Chapter 23
"And there are times I just can't remember what happened, like blank spaces in my memory," Wes said as they walked to the house.
"Well, if she was controlling your mind using a device that would make sense. If she had been using a psychic mutant you would remember doing things and being unable to control yourself," Jen explained.
"Did I hurt anybody?" the red ranger asked worried.
"Not seriously, but I think Kevin Simmons' pride is pretty hurt," Alex answered. They all laughed.
"It's not funny!" Wes said. "What if she does it again?"
"If she does it again, we'll kick your sorry ass," Alex said. "Sorry," he added still in a joking tone.
Wes pointed at him annoyed and asked Jen, "When did he get a sense of humor?"
"When you weren't watching, apparently,"
"I'm serious! What if she controls my mind again?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Jen said. "And now, I think there's a woman in that house who's just dying to see you again,"
They entered the house in a line. Wes demorphed and looked around, waiting for his wife to welcome him home. However, she wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"This is weird," Jen said, looking around. "She was so happy we were going to bring you back," she told the saddened blond man.
"Really? Well, it looks like she found something better to do," he whispered.
The door to his office opened and Jessica walked out of it, except she had short hair and looked at him as if she had never seen him before in her life. "Honey?" he asked uncertainly. "What did you do to your hair?"
"You're confusing me with your wife," the woman snapped at him. "She's in the office," she explained and walked upstairs. Wes looked at the others puzzled and they broke into a soft laugh.
"Um-- that was your absolutely adorable sister-in-law, Josephine," Alex explained.
"Josephine? THE Josephine?" he asked.
"Yes, Josephine Simmons, your wife's twin sister," his descendant assured him.
Wes was still recovering from the shock, when the door opened again, and his wife, as beautiful, elegant and lovely as always, walked out of it, talking quickly over the phone. ".Yes, yes! I do! This very afternoon! Yes, I have. No, not for all of them, but we are trying.I checked with finances again.marketing suggested a reintroduction of the Silver Guardians now that the mutant attacks have restarted. We are not shutting them down, we are only resizing. We." she spotted her husband and was unable to keep a smile from her face as she continued to the person on the phone. "Have that conference ready by four; I'll explain later, I have to go," she hung up and stared at her husband with dreamy eyes, letting a sight of relief out, as she covered her mouth with her hand, trying hard not to cry.
"What? No hug?" he asked her playfully, and she jumped into his arms, for a minute forgetting about his past with Jen, forgetting she was supposed to be mad, forgetting everything that had happened after that night they had conceived their child.
"Wesley, Wesley, Wesley," she murmured his name in his ear with relief and clung onto him as if her life depended on how hard she did it.
Wes didn't say anything; he just kissed his wife's hair. He had missed her so much, and he had been so scared she might be cold to him when he came back. "Jess, I missed you so much!" he said softly.
She sobbed. "Never do this to me again," she told him, letting go of his neck and looking straight into his eyes. "Promise!"
"I promise," he said, looking into her green eyes. "Nevermore, like the crow said," he added, drying with his thumb the tears that were falling down her cheeks.
"Ok," she said, regaining control over herself. "I'll ask the maid to prepare you a warm bath, and the chef has to cook you your favorites. Did you eat well? Were you beaten?" she asked, losing control again.
He put his hands on her arms, and kissed her forehead. "I was fed, and no, I wasn't beaten," he answered. "I'd love to have that lunch, though, and I want you with me in my warm bath," he said, pulling her close to him. "So you can fill me in, or vice versa," he added the last few words in a soft whisper that only she could hear. She giggled and looked at his face. He looked tired.
She caressed his hair for a second and touched her lips to his. "Go upstairs, I'll be right with you," she said. He nodded and headed to the staircase. She walked towards the kitchen, searching for the servants.
***********************************
Alex and Jen walked out to the gardens after lunch. They sat near the pool, in clothes they had borrowed from the Collinses. Alex had a white tank top and a pair of jeans, and she was wearing a pink top with a black cotton skirt.
They held each other's hands and made eye contact. They loved to do that, say it all without words, just by touching each other, and by looking into each other's eyes. Alex kissed her hand and pulled her near his body. She purred softly and let her husband hold her and kiss her hair. The physical contact was important for both of them.
They sat on a bench, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she began caressing his hands while she leaned on him, as if he was a comfortable seat. They said nothing for a long time. They just sat there, feeling complete and happy together. Jen kissed Alex's fingers, and he tightened his hold on her. "I love you," he said softly.
