by TylerRose.
“We can also count on additional human resistance,” she continued. “We will have help but they won’t be properly armed unless we intervene. I’m working on that already.”
“How?”
“There will be a group of Droghers downtown to support one of the brothers at a court date. I will see to it that they are aware and fully armed. I suggest you do the same for any groups you think can help. I understand you know the Iron Knaves.”
“Wait. How do you know the Droghers?”
“I’ve known them for years. What? You think I don’t know people?” she teased.
“Just surprised me is all. Guess I better get used to that, huh?”
She nodded with a lopsided grin. “There are differences from one timeline to the next; but you and I have a particular connection on a more primal level. I get under your skin in a way no woman ever has and it drives you nuts. I know it. Part of that is the way our energies interact, especially now you have the Staff Power. You are strong with it and it sparks against my own energies.”
She reached out to touch him and they both felt the jolt.
“I felt it when I grabbed you and took you to the backroom after you punched the other girl in the face,” he nodded. “Just passed it off as static.”
“So did I at the time. Through much reflection and study, I have determined that the jolts you gave me whenever we touched partially spurred me into needing to run away that next day. I was going to go anyway, but my energy reacting with the Staff Power gave me a particular urgency about it. I also believe that the more contact our energies had, the stronger my first Widening was and, thus, the stronger my initial abilities were. By having sex several times in my timeline, our energies connected in the most complete way possible. You had far less contact with the Indigenous Tyler in this timeline. Her abilities are likely going to be much weaker and her Widening less perilous.”
“That’s some vocabulary you got there.”
She smiled. “I came back to Earth to find you some years after the battle. Your energy called to me though you weren’t aware of it. You and Roc had sought refuge with one of your cousins in Mexico, hiding from the American authorities.”
“What about everyone else?” he braved to ask.
“There was no one else. In my timeline, the battle went on for three days. He defeated you here on the first day. You escaped before he could kill you. You laid low with Roc and Chen while you healed, then confronted him on the grounds of the White House on the third day. You defeated him there. Chen died. Deaths totaled tens of millions of people. Destruction was counted in the hundreds of trillions of dollars. You destroyed Adamantine, and most of the White House with him, and escaped by going into the underground network of the Gypsies to make it to Mexico.”
“Gypsies?” he echoed like that was the strangest thing he’d ever heard.
“Specifically my family. One of my uncles had gone to DC and met up with you there. He saw you safely on your way. You and Roc were passed along my family through the South to Texas, where you made contact with your own family. They got you across the border and to your cousin’s farm.”
“Where we lived happily ever after,” he joked.
“Hardly. When I got to you, you wouldn’t have anything to do with me. You were quite cruel about it. I don’t know what happened after that day. I had my own problems. Just contacting you put me into a shit pot. It set into motion the chain of events that ultimately brought me back here to make it all right.”
“A cosmic game of chess?” he said.
“You could certainly call it that. If you had brought me here, things would have been vastly different,” she said quietly.
His gaze went out the window. His biggest regret.
“I know why you didn’t,” she continued. “And it’s okay. The Universe does as it must do. There were very, very few timelines in which I lived here in this building before the battle. If the indigenous Tyler was here right now, I couldn’t be. So it’s okay.”
He grimaced. “I had to protect Landra Ahr, Star and Roc.”
“Of course. I don’t blame you one bit. You couldn’t have known. None of us could. What do you think should be done to prepare this warehouse and Safe Haven for what will happen after the battle?”
“Well…I’m expecting we’ll hole up here for a week or two. So we’ll need to stock up on food. And water, in case pipelines are broken or contaminated. My generators are fine, so we’ll have plenty of electricity. So will Safe Haven.”
“What about the people who will come seeking refuge?”
“Why would anyone come here?” he asked.
“Because you will have electricity and they will not. You will have heat in February after a snow storm and they will not. You will have means to feed their children and they will not.”
“Fuck me. I didn’t think of that,” he said under his breath, the thought of people displaced by their saving of the world striking an unexpectedly sympathetic chord. “I guess we could get some cots and put them up between the machines in the gym. And at Safe Haven. They have a ballroom.”
“That would be a good start.”
“Need blankets to put on the cots. And pillows, if we want to be a luxury hotel.”
“What else?” she prompted.
“I don’t know. We have showers in the gym, and towels. We have two washers and dryers. Safe Haven has a laundry room.”
“Our washer/dryers are up here. You don’t want people traipsing up and down the apartment and you don’t want our group to end up being the laundry brigade.”
“No. I’ll have to think on that one. Maybe get another pair for downstairs and start doing our own gym laundry instead of using a service,” he thought aloud. “I guess we could put another deep freezer downstairs in the basement with the washer and dryer. Store up on hamburger in three pound tubes.”
“That would be a good idea. But what would you make of it? Hamburgers for two or three dozen people use it up fast.”
“So what feeds a lot of people with less stuff?” he asked.
She held his gaze, solid and unflinching.
“A soup kitchen,” he decided.
“One large pot per meal will feed a lot. Add bread on the side to fill ‘em up. Big grocery store chains sometimes have bread four loaves for a buck.”
“And thrift stores. We can freeze bread,” he said. “We can get those really big cans of vegetables. I’m sure one or two of those will make a good pot of soup. The pantry has plenty of room for that kind of thing. Gable does most of the food shopping, so I’ll have him start getting stuff to hold in reserve.”
“It doesn’t all have to be soup. There are huge cans of tuna that can be made into sandwiches and casseroles. Baked beans already prepared that just need to be heated. We can get a few turkeys. Whole loaves of bologna and deli hams. Buckets of chicken and tuna salad will freeze too. Leftover ham can go into soups and casseroles also. So can the turkey,” she said.
“Good idea. More variety. We can make a big run to the grocery store for fresh vegetables and potatoes a couple days before the battle,” he said.
“Gable asked me to go with him to the grocery store today. I will make a routine of it so I can track prices and get surplus as available. Then it won’t look suspicious if we drop a lot of money on any particular day. I suggest you ask Giuseppe where he gets some of his stuff. A restaurant supply store will be better on pricing for some things, like the bucket size stuff. You can buy through him. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to buy a stove for down there too. Electric will be fine. And a dish washer and fridge. Paper plates and bowls, but stainless steel cutlery. That’s nothing to clean after each meal.”
“God damn. I am so sorry, Tyler,” he suddenly said.
“For what?”
“Not seeing how valuable you really are. I was an idiot.”
She smiled. “Apology accepted, of course.”
“That’s twice you’ve said that exactly like that. What gives?”
<
br /> “Habit. I spent time on a planet where apology and subsequent acceptance are very formal. The arrival of one of the priests who perform penance and forgiveness is downright frightening for a lot of people.”
“Sounds like you’ve had some interesting travels.”
“I have, and will again once this battle is over.”
Landra Ahr’s words stabbed at him along with his own words in a geometric patterned journal. Give her a reason to stay.
“You won’t be staying?” he asked.
“I have other things to do. Eventually I’ll figure out where I’m supposed to be.”
“Earth ain’t it?”
“Maybe. The way I see right now? No. Buu-uut, I usually have to travel halfway around the galaxy to learn I was supposed to be where I started,” she smirked.
They were quiet a moment and he reached out to take her hand in his. “I’m sorry I didn’t do more for you the night before you ran away. In any timeline,” he said gently. “Forgive us?”
“There’s nothing to forgive. It is how it had to be. Earnol is the one who did wrong. Not you.”
“Still, I feel bad about it. One decision changes everything. I never saw that before.”
“Well, now you do,” she said quietly.
A pause.
“You know, I never knew why I just had to have a window seat here,” he said, looking up and around the box they were in. “I like it.”
She smiled but said nothing. There hadn’t been a window seat in the other timeline.
“What else should we stockpile?” he asked.
“What will people not have if they’re running in fear for their lives?” she countered.
“They won’t have anything. No clothes, food. Clothes. Literally only the clothes on their backs.”
She nodded.
“So I could go to the goodwill and buy up a bunch of shirts and sweatshirts and sweatpants.”
“Socks,” she put in. “Diapers. Wipes. Bottles. Powdered formula. Only need one of each size for diapers. One container of wipes, one case of bottles. One case of formula. I can copy them as needed.”
“Yeah,” he breathed, the truth of refugees escaping with only their lives hitting him full on.
The battle was becoming an unexpected sort of reality. Before, it had been “we fight them and they die.” Now it was “fight them and hundreds of thousands of people will pay the consequences with their homes and lives.” That did not sit well with him. Not at all.
“I should make sure my garage gas tank is full too. I’ll fill the spare tank too.”
It was her turn to reach out with a comforting hand. “It’ll be okay, Jerome. You are here. I am here. Landra Ahr is here. We will be victorious. Might be a close shave. None of us are going to come out of this unscathed; but we will crush them in ways they never been crushed.”
“I can’t be so certain. I cannot go forward assuming I will defeat Adamantine. I have to proceed from expecting the worst too,” he replied.
“And the worst will happen. The question is which worst. No matter what happens or to whom, you cannot be distracted from your goal. No matter who dies. No matter what you see happen.”
“You watched it a thousand times. How could you watch without being affected?”
“I was an energy being, detached and objective Witness. I still am in many ways.”
She left the seat to go to her night stand. Opening the drawer, she removed her pipe and a replicated glass bottle. She filled the bowl full but not tightly packed.
“I’m never going to get used to that zap,” he said of the charge when she braced on his shoulder to lower into her spot.
“No, but it’s a great identifier. Anyone looking like me has to have that zap or you know they are an imposter,” she said, and flicked the lighter.
“Does that mean someone is going to pose as you?” he asked, taking the bowl to begin the passing back and forth.
“I didn’t say that. How do I pay for groceries when Gable and I go? You can’t be coming along every single time.”
“There is a communal bank account I keep for groceries and stuff. Gable has an ATM card to take money out of the bank.”
