Jessi Chance Superstar
By Autolycus, maynlinz@earthlink.net
A genetically altered woman battles a seductive cult leader.


This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons is only a figment of
your imaginations. Let's face it, we all wish these babes were real! Anyway,
they're not, so go take a nice cold shower.

BABES IN SPYLAND XIV:

JESSI CHANCE SUPERSTAR

(c) 1999 Autolycus

Here's the deal: This is the story of a genetically altered female who is not
only a perfect physical specimen, but also has psychic abilities. She was
created by the US government to be the ultimate espionage agent, although her
creator/father, the late Dr. Smitrovich, didn't know that at the time. She was
seized by an ultra-secret anti-terrorist government agency, the Aegis Group,
and (ultimately, but against her will) trained in martial arts and other forms
of combat, although she refuses to kill anybody. The new head of the AG, Major
General Margaret Holm, basically approves of her methods, and certainly has no
complaints about her record, but is determined to make her part of the team
nonetheless. By the way, her name is Jessica Chance and this is her encounter
with a cult leader named Brother Abel and his female partner, Charisma.

~ For Michelle ~

The beautiful woman with short red hair walked through the corridors of the
Complex, nodding to those few Siblings she passed as they rushed on past, off
to do the special tasks which the Goddess had assigned them, just as she
herself was in the process of doing. A nagging feeling in the back of her mind
told her that she had other duties, to another besides the Goddess, but no
matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to recall what they were or who
they were to. So far as she could remember, she had always been one of the
Chosen and her allegiance had never been to any other than the Goddess and Her
chosen Emissary, Brother Abel.

Just the thought of him sent waves of delight cascading through her body and
she was grateful for the umpteenth time that he had allowed theirs to become a
much more intimate bond than he shared with the other Chosen. Her mind was so
filled with visions of his divine form that she almost bumped into a woman who
was leaving Brother Abel's quarters. "Forgive me, Sister Charisma," she said
meekly.

"Watch where you're going, Sister Jessica, and try to keep your mind on what
you are doing in the future," the woman snapped.

Jessica bowed her head and said quietly, "I will, Sister Charisma."

The other woman snorted contemptuously and then turned and walked away,
heading in the same direction from which Jessica had just come. Sister
Charisma was as tall as Jessica, 5' 10", with very short hair that could be
anything from dark blonde to shocking red. Today it was a rather mellow shade
of brown with blonde highlights which might have been the result of the sun,
instead of anything deliberate on her part. She had blue-gray eyes which
contained flecks of brown and green, depending on what she was wearing, an
almost elfin button-like nose, and perfectly formed ears. Her figure was
Amazonian, with prominent breasts and hips, along with a tight tummy and
powerful thighs. But, it was also clear that, despite her physical condition,
she was no fighter. There was no aggression in her eyes and her whole manner
suggested that not only did she not fight, she didn't even need to. She
clearly had other ways of defending herself.

Both women were clad in the standard clothing of the Chosen, a two piece white
wrap around and shorts combination--The Chosen men simply wore white shorts.
The oppressive heat of the country made any more attire impractical in the
extreme.

Jessica watched Charisma walk off and, once more, had the presistent notion
that the woman was her enemy. But she shrugged it off, chalking it up to her
jeolousy that she was the only other one of the Chosen to spend so much time
with the Emissary.

She knocked on the flimsy wooden door and held her breath in anticipation of
hearing his voice again. "Yes?" a male voice called from within. "Who's
there?"

"Sister Jessica, Emissary. May I have leave to enter?" she replied, fighting
to keep the excitement and longing from her voice.

"Of course, Jessica. Please, come in. We have much to discuss."

She bit back her joy at being accorded the supreme compliment of being
addressed only by her familiar name--An honor which the Emissary bestowed on
very few--and entered his quarters.

"Come, sit by me," he smiled, pointing to a pillow on the floor at his feet;
he was seated on a low couch made of bamboo.

She eagerly complied and plopped down on the slight pillow and gazed up at him
in fresh wonderment. He was a handsome man in his mid-thirties, with dark hair
that was going gray at the temples and in his mustache, with intense hazel
eyes and Eastern European features, including a graceful, straight nose and a
strong chin. His mouth was constantly turned in an expression somewhere
between a frown and a smirk and his large, powerful hands had a habit of
stroking the salt & pepper mustache and of resting thoughtfully against his
chin. He was well-built, with a powerful upper body and arms in particular,
but there was also something indescribably delicate about him, too. Maybe it
was the softness of his voice or the way he carried himself...

"You know that it is my fondest wish for you to bear the Child, don't you,
Jessica?" he said gently.

"I do, Emissary. That is why we have made love every night since I can
remember," she replied, dreamily recalling those exquisite nights.

"Imagine my surprise, then, when I received a report from the lab which
informs that you are already pregnant...but with another's child," he said,
his voice and eyes becoming hard as he pronounces the last phrase.

Jessica was horrified. "No, Emissary! That can not be! I have never made love
to any other man but you," she inisisted, knowing in her soul that she was
telling the absolute truth.

