CH 17

Louise was having fun hanging out with Eddie Brock. They took a walking tour around the lake, and Louise showed him around town. He also joined her working at the hospital. Although Venom showed himself from time to time, Louise wasn't scared of him. Venom could be funny.

There was one thing Louise asked about she thought was odd. At the hospital while she was doing some inventory and Eddie was helping, she asked, "Ed, you said Venom can't take our atmosphere? What is it that irritates him?"

Eddie shrugged. "I don't know."

"Venom?" she asked.

"He doesn't either," Eddie replied.

"Then maybe we should find out?" Louise asked.

Venom popped out of Eddie's back and eyed her. "Why is that important?"

Louise shrugged. "Well, if we knew what it was that irritated you, then maybe we can do something about it. Wouldn't you like to go places by yourself now and then? Maybe go grab a bite to eat when Eddie's busy?"

"That does sound like a good idea," Eddie agreed.

Venom eyed him, then Louise. "The air here just bothers me, OK?" He pulled back into Eddie.

Eddie thought for a moment, then said, "He has no form if he's not in a body."

"So Venom needs form to do anything," Louise said, understanding. "I know he comes out now and then, so whatever is in the air isn't lethal to him."

"No," Eddie agreed. "Just irritating."

Louise pondered a moment as she wrote down the numbers of supplies they had. She then smirked and said, "Maybe Venom needs you Eddie to have a form and feel, I don't know, comfortable?"

Eddie grinned, then laughed. "Venom thinks you're over analyzing it."

Louise smirked. "I was just looking at options for Venom."

"He thinks you're trying to interfere."

"Nope," Louise stated. "Just looking for options for him and you."

Eddie smiled. "Thank you for that." He then frowned at nothing and added, "Yeah, Ok, we'll drop it now. Yes, it's about lunch time."

Louise giggled. "Venom's hungry. We got this room done, let's go eat."

They went to the office, Louise turned in her inventory report, then they headed to the cafeteria. In the line, Eddie got seafood for venom and a burger for himself. Louise got a salad and used her metal salt shaker to dust her salad after she had the dressing on it. Going to sit down, she saw the Chinese women here at a table. Mei had her arm in a cast.

"Mei, what happened?" she asked.

Mei looked up at her. "Training accident. I missed the rail for the second floor balcony and broke my arm when I fell."

"Ouch." Louise winced. "Try to do better next time." She knew these girls were being pushed hard. For what they had to do upon returning to China, they had to be the best they could be. Her moms were pushing them hard. She only hoped they survived the training.

Venom came out to wolf down his portion of the meal as Eddie and Louise ate. She smiled at him. "You know Eddie, I do like you."

Eddie cast her a quick smile. "I find you to be very pleasant around also. You also accept Venom. OK, I know we're in creature land here, but it's nice to be accepted."

"Creature land?" Louise asked with a smirk.

Eddie shrugged. "It's bigger than the Munster's house or the Addam's place, but we do have a bit of everything here, someplace. Don't get me wrong, I really like it here." After a pause he added, "I also really like you."

"Good!" Louise beamed. "I really like you too. And Venom."

They smiled at each other. It was a good lunch.

.

John and Delilah were looking at the best way to get Mei and Lee into China. Using satellite photos from John Henry, they pondered on where those girls would be most effective. Anywhere near the capitol was out. Some of the bigger cities were considered, they again, a rural setting would give them less official resistance and a chance to build up a base of operations in the beginning.

John said, "In a city, they would have more people to recruit, but the again, also more police to deal with."

Delilah frowned. "John, you did your best keeping a very low profile as often as possible. I think a rural setting is best to get them started. Remember, when you and Cam were in LA, it was constantly ducking cops and terminators, wasn't it? If they can go and make friends, possibly adding to the community somehow, they can build up easier and more discretely."

"True. The moment they are found out, they will be hunted. Being in a rural area will also help them get away when that happens," John agreed. "No matter where they are, it's going to be tough for them. To get them there, I'm thinking Harry should take them. Quick and easy."

Delilah nodded. "See if we can use Anne to find the best place?" she asked.

"Yes, send Anne first, then have Harry get them there. Anne could also help get the people in the area fired up for their cause."

Delilah chuckled. "I never thought we'd be starting a revolt in China."

"Strange things happen," John replied with a smirk. "Especially with us."

Delilah cast him a fake shocked look. "You mean we're not normal!"

The both laughed at that. John got up. "I'm gong to go talk to the sheriff."

"I'll go see how our rebels are doing."

.

Sitting across the desk from the Sheriff with Anne on the end, John explained what he wanted Anne to do. "She goes to China and looks for a good place for Mei and Lee to start their rebellion. We're thinking someplace rural to let them get a good start before anyone can interfere. If Anne could help them by getting the people there to become willing to join the rebellion, that would certainly help."

