Chapter 25
Later that night, after I indulged in a relaxing shower, Jay, Viola and I gathered in the living room for pizza. I figured it would be a good time to discuss strategy.
My hair was still wrapped up in a towel, and I noticed Jay giggling.
He pointed to my makeshift turban and looked at Vi. “Kind of reminds me of the last time we were all together, when you took a shower.”
Vi laughed. “Kate got an eyeful. Guessing you did too.” She smirked and then took a bite of pizza.
Jay actually blushed, which only made it funnier.
“You won’t have to worry about that with me,” I clarified.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Vi said. When Jay looked away, she added, “Come on, Jay, you know we were both thinking it. As for me, I make no such promises.”
At that he laughed. “Certainly will be more fun with you two around. I just hope Steve doesn’t try anything.” He pushed his colored glasses farther up along his nose.
“I don’t suspect he will,” I said. “He doesn’t like Derek any more than I do. The only thing Steve really cares about is getting his daughter back safely.”
“And just how are we going to do that?” Vi asked. “We don’t even know where she is.”
“No, but Steve could probably teleport to wherever she is,” Jay said. “I find it easy to teleport to people I’m close to.”
He looked at me when he said that, which didn’t go unnoticed by Vi.
She sighed. “Didn’t he say he’s already tried? Which means she’s somewhere with that dampening field that neutralizes powers.”
“Right, that’s what I thought too. But the difference is, we have Jay.” I looked at him and smiled. “His power gave him the boost he needed to counter the effects of the field.”
“Yes, for me,” Jay said. “I’m not sure how that would work with Steve. And even if I could heal him beforehand, give him a boost, would it be enough once he got there? We have no idea how heavily guarded she is, if he would even have a chance…”
“True,” I said, trying to think through the possibilities. “Can you give us all a boost, so that we could all go there together?”
“Fuck that,” Vi said. “I’m not putting my neck on the line for that dickhead. He’s on his own.”
Jay and I both looked at her. I knew she didn’t like Steve, but to outright refuse to help?
“What?” She folded her arms against her chest. “How do we even know the kid is real? He could be making up the whole thing.”
“I saw her during a mind probe,” I said. “She’s real.”
“You probed that asshole?” Vi giggled. “Shit, it kinda sounds kinky when I say it like that…”
Jay nearly choked on his water. I smiled in appreciation at her twisted sense of humor.
“Maybe one of us should stay behind,” Jay said. “I mean, if we all get captured, then someone can stage a rescue.”
“Even if that’s true, it shouldn’t be Vi,” I countered. “Her power is the best offensive one we’ve got.”
“Besides yours,” Vi said. “I’d much rather fry people’s brains. It’s easier than kicking their asses.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Yeah, if you like killing people… Either way, I’m going. I think you should too.”
“That only leaves me then,” Jay said. “But if you need my power to get you there, what if you need a boost to get back?”
“So it’s settled then,” Vi said. “We’re all going.” Then she added sarcastically, “Yay!”
“Look, I know how you feel about Steve,” I said. “But if this gets us off his case, isn’t it worth it? Besides, that poor little girl is probably scared to death.”
Vi softened. “I guess you’re right. I mean, about the girl. Derek sounds like the kind of jackhole who has another minion waiting to take Steve’s place. I doubt this will end it.”
I recalled what Derek had said, how long he’s been waiting for telepathy. If none of his other guinea pigs have that power, then she’s right, he won’t stop until he gets it. From me. Plus I pissed him off, embarrassed him even. It’s personal now. “At least this will give us another ally. Freezing power is pretty awesome.”
We finished eating, and Jay said he had a few things to take care of at work. Vi agreed to stay with me. We settled on his couch, turned on his small TV and found something silly to watch: a stupid romcom about off Broadway actors that required no brain activity whatsoever. Then a horrible old black and white sci-fi flick came on, featuring Robbie the Robot. I laughed, thinking how far robotics had come since that movie was made. Some of the more advanced android models made it difficult to tell whether or not they were human.
“So what happened between you and Steve?” I asked Vi.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said quietly.
