Fearless Leader (Juxtapose City)

by Tricia Owens

  Jake was nodding. "Yes, sir. We'll locate him and hold for the others."

  Calyx almost laughed as Jake put the PRU away. "Locate and hold? Surely you're joking, sweetheart? What's to stop our dear Genesis from hearing your thoughts as we creep up on him?"

  "Who says he won't hear yours?" Jake retorted defensively, drawing his gun and checking the clip.

  Calyx ached for his faze whip. Without it he was weaponless. "I'm a psypath. First thing you learn is to block yourself from other psypaths. A professional courtesy, if you will." Calyx stepped off the street, edging towards an alley. "Besides, I suppose it won't matter anyway. Genesis already knows you're here. He called to you."

  "Fucking great." Jake backed with Calyx into the alley, gun held ready. "What would he want with me? He doesn't know me." His eyes rounded. "Or is it because of you?"

  Calyx glanced to the sky, willing the blackness of night to descend faster. "Mmm, try me and JC2. We seem to be Genesis' current obsessions. We're both in some deep shit, Cole."

  Jake turned to face the empath, his manner all business. "What are you trying to say -- that we don't stand a chance? I refuse to believe that. He's just a man."

  "No, he's not," Calyx stated. "He's a telepath." Over Jake's shoulder, a flash of blue crossed the street. "Someone's coming."

  Jake pulled the slide on his gun, chambering a round. "Let him come."

  ~~~~~

  Bee normally drove JC2's big utility craft when they responded to missions but in his absence Black made Sola take the wheel. If anything it would distract the man from asking questions. Or from looking at Black with the same dark suspicion he'd aimed towards Black when they'd geared up.

  Black had suffered it stoically. It was the best he could do until he could come up with an explanation for why he'd been sitting amidst a pile of illegal drugs with every intention of ingesting them.

  He'd already called Bee and Haney and informed them of the situation, instructing them to suit up at home and wait just in case. He used Sola's PRU again to call Jake.

  His second-in-command's face flashed on the screen. Relief momentarily replaced the severe expression Jake was wearing.

  "Black! Thank God, you're okay, baby."

  He couldn't even be mad at the endearment. The enthusiastic response made Black feel a little better. It was easy to forget sometimes that there was someone like Jake who honestly cared about what happened to him.

  "Where are you?" Black asked.

  Jake looked up from the screen. "'C' and about a block south of 21st." He frowned at something off screen. "Black, it's Genesis."

  "I know. Just hold on--"

  "Oh, shit!" A sound like firecrackers filled Black's ear clip. Then the screen went black and 'No Signal' ran across the screen.

  Black nearly crushed the PRU in his hand. "Sola, how far are we from 21st and 'C'?" he shouted to the front.

  The craft suddenly swerved with a screech of tires that would have sent Black flying face-first into the wall of the craft if he hadn't been buckled in. "Thanks to that we're just a block away," Sola yelled back.

  Black checked his equipment: tightening the straps on his flak jacket and slapping on his helmet, testing its headset with Sola. With Jake and Starr helmet-less and without a PRU there was no way to contact them. He hoped they weren't far from their original location.

  He hoped they were still alive.

  Sola brought the craft to a shuddering halt. Before the vehicle came to a complete stop Black threw open the back doors and jumped out. Sola similarly launched himself from the driver's side.

  Black hadn't had the opportunity to train with Sola yet. He didn't know how well the sergeant knew their hand signals and maneuvers. Sola hadn't chosen his mission handle yet either. Black decided to risk communication using the man’s real name.

  "Sola, Wide Scatter, three and four."

  Beside him Sola moved to the right, gun swinging to cover the street.

  The sky was purple and edging into indigo. Street lamps came on, most of them sputtering within broken casings. No one was on the sidewalk and traffic was slow. It would become even slower as soon as the neighborhood realized what was going down. This far into the heart of the city residents knew to keep under cover when the cops showed up.

  Sola moved in a wide circle to Black's left. Black watched him approvingly from the corner of his eye. Cautiously, the two men made their way up the street, eyes trained for furtive movement. They came upon Jake's electro-craft crashed into the side of a building. Black didn't waste time checking to see if the other men were inside it. His eyes scanned the buildings for one that had the grey metal siding he'd seen behind Jake's head in the PRU.

  "Alley, three o'clock," he said into the headset.

  As Sola kept cover Black moved into the alley. Midway through he spotted Jake's PRU. Black toed it with his boot. The unit was destroyed, hit by a bullet. Black studied the asphalt and the walls of the buildings on either side. No blood.

  He raised his head to call Sola but something blue flicked at the edge of his vision. He started to turn when a hand reached inside his head and twisted.