"I can do that," Anne said with a grin.

The Sheriff eyed her. "You just like causing trouble."

"It's for a good cause," Anne countered. "Chinese deserve to be free too, don't they?"

The Sheriff huffed and eyed John. "We can't be seen to be involved in something like that," he said firmly.

"We won't be," John replied. "All we do is prep the place, then take those two women there. Whatever they do, however it turns out, is totally their responsibility. By placing them in the middle of China, we have nothing to do with what happens."

"You're going to get them killed," the Sheriff stated.

"They know they will die," John countered. "They expect to. Their primary goal is to get a revolution going before they are killed. I'm not liking it, but they are more than ready to die to see their people get a chance to not live under the communist thumb."

The Sheriff rubbed his face, then let out a sigh. "Two is not enough," he stated. "A couple months of training is not enough. If you're going to let them do this, they need at least a year or two, learning everything they can to get ready and have enough support, especially in infiltration to have even a snowball's chance in hell at doing anything substantial. Communists play rough, John. At the slightest hint of not doing as they are told, those in power will come down hard on them, anyone with them and any of their families."

"So what do they do?" John asked.

"Stay here where they are safe!" the Sheriff stated.

"They won't do that," Anne said. "I've seen them and looked into their minds. They are committed to helping their people. They are radicals."

The Sheriff eyed her. "We can't be part of it," he stated.

John let out a sigh and got up. "You're right, this isn't our problem. I just thought to help them the only way we can. See you later," he said with a wave.

Before he got to the door, Anne said, "John! Before you do anything else, think hard about why you want to send them back to China. Is it for them, or so you can create more chaos in China even at the expense of their lives."

John eyed her. He didn't like what she said, but he did began to think about it. He did want to create trouble in China. He did want to ruin their government and see a more democratic system there. He'd seen those two women working hard, and they seemed like an answer to get the process started. He also knew their chances of failure were very high.

This wasn't like crushing the PSR. The Communist party in China was well entrenched and those in power had no problem squashing any who disagreed with them.

Damn, he was going to have to re-think everything.

.

Since Mei had a broken arm, she got a few days of rest in that she didn't have to train. Lee kept going, working herself to do things she had thought were impossible before. Climb up a vertical wall, she could do that now. Pick up anything and use it as an effective weapon, she could do that. She also knew places on the body that were vulnerable to attack, even if her opponent wore armor. The best body armor didn't protect shins, and much of it didn't protect collar bones. Wrists were another vulnerable spot. A strong kick could knock someone down, no matter how well they were armored. Things like this didn't kill anyone, but did make them easier to deal with.

Lee was very thankful they had come here for help. The Connor clan were at least giving her a fighting chance to do her part for her people. What seemed hopeless at first, wasn't so hopeless any more.

Limping back into the hotel from another day of pushing herself as hard as she could, she went into the lounge to see John Connor had arrived.

He waved, "Hey Lee, where's Mei?"

"She broke her arm, Joan is letting her rest. She was out on the porch by the lake."

John got up. "Let's go see her."

Lee followed him out. She wanted to just flop down and rest, but went with the man who was giving them their chance to make things better in her country.

John greeted Mei, then pulled up a chair as Lee took a seat beside Mei. He sat in front of them, elbows on his knees, hands clasped. "I see you both are trying your hardest. You are very brave and dedicated to even be here. Besides physical training, I'm going to ask you to think hard about what you are going to do when getting back to China. Truthfully, seeing how hard you work and how dedicated you are, I wish you'd stay here so you will not be put in danger."

"We must do our best for our country," Lee stated.

John nodded in agreement. "I know that. I also know your chances are slim, no matter how well we get you ready to go back. What you need to do is think about how you can be the most successful. Let's face it, if you are violent, then the powers that be will come down on you hard. Everything we are teaching you is just-in-case. I think your best bet is infiltration. You know your leaders better than I, or any of us here do. Work to get inside the party, learn who does what and where you can make gains. If anyone gets rough with you, you'll have the ability to get rougher with them, but use that only as a last resort."

"But we hate the communist party," Mei stated.

"If you didn't, you wouldn't be here," John replied. "Knowledge is power, remember that. The more you know about them, the more you will be able to see flaws in the system you can exploit. When I was imprisoned with Sonya, the ones who had us were sure we could never get out. We did escape by figuring out something they hadn't thought of. We used that to our advantage and made it up and out of there. For you, knowing what their policies are, what things will rattle them, how to use their own system against them will help you gain leverage against them. Communism is suppose to be a government for the good and equality for all, isn't it?"

Lee stared at John. "Yes, but millions are being treated terribly!"

