by Michael Todd
Thanks, Katie grumbled. What the hell happened?
Pandora was still busy trying to heal the wounds covering Katie’s body. Well, after you pulled me out of you, you collapsed onto the hot-as-hell ground of…well, hell. I fought off the demons and that giant bitch-ass dragon Leviathan thing, then I grabbed your passed-out butt and jumped out of the portal and wham! Here we are back to New York. I thought you might want to avoid a walk of shame, so I brought us up here. You need to heal, not go around looking like the Walking Dead.
Is it bad? Katie was trying to look at herself, but being inside Pandora, that was a little bit difficult.
Bitch, you went down like a sorority girl, but I got you out. You had some broken bones, but none of the important ones. You had some burns from the lava rock, but nowhere important, and a bump on the head. I took care of most of it down in the alley where we came out. Now I’m just finishing up the scrapes on your legs and arms.
Katie took over her arms and patted her pockets for her cell phone. I’ve got to call the general and let him know we’re okay. I need to let him know the Leviathan isn’t dead yet.
Pandora chuckled. First of all, you need to slow down because I need these hands to finish taking care of you. Secondly, I’m pretty sure I saw your phone in about a thousand pieces back there in hell.
Katie sighed and relinquished control. I’m going to need another phone.
Pandora finished up patching the last of the wounds on her legs and got her to her feet. Not perfect, but it will do. Once both of us have had some rest, I’ll finish healing you the rest of the way. Now, would you like the honor of getting us home, or would you like me to do it?
Katie grimaced at her bruised ribs. I’m still too weak. I’ll watch…and criticize, of course.
Katie went silent inside Pandora, slightly shocked that she hadn’t said anything snarky in return. Pandora stepped onto the edge of the building and spread her wings, flapping them once or twice before diving off. Katie decided not to joke around anymore. It was obvious Pandora wasn’t in the mood, and she was having a hard enough time staying conscious.
Pandora flew around their building, running her hands down her sides. Let me guess, you didn’t bring the keys with you?
Yeah. I didn’t really think about it, I guess.
Pandora flew to the front of the building and aimed herself at the front doors. A crowd of people was standing in the street with signs, all of them now staring up at the flying woman. Okay, looks like we’re going to make quite an entrance.
Everyone on the street made way, moving to the side as Pandora landed carefully on her feet. She flapped her wings a couple times, then allowed them to fold behind her and disappear. She posed for a moment, smiling and waving at those who were holding signs indicating their love for her. She snapped her head to the left, narrowed her eyes at the ones holding hate signs, and flipped them the bird.
They began to boo and yell. Pandora put up her hand. “Touch me, and I’ll make you wish you were in hell.”
One of the protesters growled and started screaming, “Who the hell do you think you are? I’m going to sue you for mental agony!”
Pandora tilted her head back, laughing. “Do it, bitch. But learn to spell first. Your sign looks like a first grader wrote it.”
Those supporting of Katie and Pandora began shouting at the others. Pandora chuckled and looked up when the doorman opened the door, his eyebrow raised.
Pandora eyed him and gave him a huge smile. “I’m the other side of Katie—the one who gives zero fucks about that shit.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder and added, “Except, if they start brawling, I’ll bust out the popcorn.”
The doorman stepped to the side, his eyes growing wide as he realized he was talking to Katie’s demon and not Katie. Pandora walked toward the doors, but paused and looked over her shoulder. She flashed a smile to her supporters. “Give ‘em hell, guys!”
Pandora slipped inside, and the doorman quickly closed the door and locked it. On the other side of the doors, both factions of protesters met in the middle of the street. Fists were thrown, signs were bashed, and an all-out brawl broke out. The doorman glanced over his shoulder at the concierge. “Looks like we have another brawl. You might want to call the cops for this one.”
The concierge chuckled and picked up the phone. “This is becoming a regular thing.”