He stared at her, knowing far better than she that she must at least believe
what she is telling him, but now confused as to how both can be true
nevertheless. "According to the report, the embryo is around five weeks old,
meaning that it was conceived before you joined us. Are you sure that you
couldn't be pregnant. Think hard."

But she vehemently shook her head. "It can't be true! The lab must have made a
mistake."

"No mistake, Jessica. The simple fact of the matter is that you carry within
you the spawn of another besides my divinely ordained self. The question is:
What shall we do about it?"

"Kill it, Emissary! It can only be the seed of evil, as it was planted without
my consent or knowledge. Remove this blight from my body and let it be
purified in the Sacred Rituals that it may prove worthy to receive your divine
essence and bear the Child," she said without hesitation.

"You're sure?" he asked, that oddly unreadable expression on his face.

"Very sure, Emissary! I will go to the infirmary immediately and have Sister
Elsbet perform the procedure. Then, with your blessing, I shall undergo the
Sacred Rituals tomorrow." Her green eyes flashed with determination, but he
could see confusion and a bit of fear in them, too.

And he liked that.

"Very well, Jessica. But, let us wait and see how you feel tomorrow before we
schedule the Rituals. Even you might need a day or two of rest after the
operation," he suggested, laying a hand on her head and playfully ruffling her
hair.

"Of course, Emissary," she agreed, pushing her head up against his hand.

"You may go now. I will call on you later to see how it went."

She silently got up and somehow managed to keep from from hugging herself with
glee at the thought of his actually visiting her quarters. Then, she recalled
what a mess they were and decided that first she would have to stop and clean
them up before going to the clinic.

Charisma watched her leave and then entered the Emissary's room without
bothering to knock. She frowned slightly and said, "I'm beginning to wonder if
we made a mistake by not killing her when we had the chance."

"We still have the chance, Charisma," Brother Abel replied, walking over and
laying his hand on her shoulder. "But she's good for the Order. The Siblings
love her little mind tricks and she lends an air of credibilty to this whole
thing that was lacking, despite your considerable talents."

The woman's frown deepened. "That's another thing that's got me concerned: My
talents. I don't know how reliable they are. Any of them could snap out of it
at any moment, and then where would we be?"

"In prison. Or dead, depending on who was able to free themselves from your
charms. Some of the Siblings might literally rip us both to pieces for what
we've done to them." She nodded in agreement. "But let's just worry about the
Child for the moment, okay? Once the baby is conceived, the Siblings will be
too busy preparing for Her arrival to think about anything else."

"Remind me again how I let you talk me into this..." Charisma sighed.

She had always felt alone, despite having grown up in a large family--Or maybe
because of it? At any rate, she had always felt like she didn't belong.
Relationships never progressed beyond physical intimacy and she was never able
to connect with anyone on a deeper, emotional level...until she met him.

He was nothing special to look at, but the moment she saw him she knew he
could give her what she wanted, what she needed.

They met in the local bar where she was an underpaid, over-abused waitress. He
was basically a drifter, a loner like herself, and the two of them took to
each other immediately. But not on a physical level. That came later. First,
they got to know each other like they had never known anyone before. They
shared their hopes, dreams, longings, and secret fantasies with each other,
surprised at how similar they were. They bonded in a way that both had craved
their entire lives...and in another way which neither could have dreamt of in
a million years.

They didn't notice the other at first.

And then, little things caught their attention. Like the way people would
always defer to what he had to say, let him go first, and even insist that he
go ahead of them in line for groceries or a movie. But only when they were
together.

When he was away from her, on the other side of town, or farther away, people
ignored him as they had always done. And he started having terrible headaches.

And visions.

As an avowed atheist, he hesitated to call them that at first, but, as they
increased in both number and detail, he had little choice but to accept them
as such.

Either that, or resign himself to the fact that he was going mad.

When he told her about them, and the change in people when they were together,
she accused him of having too vivid an imagination. But, the more time they
spent together, the more she came to see what he was talking about.

And she began to plot ways to use this 'power' to their advantage.

He, however, had different ideas. He began to spend more and more time away
from her so that he could experience the visions, despite the blinding
headaches which accompanied them. He needed to understand them, what they were
demanding him to do, knowing that if he didn't, he would die.

She began to think he really was crazy, but she did see a way to turn a profit
from this and convinced him to take his act on the road and share his vision
with others. Like the old revival tent shows of the last century. She
eventually saw them expanding to televiosn and the internet to make some real
money, but first they needed to get some name recognition and start-up
capital.

So, she took all the money she'd saved and they rented the local meeting hall
and held their first renewal. He had insisted on calling it that instead of
revival, claiming his visions revealed that what he was starting wasn't a new
religion, but rather a return to a much older one. She didn't care what it was
called so long as it brought them in plenty of money.

In her wildest dreams she never expected it to bring in as much as it did.

The whole town attended the renewal and every last person gave them everything
they owned, writing out checks for the entire amount of their savings and
signing over deeds to their homes and places of business that very night.

She was ecstatic. He was upset.

He tried to give most of it back, but they wouldn't take it.

Then, they left for another town and everyone realized what they'd done and
looked into their legal options.

