott, on the other hand, went all out and sent us to Hawaii.

 

“While we were there, we went to this place that had a waterfall, beautiful flowers growing around the stream. I fell off and Jason caught me. That was when I learned about what he could do. I tried to talk him into becoming a hero. The idol of millions.” She laughs. “I never realized that I would have to die for him to do it. He told me that he wanted to live his life for himself and not for others. He explained things to me. He had wanted to kill Art for what he was doing. He was afraid of losing control.

 

“We went home and found out that Mr. Scott had made jobs available for us if we wanted them. Jason was an administrative aide to help him learn the business. His father fully expected him to take over the company in his turn. I had a job in accounting.

 

“We had registered for classes at UCLA. We were doing well for ourselves. Jason and I made plans for our wedding. We found a house that we could afford, and rented it. My parents were ecstatic when Jason asked my father for permission to marry me.

 

“Then, everything ended. We went to the bank to deposit our checks. Six gunmen entered the bank. I never saw what happened. I do know that Jason killed the robbers.” Sandy's gaze turned out over the valley.

 

“I died that night with Jason beside me. My parents tried to keep in touch with Jason. They didn't succeed very well. Jason sends them Christmas cards, anniversary presents and such like, but he never got close enough for them to talk to him after the funeral. Jase buried his pain but he never forgot it. He thinks about it every time that he puts on his costume. His father doesn't think much of about his choice but he stands by it.

 

“Leah, he needs to let go and to let the wound heal. It has been years since it happened. Help him heal. Bring him here and let him see this place again. I think that he needs it. He needs to sort out me from you. Phantasm was told by Darque what to do. He didn't know how to separate what was happening from the past. I am the past, Leah. Show him his future and help him heal.”

Sandy helps Leah stand, holding her hands tightly. “Help him.” She kisses Leah gently on the lips and fades from view. “Help him.” Her voice a whisper on the wind.

* * * * *

“Definitely strange,” Ash said. “Were there others?”

 

“A few others, but they stopped after Jason and I became a couple. I was beginning to think I had a second set of powers.”

 

“Leah,” Dani asked quietly, “why did you leave?”

Eyes locked together Leah thought through the silence. “I don't really know. I remember having concerns about... something. Jason... or...” She waved the thought away. “I don't know. Once I started with what Spears wanted I just focused on that.”

Ash and Lightning glanced at one another. “Mind control?” he asked quietly.

 

“Always a possibility, but again there's the question of 'why',” she answered just as quietly, pitching her voice so only Lightning heard.

A notation marked on the notepad, Trese looked up. “Where does that leave us with Jason?”

Hands in her lap, Ash lay her head back and stared at the cabin ceiling again. “I don't know, Trese. I wish I did.”

Leah lifted her head, resting it against the bulkhead. “Please,” she said quietly, “let us help him.”

 

“Password confirmed. Voice analysis confirmed. Manual control restored.”

Spinning her seat forward, Ashleigh barked, “Go!” barely moments after Lightning's hands had already begun working the controls. The transport made a tight turn to resume the previous flight path. Nightwing yelped in surprise.

 

“My apologies to you,” Mentor said using the intercom. “Jason was rather adamant about his plans. I was not to interfere, nor was I to inform any of you.”

 

“Then why...”

 

“Because, Theresa, Jason may have forgotten, but I was originally programmed to protect him. Even, at times, from himself.”

 

“But why?”

 

“'Why', Leah? Because I have faith in you,” he explained, “and you didn't disappoint me.”

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished
 

Battle Joined

Warmonger's Island – Wednesday 2:40 P.M.

Steven Bauer sat quietly, eyes closed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Soon, Jason, he thought to himself, soon old debts will be repaid. With a sigh his eyes returned to the map. The packs of dog soldiers had not found whoever had neutralized Pack Seven.

A red icon appeared from the northern boundary. Numbers beside it indicated the speed and altitude at which it was traveling. “Unidentified aircraft has breached the ten mile limit.”

Bauer stood, his eyes focused on the icon. “Inform the Guard. Put them on alert.” Ten miles, he thought to himself, they will be here within minutes. “Commander, inform all packs, Condition S. Just in case.”

“Yes, sir. Condition S initiated,” the dog soldier commander replied.

* * * * *

Lightning took the transport low over the waves, the force of its passing kicked up a wake. “We deploy on the beach! By the numbers,” Ash told the Guardians, “like we planned. Mentor, take control of the transport. Keep it out of harm's way.”

“Yes, Ashleigh,” Mentor replied.

Ash watched each member of the team run through their own equipment check. This mostly involved the placement of earpieces and microphones, and checking for their proper function. Their practiced moves showing confidence even when the person had pre-battle jitters.

Ash took the comm gear from Leah and fit it into her own ear. The test signal came through clearly. “Being a bit of a tease, Leah?”

“What?” Leah asked in response.

Smiling, Ash pointed to Leah's bare upper thighs above her boots, “Showing off a bit of leg there.”

Leah laughed. “Maybe there will be a few heads to turn.” She pulled an evening glove up her left arm. Her right arm was covered by the only sleeve of her leotard. Her right hand remained uncovered. From a storage locker she pulled out amber shooting glasses.

“Dog soldiers, Sparx,” Hellfire said. “Do you really want them checking out the merchandise?” She too donned amber lensed glasses.

Psistorm sniffed. “Why should she care one way or the other?” She shrugged off her jacket and hung it in a locker.

Tossing her a look of annoyance, Hellfire said, “Enough already, Trese.” She raised her hand to the side of Sparx's head and pressed a small stud on the glasses. The lenses darkened adjusting to the cabin lights.

“What the...?” Sparx asked with a little confusion.

“Equipment upgrade. Light filter lens,” Hellfire told her. “They can also be switched over to an infrared setting. I wouldn't suggest that out there though.”

From her own locker Ash pulled out a pair of fingerless leather gloves. “Is that what you're wearing?” Sparx asked.

Looking from her low heeled calf boots, up her dark pants, to her blue V-neck tee shirt with red hemming at sleeves and collar, Ash asked, “What's wrong with what I'm wearing?” She pulled on her gloves and tightened them down.

“Absolutely nothing, Fearless Leader,” Hellfire said in mock seriousness.

Her own glasses slid into place. “Good,” Ash replied. “Mentor, time on target?”

“Two minutes thirty-four seconds at current speed.”

* * * * *

“Something on your mind, Bolt?” Standing nude, tank top and cut-offs cast aside, Charley pulled her body suit out of her locker.

Bolt leaned nonchalantly against the door frame. “Just admiring the view, Beautiful,” he said with a wink.

Ignoring him Charley slowly pulled on the body suit. Next she took out a pair of long boots. She slipped those on, playing to her one-man audience, slowly pulling the zipper up on each. Finally she took out a pair of long gloves that fitted to her elbow. She pulled her mask over her head and fit it into place. She shook her blonde mane free of her headpiece and quirked a smile in Bolt's direction.

He straightened and took a step towards her. Raven slammed into him from behind sending him sprawling. Sparks popped and snapped as he slid across the floor. Raven landed one knee to his chest when he rolled to get up.

“This is the women's room, asshole.” The blade of her talon pressed hard against his crotch. “Maybe I should make you one.”

“Raven, let him up. He's got a job to do,” Titania told her. Raven stood, keeping her talon pointed in his direction. Bolt gathered himself and walked to the door, keeping an eye on Raven. “And Bolt,” Titania said as he passed through the opening, “one free show to a customer. The next one you'll pay for.” Bolt stiffened, but did not look back.
 

* * * * *

Thunderbolt lifted the dual chambered syringe from the case. One chamber was filled with a clear solution. The other was filled with something that looked like anti-freeze. He pressed the nub injector against his thigh and pushed the plunger down. The shakes began almost immediately and built in tempo until Thunderbolt was just a blur. They promptly stopped. “Aah,” he said in relief.

“Man,” Bludgeon said, taking up his own syringe from the case, “I don't know how ya can do that.” His moves mimicked Thunderbolt's. Red serum passed through the syringe and into his body. Veins and blood vessels stood out under his skin as he grunted in discomfort.

“It'sallamatterofwhatyou'reusedto.”

Bludgeon stood bracing himself against the table panting with his head hanging. He looked up at Thunderbolt. “Huh?”

“I said that it's all a matter of what you are used to, Donnie.”

Donning his helmet and putting the chin strap in place, he said, “Yeah, well, your mouth runs as fast as the rest of ya when ya shoot up with that crap.”

* * * * *

The Guardians stood around the transport's belly hatch bracing themselves against bulkheads or overhead grips. With the press of a button Hellfire opened the lower door. So low was the plane flying, spume dotted Nightwing's black boots with moisture. The drop light indicator blinked from red to green. A click sounded, noticeable only to Nightwing with the wind roar, when smoked lenses locked into place over his eyes. He glanced at Sparx, unnoticed by the others, and nodded to Ash. Arms pulled back he fell more than jumped through the aperture. His arms spread outward from his body allowing the scalloped foils to catch air as he sped ahead of the plane.

Hellfire and Psistorm stepped up face-to-face. “Ready?” they asked simultaneously. They laughed together, more to relieve tension than anything else. Psistorm stepped into Hellfire's embrace. They fell together. Flames leapt from Hellfire like an afterburner as she accelerated after Nightwing.

Looking down at the water nervously, Lightning held a golden gloved hand out to Sparx. “May I have this dance?”

Smiling at him, Sparx placed her hand in his. “This time I get to lead.” She spun him about and wrapped her arms around his chest. They too fell through the opening.

“We've got beach, Warstar! Time to go!”

The armored behemoth stepped through the hatch. Sand flew from his impact. He pulled himself to his feet and began ascending the small crater ridge. He crested in time to see Ashleigh's more graceful landing and the subsequent roll that brought her standing in a combat-ready position.

“First priority is to find Jason!”

* * * * *

“Rules of engagement?” Stinger's multi-prismatic eyes seemed to see everywhere at once while staring down Steven Bauer.

Bauer looked down at him from his elevated position. “Condition S is implemented as a precautionary measure. Not that I expect failure. Rules of engagement are whatever your conscience dictates.”

Turning her back to Bauer, Titania began issuing orders to her team. “T-bolt, you're on recon. Your priority is Lightning.” A buzzing noise that may have been his acknowledgment reached her simultaneously with the door slamming open. Titania realized she had been looking at Thunderbolt's after-image. She shook her head and continued on. “Raven and Zephyr, you're on aerial recon. Engage only if you feel you can succeed. Quantum, your target is Pulsar. You were made to be his equal. Do better. Magnetron, you and Shadow take Warstar. Your magnetics, and your strength,” she nodded towards Shadow, “should be adequate to take him out.”

She watched Moray pull his cowl into place. “Hellfire is yours.” Titania shuddered in disgust when he licked his lips at some hidden thought. Her attention turned to Stinger. “Archie, you and Donnie get the telekinetic. Strong Girl, or whatever she's calling herself lately, is mine.”

“What about Nightwing? Don'tcha think somebody oughta take him?” Bludgeon asked.

Stinger chortled. “With his track record, he'll take himself out before he's even a threat. Let's go.”

Titania was headed towards the door when Bolt spoke up. “What about me?” He jumped when a bundle consisting of a pair of gauntlets, cables and a hard-shell backpack landed on the table in front of him.

“Condition S, Sparky,” Bauer said. “You already knew that. There's an assault pack waiting for you outside. Suit up.” Bauer turned his attention back to the map.

Bolt gathered the gear and headed towards the door, muttering to himself.
 

* * * * *

Lightning hit the ground running from where Sparx dropped him. Sand flew like a rooster tail and was sucked back in his wake as he sped down the beach. Ashleigh watched him go. “Keep your eyes open.”

“Roger that. Not seeing anything on the beach,” Lightning said.

“Alright team. Recon in force. Nightwing, pull back and stay with us. You don't have Lightning's speed,” Ash told them.

Nightwing growled across channels back to her, “Lightning doesn't have Thunderbolt's speed.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Lightning responded. “Thunderbolt may be faster, but his win/loss record shows who is better.”

“You realize, Nightwing, that's like pointing out that Titania is stronger than Ash,” Hellfire said. She set Psistorm on the sand and flew in a wide circle about the team's beachhead.

“She is?” Lightning answered in mock surprise.

Bullets and laser beams gouging the sand preceded the appearance of the dog soldiers. Some knelt to fire. Others took cover where they could find it behind tree trunks or large rocks. Ash grunted in surprise when a bullet deflected off of Warstar and spent itself against her shoulder before dropping useless to the sand.

“Dog soldiers,” Ash said, more to inform Nightwing and Lightning. “Sparx! Shield up!”

Pale blue electricity surrounded Sparx. “Shields up, Keptin,” she said in a clipped accent. Twin laser blasts were absorbed by her shield. Ash growled in annoyance when a hole was flash burned into her pant leg.

Flames ignited trees and undergrowth. Hellfire poured flames from her hands as she flew behind the packs, cutting off any line of retreat. “Too many for one pack, Ash!”

Warstar stomped on a fallen tree trunk, snapping it up into his two-fingered hands. He swung it like a baseball bat. Trees fell, uprooted and sundered. Dog soldiers, the lucky ones, dove beneath the wild swing. Several unlucky were sent flying.

Psistorm was down on one knee, with her arms outstretched to the sides and her eyes glowing, surrounded by her own force field. Bullets smacked off of it. She cried out in pain and surprise when a bolt from a laser rifle managed to burn through it.

Lightning fanned out from Sparx's fingers, crackling and snapping where it found a rock, a tree, or a dog soldier. Several of them continued to lay down fire from cover.

Running up, bullets and lasers making more holes in her clothes, Ash grabbed one dog soldier and swung him about, knocking another off his feet before she flung the one in her hands out over the water. “I hope you can swim,” she muttered to herself.

Hellfire, the bullets melting before they came close enough to hurt her, continued to hurl fire at the mooks in armor. She dodged a few laser shots as she flew by.

Sparx caught one dog soldier full on with a bolt of lightning, sending the soldier into paroxysms similar to St. Vitus dance. He fell smoking and face down when the bolt expended itself.

Charging with what was left of his tree, Warstar steamrolled several of Bauer's thugs, pinning them beneath the wood in his hand.

Rising to her feet, Psistorm gestured one hand forward with a smile. A dog soldier climbing to his feet was slammed into Warstar's back by her power.

* * * * *

Jason turned back towards the sound of gunfire. Too distant for them to be shooting at him his experience told him. Even so, he quickened his pace southward.

* * * * *

Thunderbolt aimed a blow at Lightning's head as he overtook the navy and gold figure racing along the trail. The blow failed to land. Lightning evaded it easily. He ducked the next blow leaving Thunderbolt to overshoot him when he stopped, reversed his path of travel and headed back to the beach.

Seconds. Precious seconds was all that maneuver would gain him. Seconds in which Thunderbolt needed to turn around. How much time he gained depended upon whether Thunderbolt stopped, turned around and re-accelerated, or if he kept on and came back in an arc that he could manage at his velocity.

Lightning stopped on the beach with his back to the water. He scanned the beach and the tree line. Thunderbolt wouldn't give up. He had a deep-seated need to prove he was better than Lightning.

In a blink Thunderbolt was there, facing Lightning down not too far from where Jason had skipped across the sand. He came on, building speed as he went. Blows rained on Lightning. Block. Parry. Strike. Again and again. Faster than the normal eye could follow.

They parted. Lightning felt the sweat creeping down his back. Thunderbolt was panting with one hand braced against a knee.

Pulling himself up with an intake of breath, Thunderbolt charged in again. Tens of blows flew between them in a second. A couple got through Lightning's defense, landing hard and threatening bruises at the very least.

The speed difference between them kept Lightning from mounting any serious offense. He broke away and ran. Thunderbolt set after him. Lightning turned faster than Thunderbolt was capable of matching. That was where Lightning's advantage was. He was more maneuverable than Thunderbolt. He raced towards the trees.

Thunderbolt pulled himself into as tight a turn as he could manage to follow Lighting. Again, moving like a running back, Lightning dug in and changed direction back towards the beach. Thunderbolt tore into the undergrowth as he ran. He grasped a tree trunk in passing, using it as a pivot point like a child on a playground to change his direction.

Again Lightning was standing on the beach facing Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt threw another punch. A grab, a twist, Lightning used his hip for leverage and executed a perfect aikido throw, using Thunderbolt's momentum to send him skipping over the waves.

Lightning waited until Thunderbolt's head broke the surface before running. He'd found out years before that running on water was possible. It was just really hard to get up on the surface to run on it if you're in it.

He pulled Thunderbolt up when he ran past. He looked dazed to Lightning. Move fast enough and hitting water was as bad as hitting concrete. Only you tended to bruise and break rather than suffer road rash.

He ran back to the white sand. He dropped Thunderbolt and pulled out two zip ties from his belt. Lightning bound Thunderbolt's wrists behind his back before doing a high-speed pat-down.

“Why not...” Thunderbolt panted, “just... kill me?”

“Aww, c'mon T-bolt,” Lightning said while he fastened the second strip around the downed man's ankles. “You know that's against the union rules.” He was looking at the transponder that he'd taken from Thunderbolt's belt. “Sorry about this.” He quickly ripped a strip of cloth from his foe's costume and speedily fashioned a gag. This was placed in Thunderbolt's mouth and tied.

Lightning carried the man into the trees. He found one thick enough that wouldn't sway much when he pulled on it. Another zip tie and Thunderbolt was bound to it. Underbrush and fallen branches he used to cover the bound man. Satisfied that it would take more than a cursory search to find Thunderbolt, he walked to the far side of the tree and dropped one of his cards. He covered it lightly with dirt and sand with the toe of his boot.

He ran.

“Thunderbolt is down. I'm going to get rid of a transponder. What did I miss?” he asked.

“Mook fight,” Hellfire answered. “Nothing serious. Ash is working on cut-offs and could probably use a Kevlar sports bra about now.”

“That's enough, Hellfire!” Ash snapped into the radio. “Any sign, Lightning?”

He drew back and threw the transponder into the ocean several miles off the island and turned to head back. “None, Ash. I'm sorry.”

* * * * *

An energy contrail, darker blue against the sky, followed Quantum as he flew. Nightwing erupted from the trees and slammed into Quantum from below. Quantum's force field flared and died out. Nightwing carried him higher. “You aren't who I'd like to fight,” Nightwing growled, “but you'll do!”

A blow from his fist sent Quantum falling like a rag doll. He made no attempt to gain control before Nightwing slammed into him again.

Fire lit across Nightwing's back and side. The last thing he saw was Raven sail past him towards Quantum.

“This is Raven,” she said. “Quantum has been engaged by Nightwing. He is currently unconscious. I'm bringing him in.”

“What about Nightwing?” Bauer's voice came through her ear piece.

“Sliced and diced. Last I saw him he was falling into the trees,” she answered.

* * * * *

“You stupid bastard.”

Jason had witnessed the beating Nightwing gave Quantum. Jason looked on the ruin where Nightwing lay. He was unsurprised when Nightwing moved his arm. That was what Nightwing had going for himself. He was durable. Like a Timex. He took a beating and was always able to bounce back from it.

Nightwing jumped in surprise when Jason knelt down. “Thought you were her coming back to make sure.” Pain was evident in his voice.

Jason assessed Nightwing's wounds. Kris insisted that they all have paramedic training. Even from the very beginning. “I'm going to have to move you, Brad.” He rolled Nightwing over so that the cuts were uppermost. In his mind Jason saw the position that Raven would hold herself in: hands by her waist, palms turned outwards, fists closed, talons hanging, and her wings pulled back in a power dive. The cutting edges of her talons held to rake. The upper cuts skipped across Nightwing's ribs. Painful, but not life-threatening.

“Why,” he stammered through the pain, “why do you hate me, Scott?”

The lower cuts missed the ribs and had cut into the muscles. They possibly went deeper, but Jason lacked even the simplest tools. With his powers cut off he couldn't heal Nightwing. “I don't hate you, Brad.” He needed something to bind the wound. He'd settle for duct tape. The first piece for Nightwing's mouth. He could drop the talisman, but if Charley was right he could end up with every dog soldier and Guard on the island trying to kill him.

“Heard you,” Nightwing whispered. “When you told Leah what the problem was. Not just my eyesight that's enhanced.”

“You're cut deep. Why couldn't you guys just go back like I wanted?”

Nightwing started to laugh but ended up coughing roughly. “Tried. Would have tried taking Leah out. They wanted to stay.”

Looking to see if any blood came from Nightwing's mouth, Jason said, “I don't hate you, Brad. You just act like everyone I disliked in my youth and why I wanted to go to public schools. You have an overblown sense of entitlement. You act like having a little bit of money makes you better than everyone else.” He laid his hand over the lesser cuts and tried to draw the injury to himself as he had done the day before with Emily. To no avail.

“Not better... not better than everyone. Just better than you. You didn't deserve her.”

“Brad,” Jason warned, “this is neither the time nor the place for this discussion. And since I am the only one here right now that has the slightest inclination in saving your ass, you'd think that I would be just about the last person you want to try pissing off.” Jason flipped the shredded foil out of his way and stopped. He flipped it back and forth with a look of serious contemplation. “What's this made of?”

“Fabric,” Nightwing answered.

“Wise ass,” Jason growled. “I need something sharp. Do you have a knife on you?”

He groaned. “Can't you just pull one out of your ass like you usually do?”

“I'm afraid not. I'm under a spell right now that is keeping me from using my powers.” He didn't mention that if he had had access to his powers he wouldn't be sitting there right now. “Now, to continue our discussion, you are completely undisciplined. You rush into things blindly. Which is how you end up unconscious ninety percent of the time or bleeding out on island holidays.”

“The hero is supposed to get the girl.” He coughed again. “That... that really hurts when I do that. It should have been me.”

“It was you, Brad. You beat the crap out of Quantum and Raven sliced you up.”

“No,” he whispered. “Leah should have been with me.”

Jason kept looking around for something sharp and remembered taking down the katana. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the katana. Like making the bullet appear in the loft, it so surprised him when the katana appeared in his hand that he almost dropped it. “Well, Angel, looks like I found a loophole,” he said to himself. He set to cutting the foils off Nightwing's costume. “You want Leah, Brad, stop being a peacock and try being a person.” He folded the foils and used the whole one as packing. The shredded one wasn't of much use for anything. “Oh, Angel, you're going to be so pissed about this one.”

“Who are you talking to?”

He set the katana down and put his hands together, palms down and fists closed, thumb to thumb. Power played along his finger and thumb. Angelique's blue silk dress came forth like a magician's infinite scarf. “Just talking to myself, Brad.” A few passes with the katana and the dress was nothing more than several silk rags. These he used to bind the packing to Nightwing. “Brad, do you have your communicator? Brad?”

Jason moved over Nightwing and found him to be unconscious. “Great. Your favorite position.” He peeled back Nightwing's cowl to get at the ear piece.

He sat in the sand in the shade of a tree beside Nightwing. He pressed a stud on the ear piece to remove it from the team's network. “Mentor,” he said.

“Sir?”

“Mark this spot. Nightwing is down. He is severely injured. I'm not sure how badly. I don't have any medical supplies. What is the ETA of Medical One?”

“Revising. Medical One will be there in approximately 53 minutes. Miss Shepperly began accelerating before I even finished informing Dr. Tyler.”

“Jason, what is Nightwing's status?” Kris's voice came through loudly.

He glanced at Nightwing's unconscious form. “Three lacerations on the right side from about the fourth rib to his shoulder. Three lacerations on the right side just below the rib cage. The lowest only appears to be a graze along his hip. I'm not sure of the actual depth. I packed those cuts with one of his foils. I've got that held on with strips of silk.”

“Silk?” she asked.

“Don't ask. The unpacked cuts seem to have stopped bleeding.”

“Wait there. I'll send Lightning to your position.”

Jason sighed. “That's not going to happen, Kris. There's too much business...” Jason paused, searching for the words, “unfinished here for me.”

“Dammit, Jason! The team is there for you!” This he didn't hear. He had dropped the ear piece beside Nightwing and started running.
 

* * * * *

Ash watched as the sky darkened. The wind was slowly building up from a gentle breeze. Clouds were forming quickly, roiling in the south Atlantic sky. “Damn! Roger that Kris,” she said. “Lightning! Nightwing is down. Jason called in. Mentor, show Lightning where to go.” She knelt down and removed part of her pant leg. “One for one. We can't handle that rate of attrition.”

“What do we do now?” Psistorm asked. She, like the others on her team, was restraining their fallen foes.

“We go south. We've got Nightwing's position marked. Jason was there. We pick up his trail from that point.”

Rain began, a spatter against leaves at first before the clouds burst into a torrential storm. Hellfire started steaming before Psistorm covered the team under a giant purple force bubble.

“I thought Mentor said that the day was supposed to be clear,” Sparx commented on the weather.

“The weather was to remain clear, Sparx,” Mentor replied. “I do not understand the current weather conditions. It cannot be natural. The local wind speeds are already at category two and rising.”

“It has to be Zephyr,” Psistorm offered. “She's the only one that we know for sure that would be here.” She winced and the bubble cracked when blown debris slammed against it. The cracks flared slightly and the bubble was whole once again.

Hellfire put her arm around her friend's shoulder. “You're getting better at that, Trese.”

“How do we deal with her?” Sparx asked. “I've never had to deal with her before.”

Ash looked at her with a smile. “Team work. We'll need a distraction or two. 'Star, how's your throwing arm?”

“Fully functional,” his bass voice rumbled. “What is your plan?”