  ~~~~~

  Starr limped into the darkest corner he could find and dumped Jake into the boxes of trash. The empath followed him right down, sinking into moldy produce from the nearby grocer.

  "Ow, fuck!"

  "Do you always whine this much when you're shot?" Starr muttered. He flicked a limp banana peel off his arm with a sneer of disgust. "I thought you were a bigger man than that, Cole."

  "Screw you; something just stabbed me in the ass." Jake lifted up, grimacing as his bloodied arm took the strain, and yanked up a browned ear of corn. "If I end up getting killed while lying in this stuff I'm gonna be really pissed off, Starr."

  Starr spared him a wry look. At least Jake could still find it in him to joke about the situation. Jake thought he was taking things pretty well, all things considering.

  "So that was Genesis, huh?" Jake lay back in the garbage and began ripping off part of the hem of his shirt. "That was some creepy shit."

  "Mmm, he does have a rather intimate way of getting to know a person, doesn't he?"

  Right after the shooting had begun Genesis had sent Jake another message, telling him to drop his weapon. Jake had been so startled he'd staggered backwards, nearly shooting Starr as he reflexively pulled the trigger on his gun. One of those errant shots must have come too close for Genesis' comfort for the telepath had stopped sending, allowing Starr to drag a stunned Jake into another alley.

  "It felt like his fingers were sinking into my brain." Jake shuddered at the invasive memory. He allowed Starr to tie the strip of shirt around his arm wound. "I really hope I don't have to see that guy again."

  Starr looked down the alley pessimistically. "Don't hold your breath, sweetheart."

  Jake followed the gaze, worried for Black. "The others are going to be caught off-guard. Damn, I wish I hadn't lost that PRU. There's no way for them--"

  (I'm so happy you could make it. I put in quite an effort to get you here.)

  Jake gasped, scrambling back in the garbage as the words slithered into his mind. Even Starr looked upset, standing up in a rush of movement. Jake looked around wildly, searching for the telepath. The alley was empty.

  (Why aren't you happier to see me? I've missed you so much.)

  Jake shook his head like a dog trying to fling water out of its ears. "What's going on?" he panted. "Where is he?"

  Starr touched his head, distracted, as he looked down the alley. "He's not talking to you. He's not talking to either of us."

  "Are you nuts? I hear him! So do you."

  Starr shook his head looking troubled, which Jake did not like at all. Until now the empath hadn't been rattled by Genesis. "He's not sending to us. He's sending to someone who's trying to block him. Genesis isn't strong enough to narrow his powers to affect one person. The harder he strains, the more his power diffuses. He's using a lot of power right now if even I c
an hear him."

  "We're getting the overflow, you mean. But who's he--" Jake jumped to his feet, his heart somewhere behind his tonsils. "Black!"

  "We've got to find him," Starr agreed, breaking into a run.

  (Remind me what I've been missing, won't you? Open your jacket.)

  Jake slowed to a walk, his hands unbuttoning an invisible jacket. Ahead of him Starr skidded to a halt and then turned and ran back to him. He grabbed Jake's hands.

  "Break it! It's just a compulsion. Don't listen to him. Sing a song in your head. Recite a poem."

  Jake was scared. He hadn't been in control of his actions just now. Genesis could have made him walk off a bridge. And Christ -- he wasn't even the one who was receiving the brunt of Genesis' power.

  "This is bad," he breathed shakily, running forward again.

  (Stop fighting. Undo you shirt.)

  Jake nearly tripped over a cardboard box as his mind began to focus on unbuttoning his shirt. He looked up only when he realized that Starr was holding his hands again. "Shit!"

