“So? You’re the one who’s trying to chase her down. And you seem to be succeeding, I might add,” Rachel replied, her heart briefly skipping a beat at the reminder. She wasn’t entirely sure she liked where Gina was going, but another part of her was hopeful.
“So? You heard her last night, none of her training programs covered the situation. What’s wrong with both of us chasing after her, or even catching her?” Gina asked.
Rachel choked, swerving slightly as she protested, getting the car under control. “Gina!”
“Don’t you ‘Gina’ me!” her friend retorted. “You’re the one who always told me that you were straight when you were attracted to me! Did it ever occur to you that I might’ve said yes? Regardless, at this point, what’s the problem if we’re all consenting adults, hmm?”
“That’s pretty far in the past. And why aren’t you the one who’s more flustered about this? You’re the one who was so picky in college!” Rachel asked, thoroughly flustered by Gina’s comments, but keeping her eyes on the road.
“Call it a wake-up call due to almost getting raped,” Gina explained, smirking. “That, and a bit of revenge combined with a lot of pent-up tension due to you forcing me to stay away from her for over a week. Deal with it, Rach.”
“That’s… that’s…” Rachel stammered, trying to put her thoughts into words, but failing miserably. It wasn’t fair that Gina had changed this much in just a few weeks, and what she was saying couldn’t possibly work!
“Just think about it. I suppose I should add that I always thought you were pretty, but since we were friends and you were straight…” Gina interrupted, her grin far too wide.
“You be quiet! I don’t want another word out of you until we’re there! I’m way too tired to deal with you and traffic at the same time,” Rachel ordered, cutting Gina off. Her friend made a gesture as if zipping her lips shut and sat back with a smirk.
It was hard for Rachel to keep her concentration on the road with the distractions that Gina had put into her head. Still, after a particularly idiotic driver nearly merged into her car, Rachel found her thoughts much clearer after the rush of adrenaline it prompted. Eventually they got to the apartment building where Lilith lived, and she pulled into the parking space with a sigh of relief. When the charging pad indicator turned on, she put the vehicle into park and relaxed.
Turning the car off, Rachel pointed a single finger at Gina, her voice firm as she issued a demand. “Don’t you dare even start. I’m tired, and you’ve completely up-ended my perceptions of you quite enough for one day. Give me time to think it over. Remember, I’m the analytical one, right?”
“Fine, I’ll leave you be for now. I just want you to be happy, Rachel,” Gina replied gently, shaking her head. “Hell, I want me to be happy, too. At the moment I’m frustrated, wound up because of what happened to me, and using my discomfort at my house as an excuse to move in with Lilith. I don’t think my ulterior motives are exactly subtle.”
“Wait, really? Are you actually uncomfortable with your house?” Rachel asked, unbuckling and heading to one of the car attendants to get a cart. While Gina followed after her, she didn’t speak until they were out of the man’s earshot. Rachel appreciated that, since the man was watching both of them closely.
“Yes. Even if his devices can’t exactly do much anymore, we haven’t found them yet, and the fact he could get to me through my wards… that scares me, a lot,” Gina admitted, taking a deep breath. “Beyond even that, the changes he made to my body are going to be really hard to hide. You might be able to fix it eventually, but in the meantime my lips are still going to be bright blue and I’ll have this strange hue to my skin, and we don’t know everything else he did. I might end up having to go public in the end, which would suck in a lot of ways.”
“That… unfortunately makes a lot of sense. I’d have to know how he did all of it to you, and that’ll take some research. Your only other option would be to retire, and I’d hate to see you do that,” Rachel spoke slowly, thinking things through as she opened the trunk and began loading the cart. “How do you feel about the changes, anyway? I’ve been worried that they’d be disturbing you fairly badly.”
“Not too bad, for the most part. While it’s disturbing, I’ve actually always liked blue a lot, and there isn’t much I can do about it anyway,” Gina admitted, frowning a little. “While I’m not exactly happy about the changes, I’m trying not to dwell on it. Every time I think about it, I try to remember the bloody pulp Lilith beat Impulse into. It helps. Even though I don’t intend to retire, I do plan to insist on more time off. Part of the reason I got ambushed at all was because I was too tired to see him coming the first time.”
“I can’t say I blame you, though I’m a little surprised that you’re as… alright with the changes as you are. I have to wonder if it’s a side effect of the control being broken?” Rachel murmured, pondering a little, then shaking her head. “No matter. I don’t blame you, though. I think all of the team is feeling exhausted at this point. There’re so many villains in the area, and we’ve been working ourselves to the bone trying to track them down, without much success.”
“That’s what I’ve heard, and it worries me. I wish I could help. I think the curse is on the verge of breaking, but I’m hesitant to try to force it,” Gina told her, sighing and shaking her head. “I really don’t want you to have to take on Black Harbinger without me. He’s just too damned powerful.”
“I totally agree. He hospitalized Galvanic, after all. I wish someone could figure out how to shut his regeneration down. The bastard’s boss is even worse,” Rachel said, sighing as she looked at the cart, trying to figure out how to fit the easel on it. Gina laughed and took it from Rachel, tucking it under an arm instead.
“Well, hopefully the curse breaks soon, so I can help chase him out of the city without whatever else he’s after,” Gina replied hopefully.
“I can agree with that. Let’s get all of your stuff inside, please? I’m beat, after last night and an early morning,” Rachel replied, yawning. “I hope everything works out… but it might take a while. Nothing we can really do just now.”
Gina nodded, then smiled as she asked, “How about you rest here? You could use my bed if you’d like, or maybe one of the guest beds?”
“Maybe I will. First, we need to get all of this upstairs, then I can decide,” Rachel told her friend, still feeling slightly resistant to the idea. Still, she was definitely considering the offer as she pushed the cart toward the elevator.
Using her keycard to open the elevator, Gina helped Rachel inside and pressed the key for Lilith’s floor, even as Rachel wondered why Lilith had decided on such a huge home. It was so ridiculously blatant that she had difficulty understanding why Lilith would purchase it with the attention she’d draw. As the doors slid open, though, Rachel realized that it likely hadn’t even occurred to Lilith that it’d be a problem. From what she’d said, Lilith was astonishingly naive in some ways.
The cart rattled loudly as they pushed it into the condo, and Rachel could see Lilith sitting at her desk working on the computer. Rachel couldn’t quite make out what the woman was doing, but as she was distracted, Gina spoke up brightly. “Hi, Lilith! We’re back!”
“Welcome back, both of you,” Lilith replied in a distracted tone. “Pardon me if I don’t get up. I had a few rather profitable business opportunities come up, and I’m trying to take advantage of them before someone else does.”
“That’s perfectly fine. Thank you for hosting Gina,” Rachel spoke up, a little amused.
“We’ll try not to distract you. Speaking of hosting, apparently Rachel didn’t get much sleep last night. Do you mind if she takes a nap here for a while?” Gina asked, raising an eyebrow at Rachel as they turned the corner carefully.
“That’s fine with me. Take any of the guest beds if you need to, Rachel,” Lilith replied absently, typing at a furious pace.
“Is that normal for her?” Rachel asked softly,
moving into the bedroom. The way that Lilith had been focusing on the computer had been surprising, and the woman had to be typing at least a hundred words per minute. It was especially surprising since they normally saw her when she was relaxed.
“How should I know? She wasn’t on the computer when I left,” Gina retorted, looking amused. “We still don’t know a lot about her, even with her explanation. I’ll admit that I find it rather flattering that she’s been learning from us, though.”
As they unloaded the cart, Rachel considered what Gina had said. They were unloading things onto the floor for the moment, since Gina hadn’t decided how to set up the room yet. As the other woman set up the easel in the corner, Rachel found herself amused that Gina had brought nearly half her wardrobe worth of clothing.
Finally Rachel spoke, shaking her head. “I suppose it is pretty flattering, isn’t it? At least now that everyone knows about the others, we can start actually learning about one another for real.”