* * * * *

Hellfire launched from the trees like a rocket. Almost immediately the winds started blowing her around. It took more power than she was used to expending flying to hold close to her planned course. Up. Up closer to Zephyr.

Sparx flew wide using the trees as cover and dodging the debris that the winds sent in her path. Like Pulsar the night before, she too sought the storm. Seeking to use the clouds for cover. Her own trail would blend in with the lightning that had begun.

* * * * *

Standing like a statue, through long field binoculars Titania watched Hellfire's progress through the wind and the rain. She barely noticed the branch that slammed into her, broke, and continued to be carried on by the winds. “Moray. Go,” she said calmly. Without a backward glance, Moray took to the skies fighting the wind. She watched his progress. “Archie, can you fly in this?”

Stinger knelt. His arm was across his eyes, protecting them from the buffeting winds and debris. His wings were tucked tight behind him, much like a scarab beetle would. “Not happening in these winds, Charley.”

“Raven.”

“Here, Titania. What the hell is going on out there? The wind has me grounded. I'm not losing my wings in this!” Her voice was steel coming through Titania's ear piece.

Titania sighed. “I understand that, Raven. Zephyr is flexing her muscles. What's the word on Quantum?”

“Broken. Someone must have put a bug up Nightwing's butt. Compressed ribcage. Cracked ribs. Broken jaw. He'll be lucky if he doesn't lose an eye. Internals are probably bruised.”

Jason, Titania thought to herself. “I understand. Have the medics do what they can and have him ready for departure. I'll let you know when Zephyr is done playing.”

“Roger that,” Raven replied. “Out.”

* * * * *

Flames rolled down Hellfire's arms and off her hands. The flames licked and spat in the rain and wind, and ultimately fell short and wide of Zephyr.

Reaching out, as if to grab Hellfire's distant form, Zephyr turned her hand cupping the flaming blonde in her mind's eye within her open palm. She snapped her hand quickly into a fist. The effect was immediate. The flames doused. Hellfire's hands went to her throat and she began to fall. Zephyr watched her splash into the waves.

Lightning arced past her. She turned to face Sparx, who was descending on her from the clouds above. She flew backwards, keeping the distance between the two of them open. Ball lightning rolled around Sparx's fingers and she sent it spinning towards Zephyr. Zephyr moved like she was waving a bug away and the ball of lightning sailed off.

Forming two more balls, Sparx flung them away from herself. These Zephyr dodged easily by flying lower and allowing them to fly past unobstructed. Bringing her hands to her chest and pushing outwards towards Sparx, the wind changed direction. The wind impacted into Sparx sending her out of control to slam into water.

Propelled by Warstar's mighty arm, Ash flew straight and true into Zephyr. She grabbed hold of the brunette. The collision disoriented Zephyr. Ash rolled so that she would take the brunt of the impact from the fall. They sank beneath the waves.

* * * * *

Moray sliced into the waves, transitioning smoothly between air and water. Once in the ocean his speed markedly increased. His eyes adjusted to the water and his gills opened. He sped off in search of his prey.

* * * * *

The stuff of shadows moved at Warstar's feet unnoticed. It built upon itself like smoke, becoming thicker. It quickly took on the form of a muscular man. Darkness blacker than night colored him. His limbs appeared distorted. Thin, wiry and out of proportion with his body. Warstar's eyes widened in surprised. Shadow's fist slammed into Warstar. The armored behemoth sailed near twenty-five yards before coming to rest in a second Warstar-created crater in the sand.

Turning towards the sound of the impact against Warstar, Psistorm was met by the rat-a-tat of dozens of children's jacks against her purple force bubble. Small cracks appeared where they impacted. The next sound was like thunder. Bludgeon's truncheon crashed down on the wall. It shattered into myriad fragments before they faded into nothingness.

Psistorm's eyes flashed purple. Her force field appeared, closer to her body than the bubble had. It was a deeper purple and stronger than the wall.

Eyes flashing a bright red, Warstar stood on the sand. Shadow launched himself at Warstar. Warstar swung his armored fist and overcompensated when his hand passed harmlessly through Shadow's form.

“You can't touch me, Tin Man,” a voice, long and thin, whispered to him, carried on the ragged wind.

“C'mon, girl,” Bludgeon said through gritted teeth. “Ya can't keep this up.” His booted foot slammed hard against her field. It flared and Psistorm stumbled.

She regained her footing and lashed out with her power. The blow missed Bludgeon's armor and set him flying a dozen yards. “I can keep it up as long as I need to. You're nothing but a cheap bully. One thing I learned from my step-father is that you can't fear a cheap bully!”

The jacks reappeared spinning around Psistorm. They set a keening noise like nails across a chalkboard.

* * * * *

Electricity arced across the waters when Sparx broke the surface. Her glasses had been lost when she hit the water. She brought her hand up and felt for the ear piece. It too was gone. She got her bearings, surprised by how far Zephyr's blow had sent her, and headed back towards the island, flying low over the water..

* * * * *

“Help me!” Zephyr begged Ash. “I cannot swim!” Her voice was accented. Ash couldn't place it.

“Then why don't you fly out of here?”

Zephyr splashed heavily towards Ash. “I cannot! The spirits of the air cannot lift me from the waters!” An air of desperation was entering her voice. “Please! You must save me!”

Ash grabbed Zephyr's flailing arm by the wrist. “Settle down! I'll get you out of here, but if you try drowning me I swear I'll leave you!”

“Yes! Yes!” the brunette sobbed.

“Come on then,” Ash said, pulling the other woman into position for a lifesaving sidestroke. Long trip to the beach and I don't even get to enjoy myself, she thought to herself.
 

* * * * *

Further away Hellfire splashed from the water. A sharp intake of air sent her into a coughing fit. She had gone into the sea with only the air already in her lungs. Zephyr's attack had kept breathable air from entering the young woman's airway. It had also kept the oxygen her powers relied on from reaching her. She took a moment to rest, floating on the surface.

* * * * *

Lightning looked down on his fallen teammate. Almost in the same position Jason first saw Nightwing. “And this, Brad, is why we don't grandstand in the big league.” He knelt and checked Jason's bindings and noticed that there was indeed bleeding still from the unpacked cuts. “Mentor, ETA on Medical One.”

“Forty-two minutes at current speed,” came the reply.

“Damn,” Lightning said, more to himself. He leaned back against the tree, further mimicking his missing comrade. “Mentor. Revise the scenario. What if I carry Nightwing back to Medical One? Give me a time estimate.”

“A moment.” Even Mentor's moments took forever sometimes to Lightning. “Once you are up and running it will take approximately ten minutes.”

He hung his head while he thought. Options flashed before his mind's eye. Determination marked his face when he looked up. “Kris.”

“Here, Warren.”

“I've got an idea. Could be risky, but it could get Nightwing to you faster.”

Silence hung loudly while she considered. “What's your idea?”

“You know how they stop planes on carriers?”

“Yes. Arresting gear. Usually a cable laid across the deck. What does this have to do with your idea?” she asked.

“My choice, Kris. My risk. Let me talk to your pilot.”

Roan came on the system, obviously confused. “Uh, I'm, uh, here, sir. Lightning.”

He gently lifted Nightwing in his arms. “Captain, cut speed to zero. Hang low and deploy the safety net.”

“Warren!” Kris's voice came loudly into his ear, “that net is designed for water rescue. It's meant for people to climb.”

“I understand that Kris. Be ready. Five minutes.” He began running, pushing himself faster.

* * * * *

The sound of the jacks acting on her force field was beginning to affect Psistorm's concentration. She saw Bludgeon stand. He adjusted his helmet and snapped the truncheon back into his hand. He started stalking, very determinedly, towards her.

“You missed again, Tin Man,” Shadow taunted after Warstar's fist passed effortlessly through his immaterial body again. “Can you keep this up much longer?” the shadowy man teased.

A flicker appeared throughout the purple field. In that brief instant one of Magnetron's jacks slipped inside and buried itself in the padding of the crimson bodice of Psistorm's costume. She screamed in pain as her force field faded from sight.

* * * * *

Well, the lithe blonde thought to herself, might was well get started. The waves were still churning from the winds. Hellfire noticed that she too had lost her glasses somewhere in the water. She rolled over and began kicking herself in the direction of the island.

Pain arced across her belly. She doubled up trying to protect her vitals. She caught a glimpse of something gray swim past her. Shark? She asked herself as it swam past again in the murky depths.

* * * * *

“How much of this do you want let out?” the Wildfire corpsman asked Roan through Medical One's intercom system. She looked questioningly at Dove.

Dove, wearing scrubs and lab coat instead of combat gear, answered, “Mitchell, how long is it?”

They heard Mitchell yell, “Dove wants to know how long it is!” There was a muffled response and Mitchell was back. “The tag says twenty yards, ma'am!”

“All of it!” Roan and Dove answered in unison. “I want the anchors checked ASAP. Lightning will be coming in hot. If those anchors don't hold, Mitchell, I want to know about it before it happens! We don't have a lot of time for second guesses and we sure as hell won't have a second chance to get it right!” Dove said.

“Aye, ma'am,” Mitchell said. “Understood. Roll it out now!”

Kris looked out at the roiling clouds. This has to be just about one of your dumbest ideas ever, Warren.
 

* * * * *

Bullets impacted upon her force field. Some fell to the ground at her feet. Others ricocheted off into the underbrush. Lightning arced from Sparx's outstretched hands, chaining from one pack member to another, until all five were caught in her blast. Electrical systems in the dog soldier's armors overloaded and went dark. Within seconds the five men were laying twitching on the ground.

Sparx turned from where she was hovering a couple of feet from the ground. Her face looked to the sky, not seeing the soldier from the assault pack with the bazooka-like cannon lifted to his shoulder. A sound like a chuff came quietly from the heavy weapon. Its ordnance passed unimpeded through her force field. The rubber-like material quickly wrapped itself around her body, pinning her arms to her sides uncomfortably and forcing her legs together. She fell to the ground amid the dog soldiers she had subdued.

Two sets of armored combat boots entered her field of vision along with a pair of softer navy blue leggings. With no small difficulty she rolled on her side to look up. Bolt looked down on her. Copper colored gauntlets covered his usual dark gloves. Cables hung loosely from the gauntlets to the pack slung over his back.

“Hello, Pretty,” he said to her when he knelt down. He touched a hand lightly to each side of her head. Power coursed through her. She felt her own being pulled from her. Consciousness left her along with the last of her ability.

* * * * *

Moray glided beneath the waves. He'd cut his prey. Not seriously, but she knew something was stalking her. He darted in again. His finger, like a lover's caress, drew a line up the back of her calf. She kicked out, but missed him. He noted with satisfaction the blood from the cut smoke up and mix with the water.

Head bobbing, Hellfire sought to call for help, only to find her ear piece had joined her glasses. She threw a feeble flame above the water. Not much brighter than a candle flame. No one is going to see that. I can't keep it up with rain and the waves, she thought.

* * * * *

Bludgeon charged in while Psistorm was down on one knee. Her hand was pressed against her bleeding shoulder. The truncheon swung down and she blocked it with her forearm. Power flared where it impacted, protecting her arm. She opened her hand and pushed at Bludgeon. Purple energy reached out from her palm and shunted Bludgeon back.

Shadow continued to evade Warstar. Blows failed to land, but at the same time, the blows kept him from re-solidifying to initiate his own attacks.

* * * * *

The four-wheeler tossed up sand as Titania rode it through the jungle. Clutching the rack behind the Amazonian woman Stinger was holding on for dear life through bumps, jumps and swerves. Over hillocks and around trees, the descent from the island's highlands was faster than was safe for the current conditions. Stinger was considering whether or not it was safer to trust the raging winds that Zephyr had called up than the madcap race that Titania was running. They had left the dog pack that had been with them far behind.

“As soon as you think you can fly, do it, Archie,” she said to him.

“Yeah, about that, Charley, I get the strange feeling that Zeph isn't in control of the winds anymore.”

Her hair was blowing wildly in the wind. Sometimes behind her, sometimes to one side or the other as a strong gust of wind took it. “And?” she asked, tossing the question over her shoulder.

“If she isn't, then the winds will have to blow themselves out. You know how I feel about walking. I might get my boots dirty.”

She slid to a stop by a fallen tree. She braced the quad-runner with one leg and kicked the trunk off the trail with the other. “Or you can be like every other bug, Archie, and see where the winds take you.” She released the brake and opened the throttle wide.

* * * * *

Moray eeled through the waters towards the girl. Every time she started to swim towards the island he approached her. She was bleeding from a myriad of small cuts. Hurting her physically wasn't the only pleasure he sought. His hands had caressed her backside on one pass, had cupped her breast on another. The flame-motif bodysuit was slowly coming to pieces around the girl. This was some of the greatest fun Moray had had in a long time.

* * * * *

Pulling herself free of the water and onto the sand, Zephyr was panting and shaking as she gained her feet. “I thank you for saving me, but now...” She never saw Ashleigh's fist come around to catch her square in the jaw.

“Stuff it bitch,” Ash said, catching the falling girl.

* * * * *

Psistorm reached for a fallen tree with her power. She brought it up like a club. Some of the jacks cut into it like a saw. She motioned like she was swinging a tennis racket. Bludgeon rolled to the side and came up on his booted feet. “Ya missed me!” he growled.

“I wasn't aiming for you, dip****,” the redhead said glaring at him.

He took a half step backwards and glanced over his shoulder. Magnetron had been caught between two trees. The magnetic field surrounding his body imprinted upon both tree trunks. Psistorm pulled hers back and the magnokinetic fell to the ground.

Shadow continued to dance around Warstar, much to the metallic giant's frustration. He stopped swinging at the elusive shadow-stuff and stood with arms wide before him. He was openly inviting Shadow to attack. The shadow-stuff moved in, taking the offering.

“Theresa!” he bellowed. Psistorm reacted without thought to the warning. She threw herself to the ground. Her force field thickened until it was almost opaque. Caught between Warstar's outstretched hands Shadow hauled his own fist back. He noted the crimson aura covering his foe's body. Plasma vented from Warstar's gauntlet-like hands and ignited. The miniature star burned hot and bright.

Shadow, bereft of his powers in that instant, screamed in agony. Warstar threw the plasma ball at Bludgeon. It exploded against the thug's armored vest, blowing him past the fallen form of his ally.

He looked down at the prone smoking form at his feet. Shadow was moving feebly. He was slowly pulling himself to his knees. Warstar raised both of his massive fists and brought them down on Shadow's back, again and again.

* * * * *

“Where is he?” Dove asked without speaking to anyone in particular. Her wings twitched in frustration. She stabbed the intercom switch with a finger. “Mitchell, what's the word on those anchors?”

“Ma'am, the anchors are rated for one thousand pounds each. That was a requirement that both you and Mr. Scott dictated in the design. There are ten anchors. The only weakness in Lightning's plan is the net itself. The design of the net and the tensile strength of the material, it should hold up.”

“That's fine, Mitchell,” she said somberly. “I'm sorry. I'm just worried about this plan.”

“That fine, ma'am,” Mitchell said. “I understand. Lightning has done his fair share for us. The least we can do is be there for him when he needs us. How is the new captain doing?”

Dove looked over at Roan. “She's doing just fine, Mitch.” Roan blushed slightly at the compliment. “Out.” She released the button and turned her attention to the sensor screen.

“Uh, ma'am?” Roan asked.

“Tell you what, Roan,” Dove said, “you can call me 'Dove', you can call me 'doctor', or you can call me 'Kris'. 'Ma'am' is the way the Wildfire troops are polite without being overly familiar. Personally I'd prefer you to call me 'Kris'. My friends do.”

Roan looked a bit relieved. “Kris?”

“Yes?”

Looking up at the sensor monitor over the pilot's seat, Roan asked, “You're friends with Mr. Scott? I mean Jason?”

Dove rested her elbows on the control panel. She interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on them. “I was friends with both Jason and his father, Roan. What's on your mind?”

“Was?”

She couldn't help but rub her face where the scar had been. “Let's just say that Jason and I have some issues we need to work out between us. We're still friends, but we haven't had a lot of contact the last couple of years.”

“Oh,” Roan answered a little dejectedly.

“Roan, what's on your mind?” Dove prodded.

She looked at the black haired woman with a wry smile. “Jason. We dated a couple of times. I know, don't date the boss, but it seems like we hit it off pretty good. All of a sudden he breaks dates and he's unavailable for one reason or another. Yesterday he pulled my ticket and I think that the only reason I got it back was because of Charlie Walker.” She paused for a breath.

“And?” Dove asked again.

Roan looked back out through the windscreen. “Does he care?”

Dove pointed a bemused smile at Roan. “'Care'? In general or about you?”

“Yes,” she answered quietly.

“Roan, Jason caring isn't in question. Jason has a pretty big heart all things considered.” Dove glanced down at the monitor again. “Jason has been in a pretty dark place lately. I found out recently myself that he really hasn't been having much to do with anyone. If he asked you out, it's safe to assume he likes you. If it was more than once, I'd be pretty sure that there was some interest on his part, but Jason has some pretty deep emotional scars.”

“What's Jason doing out here anyways?” she asked Dove.

The sensor chirped a warning. “Kris! He's coming!” Far ahead and coming closer was a sign not unlike the wake of a hydrofoil racing boat.

“Mitchell, be ready!”

Water sprayed Medical One's windscreen. There was a loud snapping noise when part of the net ripped free from its anchors.

“Go!” they heard someone yell.

“Mitch, what's going on?” Dove asked into the microphone. “Mitch?”

One of the other corpsmen responded, “Ma'am, Mitch dove in. The net ripped partially loose. Lightning and Nightwing are both tangled in it.”

“Are they all right?”

“Don't know, ma'am. We've two in the water with a basket for Nightwing. Lightning is face down. That's why Mitchell dove in,” the corpsman answered.
 

* * * * *

In some ways the waves made the trek to the island both easy and difficult. When the waves came up from behind Hellfire it seemed like they pushed her along. Until she crested. Then, as the wave drew away from her, she felt like she was sliding down a sand hill.

Saltwater burned in her cuts. Moray's games fed her anger. Her anger was already burning white-hot. The cuts he had inflicted were injury. The fondling and groping was pure insult. In contrast, her uniform coming apart was a mere annoyance.

She was totally unprepared when Moray grabbed her ankle and pulled her under.

Moray pulled her close. They wrestled in the water, with Hellfire attempting to break free from his hold. Moray was stronger than her. His hand grasped her neck, claws digging in and drawing more blood. His eyes were as pallid as a dead fish. The extended canines added to the feral look when he grinned at her.

Her lungs were beginning to burn from the lack of air. Her throat was burning from the water she had taken in when Moray pulled her under. Cuts and scratches burning, she lashed out with her knee, slamming it into Moray's side. In response, he grinned wider. Dani closed her eyes.

* * * * *

Ash took a last look at where she had restrained Zephyr. The wind-rider was bound with zip ties in a long chain of dog soldiers. She pulled her glasses and ear piece from a pocket. She wiped the lenses on a loose flap of her shirt and put them on. She shook the ear piece, pressed a stud and slipped it back into her ear.

“Who's still on the playing field?” she asked.

Bludgeon, Shadow and Magnetron were dumped on the ground in a not very neat pile when Psistorm dropped them. The plastic ties would do to restrain Bludgeon and Magnetron, but Shadow's powers, if he regained consciousness, would make restraining him difficult at best. Nigh impossible at the worst. Ash set to binding them as best she could to her cluster of villains.

Warstar gently carried Psistorm, her weight negligible to his great strength. Blood still seeped from under her hand pressed to her shoulder. She grunted in pain when he set her on the ground.

“Sparx? You there?” Ash questioned the air. The air had no answer. “Lightning, come in please.” She glanced at the darker red on Psistorm's tunic. “What happened?”

“The Brotherhood reject there was playing with his toys,” Psistorm told her. “Ian McKellen did it better and he was only an actor!”

Peeling the suit away from the wound, Ash asked again, “What happened? That's in pretty deep there, girl.”

“Shield failure,” Psistorm answered sullenly.

They all turned towards the water when they heard, and then saw, what appeared to be a whale spout. Water fountained into the air, misted, and rained back down. As they watched, Hellfire broke the surface some distance yet from shore.

“Help me up,” Psistorm said. She gasped in pain when Warstar once again lifted her.

“I am sorry,” he rumbled.

She smiled at him, though wincing with pain. “It's okay. Get me closer to her.” The three of them went down near the water's edge. Psistorm reached her hand up and gestured towards Hellfire. Her eyes turned a uniform purple, even through the amber of her glasses. A purple aura surrounded the distant blonde's form and winked out when she was lost behind a rolling wave. Sweat broke out on the redhead's face.

“Easy, Trese,” Ash told her. “You can do this.”

“Not the doing that's so hard, Ash,” she replied. “It's the distance.”

When Hellfire next appeared riding the crest of a wave, Psistorm reached out with her power. Her friend hung loosely in the air. Slowly, inexorably, the telekinetic pulled the blonde closer.

Ash ran out into the surf to take Hellfire and ease the strain on Psistorm. “You're hot,” she said quietly.

“Can't flame underwater,” she said. “All I could do is heat up.” She looked down at her tattered outfit. “I guess I can't knock your fashion sense any more, Ash.”

Before she could reply, the girl in Ash's arms passed out.

* * * * *

A small, three vehicle convoy of m1025 scout vehicles sped past. They were painted tan with a black nova in eclipse with a stylized "N" overlaid on the doors. They had been modified. In place of a machine gun on the ring mount, each had a heavy energy cannon. Each cannon also had a soldier manning it. Jason noted that the first and the third were carrying six dog soldiers each, while the second held only three. He also noted the presence of Bolt.

After the convoy had passed, Jason resumed his trek towards the dome, and Bauer.

* * * * *

Ash knelt beside Hellfire and a small pile of first-aid kits taken from the belts of the downed soldiers. The blonde's cuts had been treated and wrapped with the supplies they had found. The bandage she had fixed to Psistorm's shoulder was already turning a bright red. The redhead was sitting with her back to a tree and trying to keep her field up over their heads to keep the rain and wind off. Too often Ash noted her head bobbing in time to the field flickering in and out of existence.

Warstar stood guard over them while Ash administered to the girls. His head turned from side to side as he scanned the trees.

“Sparx, you out there?” Ash tried again. “Lightning? Come in, please.”

“Ash?”

“Kris. Go.”

“Lightning is with me. He brought Nightwing out to Med One,” Dove said. “There's been some,” she paused, “complications.”

Ashleigh sighed. “What kind of complications?”

“We're getting Nightwing cleaned up so that we can do a visual. After that we're going to get a scan so that I can assess the extent of his wounds. Jason's first aid helped, but between the saltwater soak and Lightning's...”

“Kris, where is Lightning?” she asked.

It was Dove's turn to sigh. “I was getting to that. Lightning pushed himself to get Nightwing here. The only thing we had for him to decelerate on was the safety net.”

“And?”

“Lightning hit it at close to his top speed. The water drag on the net helped, but still.”

Ash took up a handful of sand and compressed it, letting it trickle out of her fist. “Did he somehow get his vitamins mixed up with Nightwing's stupid pills? How bad is it?”

“Just from what I can see, he has dislocated his left shoulder. All things considered there, I'm surprised it's still attached. His right ankle and knee are both swelling. Cursory diagnosis there, I'm going to have to go with strains.”

“You aren't telling me the worst of it.” She flung what sand was left in her hand away and brushed her hand on her leg. “Out with it.”

“Near as I can tell, he's got a major concussion.”

Ash stood with a sigh. “So regardless, he's done.” It was a statement. Not a question.

“Sorry, Ash. I can't see him getting back up any time soon.”

“All right, damn it,” the blonde cursed. “How long before you get here?”

“Twenty-nine minutes,” Roan answered her.

“Okay, doctor. Are you ready?”

“Let's hear it,” Dove answered her.

“Hellfire is down. Nasty encounter with Moray from the look of things. A lot of minor cuts and abrasions from the neck down. Single, right hand strangulation attempt. She's got a nice bruise from it. Four minor puncture wounds to the left side of her neck, with a single puncture wound on the right. She has a deep cut across her abdomen. It doesn't appear to have gone deeper than the muscles.

“She's passed out. Stayed that way through having her wounds wrapped.”

“Wrapped? You didn't happen to use blue silk too, did you?”

Ash looked up to the sky and saw a ray of sunlight punch through the cloud cover. “Blue silk?” she asked confusedly.

“Jason found some. Looks like part of someone's cocktail dress. He used it to pack Nightwing's cuts.”

She gave a weak laugh. “No. We just used the first aid kits the puppies had on their belts. To continue, Psistorm is down. She's bleeding out, Kris. Magnetron and those damned jacks that he uses. I can't get the bleeding to stop.”

“Dammit, Ash! Worst case first! You know that!” Dove yelled at her friend.

“Oh, hell,” she said quietly. “Have to call you back!”

Titania killed the engine of her four-wheeler and swung her leg over it. She sat with one ankle across her knee. Stinger still squatted on the rack behind the saddle. Titania's gaze swept over her comrades and the fallen packs. “Quite a collection you've got there, Short Stuff. You realize that whatever you've used won't hold Shadow once he wakes up.”

Ash and Warstar both moved to interpose themselves between their fallen friends and these two new threats. “If he wakes up. What do you want, Titania?” the blonde asked.

The tall woman spared a glance at Stinger when his wings buzzed. He pulled them back when a gust of wind hit. “Just doing my job, Half-pint.” She nodded towards the downed girls. “How bad are they?”

“Bad enough!” Warstar growled.

“Mind your manners, Tin Man. You're trespassing here,” Stinger said menacingly.

