A/N - revised 28Apr2013
Chapter 9
Sparring, Riots, and Plans to Leave
They had returned to the hotel, cold, covered in snow, excited, and as luck would have it, an enormous convention crowd was jammed into the main lobby. Lines crawled to the front desk and luggage covered almost every inch of tiled floor. Anise overheard a front desk agent making phone calls to other hotels. All of their rooms were overbooked. The rest of Chicago sounded like it was having trouble housing the travelers also. Somebody was probably gonna be fired over the mess, most likely a few. Anise sighed at her luck.
"Maybe not tonight, Picantecita." Rain brushed her lips over Anise's cheek after they heard the dismal news.
On the wait for the elevators, Anise tried to convince Rain to take the stairs. Failing that, she goaded her to take her out back in the alley. Rain smiled and refused saying she did not want her delicate scientist to get frostbite on her ass. Anise grumbled and switched tactics to light conversation. "So, what's the deal with you and orange juice?"
"My mom always got us kids OJ whenever we were sick, had to do something we didn't want to, or when we just were feeling down. She would say 'orange juice makes everything better'. It stuck with me."
"Tell me about your family."
"I've got four brothers scattered all over, and I'm the middle kid. My parents are back in Phoenix. Ran into my oldest brother in Houston back in November. He was on shore leave from the Marines. Scared the shit outta him, but he promised to pass on that I'm alive and that the video was real. Haven't talked since, too dangerous."
Anise nodded at that, not contacting family to keep them safe from Umbrella. "Four brothers? That explains a lot."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"You are wearing a beard." She thought of something and asked it quietly, seeing as they were still surrounded by people. "If my girlfriend wears a beard, does that put me back in the closet?" She paused. "Or her?"
The bearded woman just rolled her eyes, and they stepped into the elevator.
Rain had insisted that she at least try to fix the problems with Anise's lacking martial training. Anise agreed mostly to burn off some of her sexual frustration. They changed into more of Rain's clothes. The soldier was in cut off sweatpants and an exercise bra. Her exposed body greatly distracted Anise who struggled to pull on shorts and a tank top. Since the hardwood floors were brilliantly waxed, they left socks for better traction. The exercise was providing a good outlet for her energies, although the close quarter sparring, with Rain's glistening skin so close...
WHUMP!
Anise hissed at yet another harsh impact to her ribs. "Shit. Rain, you hit like a fuckin freight train."
"Damn, you won't even hold back for your girlfriend?" LJ laughed. He and Angie were enjoying the evening's entertainment. They were in the living area, and all the furniture had been shoved aside to make room for their combat training. Buck was leafing through a gun magazine, mumbling about Ruger rifles and Glocks. The grumpy cheerleader was at her laptop again and trying hard to ignore them. When Carlos had offered to join, Rain agreed and asked for thirty minutes to get a proper feel for Anise's skill level.
"Those Umbrella assholes won't hold back." Rain responded dryly and flipped him off, then dropped her voice to a low whisper for her scientist's ears. "I am pulling my punches. It doesn't seem right that I got stronger and faster than you."
Anise frowned, it really didn't make sense. She knew Rain wasn't trying to bash her, just pointing out the inequalities of their, for lack of a better word, mutations. For all that Afterthought had been about a cure to the T-virus, her enzyme acted a hell of a lot like it. They had spent some time discussing the changes in their enhancements.
Only her hearing and ability to sense pressure changes were exceptionally better than Rain's. Her healing factor was slightly faster, and her night vision a little better. Everything else, Rain took the cake. The soldier's metabolism was more stable, stamina, strength, and speed doubled, vision better than perfect, and of course, she was now practically a blood hound.
"Still feels like I got hit by a bus." Anise muttered.
"Get back in your stance and stop bitching."
Anise unwillingly did so and prepared herself for more bruises.
"I want to beat the shit out of your instructor. You are seriously lacking here." Rain spat after about twenty minutes of simple maneuvers.
"Thanks, I already knew that..."
"No. I mean, she completely left you high and dry." She launched another assault on Anise that ended with the pale woman on her ass. Rain shook her head. "Your coordination is good, you have a natural feel for the rhythm of a fight, and you take a punch decently. And your ears clue you in to attacks you can't see."
The scientist got back on her feet and wiped the blood from her lip. "But I still suck."
Rain sighed. "It's nothing that proper training and experience won't cure."
"Anise, Rain is complimenting you, in her special way." Carlos spoke from his spot in the corner, doing warmups. "She's right. If your instructor had paid any attention to you, you'd be giving Rain a good run for her money."
"You're serious?"
The man nodded.
Rain's lips lifted. "I could come at you full throttle and probably be challenged, if she'd bothered teaching you more than basics."
Carlos strode over. "What if the woman saw what Anise could be and just pretended not to?"
"What? Why the fuck would she do that?" Disgruntled, the Latina rounded on him.
"Maybe she was afraid of what she saw."
