Jack and Jill 4
Chapter 16
Lanie had stayed for dinner and for her entire visit Lanie hadn't said no and she hadn't insulted her so Kate called that a win. They weren't friends again just yet but at least they weren't enemies.
Then suddenly Storm showed up and needed Jack so he appeared. "What can I help you with?" He was there to mostly help his owner and that was Rick now. But he was also a representative of Weave so that meant if Storm needed him he would help.
"You said you could manipulate any computer that you could gain access to," Storm began.
"Correct," Jack replied since he knew he had told him this already.
"So if I put a camera in the elevator along with a canister that can be activated remotely, you could do this if someone told you to?" Storm questioned him.
"Yes." It was child's play.
"Great! Now all I need to do is install the system." Actually what Storm had planned was a whole lot more than that but he only had two hands and so did Jayne. Yes, he could hire someone to do it for him, but if he did that there would be a record of it somewhere. Something someone could find and try to find a way around.
He was still working on a panic idea and just what that would be.
It was an all-nighter, even if Jayne did have plans. They installed a hidden camera in the elevator. A canister filled with tear gas that would practically push out all of the oxygen and in went the gas was installed. What he hadn't told anyone was that he had installed an explosive device that would cut all the cables to the elevator car causing it to fall all the way to the bottom.
Tomorrow he would install cameras on every second floor, all the way down to ground level. Up this high there was only the one emergency stairwell until you reached a lower floor then you could, if you wanted, move to a second emergency stairwell.
Jayne managed to make it to his room and was barely able to strip down to his shorts then fall onto his bed. What he wanted was to go to sleep but he couldn't yet. There was a knock on his door. He groaned. Now what did Storm need him for? "It's not locked."
Instead of Storm it was Alexis and she closed the door behind her. "What have you been doing all night?" It was a way of asking what Storm had been doing without using his name.
"Storm has security ideas for this place. All night long we installed two cameras in the elevator, added a tear gas canister, then Storm added something else. He has plans for the stairwell as well." Jayne didn't move.
"You stayed up all night for that?" They couldn't get sleep and wait for today to install all that?
"So did Storm. We've done this before. I must finally be getting old," Jayne joked and laughed a little at his own expense.
"Turn over," Alexis told him.
"What?" He was on his back and wanted to get some sleep.
"Just turn over. Be good and turn over," Alexis told him again and watched him turn over onto his stomach.
Alexis locked the door and began stripping off all her clothes. She climbed onto his bed and sat on his back, though most of her weight was on her legs that were on either side of him. Then she got to work massaging his shoulders.
"Where did you get these shoulders? A steel mill? Don't move." Alexis got off of him and went into his bathroom to look for some oil or lotion to use. It might not be perfect but it was better than nothing.
Jayne had turned his head so he could see her come back and raised an eyebrow when he saw she was naked. "Alexis." One was more than enough for him.
"Hush, no talking. I need to concentrate on these shoulders." She sat back down on him, then poured out a touch of oil, and got to work on his shoulders.
"You're naked," Jayne muttered.
Alexis's grin got wider. "Noticed that, did you? Relax. I'm still a little sore so no sex this time. …What else does Storm have planned?"
"Are you using your naked body and your hands to get me to talk?" Jayne grinned as he questioned her.
"Just answer the question." Alexis kept working on his shoulders.
"He does have two tall boxes filled with something along with a pair of squeegees. I have no idea what he has in mind."
"You can't speculate?" Alexis asked him.
"The squeegees suggest he has plans for either a wall or windows. Just what that is I have no idea." Jayne groaned as her hands were actually starting to feel pretty good now that he was trying to relax instead of fighting her hands.
It took Alexis some time but finally she didn't feel his muscles fighting back. "Turn over for me," Alexis asked and slapped his back twice. "You heard me, turn over. I'm not interested in sex, so turn over."
Alexis gave him space to turn onto his back. Now he was looking up at her and couldn't stop his eyes from landing on her breasts. Then he watched her add more oil and get to work on his shoulders and chest.
Alexis was still rubbing when she saw him close his eyes; she kept rubbing.
Alexis stopped, leaned down, and softly kissed him. "Go to sleep," Alexis said to his lips. She sat up cautiously and then got off him carefully so as not to disturb him. She padded into the bathroom to clean her hands and was back to put her clothes on and slip quietly out of his room.
Maybe she shouldn't have done that but she did. Even if one side of her brain was saying one thing while the other said something else. Now she headed for her dad's room to see what Kate was doing and if she needed help.
She found both of them dressed and in his sitting room. "Storm has added security cameras to our elevator as well as a tear gas canister and has designs, I think, for our windows." Alexis sat down across from Kate and her dad.