Titania stood and the springs on the four-wheeler squeaked. “Stand down, Archie. Give me the kit.”

“Charley! Our orders...” Stinger squeaked when she picked him up off the quad-runner. She took the large medical kit out from under the rack and set him back on it.

“Orders, Archie? I'm in charge. Remember?” She started walking towards the Guardians.

“What about Bauer?” Stinger was sounding a little worried now.

She rounded on him. Her voice was as large as the rest of her when her ire was raised. “What about him, Archie? You're the one that asked him what the rules of engagement were! What was his answer?” He seemed dumbstruck by her outburst. “Well? What are the rules of engagement?”

“Whatever our conscience dictates,” he finally answered her.

“Right now, Archie, right here, and right now this,” she held the medpack up under his nose, “this is what my conscience dictates.”

He stepped back from the plastic case shoved in his face. “But why?”

“That, Archie,” her voice quieter, “is none of your god-damned business. Call it 'karma' if you have to. You can sit and wait. You can walk. You can try to fly for all I care right now, but so help me, Archie, if you do anything stupid where those two girls are concerned, you face me first.” She turned her back and walked up to the Guardians. She could feel his eyes trying to bore into her. To figure out what possessed her to do this. “Keep an eye on him, Warstar,” she said quietly.

He lifted his head to stare into her eyes. “Who will keep an eye on you?”

“I will, 'Star,” Ash answered him. “If she wanted to fight we'd all be swinging by now. Just keep an eye on the bug. You've got range. I'd have to throw someone at him.” She gave Titania a threatening glare. Warstar nodded and stepped aside to allow the tall woman to pass.

She looked over Hellfire. The girl looked like a young woman that had fallen asleep on the beach while sunning herself. Except for the overcast sky and the bandages. “I thought she could take him,” she said to herself.

“As far as we know, she did,” Ash told her.

Titania knelt down beside Psistorm. She lifted the redhead's chin off her chest. She took in the bloody bodice and the bloodier bandage. “Crap.” Ash squatted down behind her where she could keep an eye on Stinger and still see what the Amazon was doing. “Damn Zephyr to hell. If she hadn't called up this storm, it would have been Bludgeon and Stinger after her.” She shifted the girl until she was laying flat.

The case was opened and Ash peered inside. All of the tools had over-sized grips and finger holes. “You always pack kits like this?”

“Only when I'm expecting a lot of collateral damage.”

Ash looked at the taller blonde. “That's a load of crap. You're usually the one causing the collateral damage.” She cocked her head at Stinger, thinking about his questions. “Why are you doing this?” she asked quietly. Obviously Titania didn't want the bug to know.

With practiced moves, Titania peeled the bloodied bandage, and the tape that had held it on, off the wounded girl. “Call it karma.” She took out a bottle of distilled water and rinsed the bleeding hole in Psistorm's shoulder.

“That's not a good enough answer.”

She took out a spray can and let Ash see that is was only a disinfectant. She sprayed the wound and Psistorm let out a quiet whimper. “Be honest, Shorty. Is any answer I give you going to be good enough?” She took hemostats out of the kit.

“Let's just pretend for a moment that the answer to that is 'yes' and see where we go from there.”

“Would 'I'm doing a favor for a friend' suffice? The jack nicked the sub-clavian artery. That's why she's bleeding out.” She applied a compress to the wound and set the hemostats aside in the case.

Ash eyed the woman. “You've only got one friend that I know of, and I wouldn't trust her as far as the two of us together could toss her.”

“How long until Dove gets here?”

“About twenty minutes. Maybe less.”

Titania bobbed her head back and forth while mulling something over. She took out a small vial and slipped it into a hypodermic. She looked Ash straight in the eyes. “Jason does. Trust her, I mean.” Before she could apply the injector to Psistorm, Ash grabbed her wrist.

“Where did you get that?” On the label she had seen the interlocking square and diamond housing “SE” in block letters.

“It will help her replenish her blood supply and, hopefully, start the process to heal the artery,” she said, trying to pull her arm out of the short blonde's grip.

Ash released her. “I know what it is. I asked you where you got it from. As far as I know, that hasn't been released yet for general usage. I don't even think the FDA has passed it yet.”

“Then it's a good thing we aren't on American soil then. Isn't it?” She slipped the needle into Psistorm's shoulder and pressed the syringe, releasing its contents. “Jason gave me a small supply of it. Just in case.

“My turn to ask. Why didn't you do like Jason wanted and leave?”

“Jason needs us.”

Titania pursed her lips and nodded her head in understanding. “Jason needs you? You know what? Had you honestly been there when Jason needed you, a lot of what has happened with him over the last couple of years wouldn't have happened,” she stated it as a fact, with no accusation. “You don't like Angelique. You don't trust her. You know what? At some point in time, Jason crossed that bridge. He does trust her. At least as much as I do.”

“Yeah, well,” Ash said, “I expect sharks to bite too. She shouldn't take it personally. There's a lot of bad water under that bridge.”

Titania replaced the compress with a clean one. “You and I aren't so different, Ashleigh Parks.”

Ash laughed at that. “We aren't so much alike either.”

“Aren't we? I wasn't picked up off the street by Viper and put through a bad version of the Avatar Project.”

Ash looked dumbfounded at her. “Bad version...”

“It had to be a bad version,” Titania said. “Why do you think you're so short?

“Anyways. What's the damage to your team? We lost tracking on Thunderbolt off to the east early on. I haven't heard anything on Lightning since. I know for a fact that Raven took out Nightwing. He's somewhere near the highlands. Dead or alive, I have no idea.” She replaced the compress again. There was less blood showing on the one she took off. “You've got these two here...”

Ash glared at her. “That's your fault! If you'd...”

“No!” Titania barked at her. “That's just what I've been trying to tell you. Nightwing? Your fault. Hellfire? Your fault. Jason's little sister here? Your fault! Jason told you to go back. Hell! He'd even reprogrammed your on-board computer to ensure that you left. And yet, here you are! Right where he didn't want you to be. If you hadn't come, none of this would have happened!”

“He needs us,” she said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself. “No. No, you aren't going to get me to second-guess myself. He needs us. Here. To keep him from doing something terrible.”

“'Needs' you? Maybe,” she said, “but he doesn't want you here.”

“He's going to kill Bauer.”

Titania snapped and Ashleigh found herself face-to-face with the giant woman. “Let him! He doesn't remember it, or he doesn't remember me, but that bastard picked me up in Vegas. He's the one that pulled me into Nova Research for them to use as a guinea pig for their version of Avatar!”

The engines of Medical One screamed over the waves. Sand swirled as the exhaust pounded the beach.

“Ash! What's going on?” Kris asked her.

Ash waved her arm. Her other hand covered her face. She moved to protect Hellfire while Titania did the same with Psistorm. Stinger brought his arm up to protect his over-sized eyes. Warstar stood immobile, watching Stinger.

Roan throttled the engines down until they were just a dull roar. Medical One hung suspended over the beach. Ash watched as the belly split asunder and two corpsmen swung the hoist with the rescue basket over the opening.

White wings flashed as a light hit them. Dove glided to the beach. She glanced at Titania and shot a questioning look at Ash, who only shrugged, and knelt down beside Trese.

“Doctor.” Titania nodded her head at Dove in welcome. “She has a jack embedded in her shoulder. It caught her in the artery. I didn't want to chance taking it out without better equipment. I didn't want to cut her to get at the artery itself.” She spoke without any hint of the anger she had shown Ash.

Dove, in full medical mode, checked the wound for herself. “Where did you learn all this?”

“Watching M*A*S*H. I sprayed the wound with disinfectant.” She handed Dove the spent vial. “I shot her up with this.” Dove looked at it and read the label without saying a word.

They all looked up at Medical One when it began a horrendous squealing. Smoke poured from the winch motor. “No no no no NO!” Dove yelled. “Mitchell! What's going on?”

“Ma'am, uh, blame this one on Lightning. One of the grommets from the netting jammed in the winch. There's no way we can raise or lower hoist at this point.” He waved down to her. “We can rig something, but it'll take time.”

“Thanks, Mitchell. Let me know what you come up with.” She shook her head. “If it isn't one thing, it's another.”

“Drop it on the beach?” Ash suggested.

“Another ten minutes or so,” Dove said, the frustration evident.

“I've got an idea.” They all turned to look at Stinger, still squatting on the back of the four-wheeler, with his hand raised. “I could carry her up for you. She can't weigh that much.”

Titania stared at him. “Remember what I said, Archie?”

“Yeah,” he responded, “yeah, I do. No games, Charley. I'll fly her up to the hospital ship. Then I'll fly back to extraction, or I'll see where the winds take me.”

“Well?” Titania asked Dove.

Ash stood up. “I don't exactly trust you! I'll be damned if I'm going...”

“Stinger, take her, please,” Dove said, laying her hand on Ash's shoulder. “Medical, Ash. I over-rule you.”

“Kris, I swear...”

“Titania didn't have to do anything, Ash. She did her best to help. If Stinger is willing to help for Titania, let him.” She knelt to check Hellfire.

“Mentor! Land!” Ash snapped as she stalked towards the water.

He knelt and lifted the telekinetic gently in his arms. “Charley,” he said standing, “your radio must be off. Stevie called. Condition S was completed.” She glared holes through Stinger without saying anything. Grinding her teeth, she nodded her head curtly to him. His wings slipped out, their buzzing increased in intensity until he was lifted off the sand and flying up to Medical One.

With a growl, Titania turned and slammed her fist into the tree that Psistorm had been resting against. The tree splintered and fell. Ash, Dove and Warstar all watched her stalk off to wade into the water.

* * * * *

Dove flew up into Medical One. The tableau before her consisted of Stinger, still holding Psistorm, and Mitchell and one other corpsman holding their sidearms on Stinger. Stinger's wings were abuzz with annoyance.

“Put her down! Now, Stinger!” Mitchell ordered.

“Mitch, stand down,” Dove said. “Corpsman. You also.”

Pistol still trained on Stinger, Mitchell said, “Ma'am, he's got...”

“He has my patient, Mitchell! And this display is keeping me from treating her! Stinger, place her on the table there.” She pointed to a table that was little more than a gurney. She deliberately stepped into the corpsman's line of fire.

Stinger snarled at Mitchell, but did as Dove asked, laying Psistorm down as gently as he had picked her up. He brushed her hair off her forehead before he turned to leave.

“Stinger? Archie?” She paused, waiting for him to turn to face her before continuing. “Thank you.” His face softened and he held himself a little taller. “Before you go, would you mind bringing Hellfire up for me? Please?” He gave her a tight-lipped smile and nodded.

* * * * *

Jason knelt, watching the access to the dome. In his mind he cataloged the sensations he felt from his friends. Lightning was unconscious. His shoulder, leg, and head hurt. It was the one thing about his ability that Jason almost found humorous. Unconscious, one really didn't feel much. He felt it all. He closed that door.

Ash's anger had flared. She was still seething. Jason clamped that down and pushed it into the closet in his mind with her name on it.

He thought of the fiery blonde. She ached and was exhausted, so she slept. That was filed away, too.

Sweet little Trese. All he felt from her was a fading fire in her shoulder and the cold. Too much cold. Reminding him of others. No, he thought to himself and filed it away for later.

Uncalled for, he felt a burst of warmth and humor. Three connections, so new in his mind, registered all at once. He sorted those into their own spaces and closed those doors.

More anger, duller, and frustration. Marlene. His mind flashed an image of her sitting on his office sofa with her legs stretched out before her.

Focus. Worry. Directed anger. Moments like that and Jason was almost a telepath. Kris obviously working on one of the others. I'm sorry, he said to her in his mind. Another distraction filed away.

Another connection and he had the urge to urinate. He smiled at that, thinking of Kate so far away, and pushed it away.

Something other he felt and tried to place it. Leah? No. It couldn't be. That connection was shattered like her stone. The place in his mind that was hers was sealed. It couldn't be opened again. He was at a loss as to where to store the sensation.

* * * * *

“Why are we still here, Charley?”

Titania sat with her legs up on the table in the galley of the Guardian's transport jet. They took up most of the table. “I'm here because Short-round is going to want to talk when she calms down. Since she started this debacle she at least deserves to know something of what has been happening so that she knows exactly how deep her short ass has sunk into the crapper.

“Why are you still here? I thought you were going to try flying off.” He mumbled something that she didn't quite make out. “You'll have to speak up a bit, Archie. I didn't catch any of that.”

He stared at her for a moment before he answered, “No one has ever said 'thank you' to me before.”

“I can't imagine why. 'Eat hot bug zapper!' Would you thank you for that?” she teased.

He looked a bit put out. “This is different, Charley. I'm serious.”

Her expression changed. “It always is, Archie. Let me ask you something. Seeing Warstar and Half-pint out there on the beach guarding the other two, if I hadn't said something, what would you have done?”

Stinger mulled that over for a minute. His face turned bright red. “Probably would have attacked.”

“Who?”

He scratched at his jaw. “Probably Power... Strong... The short one. I can't really hurt Warstar. Tried that before.”

She nodded her head. “And if that had no effect? Would you have tried taking the non-combatants out?”

“I...” he was lost in thought for a moment, “I don't know. Maybe.” He pulled the carafe out of the coffee maker and poured a cup.

When he set it down to put the carafe back, Titania took the cup. “Thanks,” she said, noting that the cup was yellow with an orange star burst.

He glared at her for a moment, and then grinned. He slid open a cabinet and took out another coffee mug. It was colored in orange and yellow diagonal bands. The borders were like flames. He contemplated it for a moment before slotting it back in the drawer. “Why did you do what you did earlier?” He took out a white one with a simple blue band around it and filled it.

“Everyone has an origin story, Archie,” she said taking a sip from Pulsar's cup. “Not all of them are pretty.”

“Charley, dude,” he said pointing to his eyes, “like I don't know that.”

“Make yourselves at home, why don't you?” Ash stormed in. She hardly spared Stinger a look before she took her cup out of his hands. “Thanks,” she said, with barely contained rage. “We need to talk,” she said to Titania.

“Archie.” Titania nodded towards the open hatchway.

He looked from one to the other. For a moment he was struck by the similarity to the Han Solo Cantina scene. Charley was sitting nonchalantly on a bench seat, pointedly ignoring the apparent threat of the shorter blonde. “Is this going to be one of those 'career altering' conversations?” Ashleigh ignored him. Charley nodded her head slightly and slowly. He sucked his upper lip into his mouth while he thought. “Is it going to go into 'secrets man was not meant to know'?”

“Archie, Short Stuff here and I...”

“Will you stop that!” Ash barked.

She showed an amused smile. “Archie, Ashleigh and I need to talk. Like you said, it could end up being career altering. Depends on what you do and who asks what questions later. She and I need to talk.”

“You mean me?” She nodded to answer the question. “You feel you're somehow protected?”

She gave Stinger a small smile. “As protected as my relationship with Angelique allows me to be from Lord Darque's wrath. You, Archie, don't have that.” Ash turned to look at him.

Thoughts raced through his mind. Foremost, the helpless girl he carried up such a short time ago, and the beautiful doctor that gave so much with simple gratitude. He turned and opened the cabinet one more time. He looked over the mugs therein and very deliberately reached in and pulled out a simple, plain purple one. He closed the cabinet and reached for the carafe.

Both women gave him measuring looks. Ash stared at the coffee mug as he took a sip from it. “Are you sure, Archie?” Charley asked.

“I'm good having doubts later. Right now, well...” Whatever else there was, he left it unsaid.

Ash tossed herself into a seat. “What do you know?”

“I know lots of things, Half...” She blew out a sigh. “Ash. Point is, everything I told you out there earlier was true. You being here, on this island, started this whole mess! Ask Stinger. What did I tell Bauer about deployment?”

Ash looked to where he was leaning against the bulkhead. He shrugged his shoulders. “Deployment was contingent upon a verified sighting of the Guardians. If no sighting came, we would kick back and enjoy the beach and the sun until we were recalled.”

“Why? Not that I don't mind a good brawl from time to time, but why?”

“Last chance, Archie,” Charley said, pulling her cowl up and shaking her hair loose. He shrugged again in answer. “Jason spent last night with Angelique. He asked her for help dealing with the Guard.”

Stinger looked at her incredulously. “You set us up!”

“Not exactly, Archie. There wasn't supposed to be any engagements with the Guard. At all. Hell, Jason has already taken out a couple of packs. They don't know where to find him. Which is frustrating the hell out of Bauer. He doesn't even know who is doing it.” She took a drink of coffee.

“Once they got here, you set us up to fail!”

She shook her head. “No, Archie. I picked battles that I thought would weigh in the Guardian's favor, I'll grant you. With all the praise that Madacar heaps on his dog soldiers, I expected a better accounting from them. Bauer would have been better off hiring Viper.

“Nightwing,” she paused, “Nightwing I didn't expect. Raven can be a little... excitable. All the same, I didn't expect him to take out Quantum. Quantum was supposed to be looking for Pulsar. A fool's errand. His bad luck that Nightwing found him first. Nightwing's bad luck that Raven saw him.

“I expected Zephyr to stick to orders. Problem is, damned near all the Guard are wild cards. Understand, Ash, Moray wouldn't have been here if I had any say as to who I was getting. Black Jack wanted to be here, just in case. He's still a little angry at Pulsar over their last encounter.

“I figured that Psistorm could have handled Bludgeon and Stinger long enough. I hoped that Hellfire would be able to fend off Moray. I know what Warstar could do against either Magnetron or Shadow. Again, I hoped he could stand up to both.” She ran her fingers through her hair.

A glimmer of a thought struck Stinger. “You hate Bauer.”

“Don't you, Archie? He's an overbearing, self-absorbed asshole.”

“No, Charley,” he said. “Don't try to dodge this. You hate him for more than that.”

She leaned her head on her hand. That arm braced on the back of the bench she was sitting on. “Tell you what, Arch. You hold that thought until this is all over, and I'll tell you enough about why.”

“What about Dove?” Ash asked the giantess.

She took another drink. “What about her? As long as she's a doctor and only acts in that capacity, she's a non-combatant as far as I'm concerned.” She lifted her head enough to wave that thought away. “Anyways, we all know that while Thunderbolt is faster, Lightning is better at what he does. That was pretty much a no-brainer. Not to mention, the mad-on T-bolt has for Lightning.”

Ash set her cup on the table. “And us? We're the only two you've left out.”

Charley smiled at that. “Us? I figured a little mud wrestling. Best two-out-of-three falls. Maybe get you out of whatever outfit you decided to wear this time.” She winked at Ash. Ash glared back. Stinger blushed.

“What. About. Sparx?” Ash snapped each word out.

“Condition S,” Stinger said. Ash gave him a questioning look. “Bauer has her.”

“Bauer has some plan targeting Jason. That's part of why Sparx was sucked into this. Right now, she's collateral or insurance. Hard to tell which.”

Ash hung her head and blew out a sigh. “Do you know what is going on between Jason and Bauer?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Give!” Ash demanded.

“No,” she said simply.

“Damn it!” Ash slammed her hand on the table, breaking it in two. Her coffee cup shattered against the ceiling of the galley. Charley's legs followed half the table to the floor. Stinger shielded his eyes against falling ceramic and raining coffee. “Why? Why won't you say?”

Charley stood and set her cup in the small sink. “I have obligations on one side of it, and because Jason is my friend, on the other side of it.” She pulled her cowl back into place. She bent over to allow her hair to fall free.

“He's my friend, too, damn it!”

“Ash,” she spoke quietly, “you don't trust him. You obviously don't trust his judgment. He asked you, asked your entire team, not to get involved. You've got four out of seven out of action for the immediate future. Three of them out for the foreseeable future. That's assuming, of course, that two of them don't die. Sparx is beyond your reach at the moment. You need to trust that Jason can get her out, because if you try, again, to find Jason with just you and Warstar, you will be endangering him and her.”

“Jason is going to kill Bauer.”

“Jason's a big boy, Ash. He knows that he'll have to answer for any decision that he makes. He's killed before.”

“It almost destroyed him,” Ash replied.

“He survived it. That's one problem I see with your code of conduct, Ash. You refuse to see that some people can't be rehabilitated and that some assholes gave up the right to live a long time ago.

“You want to know what's between Jason and Bauer, why don't you ask him the next time you see him. Come on, Archie.” She walked out the open hatchway and down onto the sand.

Stinger took a last swig from the mug in his hands. He stopped and contemplated it for a long moment before setting it into the sink. “She's right, you know.

“If you'll accept a little unsolicited advice, take both ships out beyond the ten mile marker. Cloak them if you can. Land on the water or go submersible if you have to. I can send you a signal just before we leave. To... you know... let you know that it'll be safe for you to come back.” He stepped past her to the open hatchway. He stopped and turned to look at her. “I hope she'll be okay.” He caught up to Charley, who was walking slowly through the sand towards the four-wheeler.

Warstar, Mitchell and Roan eyed them as they passed. Mitchell held an assault rifle whose barrel was held low, but followed them in a non-threatening manner. Roan fingered her Wildfire-issue sidearm nervously.

“Charley?”

“Yeah, Archie?”

“Who is Jason?”

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

ROFLOL

 

Who is Jason? Lol

 

 

QM

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished
 

No Matter The Cost

Warmonger's Island – Wednesday

With the last of the pack restrained and stowed away in a storage closet, Jason took stock of his current situation. Both sleeves of his blue shirt now matched. Bloody and holey. He flexed his arm with no hint of injury restricting his movement. His leg had been hit in the thigh. That, too, was already healed. He put his full weight on it with no twinge of pain.

He cracked open the door and peered out. Nothing moved in the hallway that he saw. He concentrated on listening and heard nothing. “Sleep tight, boys,” he said to the fallen pack as he slipped out the door.

The corridor he was in had a high ceiling. It was about twenty feet high to Jason's estimate. The floor was scuffed with old painted lines and tire marks from golf carts, forklifts, or heavier transports. It was easy to note that the floor sloped downward at a gentle angle. Near as he could tell, down was towards the heart of the dome.

The lights above were few and far between. There were other passages that intersected the one he silently trod down. He had to duck into one to avoid the headlights of a golf cart when it passed him in the relative darkness. The cart was pulling a small personnel trailer. Four men sat in the cart itself, while six more rode on the trailer. The men were talking and laughing about something that Jason couldn't make out over the electric whine of the cart.

Once it was past, he slipped out behind it and followed. It's lights grew dimmer in the gloom, the further it traveled ahead of him.

Before long he heard voices coming from in front of him. “I swear, she's stacked!” It was a male voice. Jason didn't recall ever coming across a female dog soldier. “She must have about a fifty inch bust.”

“Let's think about that one. The woman is eight feet tall.”

“...and those legs,” first voice said. “Could you imagine having them wrapped around you?”

“Come off it, Burke. She'd snap you in half without even trying. Besides, from what I've heard, she plays for the other team,” the second voice said.

Jason moved closer to the doorway. It was a small office with just the two of them inside, from what he saw. One desk with a computer on it, a couple of chairs, and a small table with a coffee maker seemed to be the entirety of the room's contents.

“Whaddaya mean, Joe? Plays for what other team?”

“Titanium ain't inta guys, Burke,” a third voice said. “Heard she was seen smooching on dat hawk chick. Least dat's what Bolt says.”

“Oh,” Burke said. “At least I got pics of her down on the beach. I can sell them ta one of the girlie magazines. Maybe that, uh, what's that one? Under the Spandex?”

“Skintight?” Joe asked.

“Yeah! That' the one. Or maybe Naked Power,” Burke answered. “I got a video from the helmet cam. Swapped out the memory card. Got it all right here!” Jason saw a helmet-less dog soldier pat a pocket.

“Oh, man, ya gotta let me have copies, Burke,” Number Three said.

“Burke, she finds out you were out following her, much less taking pictures of her getting naked and sunbathing, you won't live long enough to sell them,” Joe told him.

“Tell you what,” Jason said, “you hand over the memory card, and let me borrow your computer, she'll never have to know that you took the pictures, Burke.” He stepped into the office.

Joe, sitting in front of the computer said, “Who the hell are you?” His hand moved slowly towards the grip of his gun.

“I'm the man Bauer is waiting for.” Jason pointed at the gun hanging off the back of the chair. “I wouldn't do that if I were you.” He picked up a coffee cup off the desk. Burke and Number Three were also reaching for their weapons. Jason threw the coffee cup at Burke. It shattered on his forehead.

A hook kick caught Joe on the side of his face when he tried to get his gun up. The kick sent him and his chair slamming into the wall. Joe spilled out of the chair, unconscious.

Number Three was bringing his assault rifle to bear when Jason grabbed the barrel of it. He forced the gun back until there was a snapping sound. Number Three's wail of pain was cut short by a palm strike.

He turned to look at Burke, who was obviously dazed. Jason closed the door of the office and pulled cuffs out of Joe's belt to restrain him with. Number Three followed while Jason kept an eye on Burke. There was blood leaking from his nostrils and both eyes were darkening.

Jason took Burke's cuffs and attached him to a pipe running down the wall. He left him in a sitting position. He fished the memory card out of Burke's pocket. A small crimson flash and it was gone.

He reached for the desk drawer and saw what he was looking for mounted on the wall over the desk. A map of the complex, complete with a “you are here” arrow indicating the office he was in, was hanging there. He looked it over. Most of it was marked “storage”. A few areas had been designated as barracks or other support facilities. The hall he had been walking down was the only way into the central dome. Between where he was and where he wanted to be was a large, open area that was designated as a day room. From the map, there was no way to avoid it. It also didn't look like there was any way to avoid further traffic in the hall from this point onward. He would have to trust to his luck.

