A/N: Sorry I've been gone so long everyone. I was participating in NaNoWriMo this year and as such things got really hectic with my work schedule. I really hope this chapter makes up for the wait.
Chapter 7
It's early the next morning when I see her again. She's sitting in the cafeteria, frowning into a red file folder. I slink up to sit across from her, snapping the packet of instant oatmeal against my hand. She jumps. I laugh and shake the contents into my bowl of steaming water.
The mirth leaves my face when I catch a glimpse of her; she obviously didn't sleep well last night. Her eyelids are puffy, rimmed in red with dark smudges just underneath.
"Bad night?" I stir my oatmeal, waiting for it to thicken. The smell of peaches makes me happy. It reminds me of home. She pushes her hands through her hair, sighing. She rests her elbows on the table.
"An understatement to say the least." She flips a page in the folder, flicking her eyes up to meet mine. "Your brother is sloppy but Petra's information helped narrow things down."
"Can I help?" I spoon a bit of oatmeal in my mouth. She nods and hands me a few pages. I look them over; reported incidents of dog attacks around the city. Nothing stood out to me. I narrow my eyes at the documents, looking for a pattern or something odd.
"This is only dog attacks..." I flip them over and back again. "Sacha could be anything. I doubt she's staying one shape for any length of time." She sighs heavily again, resting her cheek on her hand. I nudge my oatmeal towards her. She takes the spoon, stirring absent-minded.
"Wait..." I hunch over the documents, my eyes scanning the complaintants rather than the incident details. "This person...M. Polinski." I flip the page so she can read it, my finger skimming the lines.
"No record of attack...just a strange dog sighted on the property." She scrunches up her nose, taking a bite of oatmeal. "It seems Animal Control sent someone out to set traps but nothing came up."
"Look though, this person has called more than a dozen times in half as many months. Always the same complaint." I take the spoon back, not really caring that we are sharing my breakfast. I can't help but enjoy the easy domesticity despite the general tension between us. "They feel like this animal is watching them...stalking them. If you were Animal Control..."
"I'd think they were crazy." Her eyes light up at the revelation. I nod vigorously.
"These dates are fairly close together." I skim the document again noting three consecutive days where the person called about the mystery animal. The last is dated yesterday. "We need to go talk to them. Today."
"We need more time than that..." She is hesitant, her eyes landing on my scarred bicep.
"We don't have more time." I give her my best determined face. She simply stares back at me. "What we do have is a name, an address and someone who needs our help."
"I'll do what I can." I don't believe her. I can tell she is reluctant to send me back into the field.
"Come find me when you find something out." I scoop up the remains of my breakfast, committing the address to memory. Just in case.
I spend a few hours watching combat instruction videos, mirroring the images on the screen until I am sweaty and feeling thoroughly pleased with my progress. I grin at my reflection in the mirror, flexing muscles just starting to define themselves. Shower time.
I am drying my hair when there is a knock at the door. I throw the towel around my body and run to check the peep hole, hoping it isn't Dash. It's Mirage. I think about it for half a second before I open the door, ankles still dripping on the carpet.
"Violet I..." She trails off, openly staring. I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing, smile twisting my lips between my teeth. There is a barely audible catch in her breathing, color high in her cheeks and throat. Her eyes travel my entire body until she meets my eyes and realizes she's been caught staring.
"Sorry I was just getting out of the shower." I muss my hair with one hand, holding the towel together with the other. I just want to remind her what she's fighting against.
"I can see that." Her voice is raspy. She clears her throat but doesn't look away from my face this time, though her composure threatens to crack any second now. "I came to tell you I found some things out about M. Polinksi."
"Let me get dressed. Do you want to come in or would you rather wait out here." I lift an eyebrow at her.
"It wouldn't look good..." Her eyes flicker away.
"Who's here to see? Come on, I have seperate rooms." I reach out and take her by the hand, pulling her inside. She looks back once, somewhat fearful before I distract her with pushing her to sit on the bed. "Wait here okay? Talk to me if you're nervous. I won't take long."
I collect the small stack of neatly folded clothes I set aside to dress in and head towards the bathroom. I leave the door open so I can hear her better.
"So what did you find out?" I call out to her, giving my hair one final tussle with the towel. It looks cute messy.
"I thought the name sounded familiar so I checked the N.S.A personnel files first. I turned up a hit. She's a scientist. Security Class A."
"That's not so surprising." I slide into my jeans and loose necked sweater. I make my way to the door, stretching one arm up and leaning against the frame. She is looking down, index finger tracing the pattern of my comforter. Her eyes are hooded; she is miles away.
"The funny thing, is that I can't find what she's working on. It's classified. Even beyond my ability to get at it."
"I'm going out there." I take a few steps towards her. She looks up at me, worried.
