Jupiter spent the entire next day thinking about the guy in the Whitney apartment, so much so that she scarcely noticed work, let alone got bored.

Part of her distraction was because he was a problem, a big one. Caine Wise had no ID, no money, no job, and - if he was telling the truth, because the whole thing was a lot harder to believe after a night's sleep - no idea how to survive in Chicago or anywhere else on Earth. Jupiter herself had limited resources and even more limited time, and it was going to be a real challenge to help him.

The other part, though, kept going back to how much she liked him. Not just because he was hot, though he definitely was, but because she just...liked him. He was obviously smart, but not the least bit arrogant; if he had an ego she hadn't seen any sign of it yet. He paid attention to her; in fact, it was almost unnerving, the way he focused on her.

It should have made her jittery, but it didn't. Usually being around a big guy held an edge of danger; even if they had no intention of doing anything, she always knew they could. But Caine felt...safe.

Weird. Totally weird.

Jupiter scarcely let herself think about the whole came from outer space thing, because if she did she wouldn't be able to concentrate on work at all. From the moment she'd figured out she couldn't go to college, Jupiter had understood the trap of her life - smart but not talented, bored but not driven, wanting to learn but unable to access formal education. Her options were few: work for her uncle for the rest of her conceivable life, work in a series of equally tedious jobs open to undocumented people and wear herself out that way, or marry someone in the same boat and do it all just the same. She'd dreamed for years of a handsome, rich guy to sweep her off her feet and get her a green card, but Jupiter knew her odds were poor - particularly when she kept getting attracted to utter assholes.

Even with Katharine's help, she'd never found anyone who would treat her right.

It's just as well right now. Helping Caine would be a lot harder if I had a boyfriend to deal with too.

The first step was to move him out of the Whitney place, because if he got caught there by a suspicious neighbor or building security, they'd both be in a crapload of trouble. There were homeless shelters available, not that Jupiter knew much about them, but she put them at the bottom of the list. What little she'd heard about them implied that they were hard to get into at the very least.

There were plenty of low-rent, low-quality apartments available if the tenant didn't care about their surroundings or safety. Something like that, Jupiter thought, might do for a couple of nights, but she didn't like the thought of exposing Caine to that kind of environment. Sure, if he'd been a soldier he could probably handle himself in a fight, but why risk it - and besides, Jupiter felt a small creeping of shame at the idea of Caine's introduction to Earth being a dirty little efficiency surrounded by drug addicts and noise.

Third option is couch-surfing. That would definitely be better, especially if Jupiter could find someone who was either very busy or very clueless. She started going over lists of acquaintances as she scrubbed the Mortons' big shower. Tommy still owes me for that week last winter, and Cho has the basement room he never uses - might be able to trade him something for that -

The real need, though, was a job.

I hate the idea, but...I'm gonna have to talk to Vladie.


It frustrated Jupiter that she wasn't able to see Caine that evening. Work ran late, and she had no way to get to that neighborhood since Vladie was using his car and the buses didn't run late enough. But she'd told him not to expect her, and she crossed her fingers and hoped he'd just stay put.

At least Tuesday's a two-house day. I can get Mom to drop me off halfway home, and that way I can pick up a few things on my way in…

Making a list kept her occupied until Vladie sauntered in. Judging by the easy grin on his face, he'd had more than one beer, which pleased Jupiter; it would make him more willing to help her out. "Hey, cousin, got a minute?" she asked, following him into the pit he called a bedroom.

Jupiter was reasonably certain that Vladie maintained a crash pad somewhere that he could bring the girls (and possibly guys) that his parents wouldn't approve of, which was pretty much all of them. She figured he had to keep that one in better shape than the sock-draped, electronics-stuffed space he slept in; Irina had given up on it long ago, and the rest of his female relations flatly refused to pick up after him.

Vladie cast himself backwards onto his bed and beamed at Jupiter. "Sure, Jupe, what's up?"

She kept her voice casual. "I've got this friend who's looking for work - off the books, you know? And I'm thinking, he's like six-two and built, so - "

Vladie paddled his hands against the mattress. "Construction, or security?"

"Huh, I didn't think of construction, but no. Security, definitely. I think he's ex-military," Jupiter added, hoping Vladie wouldn't ask for details.

"Hmm." Vladie stared at the ceiling for a long moment; Jupiter wasn't sure if he was thinking, or just trying to be dramatic. "I know a guy, but it'll cost you."

Of course it will. "What do you want? Maid service is off the table."

Vladie snorted. "Please. Ahh, let's call it a favor to be determined later."

Jupiter folded her arms and gave him a pointed glare. "Specifically excluding any setups with your asshole friends."

"You sure? Because Gordy's brother is back on the market - okay, okay." Vladie flung up a hand at her disgusted face. "I admit he's not exactly a prime catch. Give me his digits and I'll set it up."

Jupiter shook her head. "No way, I want to okay it first."

"Hey - "

She raised both brows. "If I don't you'll have him working at that skanky place that gets raided every week. He's undocumented, Vladie, he has to stay under the radar."

"Eh, all right." Vladie regarded her with the familiar smug pity that always made her grind her teeth. "Give me a day or two to set things up."

"Thanks," Jupiter said, and left before the swell of envy made her say something she'd regret. It's not fair. Just because Vladie had been born in the U.S., he was a citizen, which meant he had all the opportunities Jupiter wanted.

And he used none of them, preferring to schmooze and scam his way through life - or at least try to. Irina doted on him; Vassily was aware of his flaws, but still usually bailed Vladie out of whatever mess he got himself into, though to be fair, he extracted work from his son in repayment.

If it were me, I'd be through college by now. Maybe going for a PhD. Jupiter knew that was half exaggeration - in truth, she'd probably be working three jobs to repay the loans it would take to get her through school - but at least she'd have that degree. As she made her way downstairs to the space she shared with her mother and aunt, she fought back a swell of despair. Nothing is ever going to change. I'll be stuck in the basement for the rest of my life.

I'm never going to get out of here.


When she opened the Whitney door the next evening, Jupiter was transfixed.

The form moving through the living room with preternatural speed and grace was Caine Wise, there was no doubt of that. But for a long moment she thought he was dancing, and the beauty of it took her breath away.

As he landed on one foot - without a sound - and brought up his arms in a blocking motion, however, she realized it was more like some kind of martial arts practice. Mesmerized, Jupiter barely remembered to step inside and close the door after her as she watched him spin and leap and fight a nonexistent opponent. His movements were almost too fast for her to track, and she wondered vaguely what his military had been like, to train him to do this.

Mostly, however, she was trying to deal with a sudden intense wave of lust, because...wow.

As if he were listening to some beat of music that was coming to an end, Caine arced over in a flip, and rolled out of it to end up kneeling almost at Jupiter's feet, shoulders oddly high. For a long, long moment they stared at each other; he was shirtless, and glistening with sweat, his chest heaving, and she wanted above all else to lean down and lick the hollow of his throat.

And then she remembered his sense of smell, and her lust vanished in a rush of embarrassment. Oh crap, can he smell that?

At the same time, Caine winced, shoulders dropping stiffly as if something hurt him, and shrank a little. Jupiter shook her thoughts back to a more appropriate place. "That was amazing," she told him. "But should you be doing it when you've just been sick?"

He snorted, relaxing. "I have to keep in training," he said, then glanced up so shyly that Jupiter felt her heart melt. "You liked it?"

Jupiter beamed at him. "It was fabulous, I've never seen anything like it. It's part of your military training?"

Caine nodded, pushing up to his feet in one fluid move and taking two of her bags. "Skyjackers are proficient in hand-to-hand combat."

"Skyjackers? That's what they call soldiers where you come from?" Jupiter headed for the kitchen, and Caine followed her.

She heard Caine swallow. "It's one kind of soldier - the best," he said, and when she glanced back his face was closed.

"Well - I brought dinner," she said, forcing the change of topic awkwardly. "And a few other things, though we're gonna have to take you to a department store for some clothes eventually."

She rummaged in one bag until she found what she was looking for. "Here's the real goodie, though - a cellphone, you can't get along around here without one."

It was a cheap burner phone, all Jupiter could afford right then, but it would let them keep in touch. Caine took it with a curious expression and flipped it open, running a finger across the buttons. "It's not as fancy as mine, but if you're going to be working you need a way for people to contact you," Jupiter explained.

Caine nodded again. "You type in the contact code?" he asked, and she smiled.

"Phone number, yeah, and press the little 'enter' button there. Or you can use the memory function and save people's numbers. I already programmed mine in."

"Good." He closed it and tucked it into a pocket in his pants - at least, Jupiter assumed it was a pocket; she couldn't see an opening. "You brought more food?"


Caine wasn't quite sure what to make of Jupiter. He'd heard her coming, of course, but that wasn't a good enough reason to interrupt his workout; and besides, a part of him wanted her to see what he'd once been, the agility and skill he still possessed. I can protect you, that buried voice whispered in her direction. I can be worthy of your attention.