He took a last look at Burke, Joe, and Number Three. He locked the office door and closed it when he left.

Luck seemed to be with him as he followed the painted lines. A large section of the wall had been removed to allow access. Carts were parked in and around the doorway. Jason moved stealthily between them as he moved past the day room. The room was large and outfitted like a cafeteria. Tables in lines with chairs to one side of them covered most of the floor. From the layout, it could also be used for briefings. Televisions were mounted high up on the walls. From the screen he could see, it looked like Monday night's football game between the Hudson City Thunderbolts and the Vibora Bay Hammerheads was being shown. Charlie Walker had told Jason about the game. The Hammerheads had only scored a single field goal the entire game.

He neared the far side of the opening when he overheard part of a conversation. “They just called in. The Guardians pulled out. The Blood Guard beat them off... I don't know... I said that I don't know... Look, we're here until we're told to pack up. Suck it up and deal with it.”

About time, Jason thought to himself.

Once past the day room the tunnel grew darker. The lights were farther and farther apart. As he neared the end of the tunnel he noticed a giant shadowed form in the dim light. The figure was roughly man-shaped, but it stood almost ten feet tall. It would easily have dwarfed Titania. Jason caught the glow of the thing's visual sensors.

The heavy exterminators, robotic orientation had been some of the worst creations in Warmonger's arsenal. They alone had racked up a serious number of kills against the world's heroes. They had been dubbed “hero slayers” long before anyone knew what their actual designation was.

The first ones had been heavily armored, but slow. The second, and last version seen before Warmonger had been nuked, had been faster and all of the weapon systems had been upgraded. The monstrosity before Jason would put those to shame.

Jason's eyes glowed red. Shadows altered with his vision. Colors contrasted like a monitor with the settings off. Way off. He saw the heat of a hot water pipe where the insulation didn't cover it completely. He saw the heat from an electrical junction box as the electricity poured through the cables. The only hint he saw from the HERO Slayer was the visual sensors. There was no heat, no hint of power going to the weapon systems.

He moved cautiously forward. He noticed the spikes protruding from the knuckles of the machine's massive fists. Under one arm was the barrel of some cannon. An emitter on the chest was covered by something clear. Whether it was part of a focusing crystal of a laser or some type of covering for a sensor array, Jason couldn't tell. A box-like structure near one shoulder appeared to be a missile rack. What he was looking at was a formidable machine of war.

He skirted the giant slowly. Running from the back of the machine's head were cables that terminated at a battery behind the robot's foot. He reached out and laid his palm on the armored thigh. Nothing. No vibrations. No hum of machinery. It appeared as if this HERO Slayer was set up purely for intimidation purposes.

He kept a wary eye on it over his shoulder. He moved quietly to the smaller pedestrian door set into the wall beside the massive garage door.

The door opened quietly into absolute darkness. Jason's altered vision allowed him some sight, but the distance was nowhere near what he would have preferred. Far distant was, quite literally, a light at the end of the tunnel. His eyes returned to normal.

Jason strode purposefully out onto the floor of the dome. In that moment he felt a kinship with the gladiators of old, walking out onto the sand of the arena, with the same intent. To survive. Whether the challenge would be other gladiators, or lions, or some technological nightmare, he would meet it head on.

The interior of the dome was massive. Such a structure one might expect to be measured in football fields. The dome could very well be measured in city blocks, with height enough to include skyscrapers. It was an impressive feat of architecture that, somehow, Warmonger had managed to hide from the world.

The floor appeared to be solid. He noticed no cracks or joins between plates. It seemed to be one massive piece. The soles of his shoes made no sound with his steps.

In what would be the center of the floor, still at a distance, was a raised area. It appeared much like a stage. Jason gave a quiet snort of amusement. An island on an island, he thought to himself.

Within minutes, Jason had crossed the distance. The stage was set. The map of the island with the colored indicators of the dog packs was there. Computer monitors ran around the circumference of the dais, appearing to hang suspended from nothing. Only one individual moved among the equipment.

“Major. Report. What's your status? Report, damn it!” Bauer barked.

“Hate to be the one to tell you, but Major Doberman can't answer you.” Bauer stiffened at Jason's voice. “Neither can Captain Rottweiler. Or Private Chihuahua. They're all taking little doggie naps.”

Bauer turned slowly. “Jason Scott. Not what I expected after all this time.”

“What did you expect?” Jason asked, stepping up onto the stage. “Bauer?” He turned the name over in his mind. “Pawn. Question there is 'whose pawn'? Warmonger's? Madacar's? Or Darque's?” He ducked under one of the monitors. “Steven Bauer. Ulysses Madacar's right hand thug. It must have been an interesting journey getting there.”

“Oh, you have no idea. I'm surprised you didn't come in here flying your colors.”

Jason gave Bauer a measuring look as he walked slowly around the stage, avoiding any equipment. “I really don't do that much any more. I kinda retired for a while. So, you're somebody's pawn. Steven. Did you choose that name, or did someone force it on you?” He glanced at the map in passing. “No. I'm thinking you took that name for yourself. To remember.

“If you wanted your ass kicked again, Artie, all you had to do was call.”

Bauer launched himself through a table with a snarl, catching Jason by surprise. His foot slammed into Jason's chest, resounding like slapped leather.

Jason spun through a control panel and a monitor. He fell heavily, face down, on the arena floor.

“That looked like it hurt, Jase,” Bauer said. “Didn't happen to break a rib, did I?”

He got himself to his knees and spit blood as he stood. He expected the monitor to be broken. Of course, Jason would have expected to have bounced off the control panel, too. “Not hardly. I see you've had some training.”

“A little kenpo. Some Muay Thai. Some savate. I never was able to find out what style and discipline you studied, though,” he replied.

“It's an eclectic style. You'd be hard pressed to find other practitioners. What's with the slayer in the hall?”

Bauer quickly punched in some commands on a keyboard. “He's my... secretary, I guess you could say. He keeps the dog soldiers from disturbing me when I'm in here working.”

Jason jumped lightly back to the stage. He waved his hand through a monitor. “Hologram. Wainwright's work?”

“Virtual reality. The dome was Wainwright's testing area. It's a mixture of technological wonders. He never did tell me where he got it from.” Bauer stepped back through the table. “It's fascinating, really. The man was truly a master of his craft.” He caught his foot under the table and kicked it at Jason.

Having seen Bauer walk through the table twice, Jason was caught off guard when it impacted. He reeled back and slammed his head against the monitor.

“It's a matter of tractor and pressor beams. I really don't understand it all. It's like one moment an object is an illusion, and the next, bam! It's real!”

“That's...” Jason shook his head to clear it, “surprising, Artie. Those are some pretty big words you're using.”

“'Sing, goddess, the wrath of Peleus' son Achilles, a destroying wrath which brought upon the Achaeans myriad woes, and sent forth to Hades many valiant souls of heroes¹,'” Bauer quoted.

“I hope you aren't comparing yourself to Achilles. The Iliad? That's way above the Dick and Jane books you were reading as a senior. Or were you only looking at the pictures even then?” Jason blocked the coup de pied chasse that Bauer threw at him. “I'm more thinking of Hesiod. Did you ever read Works and Days, Artie?” He parried a low punch and backhanded Bauer across the stage. “'He harms himself who does harm to another, and the evil plan is most harmful to the planner.'² Do you get that one, Artie?”

It was Bauer's turn to spit blood as he stood. “Yeah, Jase. I get it.” He massaged and worked his jaw.

“What's this all about, Artie?”

“What do you think it's all about, Jase?” Bauer spat.

“It wouldn't have anything to do with me busting your balls, would it?” Jason said in an off-handed manner.

“You took what was mine!” he snapped out.

Jason took a step back. “You want to explain that one, Artie? Because I'm really drawing a blank on that one. I never took anything that was yours.”

“Sandy Wilson.”

“What about her?” Jason asked. He and Bauer paced each other, warily watching one another.

“She was mine!” he ranted.

Jason looked at Bauer in a confused manner. “Artie, that is so many different kinds of messed up, it isn't even funny.” Bauer's foot came down from a high kick. Jason sidestepped, caught his opponent in the chest with an open palm and he shoved Bauer backwards. Off-balance, Bauer hit the floor hard and slid, coming to a stop near the edge of the dais. “Sandy has been dead for more than ten years! She wasn't yours. She didn't even like you. After you and your little cluster of punks tried to rape her, if it was at all within her to hate, that was how she felt about you!”

Picking himself up off the floor, Bauer grinned to himself. “Well, that could have gone better. What about you, Jase? Do you hate? 'Sweeter it is by far than the honeycomb dripping with sweetness, and spreads through the hearts of men.'³”

“Homer wasn't talking about hate. He was speaking of wrath.” Jason resumed his wary pacing. “Do I hate? Why don't you ask Warmonger?”

“He hated your father,” Bauer snarled out.

“His hatred murdered my father and destroyed him,” Jason said.

Bauer launched a flurry of blows at Jason. “You destroyed him! You murdered him!”

Jason was hard pressed to keep up. His head snapped to the side and he saw stars. Blood flew from his nose and mouth. Bauer's foot slammed into his chest again, sending him flying once more. This time he flipped over a console and landed like a rag doll.

Through bloodied teeth, Jason began to laugh. “His hatred killed him, Artie. I just happened to be the implement his fate chose.” He slowly rose to his feet.

“In the warrior's code
There's no surrender
Though his body says stop
His spirit cries – never!⁴” Bauer sang, off-key.

“Artie, shut up! You still can't sing.”

Bauer was bouncing now, in time to the song running through his mind, from one foot to the other, believing he had Jason's measure. The monitor, the consoles, the tables, even the stage itself, vanished. Bauer landed lightly on a mat in the middle of a dojo. Weapon racks appeared from the aether.

“Why are you doing this, Artie?” Jason barked.

His eyes alight, looking like a host infested with a Goa'uld or just with madness, Jason couldn't be sure. Bauer laughed. “Why? I've studied you! I know all about you! I know how strong you are. I know what your powers are. I know what you can do. I know how fast you can fly. I've studied everything!

“I'm the yin to your yang...”

“You're more like the starch in my underwear,” Jason interjected.

Bauer continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. “I'm your arch-enemy! I'm the Joker to your Batman! The Red Skull to your Captain America! Syndrome to your Mr. Incredible!”

“I can get behind that one,” Jason said.

Bauer stopped and cocked his head to the side. “You like it?”

“Yeah,” Jason smirked, “yeah, I do. Syndrome died.” Bauer glared at Jason and growled. “What's wrong, Artie? Never considered that outcome?” He stepped up to the mat. “How do you want to do this? Armed? Unarmed? Your choice.”

“I can take you,” Bauer answered.

“Money. Mouth,” Jason said. “You know how it goes. Put up or shut up.”

Bauer grinned again. “'Put up'? I think I can find something to 'put up', Jase.” He waved his hand, palm down, as if wiping something off a table. His fingers worked as if he were tapping on a keyboard. Like a giant billboard, part of the dome lit up. An image of Sparx, spreadeagled and apparently unconscious, covered a quarter of the wall. “As you can see, I have adequately 'put up'. And, just to make it more interesting,” his hand moved downward as if pushing a large button, “you're now on a timer. You can't see it yet, up there, but there is a machine, a 'death trap' if you'd like, that will slowly begin flaying her alive.”

Jason's chin dropped and he glared at Bauer. “Whatever you do to her, she'll heal. Not as fast as me, but she'll still heal.”

Bauer shook his head slowly, “Oh, I don't think so. You see, with you it was trial and error. Through Spears, I'm sure you know about Spears, and Black Jack, I was able to introduce into you something that Nova Research came up with. It was intended to,” he grinned, “slow the healing process.

“Leah, on the other hand, there wasn't a lot of need for trial and error. I had her for the better part of two years. I know how her powers work. Probably better than anyone else. The ring she's mounted on? It's kinda like a capacitor. You plug a power source in and it sucks it dry. Every ohm, every volt, every erg of power she's capable of generating is being pulled out of her as fast as her body creates it. The ability of her cells to store a charge has been effectively nullified.

“She will die. Slowly. Most painfully, I would imagine. But by the time it's all over, she will be quite dead.” He lifted a sword from a rack and tossed it to Jason's feet. He took another off the rack.

Jason ignored it. “Use a weapon offered by you? Created by this place? I don't think so. First time I ram it through your heart, only to find that it's smoke and mirrors? No thanks.” Crimson power flashed. White Tiger's katana rested easily in his hand. “Two men enter. One man leaves?”

“Thunderdome? Apt, I guess, Jase.”

“Or 'there can be only one'. Either way,” Jason brought the katana up into a ready position, “it doesn't really matter. You aren't getting out of this alive.”

“Planning on killing me? You're a Guardian...” Bauer said.

“I quit,” Jason said simply, as a matter of fact.

Bauer pressed on, “A hero.”

Jason shook his head. “Sorry, Artie. Left my union card in my other suit.”

“You come here, as an honored guest, and you threaten to kill me in my home. Why?”

Jason considered Bauer. “I'm really beginning to wonder how many of you are in there, Artie. You don't seem to be making coherent conversation.

“I am going to kill you for the simplest of reasons. Had you come at me head on, just you and me, it would be one thing. You insisted on carrying out a mindless vendetta, bringing other people into a personal grudge.” Jason pointed at the image of Sparx on the wall. “For that, Artie, I am going to kill you.

“Coming in here, Artie, I only hated you. Now, I'm pissed.”

Bauer snapped his own blade upright. There was a sharp, metallic sound of metal striking coming from Jason's blade. The sound was not as pure as if both blades had been metal. Bauer stepped forward, jabbing the point of his blade at Jason's eye.

Jason moved to the side and forced Bauer's blade down. His foot snapped out, catching Bauer low in the ribs. Bauer spun and coughed. “That looked like it hurt, Artie. I didn't happen to break a rib, did I?”

“Asshole,” was Bauer's response. He came upright rubbing his side. He crossed blades with Jason once again.

Bauer began his offensive. His blade moved swiftly and surely. His training obviously extended beyond what he had told Jason. Jason was beginning to believe that Bauer's skill with a blade was less than his own until Bauer reversed a thrust, slipped inside his guard and sliced into Jason's bicep. Blood flowed freely before it was arrested by his healing.

The sharp pain gave Jason pause. Bauer forced Jason's blade back in that moment. He slammed his knee into Jason's thigh and shoved. Jason's leg buckled. Instead of falling down, like Bauer expected, Jason rolled backwards with the shove. He came up from the roll on one knee. He held the katana in an overhead guard position.

When Bauer did not immediately press the attack, Jason stood. They slowly circled, each looking for an opening to attack. Bauer feinted and was met by the steel of White Tiger's blade. Jason drew the cutting edge along Bauer's sword. He half expected sparks to fly.

Bauer pulled back and feinted high. Jason raised the sword to block and Bauer spun low. His blade burned across the inside of Jason's leg. Jason stepped back, putting his wounded leg behind him.

The point of Bauer's sword dug into the mat. One foot snapped out catching Jason in his leading ankle, followed almost immediately by Bauer's other foot slamming into his hip. Jason fell hard off the mat and slid, coming to rest against one of the “dojo's” walls. There was the vague sensation of moisture on Jason's back.

Phantom steel whistled through the air and was stopped inches from making another cut by the real steel of a samurai's blade. Jason rolled and his shin impacted behind Bauer's knee. Staggered by the blow, Bauer threw his arms out to steady himself.

With the moment's respite, Jason used the knuckles of the hand holding the sword and the open palm of the other to throw himself to his feet. He unconsciously wiped sweat off the open hand before resuming a two-handed ready position.

Blade whistling, Bauer turned to face his opponent. Jason deftly blocked the blow. He stepped closer to Bauer and twisted, slamming his elbow into Bauer's bicep. His arm numbed from the blow, he set a snap kick into Jason's lower back. Bauer pivoted. The sword in his hand moved to intercept Jason, stumbling from the kick.

Jason brought his own blade up in a rough guard position. The impact drove it back hard, leaving a red mark creasing his brow. Following up the wild blow, Bauer snapped a low kick at Jason's knee. He lifted his foot and took the kick on his shin. He stepped back; giving ground and quickly shaking his head.

Instead of pressing the attack, Bauer flexed his arm. “They make it look so easy in the movies.” He shook his hand loosely, trying to get the feeling back.

Shrugging his shoulders and setting himself once more, Jason prepared for the next round. Bauer danced lightly from foot to foot, shuffling his feet. The blade in his hand feinted. In response Jason barely twitched his sword in defense before Bauer pulled back.

Bauer's empty hand snapped out as if he were throwing something. A burning sensation set in high in Jason's shoulder. He glanced down at it, catching the ghostly form of a shuriken embedded there. His eyes snapped back to Bauer. His hand lifted to his wounded shoulder to find the throwing star gone. “Not playing fair, Artie. Then again, playing fair was never your style.”

The katana fairly sang when Jason moved in. Bauer took his blade back into both hands for his defense. Each slashing cut was deftly parried, steel meeting facsimile. Bauer forced Jason's blade away. Using his momentum, his foot came up in a high kick and caught Jason in the side of the face. Continuing his spin, his blade came around and drove through Jason's exposed back.

Forcing himself erect, Jason stood and fought the sword lodged within him. He turned towards Bauer and the blade slide out between his ribs. Air escaped from his ruptured lung through the cut in his side. Bauer looked wonderingly at him.

Grabbing hold of Bauer's arm, Jason drove the ancient steel of the tiger pommeled katana through his foe's body. Pain reflected on Bauer's face, with a scream he couldn't release. Bauer's eyes were closed tightly in agony.

Jason felt the katana shift. Bauer pulled away. The blade that had extended through Bauer fell to the ground glowing red. The handle dripped molten steel in Jason's hand. The wound in Bauer's chest bled steel and smoke.

Bauer opened his eyes. Looking into them was like looking into a blast furnace. Bauer grinned malevolently. “Oops.” His skin blackened and cracked. His clothes turned to ash. “I am stronger than you. I am faster than you. And I am better than you.”

Holding tight to his wounded side, Jason backed off. “You're also the second asshole it two days to make that assumption,” he said through gritted teeth. “I underestimated you and I played your game when I should have just ended this.” He dropped the useless piece of ivory.

Flame and smoke roiled thickly off Bauer's arm like a flamethrower. Where it struck the floor it stuck and burned.

Jason threw himself away from Bauer's blast, sliding across the floor. He rolled so as to be facing his opponent and lifted his arm. A crimson beam of force erupted from his palm. Bauer dodged the blast. The wall of the dojo flared when the beam forced its way through.

Bauer spared the virtual wall a glance as it faded away. He turned back in time to see Jason rising to his feet. A violet glow started beneath Jason's silk shirt. It grew brighter. Where it touched his clothes they changed. The violet light increased, enveloping Jason's form. When it was finished the light receded back to the charm hanging from the leather thong around his neck.

“Neat trick,” Bauer quipped. He tossed another flaming glob at Pulsar.

Feeling a quick jolt of surprise when he saw the orange gloves on his hands, Pulsar dodged the attack. He launched himself at the blackened form.

“Not one of mine.” Bauer faded from view when another virtual wall appeared between them. He pulled himself up and slammed into the wall hands and feet. He recoiled off the wall, bounced once off the floor and stood ready. His eyes shifted, looking for any indication of his opponent. Once again he felt the sensation of moisture on his back and down his leg where he had hit the floor.

His mind went back over his adventures of the last two days. He noted his mistakes and realized what he should have done, instead of what he had done. Twenty-twenty hindsight and all that. Even the short engagement thus far with Bauer he had made mistakes. The truth of the situation was simply that Pulsar was nearly a year out of practice. Katas keep the movements and the physical memory, but without someone to spar with his timing was off. Exercising alone didn't impart the immediate urgency that facing someone that wanted to kill him did.

The dog soldiers were simple. One on one he simply outclassed them physically. A few at a time were a minor threat to him. More, well, a man can die if he's stung by enough bees.

Stacy's arm shouldn't have been broken. He fixed that, but still, he had misjudged their fall. It should have been a simple catch-and-flight. Guilt. He shoved that away. Don't have time for that right now. Maybe later.

He had misjudged Bauer from the beginning. He owed Leah an apology. Bauer obviously wasn't normal any longer.

How had Bauer gotten hold of Leah? She had been with the team. Of course the team should all still be on the transport and heading back to New York. He misjudged them. Somehow they had managed to bypass his programming. Trese. Had to be. Dani helped, but Trese found a hole.

His mind flashed back to the three m1025 scout vehicles. Bolt. Somehow Bolt was central to Leah's capture, Pulsar thought. Both their powers were electrical in nature, but Leah could fly. Bolt was a ground pounder. He could run fast. Not as fast as Lightning and he needed metal to skim across for speed. Three vehicles. Three packs. Bolt had help. It was the only thing that made sense to him.

“You aren't giving up already, are ya, Jason?” Bauer called out.

Pulsar tried to focus on where the voice was coming from. “Just reassessing, Artie. I'll be with you in a moment.” Enough. Time for here and now. I'll just have to step up my game.

He looked up. There wasn't a ceiling over him, but he didn't trust Bauer. Power flowed like a lance upward. He flew in its wake.

Twin gouts of smoky flame sought him out. Both coming from a single source. Bauer. Pulsar twisted, spun and dove, executing maneuvers like an aerialist. There was no trapeze for him to grab. There was no net to catch him if he fell.

A burst of flame across his path caused him to shift his flight. He felt heat close behind. He fired blindly following the trajectories back to their origin. The flames ceased immediately. He turned to face where Bauer had been. Again, his foe was gone.

“I thought you wanted this, Artie!”

Muffled, his answer came back. “Oh, I do, Jase. But my plan isn't to get myself killed. It's to kill you!”

Virtual reality. None of this is real. Just a figment of Bauer's digital imagination. Pulsar heard the roar of the flames and rolled. Heat seared him as it passed through where he had just been. He coughed. He found it hard to catch his breath. He tasted blood. Flames licked at his boots. Higher, he thought to himself.

Pulsar fell.

He slid across a city street and came to rest in the gutter. Water, dirt and other waste trickled past, disappearing into a sewer grate. He spit blood, remembering too late his full mask. The water flowing past his face was turning red.

He levered himself up painfully to his knees. Bauer walked out of a door a block down the street. The flashing neon sign read “Joe's”. Breathing was hard. His side hurt. The inside of his arm was covered in blood.

His hand was shaking when he moved it up his side. His fingers sought the source of the blood. Pain lanced through him when he found the deep open gash between his ribs. Part of his mind, disconnected from the pain, noticed that Bauer's footprints were burning as he walked.

“Almost over, Jase. Been a merry chase and I honestly can say I didn't expect it to end with you on your knees in the gutter, but it's really very apt, if I do say so. And you know? I do say so.” Bauer lifted his hand. A gesture Pulsar was familiar with. He'd done it so many times himself. Lift. Point. Release, and the power flowed.

His vision shifted. The city street faded out like a ghost. Virtual, he giggled. He was slipping into shock. Points of light came sharply into focus while other things grayed out. Even Bauer he was seeing differently. Heat coursed through his body. Something other was spraying in a fine mist from the floor. It reminded him of the mansion's sprinkler system. He realized the dome wasn't as high as he thought.

Pain lanced through Jason's head. Pain that wasn't his. From a distance he heard Leah scream. His chest hurt. All of it. Like someone turned a sandblaster on him.

“Hear that, Jase? We're heading into the endgame,” Bauer said. “She was sweet. She was a lot of fun, all the different things she was willing to do for me, but in the end, she was just a means to strike at you.”

“...something that Nova Research came up with. It was intended to slow the healing process.” Pulsar heard Bauer, but the remembered line came through clearer. His mind cleared with the pain that was not his. It had to be Leah he felt, but that made no sense to him. He fought the pain in his side. He fought gravity, inch by inch, getting to his feet.

He noticed blood ran all the way to the top of his orange boot as he brought himself erect. Not yellow any more, Sandy. All blood.

“Going to die on your feet, Jase?” Bauer asked.

He wobbled, but stood. “Don't plan on dying, Ar... Artie. Least... not this minute,” he rasped out. Blood was thick in his mouth. His mask. He had to take his mask off, but he couldn't remember how.

Leah's screams of agony continued.

Bauer pointed his fist at Pulsar. “Time to end you, I think.”

A sticky flaming mass shot out and struck Pulsar in the forearm. It spattered. Part sailed past him. Part splattered across half his face and burned. Power erupted from his arm like a shield, stopping the flow. His mask burned through. Blood burned. His eye ruptured.

With too much pain to deal with he stopped feeling. He still stood. He was still aware. Through his remaining eye he saw the bloody glove. He saw his power splaying off his arm, keeping Bauer's napalm away from him.

He saw a water pipe closer than he thought it should be.

Bauer stopped and lowered his arm. “You aren't supposed to be able to do that.”

Pulsar's power shifted. The flaming mass sloughed off his face to sputter at his feet. “Says the burning ****-pile.” His voice was calmer, surer than he expected given the circumstances. Behind the mask his eye tracked the water pipe until he saw what he was searching for.

He shut off the shield and threw out his hand. Power lanced forth, severing a sprinkler head from the pipe. Water gushed forth from the hole and began spraying from other sprinkler heads.

The water from above forced whatever was spraying from below lower. Bauer steamed where water hit him. The steam obscured his vision. Not so for Pulsar. The heat of Bauer's body stood out like a flare to him. Something popped from behind him. He dare not take his eye off Bauer.

“Endgame, Artie,” he said quietly. Crimson energy lanced out one last time. It struck Bauer in the chest and sent him flying. Bauer's body hit like a bursting melon amid the water. Steam continued to rise from where he lay.