“It does to me. He hurt you. I want to know what he did.” I took hold of her hand.
“He just led me on. Made me think he wanted to help me, that he was interested in me. It was all a ploy to capture me.” She stroked my hand she was holding with her thumb. “I was so vulnerable, when I first got my powers. He took advantage of me.”
“Did you… I mean, did you and he…”
“We only kissed. I should’ve known by his kisses. They felt so mechanical, no passion at all.” She giggled. “I figured it was a British dude thing.”
I half-smiled at the inaccurate stereotype. I knew it wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to bring up my brief make out sessions with Steve.
“So what’s going on with you and Jay?” Vi asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, I just found out he’s not married. And that he’s into me.”
Vi snickered. “Jesus, Kate, I could’ve told you he was into you the night I met him. That boy has lovesick puppy written all over him.”
“I just thought he was being a friend.” But then I realized the signs were all there: he stayed at the hospital, he was always checking up on me, and he was so uncomfortable being alone with me.
“Yeah, like we’re just friends?” She shot me a sexy smile. “You know I get to sleep with you tonight, regardless, right?”
“I kinda figured that,” I said, and rested my head on her shoulder. “I’m glad. I always feel safer when you’re around. Oh, but there is one thing I need to do tonight, and I was hoping you could help me.”
“Somebody else to beat up? I’m in.”
“No, nothing like that.” I sighed. “Need to fix my mistakes. Jay’s going to heal Alex for me.”
“The dead cop? He can do that?” The look on her face was a classic mixture of revulsion and fear, as if I suggested she sleep with a clown or something equally as repulsive.
I realized I left out that detail when I recalled what happened at the compound. “Alex isn’t dead,” I explained. “He’s in a coma.”
“Oh.” Vi started flipping through all the channels, but nothing even remotely interesting was on. “Well that’s awesome.”
“Yeah it is. But seeing as how you were the one who actually snuck into my hospital room, I was wondering if you can tell me how you did it.”
Vi wrapped her arm around me. “Ah, so you want to borrow the nurse’s outfit, huh? Just promise me you’ll stay in it afterwards. I’ll be your naughty patient, and we can—”
“The logistics of it, I mean.” My face flushed at the scene she pictured in her head, replete with spankings and oral sex in various positions. I still felt a little apprehensive at the thought of sex with anyone, but Vi certainly wasn’t making it easy with her fantasies playing in my head.
“You mean the teleporting?” she said in a disappointed tone. “I teleported right outside of your room. Lucky nobody saw me, but they were all pretty busy at the time. I just walked on into your room.”
“How were you able to teleport to me? I mean, you hardly knew me at the time.”
“You don’t have to know someone to teleport, you just have to have a picture of the person in your mind. Of course it’s easier when you know them, but you can still do it.” Her brow wrinkled. “This is the cop you fucked, right? What are you worried about?”
“I don’t know. For one thing, his wife being there. Would be a bit screwed up to pop into the room with her sitting there.”
Vi laughed. “I guess it would be. Tell you what, I’ll play nurse one more time for you. Check it out before you guys go, and if anyone sees me, I’ll just poof back out.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, though the thought of trying to squeeze my ass into that tight cosplay outfit was horrifying.
“I know, I want to help. Guess you’ll just have to play the naughty patient instead,” she said and giggled. After which her thoughts turned back to being deliciously sexual.
I groaned, feeling the ache start to build up again. To distract myself, I grabbed my laptop and sat farther down on the couch. Some crappily written procedure full of unnecessary temp tables should do the trick.
“No fun, Kate.” Her lips pouted in the most adorable way. “I said it before…”
“Yeah, yeah. The last thing I need right now is to feel horny.”
An evil grin appeared on her face. “You were reading my thoughts!”
“Correction. You were broadcasting your thoughts.”
“And what am I thinking now?” Her ponytails bounced as she got on all fours and crawled towards me. The view down her shirt from that angle was perfect—she wasn’t wearing a bra. I wanted nothing more than to give into her fantasy, which this time involved her straddling me, ripping off her shirt and shoving my face between her gorgeous breasts.