"Sacha...she knows who you are Violet. You told me what she can do. I..." She reaches out and touches my scarred bicep. "I can't do much more than this."
"Yes you can." I cover her hand with mine, understanding the dual meaning of her words. My hand is bigger and it surprises us both. My words are whisper quiet. "I'm going and I'm going alone."
"You are not going alone!" Her shock and concern is very, very real. My lips tweak in a smile.
"But I am going."
"You think you're clever, Violet."
"I am clever." I bend down, my face inches from hers. She swallows. "You and I both know Dash is too chatty and Petra is too timid for this. If I can get her to open up about the dog, maybe I can protect her."
"Alright. Fine. You'll be in radio contact." I watched her eyes flicker over me again, glassy. "I want you in your suit." Her voice drops, my stomach dropping with it. I bite back the whimper in my throat.
"What?"
"I mean you...You should wear your suit, under your clothes. Just in case." She blinks and looks away. I giggle and hold out my hand for her. She takes it and stands up, straightening her skirt.
"Have Dash and Petra keep two blocks back. Dash can get to me and back to Petra if there is any trouble."
"You're right."
"I've been waiting six days for you to say that." I flash her a smile. She stares at me for a moment before she laughs.
"Yes well, anyway. Consider this a trial mission." Mirage pushes her hair out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear with deft, nervous fingers. She moves to the space between me and the door. "If everything goes well, I'll reinstate you."
"And what if it doesn't go well?" I shift forward, making her step back into the door. She swallows. I can see her lips twitching; she's giving it so much thought. The door swings open. She found the handle. I am not ready and topple forward. We fall to the ground. I pin her to the floor, one hand on either side of her face. I linger for longer than I should, memorizing every detail of this face. This is not Mirage. This want, this desire is whoever she really is. I get up and help her to her feet.
"I'm leaving in an hour. You should tell Dash and Petra to get ready. I'll go to the armory and get into my suit." I pause and watch her face melt. I like that she thinks I look hot in the suit. "Just in case." I don't give her an opportunity to respond. I just walk away.
. . .
The house is drab for a high level scientist but who am I to judge? The neighborhood is pretty nice and the grounds are expansive. I push the doorbell but I don't hear a ring. The panel falls away on the next push, exposing neatly cut wires. I push my sleeve by my mouth, clicking the radio.
"Ss. Signs of possible trouble. Hold position with Q for now."
"Roger MD." Dash's voice is firm but I can tell he's on edge. We won't get surprised this time. I knock hard on the door.
"Dr. Polinski?" I call, sounding too loud in the quiet suburb. The door opens quickly, hinges squealing like they haven't been used in weeks. A thin, pale hand snatches me by the collar and hauls me into the house and slams the door behind me.
"Be quiet will you? Want the whole world to hear you?" A hissing whisper brushes my cheek as the hand moves from my collar to cover my mouth. My eyes adjust to the dim lighting. I am being held by a startlingly thin woman dressed in a dirty lab coat; her hair dishevled, ratty and grey.
After a few moments of careful scruitiny, she releases me and shuffles deeper into her home. She mutters quietly to herself. I look carefully around the house. There are bags of trash stacked haphazardly by the back door, take out menus littering the face of the refridgerator. Her mail lay in neat stacks on the table top. It looks as if she hasn't left her home in a long time.
"Dr. Polinski?" I keep my voice down this time, appealing to her secretive demeanor. She appears in the hallway, watching me.
"Who are you?" her accent is thick, Polish maybe. I cringe watching her bite at her nails. I wouldn't think twice about writing her off as crazy. "Who sent you?"
"Dr. Polinski, I've come to talk to you about the dog." I open my palms in peace to her, subtly clicking the button to open my microphone. "The one you keep calling about?"
The laugh that issues from the frail woman is unsettling. She takes a wobbly step towards me, suddenly I can smell the booze on her.
"It's not a dog." She waggles her finger in my face. "I told the animal control but they laugh in my face. Are you here to laugh at 'Crazy Magda' too?"
"No I'm not here to insult you Doctor. I want to help you. If it isn't a dog, what is it?"
Suddenly I am pinned against the wall, her hands clutching my shirt tightly in her fists. Her eyes are wide in terror, so light blue they look almost clear. Her face is lined, prematurely aged. I try to keep calm and let her explain the best way she can.
"It is a girl. She watches me. Sometimes she is in the skin of a dog, or a cat or bird. I have seen her in my yard, standing like a statue. She waits until night. She becomes the hyena. She laughs at me and calls my name." Tears streak down her face. I try to keep control of my fear. I lift my hand and grip her shoulder tightly.
"You're going to come with me. I'm going to keep you safe okay?" I stare into her crystalline eyes, never more certain of my reasons for doing this job. She nods and I exhale, relieved that she trusts me. I loop my arm around her shoulders and guide her to the threshold.
