"Oh hello", a fit blonde said from behind a semi-circular desk.
"Hi. I'm Jan Caufield. I was supposed to…"
"Oh go right in", the receptionist cut her off with a smile. "He's expecting you. Got your name written down here in big letters."
"Really? Okay", Jan said with a bit of hesitation before pushing open the door. Bright light flooded out and Jan squinted as she looked around at an immaculate gym. The floors looked as clean as operating rooms. All the equipment looked brand new too. There were people all over the big area, training, sparring, stretching or just talking, although there didn't seem to be much of that. The people in here all seemed to be serious about what they were doing. Her eyes instantly found the several women training at the moment. Two were in a ring having a serious kick boxing session. Both of them had great technique, as good as anything she'd seen. There were two other women grappling with male partners on some mats across the training area.
"Can I help you?", a voice asked and Jan turned to see a guy a couple of inches taller than her with a crew cut and the body of a serious athlete.
She blushed a bit when she gave his body a look from head to toe. "I was supposed to meet a guy named Bradley."
"You've got to be Jan", he said nodding his head.
"I am", she confirmed, still blushing.
"Come on this way." He started walking towards some offices without looking back once. He normally made some small talk in a situation like this, but he knew better. He was used to seeing young women in prime fitness, looking as good as they were ever going to look in their lives, but he'd never seen a woman as effortlessly beautiful as the one walking behind him. A ghostly image of her eyes floated in the middle of his vision just like he'd looked at the sun. Instead of admiring her again, he chose not to embarrass himself. He knocked on the door and stuck his head into the room. "Hey, she's here."
"Great, thanks Russ", Bradley said and set his cell phone down on his desk before coming over. He paused just slightly when Jan stepped into view. She was stunning in every single way possible, and even though her clothes weren't revealing, he could tell that her fitness level was high. He wasn't here to be attracted to this young woman though. He had a job, and he was good at it. He held out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, and right on time. I like that." Her hands were huge for a girl he noticed as they shook. Jan usually didn't do a full shake, for this very reason, but she was so nervous that she hadn't thought about it. He motioned for her to take a seat.
"I try not to be late if I can help it", she said as she put her bag on the floor, took a seat and crossed her long legs. That simple act made Bradley have to pause a couple of extra seconds before speaking.
"So you study bjj under Mark Sims. That has to be pretty cool."
"He's a great teacher, the best I've ever had."
"He tells me that you might be the most kick ass student he's ever had, so what brings you here?", he asked, getting to the point.
Jan decided to get to the point too. "Me and my roommate sparred the other day, and she very nearly kicked my ass… well she did kick my ass pretty much. She just didn't know I was able to apply a choke from that angle when we were grappling. I was pretty good on the ground, everything worked more or less how I wanted it to. But when we were on our feet, she gave me more than I wanted. Now I wouldn't have minded if I'd lost, but I realized that I have some things to work on. I've been training with my other roommates and teaching my own jiu-jitsu classes, but I need a real challenge."
"Someone who can make you better?"
"Exactly."
Bradley nodded. "Then you've come to the right place. The trainers here are martial - artists. Both of those words have meaning as far as I'm concerned. But first, I have to see what kind of canvas we're working with. I trust Mark's opinion, but some things you have to see for yourself."
Fifteen minutes later Jan was in a red cross-backed sports bra with black compression shorts covering her amazing body. She wasn't trying to show off, but it was hard not to. Her body was sexy from every angle, and her muscles sparkled beneath the overhead lights and the coating of sweat she was building up. Her eyes were laser focused as she slammed punches and kicks into the biggest Thai heavy bag in the gym. She loved the sound her blows made as she worked around darting from side to side. Her punches were really impressive, but her kicks made the others in the gym turn to look at the new girl. Big booming kicks landed to one side and then almost immediately to the other of the swaying bag. Her form was nearly flawless too. Her head and shoulders, hips, and feet were all right where they were supposed to be. There wasn't a single false or wasted motion in that girl's strikes. Her core muscles were getting insanely ripped as she continued. She'd pump two or three rapid kicks into the bag, from any angle, and then show off her hand speed, blasting long furious combinations before delivering another series of kicks. Jan's muscles were really getting warmed up as she pounded on that big bag like she was actually angry at it.
Her biceps and deltoids were ripped and prominent as she delivered a hook where the head would be before bouncing back and sending a perfect kick to the side of the bag that sounded like the leather itself had exploded. It hadn't so she kept going.
Sweat dripped from her nose and earlobes and ran down every stone hard surface of her body as she continued to punish this bag with relentless precision. Bradley called, "Time", and Jan immediately put her hands on her knees, gulping breaths. Her triceps flexed as they pressed against her knees and those abs were magical as they rode in and out with each breath. Her chest and her butt were both so sculpted that it took mental effort to see where she could possible find improvement. Jan drank some water and followed Bradley to a mat where he had her do agility drills to see if she had good balance and foot work or if she was a lumbering plodder.
It took her a couple of tries to really figure out the drills, but once she did, Jan was impressive. He'd only seen a few people, men or women, who had better balance than she did. He made her do them over and over and over again hoping to fatigue her into a mistake, but instead she just got better each time. When he'd seen enough, Jan looked ready to throw up from exhaustion, but she didn't say anything. She just followed Bradley to another mat on the other side of the room. He could have used the mat right near where they'd been, but everything was a test, including making Jan walk the width of the large training area. Her movements weren't the same as when she'd come in all fluid and graceful, but she still had some gas left in the tank.
It was time for him to feel this girl's power first hand. He put on a pair of shin protecting pads followed by pads to protect his thighs before tying on a pair of punching mitts. "Alright Jan you know how this works. I call 'em out, you lay 'em on me."
She gave a single nod, her pony tail momentarily bobbing over her face before going back to where it belonged. She bounced along the mat as Bradley got into position. Her legs didn't have the spring in them from earlier, but she kept at it.
The other people in the gym turned again, a few at a time as the sound of Jan's blows once again started to echo. It wasn't that she was the only person in the place who could produce sounds like that, she was just the latest one, and one of the only women. Bradley was so impressed that he was actually smiling as he called for punch, kick combinations one after the other. He didn't give her a moment to rest, pushing her and himself. Her blows were so accurate that no matter where he moved the pads or himself, she hit the center almost every time, even as she began to wear down.
The problem was that her power began to tire him out a little as well. The burn in his shoulders and the little aches in his elbows were getting worse with each blow. He would never tell them to their faces, but he trained a few male heavyweights who couldn't hit nearly as hard as this girl. Part of him wanted to keep going just to be a part of this spectacle, but he saw the pain on her face as she delivered a left hook and right cross followed by two left jabs and an uppercut, all with devastating power behind them.