“That’ll definitely be nice. So, are you wanting to take a nap or not?” Gina asked as they finished unloading the cart. Her belongings were scattered across the floor, making the formerly neat room something of a mess, but Rachel imagined that’d be dealt with soon enough.
“I think I’ll just take this downstairs, then head home for the nap,” Rachel declined politely, only to have her body betray her by yawning.
“It’s noon, and traffic will be so bad that you’re going to take an hour or more to get home. I’ll take the cart down while you lay down for a minute. If you aren’t out cold by the time I get back, I’ll let you go,” Gina replied with a flat look, reaching out to poke Rachel in the side, causing her to squeak in surprise.
“That’s not very nice, Gina! I’ll be just fine, I…” Rachel began, but paused at the adamant look in Gina’s eyes. A moment later she sighed. “This is sort of like that time I dragged you out of the house after Aaron dumped you, isn’t it? You aren’t going to take no for an answer.”
“Not at all. Get onto the bed, and I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Gina replied firmly, taking the cart and heading back toward the elevator.
Rachel sighed and shook her head, mumbling to herself as she yawned again. “She’s gotten… a lot more willing to talk back lately. Still, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to lay down for a minute or two.”
Testing the bed, Rachel paused at the texture of it. It didn’t quite feel like a memory foam mattress, but neither did it have obvious springs. Still, it seemed a lot more comfortable than the spring mattress which she’d gotten from Gina a few weeks earlier, so she laid down on it and stared at the ceiling. While the bed was comfortable, she wasn’t certain that she could fall asleep on it, in part because it was so different from what she was used to. If that weren’t enough, she felt odd staying in Lilith’s home, partially because of her own confused emotions about the other woman. She wasn’t certain that she felt the same way that Gina… did…
Rachel drifted off without even realizing it, relaxing into sleep on the comfortable bed.
Thursday, December 19th, 2030
Lilith’s Condo, San Francisco
Stepping back into her new bedroom, Gina smiled. Rachel was laying on the bed with her hands resting on her stomach, her eyes closed as she breathed slowly, obviously deeply asleep. She’d been fairly certain that Rachel was too tired to drive home safely, and this had proved her point. Suppressing a giggle, Gina opened her backpack and pulled out the laptop before slipping out of the room and closing the door behind her, happy that Rachel never stirred.
Moving to the couch in the living room, Gina looked at Lilith affectionately, smiling at how the woman was concentrating on her computer. Their relationship, if she could call it that, was confusing, but Gina was willing to deal with that. In the meantime, she wasn’t going to waste her time. She pulled up a list of lawyers in the area, intending to see if she could find someone who she could talk to about getting the bounty off Lilith’s head.
That would make everyone much happier in the end.
Lilith smiled at her computer as she sat back and stretched. For once since the evening with Gina and Rachel, her mind was crystal clear, and assuming everything worked out like she expected it to, she should be making a rather large profit over the next few weeks. While it wasn’t a huge deal to her, she thought that if she was going to continue associating with Gina and Rachel, it was best to build as much influence as possible. It very well might be the difference between life and death when her identity was discovered, and she fully expected that to happen eventually. There were too many heroes who would never stop until they found her.
With a click, she sent a schematic off to her company and closed down her programs. The project had taken longer than she’d hoped it would to finish, and she sighed as she looked out the windows. The sun was shining brightly over the bay, belying how cold it was at this time of year. It was a beautiful sight, but with everything going on, Lilith couldn’t help but wonder whether or not she’d end up staying for too long. There was no way of knowing what the future would bring.
Shaking her head and laughing softly, Lilith climbed to her feet and paused as she saw Gina curled up on the couch. The heroine was staring at her laptop, with her face an odd shade of blue, which took a moment for Lilith to identify as her blushing. When the woman didn’t notice her movement, Lilith considered for a moment, then asked, “Gina? Are you alright? You’re kind of… blue.”
Gina jumped at her voice, and to Lilith’s fascination, she managed to turn an even deeper shade of blue. Tapping a key quickly, the blonde replied, “Oh, I’m fine, just fine! I was just, um, doing some research.”
