Conduit, Not Human

Cole was terrified. When he had finally gotten to Kuo, his worst fears were confirmed. That bastard, Joseph Bertrand, had experimented on her. She was as cold as death when Cole had carried her to Zeke as the police held off Bertrand's militia. Despite it all, she was conscious and managed to walk herself to Zeke, telling Cole to go help. Cole knew she would say something like that, Kuo was always thinking about getting the job done.

"Are you sure? You like cr- I mean you don't look your best Kuo."

"Your way with words never cease to amaze me Cole, honestly."

"Heh, alright. You get yourself to Zeke, you hear me? You'll probably want to lay low, so Zeke's taking you back to our place. I'll finish up here, now get going!"

Cole starts to walk away when his honed senses barely detected the whisper of a thank escape from Kuo. He smiled, until he remembered that the men just across the street from him worked for the man that did this to Kuo, and then grinned manically. Oooooh yeah. Skulls will be crushed. Thought Cole as he saw Zeke driving off in a truck with Kuo in the back .

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That was the last transformer, nice job Cole. You just restored power to the whole district. That'll make finding Bertrand a hundred times easier for you Cole, considering you'll be able to actually dish out some damage without worrying about recharging."

"You don't have to tell me twice, thanks for the help Zeke. By the way, how's Kuo?" Cole tried to keep his voice steady, but he knew Zeke would pick up on his fears. Truth was, Cole had so many slip ups he had a few too many close calls. After all, he was fighting the grunts of Bertrand's army. On a good day, these guys might as well sow bull's-eyes onto their uniforms, but all day they've been flanking him and getting lucky shots on him. He couldn't help it though, he was nervous about Kuo. Zeke said that when they got back, he offered her some rest, and 2 advils later and as Zeke put it, "She was out cold." If Cole was really honest, he couldn't help but admit how satisfying it would've been to shockwave Zeke off the roof, just a little off the roof, of course.

"She's up and about, Cole. Although, I gotta warn you, when I was taking care of her, it felt just like when I watched over you way back when at Empire city. As it turns out, I wasn't that off. She waiting for you at Arlington Cemetery."

"What are you talking about Zeke? What do you mean?"

"Just go brother, trust me. Besides, I gotta go do some more reconnaissance."

"Alright, thanks Zeke. And hey, one of these days people are going to come together and realize I haven't done anything about that infamous peeping Tom women have been complaining about."

"Haha, don't worry Cole, I'll find him for you one day. I'll keep looking near ladies windows, that's probably the best place to find him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kuo? Kuuooo! I'm here. It's me. Cole." Cole couldn't help but admit that if he were being watched from some weird 3rd person perspective of his life, he would've laughed at himself right there and then." Then he noticed Kou step out from behind a grave. Her hair was ice blue, her eyeliner blue, and she was wearing a tank top with see through lace on the top, enough for some innocent cleavage to be shown, a fact that Cole didn't let slip past him.

"Wow. Wow, that is a really new look for you."

"Yeah, yeah…. Do you like it?"

"Oh yeah. Totally, all you're missing is the cape. Don't you think you're overdoing it?"

" It's the new me. It's not very easy to hide." Kuo said, her voice getting softer until it was almost a whisper. Cole looked at her, recognizing the mixed emotions in her voice.

"Kuo, you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. But it's cute that you care" Kou says as she closes the distance between them to put her hand on Cole's cheek, only to sting him.

"God dammit!"

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I I didn't mean t…"

"You have got to learn how to control your powers Kuo!"

Kou turned her back and walked away, turned around, was about to say something and turned around once more.

"Don't yell at me! You don't think I'm trying. This is all new to me!"

Cole immediately understood Kuo. He was the same with Zeke, only he had his best friend encouraging him throughout the whole thing as well as Trish. Cole didn't think agents like Kuo had many people that they could be close to, and Cole knew with John and Wolfe dead, she had no one in New Marais.

"I've been at this longer than you. I can help you. Believe me, if anyone knows what you're going through, it's me. No, I know exactly how you feel."

"No you don't know Cole! You got your powers through an explosion; it was over in an instant. What they did to me was slow!"

"I'll teach you. Just let me be here for you Kuo."

"… Alright. When do we start?"

"Right now. Let's see what you can do."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm telling you Kou, you and me, Un. Stopable."

"I have to admit, I do feel better. Thanks Coach. I'll leave you alone, I'm sure you're wanted by someone somewhere."

Cole knew it was now or never. "Kuo, wait."

"Is something wrong Cole?" Kou says as she teleports back.

" I wanted to pick up on where we left off." Cole says walking up to Kuo.

" What do you mean?"

"I believe you were saying something about me being cute or something." Cole says as he grabs her hand and puts it on his cheek. Kuo somehow managed to blush, which actually stumped Cole, as he wondered if her blood was frozen or not.

"Cole, I'm touched, but we couldn't do this. I'm an agent and we can't make relat- Actually, I already said I'm not, didn't I? Figures you'd hit on the first Conduit you see." Kou said trying to hide what she hoped wasn't too obvious of a blush.

"Oh ho ho, but that's where you're wrong. The first conduit I met was Nix, and trust me, while it's nice to have a friend who you can relate to, there's nothing going on there. And I always had my pick of human woman, even before my powers, I'll have you know."

"I don't know about all of those, but I'll take your word for it. If you can manage to have a day where neither of us are being shot at, I'd definitely take up an offer for dinner. Maybe even a movie." Kuo managed to squeak out without stuttering.

"I'll see you then, madam." Cole says as he kissed her hand, with a slight blush also tinting his cheeks.

Kuo teleports away with one last stare at Cole. Only when she's gone does he release the breathe he didn't realize he was holding in. He then hears a zzzzrrr from his radio. "Oh fu-."

"Hahahahahahahahaha. Madam?! Madam?! Who were all these human women swooning over you Cole? I sure as hell never met them! Ahahahaha. OMG Nix! Nix! Come over here for a second. You got to hear this!" Zeke says wheezing, a grin plastered on his face despite knowing the danger he just put himself in.

Cole stops dead in his mad rush to the rooftop on his noble mission to blast Zeke off the roof. "Zeke, you know I've never threatened you before. But you are ten seconds away from digging your own grave."

"Ehe, heh, heh. Relax Cole, Nix isn't here, I was just pulling your leg…. Cole? Cole?"

"Just for that, I'm adding 10 ft. to your fall."

"Good one, Cole."

"I can see the building from here. You better start running."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX