LaShaunta had multicolored war paint on her face and had tied glow lights into her long braids as she danced to a remix of Shaggy's 'Oh Carolina'. A group of guys followed behind her in a loose line as she swayed her body from side to side in time with the remix. She'd wrapped a striped one piece short set around her sleek athletic curves and it was having the desired effect on the male of the species. She turned around quickly, a big smile on her innocent looking face as she got to see just who was following her around. She skated backwards for a moment before pointing at a tall young guy in baggy paints who'd drawn a Kabuki mask his milk chocolate colored skin. LaShaunta curled her finger, bidding him closer. The guy skated ahead of his buddies and grinned down to LaShaunta as he put his hands on her waist, getting a bit of extra thrill when he felt just how hard the body beneath that short set was. LaShaunta hooked her arms around his shoulders as their bodies synched to the music. He ran his hands up for a moment before slowly sliding them over the swell of LaShaunta's hips. Their eyes locked and he got a little grin on his face. While skating backwards LaShaunta began to raise her right leg higher. He watched from close up the muscles in LaShaunta's track honed legs tighten with beautiful detail before she laid her right leg across his left shoulder. His heart rate shot up by fifty, but her new skate partner was too cool to let it show on his face. His grin broadened a little and he ran his hand across LaShaunta's smooth skin, tracing the lines her muscles created.

Sara gained some speed again, going from her easy cruising stance, getting lower like when she used to race her brother years ago. She passed plenty of people, making it halfway around the rink in only a couple of strides. She spun and dragged the brake to slow her down just enough to bend down and tickle the back of LaShaunta's plant leg before speeding away. "Sara!", LaShaunta yelled as the blonde made her escape.

Sara slowed and stepped off the hardwood onto the platform around it, finally sitting down on a bench between two arcade games. She looked around with a smile, half expecting LaShaunta to come up for revenge, but relaxed when she saw LaShaunta still out on the skate floor. She turned to look across the platform to the other rink and instantly found Jan holding court over there. She skated in a group, each person making colored swipes and swirls in the darkness. At the end of the song Jan came skating onto the platform, her strides shortening when she got on the carpet. She saw Sara and headed over. Her long perfectly tapered legs looked amazing with glitter shimmering with a thousand sparkles across their peerless contours. She plopped down next to Sara and exhaled. "Wow this is so much better than that club, whatever it's called", she said with a laugh.

"Oh yeah", Sara agreed and leaned back, showing off her own remarkable shape. She had an impressive body of her own and rarely dressed to show it off, but she had tonight. "The guys at that place should be ashamed of themselves."

"Lame's the word you're searching for", Jan said with a shake of her head. "And I'm not even looking for a guy."

Sara opened her mouth to say something when she jumped suddenly and looked over her shoulder to see LaShaunta there smiling after tickling her. "Look guys, I know the club sucked, but no one can bat a hundred."

"A thousand", Jan corrected.

"Whatever!", LaShaunta exclaimed then sat down next to them. "Where's Alisha?"

"No idea", Jan replied. "I actually don't know how she's skating with that dress she's got on."

"Very carefully", LaShaunta replied with a laugh.

"There she is", Sara said and pointed to Alisha on the floor skating in the midst of five or six guys. She'd managed to squeeze into a dress that would have been tight on Sara, the smallest member of their foursome. Alisha probably couldn't have separated her legs more than a couple of inches, but that didn't seem to matter to the guys. She spun in a circle, creating rings of colors in the shape of her body before moving on. The girls sat there for a moment, catching their breath and surveying the lay of the land until the DJ started playing Sean Paul's 'Get Busy'. They all jumped up and headed to the floor.

Two hours later guys were begging the roommates to stay while they were heading to the skate rental window. The worker behind the skate rental counter was used to handing back sneakers of one type or another but this time he was handing over two pairs of stiletto heels, a pair of strappy heels, and a pair of high boots. "One more!", a guy shouted, giving voice to the thoughts of the others. LaShaunta blew the guys a kiss as the girls strutted out of the skating rink.

The four roommates were laughing as they made their way towards Sara's Hummer a couple of blocks away, listening to Alisha and LaShaunta recount how one guy at the club had tried to proposition them into having a three way with him.

"He was probably joking", Sara said.

"No way!", Shaunie exclaimed.

"He was dead serious", Alisha assured her friend. "He kept talking about some ebony and ivory fantasy!"

Jan just shook her head as they got closer to the overpriced parking garage. They passed the backside of a strip center that was mostly closed at this hour and another parking lot off to their right. A man stood just outside the open gate smoking a cigarette. He eyed each young woman individually as they approached, but only Jan paid him any attention. His eyes locked on hers as she walked past. Jan was used to getting stares, especially when she was dressed to impress, but this was different. That guy wasn't trying to mentally undress them. Usually guys wanted good looking women to linger around, but this man looked like he couldn't wait for the four of them to move on. Jan slowed just before Sara slowed too. She looked down at Sara's face and saw her expression draw distant.

"Oh no! There's another one! He's going to kill her!", Sara shouted and turned to look at the guy by the gate with the cigarette. Jan started running as the man was startled but still reached for the gun in the back of his waistband. The man rushed trying to pull his gun before Jan got to him, but she didn't even glance in his direction. She kicked off her heels as she turned towards the fence. Sara had this one. The gun floated out of his reach and then he went flying off to the left like he'd been hit by a massive invisible punch. "Between two cars!", Sara yelled to Jan. "Four rows in!"

Jan nodded as she released the grip on her power. Strength flooded her already strong body. Her muscles tensing and her speed increasing as she jumped completely over the eight foot fence landing twenty feet past it on top of a concrete planter. She was there just long enough to scan the parking lot with her better than perfect vision. A heartbeat later, Jan calves bulged and her quads flexed with super human hardness as she launched herself into the air once again.

Jacqueline had just gotten off of work at the restaurant when a man came out of the darkness demanding money. All she saw was his shadow and the glint off of the barrel of his pistol. She'd given him all of her tip money, but the stack wasn't big enough for him. She'd tried to explain that there bigger bills beneath the singles, but he hadn't listened. He pushed Jacqueline to the ground making her head bounce off of the asphalt. Blood ran in streaks from the cut near her hairline. Despite her hazy vision and near unconsciousness, Jacqueline attempted to scramble away from her killer as he aimed the gun at the back of her head. She cut her hands and knees trying to crawl faster all the while praying for God to spare her life, but all she saw was the shadow of the man about to kill her like a dog.

Then she saw another shadow on the ground, getting larger like something falling from the sky. There was a vibration when something impacted the ground, and then a series of quick footsteps. The car next to her shook from a hard jolt. A man's grunt was followed by the sound of a crushing blow. Jacqueline heard the metallic clank of the gun hitting the ground, and then the whooshing of air being forced from the gunman's lungs followed by a sound like snapping twigs as bones broke. Boots scuffed against the rough pavement, and for a moment all Jacqueline heard were her own ragged breaths and terror filled pants. She gasped and recoiled when the gunman landed in a heap about thirty feet in front of her. His eyes were closed with one of them swelling as she watched. Blood ran from a dozen cuts on his face and puddled near his badly broken left hand. One of his legs was bent at an odd angle and his torn shirt revealed several broken ribs.

"You're okay now, Jacquie", she heard a woman's voice above and behind her say. She tried to turn around, but ended up falling down flat. "The cops and paramedics are on the way. We'll hang around until they're here though", the voice told her. By the time she turned around the owner of that voice was gone and she saw nothing but the city lit clouds in the sky. "Thank you", she managed to mutter.

"You're welcome", Jan called back just before leaping over the fence again.

"Nice job", Alisha said before offering Jan a high five and her shoes.

"There you go again, being the hero", LaShaunta said with a chuckle.

"Heroine", Sara corrected and LaShaunta playfully pushed her. The first police officer saw the four hot chicks who looked like they'd just come from the club walking into the far parking garage just as he was hopping out of his cruiser. He wondered if they might have seen anything, but didn't even think to stop them. Girls like that would be terrible witnesses, so he rushed into the parking lot with his gun drawn.

Early the next morning, Jan pulled off her headband as she ran through the apartment complex gates then slowed to a walk. Usually she'd have run all the way to her front door, but she'd been pushing herself pretty hard the last few weeks. Between keeping up her normal workout schedule, increasing the intensity of her fight training, plus teaching her own classes, Jan's impressive body had been taxed pretty hard. She wasn't even letting her gift heal her body between all of her activities. She'd gotten pretty darn good at controlling her powers, and she'd basically turned off her latent healing abilities. She could come up with all the reasons in the world why she was doing this to herself, but if she was honest she'd admit that she was doing it because of LaShaunta. Jan didn't think it was fair to spar so hard dishing punishment out but not really accumulating it, so for the first time in her life Jan actually had bruises. LaShaunta had put purple one on her left thigh and her student Raina had put one on her ribcage. Jan had sported those bruises like badges of honor until they'd almost instantly gone away last night. When Jan had let out some of her power to save Jacqueline's life, her body had taken the opportunity to heal itself. She just hadn't let it out long enough to repair everything, because she was exhausted this morning.

She sauntered toward her car thinking back not just on last night, but before that when she'd helped Alisha deal with some assholes who wanted to hurt, maybe even kill one of her young art students. There'd been a time when Jan wasn't sure what she should do with the abilities she had. She'd told her father as much, and like always he'd helped steer her in the right direction. She had done some big stuff with her powers, stuff that had ended up making headlines in the papers, but she wasn't sure if there was a better feeling than helping someone on a person to person level. She was right there in it. She got to see the ugliness up close and she got to defeat it one asshole at a time. That was the thought that put the smile on Jan's beautiful face while she took off her jacket and leaned into the car to retrieve the bottle of water.

Alexandra Young didn't know the reason behind the smile so she did what she always did, assume it was about her. She looked off the balcony as the tall neighbor went to her sporty red convertible, taking time to show off with her sexy long legged strut. She stood next to her car just long enough to pull the scrunchie off and let her hair fall loose then she ran a hand through it before unzipping her jacket, pulling it off slowly to show off the musculature of her upper back and shoulders. Alexandra sucked in a breath as a hot wave of anger made her ears burn. That strumpet was as lean as an athlete with the shape of a supermodel. There had to be a universal law against that sort of thing. Just then the door opened behind Alexandra and her boyfriend Max stepped out to join her, or at least that's what he'd say. It might have been the truth at one point, but now Alexandra was convinced that he only came out these days to see that tall one in her running gear.

Jan downed the rest of the water before bothering to look through her passenger window at the woman staring down at her from the next building over. Her name was Alexandra, or so Jan had been told. She'd moved in with her boyfriend, Max, at the beginning of the month, but Jan hadn't taken the time to introduce herself to either one of them. That wasn't neighborly, but she didn't care. They were both gone a lot anyway. When Alexandra was around the complex she always seemed to be wearing a swimsuit even when the weather didn't call for it. Alex was wearing the same ruby red satin robe from the day before, but instead of the black one piece, she had on a colorful bikini. Jan guessed her new neighbor just wanted to show off more skin this morning.

That was no concern of Jan's although she did wonder why that Alexandra chick was giving her the stink eye. That was when the boyfriend had come out. He'd walked over to Alexandra, kissed her quickly and then made an excuse to lean against the railing to look out over the parking lot. Jan was finished with her water, but stayed stretched inside the car a moment longer just to see Alexandra eye her boyfriend before looking away. Now Jan knew all she had to know. She grabbed her jacket off the roof and locked her car before starting towards the steps to her apartment. She was nearly there but still felt their eyes on her. Plenty of people at the complex gave Jan and her roommates extra stares, but nothing like this. Suddenly Jan turned towards the couple, smiled and waved. Max waved back immediately while with Alexandra there was a bit of hesitation before she responded with a tentative waggle of her fingers. Jan chuckled and walked into her apartment. She figured there was nothing wrong with sharing the awkwardness, besides they'd been the ones staring at her.

"That woman from the next building was staring at you again wasn't she?", LaShaunta asked just before going into the kitchen to collect this morning's cup of coffee.

"You've noticed that?", Jan asked as she kicked off her shoes. "I wonder what her deal is."

"I have some ideas."

"Like I'm after her man?"

"Or he's after you", LaShaunta replied then came out with her wonderfully fragrant cup of steaming brew. "I've noticed her staring at all of us at one time or another since she's moved in, but I think she reserves her worst glares for you."

"As long as they're just glares I think I'll be all right, but you know… I should be the one with the glares. She thinks it's a good idea to walk around in bikinis all the time!"

"Exactly!"

Alexandra was still on the balcony finishing a cigarette while her boyfriend was already back inside the apartment. He said that he had a meeting, but Alexandra knew that the real reason he'd gone back in so quickly was because this morning's show was over. Alexandra snuffed the cigarette out in her palm and hurried inside. "Is her body that much better than mine?", she demanded from her showering boyfriend. When Max didn't reply Alexandra threw open the shower curtain, getting blasted by steam but not caring. "Did you fuckin hear me?!?", she screamed, her face turning red.

"Yeah babe. I heard you", Max replied and lathered his face with soap.

Alexandra pulled off her robe letting it fall to the floor, exposing her bikini clad body. She was quite slim and lean, showing hints of muscle along her arms and stomach. She had pretty long legs on her 5'7" body with the thigh gap that all the girls were starving themselves to get, but nature had put hers there. She had a few too many curves to be called skinny, with a tight little ass going along with her nice hips, and big natural breasts. She put her hands on her waist and pushed out her chest, making her nipples and areolas show easily beneath the straining fabric. "So what's your answer?" Max glanced at her before turning back to let the water wash over his face.

"You're gettin' me pretty excited standing there like that", he said with a grin. "But she's got ya beat babe."

Alex was shocked and pulled off her bikini revealing the parts of her that had been hidden. Max took a longer look at his now naked girlfriend, going over her body from the top of her head down to her multi colored painted toenails. "Beat in every way?", she asked with a bit of a twinkle in her naughty brown eyes.

Max grinned and turned back to the steamy water. "You might have nicer tits, but I haven't seen hers, so I can't say for sure."

"You just like her because she's some amazon. Would you like me better if I was taller like her?"

Max laughed. "Yeah probably, but none of us can get everything we want, not even me."

Alexandra's face turned angry and her arm shot forward as fast as a thought. Her fingers closed around Max's throat, squeezing his neck and lifting him out of the soapy water. Her slim arm flexed up muscle with surprising definition as she snatched her two hundred pound boyfriend out of the shower. Water dripped from his body covering the floor at her feet as she lifted him until her arm was almost straight up. "What about now?", Alexandra asked ominously.

Max's eyes narrowed before he began to laugh. "Her muscles are even better than yours, but you're driving me crazy anyway!" He put his hands on either side of Alexandra's face and pulled his lips to hers. Alexandra's strength faltered and Max's feet touched the floor, but their kiss didn't stop. Her hand didn't leave his throat either. Her fingers tightened as the two of them kissed passionately. Max ran his hands over his girlfriend's deceptive body from her tight little ass to the forearm that held him so tightly. Her fingers kept tightening until she heard Max gurgle a bit. Only then did she relax her grip. By now Max's heart was racing. The meeting this morning was really important, but right at this minute, Max didn't give a damn if he was late or not.

This was the first photo shoot of her life, but she seemed to be enjoying herself as she spun around in the early morning sunlight showing him her broad bare shoulders as she pulled the shawl lower across the middle of her back. "Just like that", Brian urged her with careful diction. Her English wasn't bad for a person who'd never spent time in an English speaking country, but sometimes his Pittsburghese took over and she couldn't understand him. "Pull against the shawl", he directed. "Keep your elbows down. That's it." He watched Jitka's triceps bloom, her lats expand and her shoulders tighten beneath her smooth peaches and cream skin. She was so effortlessly muscular and so damned cute that Brian could hardly stand it. She twisted at the waist, showing her body in sublime profile, her thick chest extending out beyond her tightly muscular midsection. Brian moved to keep the shadows perfect as the world spun beneath him.