  "He's strong," Starr confirmed, staring into Jake's eyes to be sure he was lucid. "Genesis may be stronger than he was before. It feels like it."

  "But why is he doing this to Black?" Jake asked. "Genesis is making it sound like he's a long-lost buddy or something." Or more than that. But he really didn't want to think about that possibility right now.

  Starr though, had already made that leap. "I think it's very obvious that Genesis is enamored of our fearless leader. I don't think that's a good thing, sweetheart."

  Suddenly a vision flooded both of their heads:

  Black with his hands tied behind his back, being lowered onto a man's hard, swollen cock. He groaned as each inch slowly filled him.

  "Fuck!" Jake spat, sickened by the hard-on that filled his pants. Jake grabbed the other man's arm. "Enough of this shit. We need to find them."

  (Lean back. Tilt your head up.)

  Jake bit his tongue, using the pain to distract him from the order. To his relief it worked. He lowered his chin on his own and met Starr's approving nod.

  "Let's go, sweetheart."

  They stopped at the end of the alley, Jake in front. He hadn't lost his gun and he allowed the weapon to lead as he darted his head around the corner of a building. He saw JC2's utility craft parked up on the sidewalk.

  "They're close," he whispered back to Starr.

  (Ah, yes. Open your legs for me. Don't be shy.)

  Jake's legs trembled as he resisted the order. Oh, God, Black! His leader must be fighting Genesis good for the telepath to be sending out like this. Jake was by turns proud of his former lover and disturbed by what Starr had suggested about Black and Genesis. It couldn't be true. There was no way it could. But listen to what he's saying to Black.

  "What are you waiting for?" Starr hissed behind him.

  Jake clamped down on his stray thoughts and moved forward, gun extended. Instinct told him that Black and Sola had sought his and Starr's old location. With Starr in tow he carefully traversed the sidewalk, heading towards the alley that he and the empath had first been flushed from. At the mouth of the alley he paused before slowly peeking into it.

  "Bastard!" Starr snarled. It was Jake's response, exactly.

  Sola sat on the ground, weapon abandoned at his feet, both hands covering his ears. The man's eyes were tightly clenched and Jake thought he could hear the man moaning as he rocked back and forth.

  Genesis had fucked with him. Sola was out of commission.

  Jake discarded the man for what really mattered to him: Black and Genesis.

  It was Jake's first glimpse of Genesis, the telepath the JCPD claimed to want to catch but was too afraid to touch. The last Jake had heard of the man Genesis had been a drooling idiot, abandoned on the streets by his gang and presumably shot. What he saw before him was no idiot and no ghost.

  Genesis was tall and had a build similar to his own. He wore a long black PVC duster that came to the tops of his thick black boots. The boots had wickedly pointed toes that Jake would have normally laughed at as being sissy shoes but he'd bet his balls that the points on those boots were there for more than just style.

  Genesis was facing him and the front of his duster was opened at the chest, cinched at the waist by a belt. Jake could make out the suggestion of a broad chest and shoulders beneath the electric blue shirt the man wore. Genesis was strong.

  Medium-length, glossy black hair flowed over the raised collar of the coat, brushing the tops of Genesis' shoulders. The solid color was stark contrast to Genesis' face.

  Genesis was a handsome man, square-jawed and smooth-skinned beneath the pale powder he wore. He wasn't classically beautiful like Starr not did he possess the angry, male model look of Black. Genesis was just handsome. And slightly scary, in Jake's opinion. Besides the pale makeup, Genesis' face was decorated with swirling blue face paint. It wasn't a tribal pattern; Jake guessed that it was some psypath thing. The blue swirling pattern traveled from ear to ear in an arc over the top of his face, extending from his hair line to an inch or so towards the center of his face. The blue framed his eyes which were lined thickly in kohl. They too, were a brilliant blue.

  He was the freakiest freak Jake had encountered yet and just seeing him so close to Black made him want to scream.

  Genesis was smiling down at the lieutenant with lips painted a matte black. Genesis whispered something that Jake couldn't hear and bent to run his tongue up Black's cheek. Black had his eyes clenched shut and was drenched with sweat, shaking as his assault rifle hung uselessly in his slack fingers.

