Love in Troubled Times

by Gayle Riley

  Rory looked down at her outfit, It was a short little dress that had magically appeared when she’d asked Michael if she could use his gigantic bath tub. When she walked back into the bedroom, it was laying out just as the robe had been when she woke up. Before she could wonder if he’d use some sort of power to create it or had his receptionist go fetch it she couldn’t help but feel like she’d seen the design somewhere before. There were swirls and loops all over the fabric that seemed to never end.

  It wasn’t long before Rory noticed that things seemed different. The air was thick and she felt like something was watching her from the shadows. She reached for Michael’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “Something’s here.”

  He nodded. “There are a few here. They’ve targeted a human for energy.” He pointed toward a woman lying on her back in the middle of the park. “Here they come.”

  Rory had to cover her mouth to cover the scream that erupted from her throat. Reminding her of black monsters or phantoms, shadowy figures crept out of the darkness and stood over the victim. Rory sometimes recalled seeing similar creatures in her nightmares.

  Suddenly it was like a lens was cast over her eyes and she could see clearly for the first time. She saw herself facing those vile creatures all those years ago because they threatened to destroy her home. She saw her beloved David Baker standing beside her as she attempted to seal them away, white energy coming from a staff instead of an umbrella. She felt tears spill from her eyes as she saw herself again and again, holding her hands in front of her as she prepared to save the world and all the while her love stood by her in various forms, lending her strength in one way or another.

  She was the Earth’s chosen one and Michael Venture or whatever his true identity was the love of her life spanning centuries. For the first time in this lifetime, and for the first time since she arrived in New York City, her life made sense. It finally had meaning.

  “Members of the Dark Society of Nebula Six!” she called in a voice that almost didn’t sound like her own. Michael turned to look at her, not realizing that she would regain her memories so quickly. “Leave that innocent human alone!”

  The aliens turned to face her, surprised that she was there to interrupt their plans of world domination again. They didn’t speak aloud but she heard a voice in her mind that caused her jump out of her skin and grasp Michael’s hand tighter. We knew it was only a matter of time before he found you again.

  “Leave my planet!” she exclaimed. “Let us be in peace!”

  We’ll leave when he does. They replied simply with their voices combining into a drone.

  Rory looked up at Michael and realized that she had a power that he did not possess. He merely tried to look encouraging. He did not hear what they were telling her. She decided to see if her ability worked further. No, she answered, Now that I know what my fate is I’d like to enjoy my time with him. When the members of the Dark Society looked offended that she was singling them out, she knew she’d been successful.

  “I just spoke with my mind,” Rory hissed excitedly.

  Michael smiled at her. “Just wait until you can see what else you can do.”

  Chapter 8

  The Dark Society members abandoned the woman they had been feeding on and now turned their sights on Rory and Michael.

  “What do I do?” she hissed. “How do I seal them?”

  “You asked them to leave. You are always supposed to ask them to leave first. What did they say?” Michael reminded remembering all the protocol he had been taught to follow.

  “They told me they will only leave if you go too.”

  Michael smiled. “They always say that.”

  “And I always told them hell no,” Rory replied. It was all coming back to her, flowing through her like it had never been missing.

  “Then follow your instincts,” he said, “It will take less time than if I explain it to you.”

  Rory took several steps forward; her brain feeling terrified even though her heart guided her. I don’t want to fight you. She thought toward her enemy. But I will if you won’t leave my people in peace.

  Once more their voices melding into one. We will never leave you in peace. We want this planet added to our collection of places we have laid to waste. We have waited hundreds of years to acquire it. We will continue to fight you in various lifetimes until we finally get the upper hand. We know now what we must do.

  “You leave me no choice,” Rory said and placed her hands in front of her like she had seen herself do in her memories. But before she had the chance to do more, the Dark Society of Nebula Six did something she wasn’t expecting. They did something horrible.

  They moved so quickly that before she could process having her hand ripped from Michael’s, he was already being held hostage from them. Their shadowy limbs binding him.

  “Michael!” she exclaimed as he struggled.

  It took us almost five hundred years to learn that he is the reason why you keep on finding us. He is the one that protects you and this world from our power. If we take him away, the human race has no chance.

  “NO!” Rory exclaimed, thinking of how the last few days had changed her and made her better. She recalled how happy she had been in Michael’s memories, how happy she had felt in her own. Now that she knew who she truly was, she could not lose him, no she would not lose him.

  Attack us if you dare. But you will destroy us all.

  “Aurora listen to me!” Michael exclaimed. “Don’t worry about me. I know what you are capable of. If you hesitate they will kill you! You have power, I know that you can use it to save me!”

  If Rory’s mind wasn’t made up before, his words tipped her over the edge and she concentrated more than she ever had before. Something was telling her focus and that the answers would be provided for her. The Dark Society was trying to injure her beloved, she could see that they were trying to use his energy just like they would a normal human when Rory saw his umbrella lying on the ground beside her. She thought of the man that had tried to mug her. It already felt like a long time. She recalled the way Michael had been able to freeze him in place. She prayed that she had the same sort of strength.