She was drenched in sweat as she continued, her feet splashing in puddles of it as she threw kicks and punches in bunches. Her body, tired as it was, had reached another level. She had the body of a prime athlete. He didn't see vanity in the body that Jan had built for herself, only hard work and determination, but with a woman so beautiful, he was sure the vanity was in there somewhere. She just hid it very well. He watched her muscles harden and tense with each blow. She had to be loaded with quick twitch muscle fibers, overloaded with them, but the fact that she was still going said that she had to have out of this world endurance and determination. Her heart thumped in her chest, making the veins and arteries snaking over and around her muscles pulse rapidly. Her jagged muscles already had added texture beneath her flawless skin with striations and feathered definition to spare.
Bradley called for a spinning back kick, which Jan delivered right on time and on target and then a long punch combo. Jan's arms felt like they were weighed down with lead, but she threw every single punch without fail, bouncing backwards after her latest barrage waiting for more, but then Bradley smiled and lowered his hands. "Done", he said and Jan collapsed to the floor breathing like she'd just sprinted a marathon. He looked a little concerned until he saw her raise her hand and smile. "I'm fine", she told him between breaths.
He squatted down in front of her so that they were face to face. "That demonstration was pretty amazing, Jan. I'm not one to hold back compliments when they're called for. Mark understated what you can do."
"Didn't want to raise your expectation of me any higher, and I'm glad", Jan said through heavy breaths. Bradley laughed and handed over her water bottle. She took a long drink, but still hadn't attempted to stand up. Jan was as exhausted as she'd been in a long time and usually her gift would have been attempting to break out of its cage. Just a trickle of her power would have completely reenergized her, but she hadn't cheated by using her gift so far. She wasn't going to start now.
"That was the best audition I've seen in quite some time. You can join this gym for sure. It would be our honor to train you."
"Thanks."
"We'll get the paper work ready by the time you're showered and changed. You'll be out of here in no time after that. The only thing is", he began then leaned closer to Jan's flushed face. "How hard do you want to go? I rode you pretty good just now because I figured you could take it, but I need to know what you want going forward."
"I want you to work me until I hate you", Jan replied and Bradley smiled ear to ear.
He stood up and held out his hand. "Miss Caufield, welcome to The Title Combat Club.
Jan set up her schedule before leaving the gym, but was so tired and sore that she didn't want to do much of anything for the rest of that day or the next which was a Saturday so she didn't have to worry about classes. With the way her legs felt she didn't give a single thought to trying even a shortened morning run, and she didn't have any music rehearsals either. She did have her mind on music though. She finally pulled out the guitar she'd gotten for Christmas and was seeing if she could make heads or tails of it. She sat in front of her keyboard with the guitar, although what she was playing couldn't be called music. She would pick a note on her guitar, then press the key that was the same note on the piano. She did it for every note in several keys.
LaShaunta finally couldn't take it anymore. She shut the text book, jumped out of bed and strolled down the hall before pushing Jan's door open. "What in the world are you doing?", she had to ask.
Jan turned with the shining Gibson in her lap and a big smile on her face. "I was trying to learn the notes."
"What?"
"I found out the range of the guitar is from here to here", she explained and pointed at two spots on the keyboard. "And I know where all the notes on the fretboard are now. See this is an E and this is an F sharp. I also found out that down here", she pointed to a place on the neck, "it repeats itself."
"So now that you've surveyed the guitar neck, are you finished?"
"Of course not. I've just gotten started", Jan said with an even bigger smile and began playing the melody from one of Beethoven's minuets, all on one string because she hadn't quite figured out how to play on more than one just yet.
LaShaunta rolled her eyes and headed back towards her room. She stopped with a startled jump when Jan played something completely different and then shouted. LaShaunta started to keep going but decided than Jan was literally calling out for attention with this new breakthrough. She stuck her head back into Jan's room.
"I just figured out a downtown shuffle!", she exclaimed and played a pattern that LaShaunta had heard in some of the Blues songs that her grandmother loved. Of course Jan was doing it all on one string. LaShaunta actually chuckled this time before heading back to her room again. Jan usually practiced piano wearing her expensive headphones, but even when she didn't LaShaunta didn't mind because Jan really was a virtuoso. She could make "Chopsticks" sound like it was written by a Romantic period master. There would be some growing pains on guitar however, and Jan got her first one when she broke a string. She sighed and realized that she had no idea how to replace it. It was time for a trip to her favorite music store in town.
Moira Kelly had been out of the hospital for more than a week and just now felt like she was getting her bearings. She hadn't known what to expect when she'd finally walked back into her house, but when she did, she'd burst into tears. While she'd been in the hospital, in addition to being one of the main researchers at the famed Warrmer Institute in Chicago, and comforting her almost every day while she was laid up, Moira's fiancé Ian had fixed all the damage at her house. It was as if the attack had never happened. He repainted the walls and replaced every broken picture frame. The furniture was just like she'd had it before and even the mail was laid out for her. He had wanted her to come with him to Chicago to live, but Moira wanted to resume at least some responsibilities at the University this semester. She wasn't going to teach, but she didn't plan to sit on her hands either. She had worked too hard putting her life back together to let something like this stall it. Some of her students had even visited her in the hospital and others had sent her cards and messages.
She got emotional again thinking about the impact she must have had even for them to take time out of their lives do something like that. She had put the attack behind her though. She was glad to be alive, glad that she'd managed to get out of the hospital without the doctors realizing her secret, and glad that her department head at school was such a nice man. That part of her life was as good as it could be. As she walked through the den she realized what was really bothering her. Her fight with Jimmy had really shaken her. She'd told Ian that it hadn't affected her much just like he'd told her that being in the middle of a shootout hadn't affected him. At least one of them had to be lying.
The fight itself wasn't the problem. Even weakened she could have beaten Jimmy although she was really glad that super soldier X-424 had shown up when she did. What Jimmy had done afterwards made Moira remember the commune where she'd lived for more than a decade. He'd groveled at her feet because she'd still been the stronger one. She had beaten him. X-424, who he would have eventually worshipped too, had finished simply the job. Moira felt so sorry for Jimmy. He didn't have people like Lisa and Ian in his life. Those two had lead Moira back from the ledge of self destruction, but Jimmy was still lost.
She went into the garage and pulled off a panel beneath a built in shelf. She had to remove a section of false wall before her special dumbbells were revealed. She had to hide them because she occasionally got visitors. She bent down and pulled out the heavier 1500 pound one. She wrapped her fingers around the comfortable handle and lifted it with one motion. Strong hard muscles tensed along her body. She felt the strain a little more than usual, but she was sure she could build her strength back up a bit. That was why Lisa had made these for her in the first place. She'd probably make her some heavier ones if she asked.