  Genesis moved closer, backing Black against the wall of the alley. One knee was inserted between Black's legs and was moving up and down against him. Black's flak jacket and the heavy black shirt he wore beneath were both open, baring his naked chest to the gloved fingers that were pinching Black's nipples.

  "Fucker," Jake seethed, surging forward.

  But his attempt to make a glorious rescue was foiled before he could take a step. Excruciating pain lanced through his head. He stopped, floundering in agony where he stood. Something smashed together in his mind like two invisible fists pounding against each other, knuckle to knuckle. He groaned as his eyes rolled up into his head. The pain escalated. He thought he could hear voices... He dropped to the ground unconscious.

  Calyx stepped over him, clutching at his head but retaining consciousness by sheer willpower. His head throbbed, stuffed with too much input. He heard things that made him want to gape in wonder. But there was no time for that. He bent and picked up Jake's gun, intending to do what the sergeant couldn't.

  Before he could, the alley erupted into a spray of bullets.

  The brick wall overhead seemed to explode, raining shards of concrete onto his head. He ducked down and yanked at Jake's body, trying to pull him out of the line of erratic gunfire. He looked up to see Genesis jumping backwards, his face a mask of surprise. Black's assault rifle rattled wildly in the narrow alley like hail on a tin roof.

  Genesis laughed amidst the wreckage. "That's what I was looking for." His eyes flicked to Calyx, kneeling over Jake's inert body. "We'll do this again when we don't have an audience."

  Black's answer was the clatter of his gun, bullets stabbing the asphalt at the telepath's feet. Genesis jumped out of the way and grabbed Sola, dragging the insensate man to his feet. Genesis used him as a human shield as he backed down the alley. Black's face was sheened with sweat as he stared after them. A roar of fury ripped from his lungs when Genesis finally dropped Sola at the end of the alley and he disappeared into the shadows. Black brought a hand up to his face and sobbed once.

  Calyx murmured in shared anger. The sound made Black drop the hand from his face and swing his gun towards the empath. Calyx froze. The look on Black's face made Calyx very, very nervous.

  "You could do it," Calyx said, trying to be calm but finding his nerves strung out like he'd been off of Bliss for a month. "You could shoot me and blame it on a stray bul
let. Cole would vouch for you."

  "You think you deserve it?" Black asked, his voice raw.

  "Maybe." Calyx swallowed, rising to his feet. "Maybe we both do, sweetheart. Or maybe--" he took one step towards Black "-- maybe we both deserve a second chance."

  "Don't try -- don't try to know me," Black said, his voice cracking.

  Calyx took another step forward. Then another. The gun followed him, its muzzle aimed at his chest. "You know I can't promise that, Darkness." Calyx approached him until the hot tip of the gun threatened to sear a hole through the ragged remains of his shirt. "But I can promise that I won't use what I learn to try to hurt you."

  The gun wavered. Black's eyes were huge. "I'm sorry for what he did," Black croaked. "I should have protected you. You're my responsibility."

  Calyx’s smile was pained. "There was nothing you could have done, sweetheart."

  "Yes, there was. I could have prevented it." The gun sagged, its tip dragging on the concrete. Black slumped back against the wall and closed his eyes. "My head hurts."

  Calyx wanted to touch him but he didn't. He said, "Everything will be alright. We survived. That's all that matters."

  But the affirmation didn't help. Black kept his eyes closed and his smile was defeated. "No," he murmured, "nothing can ever be right again."

  ~~~~~

  Captain Dickerson looked up as his office door slammed. Black stood before him.

  Dickerson waved him away. "There's no reason for you to be here. I have your report on Genesis on my PRU. It was a bit sketchy in some places but it was adequate."

  "I want you to stay away from my team."

  Dickerson pushed away the keyboard he'd been working on and sat back in his chair. "What are you talking about, lieutenant?"

  "You gave me command of JC2. That means it's mine." Black braced both hands on Dickerson's desk and leaned forward until he could see the veins in the captain's eyes. "I protect what's mine. No one is allowed to hurt them. Not even you."