Jitka's freckled face went from a burning stare to a radiant smile. She didn't need Brian's direction, just some suggestions. His camera ate her up. She raised her unflexed right arm, the shapes of the muscles were like lumbering giants that were roused when she tightened her fist and bore down. Brian clicked away as her biceps rose and the triceps swelled. Powerful muscles flexed up with hard eared hardness and lush thickness. Her bicep peaked above the shawl like a solitary mound. It was so ripe like a piece of muscular fruit. Jitka turned her head to admire her own rising peak. Her glance became a glare as she tightened her first until her arm shook and she dragged more definition and to Brian's astonishment, more size from her already huge arm. She straightened her arm then curled it again slowly, squeezing and eking out everything she had hidden. Brian didn't have to tell her to hold that pose. Once he'd documented her extraordinary arm and shoulders and lats, he panned back to get the rest of her some more.

Jitka's thighs were stuffed in cut off jean shorts that showed just how dense her shapely muscled legs were. Her thighs swept down to her equally impressive calves. Jitka started flexing her calves, tightening them jump up. She changed positions a couple of times and Brian realized that he was watching her figure out how best to show off how muscular her legs really were. After a few false tries Jitka had her legs right where she wanted them and with a look of concentration, she flexed her tights blasting her quads outward like she wanted. Muscles welled up from deep within powerful legs and Brian snapped photo after photo. Then she lifted one foot off the ground and extended her leg straight out, maintaining her awesome flex throughout. She pointed her toes and her calf carved itself like the rim of some cliff, complete with weathered crags defining its bulging edge.

Brian was following Jitka's lead now, highlighting and focusing on the muscles that she wanted to display. She began to rise, going up on the toes of her plant foot and now Brian got to see what her muscles looked like under some small amount of strain. Brian began walking backwards, taking in all of Jitka's body as she spun towards him, still on her toes. Finally she lowered her other leg, twirled to face away from Brian had it a back double biceps show that made him pause a moment before taking a picture of it. He'd never seen a woman with such thick knotted traps and lats who had never lifted a weight in her life. The shawl was spread across the center of her back billowing in the wind, but it was her lats that looked like sails. The taper of her body was breathtaking as she lowered her fists to her hips and concentrated on spreading her back wider, showing Brian that her lats still had a couple of more inches inside of them, if only she knew how to flex them properly.

"Okay", Brian said reluctantly and Jitka turned to face him.

"Are we finished?", she asked him with her cute accent.

"We better go", before the building's security realized they were on the roof, he didn't add.

"Was I bad… at posing?"

"You were great", Brian replied enthusiastically. There weren't many woman who'd melted his camera lens the way Jitka had.

She smiled broadly then asked almost shyly, "You want to do again soon?"

"I would love to."

The entrance to the Special Holding Unit at the United States Prison, Atlanta was thirty feet below ground, buried into the bedrock itself.  It was so far down that the inmates in the Bunker, as the cell block was called, couldn't even hear the regular inmates when they were in the spacious yard above. Every prisoner in the Bunker was Class S. The weaker Level 1 enhanced prisoners were on the top two floors and the inmates got more powerful as the Bunker went down. Some prisoners had yet to go to trial and were being held while others, like prisoner number 14736-077, had already being sentenced for their crimes.

He'd been calling himself Gary Pulser when he'd been arrested, but the authorities knew that was an alias. It didn't take the FBI long to find out that the real Gary Pulser had died ten years earlier. To the nameless inmate it was a game, perhaps the only game he had left to play. The authorities had scoured records in many countries to find this man's real name, but had no luck until now.

Alexandra thought that she'd be in a bad mood starting a new job, but after her romp with Max she actually felt pretty good. She hadn't had many honest jobs in her life and she was actually on probation in this new job, so despite herself she was going to do the best she could. This wasn't her destination job with the governments shadowy Special Programs unit. It was a stepping stone, a way for her to prove that she was was worth the risk. She had every intention to show the powers that be that she could be very valuable to to them. Max didn't had to go through this step, but then again he hadn't done a nearly a year in jail for strong arm robberies either. In Alexandra's case that charge had been quite literal. She'd started out by simply ripping open cash registers to get at the dough, but then as her need for money and her strength had increased, she'd gone to work on safes. She'd even had a special set of tools to open a safe using leverage that only someone with her strength could produce. She'd turned over a new leaf since then though.

Her coworkers either didn't know about her somewhat shady past or didn't care. Most of them just followed her with their eyes anyway. They called her Slim Sexy behind her back which was fine with her. Alex didn't mind being the center of attention, which was what probably bugged her about her neighbors. Those girls said that they were students, but Alex wondered if that was true. There was a tall brunette, a petite blonde, one with a firm body and huge gravity defying tits, and there was even a black one with an ass that had to be fake. From what Alex could see, those girls could have been very high priced hookers just as easily as college students. All they needed now were a couple more fetish groups and they'd have a full service brothel. Alexandra knew those thoughts were just her jealousy talking but that was okay with her. She had to have some way to keep herself sane.

"Alright Officer Young", the rather portly Lieutenant Smithson began. "This is your first day down on the bottom floor.  Classroom time is over. We keep the baddest of the bad down here. Every prisoner on this floor is a classified as Level 3 enhanced. We have those with super human strength and durability. There is a prisoner down here able to bend light and another one who can augment his body density. I know you're no pushover, but even you need to stay on your toes. Each correctional officer down here is responsible for two inmates per shift. Follow me and let me show you the cells you'll be responsible for today."

Alexandra nodded a lot as Lt. Smithson took her to a chemically enhanced goon who'd been captured in Florida a couple of months back. He was just barely Level 3 enhanced and while she didn't dismiss this inmate's potential for danger, he didn't make her heart rate quicken either. The second prisoner almost made her faint.

The triple cell door was made from one of the strongest alloys known to mankind. Each door cost a million dollars. The special one way window built into the mostly metal doors was one foot square and cost a hundred thousand dollars all by itself. The lieutenant took a peek inside and saw 'Gary' reclining. He stepped aside and Alexandra looked through the glass for an instant then jumped away quickly, her arms and legs quaking.

"What is it?", the lieutenant asked with real concern. "You seen this bum before?"

Alexandra swallowed the lump in her throat and uttered, "Yeah, he's my father."

The last month and a half of LaShaunta's life had been pretty spectacular. She'd gotten back with her friends, was back on the track team; she'd had an amazing girls' night out, and if there was something better than being linked she didn't know what it could be. Of course taking down a drug ring in her home town hadn't been bad either. That operation had gone so smoothly that she could hardly believe it, and she's learned quite a bit about her roommates too.

It didn't take a fancy FBI profiler to figure out that Jan could be intimidating when she wanted to be, overbearing too. Feeling Jan's power was one of, if not the most intense moment of LaShaunta's life. Only Cassie's practiced skill kept it from being overwhelming. Jan assured her that her gift wasn't always boiling hot like that, but Sara and Alisha had told stories about seeing Jan at her worst, seeing her when she was in a state where not even Sara wanted to get close. That was saying something because while Sara's gift didn't pop and crackle like Jan's, it was no less awesome. Jan could have turned those drug hideouts into bloodbaths and Sara could have killed all of those people with her thoughts. Both of them took great pains to keep from killing people unnecessarily though. It showed that aside from tremendous power, her friends had super human restraint.

LaShaunta had learned from the Broker, who studied this sort of stuff, that there weren't many people with the power of those two. Large groups of people couldn't hope to defeat them, let alone people who could challenge them one on one. In some weird twist, most of the people he knew of who could actually fight Sara or Jan straight up happened to either be close friends or in Jan's case relatives. All of their friends weren't powerful or even gifted at all, which to LaShaunta, was one of her roommates' greatest feats. Society wasn't designed for people like them, but both Jan and Sara had figured out how to shoehorn themselves into it. Even though they were apart and above most people in many ways, they chose to maintain healthy two way relationships with regular people when they didn't have to. Of course this situation was normal for Jan and Sara. They'd grown up with their powers. Alisha was a different story entirely.