Kate nodded. "Yes, we know."
"You know! How do you know?" She had gotten naked and gotten it out of Jayne easily.
Kate was surprised at Alexis's outburst. "Jack told us. Storm wants Jack to activate the cameras every time the elevator is used to see who it is and if they're armed most likely. And it's not one canister of tear gas, it's two. And each one has a little pepper spray. It's actually so much it will force out all the oxygen out of the cab."
Alexis glared at her dad. "And Jack agreed to this?"
"It's not lethal," Rick offered as a reason he had allowed the modifications after Jack had told them.
Alexis groaned. She was pissed but it was because no one had chosen to keep her informed. This was her dad's place but she lived here, too. "So what does he have planned for the windows?" Maybe they knew what that was, too.
"It's a film. Think tint to darken the windows except that's not what this film does. Jack looked it up. It's a prism. It's meant to make viewing in look like something or someone is somewhere it isn't," Rick said.
"It's ingenious, actually. A sniper from long distance has to take into account the distance, the wind, and where the target is. If he's good he accounts for those items and maybe others; I don't know much about being a sniper. But say he wants to put a round in your chest and pulls the trigger. Because of the prism it will either hit you in the arm or miss you altogether," Kate explained.
"Oh." Alexis considered it and gave that one to him. She didn't mind about the cameras but the tear gas sounded like a bit much. But it was already installed so it might as well stay.
"You sure we aren't overreacting?" This was all meant to protect them from people. This had nothing to do with the enemy that was coming in space ships.
"I've considered that moving somewhere they can't find us might be safer. It's just that to get people to believe all this we're going to need Jack and Jill. That doesn't mean you have to stay with us, Alexis. Get Ricardo fly you somewhere and stay there," Rick urged her, knowing that she knew who Ricardo was.
"No, I'll stay. You're here, Dad, so I'm staying. I guess I just don't like this," Alexis shrugged.
"Our planet has never been a peaceful place, Alexis. Ask me how many murders I've investigated. What are people willing to kill people for? I had one that broke me.
"Dad had been found dead on the street after drinking himself to death. And there was this kid. Eleven years old and he had come into this little convenience store intending to rob it. He had found his dad's gun and his mother needed a fix.
"He was just a stupid kid. He grabbed a piece of bubble gum out of this dispenser, pointed his gun, and demanded all the money. The kid behind the counter was just eighteen and his mother didn't even want him to take the job.
"I don't know what was said. Video footage showed that the kid just up shot him then ran for it without the money. We're only guessing he demanded the money. It was that or he killed that kid for some bubble gum.
"We found the kid and he forced me to shoot him. It was that or I let him shoot me. That was the end for me. I blew up and everything went down hill from there." It was how Kate's life went and from there it only got worse.
"Breakfast," Alexis stated firmly and got up and left them. Alexis didn't mean to be cold and callous torwards what Kate had gone through. But what was she supposed to do about it? Maybe she still wasn't sure Kate was right for the job. Jack was fixing her dad, not Kate.
Rick took all the blame. "It's my fault. My accident has kept her way up here. She doesn't ever leave. She doesn't date, doesn't go see a new movie. I'm not even sure just how many friends she has, if any."
"You didn't mean to get injured, Rick," Kate said gently.
"Probably not, but I was willing to take all the chances that I did. It was just a matter of time." Rick still saw it as his fault.
"No one's after us now. So down to the gym with you. We need to get started on your muscles." Kate hopped up and was willing to push him if he didn't do it for himself.
oOo
Storm was up and intended to install all those video cameras in the stairwell today. They ran on batteries that would last months if not years and they sent a WiFi signal to a computer that Jack could access. Something to eat came to mind first before starting work. He ran across Alexis along the way.
"How is Richard?" Storm inquired.
"Kate has him downstairs in the exercise room. Probably to help him build up muscles." He could only feed himself for just so long.
"That might be fine for now but it has to stop. I can't secure that room and be up here. Is there a room you can turn into a mini gym?" Storm asked her. "Just a few pieces of equipment he can use. No free weights."
Alexis tried to think of a space. Everything was presently being used even if that space was used very rarely. "I can think of one place so long as it's only a couple pieces." They could move a sofa and a chair or two in his sitting room.
"Can you arrange it, please? Call me paranoid if you want, but I've been proven right too damn often and he is my son. Martha would kill me if I let anything happen to him that I could have prevented." Storm knew Martha might be a weak spot for Alexis. Yes, losing Rick would hurt but he would live.
"Look who I found down in the exercise room." Melanie was standing there next to very guilty-looking Rick and Kate. They had been caught red-handed.