"I love you too," she answered.
They both fell silent again. They didn't feel like talking and they didn't need to. They felt lucky to have each other, and they took pleasure in even the smallest things. However, Alex felt he needed to talk. "I'm sorry," he said after a couple of minutes.
"Sorry for what, love?" she asked, knowing very well what he was talking about.
"For doubting you, for that stupid jealousy, for acting like an idiot," he said.
"It's okay," she whispered, kissing his hand again.
"No, it's not. I guess I was pissed off at Wes in the beginning, especially when I discovered he hadn't told Jessica anything. I stupidly doubted you, and I had no reason, because you got yourself in the mud and walked right through it. You confronted your mess face first, and that spoiled brat tiptoed around it, lying to his wife," he said. "Don't ask me how I ended up mistreating you if I was angry at him, but I did, and I'm really sorry," he kissed her hair and tightened his hold even more.
She chuckled happily. "Well, it's in the past. I say we let that go and focus on the future," she suggested, turning her head a little. He smiled at her and kissed her briefly. Unsatisfied, she turned her torso as well, and they were able to share a loving, passionate kiss.
Up in the terrace, someone was watching them with a bit of envy. Jessica stared down at the Drakes and couldn't keep her heart from wishing she could have something like that with Wes. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see her husband walking to her.
"The bath is ready," he said as he held her from behind. She looked at the Drakes again, as she felt Wes's warm breath caressing her neck.
"How do they do it?" she asked. He looked at Jen and Alex, who were now embraced; he was kissing her forehead, as she caressed his hair.
"I don't know," he said. "But I guess the fact Alex knew about the thing between Jen and me from the start helped," he went on, knowing he was stepping into dangerous territory. "I should have told you everything on our second date."
"Second?" she asked, finally turning to face him, still trapped in his arms.
"You don't expect me to tell you all that on our first date? Would you have gone out with me again if I had told you, 'you know what, Jess? I'm having a ball here with you, but I think you should know about a year ago I had the world's biggest crush on this girl that looks exactly like you, but I'm sure you don't mind, do you?' Yeah, that would have ignited your desire to go out with me every night after that."
She had to laugh at that. "I guess when we first met wouldn't have been such a good idea, but you could have told me later."
"I could have, but I was afraid," he admitted. She looked at him, puzzled. "I was scared you might throw that engagement ring in my face, followed by the glass of wine and an insult," he explained.
She snorted. "I just saw that happening in my head," she explained as she broke into a happy laugh. "Sorry," she said trying to control her laughter and failing.
"Stop that, I'm trying to make amends here! Not to mention I'm baring my heart to you!" he complained in a fake hurt tone that only made her laugh harder.
She hugged him tightly and caressed his hair. "I missed you, you know? I'm no longer mad, I'm no longer cold, all I want is to be with you, to be happy with you, Wesley, no matter what," she said in a much more serious tone.
"I'm glad to hear that," he said sincerely and they kissed briefly. "My bath is rapidly turning into a cold bath, you know?" he said pointing at the door of their room.
"We'll warm it up again, don't worry," she said with a smile he returned.
Hand in hand they walked into the bathroom, Jessica ready to let their problems disappear into the past, and Wes amazed by the warm welcome he was getting. It was considerably warmer than he had expected.
*********************************
Opposite to where Jen and Alex were sitting, the Simmonses were playing catch with some of Wes's old baseball gloves and balls. Mark threw a ball to his mother and she caught it expertly.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Kevin asked.
"Not from you, obviously," she answered playfully, at his clumsy attempt to catch a ball from Mathew.
"Hey, I'm forty!" he complained.
She laughed. "Now, that's a good one!" she cried.
The twins began laughing. Their father shot them a fake angry look. "Did I hear someone laughing at me?" he asked. The twins yelled and started to run from their father, who began chasing them at minimum speed. Josephine just stood there laughing, until Kevin pointed at her menacingly and she opened her eyes widely and yelled happily and started running along with her children from her husband.
*****************************
Fly-tag sat down on the clock tower balcony, looking at the city. Centauricon walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "What's up, butterfly?" he asked. She looked at him with her purple eyes and gave him a small smile.
"I was thinking," she said.
"About the cherub?" he asked teasingly.
"No, not about him, about Nadira and Ransik," she said.
"They are here to teach us how to please The Mistress better," he said.