For expediency people usually talked about Alisha's illusions, but what she did was so much more than that. After linking with her LaShaunta understood that her power shouldn't be thought of as any less than Jan or Sara's because during the linking, Alisha's gift actually had the strength to bind those two immensely strong gifts together. Over dinner Cassie had explained that her mother had said that even she couldn't corral and control Alisha's gift without its owner's complete consent. In many ways Alisha's power allowed her to create the rules around her. Growing up with that ability might have made a person turn down a darker path, but Alisha hadn't grown up knowing about her gift. She often said that she was actually still learning how to use it. That was pretty scary because when LaShaunta had looked around at the faces of the people standing around Carlo, she'd seen true fear. They'd surrendered to Jan and to Sara because they were overmatched and because those two had been holding back, but they were terrified of Alisha. She could pop the treads of a person's reality like popping stitches on a poorly made garment. It was amazing how quickly Alisha had found her footing among the realm of super humans.

LaShaunta was still thinking about all the things she'd witnessed in the last few weeks when she saw Armen coming from the other direction.

"Hey Shaunie", he greeted her first as they approached each other.

"Don't hey Shaunie me", she said and twisted her cute lips into a frown. "You actually embarrassed me the other day after track practice. It was so pathetic." He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "I'm Sara's friend and her roommate. We're going to be around each other a lot. You've got to stop acting like a… like a doofus every time you see me. That's not you. You may look like one, but you aren't really… or at least I didn't think you were."

"I'm not", Armen defended himself. "It's just…"

"Just that every time you see me I remind you that you're being dumb? Look I heard from Jan and Alisha that you used to come over to the apartment all the time, and now you have lame excuses and stuff. You can't avoid Sara because of me!"

"It's hard", Armen admitted with a sigh.

"I've already given up on you manning up and telling Sara the truth, but don't disappoint her, Armen."

"Didn't you disappear for like a year, and you're telling me about manning up!", he yelled with a frown.

"I probably deserve that, but Sara's in love with you. It's way past the infatuation stage, and I don't want to see her hurt!"

"You think I do?"

"I think you're scared. I also think you better get your shit together and treat Sara right!", she jabbed her finger into Armen's rather bony chest then headed into the building with that sexy jock swagger of hers. Armen was left looking at her while she walked through the doors with everybody figuring that he was looking at her ass, but he wasn't. He was thinking about how she, more than anybody else, could push all of his buttons. He was angry at LaShaunta mostly because she was right, as she often was. He reached into his pocket and snatched out his cell phone.

"Hey Sara. Wanna go grab some lunch? After your 1 o'clock? I'll head back to the dorm after class then I'll meet you. Okay great."

Jan walked down the hall as a custodian vacuumed the carpet. She stepped past him with a smile and a soft, "Excuse me." She didn't look back to catch the custodian looking her body up and down before resuming his work. She was more interested in making this visit quick. She had no idea why Brian had texted her to meet him in his room, but as always, Jan had plenty of things to do. "Okay Brian, I hope you're not wasting my time", Jan murmured before knocking while opening the partially opened the door the rest of the way. Jan expected to see Brian, but instead she saw the back of Armen's head. Then she looked past him to what was on the screen.

"Damn it", he exclaimed and minimized the window.

"Oh no, you bring that back up", Jan urged with a growing smile. "Does Sara know you look at this stuff when you're on your own?"

"It's not what you think Jan. I promise!" His voice sounded so earnest, but Armen always sounded earnest.

"I'm sure", Jan dismissed it. "Well bring it back up", she ordered with a smirk. Armen hesitated. "You know Sara's just a phone call away."

Armen hung his head and maximized the screen once again. The image of a pretty young woman wearing cut off jean shorts and the skimpy threads of a t-shirt smiled for the picture. A big superimposed #5 loomed next to her head.

"She's cute", Jan teased. "Do you know her name?"

"I don't want to", Armen replied.

"So who's the next one? If there's a five there has to be a four."

Armen sighed. He had no idea why he'd put himself in this position. He should have just waited for Brian. He sucked in a breath to explain what was actually going on, but Jan seemed so amused that he just held his tongue. He clicked the mouse button and Jan got a smirk on her face as the image with the #4 on it popped onto the screen. The woman in the photo was significantly prettier than the woman in the previous one. Her long brown hair was blowing in the wind as she leaned towards the camera. Her face was pretty with sharp features pursed in a feline like stare. Her eyes were soft though, kind even while at the same time alluring. Her slim sexy body formed most of the background of the image. Her flat stomach which showed traces of a six pack was in the shadows created by her large breasts. She had her hands on her hips and show off a bit of leg in the photo too. They were a little skinny in Jan's opinion, but not in everybody's. Jan smiled as she annaylyzed the picture again because now she finally got to see what Alexandra looked like when she wasn't scowling.

"What is this site anyway?" Armen scrolled the screen so Jan could read 'My Hot Neighbor' then she laughed. "That figures. Ok, let's move on." The third place image came up and Jan instantly compared herself to the woman in this photo. While Alexandra was hot and all, this woman took that up another notch. Her body was shapely and very fit with a nice rack too. She had nice symmetry to go along with the rest of her package and Jan knew that it took hard work to achieve that. From top to bottom the woman in this photo was quite pretty in Jan's opinion. She didn't think the nameless woman's face was in the same league as her own, but faces were fairly subjective anyway.

"How did you find this site?"

"I didn't, but since we've come this far", Armen began. "I might as well show you." This time when he clicked the mouse button he didn't look at the screen.  He looked right at Jan and saw her face flush as red as he'd ever seen it.

"Wait! Wait! That's a picture of me!!!", she exclaimed and pointed at the screen. She saw herself from several months earlier just as she's been stepping onto the pool deck after a ride down the longest waterslide at the amusement park near her home in Maryland. She had a big smile on her face, and the sunlight had been just right to her eyes shine like they'd been colored in with brilliant blue markers. Her hands were on either side of her head as the image caught her just before sweeping her wet hair back over her shoulders. Jan's hot pink bikini had been tasteful, but it hadn't hidden much of her ultra fit body either. It was all out there, on the internet for people to stare at and to rate. She remembered getting out of the pool, but she didn't remember anybody taking her picture. She felt violated, and yet read a couple of the perverted but glowing comments about her just the same.

"Go ahead and show me number one", Jan said, Armen detecting some heat in her voice and a bit of receding disappointment. It wasn't that Jan thought of her herself as the most beautiful woman in the world or anything like that, but in her estimation while they were very pretty, she was in a completely different league than Alexandra or the mystery woman in third place. Jan's ego told her that on a site full of random amateurs she should have had a good chance at being number one.

Armen clicked and Jan's hand went to her mouth. The woman in the image with the #1 plastered on it was absolutely gorgeous from top to bottom. She wore a black one piece swimsuit with cutouts along the front, back, and sides. There was enough copper toned skin showing to get anybody excited. She had no best features. Her breast, hips, waist, butt, legs, breasts and everything in between were overwhelmingly perfect. Her light brown eyes were half closed as she looked past the camera to something behind it while her luscious mane of jet black hair tumbled down near her round backside. Jan backed up and snatched out her phone.

"You know who this is?", Armen asked.

"Shhh."

Lisa Sanchez had just gotten to her office after going to a breakfast meeting with some Saudi businessmen that had turned into a brunch meeting that had turned into a lunch meeting. This was Lisa's first business meeting with anybody from The Kingdom, and she hadn't known what to expect, but they must have been charmed because not only had her firm gotten the advertising contract on one of their American companies but on three other subsidiaries as well. It had been a very nice morning for Lisa and all of her employees. As she sat down in her comfortable chair she realized that her team might be growing very soon. That might mean she'd need more office space, which meant that she'd probably get a new glass office with that smoky privacy effect that she'd seen on television. Of course she'd have to worry about gifts to herself later. She was halfway through checking her emails when her cell phone rang. She was so behind that she almost ignored it, but glanced over and saw Jan's name.

"Hey", she answered.

"Lisa are you near your computer?", Jan asked rapidly.

"Umm yeah."