"Melanie!" Alexis had forgotten all about her in all the excitement.
"Someone want to tell me what is going on? And who is he?" Melanie gestured to Storm.
"I have work to do. Just arrange for that equipment." Storm quickly retreated. That left Melanie throwing daggers at Alexis.
"He's moving!" Melanie pointed a finger at Rick. She shifted her focus from Alexis to Rick then to Kate and back to Alexis.
oOo
Jayne knew he should get up and get to work. His mind, though, went to a naked Alexis sitting on him, massaging his shoulder muscles. It had actually hurt at first till he finally relaxed and let her do it. It was just that it had been a naked Alexis. He should probably do something about that.
He dragged himself out of bed, took a shower, and got dressed. Then he put his hand weapon in his pants, picked up his HK MP5-SD, and headed out. He didn't see anyone till he found everyone but Storm in the living room.
There was also a new person he had never seen before. Jack and Jill were out in plain view and it sounded like a heated discussion. "I'm hungry," Jayne told himself and retreated to the kitchen to eat something really fast before going into the stairwell to help Storm.
oOo
Melanie started off with a recap so it made sense to her. "Let me get this straight. There are real aliens out in space and a lot of them are going to be here in like twenty-five days and this Aplichure is going to adjust our minds to turn us all into slaves."
Kate corrected her. "Amplitur, but yes."
"And you ran down a different alien with a car who just up and gave you these two." Melanie waved her hand at Jack and Jill.
"Well when you put it like that. …But yes, he did. Put one around my ankle, handed me the other one and told me to run. Then that fighter showed up and nearly killed us all," Kate confirmed.
"And this fighter is why four square blocks of downtown are closed to all street traffic. Even the businesses are closed. I never saw so many police and even military in real Humvees with weapons out, walking all over the place. Not to mention just how many press are in that area." Melanie raised an eyebrow and looked at them.
That had these three looking at each other. Now that they didn't know but it did make sense. "Yup," Kate agreed.
"And this Jack has fixed Richard so he can move now. He just can't walk because of his muscle atrophy." She had to admit that he was moving which should be impossible and yes, his muscle atrophy should be severe. Very severe in fact.
Rick lifted a hand and wiggled his fingers at her. "I tire easily. I can barely lift anything. Haven't even tried walking. I've tried helping Kate get me in and out of this chair but I don't think I'm helping any."
"That's to be expected. Your ability to do cardio is also going to be bad. This is going to take months." Melanie returned to the beginning. "Real aliens?"
"Storm wants me to purchase some equipment for Dad to use and not let him go downstairs. I was thinking of making space in his sitting room. Any suggestions on what to get?" Alexis asked her.
"Real aliens and mind control. Several millennia you say? …Equipment. Well he can't walk yet and he can't use his arms much yet either. Even when he can, just walking around this room will be too much so no treadmill.
"For now all he needs are resistance bands, balls, one pound neoprene dumbbells. We can work up to say a Bowflex but we won't need that for months," Melanie said to herself. "Are you still doing the PT I taught you?" She looked at Kate.
"Every day. Can we add a Yoga mat? It's for me, not him. Though having a Bowflex might be nice," Kate answered her. She could put that to use herself.
"Make a list and I'll order it to be delivered. Just don't forget something for the floor. I don't want it damaged when Dad keeps dropping a dumbbell," Alexis teased him.
"I'm not going to enjoy this, am I?" Rick looked at Melanie.
"No. At first it's going to be painful and you'll tire very fast and sleep a lot more. Once you start improving it will get better. Then we increase the weights and it will go back to being painful," Melanie warned him.
"No pain, no gain, Castle." Kate smiled at him.
"Storm thinks eventually someone will come to try and take Jack and Jill either for their country or personally. So I need a list of everything Dad's going to need now and six months from now." Alexis tells her.
"It might be worse than that. I was once a homicide detective and I can if I want, think like Storm. Say someone decides they want Jack and Jill. First rule, surveillance. Know everything that goes on. She comes and goes every few days which makes her a weak link in our security.
"They either get to her or replace her with someone. Take her security card for the elevator and up she comes looking just like Melanie. The real Melanie is already dead," Kate said in detail.
"So she moves in, is what you're suggesting." Alexis was running out of bedrooms.
Melanie directed their attention to the flaw in this idea. "I have other clients, other people that need me."
"That only leaves two choices that I can see. She stays and never leaves or she never comes back." Kate leaned back and waited for someone else to speak.
"There is a third." Rick had an idea. "Video conference. We just need a nice big screen. Maybe for both of us." Rick looked between the three women in his life.
"That might work." Melanie liked that idea a lot better than being trapped here and abandoning her other clients.