The law was suspicious.

But, when the federal prosecuters spoke with them, instead of charging them
they ended up giving them everything they owned, too.

She began to realize that her thinking had been too limited, but, not wanting
to have to deal with the government just yet, she reluctantly agreed with him
and they returned most of the money, and all of the property, that had been
signed over to him.

From then on they were careful to only take a small amount from each person.
But, since the halls were packed everywhere they went, that turned out to be
quite a lot of money. She was soon ready to branch into cable and the
interent, but these venues proved far less profitable than the live shows,
garnering contributions only from those who were naturally inclined to throw
their money at every televangelist who came along and asked for it.

Frustrated at being unable to exploit a larger audience than the live shows
would permit, she was more receptive than usual to his idea of establishing a
retreat, where he could train a group of believers to prepare for what his
visions had revealed was coming: A Child who would bring peace to the world.

She could have cared less about his so-called visions, but she saw a way to
not only make some real money, but to also acquire some power by inviting rich
and influential people to join their Order.

So, they had leased some land in the Mojave Desert and constructed the
Complex.

And, while he insisted on inviting outcasts like themselves to join, she had
persuaded him to allow her to invite heads of state, movie stars, and the
million and billionaires of the world as well. And some had accepted the
invitations, thus assuring the financial stability and success of their
enterprise.

"As I recall," he replied after a moment, "you saw a way to make a lot of easy
money."

"Oh, yeah," she nodded. "Now, if I could only get out of here and spend some
if it..."

"Once the Child is born, we can go anywhere you want," he promised her.

"Which brings us back to our problem. Are you sure she has to be the One to
conceive it?"

"Her," he corrected. "And, yes, I'm sure. The visions are quite clear in that
regard."

"Great," she grumbled, thinking that it figured that it would have to be a
government agent; things had been going too smoothly.

* * * * *

Jessica surveyed her quarters and nodded in satisfaction. They were good
enough for the Emissary to enter now. As she turned to leave for the
infirmary, however, she was knocked to her knees by an intense pain in her gut
that left her weak and gasping for breath. She gingerly felt her stomach,
which was as taut as normal, showing no signs of the life developing within
her, and looked for some indication that the pain had come from the child
kicking her, but she couldn't find a trace of it.

Besides, she told herself, it's barely five weeks old. It can't possibly be
large enough for me to feel it kicking.

But that thought had no sooner been formed than she was assailed by another
attack, this one far worse than the first, but seeming to originate from her
gut as well. She gathered her strength and staggered over to the bed.

Once she was lying down, she used her enhanced mental abilities to probe
herself, searching her body for the cause of her distress. She quickly located
the embryo, but, as she'd known, it hadn't even developed any limbs with which
to strike her. And that was the only physical anomaly she could find.

She carefully got up from the bed and took a tentative step towards the door,
but nothing happened. Gaining confidence, she took a few more steps. Still no
reaction. With a shrug of her shapely shoulders, and hoping whatever had
caused the attack wouldn't do it again, she left her room and made her way to
the infirmary.

* * * * *

Sister Elsbet was a somehwat plump lady in her late forties. She had a dimpled
face, framed by light hair, and kindly green eyes. She had been a GP before
joining the Chosen and was the only physician for miles. Her infirmary wasn't
exactly state of the art, but it had enough of the basics to provide treatment
for the few Siblings who became ill or got hurt. Thus far, the most serious
incident had been a ruptured appendix. The Sibling had been treated by Sister
Elsbet and then transferred to the nearest hospital with no complications.
After spending a week in recovery, he had returned to the Complex none the
worse for his ordeal.

Sister Jessica's, however, was the first abortion Sister Elsbet had ever been
asked to perform, either in the Complex or in her practice in Oro Grande. She
knew how, and she had the equipment to perform it without any risk to her
sister Sibling, but something was preventing her from carrying out the
procedure.

Literally.

She stared in confusion at her hand, willing it to move, but it refused to
obey her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make herself begin
the operation. Her body simply refused to move when she tried to perform the
abortion. Confused, and more than a little frightened, she sent for Sister
Charisma, the Emissary's second-in-command.

"What's going on here, Sister Elsbet?" Charisma asked upon entering the
operating room and finding Jessica lying on a table and Elsbet kneeling on the
floor beside her.

"The Goddess won't let me destroy the Child within her!" she exclaimed.

"What?!" yelped both Charisma and Jessica.

"That's crazy!" the redhead added, looking down at her stomach.

"You must be mistaken, Sister Elsbet. You know that Sister Jessica is the
Vessel and that she has unusual powers. I suspect that subconsciously she is
afraid of this operation and is preventing you with her enhanced mental
abilities," Charisma explained, approaching the redhead. "I'll use my own
abilities to calm her down so that you can perform the procedure."

Despite what she'd said, however, Charisma had no abilities to speak of, other
than that to charm people into trusting Brother Abel utterly and without
question. So, she leaned down and said quietly, "Sister Jessica, you promised
the Emissary that you would have this abortion. Will you now break your word
to him, even subconsciously?"