"Cool", Jan replied. "Go to myhotneighbor.com."

"Ok", Lisa asked wondering what all this was about and why she was typing in some sketchy sounding url.

Jan heard Lisa typing then looked down to Armen. "What's the login and password?" Armen frowned and Jan poked him in the back. "Come on Armen don't make me hurt you!"

"Fine", he agreed and read from a sheet of paper near the monitor.

Jan listened to Lisa type again. "Now go to number two."

"Wait that's you!", Lisa exclaimed. "Did you know about this?"

"Not at all. Now click to number one."

"That ME!!!", Lisa yelled loudly enough for her employees to hear. She leaned close to the screen in disbelief. She'd been at a beach party for a client, celebrating a successful product launch. The picture looked like one that would be used in a magazine to advertise perfume or some high end resort. It was actually a really good shot with the beautiful model near the center with the out of focus people in the background setting the mood and focusing the eye on the model. It was too bad she wasn't getting a dime for being that focal point. Lisa wondered who she could send her bill to. That thought made her laugh and in a moment Jan was laughing with her.

"You know Lisa, I just realized that my ego doesn't like losing, but I figure if I'm going to be the second hottest neighbor at least I lost to somebody who I think is beautiful."

"Aww thank you Jan. This honor, if you wanna call it that, is kinda flattering but mostly creepy."

Jan laughed again. "I bet Alisha could find out who owns this site and maybe the two of us could pay them a visit."

"This is what Brian wanted to show you", Armen spoke up. "He found an image from one his photo shoots on the site without his permission, but then he found you."

"And Lisa too", Brian said after entering the room. He'd hoped to get back before Jan arrived, but he'd been running late all day after his morning shoot with Jitka. "Yeah I mean, I already know you two are hot enough to scorch the earth, but I figured you might want to know that the internet thinks so too."

"So who takes these pictures?", Lisa asked through Jan.

"People submit them from all over the place. Anonymously of course", he replied. "Oh and tell Lisa I said HEY!"

Lisa chuckled. "Hi Brian."

"And Jan, they have an archive on the site. You were number one for three or four months in a row if that makes you feel any better", Brian told her then smirked.

"Don't make me hurt you Brian", she said back and he laughed. "You know, I should show this site to Taylor. She'd probably submit her own canned voyeur shot just to see what would happen."

Brian snickered. "She probably would."

"You know Jan", Lisa began. "I've never met this cousin of yours, but now I really want to."

Jan's mind instantly went back to forgetting to pick up her cousins for the linking, then it went to Cassidy. "Oh, since I've got you on the phone", she began then walked out of the room. "Do you know what's bothering Cassie?" Jan heard Lisa give a long sigh.

"Do you have a minute to talk?", Lisa asked as Jan continued towards the stairwell.

Armen watched Jan walking out of the room with the phone to her ear before turning back to the screen to look at the woman who was in first place on the sight. "Man, I can't believe they know each other. And you know her too?"

"Yeah. I've hung with Lisa before", Brian confirmed and closed the web browser.

"Really? Man, you're always surrounded by beautiful women. You are literally the luckiest guy on the planet."

"Uh huh", Brian began and sat down on his bed before looking up at his roommate. "Don't you have a beautiful woman of your own that you're supposed to meet for lunch?"

"Oh shit", Armen yelled then rushed out the room.

Brian grinned and shook his head after Armen slammed the door behind him. He could just imagine his roommate sprinting down the halls and taking the stairs to avoid the relatively slow elevator. He'd probably be a sweaty heavily breathing mess by the time he sat down next to Sara.

Brian grabbed a soda from the fridge and just about to pop the top when there was a tentative knock at the door. "Come on in", he called and smiled when he saw Jitka stick her head inside. "It's okay", Brian said and motioned for her to come in. "Hey, what's up?"

A look of doubt crossed her cute freckled face, but Brian watched as she brushed her fears aside. "You said you had fun this morning", she half asked and half stated.

"I loved it", Brian confirmed.

A slow smile spread on her face. "I can do again. I have time if you do."

"I always time. We can do another shoot in the next day or two. Let me scout out a good location first."

"Great!", Jitka exclaimed. Brian wasn't sure everybody how else's week was going, but so far his had been fantastic.

Armen came over to the apartment to eat and watch movies that night so Jan couldn't talk to her roommates about Cassie's problem. She might have been willing to talk about what had happened to Cassie in front of Brian. He was about as much a part of their group as any ungifted person could be, but Sara would have been mortified if Jan spilled their secrets to Armen. So she kept her mouth shut. It was unusual for Jan to turn down a chance to watch a movie that she hadn't seen, but she went to her room early while everyone else enjoyed themselves. She ended up talking to her parents and to Thomas for a while before drifting off to sleep.

The next day her morning run wasn't working at clearing her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about Cassie, and what she was going through. Jan wanted to badly to just call her and talk about it, but with hurt that personal and that deep there was a chance Cassie would push Jan away. That might ruin any opportunity to really make progress, so Jan kept thinking. She was in the residential areas before she realized it and the kids would be there at the top of the hill waiting. The smile on her face was genuine as they came into view. A group of them lined up for high fives while another group tried to mimic Jan's stride instead of trying to keep up. She laughed, but didn't slow down until she heard that engine revving up the hill again. She motioned for the kids to stay out of the street, but ended up sprinting ahead to grab a little girl as the car zoomed past. This time she got a good look at the driver from a few days earlier. He hadn't even turned his head to look at the kids he was speeding past. Jan smiled back to the kids and waved without saying a word this time. She was so upset that it would have showed in her voice. Instead she sprinted up the other hill and looked back to make sure no eyes were watching her. She released a trickle of rage and felt the rush of power flow through her immediately. She stared down at the Mercedes as it got to the stop sign, and sped up to superhuman levels for a couple of seconds, practically leaping to the side of the car from the top of the hill.

The driver was in the middle of a sip of coffee when he turned to his left, startled. That hot jogger chick was on the other side of the glass. He set his coffee down and lowered the window a few inches. "Yeah?"

Jan had hoped to be polite, but his tone killed that thought. "Could you slow it down a bit through here? The speed limit's 25 and there're kids waiting on the bus up there. You've almost hit one of them two days in a row."

"Their parents should tell them to stay out of the damned street!", he yelled and wanted to pull off, but a car was coming so he had to wait.

"Why are you being a jerk about this?"

"And why do you give a damn?"

"Just slow down", she urged emphatically. "How hard is that? Or find another way around the construction. Just don't do it again", Jan warned then jogged away.

"What ya gonna do, call the damned cops!", he yelled after her. "Whiny fucking bimbo", he grumbled with a shake of his head then stomped onto the accelerator. Jan turned as the Mercedes wheels spun kicking up dirt and gravel and rubber as he made the turn. With the mood Jan was in, she was half a second from chasing after him, snatching him through his windshield and taking out her frustrations. Instead she sighed and continued on her way.

Alexandra puffed on her cigarette as the tall one came home from another run, strutting across the parking lot with her hands on the small of her perfect little back. Something was different today though. She was off her game. There was something going on behind the scenes and that brought a little smile to Alex's lips. "Trouble in paradise?", she muttered and to her surprise the tall girl looked up as if she'd heard her. That couldn't be, but even after the tall girl walked away, her quick glance lingered. There'd been a look in those ultra blue sapphires that for a moment made Alex wonder if she'd pegged that tall girl wrong. She took another puff then looking over to see Max getting his daily peek in before heading to the shower. Alex wasn't even concerned with him at the moment. She had her own meeting this morning and her own heavy thoughts to deal with, regardless of what that tall bitch had going on in her life.

The memory of that look just wouldn't go away though. That split second glance clearly conveyed that the tall chick wouldn't take an ounce of shift of anybody. Alex could respect that. Although she wouldn't have thought that a woman beautiful enough to tie up traffic would even have the capacity to think deeply about anything. Alex thought she'd back off of the irrational hate for a while, after all that tall neighbor hadn't actually done anything to her anyway. This time Alex crushed the cigarette in her fist before walking inside. She was the one with the important meeting today. She might be willing to make Max late when he was going alone, but there was no way she'd make herself late. "Hurry out of the shower Max! You take forever!"