Pulsar watched him for some moments. When he realized that Bauer was not, and hopefully would not be moving, he turned. His leg failed him and he fell heavily on his wounded side.

Up. Need to get up. He managed to turn himself and caught a glimpse of smoke. The smoke was coming from a machine. Beyond it was Bauer's ring and Leah. Got to get over there.

He lay there feebly trying to make headway towards Leah.

He coughed. Blood spattered into the water. Fly dammit! And he did.

It was slow and erratic, but he was flying. He caromed off the cannon Bauer had used on Leah, knocking it over. He came to rest at the base of the ring.

Cables wrapped around portions of it, like an electromagnet. More cables, or the ends of those around the ring, ran to restraints around wrists and ankles. Leah sobbed quietly. Her costume was a bloody, ruined mess. Her glove and boots were gone.

Part of his mind followed that thought while he tried to breathe. Contact. Ensure contact. Got to get mask off. Drifting. Focus! He managed to force himself onto his back.

“L...eah,” he managed to get out.

Her head bobbed. When she looked he noticed that her eyes were glazed. Pain and shock. Her body was shaking. “Jason?” she responded quietly. “It hurts so much.”

“I know. Gonna,” he coughed hard. “Oh, that hurts. Need to get you down.” He lifted his hand. In his mind he held his hand out strong, pointing at the cable holding one leg. In reality his hand wavered and when he released his power the blast passed between her thighs close to one leg.

Throwing caution to the wind, using both hands, he cut loose with four blasts. The first two severed the cables at her ankles. The third went wide. The fourth burned high, blowing through the upper part of the capacitor ring. He groaned and laid his head back dejectedly, preparing to rally his strength one more time.

He grunted with pain and surprise when Leah fell atop him. She whimpered with pain, her raw chest laying against Pulsar's.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered to him. “I never meant...”

He put his arm around her as best as he was able, given both of their conditions. He turned the ruin of his face away from her. “Is... it's alr... k.”

She lifted her head to look at him. “You aren't healing.”

“Gonna... take a litt... l'il time, s'all.” He tried to put a smile in his voice.

She laid her head on his chest, like she used to do so often, so long ago. “I cold. I'm not healing.” Fear crept into her voice, alongside of the pain. “Am I going to die?”

On her back, his hand began to glow. “No,” he answered quietly. “Not today.”

In his mind, the door that closed off the place that was Leah's slammed open.

 

* * * * *

A spot of light appeared, grew into a line, and then expanded into a portal. The entire effect looked like a CRT television screen turning off, only in reverse. Through this portal stepped Anton Darque.

His gaze turned to the devastation of the capacitor ring. A cable hung to the floor from one side, directing his gaze to the two figures entwined beneath it. He gave a wry smile and his eyes turned stone cold.

He turned his attention to the smoking ruin of Steven Bauer. He squatted down. Bauer surprised him. He was still alive. Anton rolled him to his back and saw the hole that had been blasted through him.

“This game is over for you. You have two choices. The first option, Bauer, is this: everything you were is gone to you except as how it serves me. You will continue to serve Ulysses, even so far as replacing him if it becomes necessary, but your life and your loyalty are mine! Any breaches will be swiftly dealt with. And painfully, I might add.”

Bauer wheezed in reply.

“Your other option is to simply lie here and die. You might want to make up your mind. I really don't think you have a lot of time left.”

Anton turned his attention once again to the two figures. He noticed the crimson glow of Pulsar's power. He cocked his head inquiringly. Bauer's feeble grasp pulled on his sleeve for attention. He looked down on the blackened body.

“I accept.”

He lifted Bauer, giving the heat of the man's body no mind. “From this moment on you are Napalm of my Blood Guard.” With a last glance at Pulsar and Sparx, he stepped with his burden through the portal. It closed behind him.

* * * * *

Sharon Anderson, in a midnight blue leotard, sat meditating on the balcony of her apartment. Her eyes snapped open, her concentration broken.

“Jason!”

* * * * *

Kate Asher adjusted her seat one more time, trying to find some position that she was actually comfortable in. The baby kept moving. It seemed the baby took great pleasure in using her bladder as a punching bag, urging her to the toilet, only to find she couldn't go when she got there.

The television was playing a rerun of a Wings episode. It was a show that Warren enjoyed. Through her pregnancy Kate had taken to watching it and other shows as her baby kept her more and more of a prisoner of Warren's recliner or the couch.

Pain lanced through her causing her to contract.

“Ohgodohgod,” she said through the pain. She thumbed the two-number speed dial on the phone for the main house. “Oh, Jason.” She squeezed her eyes tight against the pain, waiting for someone to pick up.

* * * * *

Angelique sat on the couch in the loft. She was comfortable in Jason's clean dress shirt from the night before. Putting that on was the only concession she made to decency in Jason's absence. Stacy had gone through the game collection and managed to get Angelique to play. The video game controller hadn't been comfortable in her hands when they had started, but she figured she could give Jason a challenge now, after having spent most of the day playing. A small spell kept blisters from forming on her fingers.

Stacy had loosened up. In the daylight the situation seemed more like a sleep-over, with the events and urgency of the night before dulled by sleep.

Walking from the kitchen with coffee carafe in hand, Emily was prepared to pour for the three of them when they felt it. The carafe shattered across the floor.

Tears sprang from Stacy's eyes. Angelique screamed as if she were dying.

* * * * *

With a report in one hand, turned to a page halfway through, pen grasped in her mouth and a late lunch balanced on a tray from the commissary, Marlene kept one eye on other traffic and the other turned to the report. The report was just one more way the board was trying to curtail her authority. She could get Jason to shoot it down easily, but she couldn't be seen running to him every time an obstacle was thrown in her path.

The tray slipped from her fingers. Her lunch splattered when it hit the floor. The coffee cup bounced once and shattered on the second impact. Coffee soaked into the pages of the report as they fluttered to the floor.

Marlene joined the mess on the floor.

* * * * *

Rubbing a kink out of her neck, Kris sat in the galley of Med One writing up her notes for Trese's records. Barely a half hour before she had sutured the wound closed. A copy would have to sent on the experimental drug usage to the applicable parties and the girl would have to be watched for any side-effects, but so far she was good.

Warren, Kris shook her head at the thought, would be read the riot act when he was in a condition to hear it. Kris would never want to be the one to tell Kate that her husband had been killed by his own stupidity.

Minor cuts and bruises were Dani's only injuries. Bandages, tape and aspirin would hold her over. Ash had her taken to the Guardian's jet to free up space in the medical bay.

Nightwing was the worst. She'd done what she could. Not quite meatball surgery, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. Several of the cuts had been simple sew jobs. Brad would have several more scars to show off.

She was up and running before she realized it. She leapt from where Med One floated, and with a little help from her wings, she landed inside the hatch of the Guardian's transport. Warstar glanced up at her abrupt entry. She moved gracefully, if hurriedly, to the flight deck.

Ash was already working the controls. She glanced around at Dove. “What was that?”

“Jason.”

“I got that much, Kris! What I want to know is what that was.”

Kris shrugged off her lab coat and tossed it aside. “I don't have any idea, Ash.” She slipped a headset off a console and put it on. “Roan. Set course for Houston and go!”

“Aye, ma'am,” the redhead responded. “Houston. Destination?”

“Aegis. Mentor, take care of necessaries.”

“Yes, doctor,” the AI answered.

Ash had the transport in the air and heading back to the island.

1Homer The Iliad bk I L.1

2Hesiod Works and Days L.265

3Homer The Iliad bk XVIII L.109

4Survivor Burning Heart 1985

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

ENDINGS

 

“Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?”

 

“The equipment, Hellfire, is in perfect working order,” Mentor told her.

She made a small adjustment to the position of the microphone. “Everything around here is in perfect working order, Mentor, except the people.

 

“Okay, mom. I'm still getting used to having to file a report every time I blow my nose or wipe my...”

 

“Danielle Siobhan Anderson. That type of language does not belong in a report or a missive to your mother.”

 

“Yes, Mentor.” Dani sighed. “You'll obviously get the point, mom.

 

“Whatever it was that happened with Jason, I don't know if you felt it or not, but whatever he did woke me up. Ash dropped us right outside the door to that installation. With just five of us still capable, I'm not sure how impressive we were.

 

“Ash and 'Star ripped the door opened like it was tinfoil. It seemed that the dog packs lost their alpha. Only a few actually put up resistance once we got in. We were probably a lot harder on them than we normally would have been, but Kris was in a hurry to get to Jason. Mitchell surprised us. He was capable of keeping up with us.

 

“Just before we got into the central dome, we ran into a new model of Slayer. Warstar never stopped. I mean he literally ran into it. He drove that thing through the wall. I think he was really disappointed when he found out that it wasn't active.

 

“The dome had been a battlefield, mom.” She laid her head back against the chair's rest and closed her eyes. The images came back to her clearer that way, although forgetting would have have made things easier for her in a way. “There were still fires sputtering with the sprinkler going. Not sure who, or what, Jason had been fighting, but that stuff was hard to put out.

 

“I found Tiger's sword, mom. Or what was left of it. The blade is gone. What there is left is melted. The ivory is scorched. I'm pretty sure he'll want it back for all that.

 

“But the worst of it, mom” she choked a bit, and wiped tears from her eyes, “was seeing Leah there, rocking back and forth, crying over Jason. He looked like he had gone through a meat-grinder. You know how he was. Always in the front relying on his healing factor to deal with any wounds. This time the wounds hadn't healed. I've never seen that before with him.

 

“Leah swore that he was dead. He's in a coma. She spends time with him. She talks to him.

 

“Warren,” Dani sighed again, “I guess I better discuss him before I go any further with Leah, so that everything is sorta in context.

 

“Kris read Warren the riot act. Went off on him pretty good about not wanting to be the one to tell Kate that he died due to his own stupidity and exactly what in the hell was he thinking pulling a bone-headed maneuver like he did. Really wish I had been able to record that. Definitely a 'Kris classic'.

 

“First thing he did was call home. Kate scared him. She's fine, mom. Apparently this effect Jason had started her contractions. Weird thing is, she swears that Jason was there with her. That he calmed her down and stopped the contractions. I don't know what to make of that. Ash flew Warren home. He wasn't in condition yet to run. Kris didn't like the idea of letting him go, but he wanted to be with his wife.

 

“Anyways, to get back to Leah, some idea that Ash and Warren had about her, he called in Spellbinder. They talked. She spent the better part of a day watching Leah. She says that someone laid a pretty hefty whammy on Leah. What she said was that the spell scrambled things in Leah's head. Emotions that are tied to people have been crossed, I guess. Nearest thing that 'Binder said that made sense to me was that Leah's emotional base tied to Jason had had a jumper cable clamped on, to transpose her feelings to, I'm guessing here, Bauer. Magic isn't my strong suit, but, counting 'Binder, there's only three people I know of that can lay down that kind of power.”

She took a drink from a tall glass of iced tea. “Which brings me to the next bit,” she continued.

 

“We've got a guest. Angelique showed up demanding to see Jason. We were about to toss her, and Titania, out on their collective asses, when the Witch Queen pulled out one of Jason's stones. Why he gave her one, I'll never understand.

 

“Spellbinder did a quick check. Yes, the stone is actually Jason's. She also was able to confirm that the spell laid on Leah wasn't Angelique's. I'da thought it would be, since she and Leah never got along, and how fast she was there to jump into bed with Jason.

 

“Next part gets kinda creepy for me. She swears she saved Jason's life. I really hate that witch, mom.”

Dani pulled her hair out of the way to rub, scratch at, really, the bandage that covered the side of her neck. “My wounds are healing. Itching like you wouldn't believe.

 

“Anyways, the other day the Witch decided to snipe at Leah. Leah sparked her ass across the common room. I've got to say, mom, between what she did on the island and what she did then, I've got a lot of respect for Charley.

* * * * *

Angelique was crying and trying to stand up. She called out to Charley, “Stop her!”

Ash eyed Charley as she stood slowly and stepped past Leah. Leah didn't even spare her a glance, keeping her attention on the crying blonde. Charley squatted beside Angelique. “What would you have me do, Angel? Toss her across the room?”

 

“That would be a start,” she replied, fighting to get her tears under control.

 

“You know what? We're here because you claimed guest-right on Jason's honor. You pretty much twisted their arms to let us stay, and you've done absolutely nothing to repay their hospitality except to be a first-class bitch.” She stood then and looked down on Angelique. “I think Leah has shown remarkable restraint since it took her this long to blast you. Not to mention that she obviously didn't use her full power. Time to grow up, Angel.” She turned her back on the fallen blonde.

 

“I thought you were my friend!”

Charley stopped and turned at the waist to look back on the smaller woman. “I am your friend, Angel. I also claim Jason as a friend. You want to pick a fight in his house I am not going to protect you from your own stupidity. And this tower is as much his home as the loft is. If one of them starts it, I'll jump in the middle of it with no second thoughts.

 

“This you brought on yourself.”

Ash caught up to the taller blonde in the hall. “Why didn't she use her magic on Leah?” she asked.

 

“She can't.”

* * * * *

The muted sounds of the monitors were the only things to be heard in the room. Angelique kept her vigil over Jason's still form. In the space between not being enemies and not really a friend, her time keeping watch over her friend was about the only place among the Guardians that she truly felt safe. Not that she felt threatened by them, but after her little dust up with Sparx and subsequent admonishment by Charley, she was subdued.

Charley was right, though. She did request sanctuary using Jason's name. Her behavior had been atrocious. The way she had acted was an insult to her friend and their friendship.

I wish you would wake up, Jason, she thought to herself. I am so scared right now.

Everything that she thought she was had been taken from her in a flash of her father's ire. She had learned much in her long life about manipulating others. In a dark, painful moment, she learned that she was still playing a child's game in comparison to that which was played by her father.

 

“So, all that you were is gone. As simply as that.” An aged male voice seemed to come from a blue will-o-wisp that was hovering inside near the window. “I think your friends would disagree with that.”

Angelique flinched when the voice broke the silence. “Go away, old man. I don't have time for your games.” Now she truly felt defenseless.

 

“There is always time for games, Angelique. This one is fairly played out for the time being.”

 

“What do you want, Arkayne?” she asked. Not quite petulantly, but all the same, not too far removed from it. Some habits are hard to break.

The will-o-wisp disappeared in a small flash, in its place stood an old man with a wizened face. “I wouldn't mind a bit of brandy, perhaps some whiskey. And a cigar, I suppose. If I were to visit your father I imagine I would already have them.” He moved to the side of Jason's bed. “But I'm sure the good doctor would frown on a doddering old fool smoking in a room with her patient.”

 

“Can you do anything for him?” she asked.

Arkayne arched an eyebrow at Angelique. “Can I do anything for him? I daresay that I can. The question is 'should I do anything for him?' Sometimes it is better to allow nature to take her course. His body is healing. It needs time to expel the chemicals that got into him. His mind needs time to deal with other things. Right now he has himself locked in,” he tapped a finger to his own temple, “and he's waiting for the key.”

Angelique turned her gaze from Jason and looked at the frail older man. “You know what he went through?”

 

“Oh, yes,” he answered sadly. “One must keep his eyes on all his pieces. Until they are removed from the board.”

 

“Is he...” she started to ask.

 

“Removed? Only from this game. There will be others, I'm afraid.” He turned and found a chair. “I'm getting a bit too old for this. I need to sit for a spell.” Angelique winced at his turn of phrase.

 

“How are things with you, dear girl? What is it like for you to actually have a friend?”

Angelique's eye flashed fire. “You should know how things are with me! I've been stripped! Blocked!”

 

“Yes,” he nodded, “yes. I understand. No, dear girl, I don't know how things are with you, exactly. You weren't my piece to keep an eye on. It was actually the second question that I was looking for an answer to. What is it like for you to actually have a friend?”

 

“I have had friends before, old man!” she snapped.

A flash and a crackle, like lightning and thunder, passed through the room. Angelique cowered from the display. “Mind your temper!” the old man growled. “I am not talking about minions and toadies, girl,” he spoke quieter. “I am talking about true friends. Someone that you consider at least an equal. Like Charlemagne. Or young Scott, here.”

She moved around, interposing the bed between herself and Arkayne. “There are times that I miss just spending time with him.” She slid her fingers into Jason's unmoving hand and held it. “There have been times where I was about to do something and I caught myself, thinking 'Jason would be disappointed in me if I did this'.”

Arkayne's eyes gleamed with delight at this simple confession. “And how did that make you feel?”

 

“Confused. I've only ever worried about my father's reactions before.”

Absentmindedly, Arkayne fumbled in his pockets before pulling out a long-stemmed pipe. “What now, dear girl, will you do?” She gave the old man an admonishing look. He looked at the pipe in his hand and the unlit match in the other. “Oh! Well. I'm not going to smoke it.”

 

“I don't know yet what I will do. Wait until my father's temper settles, I suppose.”

Arkayne cleared his throat. “Your father does not take betrayal lightly. Even if a part of what occurred played into his hands, he still will hold that you, his own flesh and blood, betrayed him. That is not something that Anton will easily forgive, nor will he ever forget.”

 

“What is this all about, Arkayne?” she asked.

 

“You, dear girl. This is about you.

 

“Through the actions of Scott here, your father lost his most powerful piece. His queen. You.” He tamped the tobacco in his pipe down with his thumb. “Further, your father has lost Charlemagne. Her loyalty was ever to you. Never to your father. Not wholly, at any rate.

 

“Doctor Tyler also planted a seed in another of your father's pieces. Honest gratitude can do wonders for a man's self-esteem. I'm sure with his actions on that beach that Scott here would also like to thank him.” He set the pipe stem between his teeth.

 

“Between you, Charlemagne and Stinger, your father has lost two pieces and a third is wavering. In return he has secured the services of a rook. Maybe a knight. Though I have my doubts.”

Angelique released Jason's hand and sat herself in Jason's reading chair. “Is this what you do, old man? Playing your game with my father, force people to do things?”

 

“'Force'?” He raised an eyebrow at that. “Hardly force. Cajole, maybe. Urge if necessary, but it is always through free will. I could force you to do what I think is best, but what would you learn from that? The hardest lessons must be learned freely.”

She pulled her legs up into the chair with her. “What, then, would you suggest I do?”

 

“The hardest thing, Angelique. Change. Grow,” he said tiredly. “But know this, whatever you do; you cannot stay as you are. Too much has been done to bring you to this place, to face this question, and for you to find an answer.”

 

“All of this,” she asked, horrified, “was because of me?”

 

“No. No, of course not, dear girl. It was done for you. Not because of you.”

 

“I don't see the difference, Arkayne.”

 

“You will. One day, you will.” He forced himself to his feet using his cane to assist. “I must go. Scott is out spirit walking. It won't be much longer as these things are counted, and he'll awake.”

She looked up at the old man. “You won't stay until then?”

His form wavered and once again the blue will-o-wisp was in the room. “No, dear girl. Scott has little reason to bear me good will.” The floating blue light passed through the glass of the window out into the night.

Angelique rested her head on her hand and gazed on Jason, lost in thought. After some time had passed she stood with a sharp intake of breath. “It was you!”

 

* * * * *

Marlene dropped her suitcase in the hall. She shrugged the strap of her carry-on off her shoulder and set it down. She laid her briefcase on top of the suitcase. She slipped her suit coat off her shoulders and dropped that over the rest of her load. She braced herself against the wall and kicked off her high heels.

 

“I told you, Marlene, that I could manage your bags.”

 

“Fine, Mentor. Manage them. Where is he?”

 

“He is resting, ma'am, in his room.”

She looked up at the ceiling irritably. “Don't 'ma'am' me, Mentor. I'm not in the mood for it.”

 

“As you say, Marlene.”

She fairly stalked down the hall. She glanced in the dining room where Trese sat fighting with a fork left-handed. She changed her course and went in. “Hey, Trese.”

 

“Marlene!” The lithe redhead noticed the blackened eye and cut on her friend's face. “You look like hell. What happened?” She stood up and they hugged, Marlene taking care of Trese's arm in a sling.

 

“Actually, I was hoping you could tell me.” She held Trese a little tighter for a moment before stepping away. “I was dealing with some paperwork and in the middle of it, I had a black out. And somehow, Jason is in the middle of it.”

 

“You, too, huh?”

 

“What 'too'?” she asked Trese.

Trese sat back down. “I slept through the excitement, but it seems everyone that Jason has gifted with a stone got a hit with feedback when he healed Leah. Angelique says that it wasn't feedback from the healing. She said Jason died.”

Marlene glared at Trese. “The witch 'says'? She's here?”

 

“Yeah. She's in Jason's room with him.”

Marlene pointed at Trese's plate. “You need help with that?”

Trese smiled. Her eyes glowed purple and her fork stabbed into her meal. “Thanks, Marlene, but I think I can manage.”

 

“Good.”

* * * * *

Kris slipped quietly into Jason's room. Marlene had taken over Jason's desk. His computer was running with her laptop set up right next to it. Both monitors were running screen savers. Files had been stacked neatly, but had slipped across the open space when Marlene had nodded off sitting at the desk.

The doctor checked the wrap on Jason's head. Peeking under it, the skin was still an angry red, but the blisters were gone. She laid her hand lightly on it and couldn't feel any heat from the burn. That, at least, was healing.

She wanted to pull the wrapping up higher to look into the optical cavity. Give it time, doctor, she thought.

A quick check of the IV drip was next. She smiled to herself when she saw the initials on the bag next to the time showing when it was changed. “CB”.

She pulled the sheet down to where she could see his side. The bandage was due for a change. She peeled the tape off gently. She wasn't concerned with waking her patient. She was only worried that she might cause more damage. The wound was closed with an angry, puckered scar. She doubted it would stay, but Jason could use a reminder that he wasn't indestructible.

Kris pressed on either side of the closure. There was no seepage and the scar stayed closed. She decided to re-cover it, just to be sure.

She inadvertently brushed Marlene's leg with a wing when she moved by the desk. The CEO stirred from the touch.

 

“Thought I told you to stay out.” She turned to face Kris. Her eyes were blurry with sleep.

 

“You haven't told me anything,” the smile carried in her voice for her friend.

 

“Kris?” She rubbed the sleep from her face, wincing at the tenderness around her eye and the cut. “I chased the witch out when I got here.”

Concerned at the condition of her friend, she said, “Looks like he got you, too.”

 

“Yeah, that's what they tell me, anyways.'

 

“Let me take a look at that,” the doctor said. She was gentler with Marlene than she had been with Jason. “You should have been wearing sunglasses.”

 

“I did. When I was outside.”

Kris affixed a small bandage over the cut. “Yeah, well, no more bright lights for a while. That includes computer monitors.”

 

“I've got work to do, Kris.”

Kris cocked her head and gave Marlene a look. “Lene, our agreement is that when you are here, you're my patient. As your doctor I am officially putting you on work restriction.” She gave Marlene a questioning look. “What?”

 

“Sandy always called me 'Lene'. She was the only one that did.”

 

“Why don't you lie down and get some sleep?”

 

“No. I want to stay here with him.” She looked at Jason's prone form.

 

“Okay, then at this moment,” she stepped behind Marlene, “I'm not your doctor. I'm your friend.” She deftly unbuttoned and unzipped Marlene's skirt. “And I'm telling you to lie down and sleep.” The skirt slipped to the floor. The winged woman stepped to a dresser and pulled out a pullover shirt. “It's a king-size bed. I don't expect Jason to wake any time soon and I really don't think he'll care if he wakes up next to a beautiful woman.

 

“Well? Blouse. Off. Now.” When Marlene had stripped down to her panties, Kris handed her the shirt. “You want me to turn the bed down for you, too?”

 

“No,” she smiled nervously, “I think I've got that. Good night, Kris.”

 

* * * * *

It was still dark in the early morning when Jason first awoke. He lay still, realizing that he was in his room in the tower. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't alone in his bed. Marlene was shivering, the blanket having shifted, and she was crying softly in her sleep. He touched her gently. She moved closer into his warmth. He put his arm around her and pulled the blanket up to cover her. He closed his eye and sank into sleep.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

More please... Epilogue, writer/GM secrets, links to characters?

 

Character Background/History, blurb, or secret file.

 

QM

 

PS: more please and thank you.

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

That's where this ends. I've got parts of other stories written. The first picks up weeks later after this. I'll post up the first chapter here in a bit.

 

Just writing. Not playing or running anything currently. One of the story bits I've got percolating has to do with how/why the team came together.

[psyber624]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

YES! More is mandatory. Stop wasting your time posting on other threads and get with the writing!

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

Fallout

 

“I can't believe that there's this much paperwork involved in crap!” Theresa Gardner closed the binder in her lap. She laid her head back against the seat and thumped the binder with her open hand. “None of this really makes any sense.”

 

Her male companion in the back of the limousine, Jason Scott, replied, “It isn't 'crap', Trese. It's 'fertilizer'. You want to get to know the company; well this trip out to fertilizer plant number five is one way for you to do so.” He sat low in his seat with his head tilted back and his eyes closed. Trese's legs were stretched into his lap. “How's your shoulder?”

 

Trese had her hand halfway to her shoulder. She looked at Jason. “That's really got to suck. It's stiff. It's still sore.” She started rubbing her shoulder where weeks ago a child's jack had been forced deep into it.

 

“You have no idea,” he said in response.

 

Marlene Palmer closed the binder she was looking through and rubbed her eyes. “It's just a routine inspection. Eff pee five is stable. No excessive turnover of personnel. No excessive losses. You want some aspirin, Trese?”