Moira rotated the dumbbell and began to curl it. She watched her bicep swell and watched the two heads of the muscle define themselves beautifully. She watched the separation between her bi's and her triceps were thick and full too. She held the weight at the top of the curl for a moment, then slowly let it fall before curling it again and then one more time before switching arms.
Moira was going to remain incredibly strong for the rest of her life but was that enough now. Ian had told her that the traces of strength building compounds on the walls of her blood vessels, inside her organs, and in her fat would provide years of more strength building potential, but that wasn't turning out to be the case. Moira didn't have much fat, keeping herself in excellent condition before, during, and after her time in the commune. She'd had a fight with the same super soldier who'd later come to her rescue. She was pretty sure that encounter had scoured some 'juice' from her blood vessel walls, and then there was Spencer and his monster trucks. It had taken every single thing inside her to barely survive. Even the paramedics hadn't realized how much internal damage had been done to her until it was almost too late. She was sure that any reserve left inside her body was nearly gone. She put the weight down, making the floor shake before leaning against the shelf.
After a moment's thought, she went back beneath the shelf on her hands and knees. She casually rolled a 500 pound dumbbell to the side and slid her fingers behind yet another barrier. This one was made of thick steel. Her biceps and pecs jumped into action as she applied tremendous force to slide that block of steel along the concrete. When it was out of the way she saw the shoe box. She slid it out and put it on the hood of her car.
After the destruction of the commune and after Ian had taken her in, Moira had been sullen and withdrawn for a long time. She'd never told Ian, but during that time she'd recreated many of the formulas and discoveries that he thought had been lost when her original notes had burned to ashes. While she was rewriting her work, she made improvements. At first she'd wanted to regain her monstrous size. She'd had biceps as big or bigger than even the craziest muscle heads. Her chest and legs had been her best features though. Casuals loved the biceps, but Moira had adored her super thick, meaty pecs. She used to flex them again and again just to feel their iron hardness. Her legs had been massive too, able to lift multiple tons each on the oversized leg extension machine. That ship had sailed though.
As much as she loved her old look, she loved her new/old look more. It was like the years in the commune hadn't happened. When she'd gone home she'd looked at old pictures of herself before staring in the mirror. She could tell that she was a bit older, but not twelve years older than she'd been in some of those pictures, although she wasn't looking her best after a month in the hospital. She was a bit too light, but she'd put those four or five pounds of muscle back on in no time, bringing her six foot frame back to 180 pounds of muscle and grace.
She wondered though if she should go further. She wondered if she should make herself really strong again. She could go to the lab at the University, grab the correct chemicals, cook up a batch of a new and improved juice, and probably feel the difference after her first dose. Eventually her strength would probably double. She'd be even stronger than she had been in the commune. She wouldn't do it though, not behind Ian's back. He would have to agree and he would never do that. She was just about to put the box and the weights back in their hiding place when she heard the front door open.
"Hey Babe", Ian called just before closing the door behind him.
Moira put the lid on the box and was about to get back on her knees when Ian stepped into the doorway. He must have come straight to the garage. "What ya doing down here?", he asked and came down the steps to join her.
"Thinking", she said as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and planted a kiss on her lips.
He looked around at the weights. "Thinking with your muscles?", he asked with a grin.
Moira didn't grin back though. "Thinking about them maybe." She opened the box. Since she hadn't put it back in their hiding place, she might as well say what was on her mind. "I did this when I was still living at your apartment", she said as Ian lifted one of the notebooks and began looking over the pages.
He felt anger rolling up his neck, but it was forced down by his intellect. Looking at her notes it struck him just how brilliant she really was. Things that research labs spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to discover, Moira had figured out on her own in a rinky dink lab in an old factory. "Were you thinking about making some more of this? Have you already made some more?"
"I haven't made any", Moira said quickly. "I'd never betray you like that."
"I see you mitigated the compounds that build up in the liver", he said surprisingly.
"Yeah", Moira said with a frown. "They're not necessary anyway, just hold overs from anabolics."
"So you were just taking a trip down memory lane?", he asked without the hurt or anger that she'd expected.
"I told you about what happened with Jimmy, the one from the commune, at the hospital. I felt so bad for him that I was thinking about making some… for him."
"So you had no interest in taking it then?"
Moira looked at the floor rather than at Ian's gray eyes. "I like the strength. You already know that, but if I had to choose between the strength and you, it's not even really a choice. I'm more than willing to leave all that behind."
She expected Ian to react in some way, either he'd been happy or not believe her. Instead he just stood there continuing to turn the pages. "What if you didn't have to make that choice?"
"What do you mean?", Moira asked suddenly worried.
Ian put the notebook down and leaned against the wall. "Every single day I think about what that bastard Spencer did to you. I wonder how things would be different if I hadn't leeched the strength compounds from your body."
"I'd be dead", Moira reminded him.
"And that's what I tell myself. But then I was looking at this stuff you wrote, at how you'd already started making it somewhat safer. Look, I don't want you to go back into that life, but if you wanted to get even stronger than you already are, just to make you safer, Moira I wouldn't try and stop you."
"I don't want that old life", she told him emphatically. "I don't miss it at all. I've got you, and my family, my co-workers and students. There's nothing drawing me back to the old me, except…"
"Except the strength", Ian answered for her. "I'm not pushing you to do anything or not do anything. I'm just saying that I want you to be happy and to be safe."
Moira threw her arms around Ian and began to cry. "I love you so much", she told him as they embraced. "I don't know what I want to do", she told him as they pulled back. "It's a big decision. I think I'll make some for Jimmy, but as for me, I'm not sure. I'll tell you though, if I do decide to make some for myself."
"And that's all I can ask for", Ian said and hugged her again. Moira was wiping her eyes when the doorbell rang.
"Michael", Jan called as she entered the music store. "You aren't at your post."
She heard movement in the room behind the counter and in a few moments Michael Hu appeared. "Sorry general", he mocked with a little smile. "Don't tell me you broke another metronome?"
Jan shook her head. "No. I came here for this." She leaned down and lifted a guitar case to the counter before snapping the latches and opening it. "I broke a string."
"Really nice", Michael said as he observed the custom guitar.
"It was a Christmas present", Jan explained. "I'm just starting to try and learn it, but I guess I got carried away."
"I probably know as much about guitars as you do, which I'm pretty sure is nothing."
"Hey", Jan protested. "I know where all the notes are after this morning."
"Can you make a chord yet", Michael challenged.
"In theory", Jan replied with a grin. "I can play a couple of melodies too."
"All on one string I bet."
"You just wait. I'm going to be awesome on this guitar before you know it." Michael looked skeptical and Jan laughed. "Okay, I hope to be able to play a song that people actually recognize… eventually."