"Of course not, Sister Charisma!" Jessi replied, shaking her head
emphatically.

"Good. Now, let Sister Elsbet do her duty so that your womb can be prepared to
receive the Emissary's divine seed." The woman on the table nodded again,
willing her subconscious to behave itself, and Charisma gestured for Sister
elsbet to approach. "You shouldn't have any more trouble,Sister Elsbet, and be
assured that this operation is the will of the Emissary and the Goddess."

Sister Elsbet nodded and stepped forward, only to discover that she still
couldn't get within an arm's length of the redhead. Once more, she fell to her
knees and bowed in adoration, praising the Child within Jessica.

Charisma ground her teeth in frustration and sent for the Emissary.

"This is blasphemy, Sister Elsbet!" he exclaimed when he saw her worshiping
Jessica. "In the name of the Goddess, I command you to rise!"

"Forgive me, Emissary! I don't know what came over me," she replied, getting
quickly to her feet. "I had no choice."

"Nonsense," he snapped, approaching the table. "Sister Jessica, I don't know
what you're doing, but I thought we agreed that it was for the best to abort
the thing within you, didn't we?"

She nodded. "We did, Emissary. But, please beleive me when I tell you that I
am not responsible for this."

He looked over to Charisma. "Well?"

"She must be doing it, but I can't understand how she's able to resist me, er,
you on a subconscious level while still adoring you consciously."

He scowled and announced, "I'll perform the procedure myself. She can't
possibly prevent me physically. You will instruct me, of course, Sister
Elsbet."

"Of course, Emissary," she replied, all doubts erased by the physical presence
of the object of her adoration.

After the Emissary had changed into surgical attire he approached the redhead
and laid a gloved hand on her forehead. "Just relax, Jessica. I would never
hurt you. You know that, don't you?" he asked, his eyes smiling from between
his surgical cap and mask. She nodded. "Good girl. Sister Elsbet, we're
ready."

The doctor nodded and reached out to hand him the vacuum hose, but suddenly
found her hand unwilling to pick up the device.

"You hand it to me, Charisma," Brother Abel said quickly. "Sister Elsbet will
simply provide the verbal instructions."

Charisma nodded and reached out for the tube, but found to her dismay that she
couldn't pick it up either. "I-I-I can't!" she growled, struggling to control
her body.

"Jessica! Listen to me! You must stop this! You're defying the Goddess' will!
Do you hear me?" he shouted into her face.

But Jessica's body had grown unbelievably rigid and every muscle was
quivering, seemingly struggling against some hidden force.

Brother Abel reached out for the hose himself and quickly discovered
first-hand the power that Charisma and Elsbet were fighting against. "In the
name of the Goddess, I command you to cease this at once!" he screamed
frantically.

But, incredibly, rather than finding himself free to move again, he was being
forced to his knees, as were Charisma and Elsbet. Then, as he knelt next to
the table, a scalpel suddenly floated up from the surgical tray and hovered in
the air for a moment before hurling itself into his gut.

Charisma and Elsbet suddenly found they could move again and immediately
rushed to his aid as Jessca giggled like a child on the table above them.

* * * * *

Charisma entered the quarters of the Emissary and was glad to find him sitting
up and reading. "Feeling better?" she inqured.

"Much," he replied, laying the book aside.

"You gave us quite a scare last night," she said, sitting on the bed and
taking his hand.

"I gave you...I would think that if anyone gave anyone a scare it was Jessica.
How is she?" he asked with something less than concern and much more like
anxiety.

"She's locked herself in her room and refuses to talk to anyone until she
knows that you're safe. Tell me, Abel, how did you know it was her?"

"What are you talking about?"

"How did you know she was the one to bear the Child?"

He laughed. "Unless she spontaneously aborts the one she's carrying, she won't
be doing that."

"I'm not so sure..."

"What do you mean?"

"On a hunch, while you were out I had Elsbet run a test on you and it came
back the way I suspected it would."

"What kind of test?"

"Fertility. You're sterile, Abel. You can't help conceive the Goddess' Child,
or anyone else's. And either Jessica somehow knew that and subconsciously
prevented us from aborting her child or..."

"The Goddess stopped us from aborting Her Child," the Emissary said, nodding
with understanding.

* * * * *

Jessica looked up when she heard a knock on her door, knowing that it was the
Emissary himself. "Please, go away, Emissary, before I hurt you again...or
worse," she added quietly.

"Please let me in, Jessica. I have some wonderful news,"he called from the
other side of the door.

Biting her lower lip thoughtfully, she telekinetically unlocked the door and
opened it. "News?" sha asked, brushing the hair from her eyes and raising her
head so that she could see him.

He entered and nodded. "We came so close to making a terrible mistake,
Jessica. But, by the Goddess' will, tragedy has turned to triumph. We now know
that the Child within you is Her Child, Jessica."

"I-I don't understand. How is that possible?"

"You said yourself that you didn't know how you got pregnant. I should have
realized that it could only have been by Her power that you'd conceived
without your knowledge, but I was victim to the the sin of my own pride and
couldn't see the miralce She'd perfomed, even though the Visions had clearly
indicated that you were the Vessel She had chosen. I thought I had to
physically supply the male seed, never considering that She herself would
provide that."