“You were doing research? And just what kind of research has you blushing that much?” Lilith asked, sincerely perplexed. It was amusing, but she couldn’t help her curiosity.
“Umm… well, I was actually trying to figure out if there was some way to get the bounty on you rescinded or changed,” Gina explained hesitantly, blushing more as she added, “Then I got distracted, and started poking around on other things.”
“Is that so?” Lilith arched an eyebrow at the evasive explanation. “And…?”
“I’m not sharing that part. On the research, I haven’t figured much out yet. I can’t be too direct, after all,” Gina replied firmly, shaking her head. “I wish I could do more, but it’s a scary subject.”
“As you wish. I do agree on the scary part… it’s part of why I’m taking my company a little more seriously now. If I’m useful, they’re less likely to do something drastic,” Lilith agreed. “Thank you for looking, though.”
“You’re welcome. Oh, and Rachel’s in my room. She’s been asleep for… an hour and a half? Has it really been that long?” Gina murmured, shaking her head. “Anyway, she went out like a light. I didn’t realize she was that tired, but I don’t blame her.”
“I didn’t think I’d heard her leave, but I was focused enough that I couldn’t be certain. At least she’s getting the rest she needs, and thank goodness I need less than most people,” Lilith replied, smiling as she asked, “Do you think I should set up a bedroom just for her?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. You’ve got a lot of unused rooms, one of which I’m planning to use for art, but… that still leaves a lot of space. I don’t see why not, except for the expense,” Gina replied, shrugging and smiling broadly. “I did encourage her to come over more often, after all.”
“You have?” Lilith looked at Gina in surprise, then paused to think. “Why is that?”
“Because she likes you too. I’m not sure if she likes you as much as I do, but she deserves the chance to find out. She… was going to just give up because I was here, and I didn’t want that. She’s my friend,” Gina explained, then hesitated and added, “She also admitted that she liked me, and that makes things a little odd. I feel bad that in a way she might lose both people she likes. You aren’t upset, are you?”
“I… suppose not. It’s a little strange, but ever
ything about this is strange,” Lilith replied, then paused, feeling awkward as she continued. “In fact… there’s something I’d like your help with, if you don’t mind?”
“Hmm? What might that be?” Gina asked, tilting her head curiously. “If it’s something I can help with, sure.”
“I’d like help with shopping. I didn’t furnish the other rooms because I wasn’t sure what needed to be in them, or what would look good,” Lilith explained, feeling embarrassed. “I’d like your help with it. If the rooms look nicer and less bare, I’ll consider it a success. I was thinking here in a few minutes, if you didn’t mind. Your room is one of the ones I was thinking of.”
“Oh, sure!” Gina replied, smiling. “That makes complete sense. I’ll just grab my jacket and leave Rachel a note. There’s no need to wake her up over this.”
“Thank you,” Lilith said, relief washing over her as she went to find her own jacket. Perhaps it was odd, but one of the few things that made her freeze up was interior decorating. There were just too many choices, and she had no idea what looked good.
Chapter 27
Thursday, December 19th, 2030
Dr. Johnson’s Lair, Santa Cruz
“Once Ocean Shield starts getting the better of Black Harbinger, I’d like you to give him a helping hand, Pyroclasm,” Doctor Johnson said calmly, looking the other villain in the eyes. “I’m offering seventy-five thousand for the job, all up front. What you do after that is your own decision, but I’d prefer it if you got out of town and laid low for a while. Are you willing to take the job?”
“You aren’t going to ask me to hold back again, are you?” Pyroclasm IV growled, scowling at Doctor Johnson. The fourth villain to bear the name Pyroclasm, the hard-bitten, muscular man was tall and wore a fire-themed red and orange outfit that was composed of dozens of armored plates, almost like the skin of a snake. The way he kept his hair cut short made him look like former military, but his bright orange eyes unnerved most people he interacted with, along with his notoriously poor self-control. The latter was a good part of why Doctor Johnson preferred to have him out of the area. “I hate having to hold back, it makes me look weak.”
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