"But..." Anise was not convinced. "I can barely follow Rain's movements enough to block them, and hitting her is damn next to impossible."
"You can dodge her and you have hit her." Carlos gestured at a bruise on Rain's abdomen. It had blossomed purple and would probably be gone by morning.
Anise crossed her arms over her chest. "Right, that makes me feel so much better."
"Rain, you mind? She needs to compare herself to a mere mortal. Her fighting you would've made her look bad before you became Supergirl." The Hispanic man chuckled.
Snorting lightly, Rain stepped back for him to take over. "This should be good."
"Uh, what's going on?"
"Let's spar. Neither of us will hold back, OK?" Carlos settled into his ready stance.
Anise shook her head and crouched back down. "Sure."
The next ten minutes completely changed the way she felt about Rain's proclamations. Sparring with Carlos was completely different. At first, she thought he was holding back on her, pulling his punches. Then she picked out his increasing heartbeat, his sweat dripping. It confused her, and she took a painful foot to her gut.
Yes, he had a hell of a lot more experience at combat than Anise. Yes, he had many more advanced techniques under his belt. Yes, he had a mean ass battle face that intimidated the fuck out her. Anise almost felt like she was dancing with him.
Her counterattacks were pretty futile, and she was mostly evading, yet it was more than she'd managed against Rain. The soldier had said she was pulling her punches and staying slow, so she wouldn't be much faster than Carlos. What the fuck was going on?
Carlos was attacking faster now, landing blows, pushing her back, keeping her off balance, and suddenly his right hook was about to connect with her face. She blinked. Her left arm was moving to block it, her body was already twisting, her right elbow was speeding for the exposed underside of his arm. It would hit just there, in that soft vulnerable part below the bicep. Something in the back of her mind slowed the momentum just as Rain's yell to stop reached her ears.
WHACK!
Anise stepped back before the pain registered on Carlos' face. It dawned on her that Rain wasn't just good, strong, and fast; she was really, really fucking good at combat. Anise felt a little better about being able to land a punch on Supergirl.
"I told you she just needed to spar with a normal person." Carlos was sitting in an armchair, his arm wrapped in ice. "Thanks for not breaking my arm, by the way."
"Uh, yea." Anise rubbed the back of her sweaty neck.
Rain was standing next to her and gestured at Carlos. "Did you do that on purpose?"
"No, I wasn't trying to break his arm."
"Dammit, Anise. I meant, do you realize you actually slowed yourself down, so you wouldn't break his arm?"
She blinked. "Uh."
"Did you even know that hitting him there could've really fucked him up?"
Anise stopped rubbing her neck. She poked the same spot on her own arm. "Really?"
Chuckling, the injured man scratched his beard. "Raw talent. You said it yourself, Rain."
They showered off, separately, and changed back into regular clothes. Anise missed the display of olive skin over tantalizing muscle. Mentally, she ranted about fucking conventions and the stupid ass motherfuckers that attended them. Her silent bitching was broken by a loud 'YES!' hollered from the living area. Anise wandered out of the bedroom to investigate. Something had gotten into Jill, and she was in full cheerleader mode, bouncing in her seat in front of her computer. "Oh my god. Oh. My. God."
Anise flopped down next to Buck on a couch. She idly looked over the magazine in his hands.
"What?" Carlos irritably asked.
"I found her."
Suddenly, the room erupted as everyone fought about who got to look over Jill's shoulder at her laptop. Back on the couch, Anise exchanged looks with Buck.
"What's going on?" Anise asked.
Rain turned around, her face full of excitement. "She found Alice."
"We should leave tonight." Jill was arguing.
"We'll leave in the morning."
"Just because those two want..."
"Jill!" Carlos cut her off, "We need the time to prepare. You know this mission could go very wrong. There won't be another chance if we fuck this up."
"Yea, I got to clean my custom babies, make sure they're ready to kill us some Umbrella fuckers." LJ joined. "Got calls to make too. I got some cousins up in Detroit, they could set us up with the perfect wheels, all official looking and shit."
"Exactly, we need to finish forging those documents, set up escape routes, a safehouse. Jill, you know we need the time to do this. Quit acting like a jealous bitch. Let Rain be happy, at least someone gets to be around here." Carlos' voice carried his anger and resentment toward Jill.
"Now tell us. Where is she?" Rain demanded.
Jill bared her teeth at the man and explained. "Detroit Umbrella facility, experimental division."
"So, why does Jill stick around anyway?" Anise leaned into Rain and whispered. They were back on the couch, the group sitting in the living area, discussing plans to rescue Alice.
"For Angie." Rain whispered back. "Kinda glad she has, even if she's a royal bitch. Woman's got major hacking skills. And she probably feels like she owes Alice something, we all do. She saved our asses back there."
"Oh."
"Alice was purposely infected by those fuckers and for whatever reason, she didn't mutate into a freak. Her body just adapted, making her stronger, faster, more powerful in every way."