"What?!"

"Yes, Jessica, the Goddess Herself is the Father of the Child within you.
There can be no other explanation. So, pack your things and get ready to move
into the specially prepared quarters next to my own, where you will be taken
care of until the Birth." He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
"Don't be afraid, Vessel. Soon, no one need ever fear anything ever again."

He got up and left her room, leaving her to her packing and her thoughts.

She looked around the room, wondering what she wanted to take--Having no
doubts that all her needs would be seen to by the other Siblings--and realized
that none of the things meant anything to her. She couldn't recall buying
them, or even picking them out, and they held no sentimental value whatsoever.
The pictures and the knicknacks had been there when she arrived...

Arrived.

Funny, but even though she knew from the Emissary's own words that she'd been
with the Chosen for less than three weeks, she couldn't remember anything
about her previous life. As far as she was concerned, her life began the
moment she saw Sister Charisma and the Emissary for the first time. But, she
knew that she'd had a life before that, and that there must be some clues as
to what it was in this room somewhere. She opened the drawers, looking at
least for the clothing she'd worn upon her arrival, but found only those
things provided by the Complex.

As she closed the last drawer, though, something caught her eye: A golden
chain was hanging down from the bottom of the drawer above it. Curious, she
removed the upper drawer and found a necklace taped to the bottom of it. She
carefully removed it and looked closely at it, wondering why it had been
hidden. It wasn't valuable, just a gold chain with a tiny charm: Two hearts
intertwined.

Then, her hand closed tightly around the hearts and everything came flooding
back, causing her even more pain than she'd experienced the night before.

After her ordeal with Melanie and General Winsome she'd caught the next flight
to LA and been happily reunited with Lupe and her old teacher, Dr. Cassandra
Trotter. And, even though they tried to conceal how badly the supposed 'cure'
had backfired, it became laughably obvious when the doctor handcuffed Lupe and
locked her in the closet at sunset. So, Jessica went to the Aegis Group's lab
in Los Angeles and worked on the problem for days until she thought she'd
solved it. Lupe was a bit nervous about trying this new serum, though.

"Can it be any worse?" the redhead questioned, holding the syringe out and
waiting for the Spaniard to present her arm.

"That's what I said last time...and it was. Perhaps Lupe should just keep
things the way they are. Being locked up every night isn't so bad, Jessica,
it's not like I even remember it," she pointed out.

"Think of the troubles it will cause if you travel or wind up in jail for some
reason, though. I'm doing this for your own good, Lupe," she reminded her.

Lupe sighed and held out her arm.

Jessica injected her with the serum and then, after drawing some blood and
examining it under a microscope, shook her head.

"What?" Lupe asked, not liking that one little bit.

"It's changed, but it's not gone. I don't understand it, Lupe. I've replicated
Stark's blood down to the last chromosome and it still hasn't cured you."

"Lupe keeps trying to tell you, Jessica, that it's a curse, not a medical
conditioner. Science alone cannot cure me," she said half-jokingly.

"I'm beginning to think you might be right," the redhead sighed. "We'd better
get back to Cassie's, just to be safe; it's nearly sunset."

Lupe nodded and put her arm around Jessica as they walked back to the car and
said, "Don't feel badly, my friend, no matter what happens. You did your best
and that is all anyone, even a super woman like you, can do."

They made it back to the doctor's place just as the sun was setting and found
Simone and Cassandra waiting for them, handcuffs ready.

"Did it work?" Simone asked anxiously, hugging Lupe and looking for some sign
of the impending change.

"We'll know soon enough," Jessica shrugged, exchanging a worried look with Dr.
Trotter.

A few minutes later they were all standing in the dark, smiling.

"A real bed! Lupe gets to sleep in a real bed tonight!" the Spaniard
exclaimed, throwing her arms around Simone and laughing.

"Correction: My bed," Simone said with a lusty grin.

But Lupe shook her head and, releasing the actress, embraced Jessica. "No,
querida, tonight Lupe will be sharing Jessica's bed. If she wants me to."

"I don't want to cause any trouble between you and Simone," the redhead said.

"I understand, you two have history. It's cool. I get you tomorrow night,
though," she said, playfully pinching Lupe's rear.

"Definitely," Lupe smiled.

After the four of them had enjoyed a delicious dinner at Simone's favorite
restaurant, the actress returned to her home and Cassandra headed for the club
to see how things were going for the new manager, leaving Lupe and Jessica
alone.

Sure, they'd been alone before since the redhead had arrived almost a week
ago, but never at night, for obvious reasons, and never with the opportunity
to do more than talk. Which they had. But the desire was bubbling below the
surface and both women were eager to see if the connection was still there.

The truth of the matter was that Jessica needed it to be there more than Lupe
did, and she was the one most worried that it was gone. Not only the spark
with Lupe, but with anyone. Ever again. Kendra's murder left her feeling
vulnerable. And responsible. She wondered if she could ever love anyone else,
if she should love anyone else. Did she have the right to put anyone else
through the horrors her lover had suffered?