"Much more achievable goal", Michael agreed. "Now about this string." He turned to look back through the door he'd just exited and called, "Beau! Got one out here for you."
Jan heard some scuffling in the room beyond the door before a slim guy with long hair and an even longer beard came out. He looked first to Michael who'd called his name, and then beyond him to Jan. His eyes opened wide and he stuttered as he tried to ask, "Wh…. Wha… What's the problem?"
"My friend here broke her first g string", Michael replied and Jan slapped him on the shoulder.
"I just need a new string", Jan said as Beau came closer.
He managed to tear his eyes away from Jan's face long enough to look at the guitar then back up to her. "You're beautiful", he said then shook his head. "It's beautiful! The guitar. I didn't know they made this model in this color."
"They usually don't, but I understand my cousin went all the way to Nashville to get exactly what she wanted. She can be really persuasive when she wants to be."
"If she looks anything like you it wouldn't take much", Beau thought he mumbled beneath his breath as he picked up the guitar.
"Some people think she looks better than me", Jan decided to have some fun. "But it's a matter of opinion I guess." Beau's hands were trembling at the thought as he looked up to Jan's face again. She could see his brain doubting itself. 'There was no way', it told him.
"Just go fix her g string!", Michael told his co-worker and motioned for him to head to the workshop area. Beau nearly fell twice and looked over his shoulder three times before disappearing into a room deep into the music store.
Jan pushed Michael and covered her mouth while she laughed. "Why'd you torture him?"
"Oh don't start with me", Michael said back. "You saw the look on his face the same as me. He's in love, Jan."
A few minutes later Michael and Jan were discussing the spring musical programs at Emory when Beau called from the other room, "Hey Michael could you come help me with something?"
Michael frowned then started towards the guitar workshop. "What do you need?"
Beau frantically waved Michael closer. He sighed but walked deeper into the room. "Oh my goodness that girl is beautiful with a capital B. You know her?", he whispered.
"We're friends, yeah. Jan's cool."
"I thought we were friends? You never even thought to introduce me to your friend who's hot as hell", he exclaimed, still whispering.
Michael shrugged. "She's got a boyfriend you know."
Beau seemed undeterred. "I don't even care. I'm way more of a lover, but I'd kick the crap out of this boyfriend for her."
Michael tried not to laugh out loud. "I don't think so, Beau. Her boyfriend is in MOSSAD."
"Not anymore!", Jan yelled from the front counter. "He left a few months ago! Oh and did I forget to mention that I can hear you both!", she exclaimed with another laugh.
"She can hear this far away?", Beau was so embarrassed.
Michael was back at the counter with Jan. "Poor Beau. You're going to leave and break his heart in two", Michael said.
Jan twisted up her mouth and slowly shook her head. "I've been breaking hearts a long time apparently."
"So", Michael began and cleared his throat. "Does your cousin really look… you know… better than you?", he inquired as if he were asking if pigs could fly or if a cow had really jumped over the moon.
"If you'd come to Sara's birthday party you'd know."
He let out a long sigh. "I was in Athens. Stupid recital."
"LaShaunta's birthday is in April. Taylor might come, and you know I have another cousin who looks just as good. She'd probably drive you nuts."
"Why?", Michael asked, his expression becoming more excited by the moment. "Is she a redhead? Don't tell me she's a redhead."
Jan nodded and Michael spun in a circle. "You know they're my kryptonite."
Jan was about to say something else when Beau came from the workshop with her guitar. He made it to the counter without stumbling and held it up. "Good as new", he pronounced it and played a few chords. "I changed all five strings for you."
"Oh thank you", Jan said and put the guitar back in its case. "So how much?"
"Nothing", Beau replied.
"No really, just tell me", Jan said while reaching into her big hemp purse.
"It's on me. I didn't mean to be creepy earlier, but just let me say, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, cousin or no cousin."
Jan smiled at him and Beau felt his heart leap in his chest. "Thank you, Beau", Jan said then leaned her tall body over the counter and kissed him on the cheek before turning and heading towards the exit. "See ya later Michael!", she called without turning as she walked out.
She loaded the guitar into her car, slid on her shades and was about to turn left to get onto the freeway to head home, but realized that there was somewhere else she should go since she was in the area. She put on the right turn signal before going that way. It wasn't a long drive to her former professor's house. She smiled when she saw Ian's car in the driveway. A couple of the neighbors were staring as Jan got out of her Nissan. She just pretended that they weren't staring and waved at them. She got to the front door and rang the doorbell.
Ian and Moira looked up towards the front door. Moira started wiping her eyes and heading up the stairs, but Ian put a hand against her chest. "I'll get it." Moira had already gotten on her hands and knees to put back the shoebox by the time he made the turn for the front door.
"Oh hey Jan", Ian greeted her and they hugged.
"I just came by to see how Professor Kelly's doing."
"Don't start with the professor stuff now", Moira said as she came up out of the garage. Jan hadn't been in town for most of Moira's hospital stay, but she'd visited Moira on her first day back in town.
"You look so much better now than the last time I saw you", Jan observed.
Jan had last come to visit Moira the day after Jimmy had attacked her. "I feel much better."
Jan's brow drew closer. "You guys look like you were in the middle of something. I can come back later", she said and Moira took her by the arm.
"No. It was nothing. I'm glad you're here", Moira replied.
Ian ran his hands through his hair then exhaled. "Actually Jan, we were discussing something, and I think your opinion would help a lot." Moira frowned, but Jan didn't see it.
"Umm sure, okay", Jan agreed without having any idea at all what Ian was talking about, but it was sure that Moira hadn't wanted it talked about. Jan knew she might have to tread carefully.
Ian started walking towards the living room before he said, "So you know what happened to Moira right?"
"Some of it. I know she was attacked by a man named Spencer and all of his cronies."
Ian didn't turn around as he said, "You know that Moira nearly died."
Jan looked over at Moira before she said, "Yeah. That's why she was in the hospital so long."
Ian turned around and was on the verge of tears. "If she was stronger, like she used to be, then that guy Spencer wouldn't have had a chance to hurt her. She was thinking about making some more of the compound that augments her strength, but she's not sure if she should. What do you think?"
"Oh wow", Jan suddenly felt some heat rise up her neck. She surely wasn't ready to offer life advice this morning, but she'd give it a shot. "I wouldn't do it", she stated after a moment's thought. "Not on the off chance that something bad might happen. You told me about how things were before, with the lying and the subterfuge. You also said that you really like your new life. Don't let some asshole take your joy away from you Moira, and don't let them turn you back to drugs either even if your intentions are right, even if Ian knows or whatever."