As the elevator doors shut Katie shoved Pandora inside. She looked at her reflection in the doors of the elevator and grimaced. There was blood on her face, most likely hers, and a gash across her chest. Her clothes hung off her body in shreds. She leaned forward and carefully touched the purple and blue around her eyes.
Katie wrinkled her nose. Oh, fuck, there goes that beautiful face.
Pandora didn’t say anything, staying quiet. Katie stood up and looked around. Hello? Pandora? Are you in there?
Just gathering my strength, that’s all. Focusing on getting us into the apartment. The last thing I need is for you to pass out here in the elevator. I’m not outside your body anymore, and if you pass out, I can’t take back over.
The door slid open, and Katie shook her head. Fuck, what kind of inner injuries do I have?
Whiny-bitchitis. Chill. I got this.
Katie shrugged and walked down the hall, stopping in front of her door and knocking hard. She could hear Angie running from the kitchen and unlocking the bolt. When she threw open the door, her face went from happy to shocked.
Angie tilted her head to the side. “Good God, woman. Do you ever come back here and not have something crazy going on? What happened this time? Did you get dropped in front of a freight train?”
Katie sighed and shook her head as she limped through the front doors. “Remind me next time that fighting Leviathans is a real fucking pain in the ass.”
Angie followed Katie into the kitchen and stared at her as she took down a cup, filled it with water, and drank frantically. She downed glass after glass as if she had been stumbling through the Mojave Desert. After her fourth glass, she swallowed hard and put the cup on the table.
Angie lifted her eyebrows. “Are you okay?”
Katie coughed and grabbed her ribs, but nodded. “I’ll be fine. That’s the beauty of having a demon. I only have to deal with pain for a little while.”
Angie put the glass in the dishwasher before turning back to her. “I have to be honest, you look like you’ve been to hell and back.”
Katie snorted. “I have, actually.”
Before Angie could ask any more questions, Katie went to her bedroom and rummaged around for her other phone. Angie stood in the doorway, watching her throw her clothes out of a drawer and act slightly stranger than normal.
After a couple of minutes, Angie cleared her throat. “Can I help you find something?”
Without glancing up, Katie responded. “Actually, yeah. I’m looking for my spare phone. I kind of just disappeared on everyone, literally. I need to get in touch with the general before he thinks I’m dead and starts planning a memorial.”
The general pumped his fist as the last of the Leviathan blew to pieces. There was no way that beast was coming back this time, not unless it was able to regenerate its body. As the smoke from the missiles cleared, he stared at the screen. He was watching closely for any sign of Katie. But as the breeze blew the smoke away, there was nothing except for burning embers and blood-spattered sand.
The captain put his hand on the general’s shoulder. “We got her, General. We got her.”
The general forced a smile and turned to shake the captain’s hand. “Good work, Captain. We’ve been trying to kill her for weeks. She sure as hell looked bad when she came out of that portal. I have no idea how bad hell must really be if she came back that injured, knowing we would be waiting here.”
The captain nodded and turned back to the screen. “I’m assuming your girl had something to do with that. I’m sure she’s okay. We’ll keep searching for her.”
The general nodded.
“What about your teams?”
The captain held the radio up. “SEAL team lead, report.”
For several very long seconds, there was only silence on the other end of the radio. Then a loud crackling came across before the captain heard a voice. “We’re all safe and accounted for, sir. On our way back to the ship.”
The general let out a sigh of relief. It was incredibly important to him that as few innocents died as possible. He took a step back and leaned against one of the chairs bolted to the floor. The phone on the wall rang, but he barely noticed. His mind was too far gone wondering what had happened to his merc—and his friend—Katie.
“Excuse me, General, but you have a phone call,” one of the sailors interrupted. He nodded at the phone on the wall.
The general acknowledged and trudged his way to the phone. “Yes?”
“What I’m trying to figure out is why you haven’t sent out the entire Navy to find me?”