She wasn't sure, but the first step was finding out if she could love again,
on a purely physical level. Since her body had been possessed by her 'little
sister', she'd felt dirty, both inside and out. And, no matter how many
showers she took, the feeling wouldn't go away. She wondered if it ever would.
If it didn't, would she still be able to make love?

And now was the moment of truth.

Lupe crawled into bed and lay there, naked and alluring as ever, waiting for
Jessica to join her. "Is anything the matter, my friend?" she asked.

"Only everything," the redhead replied softly, joining her and wrapping her
amrs around the big Spaniard.

"I understand, querida. Just relax and let Lupe hold you. We won't do anything
you don't want to do," she promised, kissing her forehead and pulling her
close.

Jessica snuggled in tight and tentatively caressed the Spaniard's thighs,
enjoying the feel of another woman's flesh against hers for the first time in
weeks. Then, one of Lupe's hands moved up and cupped a breast, sending a wave
of delight through the redhead as she teased and squeezed it.

"Is that all right?" Lupe asked quietly.

"It's perfect," Jessica smiled, grabbing Lupe's other hand and kissing it. She
then sucked on each of the fingers before releasing it. "Perfect."

Lupe nodded and began to nuzzle the back of Jessica's neck as her other hand
joined the first in attending to the redhead's breasts. For her part,
Jessica's arms reached back and roamed across the back and ass of the
Spaniard, the tips of her fingers lightly brushing the bronzed flesh and
causing Lupe to shudder with pleasure when she touched a particularly
receptive spot.

They explored each other in silence for the better part of an hour, eventually
turning to face one another and engaging in deep, satisfying kisses that left
all twenty of their toes curled with pleasure, before Jessica guided Lupe's
hand down her stomach, which was slick and glistening with sweat and the
Spaniard's slaiva, to her thatch of red pubic hair.

"You're sure?" Lupe asked, pulling back to look into the green eyes of her
friend. Jessi nodded her head and the Spaniard kissed her sweetly on the
eyelids and slid her fingers into the moist lips of the redhead's vagina.

Suddenly, Jessica's mind was filled with visions of Horst raping her and of
waking up in her own body and finding herself with the General's penis inside
her and she screamed and yanked Lupe's hand away. "I can't, Lupe! I just can't
get those awful pictures out of my head!" she sobbed, hugging the other woman
tightly. "I feel them when you touch me. I feel them when I touch me!"

"Shhh, it's all right, querida. Lupe is here and she won't let anything happen
to you. Relax. It will take time, my friend, but mark Lupe's words, one day
you'll wake up and not think about them at all," she whispered, holding her
close and gently stroking her hair.

Jessica stayed a few more days, but she and Lupe didn't do anything more than
snuggle and kiss and the Spaniard showed no signs of becoming the wolf again,
but they both knew the real test would come with the next full moon. Then, she
left for the Mojave Desert to check out a cult Winsome had been interested in
before his death--It wasn't an assignment (She hadn't even checked in with the
Aegis Group since returning to her own body and she had little doubt that
Major General Holm would read her the riot act for missing Winsome's
funeral.), just something she'd done a lot of research on and was not only
curious about, but worried that it might prove to be a threat since most of
the people it had attracted were among the world's richest and most
powerful--with the understanding that she'd return to LA before heading back
to DC to see how Lupe was doing and if she wanted to accompany her.

She arrived at the Complex a day later and wondered what all the fuss was
about. No walls. No guards. Nothing but white buildings sitting in the desert.
She was greeted by some young people who happily told her about the Order and,
no matter how deeply she probed, she couldn't find any indication that they
didn't honestly believe what they were telling her. Of course, she reasoned,
if they were under some sort of mind control or had been brainwashed, I'm not
sure I'd be able to tell.

Then she'd met Sister Charisma and Brother Abel.

From the moment she saw him she instinctively trusted him. Enough that she
told him who she was and why she was there. She even told him about her
enhanced mental abilities. He didn't seem concerned, but now she recalled that
Sister Charisma had taken him aside and talked privately with him before he
returned and told her about his Mission. She listened eagerly as he explained
what the Order was all about and how his Visions came from the Goddess Herself
and what they told him to do. She was excited when he revealed her own small
part in the Goddess' plan and immediately signed over 30% of her net worth and
became an official Sibling. Sister Charisma had then taken her to her new
rooms and instructed her to change into new clothes and to relinquish
everything she'd brought with her from beyond the Complex.

She recalled dutifully removing her clothing and placing it in the bag Sister
Charisma had provided and then reaching up and undoing the necklace and
holding it over the bag, too. But something had prevented her from letting go
of it. So, for reasons even she didn't understand, she'd hidden it beneath the
drawer and then joined in the daily workings of the Order and completely
forgotten about it.

Until now.

Jessica very deliberately fastened the necklace around her neck and went
looking for Sister Charisma and the Emissary.