The scent of her arousal had hit him hard, but it had been quickly followed by something that smelled like shame, and that made sense, because after all Caine was a Splice; half an animal, and no fit desire for a pure human. But he'd also been distracted by the sharp sense of wrongness as he finished his last move, because properly done it would have included his wings spread out behind him in a display of power, and they weren't there. The loss was old enough for his balance to compensate, but it still felt off and always would.

Still, she'd liked it, and that made Caine feel better. Jupiter was his one connection to this world, and pleasing her was important. And besides that, he...just liked making her smile.

Jupiter unpacked her bags and made sandwiches for them, chattering all the while - telling him about her world's agriculture and her city's food, how much she hated what she did for a living, and the hopes she had for her cousin's contacts regarding a job for Caine. Every so often she would stop and blush a little and apologize for monopolizing the conversation, but Caine liked her talking. It was pleasant and informative, and he'd never been much of a conversationalist himself; and besides, she was so pretty, so bright and interested in her topics. He could listen for hours.

"And in the meantime," she said when they'd finished eating, "I'm getting a place lined up for you to stay for a bit, a couple of weeks maybe if Vladie comes through. It's not much, just space to crash on someone's couch, but there's a bathroom and it's not like you have a lot of stuff anyway."

It sounded very...not secure. But deciding to stay on this world had meant that Caine would have to interact with the population, and Jupiter wanted him out of the apartment. He could, Caine supposed, find another such, an empty space, but it seemed better to follow her plan.

The sun was only just setting. Jupiter glanced out the window, then stacked their plates. "Want to get out of here for a bit? You must be sick of being cooped up all day."

His translation implant had a little trouble with her last sentence, but Caine got the gist of it. "May I bathe first?"

Jupiter shot him an odd look. "Do whatever you need to, dude," she said, but she was smiling. Caine took a quick shower - he'd learned the word by now - and was back in the kitchen before she'd finished cleaning up.

Jupiter did a double-take when he walked in. "That was like three minutes," she said. "How did you even do that?"

Caine wasn't sure how to answer that, since it was the standard bathing time in the Legion - one did not waste time, and even if he enjoyed using real water he would scarcely keep her waiting - but it seemed to be a rhetorical question. "There's a nice little park a few blocks from here," Jupiter said, putting the packaged food into the cold storage.

Caine nodded, and followed as she led him out. The air was crisp and edging towards cold; Caine had experienced much colder, of course, but he was still happy to have his jacket as the world's little star sank behind the horizon. It felt a bit strange, on top of all the other strangenesses, to be wandering around a city at loose ends. Caine had spent his adult life before the Deadland either on a mission or on leave, and to have no deadline for reporting in seemed a slightly unnerving luxury.

Jupiter was silent for a change, leading him on through the deepening twilight to a small patch of land planted with vegetation instead of buildings. It meant little to Caine, but Jupiter seemed pleased with it, and they walked up and down its meandering paths until the lights overhead came on, and Jupiter sat with a sigh on one of the benches.

When Caine didn't move, she patted the space next to her. "Come on, sit down."

Invited, he sat, careful not to touch her. Jupiter turned a little to regard him. "Will you...um. Will you tell me what life is like out there?" She waved a hand at the sky, half-lost behind branches and withered leaves. "You don't have to tell me anything personal, it's just that I've been dreaming about space my whole life and my dad was an astronomer and, well. I can hardly believe you're real."

Caine hesitated, not sure how to begin. "It's...it's not simple," he said at last. "Human civilization is vast, far too big and complex to explain. And…"

It's not pretty, his mind supplied. It was a new thought. Caine had accepted his life without ever considering anything else, because Splices were bred to serve and that was all any of them could expect.

But the girl sitting next to him...the 'verse would not be kind to her. Assuming she got off the farmworld, and wasn't Harvested - and that thought now made his gut clench - she would be of no consequence to anyone, a naive tercie with no power or influence. He'd seen hundreds like her, barely a step above Splices, spending their lives in drudgery. She was better off on this bright little world.

Jupiter was watching him, alight with curiosity, and Caine chose his words carefully. "There are thousands of worlds, hundreds of thousands," he said. "And each one has its own cultures. The Entitled rule them after a fashion, with money and influence, but it's really the Aegis that keeps a grip on things. It...there's a lot of beauty, but also a lot of ugliness."

Jupiter snorted. "Sounds familiar. What's the Aegis?"

"They're like your cops." Caine shrugged. "It's better to stay out of their scan."

"Hm." Jupiter cocked her head. "So the Entitled don't really rule, it's the Aegis?"

"It's a little more complicated than that." Caine pressed his palms against his thighs, aware that this conversation was not likely to end well. He didn't want to lie to her, but - "The Entitled control a, a substance that extends life. It heals, too, but the life extension is what people want it for."