Moira was getting emotional and she reached out and hugged Jan. Jan put her arms around Moira then pulled her back so they were at arm's length. "Sara won't admit it, but she checks on all of her friends whenever she hasn't seen us in few hours. She's done it so much to me that I can tell. She can add you to her list, and if anything happens, all of us will come running." This time tears did drop from Moira's eyes. For so long she hadn't had any real friends, but here was one standing right in front of her. She embraced Jan again, strongly enough to know that Moira had plenty of strength left. "Having said that", Jan began. "If I were you, I might see if I could make up something for emergencies." She shrugged. "There's no reason you shouldn't be practical."
Dan Horowitz, lead neuroscience researcher at the Warrmer Institute sat in his office on a Saturday, staring at the list of possible replacements for his recently deceased assistant Freddie. He and Freddie had been a team for more than ten years. Dan relied on Freddie's expertise and because of all those years together, he had planned Freddie's funeral. It had gone off well, with most of the Institute's research heads and assistants showing up to pay their respects. D. Warrmer had been there and so had Ian, the man who'd told Dan about Freddie's betrayal in the first place. Dan wasn't mad at Freddie anymore though. He was much more interested in cleaning up the ethical mess that he'd made.
Dan always knew that Freddie was a good researcher because he'd told him several times that he could lead a lab of his own. He wouldn't have gotten a research spot at a place as prestigious as Warrmer, but a person had to start somewhere. Dan always thought that Freddie was comfortable at Warrmer and perhaps even loyal to him. In truth he'd been pilfering the research they did together to help make better super soldiers. While Dan had been mourning his fallen assistant, he'd also spent many hours going over the information Ian had brought him. It was a lot to make heads or tails of, but he'd done it. He hadn't tried to figure out how to undo it though. He wanted to help, but it all seemed so impossible to him. He had the notebooks, but that didn't mean anybody had actually done all the stuff Ian had said. He decided to see if he could find out for himself.
X-424 sat at the table in the rather cramped kitchen watching Benny writing furiously in one of those legal pads that he liked so much. He'd been doing that a lot recently, which was a change from his normal routine. He had delegated more Syndicate business to Jean, and also had less sex with X-424. She enjoyed sex as well as anyone else and Benny was pretty good at it, but when he was bored that was all he ever thought about. He hadn't been bored at all for the last couple of weeks, not since he'd made that deal with Gregg White. It wasn't that he ignored X-424. On the contrary, she consulted on almost every aspect of his new business plan. In pretty short order she'd gone from simply one of his Femmes, to his bodyguard, to his eye candy, to his fuck toy, to his girlfriend, to his companion, confidant, and finally to his consigliere. She wasn't sure how she felt about any of it, but as a Femme Soldier, she wasn't supposed to have feelings anyway.
She stood up quickly when the phone in her pocket began vibrating. Benny looked up when she started towards the door, but didn't ask where she was going which was ideal. X-424 didn't want to tell the truth and lying to Benny was exceedingly difficult.
"Hello", she answered once she was in the dark part of the hall far from anybody's ears.
"Yes, hello", Dan said to the unknown woman. "Who am I speaking with?"
"You must be the scientist whose research made me this way", X-424 said flatly.
Dan exhaled and nearly hung up. His hands shook as he continued, "I would have never allowed any of my research to be used to program people. Never!"
"And yet here we are."
"My assistant was going behind my back. I had no knowledge of any it.", Dan tried to explain.
"There's no going back to stop what was done to me… to all of us. Dr. Horowitz, I simply want to be fixed… to be cured", X-424 spoke with real emotion.
"Look. I'm going to help you, if I can."
"I was told that you're the expert."
"My assistant was the one helping the people who did this to you. He was pretty good, but he was my assistant for a reason. I cannot promise that the entire process can be reversed, but I promise you that I will leave no stone unturned."
"Fine. You can reach me on this number."
"Okay. So, what's your name?"
A tear formed in X-424's eye. "My name doesn't matter. Just call this number when you have something important to tell me."
"Wait. I'm sticking my neck out! You need to give me something. All I'm asking for is a name."
"You can call me X-424!!", she yelled into the phone then sucked in a slow nostril flaring breath. "My real name was snatched away."
"I see." The line went silent for several seconds. "I'm sorry", Dan said softly.
That tear fell from X-424 eye, rolling down her cheek then dropping to the recently cleaned floor. "I don't need your sympathy Doctor. I need your best work."
"You'll get it", Dan assured her then put the receiver on the cradle.
He was so shocked that he couldn't talk. Everything he'd read in those books said that what had just happened shouldn't have been possible but he hadn't imagined that conversation. He hadn't imagined the true emotions in that young woman's voice. Whatever her deviation was he would find it somewhere in the information.
The mental programming used to make her and those like her was bordering on true genius. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes he wouldn't have believed that somebody would have been able to pull all of those disparate pieces of neural science together into one set of cohesive protocols. The more he read, the more respect he gained for Freddie and for the other scientists who'd put this together.
Dan had no idea that he was the one who had put most of that stuff together while under Freddie's control. He was the genius behind it all. Freddie and Jeff Long had both been along for the ride. Dan had no memories at all from the years and years of work he'd done to benefit Mallster and Freddie, just like he would have no memories of the next two hours.
Before Freddie's untimely death, he had used a much more powerful mind control device to program his boss' mind. Right on schedule the power of the bianzhong kicked in and took over Dan's mind, just like a computer waking up from sleep mode. Dan stood up from his own work station and powered up Freddie's old one. He pulled up the very well hidden files on Freddie's old machine and continued working on the super soldier formulas right where he'd left off a couple of days earlier.
Exactly two hours later, after solving a number of the problems that Jeff Long had sent to him, Dan closed the programs, and powered down Freddie's old work station before moving back to his own. He moved the notebooks from Ian right back to where they'd been before. Under the control of the bianzhong, Dan's mind had made up a seamless scenario to explain what he'd been doing for the last two hours. Now back to himself, he created a new file and dug into the material. Hiring a new assistant could wait for now. He made up his mind to help X-424 no matter how long it took. When he was finished helping her, he'd find a way to free all those super soldiers.
Saturday was Bradley's lightest paperwork day, but plenty of people liked to train hard on their days off. He'd just gotten back from a wonderful lunch with his wife and once he got some paperwork done he was heading home. He came in through the side door and headed straight for his office, bypassing the training area. He collapsed into his chair and began reworking his schedule to accommodate Jan Caufield's training. Usually he'd have pawned off a new member's training onto one of his assistants, but that girl could be one of his assistants if she wanted, and he liked her style. People with her background in boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu would have brought all of their certificates and would have waxed poetically about all the things they could do in a fight. Jan didn't do any of that. She didn't try and hide any of it, but she'd let her skills do the talking. He'd get copies of all of her bonafides later because having a fighter like that training in his gym was great for business.