The general smiled. “Katie, where the hell’ve you been?”
Katie chuckled. “Oh, you know, taking a little vacay in the deepest bowels of hell. The usual summer fun.”
The general smirked. “We got the Leviathan. Another portal opened on the island and she was severely injured when she came through, which I’m assuming had something to do with you or Pandora. We blew her to bits.”
“Good. That bitch had it coming.”
The general paused for a moment. “Where are you?”
Katie chuckled. “I’m actually back in New York. It’s a long story, but I fell and was pretty much in a coma in hell and Pandora brought me back.”
The general was shocked. “Really? Pandora was in hell? She had the option to stay where she came from, and she took the time to bring you back to New York?”
Katie smirked. “I told you. She may be a demon, but she’s on our side. And I’m glad to hear you killed Tiamat.”
The general relaxed. “I am too. One of seven down.”
Pandora let out a whoop. I was concerned. The last thing I wanted was that Leviathan on the loose again, pissed as shit at me for beating her ass.
Yeah. Katie scoffed.
The general cleared his throat. “So, what’s next? Back to the usual?”
Katie yawned. “I’ve definitely got some downtime coming. This was one of the hardest battles I’ve ever been in, probably because I took myself to hell. Unless there’s some sort of crazy outbreak or incursion, I’d really like to have some time to myself. What I’m saying, in a nice way, is don’t call me for at least a week.”
The general laughed loudly. “You know you just jinxed yourself, right?”
Katie stretched an arm and grimaced at the sharp pain. “Unless the world is burning, I’m sleeping.”
“Be careful what you say. We’re dealing with demons from hell, so setting the world on fire isn’t one of the least likely things that could happen.”
Katie groaned. “You have a point there, but I’m not sure how much help I would be. I’m an angel. I don’t think any of my powers involve putting out fires.”
The general shrugged. “You surprise us every single day, so I wouldn’t at all be shocked if somehow you grew a firehose from your—”
Katie bellowed with laughter. “I would never live that down with Pandora. Also, I don’t think the media would cover it. It wouldn’t be appropriate for the primetime news.”
Pandora giggled. No, but you would have a hell of a lot of men in the world who were jealous of your…firehose. We might even be able to get you on one of those firemen calendars.
Katie rolled her eyes. Oh yeah, that would definitely get me laid. I have giant tits and a firehose. Not exactly what I was looking for.
Hey, don’t knock it until you try it.
Katie cringed. Please don’t put that on your list of changes to make to my body.
She focused on the general again. “Are you coming back to land soon?”
“I am, but I would have one hell of a long helicopter flight from here. I might end up staying with the ship until we’re close to land. I’ve never been fond of chopper rides.”
“If I wasn’t so beat up, I’d pick you up and fly you back myself.”
The general laughed. “I don’t think that would be much better. Falling into the open ocean isn’t my idea of a fun time.”
They both laughed, and then there was a mutual silent pause. Katie yawned again, and the general smirked. “It sounds like you need some sleep. I’ll contact you if the world is on fire.”
“Sounds good. I’ll have my firehose ready.”
3
“You want to be careful with that. If you drop that box, you’re gonna have to face Timothy, and you do not want to face Timothy.” Korbin’s eyes narrowed as he watched the soldiers carry boxes to the loading area on the base.
Timothy walked up behind them and put his hands on his hips. “Damn straight. One scratch and I’m coming after you.”
Korbin chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that at this point he’s not going to let it slip one inch.”
Timothy nodded but wrinkled his nose. “Am I really that scary? I mean, how scary can I be in Marc Jacobs and Valentino?”
Korbin rubbed his face as Timothy did a little pirouette to show off his outfit and asked, “Is everyone ready to move on?”
Timothy turned to Joshua, the government consultant, and the other people. They all nodded, trying to hold back smiles or laughter. Joshua stepped forward with his notebook and looked at Korbin. “Tell us about where we’re going?”