"What, like the Fountain of Youth?" Her eyes were wide and fascinated.

"Not a fountain. ReCell is a product; the Entitled grow and harvest it, and then they sell it." And don't ask me how, please, please. "And if you want to stay young, you have to deal with them."

Jupiter blew out a breath. "That sounds...pretty potent." Her gaze shifted, and Caine wondered if she were thinking of her own youth, of preserving the softness of her skin or the void-dark fall of her hair, but her lips moved, and he could just make out the name, Lyudmila.

Oh. Her grandmother.

"Entitled with access to ReCell can live millennia," he offered. "It's part of why they control so much."

"Millennia?" Jupiter gaped at him. "Holy crap. Okay, yeah, that's...really something."

A muted chime came from her jacket, and Jupiter huffed and pulled out her cellphone. "Gah, we have to head back, Nino's going to pick me up in twenty minutes and I have to be six blocks from here."

She stood and fished her keys out of her pocket, detaching two from the ring and handing it to him. "I copied our keys yesterday. You take these and you can get back inside."

"All right." Caine rose and accepted them, stowing them carefully in a pocket. He didn't need them, really, but it would make things more convenient, especially during the day. "Let's go."

Jupiter shook her head, smiling up at him. "I'm headed that way." She pointed up the street, away from the apartment building.

Caine raised his brows. "I'll walk with you." He was hardly going to let her go alone, especially in the dark.

She smirked. "Such a gentleman. Okay, sure, if you think you can find your way back."

He was startled enough to laugh, just a breath of it. "Jupiter, I was a hunter. I can find my way across half a galaxy."

A blink. "Wow." Jupiter shook her head again, and reached out to loop her arm around Caine's elbow. "Come on, we need to get moving - tell me more about space. Do you guys have warp drive?"

For all her care of him earlier, it was still a shock when she touched him. Caine didn't let himself dwell on the sensation of her arm snugged against his, or tried not to; instead he answered her rapid-fire questions about spaceships, portals, the speed of light, and when she found out about it, veil technology. Her ignorance was huge, but she had a quick mind, and he found it irrationally pleasing that she grasped the overall implications of interstellar travel with no difficulty. The six blocks passed quickly.

Her designated meeting spot was outside a small shop that sold food and drink; the smell coming from it was very enticing. Jupiter unhooked her arm from Caine's, glancing up. She suddenly smelled nervous.

"Nino'll be here any minute," she said. "And no offense, but it'll be a lot easier if she doesn't see us together."

"Of course." Caine stepped away. "Will you come again?"

"Of course!" she mimicked, favoring him with another wide smile. "Wednesdays are bad, but I should be able to make it on Thursday. I'll text you." Jupiter waved her phone. "The manual for yours is on the kitchen table."

Caine nodded, and didn't mention that his translation package didn't include the written word. He'd just scan the manual into his sheave and let it handle it for him.

Jupiter looked past him, down the block, and her eyes widened. "Here comes Nino," she said, and patted his arm. "Be safe walking back."

Then she was stepping away, past a couple strolling along the sidewalk, to meet the worn vehicle that pulled up to the curb. Caine faded back, watching from the shadow of the shop as Jupiter climbed in and it accelerated away.

His instincts all urged him to pursue, to not let her slip away. Caine retreated into the nearest alley and activated his boots, rising up the dark passage until he was high enough to go unnoticed by those on the street. Then he breathed deeply, and followed Jupiter's trace.

It was a simple matter. Even if he lost sight of the car, he had her scent, and he could have trailed her across entire star systems; a few lengths of city were nothing in comparison. The vehicle stopped at a house a few miles away, and Caine slowed to a hover above it, watching as Jupiter and a rounder, older woman climbed the steps to enter. They were speaking in a different language, something liquid and guttural, the woman teasing Jupiter about drinking too much overpriced coffee and not being able to sleep.

Jupiter's laugh drifted up as they went inside the house, and Caine sighed, feeling...he didn't know what he was feeling. Only that it was sad.

He was tempted to light on the roof; there was a flat spot that would be an excellent perch for watching over the house and its inhabitants. He could keep her from any harm -

No, Caine told himself. He didn't have her permission - she wasn't even aware he was there - and besides, she probably wasn't in any danger. The house wasn't at all secure, and none of the others had visible security measures either, which implied that there was little to protect against.

But it still hurt to leave.


ENTITLED: RULING CLASS OF THE GYRE. ENTITLED RULE THROUGH MONEY AND POWER, BESTOWED ON THEM BY THEIR NATURAL GENETIC SUPERIORITY. THEY CONTROL THE RECELL TRADE AND HENCE ARE FUNCTIONALLY IMMORTAL.