Anise arched an eyebrow. "As strong as you?"
"At least, maybe more." Rain hesitated. "Matt mutated, he became a monster that Alice was forced to fight. They had him brainwashed or something, but he eventually snapped out of it and helped us escape before he died."
"Shit. Poor Matt. And Alice, it must've been hard having to fight him. I know I would've, he was a good guy."
Rain's next whisper was hesitant and worried. "It makes me wonder if they did anything to us, or Kap."
Anise shrugged. "They just sewed me up and probably took blood samples, I'm sure. Nothing changed about me. I hope they left Kap alone."
"What about me? What if they fucked with me?"
"If they did, all that changed was you became even more amazing. Don't give me that look. I'm quite serious. I am capable of that, you know. If, and I really, truly doubt they did anything, because my gut instinct says they didn't. If they did, the labs will figure it out from your blood that I dropped off earlier." Anise smile winningly and placed a kiss to her girlfriend's hairline. "Doc Brandon was practically foaming at the mouth when I showed up with that cooler."
A bit of a smile shone through Rain's fearful expression. "Everyone wants a piece of me."
"I sure as hell do."
The group discussed another point. Buck was full of helpful little surprises. Anise secretly wondered if he studied tactics and rescue missions as penance for not saving his family.
"How did Umbrella catch her?" Anise asked about Alice.
Rain gave her a strange look. "She was dead."
"Dead?" Anise squeaked.
"From the helicopter crash."
"So... How is she alive?"
Angie interrupted with, "Probably a combination of the T-virus and the experiments they're doing on her. She was infected, similar to me. Except that Umbrella forced it on her."
"OK. How did you guys figure out she was alive?"
The girl looked down at her shoes before bringing her eyes back up to meet the scientist's. She studied her for a moment before replying. "I can hear her sometimes."
"You can hear her?"
"It feels much like how I can sense another infected. I just know Alice is alive." The girl finished and waited, probably expecting Anise to call her a liar or crazy.
For her part, Anise figured telepathy was just as impossible as growing back a chunk of her hand because a zombie bit it off. Shit, she laughed because she could not help believing the kid. "Weird. Is she the only one you can hear like that? What else did the T-virus give you?"
"You believe me?"
"Why not? I can hear all of your hearts beating when I pay enough attention."
"Really? You can hear that? From across the room?" Angie chirped excitedly.
"What, don't you believe me, Little Miss Telepath?"
The young lady giggled and smiled widely. Her likeness to the Red Queen had diminished greatly as Anise spent more time with her, thankfully. She grinned back and winked. "So, got any other freaky mutant powers?"
"Nope, not like you and Rain." Angie shook her head before giggling again.
LJ flipped the TV on and they all stopped to watch a breaking news broadcast on violent riots in Columbus, Ohio. Riots, my ass, Anise thought. Umbrella had finally lost control over the spreading infection. She knew there was little time left before the T-virus devoured the country. "I can't go with you guys." She unwillingly announced.
"Why not?" Jill demanded. Somehow, Anise just had not expected that reaction.
"I'm gonna say this out loud. You don't like me, why would you want me to roadtrip with you?"
The woman looked caught, grimaced. "Dammit. Rain says you can handle yourself. So, I thought, maybe, ugh," she groaned. "You and your freakish hearing would be useful."
"I'm flattered, I think."
"So, why the fuck aren't you coming?" If Anise was anyone else, she would not have caught the pain in the angry question. She wasn't and she did, so she put a gentle hand on her girlfriend's thigh.
"Umbrella cannot catch me."
"Like I don't have a bounty on my head too?"
Anise sighed. "We haven't developed a true cure yet. I can't risk Umbrella fucking that up. This is about saving the world from their stupidity."
"Fuck the world."
"I can't do that. Just like you won't leave Alice to rot in an Umbrella facility."
Rain looked defeated, and it made her heart ache.
"Why don't we get them a stash of antivirus for the trip?" Buck spoke into the suddenly cold room. "We can be back in a couple hours and stay here tonight. Share breakfast again before they leave. If that's alright with you guys."
"That would be great." Responded Carlos, obviously trying to lighten the mood with humor. "Antivirus is kinda hard to come by. It's a fair trade. We can put up with you two moochers for the night."
Standing, Buck offered. "If we leave now we can have dinner when we get back."
"OK." Anise stood up to follow.
They were putting their coats and snow boots on when Rain entered the foyer, Anise's shoulder bag in her hand. "This fuckin blows."
"I know." She sighed and twitched the strap over her head and settled the bag comfortably.
Two strong arms wrapped themselves around Anise from behind. "I hate Umbrella." Rain grouched into her neck. "I can't wait till those bastards get what's comin to them."
Anise leaned back into the embrace. She met Buck's somber blue eyes. "Somehow, I don't think anyone here would disagree with you."
After a few moments, Rain unwound her arms and gave Anise a light push. "Get out and hurry the fuck back."