Bradley brought up the schedule on his laptop when he stopped and looked up. Someone was training out there, hitting one of the bags and he could hear the person's hand speed. This person had machine gun like quickness. There were only three or four people who could produce such rapid fire pops on a bag, and there were only two of them who had so much power behind them. Bradley pushed away from his desk and stood up, hoping that he wouldn't be disappointed when he stepped into the training area. He wasn't.
He saw her legs first, looking like they were purpose built for speed and power. He watched the small muscles of her hip flexors tighten had tense with intricate definition as she lifted herself into the air and executed flying heel kick followed by a blazing combination of punches, knees, and kicks. Her head was tucked in just like she'd been drilled. Her shoulders and arms were so perfectly shaped for what she was doing; they worked to balance out the power of her legs and hips. He watched the flexing of her pecs and the bulge of her traps as she blasted a booming left hook into the bag. She was such a machine that he had to smile.
Her pretty face scrunched up as she put more muscle behind a combination, making the 250 pound bag sway well off of its centerline. She had one of the best cores that Bradley had ever seen, man or woman. She had the type of six pack that people usually saw in anatomy books as some unattainable ideal. It looked like a stack of muscle laid by some divine brick mason. Her obliques were equally ripped and strong. When she twisted into a punch or a kick, her little waist would become chock full of sleek bulges.
She only stopped beating the hell out of that bag when some of her braids came loose from the rope she'd tied her hair into. She sighed and started wrangling her hair. Bradley was about halfway to her when LaShaunta turned to look at him, immediately getting a big smile on her pretty face.
"Look what the cat dragged in", Bradley called and LaShaunta jogged towards him intending to hug him loosely because she was sweaty, but he pulled her into a real embrace. "Where've you been?"
"Here and there", she replied truthfully.
"It's damn good to see you." He patted the back of his hand against her abs making solid slaps against the bricks. "I see you didn't let yourself go."
"No way!", LaShaunta exclaimed with a chuckle.
"Didn't sit on the couch eating Cheetos? Or Doritos or maybe just big cheeseburgers!"
LaShaunta shook her head but had to stop him at the end. "I will occasionally devour a cheeseburger. I'm sorry."
"We're all allowed a vice or two", Bradley said. The smile hadn't left his face since he first saw her. "So you back with us for a while?"
"Back for the duration", LaShaunta replied and wiped some sweat from her forehead. "I mean I can't come all the time cause I don't want to get hurt for track, but we didn't have a meet this weekend."
"You know I can train you around track. We wouldn't want the mighty LaShaunta Turner to lose a race now would we?"
"No, we wouldn't", LaShaunta confirmed.
"You were going at that bag like it had stolen something. Is there anything on your mind?"
LaShaunta was about to brush it
off but then she said, "It's nothing bad. I just got into the ring the
other day, to
spar with a friend and she pretty much knocked me around like she was
the cat and I was the ball of yarn."
"What?", Bradley asked with some skepticism.
"I mean I got my licks in and I almost had her beat, sort of", LaShaunta said then shrugged, "but on the ground she's like an idiot savant."
Bradley doubled over with laugher.
"You better not tell her about the idiot part because I'm wondering if you're accepting new members."
Bradley sucked in a slow breath. "We just added somebody yesterday and she's pretty amazing."
"I mean my friend would have no problem giving you a demo. She'd probably enjoy making your jaw drop because she's an awesome fighter."
"Awesome enough to get you back in the gym."
LaShaunta smiled and shrugged. "Yeah."
"Send her in and I'll take a look, but really with a recommendation like that from you, I think we'll find room for her."
"Great! I'll talk to her tonight",
LaShaunta said then went back to the bag. She wasn't finished with it
yet. Her quads and calves hardened as she delivered a bag shaking kick.
Her face scrunched up as she really dug down and let the bag have it.
Her body responded with a split second of athletic perfection before
the boom echoed around the gym.
Jan drove back towards her neighborhood wondering if she'd given Moira good advice. It was hard to say, but she'd given truthful advice in any case. If she were in her shoes, Jan had told Moira and Ian what she would do, and that was all she could do. Those thoughts were still rolling over in her head as she stopped at the grocery store near her apartment. It was Jan's turn to cook and she had a few last minutes things to grab. She caught some eyes following her for longer than necessary as she walked down the aisles with the little basket hanging from her wrist as she shopped. She was checking the ingredients on a jar when she saw the shadow of a person approaching. She glanced over to her left and instantly her adrenaline began to pump. She felt the power deep inside her itching to get out of its cage, but Jan kept it right where it was.
"Come to accuse me of something else?", Jan asked without actually turning to look at FBI Special Agent Aaron Miles.
"No, not at all", he said without getting too close.
"Oh? Shopping then? I didn't know you lived in Sandy Springs." Jan's voice held all of her vast disdain for this man.
"Truthfully", he began and stepped a little closer. "I came to apologize to you. I had you all wrong, Miss Caufield."
"Oh really?", Jan asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are you doing this under orders?"
"No", he said with a bit of a snicker. "I've actually been ordered to stay the hell away from you."
"I guess we have different definitions of away." Jan made her choice and put the jar into the basket before turning away from Miles and heading down the aisle.
"I know you don't like me, but really… I'm sorry for what I did to you."
Jan stopped and turned slowly. "Apology accepted, but this doesn't mean we're going to become friends." She started to walk away again, but Miles rushed up to her.
"Actually, Miss Caufield there's a problem. Those crimes, the ones with the people with super strength-"
"Enhanced strength. That's what it's called", she cut him off.
"Yes, well I still have some of those cases on my desk. They weren't all removed. I was hoping to ask you some things about-"
"Stop right there Special Agent Miles." Jan held up her hand. "If Agent Wills or MacCallum asked me in on these investigations I'd give them all the help I could, but I'm not helping you do a damn thing. You came to school and tried and alienate my friends, turn them against me!", she tried not to yell as she got closer to him, looking directly into his eyes. "And you accused me of terrorism, of having something to do with Rodney's death", she hissed. "Like I said, I forgive you, but I'll never forget."
She saw the realization come over Aaron face. He nodded. "Okay, I understand. You have a nice day Miss Caufield."
"I'll try", Jan replied as Aaron Miles walked away. She let out a slow exhale when she realized that she was still tense. Jan wasn't sure if she actually hated anybody who still drew breath, but that man was very close. Some people would have needed a stiff drink after dealing with that jerk, but Jan substituted whiskey for her favorite smoothie.