"Then use that," John told her. "Remind everyone what Communism is suppose to be. If you can get people, common people as well as party members to believe as you do, then many more will come to your cause. That will work better than an armed rebellion. Promote your brand of communism as the true way to go, and not the aristocratic system you have now. Show that those in power are elitists and dictators, not true communists."

Mei smiled. "I like that idea. Use their own philosophy against them."

"And by doing so, you will get farther, because you are not rebelling, but trying to return China to what it should be," John replied.

Lee got up and motioned for John to stand. He did, and she hugged him tight. He returned her hug.

"John Connor, you are the smartest man I have ever met! If we didn't have to go, I'd want to have your babies!" Lee announced.

John chuckled. "I think Cameron would have much to say about that." In a more serious tone, he said, "You are still going to have a long, hard uphill fight."

"We know," Lee said firmly. "But you and your family are giving us hope that we didn't have before."

"We're just trying to give you the tools you'll need to have a chance at winning."

.

Friday after school, Jerry and a few friends were hanging out down by the old house near the cliffs. Currently, they were playing a game of hide and seek. Tucked up beside a bush, Jerry was fairly well hidden. So far, Patricia who was 'it', had passed by him once, not seeing him.

He then heard something odd. It sounded like a plane. He looked out at the sky, but didn't see anything.

"Wow, that plane's flying really low," Jacob said from nearby as he looked down over the cliff.

Jerry left his bush to go see. On the water below, the plane looked to be right above the water. He and Jacob watched as it set down on the water and slowed down.

"Are they crashing?" Jacob asked.

Looking at the plane, Jerry grinned. "No, that's Joan's plane! She's probably bringing mom Jackie home."

"ONE TWO THREE on Jerry and Jacob!" Patricia cried.

Jerry glanced back at her, then refocused on the plane.

Jacob asked, "What is she doing? She's turned towards the cliff here."

They ran over by where the plane came to the small beach under the cliff. They watched Joan and Jackie get out, then pick the plane up and walk it onto the beach and fold the wings up.

The pair below then got large looking backpacks on and started coming up the cliff, climbing it quickly. Jerry stepped back. Jacob did too. Suddenly, Joan and Jackie topped the cliff and were in front of them.

"Hey Jerry!" Jackie beamed, then waggled a finger at him. "Be very careful, it's not safe to play near these cliffs!" she admonished.

"Hi, mom. Hi Joan," Jerry offered. "We were being careful."

"You just climbed up that cliff quick," Jacob said.

"And I won," Joan beamed.

Jackie frowned at her. "No, I won."

"No, my feet landed on the ground first."

"I was over the edge first," Jackie retorted.

Joan held up a finger, "The winner is the first one to touch ground at the top. That was me."

Jackie frowned at her, then looked at Jerry. "You saw us, who won?"

Jerry raised his hands up in surrender. "Ahh, it was a tie."

"A really cool tie," Jacob beamed. "But, how are you going to get your plane back? It's way down there."

Joan shrugged. "We'll just go back down later."

Jackie said, "We're heading for the house. Don't forget to be home for dinner."

"I won't Mom." Jerry assured her.

Jackie and Joan walked to the road and headed up to the house.

Watching them go, Jacob said, "Your mom's really cool! How did they do that?"

Jerry grew a crooked grin. "Mom's a bad-ass, so's Joan. Just because they are white and pretty, doesn't mean they aren't tough. They are the toughest women, or anyone I've ever seen."

"From what we just saw of them racing up the cliff like that, yeah, they are bad-ass all right," Jacob agreed. "Not like rich folks at all."

"Come up to the house, I'll show you a video of Mom kicking this guy's ass. The guy was twice her size, she put him in the hospital."

"Really?"

"Yeah, let's go see if anyone wants to come with us!"

.

Getting up to the house, Jackie introduced Joan again, since she hadn't been up here in a long time. Jackie then took Joan up to show her which room was hers so she could put her clothes away. Not being home most of the week, Jackie next took Joan up to Sarah's room to make sure that was tidy.

Sarah didn't show herself, but Jackie and Joan dusted the room. Looking at this floor, Joan said, "It's pretty vacant up here."

"Yeah, all the rooms are empty, I guess there used to be many more people here than there is now," Jackie explained. "We don't even have any electric up here except the hallway lights Duncan helped me put in. This house was build in the early 1700's and never renovated up here."

"Well, you have lots of room for expansion. No fencing room?"

"Down on the first floor," Jackie replied. "With Duncan and myself busy, we don't have much time for doing that."

"Yeah, I know how that goes," Joan agreed. She let out a short of a laugh. "Kinda sucks growing up, huh?"

Jackie giggled. "Yeah, it kinda does." She then clapped her hands to the sides of her head in mock shock. "Oh my GOD, we're becoming our parents!"

Joan laughed at her. She then offered, "SHIT! When did THAT happen?"

"It just kinda snuck up on us."