  She picked up the umbrella and pointed it at the Dark Society and Michael. “I order you to freeze,” Rory shouted and she was shocked when ice shot out from the umbrella and enveloped Michael in a cold casket.

  Foolish girl. You will be his murderer.

  “We’ll see about that,” she retorted and began to smirk when the aliens tried to pull their hands away and they were stuck in the ice with her beloved. She almost felt wicked for what she was about to do next. “I order the powers that be to remove your hands from him.”

  Even though the Dark Society could not speak out loud, the noises they made when something invisible cut all their hands off were awful and Rory had to do everything she could to not cover her ears. She knew it had to be this way. She had to seal them away for good this time so that this time there would be peace. Michael was unconscious in the ice and though she knew she was temporarily safe from the phantom aliens, she knew she should still move fast.

  Intoning words that she hadn’t said in this lifetime but that she still knew by heart, Rory thrust her hands out in front of her. “Oh, evil spirits, wicked fiends, I demand that you be gone from this place. I command you to leave my sight but this time I am ordering you to leave this planet and never return!”

  The Dark Society screamed agonizing cries again, as though they were fighting her orders. Rory continued as hot light came from her fingers she raised her voice. “This world is not your plaything. It belongs to my people. LEAVE AND NEVER RETURN!” she pushed the energy away from her, sending it spiraling towards the Dark Society of Nebula Six and vaporizing them to ashes. Rory was temporarily blinded as she stomped through the park to Michael who was still encased in ice. “I command that this ice become water.” She panted and she fell over his body, hoping that she wasn’t too late.

  Chapter 9


  Michael’s body was cold when the last of the ice melted away and searched his body for anything that could have been a fatal wound. He didn’t look harmed, but she had seen his face when the enemy was holding onto him and she prayed that she wasn’t going to discover the truth about herself just to have it snatched away again.

  “Please,” she whispered as she leaned down and kissed him. “Please come back to me. You spent your whole life saving me and now I want to say that I saved you.”

  Several painful seconds passed before he gasped for breath and his eyes fluttered open. Rory practically sobbed tears of joy to see that he was alive.

  “You did it,” he said with a weak smile, body shivering since he was damp from being encased in ice. “I knew one day we’d finally be able to seal them away for good.”

  “They’re really gone?” Rory wasn’t sure if she could believe it.

  Michael nodded. “I’ve had that feeling in my bones for hundreds of years. It’s not here. It’s nowhere to be found.”

  Rory hugged him so tightly she thought she might break him. “You need to warm up. Come back to my place. It’s not far.” She probably should have been embarrassed for him to see how meagerly she lived but right now she was just so happy that he was alive that she didn’t care. She ushered him the few block to her building and up the stairs.

  She wrapped him in every blanket she owned and made him hot chocolate on the very small range she had in her studio apartment. She hadn’t been here for almost three days and didn’t really miss it. It might have been hers, but it never had that charm she had wanted because she was too busy trying to make ends meet. Michael still looked around in interest and she wondered if her interests and personality were different in every lifetime. It must have been, because so much time separated one version of herself from the next.

  “You are very quiet,” she said as she handed him a steaming mug.

  “I… I think something’s happened to me,” he answered honestly.

  Rory looked at him concerned, She began to touch his arms and shoulders seeing if she missed a wound on them that wasn’t there before. “Where are you hurt?”

  “It’s not like that,” he tried to explain, “Before tonight I could feel your presence whether you were two feet in front of me or a whole continent apart. Now you stand before me and I feel nothing. Obviously, we are both alive and well. I just… I just can’t explain it.”

  Rory thought of what it could be, of why he could be feeling that way. “Could it be that now that I’ve sealed them away for good that there is no longer a need for you to be ageless. You don’t need to constantly know where I am because the enemy is defeated?”

  “Maybe,” Michael considered. “All I know is that I’m never letting you go again. Come live with me and I’m still going to be good about my promise of letting you go to college.”

  “We can figure that out tomorrow,” she assured. “It’s late and I want to be as close to you as I can.”

  She had Michael lie down on the bed and she gingerly touched his body until she reached a part of his body that was not harmed by their run in with the Dark Society. Rory was determined to make him as comfortable as possible. She carefully wrapped her hand around him and began to stroke him up and down until he shut his eyes and seemed to relax.

  Rory thought about the lifetimes where they had been together for years and years. Would this be one of those times that she’d have his children. Would this be their final lifetime together? She tried not to dwell on it. She thought about how they were lucky to be alive and all that matter now was pleasing her beloved.