 

“Yeah. That might help.” She accepted the pills Marlene handed her. “Thanks.” She popped them in her mouth and took a swallow from a metallic purple water bottle. “How did the company get involved in crap, I mean 'fertilizer' in the first place?”

 

Jason smiled at a memory. “Scott Enterprises got involved in fertilizer because Grandfather Scott lost a card game to Grandfather Lane. Can't really complain, Trese. If it hadn't been for that, dad never would have met my mom.”

 

With a sigh, Marlene set her binder on the floorboard. She snuggled herself against Jason and closed her eyes.

 

“I thought the Lane's had money?”

 

“They did, Trese, but the Scott's had other resources besides money. Grampa Scott always cultivated his connections and was really careful not to burn any bridges. Pa Lane had different ideas on things, but he wasn't always politic in how he did things. Which lead to him offending a lot of people that could have helped him.”

 

“So you come by that honestly?”

 

Jason opened one eye to look at her. “Yeah. I guess I do. Short version, depending on which side you want to believe, Pa Lane suckered grampa into a poker game. Mom's dad won, or cheated, depending on who you believe, but grampa saw the good that could come from it, so he accepted Pa Lane's terms. The money he would have lost in the game he invested in the Lane's farming concern. Grampa wasn't one for silent partnerships, so he took an interest in the management. He found places where the Lane's were pretty much being robbed.

 

“It wasn't the money Pa Lane was really after. It was the gaining of a more capable business partner.” Jason adjusted his sunglasses. “Of course, Gramma's Lane and Scott had their own conditions. Dad was at MIT working on one of his degrees and mom was at Bennett College. The grammas connived and decided that dad was going to escort mom to some event.”

 

Trese smiled at the thought. “How well did that go over?”

 

“The story goes that he was pretty much kicking and screaming about it up until he got in his tux and went to pick her up.”

 

“And?” she prompted.

 

“Then it depends on who you asked. Dad said he fell in love with her before she made it to the bottom of the stairs and either had said a word. Mom said dad stood there with his eyes popping out of his head and seemed to have a problem remembering simple things, like his name. Aunt Emily could tell you more about that. She was there.”

 

The wheels left the pavement and rolled down the narrow dirt lane. Trese looked out the window at the farmland. “Where does the Asher's farm start?”

 

“When we left the pavement. The house is a couple of miles up the lane. When we formed the Guardians dad gave some stock to the others. Warren reinvested his dividends to buy up some farms that were sitting idle. Bank foreclosures and whatnot.”

 

Jason sat up and worked his neck. “Warren had an idea. It was his money, so it wasn't like anyone could tell him 'no'. He set up a fund to assist farmers that were facing foreclosure.”

 

“What happened then?”

 

“Charles, happened,” Marlene said. “Warren kept running into problems. He asked Charles for advice. Charles asked for a week.”

 

“A week? For what?” Trese asked.

 

Marlene sat up, playfully annoyed at Jason for disturbing her comfort. “To find out what and where the problem was. At the end of the week, Warren had an appointment with the board of the bank. When he got into the meeting, with one of Charles's lawyers as an adviser, he found Charles sitting at the head of the table. Charles invested enough in the bank to buy a seat on the board. They reassessed the farm mortgage loans so that between them they were able to help the farmers without damaging the bank. Out of that arrangement came the fertilizer plant.”

 

In time the limousine turned down a lane bordered by two white rail fences. Across the barnyard, a dusky red barn sat across from a periwinkle-colored two-story farmhouse. Shading the barnyard was a massive oak tree. There was a picnic table under the tree, near a free-standing hammock.

 

There were people there, but none that Trese recognized. When the car came to a stop, she slipped her shoes back on. She didn't wait for the driver to open the door. She opened it herself and stretched in the Nebraska air when she got out.

 

An old farmer, skin bronzed from time spent in the fields and his hair silver-white, walked towards the car. “You must be Theresa,” he said. “I'm Ben Asher, Warren's father.” He held out his hand for Theresa to shake.

 

“Yes, sir, I am. Theresa, I mean, though my friends call me 'Trese'.” She took his hand firmly.

 

“Well, then, 'Trese' it is.”

 

Marlene got out and stretched her back. “Miss Palmer,” Ben greeted her, “a pleasure to see you again.”

 

She gave him an amused look. “Well, if it isn't Old Ben. Hasn't Warren put you out to pasture yet?”

 

He laughed at that, “Obviously not. I'm not ready for the pasture yet.”

 

“I thought we agreed that you'd drop the 'Miss Palmer' the last time I was here, and I wouldn't call you 'old'”

 

He laughed again and took her into a warm embrace. “That we did, girl. Nobody manage to corral you yet?”

 

She gave him a quick, but gentle jab to the ribs. “No corral, no bridle, and no harness.”

 

Ben gave Jason a look of concern when the younger man got out of the car. “You look a little worse for the wear, son.”

 

Jason braced himself on a walking stick when he reached out to shake the farmer's hand. “Sir. I just had a small bout of stupidity a while back. Nothing fatal.”

 

Warren's father led the small group to the picnic table. Leah was sleep in the hammock wearing cut-off jean shorts and a plaid shirt. The shirt was open and a knot at her midriff was all that kept her breasts from spilling out. Nested between them was an amethyst star on a leather thong. A romance novel was splayed open across one thigh.

 

With a wink to Jason he said, “If I were only twenty years younger.”

 

“If you were twenty years younger, sir, you might be able to out run your wife's frying pan,” Jason commented. Behind his Ray Bans he gave the recumbent figure a wistful look. He turned and sat a bit heavily on the table's bench.

 

A commotion from the farmhouse drew their attention. Katie, with the help of Warren's mother and sister, was coming down the porch steps, in a very awkward fashion.

 

Trese looked nervously at Jason. “Uh, are we safe here?” she asked.

 

Ben answered her, “You're safe enough.”

 

“I'm sorry. That's really not what I was asking.”

 

He smiled. “No, Trese. I know what you were asking and I'm telling you, you're safe enough here.”

 

She looked down at Jason with a question on her face. He merely nodded in answer. She set off across the yard for the porch.

 

“Hey, Kate,” she greeted the pregnant woman. “Let me give you a hand.” Her eyes flashed purple. A purple force field, in a form similar to a chair, came into being behind Kate.

 

“Thanks, Trese.” She took the younger woman's hand. Trese walked back to the picnic table with Kate in tow. She took a seat on the table.

 

“So where is everyone else?” the mother-to-be asked.

 

Marlene sat on the table, kicked her shoes off and she put her foot on Jason's leg. “Ash said she'll be flying in tomorrow. Kris and Kari will catch a ride with her.”

 

“Dani,” Jason said, “has an audition tonight. She's supposed to come in with Ash, too.”

 

Mary Asher turned to her daughter. “Jennie, go tell your brother he's got company, and then go get the glasses and pitcher off the kitchen table.”

 

“Yes, ma'am.” Jennie walked a half-dozen steps towards the barn, then yelled at the top of her lungs, “Warren! Ya got company!” She broke into a run, heading for the house.

 

“What in the tarnation, girl?” Ben exclaimed. “Your mother told you to 'go tell' him,” he yelled at Jennie's retreating back.

 

Jason glanced at the barn. Warren walked out of the open door. Sunlight reflected off his bare, muscular, sweat-soaked chest. He wore jeans and a cowboy hat to keep the sun out of his eyes.

 

Marlene felt Jason tense, and then shift. “Are you okay?” she asked him quietly.

 

“Yeah. I'm good.” He stood up and whispered in Trese's ear, “Set Kate down.”

 

She looked at him peevishly. “Why?”

 

“Trese, just trust me on this. Okay?”

 

She pursed her lips and nodded. She moved Kate to the spot that Jason vacated. The glow from her eyes subsided. Kate adjusted to the harder bench. “Satisfied?”

 

They all looked at Trese then, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

 

Jennie had come back and was handing out glasses by the time Warren had walked from the barn. He accepted the greetings from his friends. He bent down and gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek. He whispered, “I love you” in her ear. He turned to face Jason. Two cracks sounded like wood snapping. Jason spun, falling face down. Warren bent over to collect his hat from where it had fallen. He dusted the head band against his leg, turned back towards the barn, donning his hat.

 

Behind him his friends and family were horrified. They called after him, “What the hell was that for?” and “Warren!”

 

Jumping down from the table, Marlene went to Jason's side. His sunglasses had snapped at the temple. There was blood on his lip and his eye was blackening.

 

“You knew he was going to do something!”

 

“Yeah.” His black eye was fading to yellow by the time she had helped him to his feet. She wiped the blood from his chin. “Sir!” he called after Ben. “Leave him alone.”

 

“He can't do that! I won't have it on my farm. He was raised better than that!”

 

“Ben,” the farmer stopped at Jason's use of his name, “you've got a brother. You ever fight with him?”

 

Warren's father stopped. “Yeah, son, we had our share of rows. You want to explain that?”

 

“It wasn't for Warren. How many times did he hit me?”

 

“Jason!” Marlene glared at him. “It doesn't matter! He had no cause to do that!”

 

“He hit you twice, son, from the sound of it.”

 

“Once for his wife. Once for his child.”

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

The western sky held a faint memory of the day's sunlight. By the time Jason had gone from the house to the barn, even that light was gone. Stars lit the comfortable night. The plate he carried was still warm.

 

The barn smelled of hay and horses. It was lit with a single hanging bulb where Warren had been working on one of the tractors. Engine parts lay on a bench and tools were on the tractor. Part of the hayloft had been converted into a study area for Warren. A telescope pointed at the western sky. Warren sat on a couch, his booted foot rested on a chest he used as a table.

 

“Kate's kind of upset that you missed dinner,” Jason said. He set the plate of roast beef, potatoes, green beans and carrots on the table in front of Warren.

 

Warren looked out the open loft doors. “Don't see where my wife being upset with me is any of your concern.”

 

Jason sat in a chair across from his friend. He shrugged the strap of a soft-side cooler off his shoulder and set it on the floor. “Probably not.”

 

“You expecting an apology for that?”

 

“Warren, I know you better than that. Only chance I've got of getting an apology is to prove to you that what you did was unwarranted.” Jason sat back and laid the walking stick across the arms of his chair.

 

“And?”

 

Warren was in a prickly state. Jason could tell. “'And' what? You want me to tell you that it was unwarranted? You want me to tell you what you did was wrong? I think we're past that point.”

 

Warren stood up and glared at Jason. “I want to know what the hell happened! You endangered my wife! My child!”

 

“The only reason Kate was endangered was because of her condition. Which, I will point out, is half your fault. The Law of Unforeseen Consequences, Warren. It wasn't something that was expected, because it was a situation that had never happened before.” Jason sat back and laid his walking stick across the arms of the chair.

 

“Exactly! You were messing with something you had no control over!”

 

“Slow down, Speedy. I'll remind you that the connection with Kate has existed longer than you've known her. It was put into place at Leah's request and it was done with Kate having the full knowledge of what it was for.” Jason blew air out of pursed lips. “Look, I'm sorry, all right?”

 

Warren sat back down. Often his emotions were as mercurial as his actions could be. He picked up his fork and bit into a potato. “What did you bring to drink?” Jason opened up the cooler, pulled out a bottle and passed it to Warren. “Ginger ale? Why not beer or something else?”

 

“Because we make lousy drunks.”

 

“Speak for yourself,” Warren said. “I can't get drunk. Not since I changed.”

 

“Yeah, well,” Jason said, opening his own bottle, “partaking of alcohol causes lots of ugly things with me. Drunkenness comes on quickly. Everything is accelerated. And strangely, alcohol poisoning comes on really quick. Anyways.

 

“I meant what I said. And the only reason the situation hadn't occurred before is because I've never died before.”

 

Warren chewed what he had in his mouth slower and looked at his friend while he thought over that statement. After he swallowed, he said, “You were unconscious when they got to you, but you were breathing.”

 

“Only due to Angelique's quick thinking. It wasn't for long, but it happened.”

 

The farm boy stopped before shoveling more food in his mouth to ask, “What about Leah?”

 

Jason dropped his head, stretching the back of his neck. “She left, Warren. She walked away.”

 

“That wasn't her fault,” he said, pointing his fork at Jason.

 

“I know, but it doesn't change anything.”

 

“That's kinda cold, Jase. She still loves you.”

 

He looked his friend in the eyes. “That doesn't change anything, either. It's been two years. Hell, Sharon ripped into me for not doing something before this. If you want to go this route, Warren, are you telling me that if Cheryl came back, you'd walk away from Kate?”

 

That caught Warren by surprise. Cheryl Danforth had been Warren's girlfriend early on, when the Guardian's had been newly formed. She had been, first, the team's liaison with the Wildfire Project. Then things happened between them.

 

It was years ago and at times it still hurt. Cheryl had been used by another Wildfire operative as bait in a trap. The trap closed before the Guardians could pull her out, and she had died.

 

“That's not the same thing, Jase.”

 

Jason looked at the label on the bottle in his hand. “Isn't it, Warren? From my point of view it's just a matter of degrees.”

 

Again, reinforcing the point, “She still loves you.”

 

“That still doesn't change anything. Leah's broken. She needs time to heal.”

 

Warren set his fork on the empty plate. “I heard what she did to Angelique.”

 

“I'm not talking about Leah blasting Angel across the common. You and I both know how things were between them. And I'll be the first to admit that Angel started it.” He took a drink and thought a moment. “And she's the one that kept doing it.

 

“Leah has always had a pretty level temperament. She is, or was, pretty non-confrontational when it comes to interpersonal stuff. She'd rather sit at home and feel sorry for herself, or be upset, in private. Brad found a CD of Leah's that she had left. He didn't say anything to her. He just popped it in the player and sat down next to her. First she blasted the radio. Then,” Jason smiled to himself, “well, that was the first time Michaels ripped his stitches.”

 

Warren leaned back and wiped his forehead with his bottle. “That doesn't sound like her. At all.”

 

“That's what I'm talking about. Whatever was done to her is coming undone. Adalene, from what Dani told me, doesn't know who was on the giving end of that.” Adalene Masters, also known as Spellbinder, was a friend that Warren had made in college. She was something of an authority on the occult and applied magic.

 

“Let me ask you, Jase, why Angelique? All you've ever said was 'it was something that had to happen'.”

 

Jason turned a critical eye to the dragon head of his walking stick. He brushed the top of it with his thumb. “Honestly, Warren, because there was something magical about her.”

 

“Funny,” Warren said flatly. Angelique Darque was usually referred to as “the Witch” by the Guardians and their friends that knew about her relationship with Jason. She was, in her own terms, a sorceress.

 

The darker haired man quirked a wry smile at his friend, “Not like that. With her, I didn't have to hide who I was.”

 

“Do you love her?” Warren asked quietly.

 

Jason chuckled. “Yes. Now ask me if I'm in love with her.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“I woke up one morning and she was gone. Haven't seen her since. Charley said that she had left a note, but that she had no idea where she had gone, either.”

 

“How are things with you and Marlene?” Warren asked.

 

“Good. Things are good.”

 

“Have you...”

 

“Warren, tell you what, you don't finish that question and I won't ask you how you keep from giving Kate friction burns in sensitive areas.”

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

“I wonder how their talk is going,” Kate mused aloud. She lay on a well-padded glider on the farmhouse's porch.

 

Leah handed a wine glass each to Marlene and Trese. “Barn is still standing, so I'd have to say that they are talking.” She held out another wine glass to Kate.

 

“Uh, pregnant here, Sparky,” Kate chided her best friend.

 

“Uh, sparkling grape juice here, Preggo,” Leah shot back. She sat on the glider and drew her legs up under her. “Almost like being roomies again. Never expected you to be a country girl at heart, Kate.”

 

Kate looked at Leah through the glass of grape juice. “Me being a party girl was a long time ago, Leah. I never expected to be happy out in the middle of nowhere.”

 

“Does that mean that you're not upset about the blind date with the Farm Boy any longer?” Leah asked, jokingly.

 

“I wasn't really upset. I just had serious doubts about us having anything in common,” Kate said.

 

Leah smiled. “You had Jason and I in common with him.”

 

“Oh, yeah, millionaire industrialist who's dating a hot paralegal-slash-model, and his trusty sidekick 'Farm Boy'. What did I know about milking cows?”

 

Trese laughed. “What do you know about milking cows now?”

 

“Leave the bulls alone.” They all laughed. “I just wish you had been here for the wedding, Leah.”

 

Leah dropped her head, hiding her face behind her hair. Her hand went to the star dangling from a leather thong. She slid it back and forth along the cord. “I'm sorry, Kate. I am really, really sorry that I missed it.”

 

“Hey, don't go getting all maudlin on me,” she said quietly. “Things happened. It wasn't your fault.” Kate pointed at the amethyst star. “Where did you get that?”

 

Leah turned her head so that she could make eye contact with Kate, and gave her a wry smile. “Jason had it. I didn't think anyone would care if I held on to it.” She turned her gaze into the depths of the star. “'It is the end that crowns us, not the fight.'¹”

 

“I didn't think you were one for quoting poetry, Leah,” Marlene said.

 

Shrugging her hair back, Leah said, “I'm not. That was the last thing I remember Jason saying before...”

 

“He died, Leah,” Trese said. “We all felt it. Some of us more than others.”

 

Marlene, sitting on the porch railing, turned her head away to look at the stars. “I always figured he was indestructible.”

 

“He's alive. Everything is good. This is turning into a real downer,” Kate said.

 

“Everything isn't good, Kate. That walking stick isn't an affectation.”

 

“Marlene? What are you saying?” Leah asked.

 

The blonde shook her head, spilling tears down her cheeks.

 

“He isn't healing right, Leah,” the redhead answered. “He's got a scar where his side ripped out.”

 

Leah looked ghastly. “Jason doesn't scar.”

 

“Kris believes that whatever Bauer used got absorbed through the gash. That's why just that area is the problem. You saw his eye after Warren belted him. He had a shiner when he was on the ground and by the time Marlene got him to his feet, it was pretty much gone,” Trese said.

 

“No. I didn't see that.”

 

“I thought he couldn't be hurt,” said Kate. “I've seen him get shot. The night that he saved me,” she shook her head, “there was a twisted, bloody piece of metal on the table the next morning.”

 

Leah shook her head, “No, Kate. Jason gets hurt. Jason feels everything. Every bullet, every cut, everything. He feels the pain of them all.”

 

“Then why would he...?”

 

“Because he could, Kate,” Marlene answered quietly. “And because he could keep going after every one of them.”

 

“Any idea why Warren hit him,” Trese asked.

 

Marlene and Kate shook their heads. “Warren has been agitated. He's been a lot more attentive since he came back.”

 

Leah took her best friend's hand. “Warren was scared, Kate. For you and your baby. What we are, what we do, is so much geared towards 'doing', especially Warren, that having to wait and do nothing while those that we care about are in danger, grates.

 

“With what happened to Jason being the trigger, it's kind of understandable that Warren would hold him accountable. Keep in mind, Ash brought Warren straight here as soon as he was awake. Kris sure as hell didn't want him leaving when he did. But Warren was out of the loop until I got here, and I left before Jason woke up.”

 

1 “The End” Robert Herrick

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

Warren and Jason saw the women talking quietly on the porch as they walked closer to the farmhouse. The only light was spilling out through the windows.

 

“What do you think they're talking about?” Warren asked.

 

“Probably us.”

 

The women fell silent when they noticed the two men walking closer.

 

“Yep,” Jason said. “That pretty much clinches it. If you're the topic of conversation and you walk in on it, they go quiet.” Trese gave a nervous giggle.

 

Warren stepped up on the porch. “You two get everything worked out?” Kate asked him.

 

He knelt down and laid his hand on his wife's belly. “Nothing to work out.” He kissed her gently, but passionately. He slipped his arms around her and under her, lifting her from the glider. “We'll see you in the morning.” With that he took Kate into the house.

 

“It is kind of late,” Trese said. “I guess I'll turn in. Good night.” There was a chorus of “good nights” as she, too, went into the house.

 

Leah glanced at Marlene, who in turn was watching Jason at the foot of the porch steps. Damn it, just do it!

 

“Jason, can I talk with you?” She asked. “Privately,” she added quietly, looking at Marlene.

 

Jason caught a flash of purple from the star that Leah wore. Then he looked at his friend since high school.

 

Marlene nodded her head, “No problem. Just don't keep him out all night, Leah.”

 

Leah caught Marlene's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I won't.”

 

Marlene collected the wine glasses before going in the house. Leah stood at the top of the steps for a moment after the screen door closed. Jason's eye drank in every bit of her as she stood there. Her long legs. Her tight belly. The swell of her breasts visible where the shirt wasn't closed. And the long fall of chestnut hair.

 

Uncomfortable under his gaze, Leah took the steps down. “Walk with me?” She stepped past, feeling smaller beside him than she had the last time they had been together as a couple. She set a course for the picnic table.

 

He turned as she walked by. She could feel his eyes upon her. It sent a shiver down her spine. Within a few steps, he had caught up and was walking beside her. “What's on your mind?”

 

“Is what they say true?”

 

“Which 'they'? And what did 'they' say?” he asked.

 

She slid her tongue out and wet her lips. “Trese said that you aren't healing.”

 

He sat on the bench. “I'm healing, Leah. It's just taking longer than normal.

 

“Remember that night I crashed through your apartment's glass door?” She nodded. She remembered. He'd been in about the same bad condition that he'd been in after his fight with Bauer. “Artie...”

 

“Bauer,” she interjected.

 

Jason looked annoyed at her. “Arthur Rocco, Leah. Not 'Steven Bauer'. Artie had passed a chemical to Black Jack, who in turn coated Tiger's katana blade with it. That chemical, whatever it was, had one purpose. It was to slow down the healing factor of people like me. He had it spraying from the floor like a garden sprinkler.

 

“I fought him stupid, Leah. He was playing a game and I let him, instead of just going straight in and killing him.”

 

“We don't kill, Jason,” she said to him quietly.

 

“No. 'We' don't kill. And maybe that's part of why I'm having problems healing,” he said. “Because I was more than willing to. Could be a cosmic joke. Action and reaction, and all that kind of stuff.” He noticed the tears sliding down her cheeks.

 

“Because of me.”

 

He stood up, laid his hand on her cheek, and wiped the tears away. “If you want to beat yourself up with guilt over it, I can't stop you, but I didn't do it because of you. None of what happened was because of you. If anything, what happened to you was because of me. But I've got enough guilt of my own to carry, Leah, and what happened to you was all Artie's fault.

 

“I'd have sworn I killed the bastard. When I see him again, I will kill him.”

 

She stepped closer, leaning her head on his chest. “What makes you think you'll see him again?”

 

He chuckled. “Ash said his body was gone. No body, no way of one-hundred percent being sure that he's dead. His ass is under a rock somewhere waiting to crawl back out.” He noticed that she was, once again, playing with the star hanging from her neck. “I meant to say something to you about that star.” She lifted her head up to look at him. “I really don't think you want it.”

 

Anger flashed across her face in a moment. “Fine!” She gripped the star hard and tore the thong from her neck.

 

Jason winced, feeling the points digging into his palm and fingers. He braced himself against an expected blast of electricity. The star bounced off his chest and fell at his feet. He saw the sparks move across the open wounds on Leah's hand, healing.

 

He bent over to retrieve the star. “If you're done being angry for the moment, I was going to say that I didn't figure that you would want it because it came from Angelique. She used it to help me get into where Artie was hiding.

 

“But I was going to offer you this in exchange for it.” He pulled out a dark flip-top jewelry gift box and held it out to her.

 

“What's that?” she asked.

 

“Open it and find out.” He held the box flat on his palm. The box covered most of it.

 

With some trepidation she lifted the box with both hands. Anger fell from her face as the box opened. In her heart she knew what lay inside, but still she was surprised by the crimson glow from within.

 

“I thought...” She hung her head, hiding once again behind her hair.

 

“Thought what?” Jason asked her quietly. She was crying again. He could tell.

 

“I thought you needed blood for this.” She lifted a necklace from the box. The darkness kept her from seeing the detail of anything except the red glowing star surrounded by some type of cage.

 

“Yeah, well, you know, when you fell on me, you were bleeding rather profusely from pretty much everywhere. Had Artie not killed the power, I would have just plugged you into an outlet.”

 

She held the stone in her hand, feeling the warmth of it. “What about the rest of it?” she asked barely above a whisper.

 

“All that broke,” he said, “was the stone.”

 

“I don't know what to say.”

 

“How about 'good night'?” Marlene said, not unkindly, from behind Leah.

 

Leah turned to face her. Marlene had her hair loose and was wrapped in a blanket. Leah noted that, in the darkness of the farmyard, Marlene was wearing dark hose and high heels. The darkness hid her blush. She turned back to Jason and pulled his head down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered to him.

 

She turned away, back towards the house. She gave Marlene a quick hug and said, “He's all yours,” before continuing on her way. Once on the porch, she glanced back to see Marlene straddle him in the hammock. She felt a sharp pang of loss.

 

She closed the door quietly and turned off the lamp.

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

“Heard my dad got an eye-full this morning. From the sound of things, Marlene was rather enthusiastic last night. You okay doing this? I can get Ash in here to help.” Warren noted the slight quiver in his friend's arms.

 

Jason was down on one knee with an iron bar across his shoulders. He was holding the tractor up in a position where Warren could better work on it. His tee-shirt was sweat-soaked. “Ash is here for the shower. This isn't all that heavy really. If you'd work faster, I wouldn't have to hold it up as long.” He grunted when he shifted his leg. “Marlene wasn't exactly embarrassed.

 

“I thought we were supposed to fix the fence along the south pasture today.”

