Chapter Ten- The Circus

So it wasn't as easy as Jane thought, but after a brief debate, Rigsby agreed to take him along to the House. Oh, and Cho too. If Rigsby hadn't insisted on drawing the argument out, Cho never would have overheard and he would have been only driving one third wheel along, not two. His own fault, really.

They met little Beatrix Kiddo at the door, now dressed in a plain baby tee and short shorts. She let them in on her way to the practice hall, where she told them they'd also find the rest of the group. She smiled at the three men as they stood in the entryway. "Shall I take you to them?" she asked politely.

Jane smiled. "Please. Miss?"

"Julia. Please follow me."

Jane found their unstinting politeness here at the House to be most amusing. He assumed Cherry was behind it, insisting her employees maintained a certain decorum at all times, even when speaking to non-clients such as themselves. He found it...charming.

They followed Julia down another set of hallways to another part of this enormous house before coming to an open door from which loud acid rock music spewed forth. They entered yet another giant room, this one was a gym/dance hall/circus. There was a boxing ring, gymnast balance beams, stripper poles, free weights, treadmills, chains and silk ropes hanging from the ceiling, and about a dozen dancers on various pieces of all of this equipment. Each man instantly saw the woman they came to see. Rigsby saw Grace dancing a sort of street rhythm with Liev. She wore a simple tank top and short shorts like Julia. Liev was stripped to the waist and wore loose black dancer's pants. Their movements were as angry and fast as the violent rock they were moving to. Their hands gripped each other, forcing each other back, then into each other again. Their hands were covered in white powder for grip, which then transferred to their partner and left a map of everywhere their hands had been. Rigsby gasped at her sexy body and growled because it was in the arms of another man. He smothered it as best he could. Liev was not a threat. Rigsby's testosterone had just reacted before his mind could.

Cho saw Anna Angel and took a small step back in wonder. She was performing a rope dance, sliding and twirling from the silk ropes attached to the ceiling high above the floor. Her limbs caught and released the rope in time to the music, pulling her legs wide into splits, her arms open as she redistributed her weight. She wrapped herself up at the knee and released her hands, swooping upside down before catching herself and releasing her legs. An amazingly erotic form of acrobatics that made him break into a sweat.

And for Jane, there was only Cherry. Free of her cat suit and metal implants, she stood in the middle of the dance floor in a simple black tank and loose Capri pants. Her blonde hair fell at her back in a messy braid. Like all of the dancers, her feet were bare, but one of her ankles was wrapped for support. She was assisting two other dancers as they moved to the music, a busty brunette girl and a muscular blonde man. She'd watch stoically as their bodies clung and caught each other, occasionally stopping them to correct their posture or change their angle. She kept her eyes riveted on them, watching for any tiny mistake. But never were her instructions harsh or her eyes angry. She always had a patient smile for them when she spoke. At one point she separated them, pointing to the man's waist and indicating something to the brunette. The brunette shook her head in confusion, so Cherry took her place in the blonde man's arms and leapt upwards, catching her legs around his waist as he bent at the knees and caught her around her back. She arched backwards into a perfect bow, reaching down and touching the floor with her hands as her hips ground explicitly into the man's pelvis. Jane inhaled sharply. It one move the couple had simulated an overt sexual position that few had the limberness to get into. Cherry moved one hand off the floor and pointed to her feet locked behind his back to the brunette. She then placed her hands on the floor, released her legs from his waist into a handstand and flipped back up onto her feet. Astounding. The brunette resumed her place in his arms and mimicked Cherry's move. She smiled approvingly. Apparently the brunette had her feet locked properly.

These three men—men of education and knowledge of the ways of the world—were absolutely unable to get over the pure male reaction that seized their bodies as they watched these three women.

"Mommy!"

"Mommy!"

They all jerked back from their dirty thoughts as two little girls tore through the door between their legs and made a B line for Cherry. She turned from her dancers and called at the tops of her lungs over the music. "BABY, BABY!" and ran at them. She caught one in each arm, sliding to her knees and hugging them tightly to her as she smiled hugely into their faces. Both Rigsby and Jane took a startled breath as the children turned back towards them. The girls were almost carbon copies of their mother and aunt. The older girl (Jane put her at about seven years old) gazed happily through copper eyes. Her skin was pale as cream and her hair—her hair—was the color of a raging bonfire that fell around her shoulders. The little girl (he'd say about four years old) had bright blue eyes and blonde platinum hair that fell in a braid at her back, like her mother's. She and her sister giggled and screamed as Cherry started to tickle them. Their hair is what caught the men's attention. To Rigsby, the redheaded girl could easily have belonged to Grace. Thus, she could easily have belonged to him. The idea of Grace as a mother to a child—his child—who looked just like her caused him to purr inwardly.

To Jane, the blonde girl stabbed him in the heart with recollections of his own little blonde daughter. Granted, her face was Cherry's face and not that of his own baby girl, but her hair was almost identical, and it nearly broke his heart.

In the five seconds it took for these little ones to storm into the gym and into their mother's arms, one man had seen a glimpse of his future, and one man had an agonizing reminder of his past. Someone turned off the rock music, bringing both men from their thoughts.