She found them in the Sanctuary, preparing to share the wonderful news of the
Child's conception with the other Siblings. The Sanctuary was the largest
building of the entire Complex, easily able to seat all of the Order, which
numbered between 150 and 200. The interior walls were adorned with beautiful
paintings of the Goddess and the Visions she had bestowed on the Emissary, who
also featured prominently in the artwork. The floor was white marble inlaid
with the Words of the Goddess in gold and the domed roof depicted a copy of
Michelangelo's "The Creation" from the Sistine Chapel, except that the two
figures were female.

The Siblings were all seated crosslegged on a thick blue carpet which
surrounded the lectern where Brother Abel was standing next to Sister
Charisma. He smiled when he saw Jessica enter and motioned for her to join
him. As she willingly did so, Charisma suddenly noticed the glint of metal
around her throat and called out a warning.

"Siblings! Sister Jessica is a vile betrayer who means to harm the Emissary!
She must be destroyed!" she commanded. "Come on, Abel. The show's over," she
hissed, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him to an exit.

"What are you talking about?! This is our moment of triumph!" he exclaimed,
shaking her hand loose. "Isn't that right, Sister Jessica?"

But Jessica had her hands full fighting off the murderous Siblings.

"There's been a horrible mistake, my Brothers and Sisters. Sister Jessica is
the Vessel and, even now, carries the Divine Child within her womb. You must
stop your attack!" he ordered, pushing through them to reach the redhead.
"Right, Sister Jessica?"

"Oh, there's been a horrible mistake, all right, and you and that witch made
it when you thought you could get away with raping people's souls as well as
their bodies!" she shouted, leveling a punch at him.

The enraged Siblings threw themselves at her, tearing at her with their teeth
and pounding at her with their fists until they brought her down.

Confused, Abel looked back to where Charisma had paused near the exit. "Are
you coming or not?" she asked.

He looked back to where Jessica was fighting for her life, trying to
understand how the Visions could have been so wrong, and shook his head. "I
cannot defy or deny the will of the Goddess."

"Suit yourself, lover, but just remember that once I've put enough distance
between us, everyone will snap out of it," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Before she could get out the door, however, Jessica exploded from beneath the
pile of Siblings, casting them from her with a powerful mental blast that left
them dazed, but relatively unharmed. She, on the other hand, was covered with
wounds from their teeth and fists, her white outfit hanging in bloody shreds,
exposing her magnificent body. "You're not going anywhere, bitch!" she yelled.

The door slammed in Charisma's face.

"You two are pathetic," the redhead snarled, approaching Brother Abel, who was
backing away towards Charisma as fast as he dared. "You prey on pepole's
loneliness and dreams like hyenas. And, not content with violating their
souls, you add physical abuse to the long list of crimes you've commited."

"It..got out of hand," Abel offered weakly.

"I'll say it did. But, as vile as you are, Abel, at least you had your
delusion to give you some excuse. But you, Charisma," she said, turning
murderous eyes to the light-haired woman, "you were only motivated by greed
and a petty desire to hurt people, thinking that would somehow make up for all
the pain you've suffered. And, no matter what you might think, that's not even
close to justification."

"What right have you to judge me? You don't know anything about my suffering,"
the woman replied.

"Oh, yes, I do, sweetheart. Not only can I read your mind, making me
intimately aware of all the wrongs done to you, but I'm going to be personally
repsonsible for some of your suffering right now!" She lunged forward, driving
her fist deep into Charisma's gut and then snapping her head back with the
point of her knee when she leaned forward.

Charisma backed away, desperately urging the dazed Siblings to come to her
aid. "She's a traitor! Destroy her, before she betrays the Emissary as Judas
betrayed Christ!"

The Siblings climbed wearily to their feet, given strength by their zealotry,
and advanced towards the redhead again.

"Not this time!" Jessica first threw up a mental forcefield to protect her
from them, and from themselves, and then hurled the door open with another
mental command. "Come on, sister, we're gonna finish this out in the desert,
away from these poor deluded people." She punched her squarely in the jaw and
the brunette would likely have fallen to her ass had not Jessi reached out and
steadied her by grabbing the front of her top. She yanked her forward onto her
upraised knee and then slung the gasping woman over her shoulder and ran from
the Temple.

When they'd gone about a quarter of a mile, she suddenly stopped and roughly
threw Charisma to the ground. "Get up, bitch! I'm not even close to being done
with you yet!" she snarled, gesturing for the other to rise with her hands.

"You've won, Jessica," panted Charisma, looking up at her with tears streaming
from her eyes. "I don't know martial arts or any other offensive skills. I
won't fight you. I can't. So, if you wanna beat the shit out of me, if that
will make you feel better, there's nothing I can do to stop you."

Jessica reached down and grabbed her by the hair and hauled her to her feet.
She drew back her right arm and prepared to hit the helpless woman in the
face, but stopped. The internal struggle was plain on her face from the way
her jaw was so tightly clenched you could hear her teeth grinding together.
And also from the way her entire body was shaking as it tried to follow her
every instinct and pound the evil woman who was at her mercy. Then, with a
sound of utter disgust, she let go and Charisma dropped to the sandy floor at
her feet.

