Pain.
That's all she could feel. All she could sense. She closed her eyes.
She screamed.
Her eyes opened.
Now, there was no pain. She could see her familiar ceiling. There was a sound and familiar eyes entered her vision.
Bad dream?
"Yes. The same as last week."
An emotion of regret and a request for forgiveness entered those familiar eyes.
"Oh, don't worry. I've told you over and over again, haven't I?"
Relief. Now a request for something.
She smiled and closed her eyes. "Not yet. Besides, you know what I smell like if I haven't showered."
Yes, but I don't care.
"I know," She said softly. "But others do. Plus, it's like my coffee sometimes. I get bad if I don't get it."
Bad? You mean, that kind of bad?
She snorted."You know damn well what I mean. What time is it?"
A pause. 6:00.
She counted it up. "Shower takes 5, coffee takes 1, clothes take 5."
Clothes only take a half!
"Uh-uh. I am not letting you choose the wifebeater and pantyhose again. It is not worth 5 minutes of almost one-sided arguing, you Capricorn."
*beg beg* I won't choose the wife beater this time.
She sighed. "Fine. Just make sure it's 1 minute work apropriate."
That ever so familiar pair of eyes said, "YAY!" as it left.
'Come on girl. Get up. Wait too long an you know what'll happen. And there's no one to see you naked, as there are no windows.'
She got up, took her usual fast-but-thorough 5 minute shower, came out to meet her coffee, and saw her clothes for the day laid out. Simple. Only two layers (not counting the coveralls). Simple modest black underwear, top and bottom, and black cargo jeans with a black t-shirt saying "Leadership is other people doing what I say". The shoes were cheap, painted black here at home and her sunglasses were similarly cheap but useful.
She smiled and drained her coffee.
Dougie, likey?
"Yep. 'Preciate how you chose normal stuff." She put her coffeecup in the sink and marvelled internally at how that familiar face could so well feign surprise even when there was no chance for it to be surprising.
'
She winced slightly as she pulled on her shirt, half an hour later. She regarded her shoulder with an icy stare for a second or two before relaxing. Those icy stares were pretty taxing, when once they were second nature, practically the only look she had for a time. "Ooohh. New scar's a-comin'."
I tried-
"Oh don't be silly. You know just how much like a rock I am. Exactly how much."
I-
"Stop right there. You don't have to apologise again! Now, do I look okay?"
A pause as those sharp little eyes gave her a quick once over. Yep. Ready?
"Always." She offered her arm and the love of her life accepted. They walked out, arms linked, ready to face the world yet again. Sort of.
'
Work was gruelling, but content. It wore them out and lent a sense of peace to her, gaining a simple paycheck.
Then her break came. When she entered the break room and looked around. No one nearby. 'I guess there's no harm in napping during my break, right?'
Wrong.
'
She stopped screaming, barely conscious.
"It's amazing how much of this you have managed to endure. 5 hours in the chair must be quite stimulating."
She smiled weakly at the female voice. "Yes, would you like a try?"
Cold, cruel laughter rang out. "You hear that master? She thinks herself a comedian!"
A snort from the tall, bulky man next to her. "Yes indeed. Let us see how she'll laugh with our maximum, shall we?"
"With pleasure." The female voice responded with obvious glee.
She knew that any attempt to retaliate would be futile. She'd known since the beginning. But, she kept on smiling, even when the voltage from the equivalent of 10 heavy duty city generators pumped into her. Any normal human would've died instantly from a hundredth of that power.
Was there any indication she was normal?
'
*Ring!*
She awoke with a start from her timer's ringing. She didn't move much, and you could only see the surprise from being startled awake on her face.
Electricity?
Damn theat girl was scary! "No."
A smile. You, are a terrible liar.
She moved her timer to her bag and slid off the table to set a hand on the shoulder of the smaller person, looking eye-to-eye. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm serious. I owe you my life."
So do I. That's why I look out for you. Nobody else will. There was something in those eyes. Something almost primal. A need. A hunger.
"You didn't abandon them. You didn't abandon me. Understand? I feel like I abandoned them too, but I know that we didn't."
The smile returned to those lovely eyes. Now that, I believe.
'
At the end of the day, someone asked to see them in his office. When they had sat down, she asked, "Did we do something wrong?"
He smiled. "No, not at all. Just the opposite in fact." He leaned forwards and folded his hands. "You see, the mayor keeps my pockets filled as long as I get the truly good workers where they deserve to be. You two are far too skilled just to be temporary workers working the small stuff for me."
"Are you going to make a reference to 'The Rookie'?" She asked drily.
"I wasn't going to, but why don't you make it for me."
"Ok." She nodded placidly. "You remember that scout?"
"Yeah."
"Well, one of his lines was 'Now, if I call the office and tell 'em I got a guy here almost twice these kids' age, I'm gonna get laughed at. But, if I don't call in a 98-mile-an-hour fastball, I'm gonna get fired.' You call it in that you got two kids, practically speaking, who need a bigger paycheck, you'll get laughed at. But if you don't call it in, we'll stay here and you'll get fired, or something like that. Am I right?"
"You're the first to see it that fast, and I've been doing this for, mmm, say, 20 years."
She smiled. "So, where's the bigger paycheck?"
"That's why I'm here." The big man crept out of the shadowed corner almost silently with a wolfish grin on his face. "I'm here to be a stepping stone, direct from here to there, if you're willing."
She looked at him, more amused than surprised. "Really. Well then, what kind of job do you offer?"
"It's much the same as what you do now, but it requires a security clearance."
She lifted an eyebrow at him, then turned and asked "What do you think?" of empty air.
The man behind the desk jumped a little. "Where'd he go?"
She shrugged like it was nothing new. "Oh, around."
"Around where?"
"Just, around." The face reappeared in front of hers, a message clearly there.
"Of course I'll tell them." She told her friend. She turned back to the gentlemen in the room. "Where's the job?"
"Halfway across the country, in Middleton, California."
She smiled easily, ignoring the accusatory look on her friend's face. "Sure. We'll take the job." She stood to shake their hands and took the two plane tickets from him before she left, taking the little one with her.
When they were out and had stopped, she answered the statement on that face. "Of course we can do this."
You know what this would mean?
"Yeah, we know the whole facility inside and out."
But Middleton! You know who's there!
"Yeah, a bunch of people who don't know you. And if need be, we know how to get away."
But-
"No buts. If I hadn't watched your self-transformation myself, I wouldn't recognize you. Not even your own mother can recognize you."
Arms crossed. I still don't like it.
"It's just a job." She put her hand on her best friend's shoulder. "We'll get through, like we always do. Life will see the light eventually."
Not if it's out to get us.
"The world is not out to get us."
Yes it is! Lemme put it this way. Adam and Eve took the apple from the snake and thereby gave the Devil the title deeds to our birthright, the Earth. Now look at the damn thing! Everything is in the toilet. Her companion looked away. I'm in the toilet.
"Don't you dare go down that road! You are not in the toilet! You pulled me out of it!" She forced her friend to look her in the eye. "Stop blaming yourself for the past. What's done is done. All we can do now is focus on the present and plan for the future. There's no harm in going to a place that has forgotten us. And when the time comes, we'll make them remember."
Her companion shook like a chuckle was coming out. You always know just what to say, don't you?
"We've been together for this long. It comes naturally by now. And besides that, you're pretty easy."
What can I say? I'm hooked!
"And don't you ever forget it."
A/N: Please tell me what you think and make suggestions and guesses.