Aaron Miles didn't live in Sandy Springs, he probably couldn't have afforded to. Instead of driving the thirty miles to his house, he drove to the office instead. The entire time he had one question on his mind, 'Who in the world was Rodney?' That was the second time Jan had mentioned that name to him. She'd explained something about him before, but Miles hadn't been paying attention. He'd done enough interrogations though to know that this Rodney was a sticking point. He knew that he could have gotten past all of her other gripes and perhaps gotten her help. She'd obviously patched things up with her friends. A person as powerful as her certainly didn't care about any physical harm he'd caused, and with her family and personal connections she didn't give a damn about being locked in jail. She did care about this Rodney guy though.
Aaron was at his desk with all the files from the terror attacks in Atlanta from the prior year. He searched all the names and all the victims, but didn't see a single Rodney. He tossed the file down and rubbed his forehead, but then realized that he was reading through the civilian list. He had to rummage through some boxes but found the list of government dead. He found what he was searching for right on the first page.
Rodney Cannedy had been a Treasury Police Officer who'd gotten killed at the airport. He'd been shot twice but the fatal blow had been delivered by someone with enhanced strength. A single kick had broken through his ribs and ruptured several organs. Miles set the file down and shook his head.
"No wonder she's mad at that one", Miles whispered to himself. Before he'd become a Treasury cop, Rodney had worked as an attaché at Fort MacPherson. That used to be the point location for Special Programs. Miles couldn't confirm that or that Rodney and Jan had ever worked together, but everything about her actions said that they had. They also said that she must have been fond of him, and that she knew how he'd died.
Miles did a quick search of the family situation of the late Rodney. Perhaps he and Jan had a relationship beyond work, but instead Miles found out that Rodney had been married barely a year when he and Jan would have met. Miles clicked over to the next page, at the finances of the estate. Only then did he actually begin to feel bad for what he'd said.
Rodney Cannedy's wife had just recently given birth to their only child, and two months ago Jan Caufield had set up a trust fund in the baby's name run by a law firm out of DC. Aaron Miles rarely questioned his tactics, and he never questioned his judgment, but at this moment his entire career came pressing down on his head. The ends do not always justify the means.
His apology to Caufield had been somewhat sincere, but mostly it was a ploy to get her help to crack a case that had been on his desk for a long time. If that apology had been true, he'd have known about Rodney, about his wife and child. Miles realized he'd blown that chance. Perhaps he'd get another down the road, but he seriously doubted it.
Sara was gone to a movie with Armen, who had every intention of taking her out to dinner, but Sara had talked him out of it. He was having dinner at the apartment instead. She kept telling him that she didn't care if he spent money on her. If he wanted to buy the movie tickets then she wouldn't object, but beyond that, she would. Alisha had gone to a basketball game. Tech was playing Georgia, and even Alisha sometimes got caught up in rivalries.
LaShaunta came into the apartment and headed straight to her room. She changed into a pair of day-glow green pajama bottoms and her huge bunny slippers before heading out again. The apartment was mostly darkened and she didn't see a light from Jan's room which meant that she was either sleeping or not in there. She headed towards the back of the apartment towards the doors that lead out to the terrace. She looked through the glass doors and saw Jan sitting out there on one of the reclining chairs with a book in her hand and a huge smoothie cup sitting next to her on the deck.
LaShaunta hesitated opening the door, but wouldn't let pride get in the way of something she knew that she should do. She took the opportunity to look up at the sky as she stepped outside, a little breeze blowing one of her long braids into her face and turning a page on Jan's book before she turned it back. LaShaunta grabbed one of the stools from around their table and took a seat on it next to Jan. She laid the book across her lap and looked up, not bothering to ask what LaShaunta might want. If there was one person who didn't beat around the bush it was her.
"Jan", LaShaunta began then paused as pride began nipping at her. She cleared her throat then continued. "I think we should train together."
"What makes you say that?", Jan asked and slurped some more smoothie before looking away.
LaShaunta smiled a bit, realizing that her tall friend wasn't going to make this easy. "I think that maybe, when we were going at each other, you saw a hole in your fight game."
"I did, did I?", Jan remarked with a furrowed brow. "That's strange."
LaShaunta smiled. "I think you prefer to fight opponents your size or bigger, man or woman that doesn't really matter. You've got kicking their various asses down to a science. With smaller people you just use your advantages. They think that they'll be faster than you, but they rarely are. They think they'll be more agile, but probably not, even if they are you know how to use those long arms and legs of yours. But the other day you saw that a smaller opponent who's elusive, is a little faster, a bit more agile, and nearly as strong as you can cause some problems. You don't have a set approach to deal with that kind of opponent, and I think that bothers you. You don't like winning by chance. You like people knowing that you could beat them again and again, on a Tuesday afternoon or Friday evening or just after you brush your teeth in the morning. Tell me I'm wrong!"
Jan was suppressing a smile. She took a long drink from her smoothie before looking up to LaShaunta. "My opponent, what did she learn?"
LaShaunta didn't hide her smile. "She might have learned that she's pretty used to using her advantages too, but if she faces a bigger, taller opponent, who is nearly as fast, slightly stronger, has pinpoint accuracy, balance like an acrobat, and the flexibility of a yoga instructor that things might not go to plan." LaShaunta rocked back in the stool before continuing. "Also, she realized that she might not have been pushing herself hard enough these last few months, going completely against her nature and resting on her laurels." Jan just kept drinking her smoothie until she got near the bottom.
"Are you going to say something?", LaShaunta asked.
"Yeah", Jan began. "How do laurels feel?"
LaShaunta pulled the little backrest pillow from behind her on the stool and hit Jan on the shoulder with it. "About training!"
"About training… I'd say that I'm so glad you came to ask me instead of me having to come ask you."
LaShaunta hit her again. "You mean you've been thinking the same thing?"
"Yeah. I have. All joking aside, you're really good. I've sparred with plenty of girls about your size, but I just bury them. Some of them are faster than me like you said, but I just knock them around. Some are plenty strong, but they can't deal with the angles or my length, but you knocked me to my butt more than once. I can count the number of times that's happened in the last five years… on one hand."
"Sara said your cousins are good fighters too."
"They are. Don't get me wrong, but me, Taylor, and Heather all learned from some of the same people growing up. Our standup game is about equal. It's like fighting copies of each other pretty much. I'm better on the ground, so only Taylor takes me down when we spar."
"But why? You said you're better on the ground."
"You haven't gotten to know her."
LaShaunta smiled. "Well, I'm a member of a club where we can train. It's the most elite place in town. They train several professional fighters in boxing, mma, kickboxing, you name it. I've already talked to the main manager and part owner. He said that he'd make time to give you a tryout. They don't just take everybody, but you'll breeze through the tryout."
Jan slurped the last of her smoothie and twisted up her mouth. "Is that elite training gym called Title Combat Club? And is that manager, part owner, named Bradley?"
"Yeah! How do you know Bradley?"
Jan looked sheepish as she replied, "Because I had a tryout with him yesterday. He accepted me." LaShaunta hit Jan with the pillow again.
"What was that for?"
"Because you chickened out! I came here spilling my guts about my hand to hand insecurities, but you…", she narrowed her eyes, "you snuck around my back and tried to join a gym when I wasn't looking!"
Jan laughed. "Ok so I did sneak, but I was going to tell you."
"Oh you were?!?"
"Of course I was. I'm sure Bradley can teach me a thing or two, but when it comes to sparring, Shaunie I'm sure there is nobody there exactly like you, and you're who I need to train with."
"Aww Jan, how sweet", she said then hit her with the pillow again.
"You are so violent! What'd you hit me for this time?"
"Because I'm hungry and you haven't started cooking yet!"
"Ohhh", Jan squinted and frowned before using some of her quickness to snatch the pillow from LaShaunta and swing it at her, but before the pillow hit her, she disappeared.
"No fair", Jan exclaimed when LaShaunta reappeared next to the door. LaShaunta stuck her tongue out and headed back inside.
She stopped halfway through the doorway and turned back as Jan got up. "Hey, you don't have to cook. We could go out. There's this great barbecue place outside of Chapel Hill that I've been wanting to try."
"Unless you want to drive I don't think so. Armen's coming over with Sara."
"Oh", LaShaunta said. "Well you better get to that hot stove then." Jan waited until LaShaunta turned her back to throw the pillow at her. This time LaShaunta didn't disappear. She turned back after being hit, shaking her head. She picked up the pillow about to throw it back, but then she concentrated on stool and the pillow disappeared from her hand and reappeared on the stool. It wasn't in the right place, but the fact that it was there at all shocked LaShaunta herself.
"Wow. I didn't know you could do that", Jan exclaimed, picking up the pillow to see if it was damaged or something.
"I didn't think I could. I've done it with some really small stuff, but never anything that big."
Jan put the pillow down and started towards the door. "Back when we were with Cassie we didn't get into telling you that being around other gifted people makes you stronger", Jan explained as they entered the apartment. "And once you're linked, that process speeds up somewhat."
"So I'm getting more powerful just being around y'all?"
"As far as I know, we're both making each other more powerful this very second. Even before we all knew about each other's powers, we were still making each other stronger. It actually fuels Alisha's power."
"So we fuel Alisha's ability to make illusions?"
"Yep", Jan replied.
"Interesting", LaShaunta mused as she headed towards her room with Jan right behind her. She stopped suddenly and turned. "Jan, the kitchen's that way!" Jan rolled her eyes and kept walking. LaShaunta laughed and headed into her room. Jan stayed in her bedroom just long enough to drop off her book then did indeed head to the kitchen. She'd been right all along though. Having LaShaunta around was certainly interesting.
Benny stood up from his little desk and stretched his arms high over his head, working out the kink in his back that he'd gotten from sitting so long. He leaned to the side, glancing through the doorway as he stretched some more and saw X-424 sitting at the little kitchen table, munching on toast. Her back was to him and her ash brown hair was loose, flowing across her round capped shoulders. She turned to look out the window and he saw her sublime face in profile. She moved some hair from her face then went back to eating. He wondered what she'd been looking at. Had she seen a bird or squirrel, or just the sky itself? It was so hard for him to figure out what was going on behind those brown eyes of hers.
He came towards her, slowly, admiring her shape as it became clearer in his vision. She didn't look back towards him, although he was sure that she knew that he was there. Every other Femme reacted to Benny's every move, even when they were pretending to be regular people. Not this one. She wasn't pretending to be anything, but what she actually was so fascinated Benny that here he was, in love. He waited until she'd just taken another bite of toast to lean over her shoulder and plant a kiss on her soft lips. She smiled a little, but didn't pull away.
"Good morning", Benny greeted her formally after sitting down in the chair next to her.
"Did you have some breakthrough on the business plan?", she asked and Benny shook his head.
"You're mad at me", he replied and her brow drew together.
"What would make you say that?", she asked him.
Benny grinned. "That's the first thing I've ever figured out about you, the real you underneath the programming. You didn't deny that you were mad."
"If I were mad, I'd be out somewhere tearing big heavy, durable things in half or knocking over full grown trees. I'm not doing any of those things", she replied flatly and took another bite of toast.
Benny laughed then leaned across the table and kissed her again, this time with more passion. His right hand went to the side of her face while his left hand traced slowly down her neck. "I'm excited with the prospects of this business. I've even come up with a name for it!", he exclaimed.
"Oh?"
"Yeah! I'm going to call the concept Cloud Storage."
"Cloud?", she asked with a frown. He had certainly not consulted her about the name, but then she found out that it was too late.
"Gregg White thinks the name is great. Anyway, I love you, not the business model or the plan or even the name. And I've been ignoring you. Please forgive me", he pleaded.
This time she leaned over and kissed him. "All's well", she told him with a little grin.
"Not quite", Benny began. "Pick me up", he ordered and she frowned but obeyed. She put her arms behind his back and lifted him out of the chair like he weighed nothing. He felt along her shoulders and pecs, nothing that they were barely flexing. "Carry me to the bedroom", he ordered now and instead of defying her programming to ask him why, X-424 just went along with it.
She put him down at the foot of the bed and without a word he began removing her blouse undoing the buttons slowly and carefully. He pulled the garment down over her shoulders, revealing the smooth skin and strong athletic muscle beneath. He ran his hands along her shoulders and down her arms before he tossed her blouse to the chair. "You are so beautiful", he whispered and kissed her neck and chin before making his way to her waiting lips. His hands gently brushed her skin as the traced her body. He was an expert at removing bras, but he took his time with this too. X-424's breasts were magical to him. He encircled them with his hands, squeezing them gently. Her body was so lean, but her breasts were so very soft. He watched as her nipples hardened and he took one in his mouth, flicking it with his tongue until X-424 let out an involuntary moan. He looked up. She faced the ceiling, but looked down at him, those big brown eyes narrowing. "Don't stop now", she urged and Benny went to work on the other nipple, taking care with it, feeling X-424's body tremble.
Benny put his hands to her sides and with a bit of effort, lifted X-424 off the floor. He wasn't the weak, sniveling shell of a man that he'd once been. He wouldn't be mistaken for a tough guy, but he was confident in himself now. He spun X-424 around and sat her on the bed. She looked up at him with those eternal eyes and he nearly melted. "That's why I needed you to carry me into the bedroom", he began to explain. "I'm going to need all the strength I can muster because today I'm going to please you."
to be continued....
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