"Sneaky time," Joan grumbled. "Just think, some day we'll be old women."

"Oh, now that's something to look forward to." Jackie grumbled, eyeing her.

Joan giggled, "Instead of using swords, we'll be whacking each other with our canes."

Jackie announced, "We'll still be the baddest old cronies in the nursing home!"

That got them both laughing.

.

Down in the TV lounge, Jerry had put in Jackie's fencing tournament in Seattle. His friends were glued to it. When Jackie vs. the asshole came up, the two girls, Patricia and Betty grew big smiles and cheered as Jackie destroyed the big guy.

"Wow, you mom really is a bad-ass." Jacob said.

"I don't think there's anyone who can beat her," Jerry said firmly. "Oh, you gotta see the sea world show she did in Australia too!"

Patricia beamed, "Hey Jerry! Don't you dare misbehave, your mom just might kill you!"

.

Duncan got home to hear kids clapping and cheering in the lounge. OK, Jerry had friends over. Going up the stairs, he met Joan and Jackie coming down, giggling.

"Hey Joan," he offered, then met Jackie with a hug and a kiss.

Joan let them greet each other. Duncan continued on up the stairs to their room. Hearing laughing from the lounge, Jackie said, "Jerry brought his friends over."

"It's safer than playing by the cliffs," John noted.

Jackie agreed. She called into the lounge, "Who's for snacks?"

A pack came running out. Several, "I am's!" sounded out.

Patricia pointed at Jackie and said, "You are awesome!"

"Yeah!" Betty agreed.

Jackie grinned. "Of course I am, I'm Jackie Connor."

"Semi- awesome," Joan said with a grin, wiggling her hand. She glanced at the swords displayed over the fireplace.

Jackie grew a grin. "Shall we test that?"

"Yes!" Joan announced. She quickly picked one of the swords off the stand left handed. "I hate to say, but I am Indigo Montoya ! I was waiting around here just to kill you! You are a decent fellow, so I hate to kill you."

Jackie grabbed the other sword, left handed. "You are a decent fellow. I hate to die."

"So, you are ready then?" Joan asked.

"Whether I am or not, you've been more than fair," Jackie replied.

Jerry and the others thought they were playing, then Joan took a hard swipe at Jackie. Jackie bend back out of the way. Then Jackie took a hard swipe at Joan, who also avoided the blow. They began fencing in fast moves moving around into the foyer.

"Ha! You are using Benetti's defense against me!" Joan announced.

"Considering the terrain, I thought it appropriate."

The kids watched, jaws open wide as Joan and Jackie did what they could of the Princess Bride cliff scene. The kids thought it was a real sword fight. Right after they did the 'I am not left handed!" and "I am not left handed either!" Duncan's voice called out.

"Girls! Those are not hardened blades, be careful with them!"

Joan and Jackie stopped and lowered their swords. "Darn," Joan pouted.

"Yeah, I forgot, sorry," Jackie said.

"That wasn't real," Betty asked meekly.

"Naw, we were redoing a scene from a movie," Jackie assured her.

"We were playing," Joan added.

"That was some playing," Jacob noted.

"That was wild," Jerry said with a grin.

"And something you need to practice at before you think about doing it," Duncan added.

"Oh! We got the video of Mom and Monty doing a recreation of that scene on video, like it was done in the movie," Jerry told everyone.

"Snacks while watching the video?" Jacob asked.

"Yes!" they all agreed. The maid took the snack tray into the lounge.

Joan and Jackie put the swords away. Joan eyed the lounge. "Having kids around looks like fun," she noted.

"Sometimes. I take it you're getting a motherly instinct?" Jackie asked.

Joan nodded. "Yeah, but Bob's got the same problem Duncan has."

"So, adopt," Jackie said. "Jerry's turning out well with us."

"I was thinking about a baby," Joan told her.

"And?" Jackie asked.

"I wanted it to be mine," Joan grumbled.

"Artificial insemination may work," Duncan offered.

Joan cringed. "Right, sperm from a guy who whacks off into a cup? Are you serious?"

Jackie frowned at her. "Then go find a guy to get you pregnant!"

"So you want me to cheat on Bob?"

Jackie rolled her eyes, "Like he's completely faithful to you. Do the names, Alison, Malinara, Hanna, Jo or Dina mean anything to you? And let's not forget his mermaid tryst."

"That's different," Joan said, eyeing her.

"Yeah, you'll be doing it for a purpose." Jackie countered.

Firmly, Joan said, "I can't do that."

"Then I guess you'll have to adopt," Jackie stated.

"Ughh!" Joan growled. "This sucks!"

"Nothing's perfect," Jackie said with a shrug.

Frowning, Joan crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah, you got that right."

Jackie hooked her arm under Joan's. "Come on, let's go do something fun. We got time before dinner to see if we can find some divers to harass."