"You're right, damn you," she growled. "Beating you to a pulp won't make it
any better. But, I don't think you've any real conception of what you
did--Especially to me! You gave me something precious, something I thought I'd
lost forever, but it wasn't real, it was just a cruel joke. And, now that I
know that, I'm left hurting and more confused than before. Do you understand?"

"Not really," Charisma confessed, positioning herself so that she was
kneeling.

"Part of me, most of me, wants that illusion to remain intact, even knowing
that it isn't real. Do you understand that?"

"Yeah, I do," the brunette replied, surreptitiously grabbing a handful of sand
as she stood up. "That's the way it was at first with Abel, once I figured out
how we affected each other. I tried to walk away from him, from the lure of
the power he represented, but I couldn't. Even though I knew it couldn't last.
I preferred the temporary fantasy to the dull reality of my life."

"I wouldn't exactly call my life dull, but, yeah, that's what I mean," Jessica
nodded. "Oh, and if you don't drop that sand, I'll be more than happy to take
you to the hospital instead of the police."

Charisma carefully opened her hand and let the sand fall back to the desert
floor. "I told you I was no fighter," she said with a toss of her head.

They then headed back to the Complex, but, as they got closer to the Temple,
they heard the sound of hundreds of people crying. Alarmed, they rushed in
only to find the Siblings all on their knees, wailing at the top of their
lungs over the bloody remains of Brother Abel.

* * * * *

Jessica arrived at Dr. Trotter's place two days later and told them the whole
sad story. "I still don't understand how they broke through my forcefield,"
she concluded.

"Never underestimate the power of hatred, Jessica," Dr. Trotter said sadly.

"You mustn't blame yourself, querida," said Lupe, hugging her tightly. "He
deserved far worse."

"Maybe, but two things still bother me about this whole thing," Jessi
confessed. "If the baby inside of me isn't a gift from the Goddess, where did
it come from, and, more importantly, what really protected it that night?"

"And the second thing?" Cassandra inquired, nodding sagely.

"Even after I broke free from Charisma's powers, I couldn't read Abel's mind.
What if he was for real?" she asked, shuddering at the memory of his ravaged
corpse. They all sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, pondering
the points Jessica had raised, and then the redhead herself broke it by
asking, "So, Lupe, what have you decided about where you're going to live? Are
you coming back to DC with me, or staying here in California?"

Lupe looked uneasily at Cassandra, who urged the Spaniard on with her eyes and
subtle hand gestures, and then said, "You know that Lupe loves you, querida,
but I have decided to remain here in the City of Angels. There are things
going on here that I am a part of, and I feel a sense of belonging that was
missing from DC. I need to do more than watch TV and eat pizza and I seriously
doubt that senorita Holm will allow me to accompany you on any missions, so
I'm going to get my Private Investigator license and open my own practice. I
hope you're not too disappointed in Lupe," she added, looking over at Jessica
through her long bangs.

"Disappointed? No way! I'm so excited for you, Lupe, I can hardly stand it!
This is great! Not that I won't miss you," she added quickly. "I will. Every
single day. But this is just what you needed! I suspect that Cassandra had a
hand in convincing you to become a private eye, though, didn't you?"

"Actually, I tried to get her to help me manage Mortal Fembat. Becoming a PI
was her own idea," Cassie corrected.

"Can you imagine Lupe managing anything, Jessica?" the Spaniard laughed,
shaking her head.

"I suppose not," the redhead agreed and she and Dr. Trotter both joined in the
laughter.

When Cassandra went into the kitchen to get some coffee, Lupe asked quietly,
"What about you, Jessica? How are you handling...things?"

The redhead shrugged. "I won't know until I try to make love to someone, I
guess. And that might not happen for quite a while," she added sadly. "I
just...I feel so confused and angry, I can't see myself getting intimate with
anyone for a long, long time. Except you, of course," she added with a wicked
smile that was nevertheless tinged with a definite sadness.

"Just promise Lupe that you won't be afraid to let yourself experience
intimacy, when the opportunity presents itself--And please notice that Lupe
did not say if, but when--okay?" she pressed.

Jessica bit her lower lip thoughtfully and gave a half-hearted nod accompanied
by a shrug of her shoulders.

Lupe scowled. "Don't make Lupe come to DC and tie you down and rape you, my
friend," she said with a wolfish grin. "I will, you know."

"I know," Jessica smiled. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." After a moment
she added thoughtfully, "Then again..."

They both began giggling like little girls.

"I don't even want to know what all this laughing is about," Cassie said,
entering the room and handing each woman a cup of coffee. "I'm just glad to
see you both finally enjoying yourselves." She was about to sit down when
there was a sharp knock at the door.

She opened it and found herself face to face with a tall blonde woman wearing
dark glasses and dressed in a black suit.

"Can I help you?" the doctor asked.

In response the stranger raised her hand and Cassie saw she was holding
something that looked like an oversized ball-point pen. A brilliant flash
later and she was sitting in the living room with Lupe.

"It's a pity that Jessica had to leave so soon," the Spaniard remarked. "I was
hoping she'd be able to spend a few days here at least."

Cassandra nodded and sipped her coffee.

The End

(For now)

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