"SS. Q. I'm exiting with the target. I will hold position until I make visual with you on the hill. Roger?"
"Roger," came the quick, tense replies. I scan the road until I spot Dash and Petra in the location I'd set for them earlier. The woman began to shake in my arms. I can tell she wants to turn back. I grip her hand reassuringly.
"It's alright. We can help you." We take a step out the door. She relaxes when nothing untoward happens. I wave to my team and continue walking. We are halfway to the others when shouting draws my attention. I look up, Dash is pointing frantically. I look behind me.
Sacha is standing in the open door of the doctor's home, staring directly at me. I am too far away for her to really see my face. I yank my suit hood over my head. Dash is at my side.
"Take her and wait for me at the rendezvous point." I keep my eyes on Sacha, who hasnt moved.
"Come on Vi.." I glare at him warningly. "Miss Disappear. You don't have to prove anything."
"We do. We have to prove to this woman that we can protect her, that we care enough to use our powers for what's right and not what is easy. Now go."
He scoops the woman up without further protest and zips away. I watch carefully as Sacha begins to run, gaining traction and speed beyond human ability. She leaps forward and I barely catch the transition from girl to beast: an enormous horned cattle I don't recognize. I shake my head and dig my heels into the ground, arms stretched wide and waiting. Time to test the matador inside.
The bull charges towards me, I grit my teeth and force myself to keep my eyes open. I activate the camera in my visor at the last moment. Someone should see this.
I throw my hands together, snaring Sacha in a large orb. A pivot has me facing the other way, hauling my catch over my shoulder. The connecting strand pulls taut. The bull hurtles toward the ground. I release the orb at the final moment. She hits the ground hard enough to shatter the pavement beneath her bulk. The pained groan from the creature covers my whoop of pride. I let the smile show on my face. I am a fighter now.
The bull gets to wobbly feet, huffing laughter before trying to charge again. I make another orb, attached to my hand like a flail. I swing at the beast, striking hard below the jaw and again across the back, driving it to its knees. I breathe heavily, adrenaline surging through my system. The bull shrinks in bulk, transforming into a deer and sprinting away before I can do much to stop her. I watch her long after she is gone, wheels turning in my head. Finally I turn and begin the trek to the rendezvous point. I can't help but think my victory was too easy.
. . .
I hang around the training room, punching out my frustration. I feel strange. I shouldn't want a fight to last. I shouldn't want to hurt someone else but Sacha stokes a competative violent fire in me I can't explain or ignore. I am disappointed and it's weird for me. My strikes get harder, the solid thumps drowing out everything but the roaring of my heart beat.
"Violet?" Her voice draws me out of my violent assault on the practice pad. The last hit surprises both of us as the dummy hits the floor hard; knocked off balance by the strength of my punch. I don't look at her right away, tossing her my stopwatch instead.
"Time me?" I jump to the start of the obstacle course. She walks over to me, her heels clicking on the floor. I take off, not really trying. I hit the obstacles haphazardly and hard. I hear her calling out to me but I'm still feeling weird so I sprint faster. Finally I get back to the front. She's standing there in her grey suit, arms crossed and concern dressing her face.
"What's up?" I snag a towel and hang it around my neck.
"I've settled Dr. Polinski in one of the dorm rooms. I gave her a sedative to help her sleep. Maybe she can give us a better picture when she's had some rest."
"That's good." I try to sound enthused but I don't have it in me. I pick at the legs of my training shorts, fussing with a loose thread.
"What's wrong?" I should have known she'd pick up on my malaise. I sigh and take a seat on the floor, pushing my hands into my hair.
"I let her get away," I growl bitterly.
"You did everything right Violet."
"I know, I just..." I huff, angry again. "Have you ever met someone you just, I don't know, knew was fucking with you."
"You're probably right. Sacha is very dangerous and very intelligent." She doesn't flinch at my language.
"I just want to stop her; from hurting and terrorizing more people. I have to beat her." I turn shining eyes towards her, balling my hands into fists. "I want to kill her Mirage. That woman, she was so scared she couldn't even leave her home."
"I saw what you did today." Her voice is low. I put my eyes back on the floor.
"Yeah?" I take the distraction. I don't really know how to explain myself anyway. I'm surprised she isn't questioning my desire to kill someone...like its a perfectly normal thing for a hero to feel, to think about.
"You were incredible." I lift my eyes to hers. There's no hiding the spark between us now. I swallow hard.
"Yeah?" I can't take the adoration in her eyes; not while my skin itches with the need to finish what had started with Sacha. She puts a light hand on my arm, her face very serious.
"Violet, you were right...when you said it's the choice between what is right and what is easy." She swallows hard, her mask cracking with emotion I can't quite place.