  When he began to squirm at her touch, she knew that it was time to move on to the next step. She kissed him tenderly before she straddled his body, lowering herself onto his manhood, not realizing how much she had wanted it until he was buried to the hilt. His eyes flicked open, taking in the sight of her above him, and the smile that crossed his lips made her want to laugh. She was going to enjoy having this power over him, she could tell.

  She rode him, trying to switch up her tempo that so that he wouldn’t know what to expect and in the process was starting to feel so good herself that she was groaning with pleasure. If you had asked her a week ago if she had liked making love on top she would have told you she hated it and yet here she was about to lose herself because she was trying so hard to please Michael.

  “You’re trying to kill me!” he moaned and Rory smiled because she knew that he was close too.

  They came together and it was a euphoric feeling as she spasmed while he came inside of her. It should have freaked her out but after all the lifetimes they had spent together, there was no one that she trusted more. Rory lay on top of his chest and knew that she would never be in this room again. Where Michael went, she would be sure to follow. Whatever she did, he would be there to support her because that was all they’d ever known and she wouldn’t want it any other way.

  Chapter 10

  “Crime seems to have gone down slightly in the metropolitan area,” the anchor from channel five news reported several weeks later. “No longer are witnesses reporting sights of monsters or berserk people. Don’t worry though, it seems that the masked man who has saved the people of New York countless times is still around. He was spotted as recently as last night.”

  His pretty co-anchor added, “That’s right! Not only was this masked man with his trench coat spotted but there were sightings of him with a lady also wearing a mask. It seems that we have our very own justice league here in New York City.”

  Rory watched the news from the huge television in her and Michael’s living room. It still seemed weird to call the lavish penthouse her own, but he had assured her that it was her home. Rory still couldn’t believe the strange road that fate had thrown her down and neither did her parents. When she told them she’d met the billionaire while out for a run, they didn’t believe her until Michael got on the phone and told them himself. It was a much more believable story than being the chosen savior of Earth and her alien companion.

  Michael had gone back to working in the office building below the penthouse and Rory had gone back to being his assistant. Most of the time, she helped him decide how many charitable events were too many to attend and helped him fix his superhero costume if it got ripped or torn. Lately the job description had changed to joining him stop robbers, vandals and assaults. The news had caught wind of it and now they were running with this whole justice league thing. She thought of her old coworker, Max, and wondered what his theories were this time.

  She was now a week into her semester at Columbia University and although it was harder than she imagined, she was so happy to be there at all. She hadn’t declared her major yet, but she was almost certain that she was going to choose counseling. In fact if there was a way that she could help girls like her get on their feet when they ran to New York to chase their dreams, she would do it in a heartbeat. By the time she graduated, she would figure out a way to help young people find a job and have hope after the city inevitably kicked their asses. She knew that Michael would be there to help. It would be a charitable donation he was most interested in.

  Their hunch about Michael no longer being ageless had also been correct. They were visited by one of his kind shortly after the Dark Society from Nebula Six had been vanquished. “You were one of our best soldiers,” he told Michael. “This version of yourself will be the final version of yourself.”

  Michael clasped Rory’s hand tightly. “It will be good to slow down,” he said brightly. “I’ve finally got everything I need.

  So Rory’s life became a strange routine. She’d wake up and go to her classes, she’d come home and have dinner with the love of her life and then he’d share his memories of their past lives. Of the people they were and family they’d had. Rory would stare in wonder when she would look up her previous life’s offspring and they were real tangible people. She almost felt sad because she had all these strains of family that were all completely unaw
are that their parents, grandparents and so forth had been reborn again. Even if she reached out those that were still alive, would they believe her?

  “We will have a family again,” Michael told her on a day that she cried as she realized one of her former children had lived just blocks from her old apartment. “I’m sure of it, and this time you will get to watch them grow without the threat of the enemy hanging over your head.”

  “I’m sorry that I’m so emotional about all of this it’s just so strange,” Rory replied. “I spent the last five years of my life thinking that I was utterly alone and here I am a mother already. If I had known that maybe I would have stopped feeling sorry for myself.”

  It was at that moment that Michael asked her, “Do you want to see something amazing?” Before she could say no, he was taking her by jet back to England and guiding her to a place that was bustling town. He guided her to a spot in the middle of the town. It reminded her of an old village the way all the shops were all surrounding a small town square. “This. This right here is where I met you for the very first time all those many years ago.”

  At that moment, Rory could feel it too. They had a history that so many other people would die for. She had more children and grandchildren than most. Michael had brought so much into her life that it made fighting the enemy worth it.

  So as she listened to the television call her and her beloved New York’s Justice League, she couldn’t get mad. It was like Michael had said. Earth was a simple unaware planet. They had no idea how many sacrifices she and Michael had to make to protect it. How many times they were separated and found each other again. Now they were finally free.

  She grabbed her backpack and headed to the elevator. When she got to the eleventh floor the doors opened and he stood beside her.

  “Off to school?” he asked.