"If you don't choke me I won't!", he fired back and she smiled realizing that it might be the last time she did that for the rest of the day.

Before she'd gone back to the bedroom, Max cracked the door and stuck his dripping wet head out. "Besides babe, I want to go with you."

"You don't have to", Alex said back and Max sighed.

"Yes I do."

Jan couldn't emotionally take her neighbor staring at her this morning. She didn't really know what her problem was but jumping up to the balcony to ask the skinny chick personally had crossed Jan's mind. Of course that would have only added a problem rather than eliminated one, and she certainly didn't want to add stress. A little while later she was standing in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom seeing how the new pair of dark blue jeans she'd just ordered looked on her. They were some new style from the Bay Area. They were tight as hell but made her long perfectly shaped legs look amazing, even more amazing usual, if that was possible. She sat down in front of her keyboard and next to the brand new guitar that she'd yet to learn to play to put on the knee high boots she'd gotten the week before. After seeing Taylor's boots Jan had decided to order a pair of her own. She stood just over six foot five inches as she glanced at her reflection in the mirror again then slipped on a red and purple blouse. After wrapping an extremely cute brown leather belt around her tight little waist, she stepped outside her room ready to meet the day. Jan saw her friends there and wanted to tell them what she'd learned about Cassidy, but there wasn't time. They'd all meet up for lunch today. She'd tell them then.

Alexandra felt half a fool in a smart looking business suit and high heels, feeling more like a fraud with each step. She'd never been to a Federal Building, not through the front doors anyway, and despite what she'd tell him later, the fact that Max was at her side made her feel so much better. She had to force herself not to take his hand in hers as they headed to the office. After getting through security using their ID badges and being pointed in the right direction they ended up inside a conference room. At least it wasn't an interrogation cell, Alexandra thought to herself as she accepted a glass of water from an agent.

It wasn't long before a group of serious looking people came in. Max greeted a couple of them shaking their hands and calling them by name while Alex could only shake and smile at each person who bothered to greet her. "I'm Special Agent Harry Wills and don't be alarmed by these people here. They're part of the team that's been investigating inmate 1473-346. A couple of them flew down from Washington today just for this meeting."

Alex didn't know if she should be flattered or what.

"You told Lt. Smithson that the prisoner is your father, but on your birth certificate and on your application you put you father down as Mike Young. This morning I checked and I wasn't able to connect him to any Mike Young born in the last hundred years in the US, Canada or several other countries."

"Yes sir", Alex began then took a deep breath. "Mike was a name he used often. It's the name he put on the marriage certificate so that's the name my mother put on my birth certificate."

"Ok", Agent Wills began after several other agents finished taking notes.  "So who is he? These folks won't admit it, but we'd just about given up ever finding out his real name."

"His name is Aeneas Millington Young", Alex told the assembled group. They turned pages and scanned dozens of names before realizing that his real name hadn't even been on any of their lists.

"He's 49 or 50 from Wichita, Kansas." A bespeckled agent typed away on his keyboard before leaning back and showing others the screen. They'd found his birth certificate in seconds and run a quick background check, but Aeneas Millington Young hadn't had a parking ticket, filed taxes, or so much as registered an address since 1979.

"Are you his only child?"

"As far as I know."

"Your mother's maiden name was Virginia Canters. I have her marriage license here to Mike Young, but no divorce record on file", the agent with the computer said.

"Is there a question there?", Alex asked testily.

"Look Officer Young, we're trying to work up a quick life history on a very dangerous prisoner", another agent exclaimed.

"You don't have to tell me how dangerous he is. I'm shocked he got caught and arrested in the first place. It probably took a hundred agents."

"No", Agent Wills spoke up for the first time in a few minutes. "It took one former Special Programs agent to defeat and apprehend Mr. Young, as I can now call him. And from now on, I'll ask  all the questions", Agent Wills told the rest of the people at the table. "It'll be simpler that way. So Alexandra, what was your relationship like with your father?"

"It wasn't much of one", she said simply.

"Please elaborate. Was he absent, an alcoholic or abusive?"

"Abusive?", Alex repeated softly then looked to Max before locking her eyes on the glass of water in her hand. "Look, he and my mother were really only married for a couple of years despite never divorcing. He told her one day that he was tired of being tied down so he left. That's what I heard happened because I hadn't been born yet. Mom hadn't even had a chance to tell him that she was pregnant. Anyway, I didn't meet my father until I was seven years old. He came to the apartment where we were living one day out of the blue. I could tell Mom didn't know he was coming, but she didn't seem upset to see him either. They went into the kitchen and had a little talk. That's when she told him that I was his daughter.

"I was so excited. I never thought I'd get to meet my father because my mother hardly talked about him. He walked over to me kinda slow. I was ready for a hug or a kiss or just a hello. Instead he grabbed me by the back of my head and threw me through the wall face first. I ended up two floors down in the outside stairwell covered in debris too shocked to even cry. Mom was hysterical but he calmly walked down the stairs and stood over me. He told Mom that she hadn't been lying, I probably was his kid. Then he reached into his pocket and handed her a big wad of cash. I didn't see him again for two years." Alex was shaking despite her desire to remain professional. Max leaned over and put his hand on her arm.

"Was there ever any violence between your mother and father?", Wills asked and Alex shook her head.

"Not that I saw. He didn't act like he loved my mother, but he didn't hurt her or even argue with her."

"What about you? Were there any other violent outburst towards you?"

This time Alex drew in a deep breath before she spoke. "Mom got hurt on the job and couldn't work for a while so he actually paid the bills. We weren't living rich or anything, but he kept the rent paid and the utilities on. He even sent a ride to get Mom to the doctors and back every now and then. He only came around from time to time though. But one day after cheerleading practice my junior year in high school, he showed up and told me to hop in his car. We went for a long drive out to the middle of nowhere to a crumbling, deserted town. He told me he just wanted to stretch his legs before the rest of the trip.

"I remember yawning and stretching my arms over my head before he turned to me with the most evil, hateful look on his face and punched me so hard the concussion wave broke the car's windshield and headlights. I went flying into a rotting barn and after breaking through a couple of the supports the damn thing came down on me. At first I thought he was going to leave me there to die or be crushed or whatever, but he came for me, throwing huge timbers around like twigs digging me out.

"He picked me up and tossed me in the air just high enough for him to punch me again, harder. I flew back so fast that when I hit an old tractor it split in two and I rolled another twenty feet. He was still coming for me, and I knew I had to fight or he was going to kill me. So we fought there in that old town. We destroyed every building that had been standing. The roads got torn up and the sidewalks busted to dust. I don't know who that agent was who captured my father, but they have to be pretty badass because I hit him with old cars, uprooted trees and my fists… so many times that I couldn't count. I hit him as hard as I have ever hit anything in my whole life but he just kept coming and coming. We fought until I exhausted myself. He was bleeding and bruised and practically naked. I was... I was face down in the dirt waiting for him to kill me because I couldn't even lift my arms to defend myself anymore.

"He staggered towards me, picked me up and said… 'You fight pretty damn good for a string bean. When you get home tell Ginny I'm done. Tell her I said you're strong enough to earn money yourself.' He dropped me and I didn't see the bastard again until yesterday in that cell. I wish Mom was still alive so she'd get to see that the jerk finally got what was coming to him." Alex made her hands stop shaking long enough to take another drink of water.

Agent Wills looked at the agents sitting around him before saying, "We're taking a break." The other agents understood. Most of them had been affected by Alexandra's tale too. While they couldn't relate to picking up cars or uprooting trees, they could understand how dealing with an absent abusive father might affect a child. When there were just three people in the room, Agent Wills walked over to some cabinets built into the wall. "Do you want something stiffer than water? I bet you need it after that story you just told."

Tears welled in Alexandra's eyes and she chuckled weakly. "Got some gin down there?", she asked jokingly, but Agent Wills produced a bottle of Beefeater and poured Alex what would have been a triple shot for a normal person.

"That was really brave what you just did", Agent Wills told her and handed over the glass.