"It's easy to give in to that. It's easy to kill someone; even for a Super who is supposed to do good. It's easy to look down at your enemy for the thirtieth time and think to yourself 'wouldn't everyone be better off if they were gone.' It's easy, when things get repetative, to make a decision to do something drastic, especially when the choice you always make is hard." Suddenly we aren't talking about Sacha anymore. I have the tiniest glimpse into her past, layered in cryptic wording. I wonder if she's ever seen Cascade struggle like this. Her understanding floors me. She is a marvel and the fact that she's even here is a testament to who she is on the inside.
"It meant a lot to me, to hear you say that. You remind me of your mother." I flinch and look away. I'd almost forgotten about that.
"Yeah. They taught me right." I bite my lip and shuffle a little.
"It's late. Can I meet you tomorrow for breakfast?" She looks hopeful.
"Yeah."
I watch her go. I slink behind her, following back to her room. I refuse to feel guilty as I watch her punch the code to her quarters. There's only one thing left to make her mine. I need to know her name.
I wait outside her door for an hour, maybe more. I think about removing my clothes but decide against it. I won't be more than a minute, I hope. They're all black anyway. I punch in the code to her door; my heart thuds hard in my chest. The door glides open on silent hinges. I slip inside and close it behind me. I wait, listening for any stirrings. The rooms are dark; it takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the lighting. I hear a quiet sigh and freeze, biting my lip to keep my invisibility.
I creep forward to the end table where I can see the book resting. The sound of her heavy breathing seems so loud in this room. My fingers reach for the book, lifting it gingerly from the table. I almost wish I could make the book invisible but that would make it impossible to read. My heart stops beating. I open the front cover.
"Oh Violet," her voice breathes from the room adjacent. I freeze again but for entirely different reasons. My eyes are blind to lend me hearing. The deep breathing I mistook for sleep has taken on a desperate quality. I snatch a glance at the book, honestly surprised by the name I find there. I have to read it twice, just to make sure that's really what it says. Something inside me breaks. Once more the breathy sound of my name reaches my ears, accompanied by a sweet, low moan. I set the book back where I found it and creep to the door frame, eyes wide.
She is laying upon a small chaise at the end of her bed, silver hair thrown over the arm and still dressed in her beautifully tailored suit. I start my sweep at her eyes, clenched tightly in concentration. Her bottom lip is secured between perfect white teeth. The line of her throat twitches when she swallows down another moan. I find myself helpless to move, mesmerized by the sight of this woman come undone beneath her own hands at thoughts of me.
Part of me feels bad watching her like this but the bigger part of me begs to stay; to creep forward and claim her as mine. The big part wins for a moment. I am half way into her room without realizing it. An exquisite moan of pleasure issues from her throat. My body temperature flares.
She is so soft, her caresses gentle and slow beneath the seam of her pants that are just barely zipped. One of her hands moves up her blouse, pausing to tweak a stiff nipple through the fabric before moving upwards to the elegant column of her neck. I slide to a darker corner of the room, so very close to her. I could reach out and touch her if only I dared.
Her skin is glowing, flushed and beginning to sheen with her efforts. Quiet whimpers pass her lips to my ear, turning my insides to liquid. I barely make out words beyond the roaring of blood in my ears.
"Tell me, please say it Violet," she whines, arching her back off the chaise. I notice her hand slide lower into her trousers, her movements growing rapid and furious.
"You're so perfect. So beautiful." I don't realize I am whispering in her ear until after it's said. She makes a high pitched noise and moves faster, now pressing her body into the cushions beneath her. She doesn't seem to really hear me; she's so lost in her fantasy. I almost faint because she's thinking about me. She's like this for me.
"Tell me how you want me Violet." I see spots. I lean closer to her, lowering my voice to the lowest of whispers. It doesn't feel like perving anymore.
"I've always wanted you. Just like this, still in your clothes. God, your fucking clothes. Those shoes you wear; you must know how sexy you are." She whines loudly, biting into the soft flesh of her finger hard enough to leave marks.
"I want more than that. I want you in a house we share together. Maybe this place you love so much." Now is as good a time as any to bare myself for her. My head is swimming. She gasps at my suggestion, breathing so heavily now. I want to touch her so badly it is nearly a physical pain. My fingernails bite my palm in restraint. Her hand picks up speed again, the rapid plunging of her fingers distracting me. I remember the name in the book and who she is, who she hides, is so clear to me now. I don't hold anything back. Anything less than this would disrespect that little name in her book, written in the precise hand of a serious child. "I want everything you are. I want so much to show you that you are loved."
"You..." A pealing cry rings in the silent room. "You love me?"
I close my eyes and inhale deeply. I can smell her and it's intoxicating. I let the pause drag for what seems like forever.
"Tell me." She whines again, taking a deep shuddering breath. "If...you, please tell me Violet." Her request grows loud, begging. I let my lips brush against her earlobe.
"I love you Jane."