 

Warren ratcheted the part he was placing down where it belonged. “We are. That's after lunch. Morning chores, now the tractor, then the pickup. Depending on how long that takes, lunch and then we go riding the fences.

 

“You know, next time, instead of out in the yard sounding like cats in an alley, there's a quilt upstairs and the barn walls and the hayloft do wonders for absorbing sounds.”

 

“Does that...” he grunted again with the shifting of the bar, “does that really work?”

 

“Works just fine. Where do you think Kate got pregnant at?”

 

“Thanks, Warren. I really needed to know that,” Jason said sarcastically.

 

Warren slipped another bolt home and tightened it down. “Kate was thinking that it might have been Leah.”

 

The iron bar rang off the stone floor of the barn. “Warren. Stop. Really. Alright?” He wiped the sweat from his face with the bottom of his shirt.

 

“I'm just saying...”

 

“I know what you're 'just saying'. I get it. Believe me, I get it. Leah is hurting. I'm sorry, but there isn't anything I can do about that without hurting Marlene. Last night Leah and I put some things back together. It's a start, but we're a far cry from me taking her to bed.”

 

“While you were out in the yard, she was inside crying herself to sleep.”

 

Jason slammed the water bottle down on the work bench. “And you know what, Warren? I was fully aware of that. Trese is still having problems with her shoulder. Leah happened to find the coffee table with her shin this morning. So, please Warren, understand when I say that 'I was fully aware.'”

 

Warren was discomfited. “Jase, I just...”

 

He held his hand up to silence him. “Warren, right now, I am raw inside. I feel everything, and right now I can't tell you how that makes me feel. Last night Leah ripped that star off and it felt like I had done it. I had to look at my own hand to make sure I wasn't bleeding. Just now, putting that housing back on, you barked your knuckles.”

 

Warren looked down where he'd been rubbing his hand. “You saw me rubbing my hand.”

 

“Really? Is that all you think it is? Go ask Marlene, Warren. I knew you were going to do something yesterday. I had Trese set Kate down. You know how Trese reacts to surprises.”

 

Warren sighed. “Yeah. Okay. Can you lift this up again so we can finish?”

 

The rest of the work was done in silence.

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

“So, if they made your movie, who do you think would play you?” Kate asked them.

 

“That's easy,” Dani Anderson said. The lithesome blonde tossed her hair back over her shoulder. “I'd play myself. Save them buckets on their special effects budget.”

 

“What about you, Trese?” the mother-to-be asked of the redhead.

 

“I never really thought about it, Kate.”

 

“Ash?”

 

Ashley Parks was drinking iced tea and had to stop and think for a moment. “Scarlett Johansson, if she wasn't busy doing those comic book movies. Maybe Charlize Theron.”

 

“What about you, Kris?”

 

The sudden attention caused the winged woman to blush. “I, ah, never...”

 

Marlene came to her rescue. “I was thinking the actress that played Dax on that Star Trek series.”

 

“Jadzia? Terry Ferrell?” Kari Tyler asked, identical twin of the winged woman, lacking only the wings.

 

“No. The other one. Ezri?”

 

“That was Nicole deBoer,” Dani said. “I can see that.”

 

The screen door banged shut behind Warren. He went into the kitchen holding his hand to his chest. He threw the lever for the kitchen sink to start water running.

 

“Warren?” Kate asked worriedly. “What's wrong?”

 

Kris was already in the kitchen with him. “I'm fine, Kate. I just cut my hand on the tractor housing.”

 

Kris watched him rinse the blood from the cut. “That's going to need stitches, Warren,” she told him quietly so as not to upset Kate any further. “I thought Jason was with you?”

 

“He was.”

 

“Then why didn't he take care of you?” Kris slipped fully into her “doctor mode”.

 

He winced when she took a washcloth to his hand. “Jason's got issues, Kris.”

 

“Anything serious?” she asked him, then “Kari, can you get my kit, please?”

 

“Sure, Sis.”

 

“Damn that hurts,” he said with a sharp intake of breath. “You're Jason's doctor. Shouldn't you know?”

 

“Jason never needed a doctor before. I'm still trying to figure what's what with him. He heals fast. Compared to most of us, you heal fast.” Kari slid Kris's medical kit on the counter and popped it open. Kris took out antiseptic and sprayed the wound.

 

Kate noticed the chain around Leah's neck. “Hey, Sparky, what is that and what happened to the star?”

 

“Jason replaced the stone I lost.” She pulled the cage out from her shirt to show Kate.

 

“He usually has good taste in jewelry,” Kate smiled at Leah. “I like that a lot better than that star.”

 

Leah wrapped her hand around it. “He said that star was the Witch's.”

 

“That explains the look she had on her face every time she saw you playing with it,” Trese said.

 

“Hey, Kris,” Kate called out, “how's my husband?”

 

“He'll be fine Kate, but he won't be doing any chores for a couple of days.” She took a spool of surgical thread and a needle out of her kit. “This is going to hurt, but you know that already. I wish I had a local that would stay with you long enough for me to do this.

 

“So, what happened out there?”

 

Warren braced himself. “Do what you have to. Jason dropped the tractor. I cut myself trying to get out of the way.” There was a sharp intake of breath and he grunted with the pain when she slid the needle into his flesh.

* * * * *

 

Jason was sitting at the picnic table with his back to the house when Kris came out. “Twelve stitches, Kris. What's the prognosis?” he asked her. He held his hand in a closed fist to his chest.

 

“Warren will be fine, Jase. Want to tell me what happened?”

 

She came around into Jason's line of sight. She was wearing mostly white, as was her wont. A little bit of color showed from the dusty rose blouse she wore under her jacket. Her long dark hair was tied back with only a single loose lock at her forehead.

 

“Warren cut his hand on the tractor housing. I reacted to the pain as if I had cut myself. The tractor shifted and Warren ran off.”

 

“Why didn't you heal him?”

 

“Kris, Warren was at the house before I got out of the barn.”

 

She sat down beside him. “Things are the same?”

 

“No. They're getting worse. Yesterday, Warren hit me. Twice. I knew he was going to do something before he'd done anything, but still.”

 

"Warren hit you?” she asked incredulous.

 

“Yeah. Leah had been wearing that star of Angelique's. I got her to take it off last night. When she did, she grabbed it hard enough to draw blood. I felt it.”

 

Kris pulled up his shirt to see his side. He shifted to make it easier on her. “At least you're willing to talk to her, now.” Jason's scar was an angry red against the tanned skin. “I'm thinking I may need to reopen this.”

 

“Kris, I trust you, and if things were different for me right now, I'd say 'go ahead'.”

 

“'Different' how?” she asked. She pressed on the scar. “Does this hurt?”

 

“'Different' normal. No, that doesn't hurt. Shortness of breath sometimes. Muscle fatigue at others. Hello, Kari.”

 

“Damn, Jason. That looks nasty.” She walked around in front of him. Kris dropped his shirt. “How did you know it was me?”

 

Jason looked her over. Her hair was longer than her twin's, and she was wearing a light blue sundress and sandals. Where Kris's makeup was subdued, Kari's was brighter.

 

He sighed. “Don't take this the wrong way, Kari, but you're a shadow of your sister. You have been to me ever since I made Kris her necklace.”

 

She smiled at him. “I won't take it the wrong way. I would like to thank you for giving my sister her face back. Seemed appropriate, since you're the one that blasted it off in the first place.”

 

“Kari, stop!” Kris said.

 

“But there is one more thing.” She slapped him hard. “That hurt, you bastard!” She stalked off back to the house.

 

Kris was rubbing her hand on her pant leg, trying to assuage the stinging sensation. She looked at Jason with a smile, “The curse of being sympathetic twins.”

 

“Yeah. I know the feeling,” he said quietly. He himself held his closed hand tighter to his chest.

 

“What?”

 

He turned so that he could face Kris. The flare of Kari's hand was already fading from his cheek. “I meant what I said. She's been a shadow of you. She hurts and you feel it. You hurt and I know about it. When I did,” he pointed at her face, “I just did it. I didn't stop to think about Kari. I just wanted to make things right with you.”

 

Kris pulled his head to hers. “You never had to make things right with me. What's wrong with your hand?”

 

He held his closed fist to her. She gently pried open his fingers. All of his hand was an angry red, as if he had slapped someone. Down the center of his hand was a welt that mirrored Warren's cut. Along it, a dozen to a side were red marks mirroring the needle holes Kris had sewn into Warren's hand.

 

“That can't be normal. Do you know anything that helps?”

 

He sighed and put an arm around his friend's shoulders. “Honestly, the only thing so far has been distance. A week-long tour with Trese in the back of a car or in the confines of a jet, with her shoulder constantly hurting has been difficult. I've been tempted to see what I can do with it, but with my side not healing and everything else, I don't know, Kris. I'm afraid of what damage I might do to her that I can't fix.”

 

“What about you and Marlene? You aren't upset that I kind of pushed her into bed with you, are you? I, well, she's loved you for a long time and I thought maybe you'd give it a chance.”

 

“We're good,” he said quietly. “She's the one bright spot I've really had in the last few weeks. No, I'm not upset with you for playing matchmaker. Marlene has waited a long time for that door to open wide enough for her to get her foot into it. Part of me is afraid that I waited too long to open it.”

 

Jason blew out a heavy breath. “And Warren keeps pushing Leah at me.”

 

Kris nodded her head in understanding. “Kate and Leah are best friends. A lot like you and Warren. They just want Leah to be happy.”

 

“And I don't?”

 

It was Kris's turn to sigh. “I'm not saying that. Leah seems to want to get back together with you.”

 

“I know, but she's broken. Look what she did to Brad.”

 

“I sewed him up twice. I told him the next time I was just going to hand him the kit so he could do it himself.

 

“But yeah, I can see what you're saying. Leah needs time. I just wish I could do something for her. I don't like people hurting.” Kris leaned into him and stretched her legs out, crossing her ankles. “That reminds me, though. Something I think you'll like to hear. It seems Mitchell found himself a girlfriend.”

 

“Roan?”

 

“Yep! She was surprised when I made the offer for her to fly for me. Dan reassigned Campbell so that he could spend more time with his family. Roan was a little put out finding that you'd written up those papers. She took it to mean you were looking to clean up a mistake.”

 

Roan Shepperly was a pilot working for Jason's company, Scott Enterprises. She was also one of the last women Jason dated before he woke up wounded with Marlene crying beside him. He had had a letter of recommendation written up for her in the event she chose to change jobs.

 

Bryan Mitchell was a Wildfire combat medic who often acted as an orderly for Kris. Mitchell and Roan had met when Jason arranged for Roan to fly for Kris the first time.

 

“I'm happy for her. How does she like the job so far?”

 

“Dan pulled her in. She's had to get the basics of Wildfire. From what they let me know, she passed all her qualifications with fairly high percentiles.”

 

Jason chuckled. “That isn't surprising. She often worked out with security.”

 

“So,” Kris said, “how's everything else?”

 

He took a quick mental inventory. “Kate is aching. Warren is pissed. Marlene is enjoying a stress-free vacation. Trese's shoulder is aching. Ash and Dani are having a good time. Leah is...”

 

“Hey, that's not what I meant. I'll do a check up on Trese and see if there's anything that I missed.” She looked up at the sky. “What are you going to do?”

 

“Short term, let Marlene enjoy her break. Might saddle up a horse and ride the fence. Pretty sure I can fix that without dropping a tractor on anyone. Other than that, spend the night in the barn. It isn't a great distance, but if it will help, I'm all for trying it.

 

“Long term? I don't know. Unless and until I can get a handle on what's wrong with me, I'll be keeping my distance from everyone. Hopefully without appearing to be rude.”

 

Kris stood up and stretched her arms and her wings. Jason watched her graceful movements. “What are you going to do?”

 

“Right now, I'm thinking I'm going to change into something a lot more casual and maybe enjoy the sun. It's been a while since I've really had a chance to fly. I miss it.”

 

“So do I. What happened to us?” he asked wearily.

 

She smiled at him. “We got older and more responsible. I'll talk to Warren about the situation with Leah and Marlene.”

 

He heaved himself up from the bench. He slid an arm around her and pulled her close. “Thanks.”

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

Jason's intentions to allow Marlene a short vacation were foiled the next morning when his phone rang, and shortly thereafter so did Marlene's. Their morning was filled with repacking their belongings and recalling the limousine. They had managed the first by the time the car had returned.

 

“Are you sure I don't need to go?” Trese asked.

 

Hoisting one of Marlene's suitcases into the limo's trunk, Jason responded, “Not unless you really want to. This isn't going to be sunshine and ice cream. I'm not in any hurry for you to end up neck-deep in business crap until you're comfortable.

 

“Besides, you're working on overcoming your hostility towards Leah. Focus on that.”

 

Trese gave him a wicked grin. “That's only until later. We've been kind of bored, so Dani and I were thinking we'd have a little impromptu training session when Ash goes to pull up that tree stump Ben asked her about earlier.”

 

“Sounds like fun,” he said.

 

“Hey, you'll be back up to speed in no time and then you can spread your wings again.”

 

He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “I hope so, Trese. Just watch your shoulder while you're out there.” Jason took Marlene's second suitcase that she was holding out to him and settled that on top of the first. “Makeup bag? Train case? Briefcase? Laptop? Did I miss anything?”

 

“Your bag?”

 

“My bag takes up less than a quarter of the space Marlene's do,” he said.

 

Trese smiled. “Then you'll be ready when the closets get taken over.”

 

Jason laughed. “I've been through that before. They've still got clothes in my closets.”

 

“Yeah, but no one you've let get close enough to you, from one to the other. You pretty much cut everyone out then, too.”

 

He brushed hair from the side of her face. “That was my fault, Trese. If you see me doing it again, give me a swift kick. All right?”

 

“Sure.” She gave him a quick hug. “I'll see if there's anything else needs to be brought out.” She took off at a run for the house.

 

He leaned up against the limo and rubbed his shoulder. From the porch Kris noted his actions. Jason slipped a laptop bag out of the trunk and carried it to the passenger compartment. He blew out a sigh when he felt the presence. Rising up, he looked at his friend over the roof of the car.

 

“Can I talk to you?” Warren asked.

 

“We've got a plane to catch.”

 

“It's your plane, Jase. I don't think they'll take off without you.” Warren turned his back, walking towards the rail fence. Warren leaned against the fence, putting a booted foot on the bottom rail.

 

“What's on your mind?”

 

Warren let the question hang for a moment before answering. “I've been thinking.”

 

Jason quirked a smile at Warren. “This ought to be interesting.”

 

“I'm serious. This isn't me joking around.”

 

“All right,” Jason leaned against a fence post. “What have you been thinking about?”

 

“I had a chance to talk with Kris last night. I've been thinking about what you said yesterday. About feeling everything.” With both arms lying across the top rail, Warren let his head sink between his arms. “I'm not good at this stuff.” He took a few moments to gather his thoughts before he stood back up. “I'm going to be honest with you.”

 

“I wasn't aware that honesty was a problem between us,” Jason said.

 

“You're an asshole.”

 

“I've been getting that a lot lately.”

 

“Yeah? Well the Jason I knew would stop and actually listen to the person that said it to find out what the problem was.”

 

“Fine,” he said. “So what's the problem?”

 

“You. Since Leah 'left', and I don't like putting it that way since it was a lot closer... hell, 'closer' my ass. She was raped. Mentally. Which means that whatever was done to her body by Bauer sure as hell wasn't done with her consent. Anyways, Leah is a point for a bit later.

 

“How many women have you dated since Leah?”

 

Jason thought for a moment. “Let's say 'more than ten' and call it good. What's your point?”

 

“And you go out for dinner, maybe some event that you need to be seen at, maybe a quick romp in the limo or back at the mansion. Then there's the 'after date', where you take them out one more time to some event. Wine them. Dine them. And then never call them again.”

 

“Warren,” Jason said, “you're wrong.”

 

“What?”

 

“In the first place,” he said, “it's not really any of your damned concern. All right? In the second place, do the words 'casual dating' mean anything to you? Yeah. I met some women. Yes, I took them out. Dinner was usually included. Movie premieres. Charity balls. Events to be seen at. A couple of times I took Dani. A couple of times I took Trese. Hell, one night I took both of them. You want to call me on that one?” Jason's anger was showing. His hand was throbbing in time to his heartbeat. With some effort he calmed himself.

 

“In the time I've known you, how many long term relationships have I had?”

 

“Sandy. That Morgan girl, the law student. And Leah, I guess. So three,” Warren answered.

 

“Yeah, Warren. I dated. Okay? And yeah, I guess you could say I was an asshole. Some of them wanted us to keep going out. And I stopped being available. I stopped taking their calls. Fine! I'm an asshole. Is that what you want to hear?”

 

“It's a start.”

 

“Damn it!” Jason grabbed Warren's arm.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Jason closed his eyes and held up his hand to Warren. Blood began to run from his palm. Beneath the wrappings, Warren's palm itched.

 

“Give me a minute.”

 

Warren peeled the bandages off his hand. The sutures came free with the wrapping. Warren stared at his palm. The ragged gash Kris has sewn up had vanished without leaving a scar. “You did that to Kris's face.”

 

“No. What I did to Kris hurt a hell of a lot more.”

 

“Do you want me to get Kris over here?” Warren asked. Jason just shook his head. “Still,” Warren sought to capture the earlier conversation. “I don't know, Jase. Using people is low.”

 

“Exactly who have I used?”

 

Warren stuffed the wrappings into his back pocket. “Every woman that you went out with, had sex with, and never talked to afterward.”

 

“And you know how many that is how?”

 

“Well, I, uh don't, really. But still, with as many women as you dated, there had to be a few. Kris said Roan said that...”

 

“What? You're here ripping into me because of hearsay?”

 

“Can I finish?”

 

“Sure, Warren. Have at it.”

 

Warren settled and collected his thoughts. “Kris said that Roan told her that when she went out with you the first time, that the morning after she woke up, in your bed, in her undergarments.”

 

Jason snorted. “That's really damning evidence, Warren.”

 

“You want to explain it?”

 

“Fine. Roan and I went out. Had some fun. Dinner. Dancing. Went back to the old homestead. Plunked down in front of the TV to watch an old movie. Of which Roan might have seen half before she passed out. Roan slept. Since I limit the amount of space I use in the mansion when I'm there alone, I put her to bed in my room. The dress she wore that night was a one of a kind. It cost more than five grand. I was nice. I hung it up for her.

 

“The main telling point, Warren, in your argument is that Roan woke up in her undergarments. If I had sex with her, I can think of at least one thing she woke up in that would have been on the floor.”

 

“So you were a perfect gentleman?” Warren asked.

 

“Warren,” Jason said quietly, “I'm not a 'perfect' anything right now.”

 

“Yeah, well, I'm not done yet. So you were a 'not-so-perfect' gentleman. Why not, Jase?”

 

“'Why not' what? What now? Damned if I did, damned if I didn't?”

 

“Why. Not,” Warren pressed.

 

“You really don't want an answer to that,” Jason said.

 

“Yeah, Jase, I really think I want an answer to that. Why not?”

 

Jason's answer came out low, almost like a growl, “Because they weren't her. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

 

“Wasn't that. I just wanted to hear you admit it, because now we're getting to the other point of this. You said you feel everything. You feel Trese's shoulder hurting since you rub yours damn near as much as she's rubbing hers.” Warren grabbed Jason's injured hand and squeezed. Jason winced against the pain. “You felt my hand hurting and you healed it.” Blood rolled down Jason's arm to stain the sleeve of his dress shirt.

 

“You felt Leah hurting and crying and you. Did. Nothing.” Warren let go of Jason's hand. “Instead, you and Marlene played out here in the yard like a couple of teenagers. Are you so dead inside where Leah is concerned?

 

“You're my best friend. I love you like a brother, but right now,” Warren turned towards barn with his head cocked over his shoulder to see Jason, “I don't like you very much.”

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

From the porch where Kris stood and Ash sat on the steps, they were watching the two men talk when Trese and Marlene came out of the house.

 

“What's going on?” Trese asked.

 

Ash took a long pull from a water bottle before answering. “Looks like Warren and Jason round two.” Marlene attempted to pass by when Kris spread her wings and Ash put her foot up on the rail post, blocking her path. “Wouldn't do that if I were you, Marlene. Warren is twitchy right now and Jason looks like he's about ready to blast him. Whatever they're talking about, they obviously didn't settle it.”

 

They watched as Jason grabbed Warren, the image looking so much like he was saying “talk to the hand”.

 

“Damn,” Kris said quietly.

 

“What?” Trese asked in response.

 

“Jason healed Warren. He's bleeding again.”

 

“He'll heal,” Ash said.

 

“No, Ash,” Kris said. “When he takes on someone else's injury like that there's a delay. It's part of his powers,” she explained. “His powers are lessening. If he heals, it'll take a while. A lot longer than it should.”

 

They continued to watch as Warren turned and stalked off to the barn, rubbing Jason's blood off on his jeans. Jason leaned on the fence, facing away from the farmhouse. Kris settled her wings back down.

 

“Let me pass, Ash.”

 

“No,” the blonde said simply.

 

“What?”

 

“Marlene,” Ash said getting to her feet, “you've got an hour's ride to get to the airport. You've got all the time it'll take to fly from here to New York. I don't want there to be any more division than there already is, but I think this is a 'powers' issue first. All right?”

 

Marlene glared at her. “Whatever!”

 

“Kris?” Ash gave the winged woman a questioning glance.

 

“You go. I'm sure I'll get my time with him when you're done, if his hand hasn't closed by then,” Kris answered her.

 

drip

 

Jason watched a drop of blood fall from his hand. “What do you want, Ash?”

 

drip

 

“You okay?”

 

drip

 

“No,” he responded. “I haven't been okay in years.”

 

drip

 

“Want to talk about it?” She climbed up and sat on the top rail of the fence. Jason squeezed his hand shut. A larger drop fell to spatter against the grass.

 

Jason rested his chin on his arm, cocking an eye at the lithesome blonde. “What is there to talk about, Ash?”

 

“How about you and Warren? That looked like you were coming close to blows.” She brushed her long hair out of her face.

 

Blood rolled down his arm to further stain the cuff of his dress shirt. “Warren isn't happy about how I've been conducting my personal affairs.”

 

“Leah?”

 

Jason's gaze was caught by an eagle soaring in the distance. “And just about every other woman I've dated.”

 

“Jason,” Ash asked, laying her hand on his outstretched arm, “are you happy?”

 

The eagle wheeled in the sky. “I haven't been happy in a while. A long while,” he said quietly.

 

She gave her friend's arm a gentle squeeze. “You were happy with Leah.”

 

“Ash, don't. Please. That's the same thing Warren was doing. It's been two years. Just let it go.”

 

She cocked her head and gave him a bit of a smile. “Are you happy with Marlene?”

 

The bird soared away beyond the reach of Jason's gaze. “Yes,” he answered simply.

 

“All right.” Warmth resonated through her voice. “What was Warren taking issue with?”

 

Jason stood erect and shrugged his shoulders. His neck popped when he rolled his head around. “The fact that Leah is hurting and I haven't done anything for her. That Leah cried herself to sleep the other night while Marlene and I kept company out here in the hammock.”

 

Ashleigh's blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight. “Are you still in overdrive? Feeling everything from everyone you're linked to?”

 

Nodding his head a few times, Jason left his head hanging. “Yes.”

 

Jumping down off the fence, Ash stood where she could see Jason eye-to-eye. “So, on a guess, you and Leah talked. You gave her a new stone and maybe worked some things out. Marlene came out to be with you. Leah, whose hopes might have been raised, got sent packing so that you and Marlene could play. Sound about right?” Jason closed his eyes and gave Ash a silent nod in answer. “Whether or not it was gently, that still has to be painful. Knowing what she was going through and doing whatever with Marlene in such an obvious manner tends to paint you as a little insensitive.”

 

Anger flared in Jason to do battle with the love he felt Ash held for him. “So I should have told Marlene 'no'? Did you even listen to me the last time we talked?”

 

Ash laid her hand over Jason's balled fist. “You know I did, Jase. Being considerate of another's feelings isn't the same thing. Leah...”

 

“Leah isn't the only one that got hurt!”

 

“I realize that,” she responded quietly.

 

Jason closed his eyes, letting his anger recede. A barrier fell away between them. “I'm sorry, but for some reason my heart doesn't seem to heal as fast as the rest of me usually does,” he said quietly. “I've finally started healing and everyone keeps pushing Leah at me.”

 

“'Finally started healing'?” Ash asked. “Something is wrong?”

 

He gave her a half-smile. “Something is wrong with me. I need distance from everyone until I can get a handle on it.”

 

“But it's okay for Marlene to be around you,” she stated with iron in her voice.

 

“Ash,” Jason shook his head, “Marlene is relatively safe. Warren is pissed a lot lately. Usually at me. Trese, I admit I'll miss her, but I'm happy to leave her here with her shoulder hurting. Leah is an emotional roller coaster right now. And Kate's general pregnancy and health issues? Yeah, Marlene is safe for me to be around. She's usually focused on work or on me. One tends to dampen any emotional spikes and the other creates a feedback loop.”

 

“Never thought about that.” She gave him a questioning look before asking, “Was it like that with us?”

 

He nodded again. “To a lesser degree. Everything is amped up right now. Which is why I'm not sorry this emergency came up.”

 

“Come here.” Ash slipped her arms around him in a hug. “Just don't bleed on me. Kris will want to check that before you leave. And there's one more thing,” she said quietly as she released him, “if you're truly finally starting to heal where Leah is concerned, don't spend so much time watching her. Marlene might not like it if she notices.”