"I told the truth. I'm just glad I could help", Alexandra said and downed all the gin in one long pull.

"The people in DC didn't want to hire you and one of the higher ups even put his foot down. Special Agent MacCallum's not here today, but he's the one who proposed the probationary position just for you then got it pushed through. If he hadn't we'd still have a John Doe locked up down there in the Bunker", Agent Wills explained.

"You know Agent Wills, I just want to tell you that the reason Mom never reported any of the crimes she knew my father had done was because she didn't want any cops getting hurt trying to arrest him. Plus she didn't think there was a jail that could hold him."

"He said as much the night he was arrested", Agent Wills told her with a sideways grin.

Alex looked down at her empty gin glass before saying, "I used to think the same thing about myself. It was pretty comforting, but not anymore. If those cells can hold my father, they can certainly hold me."

"Me too from the sound of it", Max chimed in.

"Back when your mother was living she'd have been right", Agent Wills agreed and poured Alex another glass full of Beefeater. "The engineers have made lots of progress on that front in the last several years. But if I read your jacket correctly, Officer Young, you did your time in juvenile detention without breaking out."

Normally Alex would have laughed but she just chuckled and drank another half a glass of gin. "I broke out all the time… almost every night! The concrete floor of my cell was poured in two pieces and one of them had come loose from the wall, so all I had to do was lift it up enough for me to squeeze out. Then I had to lower it slowly enough for it not to make a big noise. I broke the lock off an access door in the basement, and I found a hatch that lead to the storm water drains and out I went. I actually held down a job when I was in jail, working the night shift at Taco Bell." All Agent Wills could do was laugh and shake his head.

"I know what's wrong with Cassie", Jan announced to her roommates as they sat inside the food court at Georgia Tech. Jan explained that Lisa, Cassie, her mom, and Ian had been right in the middle of that terrorist shootout in Chicago.

"Oh she was there?", Sara said and shook her head. "She must have been terrified."

"It gets worse", Jan assured her. "She was on the roof, about to die, but like what happened with you and her in Florida, we've linked so many times that she can share powers so long as the other person doesn't resist. Anyway, she used Lisa's strength to keep from getting crushed to death, and then she came down into the building. Long story short, she got shot several times, then she used an ability that she didn't know that she had and deconstructed three guys piece by piece until they turned to piles of dust."

"What? Dust?", LaShaunta asked a little too loudly.

"Shot!", Sara tried not to yell.

"Yeah, dust and shot, well piles of carbon really and she's fine now. You guys saw her. Apparently Mrs. Redwine was able to heal her."

Alisha frowned. "She can heal people like Yonatan?"

Jan shook her head. "No, Lisa said that this was completely different from what Yonatan did, but the results were the same I guess."

"Who's Yonatan?", LaShaunta asked.

"A guy who just popped out of nowhere last year and healed me from a probably fatal gunshot", Alisha explained.

"Probably fatal?", Jan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Alisha winced thinking back on the pain. "Healed me from a fatal gunshot wound and just a couple months ago he healed Sara from a ruptured blood vessel and a serious concussion."

"Sounds like a cool guy. I'd love to meet him, but back to the dust."

"Yeah the dust", Jan began. "It's freaky for sure. Mrs. Redwine and Lisa had a long conversation about a usually dormant abilities that the women in her family have. Extremely stressful situations can make them manifest themselves though."

"Getting shot is certainly stressful", Alisha confirmed with a sigh, thinking back to Oklahoma again. "You know, I'm used to being surrounded by people who can knock my head off or crush me into a pile of human jelly, but for whatever reason the idea of getting turned to carbon dust sounds harsh to me."

Jan nodded. "According to Mrs. Redwine, it's as painful as it sounds, but Lisa landed right in the middle of that energy and she wasn't injured at all. It turns out that it only works on non-gifted people."

"That's some relief, I guess", LaShaunta said for the group.

"Cassie's been struggling with what she did", Jan said with a sigh.

"Poor Cassie", Sara lamented and pushed her food away, having lost her appetite.

"I know. I remember when I went through that", Jan said.

"Yeah. We've got to help her", Sara put in.

"How?", Jan asked.

"You should go talk to her", Alisha suggested to Jan. "I mean I struggled after that night on the ship, but it didn't hit me hard right then. It took a while for me to realize what I'd done while you figured it out right away… just like Cassie."

"I can try, but there's nothing I could tell her that she probably hasn't thought about already. To be honest, I didn't start getting over how I felt until my dad talked to me one night."

"Would Mr. Caufield talk to her?", Sara asked.

Jan shrugged. "I can ask him."

Jack Caufield was back in his office at CSB Systems in Bethesda talking to his brother and sister-in-law Amber. They were supposed to be having a conversation about how to handle his leave of absence from the company, but it had turned into a regular conversation. "So how was your trip back to the CIA?", Drew asked his older brother.

"Not terrible", he replied with a little chuckle. "They told me that I'm pretty much in a holding pattern until they figure how to use me, but if there's one thing I remember about working at that place it's that you shouldn't believe everything they tell you."

Amber grinned. "It's like a novel… he was out of the business, living his happy life and then they drag him back in."

"Only in novels would they throw an over the hill washed up former operator back into the stew", Jack said and laughed.

"You didn't seem too over the hill when you went in there and rescued Ted", Amber reminded him.

Jack laughed again. "I had to soak in ice baths for a week after that. The guy at the convenience store down the street from the house probably thought I was throwing one hell of a party."

Everyone shared a chuckle. "So have you told Jan and Thomas yet?", Drew asked.

Jack sighed. "Not yet. Thomas knows something's going on, but I haven't talked to Jan about anything. Of course there's not much to talk about at the moment."

"That'll probably change", Amber said with a shrug.

Jack knew that she was probably right as he sat back in the chair then his cell phone rang. "Oh hey Pumpkin!", he greeted his daughter like usual. "You seem kinda down", he said. Amber and her husband took the cue to leave. Jack would get back together with them later. Jack got up and closed his office door a moment after Amber and Drew left. Jan went on to explain in very general terms the problem with Cassie. Jack leaned back in his chair as he listened.  "I tell you what Jan, let's invite Cassie over for dinner Friday night, if LaShaunta doesn't mind bringing everybody. And ask Lisa if she wants to come too. I think it'll be nice for us all to catch up."

When Alex had left the FBI offices she'd felt a little fragile but fine. Her mood had declined steadily during the drive back to Sandy Springs. By this point she didn't like anything. She didn't like the area or the people or her neighbors. She could barely tolerate Max either. He saw the look on her face and knew that telling the agents about those parts of her past had taken more out of Alexandra than a couple glasses of gin could quickly replenish. She wouldn't drink any more tonight no matter how mad she got because she'd learned the hard way that too alcohol and strength like hers didn't mix. She'd just be angry, distant, and hurt the rest of the night. Max opened the door on the new Mercedes-Benz his brother had bought for him and held his breath hoping Alex wouldn't slam the passenger door when she got out. She didn't and all seemed well until out of the corner of his eye Max saw a shiny red Nissan 350z pull up. The engine had barely stopped turning before Jan hopped out looking like a million bucks in her skin tight jeans and knee high boots.

Her face was buried in her phone as she headed towards the mailboxes. Max's eyes traveled to the stunning, temporarily six and a half foot tall beauty and just wouldn't leave no matter how much he wanted them to. Alex saw Jan too and that hot wave of jealousy swept through her again only this time she was already pissed off. She just wanted to get up into the apartment as quickly as possible, but when she turned to Max he wasn't moving towards the steps. He wasn't even looking in Alex's direction. He was looking at that tall bitch.

Jan finished a text to Thomas and looked up from her phone just long enough to make sure she was still heading towards the mailboxes and not in the opposite direction. She saw Max and a shape that was probably his girlfriend and was going to keep going but instead decided that the stupid little rivalry should probably end, so Jan looked to Max and smiled. That was the worst thing she could have done, and Max instantly knew it. He looked over to Alex, but she had already moved to block Jan's path.

"You see something you like?", Alex demanded angrily.