“Okay, that covers three hundred bucks. What if I spend four or six hundred? Grocery stores aren’t set up to take ATM cards yet. That’s still coming.”
“You expect to be spending that much all the time?”
“We are feeding six fully grown adults. I’m sure you and Tony alone eat the equivalent of a horse each week. I’ve seen your pantry and it sucks. We need to take advantage of sales and bulk purchasing, and that means I have to have the money in hand when I see a deal. I want five hundred a week available for my groceries. We also need rolling bins to keep the big bags of flour and sugar in. Those get expensive but they’re worth it. I need to be able to buy these things without checking with you first.”
He stared at her a moment, annoyed and amused at the same time. She was so fearless in stating what she wanted. He found that immensely arousing.
“I’ll have Warren get a house-use credit card.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re kinda pushy when you wanna be.”
She laughed. “Honey, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
He put the bowl down, smiled and scooted closer to her on the ledge. “I’m gonna nudge for a little bit,” he said, hand turning her head toward him and keeping her in place.
Not that she resisted. He kissed her, long and slow, and she kissed back. Her tongue engaged first, hand gently wrapping around his wrist. So soft a touch. One that belonged. His hand lowered to rest on her breast. No grip. No pinch. A gentle cup with thumb stroking to raise her nipple through the thin t-shirt. Raise it did, hard and fast with a catch of her breath.
“I want for you to be part of the group, Ty,” he said. “Please come down more often and spend time with them.”
She nodded, not able to reject the request.
“I want you,” he whispered.
“I know.”
“Keeping my distance is hard.”
“I know. It’s another reason I stay here.”
“If I took you to bed, would you refuse?” he asked.
“I can’t refuse, Jerome.”
“Can’t?” he questioned, sitting more upright. He wanted to hear her version of it.
“Literally cannot refuse you. You have no idea how hard it is for me to be in the same house with you, to resist your pull. We’re like magnets.”
“You said you’re not free to have that kind of relationship.”
“Until I’ve brought Earnol down, I cannot love openly. I cannot have that taken away from me again,” she said, shaking hard and nearly in tears. “It hurts too much. You know what that’s like.”
He did. “But you cannot refuse me. I’m confused. Help me out here.”
“If you want me, take me. I cannot deny you. It’s not in me to refuse you like that. You are my soul mate. I need you to have the self-control not to take advantage of my inability to refuse.”
Tears suddenly rolled down her cheek, single and unexpected and they caught him off guard to say the least. The journal in action.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, babe. I would never take that kind of advantage over you. I want you to come to me freely, not just submit because I can take you. You mean too much to me for that.”
He drew her close for a comforting hug.
“I don’t like to see you hurting like this,” he said. “Never doubt me, Tyler. I’m here to protect you and take care of you. All you gotta do is let me. I will not force myself on you just because I can. I want to touch and taste; but I will not take what you cannot willingly give. I will maintain that control. Okay?”
She nodded, the emotional crisis passing.
“I’m not doing anything this afternoon. I’ll go shopping with you and Gable. We’ll take the van, get everything we can in this run.”
“You don’t need to do that to make me feel better. So
metimes my emotions build up and need to purge. It’s been eighteen years and I still have to get used to being confined in a body.”
“It will make me feel better. I want to stay close while you’re this emotionally vulnerable. That’s my instinct kicking in an’ I’ma listen to it. You just gonna have to get used to that. I’ll go see if Gable can be ready to go sooner. Big runs take longer.”
Jerome drove the van, Tyler in the passenger seat and Gable kneeling between. They shared a joint on the way. In the store, she had them both pushing a cart. One for household use, the other for building the February pantry.
“Is Roc a vegan vegan or a convenient vegan?” she asked in the produce section while she picked up bags of oranges and Gable got gala and granny smith apples.
“Well, she tried some meats,” Gable said. “They didn’t sit well, so she gave up.”
Mangos and papaya into bags and into the cart.
“What has she tried?” Tyler asked. “Get three of the ten pound bags of potatoes for me.”
“Um…ham. Chicken. Pork chops. Bacon and sausage. Hamburger, steak.”
“So you all fucked up that many foods that she couldn’t tolerate any of it?” Tyler cut it to the bone.
“Uhhhh…”
“Did you try duck or rabbit?” she asked.
“That’s kinda beyond my skills,” Gable said.
Heads of lettuce, bags of green and red peppers. Huge jar of garlic and a whole sleeve of heads. Broccoli and baby carrots, snow peas, green beans.
“Do roc and Star cook sometimes as a way to earn their keep?” she asked.
“I guess. Never really thought about it,” Jerome replied.
“From now on, Gable and I will do most of the cooking. They can clean up instead.”
“Is that why you don’t eat much?” Gable asked. “No one can cook what you can tolerate?”
“That’s part of it.”
She filled half of Gable’s cart from the produce section before they moved on.
“You have a membership to the wholesale warehouse place?” she asked.
“No” Jerome said.
“Why the hell not? Go tomorrow and get one.”