Korbin nodded. “Right. We’re moving near Groom Lake. Obviously, we won’t be able to be directly at Groom Lake because it’s a landing site for Area 51. Several of the locations around it have been closed to the public since ‘95 so they couldn’t get shots of the installation. Groom Lake and the area around it is a salt flat, but there is an airfield in the area we’re looking at already, which was decommissioned from Area 51 and sold off. Nothing has changed much, and there’s a lot of defense still in place. We’re to build it up. They will bring up more defenses and consultants to learn from the last attack and make sure that if another one happens, we’re ready. We also chose this area because it’s far from civilians. Area 51 has their own protection, and the general has written down where we’ll be, so he knows exactly how close we are to them.”
Joshua nodded as he took notes in his book. “Will there be a place for the armory?”
Korbin tilted his head back and forth. “Yes and no. We’re going to make a place for you. It isn’t set up for that right now, but neither was this place. I remember everything now, but it’s taking me a little bit of time to get back on my feet. The consultants are here to help me and help you until that happens. The armory is obviously very important to us and the world, so it’ll be the first priority after defense.”
One of the consultants stepped up. “This is supposed to be temporary, a place to go that isn’t here, and the demons aren’t aware of. Most likely, it’ll only be until we’re able to hollow out a large enough area inside a mountain.”
Korbin put up his finger and shook his head. “I’m thinking that might not be the best. What happens if the demons open a portal to hell inside the mountain? Not only will we be right next to the portal while demons are pouring out, but the intense heat will take out our communications. We can’t afford that.”
The consultants looked at each other and nodded. “That’s a good point, Korbin. We’ll put our heads together and think about it. We don’t want to put the base or you folks in unnecessary danger.”
“I second that,” Timothy put in. “It’s a shame they figured out where this place was. I feel like having everything underground was perfect. It kept us safe from any roving eyes and allowed us to put our communication efforts above ground but not be obvious with some huge building with the satellite dish on it. On top of that, it was damn quiet, which was nice.”
Joshua closed his notebook. “The only thing that would’ve been better was if the arm
ory had been underground too. The demons could have walked right over this place and never known we were here. I was really hoping this was going to be home for a long time.”
Korbin put his arm around Joshua. “I know you’ve moved a lot in your life, kid, but just remember, it isn’t the physical building that makes it home. It’s the people who are there with you. You’re part of a family, and we’re all in this together. We will make the next place just as awesome as this one.”
Timothy wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “You’re getting right to the heart of it. I sure as hell am glad you’re back, Korbin. And I have to say, being married to Stephanie has softened you up quite a bit. I can’t imagine the old Korbin saying anything that sweet.”
Korbin chuckled. “I’m thinking it’s more the soap operas than anything else.”
Timothy put his hands on his hips. “You don’t have to be ashamed of your femininity. Embrace it, boy. Embrace it.”
Everyone laughed and then Joshua looked up, his shoulders tensing. “Well, it looks like it’s beginning.”
Korbin smiled at him before turning to the road behind them. Dust clouded the air as several large trucks headed toward the main part of the base. Korbin sighed. “I remember this.”
I seriously don’t understand how you’re still sleeping. It’s been two days, and you act like you’re no better than you were before. I’ve taken care of all your wounds and put a pain blocker on you so you wouldn’t feel the soreness from your muscles healing. Pandora wasn’t having it anymore. She was starving.
Katie groaned, rolled over in the bed, and opened her eyes. You have been bitching at me for hours now. I told you, and I told the general, that this is my goddamned vacation. I just want to get some sleep.
Pandora narrowed her eyes. Don’t you get fucking snappy with me, bitch. You got your sleep, and now I need to be fed and so do you. You’ll never regain your energy if you don’t get out of bed and eat something.
Katie rolled onto her back and slapped her hands down on the bed. Fine! Just stop complaining. Why don’t you remind me again how I pulled you out of my body?