Jan knew she should have just kept walking to the mailboxes, but she also knew that she wasn't going to do that. "No, not really", Jan replied flatly and kept walking at an angle to go right past a fuming Alexandra who moved to block Jan's path again.

"Are you trying to badmouth my man?"

"Not at all", Jan declared and stopped a few inches from Alexandra, purposefully towering over the smaller woman. In those boots the ends of Jan's ash brown locks barely reached the top of Alexandra's head. "He seems like a nice enough guy. Cute too. The only strike I can find against him is that he's dating a fuckin' skank like you!"

Alex looked like she was ready to explode. Suddenly Max was there pulling her back, but not before she shoved Jan in the chest making her back up a couple of steps. "I'm going to kick the shit out of you!", Alex screamed at the top of her lungs. That bitch's grin almost made Alex throw Max to the roof.

"Don't start something you can't finish", Jan warned, her expression changing from an amused smirk to dangerous scowl. Alexandra looked like she wanted to tear Jan limb from limb.

"She's had a hard day", Max tried to explain. He just hoped Jan didn't do anything stupid. He was only holding Alex back because she didn't want to hurt him, but any more provocations and he knew what would happen, or he thought he did. He looked up when light spilled out from the inside when Jan's apartment door opened. The blonde one came out with that lanky boyfriend of hers at her side. She didn't say anything, just looked, but Max could see on her face that this one wasn't afraid of conflict either. Even the boyfriend didn't seem to be scared of any confrontation. Max knew that they should be.

"We all have bad days", Jan said calming herself down a little then looking up to Sara and Armen before turning to Max and Alex. "Don't take your problems out on me." Jan sighed and continued to the mailboxes.

Max couldn't get Alex into their apartment fast enough. He shoved her inside the door, closed it and let out a sigh of his own. "I'm sorry", Alexandra blurted urgently before Max had even turned around. "Don't be mad at me. You don't have to… I already know… I'm so sorry." Max shook his head a little then walked over to his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her trembling shoulders just as the first tear fell from her eyes.

"It's okay, babe. Really, it's fine. Nothing happened. Just think about what you're building. You're gonna have a life, a real one. Not the one your father tried to make you have. You can't let somebody get under your skin like that, and to be honest babe, she hasn't even done anything."

Alex gave a weak laugh. "But doesn't she just look like a rich bitch?"

"Maybe", Max allowed. "She seemed alright just now though. I mean that skank come back was pretty nice." Alex lightly hit Max in the shoulder but didn't push him away.

"Wow that was almost intense", Armen told Sara as they went back inside. "I wonder why that skinny girl would even want to fight Jan."

Sara shrugged. "Maybe she knows something the rest of us don't."

"Like maybe she's a champion MMA fighter!", Armen exclaimed and sat down next to his girlfriend. "Jan would probably kick her ass just the same."

Sara chuckled. "Probably", she agreed.

Armen snapped his finger then. "That's where I saw her before! Number 4 on the website is your neighbor!"

Sara frowned. "What website?", she asked just as Jan walked through the door.

Jitka chuckled. "This won't tire me. This is easy. I could do all day long!" To punctuate her statement, Jitka straightened her arm and flex again, harder. She bit her lip and poured everything she had to into it. Brian usually moved a lot when he did a shoot, but not this time. He walked along this rooftop just enough to keep Jitka's body in the perfect light as she maneuvered and bent herself into one sexy shape after another.

She'd brought more outfits this time and had paired a bikini top with a pair of tight shorts. Brian hadn't expected on a natural muscle girl like Jitka for her six pack to be so defined, but it certainly was. Her abs had been another part of her body that she'd often tried to hide over the years. She didn't understand why she had to have those blocky old cubes of muscle. Just like with the rest of her, Brian let his camera show Jitka how wonderful her midsection was. He was nearly hypnotized by it as she rolled her hips from one side to the other. She smiled as Brian went further down the rabbit hole shooting image after image of this Czech muscle woman.

After a few minutes the smile fell from her cute face and she stared right at Brian through his camera lens as she cranked her arms down into her a powerful crab flex. Her big lush muscles leapt towards Brian and his camera. Her traps ballooned like they'd been sprinkled with some kind of magic growing dust and her chest was bigger and more defined than it had been during their entire first session. Jitka threw her leg forward and flexed her big hard thigh, tensing over and over again so Brian could capture every muscle bulging moment. Her leg muscles got bigger and harder, flexing with diamond like angles and facets beneath her oiled skin.

"Your legs are amazing", Brian just had to say as he watched Jitka figure out how to do a quad shake on the spot. She didn't get it quite right the first couple of times but by the fourth one she was making all that muscle mass sway back and forth along the front of her thigh before snapping a beautiful, brutish flex, making her thigh look like it had been chiseled from marble.

"Sometimes the tractors get stuck in the mud", she began then switched legs. "My father and my brothers always called me to push. Even when I was small", she boasted and flexed both of her legs, putting her hands on her thighs just feel them get hard. "I was always able to get it out", she said then leaned forward and flexed her right arm from the rear, a silhouette like rolling hills appeared to run from the crook of her elbow to the top of her massive deltoids.

"All right", Brian said then back up and took a breath. "Switch into that blue outfit, and let's see how that one does."

"Ok", Jitka said in her cute Czech accent and hurried behind the heating unit where Brian had set up a makeshift changing room. He switched the memory cards on his camera and took the time to check the lighting while Jitka changed. He was finished with all of that when she came from behind the heating unit without the blue outfit, without any outfit at all. Brian's eyes widened as Jitka strutted out of the shadows into the light naked as the day she was born. Her movements showed that she was tentative to do this, but her expression showed her resolve. "You don't have to do this", Brian told her.

"I want to", she declared then pressed her palms together to make her pecs bunch up, lifting her youthful breasts along with them. Brian raised his camera slowly and began taking more pictures as Jitka went from pose to pose. After a few minutes she stopped to grab the bottle and spread more oil over her body, turning her back to Brian so she could make a show of oiling her glutes one at a time, then flexing them for good measure, creating waves of bulging muscle that made Brian's breath catch. He took the pictures just the same. When she was finished, Jitka giggled.

He moved in closer as Jitka hit a double biceps pose. Her teeth were on edge as she flexed as hard as she could. She wasn't even thinking about them, but her lats were enormous, big thick hunks of beef pressing out behind her, making her body taper aggressively. Brian didn't make any extra effort to avoid her lower half as she flexed and shot photo after photo. She was well groomed down there but not shaved, and he loved it. It made her seem more real and more like a woman. He was several shots into capturing a low angle shot showing her massive flexed leg with a skyscraper in the background when suddenly her muscles relaxed and she bent down. Brian's brow gathered. He was about to stand up and ask her what was wrong when he felt her hands on the sides of his face. She pushed the camera out of the way as she bent down and kissed Brian, pulling his lips hard against hers.

"Wait Jitka. We can't do this. I'm a professional", he protested weakly.

She smiled and looked him the eye. "I am not", she declared and ran her hands up and under his shirt. Brian knew he should try and stop her, but he had no more protests in him. He set his camera safely under a bank of fans then ran his hands over Jitka's naked chest. "You like it?"

"A lot", Brian said then kissed a trail down her neck and across her big solid traps while his hands worked their way further down. She sucked in a breath as Brian's hand found its destination. She gave a sly grin then lay onto her back atop the beach towel she'd been standing on, crossing her right arm beneath her head. It didn't stay there long as Brian picked up the pace. He snatched off his shirt and expertly unbuckled his pants all with one hand while his other one remained busy. He grabbed his wallet, retrieved what he was after all with a single hand. He looked down into Jitka's eyes as he put the corner of the packaging between his teeth and ripped open the condom he always kept for such occasions. They weren't quite as rare as people might have expected. Jitka let out a moan as Brian moved in, covering her body with his. Their eyes locked and he gave a little smirk. Anticipation and passion were evident on her freckled face as he leaned down and kissed her once more before making his move.

more on the way soon...

Recent Chapters

There are plenty of others where this story came from.  Please check out the bookshelf for all the past chapters of Power and Fury and my other series.

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