"Gray! Liev!" the little redhead screamed as she leapt from her mother and into their dance frame. "Little Lila!" Liev clipped as he broke from Grace and caught the girl under her arms and launched her into the air, catching her while she shrieked and laughed at his antics. "Jackson!" screamed the little blonde (Sophia, Jane deduced) as she ran full speed at the handsome black man Cherry had danced with Halloween night. He turned from his boxing match with a lithe Latino man and turned on a thousand-watt smile and the girl running towards him. "SoSo!" he roared as he scooped her up in his arms and spun her around as fast as he could. She gripped his gloves and screamed her delight as she was whipped around in a circle. When he set her down she took a few steps and fell over, laughing so hard she could barely breathe. "Eeeeew, you're sweaty," she said between gasping giggles. He laughed. "S'what you get for jumping on me, little girl. If you'll excuse me, I have to go beat up Juarez here." He petted her head with his glove before turning back to his boxing game.

The little girls continued to run around the room, hugging everyone they saw, as Cherry stood up and brushed herself off, turning back to the dancers.

The blonde dancer put his hand on her shoulder. "I hate to bring it up again, Cher, but if we don't practice the pole dance, we're never going to have it ready for the show in three weeks."

The busty brunette nodded her head, speaking in a thick French accent, "I agree wis Johnny. If we're going to include it, zere must be a practice session first. His injury 'as healed. You must try."

Cherry exhaled loudly, dropping her head before looking up again. "Johnny, I'm really worried about injuring you. It's only been six weeks since you tore that muscle and the pole dance could cause more damage. Be honest with me. It feels strong enough to take the strain?"

Johnny nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, it's strong enough. Let's try for tomorrow first thing. Deal?"

Cherry sighed. "All right. We'll give it a shot." She glanced skywards. "How's is going up there, Anna Angel?"

Musical laughter rained on all of them from above. "All is well in the crow's nest, Captain."

Just then Rigsby felt a little hand tug on the sleeve of his jacket. He looked down into two smiling blue eyes. "Are you a giant?" little Sophia asked, her eyes wide with wonder at her mythological find in her mother's gym.

The three men, mere audience members until now, were noticed by the rest of the troupe. The dancers all turned towards the door at the sound of the girl's voice and the whistles and catcalls immediately started.

"Hey, Gray. Your man is here."

"Look out, Liev, he's got five inches on you AND a gun."

"Anna Angel! Your hottie cop is here too!"

A series of hoots and hollers followed as Rigsby bent down on his knee and chucked Sophia under the chin. "I guess to little girls, I am a giant. Don't tell anyone, okay? Especially Gray. She won't love me anymore if she knows I'm a big, mean giant."

Sophia giggled and looked over at Grace, who was walking up behind her and smiling at Rigsby. Rigsby stood up as Grace threw her arms around his neck and kissed him in front of everyone. The hooting increased tenfold. She pulled back and smiled at him. "You might a giant to little girls like us, but I still love you anyway. Dinner?" she asked him. "Hell, yes," he said. And they headed out.

Anna Angel swooped down from the ceiling and landed gracefully in front of them. She pointed squarely at Cho. "You. Follow me," she ordered in a sultry but firm voice that told everyone there would be no arguments. She grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door the just entered. He winked at Jane as he passed. More catcalls.

Just then Jane also felt a little hand pull at his jacket sleeve. He looked down into two copper eyes regarding him closely. "Are you the psychic that's rejecting his true calling?" she asked him with absolute seriousness. "Lila!" admonished Cherry as she walked up to Jane. "It's not nice to repeat what other people said in private," she chided, but was doing a horrible job of hiding her smile. She held out her hand. "Patrick. It's so good to see you again. Are you well?"

He took her hand. "Very. Thank you. So, was it you or Grace talking about me rejecting my psychic calling?" he teased. Cherry laughed as she leaned into him slightly.

"I'm afraid that's Grace. She feels that God has given you a wonderful gift that you're stubbornly refusing to accept."

Jane looked down at Lila and swept his hand through her hair affectionately. "I'll tell you what, Lila. You think of two different shapes and I'll try to guess what they are. Okay?"

Lila giggled and screwed her pretty face up in hard thought. It smoothed out quickly. "Got them!" she said. He dropped to one knee and looked deep into her eyes, studying this miniature Grace as he worked his trick. He reached out and put his index finger on her forehead. "You're thinking about…a circle…and a star. Is that right?"

Lila's eyes went round and she grabbed Cherry's hand. "Mommy! Did you see? He guessed my shapes! He's magic!"

Cherry burst into laughter as she held her daughter's hand. "I saw! I saw!" she leaned over and pushed Lila's fiery hair from her face. "Go get you and your sister ready. You're going to a sleepover with Babet and her girls tonight, remember?"

The two girls squealed with delight and tore out of the gym with the same wild happiness as when they entered it.

Jane stood up next to Cherry as they watched the girls take off down the hall. When they were out of sight, she turned to him and beamed. "So, what brings you back to my gin joint, mister?"

He looked into her lovely face and the truth came unbidden. "You." Dammit!