 

With the last of the bags stowed in the trunk of the limousine, Kris had taken time for a last quiet chat with Jason while she bandaged up his hand. Ash pulled Marlene aside for a quiet apology. By the time the two of them were ready to leave, everyone except Warren had gathered on the porch.

Jason worked his way into the back of the limo with a wave goodbye. Waving farewell, Marlene slipped in behind him. The door closed and the car started to pull away. Within moments the door reopened and the brake lights came on. Jason levered himself out of the car, said something to Marlene and hobbled back to the porch. All eyes followed him.

 

Standing at the bottom of the steps, Jason slipped his sunglasses off and looked up at Leah. “Leah, if anything I've done has hurt you, I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional.”

 

Leah took two steps down. “A lot has changed. Let's work on being friends. Please?”

 

Jason gave her a weak smile. “I'll have to try to remember how.” Leah smiled back, unshed tears threatening.

 

Leaning heavily on his cane, Jason worked his way back to the car. One leg in, Jason turned to face the barn. He lifted his hand, seeming to wave, before laying it flat on the roof. He stood for a few moments, staring, and then slipped his sunglasses back on. His friends watched him slide back in and the car slowly head down the lane.

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

Ashleigh, munching on an apple, entered the barn to find Warren working on the tractor. “Need help?” she asked.

 

“Yeah,” he answered with a sigh, “I guess I do.”

 

She looked over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

 

“I need to get these bolts in. Murphy's Law. The most difficult part to replace will be the one that goes bad,” Warren told her.

 

“You could have stripped it down to get to it. You just need the engine lifted a few inches?” She slipped the bar Jason had been using under the engine and casually lifted the tractor with one hand.

 

Warren rubbed his head with the palm of his hand. “That's good, Ash. I just wanted to replace the part. Not do a total rebuild of it. I figured there would be enough help around that I would be able to get it fixed without tearing the whole thing down.” Warren's hands moved at a blur to Ash as he bolted the part into place at speed.

 

“You all right?” she asked.

 

“Finished,” he said. “You can put it down. I've got a headache. It doesn't seem to want to go away.” He started putting his tools away.

 

Ash slipped the bar free and leaned it against the wall. “Why didn't you do it that fast when Jason was helping you?” She noticed Warren was pressing his palm against his forehead.

 

“I don't normally do everything around here at speed. I guess I wanted to spend time with him.” Warren took the cap from a water bottle, and stopped before taking a drink. “Do you realize how long it's been since the four of us were actually together, Ash?”

 

“Too long? You aren't missing the 'old days', being a free-wheeling bachelor, are you?” she teased.

 

Warren gave her a warm smile. “No. I kinda like being married to Kate. At least that way I know in advance if I'll have company any given night.”

 

“So, if you don't mind my asking, why are you pushing Leah at Jason so hard?” Ash asked.

 

Warren stopped for a moment. “You ever get the feeling that there's something wrong, but you can't put your finger on it. And then, after it all goes to hell, you can see in perfect twenty-twenty hindsight what was wrong and what you should have - could have done to make it right?”

 

“Yeah, Warren, I do. We've had more than our share of screw ups in the past. Cheryl is high on that list.” Ash's head dropped so that she was staring at the floor, remembering.

 

“Weird,” Warren said.

 

Ash raised an eyebrow to look at him. “What is?”

 

“Jason brought her up when we were talking the other night. Compared me and Kate to him and Marlene, using Cheryl in Leah's place. He was right though, thinking about it. The only difference there would have been a matter of degrees,” he said quietly. “Anyways, I just have this feeling that I can't really explain that there's something wrong where Jason and Marlene are involved. Don't get me wrong, I love her and I'd lay my life down for her in a flash, but every time I see the two of them, I keep thinking of how he and Leah used to be.”

 

“Warren, Jason is healing the best he can where his heart is. How often have you ever seen Jason lay his heart open? For all that he cares about you, Kate, me, the rest of us, there's a wall that he keeps up inside. Like Trese said, he brought it out with Leah and he got hurt. Talking with him a bit before he left, he left his guard up. That's not like he used to be. Have you ever really considered how much crap Jason has gone through? Really thought about it? You used to watch that show about the farm boy and his best friend billionaire. Have you ever thought about what Jason could have become?”

 

Warren put the last of his tools away, leaving the rag he wiped them down with on the toolbox. “I know, Ash. Most of the crap I went through was after I got my powers. Jason went through a lot just being who he is. That compounded with what he is, his mom, Sandy. If he wasn't who he is he could have easily been the villain of the story.”

 

“I've told you, Warren. My father was an asshole. Not as bad as what Trese went through with her step-dad, but after my mom died I really didn't have anything holding me back. After graduation I packed up and never looked back. Even with that I think it's pretty safe to say that the most crap I had to deal with was when the snakes picked me up.” Ash spotted the heavy chain that she had come into the barn for. She picked it up and started coiling in around herself. “Think this will hold up? Think it's long enough, for that matter?”

 

“There's a hundred-footer in the loft if that one isn't long enough. Links are about the same size, though.” Warren wiped a bit of grease off the tractor's fender. Without looking at her, he asked, “Ash, why did you and Jason stop?”

 

“'Stop' what? Being close? Being intimate?” she asked him, her voice low.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Warren,” she waited until he looked at her, then she held up her partly eaten apple and crushed it in her grip. Warren winced. She tossed the mess into the trash bin and held her hand up for him to toss her the rag. “I broke his hip. I broke his jaw. I'm pretty sure I broke his neck once. I don't like hurting people I care about.”

 

“He heals.”

 

Ash turned and walked out. “Yes, Warren. He heals. And it still hurts when he gets injured. Healing faster doesn't mean that he doesn't feel.”

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

SPLINTERS

 

“How goes it?”

 

“It goes. It would go far easier if I knew who the targets were.”

 

“You are being well recompensed for the difficulty. You said you were capable.”

 

“I am capable. All I stated was that it would be easier.”

 

“Then you may return to it.”

 

“In time. Even I must needs rest and refreshment.”

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

Of Tree Stumps and Training

 

“Why did you cut it down anyways?” Ash walked around the stump of a once-mighty oak cut down until it was only about four feet high. Ash remembered the tree from past visits. The diameter of the tree exceeded Ash's own five and a half foot height.

 

Ben adjusted his hat where he sat on a tractor. “Lightning strike a couple years back. It split the trunk and most of the crown burned. Then tree rot set in. Came out to work the field last week and the good side of the tree had fallen over. I didn't see much chance in saving it after that.” He looked up when a shadow crossed him. “She sure is something else flying around up there.”

 

Shading her eyes with a hand, Ash looked up, searching the sky for Kris. “That's the one thing that she truly loves,” she said, “the freedom of the sky.” Ash knelt down to see how hard the soil was around the stump. She pushed against it, feeling little give. She stood up and pulled a pair of fingerless gloves out of the back pocket of her shorts.

 

“Going to be one of those kinds of fights, Ash?” Warren asked her. He was leaning up against the tractor his father was sitting on.

 

“I don't know, Warren. You think it'll give as good as Titania or Thumper?” she asked with a smile. “How's your headache?”

 

“It just stopped. The girls will be out here soon. They saddled up some horses. Funny thing, Dad,” Ben looked down at his son. “Dani got Thunder saddled up.”

 

“He's a bit old for riding. What was she thinking?” the farmer asked. “He didn't try to bite her or anything, did he?”

 

“I watched, Dad. Thunder came over willingly. She patted him down and he was almost acting like he was a colt again,” Warren said.

 

There was a loud, wooden crack, and Warren intercepted a large splinter sailing towards his father. “Sorry,” Ash said. She climbed up on the stump and looked around at the ground. She knelt down and brought her hand down hard on the center of the stump. She checked again to see if the soil was loosening at all around the stump. She knelt once more and began beating on the stump almost like it was a drum, setting up a regular vibration through the stump and the roots.

 

“I can do that faster, Ash.”

 

She stopped and looked at him. “Yeah, you can, Speedy. You want it pulled up, or are you looking into selling toothpicks? Last time you tried anything like that didn't it explode?”

 

“Just a little bit.”

 

Ash hopped down off the stump and gathered up the chain from where she had dropped it. “Then no, you can't do it faster.” She laid a link of the chain against the stump and drove a spike through it with her gloved hand. She did that until the chain was wrapped twice around the stump. She arranged it so that the two loose ends of chain were away from Ben's tractor. She slipped a spike through a link in each trailing end to hold them together. She pulled and the spike slipped free. Ash picked it up off the ground and slipped it back through two links and bent it so that it wrapped around both links. Another pull on the chain showed her that it would hold. At least for a little bit. The sound of horses made her look up.

 

“We haven't missed anything yet, have we?” Dani asked from Thunder's back.

 

Ben looked at the old stallion. “Not yet, except Ash trying to get Warren his inheritance a bit sooner than I'd like. You aren't abusing that old horse of mine, are ya girl?” Almost in answer Thunder shook his head and snorted.

 

Ash mumbled loudly enough to be heard, “I said I was sorry.”

 

Dani patted his neck. “He just got tired of looking at the cow pasture and decided he needed to see different sights.”

 

Leah, Trese and Jennie brought their horses up along side the others. Kris landed on the stump and furled her wings. She took a couple of steps and did an upright flip off of it, to land lightly on her feet.

 

“Oh, be still my heart. The parakeet has landed,” Ash mocked jokingly. Kris just turned and stuck her tongue out at her. “Oh, yeah, that's really mature, doctor.” Ash pressed on the side of the stump and felt it give. She ran the loose length of chain out. The end of it she wrapped several times about her left forearm and braced the chain behind her back. Her right hand held the chain. Muscles rippled under her skin, giving more definition to her arms and legs. Tendons strained at her neck. The chain sunk into the bark with a snap. Her bare feet sunk into the ground.

 

Ash relaxed, letting the chain hang loose between stump and herself. “Not too tough for ya, is it Ash?” Ben joked. Ash just growled at him playfully. She walked up and gave it a hard kick, feeling it shift several inches. She walked back and put tension on the chain one more time. Once again the stump shifted several inches towards Ash. Caused by the stresses forced on it, a spiked launched from the stump. This Trese was able to deflect with a hastily erected purple force shield before anyone was struck by it.

 

Ash relaxed again. “Sorry. You okay?” she asked the redhead.

 

“Yeah, Ash, just a flash stress headache. Let me get one set up. Just in case.” The young woman dismounted and stood between the stump and everyone else. Her hands were open at her sides, palms forward and fingers splayed. Her chin lay on her chest for a moment and when she brought it up her eyes were glowing purple. Quickly, between her and the stump, another purple force screen came into being.

 

The barefoot blonde stepped up and gave the stump another hard kick. It shifted even further.

 

“You sure you don't want me to get some dynamite, girl?” Ben teased.

 

The chain vibrated under the tension on it. “Old man,” she said through strain and gritted teeth, “I am dynamite.” With the snapping of roots and the fall of dirt, the stump of the ancient oak tree sailed over Ash's head.

 

They all stared down into large crater created by the eviction of the stump.

 

“Big hole,” Warren said.

 

“Bigger'n I expected,” Ben said.

 

“I pulled your stump, Ben. Filling the hole is your problem.” Ash sat heavily on the ground, letting the chain fall.

 

Ben looked her over. “You all right?”

 

“Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Got another?” Ash laughed.

 

Dani dismounted from Thunder and passed the reins to Jennie. “You might want to pull away some, Jennie. Try not to let the horses get spooked,” she said quietly.

 

“Why?” the girl asked.

 

The blonde gave her a mischievous smile. “Oh, we're looking to have a little fun.” She walked off to get a closer look at the hole and the tree stump. “Hey, Ben! You don't mind if we have a bonfire some time, do you? That stump is a lot burn.”

 

“No,” the farmer said, “I suppose not. There's some other castoff wood that could be burned.”

 

Dani gave a wink to Trese. “Hey, Leah, come take a look at this.”

 

Jennie held out a hand for the reins of Leah's horse. “Thanks,” she said, slipping to the ground. She strolled over to where Dani was standing. “What's up?

 

“Two up!” Dani yelled as flames ignited around her. “Me'n Trese!” She launched herself into the sky.

 

“Crap!” Ash yelled as she rolled out of the way of the incoming jets of fire. Warren stood ready, waiting to see who was called out next. Kris, with the aid of her wings, jumped up on the tractor to watch.

 

“Hey, Leah!” Trese called. Leah turned to see the redhead and caught a dirt clod in the mouth that Trese had thrown telekinetically.

 

Her anger flared at the younger woman. She spat dirt and her eyes flashed. Electricity arced around her body. “You little bitch!” The electricity jumped between them. Trese raised an arm to ward herself; electricity danced around the hastily erected mental construct.

 

Ash snapped part of the chain free from the uprooted stump and began spinning it, trying to keep it between herself and Dani. “Come down here and play, you little pyro,” she taunted. Dani answered her with another gout of flame she had to dance away from.

 

Trese tried to mount an attack of her own, but Leah kept up her onslaught. The only thing Trese could do was defend. The power Leah poured out snapped and popped as it sought a way to Trese. A lick of lightning found its way around her shield and struck her in her wounded shoulder. Trese screamed. Her shield folded, condensed as she pulled it back to her, using it to surround herself. Cracks appeared in it as Leah's power played over it.

Warren looked at Leah. Her eyes were wild. “Leah! Stop!” He launched himself at her. Her power played over him as he reached for her. Power that sent him flying away almost as fast as he had run to her.

 

A high-pitched whistle sounded. Dani and Ash turned to see Leah rain lightning down on Trese's protected prone form. The shield was almost black; Trese only visible through the flashes of blinding light.

 

Kris hooked her foot on a hoe Ben had hanging on the tractor and brought the tool to hand. A quick kick snapped the hoe's head free from the shaft.

 

Leah hadn't really moved from where she had been. Kris counted herself lucky that Leah hadn't taken to the sky, nor had she erected her own defensive shields. Kris didn't intend to allow Leah time to correct that mistake. She flew from the tractor, catching Leah behind the leg with her makeshift staff. Leah stumbled.

 

The staff spun in Kris's hands knocking Leah's hands wide. Her wings flared, breaking her momentum. Her foot snapped out, catching Leah in the jaw. The electricity stopped flowing like a switch had been thrown. Kris landed lightly, holding the staff against Leah's chest.

 

“What the hell was that?” Ash asked no one in particular.

 

“I don't know, Ash, but as of now Leah is medically off limits.”

 

Dani landed and knelt beside her best friend. “Come on, Trese. It's over. Let it down.” Slowly the shield shifted from almost-black to translucent purple. Dani pulled the stricken girl into her arms and rocked her. “It's alright, Trese,” she said quietly.

 

“I didn't mean it,” the telekinetic kept repeating between her sobs.

 

With a cloud of dust trailing him, Warren ran up carting Kris's medical kit. Electrical burns marred his hand that he had tried reaching for Leah with. They lessened in number and spacing, but the burns marked his entire arm, his shoulder, and part of his chest and back.

 

“What do you think happened, Warren?” Ash asked him.

 

Warren pressed his hand against his forehead. “Her eyes were wild, Ash. I think Trese tripped something and Leah misfired.”

 

Kris took her kit and looked him over. “Don't go far. You're next.”

 

Ash looked at him with some concern. “Headache coming back?” He just nodded in answer. “Dani, what were you two thinking?”

 

“We were thinking that we'd have a bit of fun. Workouts tend to be a lot like playing basketball. Blow off some steam and get some exercise.”

 

Kneeling beside the two girls, Kris cut the shoulder of Trese's shirt. The shirt was blackened where the power arced through her. Her shoulder was marred by a deep electrical burn. Kris shifted the girl's legs and examined the soles of her shoes. One was blackened and melted. “Ouch.”

 

“Is she going to be okay?” Jennie asked from horseback.

 

“She took a hefty jolt, Jennie.” Kris used a stethoscope and pressed it to Trese's chest. “Heartbeat is regular and strong.” She cut the laces of the damaged shoe and gently took it off the redhead's foot. “I need to clean the wounds and pack them. I can do that better at the house.”

 

“I can take her,” Warren said, holding out his hands.

 

Flames danced in Dani's eyes. “I can manage.”

 

Kris turned to Warren and pressed her hand against his chest. “You can't win this one,” she whispered to him. “Dani, go. I'll see you at the house. You,” she said to Warren, “I can do here. Your burns aren't as bad. You just have more of them.”

 

Dani took off trailing fire.

[Greywind]

Leah moaned and brought her hand to her jaw. “What hit me?”

 

“I did.”

 

“Kris? What happened to 'do no harm'?”

 

“Knocking you on your ass seemed like the lesser of two evils. What do you remember?”

 

She sat up on the couch and cradled her head. “Ow.”

 

“Here.” Kris handed her a glass and two white pills. Leah gave her a weak smile and took them.

 

“I remember we were...” her eyes gained a distant look. “I remember riding a horse. There was an explosion of dirt. Something hit me. I saw Bolt and some dog soldiers coming through the trees.”

 

“Leah. You were standing in the middle of Ben's field. The only tree was a stump that Ash pulled up for him.” Kris sat on the arm of the couch. “What hit you was Trese threw a dirt clod at you.”

 

“Dani called me to the hole.” Kris nodded her head. “She called 'two up'. She flew off and attacked Ash. Why can I see Bolt and those dog soldiers so clearly?”

 

“I don't know. I wish I did.”

 

“Then what happened?”

 

“Leah, you almost killed Trese.”

 

Her eyes went wide. “Is she all right?”

 

“She's upstairs resting. Dani is with her.” Leah rose unsteadily to her feet. “Where are you going?”

 

“To apologize, if nothing else.”

 

Leah knocked lightly at the door of the room that had been given to Dani and Trese to share. “It's open,” came quietly from the other side. Leah opened the door and stepped inside. Trese lay on her side with Dani behind her, one arm wrapped protectively around the redhead.

 

“How is she doing?” Leah asked quietly.

 

“'She' is awake,” Trese said, popping her eyes open. “I'm resting, like Kris told me to.”

 

Leah cast a glance around the room, looking for something she could sit on other than the bed. In the past Leah and Trese had had their moments, most of them unpleasant memories, and she was in no hurry to violate the girl's personal space. She finally knelt on the floor so that she was, more or less, at eye level with the girl. She reached to move a strand of hair away from the girl's eye and stopped herself when she flinched. “I'm sorry, Trese. I wish I knew what happened out there. I guess I just lost it. I'm sorry.”

 

Trese gave her a small smile. “It's just as much my fault. I didn't mean to hit you in the mouth with the dirt. I thought I was going to get you in the shoulder with it. Ow, ow, ow,” she said. Dani blocked her arm when she tried bringing her hand to her shoulder.

 

“None of that, Trese. You know what Kris said.”

 

“Doesn't stop it from hurting, Dani. I wish Jason were here.”

 

Leah smiled at her. “Me too, Trese.”

 

“I think I'm being a bit more selfish, Leah. I'd like him to do that thing that he does to make this go away. Right now I wish healing like you and he does was part of my abilities.”

 

“I wish I could heal like he does, for the same reason he did Kris. Just to make things right between us.”

 

Trese reached down and caught Leah's hand and held it. “We're good, Leah. Everything that happened was a misunderstanding between us or none of my business. I wanted to tell you that before. You had Jason and I thought I wanted him.”

 

“'Thought'?” Dani teased.

 

“Okay, so I still do, but he was with you, Leah, and you just left. Part of me wanted you to know how much you had hurt him.”

 

Leah reached up and moved the strand of hair. “I'm learning now, if how I feel is anything like it,” she said quietly.

 

“Yeah, but it's kind of hard being mad at Marlene.” Trese squeezed her hand. “You aren't the only one that lost it out in the field. After you hit me and I went down, all I saw was Burt lashing me with his belt.” She closed her eyes. “I just wanted it to stop,” she said, almost too quietly for the others to hear.

 

On an urge Leah leaned forward and kissed the girl lightly on her forehead. “Sleep, Trese. Let dreams chase the darkness away.” She folded Trese's arm up on the bed and laid the girl's hand in Dani's.

 

Outside the room, Kris laid her hand on Leah's shoulder and gave her a warm smile. “You should rest too.”

 

“I will. I want to talk with Kate.” Leah walked down the hall and through the open door to Warren and Kate's bedroom. “Hey, Preggo.”

 

“My husband looks like a mummy, Sparky. Want to talk about it? Living your adventures vicariously is about all the fun I get,” Kate said smiling, patting the bed beside her.

 

“Sure.” Leah climbed into the bed beside her best friend and was asleep within moments. From the door Kris gave Kate a warm smile. Kate nodded at the doctor and pulled the covers over Leah.

[Greywind]

“How are you feeling, Speedy?”

 

“I itch. Everywhere,” he answered.

 

Kris cast him a glance. “I figure two days at most and you'll be fine.”

 

“What did you mean out there that I couldn't win this one?” he lay the knife aside that he was using to slice an onion.

 

She laughed, rich and warm. “You really don't get it? What do you think of Dani and Trese's relationship?”

 

Warren took two cans of tuna from the pantry. “They're close. Like you and Kari. Or Leah and Kate. Dani is really protective of Trese, but she doesn't have a problem setting that aside in the field.”

 

Kris walked around the counter and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. “Your innocence is something I really love about you, Warren. Yes, Dani is protective of Trese, but it's a lot closer to you being protective of Kate.”

 

The look Warren had was priceless to Kris. “You mean they...? That they...? How do I miss things like this right under my nose?” he asked, shaking his head.

 

Kris pulled an olive out of the jar and popped it in her mouth. “Probably, Speedy, the same way that you can hear something and immediately relay it and you'll get the story right, but the facts wrong.”

 

He laughed at her. “Yeah, okay, I admit that I've been known to do that.”

 

Kris dropped her head and raised an eye at him. “Speaking of relationships, are you and Jason going to be okay?”

 

Warren shrugged. “Why shouldn't we be? He'll be back when the baby is born, if nothing else.”

 

“What makes you think he'll come back then, Warren? You kicked him in his pride. You know Jason. He isn't coming back here until he feels he can look you in the eye again. Jason was looking for something and you called it all into question.”

 

“What Jason was looking for is...”

 

“Upstairs sleeping with your wife. You know it. I know it. But what he found isn't what he was looking for.”

 

Warren slid the chopped onions and olives into a bowl with tuna. “You don't have a problem with Jason and Marlene being together?”

 

“Warren,” she sighed, “no, I don't. Jason is seriously giving their relationship a chance. Marlene is beside herself. Try to be happy for them.”

 

“Sandwich?” he asked.

 

“Please. Leah needs time, Warren. She's just now really going through the breakup phase. And I'm really wondering what else is going on. Leah told me that what we saw isn't what she saw. It almost sounded like Leah was back on that island when Bolt took her.

 

“She went upstairs and talked to Trese. Trese said that after Leah hit her, it wasn't Leah she was seeing, but that monster that used to abuse her. On top of it, there's your headaches. I don't like it.” Warren stopped and gave her an appraising look. “What was that saying? 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times...'”

 

“'Is enemy action',” he finished for her. “Ian Fleming, I think. Jason could tell you for sure.”

 

“Something for us to think about. Thanks,” she said when he passed her a plate.

 

“I figured planning small tonight would be good. Should I make enough sandwiches for them?”

 

“Mmm,” Kris mumbled with her mouthful and shaking her head. “I drugged Leah and Trese. Leah may heal fast, but drugs still cycle through her system. She'll be out until morning.”

 

“Ooh, two hot, sexy women in my bed tonight,” he joked.

 

“Last I saw you don't have a king size bed, Warren. Looks like couch or recliner for you tonight. I need to keep an eye on Trese. She's drugged, but pain spikes may keep her from getting any real rest. I wish Jason were here to take care of Trese's injuries. And, as a doctor, I really hate to think that I'm coming to rely on him being a magic cure-all,” she said.

 

“And you know that he would do it without any second thought.” He set a glass of iced tea within her reach. “Reaffirmation Day is coming up next week. Kate knows I'll be gone for most of the day. She wishes she could be there. She really likes having everyone here. Do you think Jason will be there?”

 

“I don't know. He missed the last two.”

 

Warren took a long look at the woman that he once swore that he was in love with. “Are you thinking what I am?”

 

She gave him a sad smile. “That we should have done things differently where he was concerned over the last couple of years?” He nodded. “Done is done. All we can do is patch things up and hope we'll be as strong as we used to be. I'll be honest with you. He scared the crap out of me. Always he was the model of self-control and that day against the Guard, he just lost it. And it wasn't that he lost control. He knew exactly what he was doing. He just didn't care any more.” She crossed her arms, hugging herself, and making her appear smaller.

 

“Until he hurt you.”

 

“Yeah, but by that time the damage was already done.”

[psyber624]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

Excellent as always Sir! I really love this "behind the scenes" look at the life of a superhero. It's not something I have had the pleasure of reading before and it's really interesting. Of course, you keep digging yourself in deeper, now we simply MUST have more about the incident where Jason injured Kris... I am also thrilled that your hero's are smart enough to realize that "something is up" right now. I never could stand when the good guy was completely oblivious to all the clues that were staring him in the face. And I will second the request for character sheets for these guys, the Guardians would make an excellent cameo team for any campaign (without having to deal with all the problems of using DC/Marvel characters). Of course... that might mean you had to stop writing for a while to do it, so maybe I should rethink that request..............

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

I lost a lot of characters in a hard drive crash a few years back. Not sure what all I've got redone. If I do, I'll start a character thread.

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

Okay, had to edit #39. Lost a large section in post up.

[Greywind]

Re: Business Unfinished

 

For those reading and not commenting ConCrit is worth rep.