"Yes, but is it right?" she asked in a whisper, as if she didn't want anyone to hear her. "Is it right doing as she asks us to?"
Centauricon didn't know what to say. Bunnistein (the mutant that looked like a bunny put together by Doctor Frankstein) walked to them. "Hey centaur, give me room," she asked. "What are we talking about?" she asked the pair.
"We were talking about the cherub," Centauricon said quickly, giving Fly- tag a meaningful look.
"You miss him too, huh?" the bunny-like mutant asked her friends. "He was good company."
"Yes, he was," Fly-tag muttered.
"There's something you are not telling me," Bunnistein said, moving closer to Fly-tag and taking her hand in a friendly way.
"She was wondering if we are doing the right thing by following The Mistress's orders. And I don't know what to say. It's a very good question," Centauricon said, putting his hand on Fly-tag's shoulder.
"I think it depends on how you look at it," Bunnistein said. "She created us to follow her orders, so doing what she says would be right, because that's our purpose in life. But I think that from the human point of view, we are on the wrong side of the street."
"How are we going to achieve unity and acceptance by being on the wrong side of the street?" Fly-tag asked.
"We can't," Centauricon said. "I want to be accepted and I want to be useful to society, but we can't achieve that status, not from this side."
"Then," Fly-tag began, holding her two best friends' hands, "We'll have to cross the street."
"How?" Bunnistein asked.
"By refusing to do as we are told."
"The Mistress would kill us!" Centauricon said.
"Not right now," Fly-tag said. "When it's time," she explained. "I say we take advantage of the training she's providing and then--" she was cut off by Centauricon's gesture.
He had just run his index finger across his neck.
To be continued..
"And there are times I just can't remember what happened, like blank spaces in my memory," Wes said as they walked to the house.
"Well, if she was controlling your mind using a device that would make sense. If she had been using a psychic mutant you would remember doing things and being unable to control yourself," Jen explained.
"Did I hurt anybody?" the red ranger asked worried.
"Not seriously, but I think Kevin Simmons' pride is pretty hurt," Alex answered. They all laughed.
"It's not funny!" Wes said. "What if she does it again?"
"If she does it again, we'll kick your sorry ass," Alex said. "Sorry," he added still in a joking tone.
Wes pointed at him annoyed and asked Jen, "When did he get a sense of humor?"
"When you weren't watching, apparently,"
"I'm serious! What if she controls my mind again?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Jen said. "And now, I think there's a woman in that house who's just dying to see you again,"
They entered the house in a line. Wes demorphed and looked around, waiting for his wife to welcome him home. However, she wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"This is weird," Jen said, looking around. "She was so happy we were going to bring you back," she told the saddened blond man.
"Really? Well, it looks like she found something better to do," he whispered.
The door to his office opened and Jessica walked out of it, except she had short hair and looked at him as if she had never seen him before in her life. "Honey?" he asked uncertainly. "What did you do to your hair?"
"You're confusing me with your wife," the woman snapped at him. "She's in the office," she explained and walked upstairs. Wes looked at the others puzzled and they broke into a soft laugh.
"Um-- that was your absolutely adorable sister-in-law, Josephine," Alex explained.
"Josephine? THE Josephine?" he asked.
"Yes, Josephine Simmons, your wife's twin sister," his descendant assured him.
Wes was still recovering from the shock, when the door opened again, and his wife, as beautiful, elegant and lovely as always, walked out of it, talking quickly over the phone. ".Yes, yes! I do! This very afternoon! Yes, I have. No, not for all of them, but we are trying.I checked with finances again.marketing suggested a reintroduction of the Silver Guardians now that the mutant attacks have restarted. We are not shutting them down, we are only resizing. We." she spotted her husband and was unable to keep a smile from her face as she continued to the person on the phone. "Have that conference ready by four; I'll explain later, I have to go," she hung up and stared at her husband with dreamy eyes, letting a sight of relief out, as she covered her mouth with her hand, trying hard not to cry.
"What? No hug?" he asked her playfully, and she jumped into his arms, for a minute forgetting about his past with Jen, forgetting she was supposed to be mad, forgetting everything that had happened after that night they had conceived their child.
"Wesley, Wesley, Wesley," she murmured his name in his ear with relief and clung onto him as if her life depended on how hard she did it.
Wes didn't say anything; he just kissed his wife's hair. He had missed her so much, and he had been so scared she might be cold to him when he came back. "Jess, I missed you so much!" he said softly.
She sobbed. "Never do this to me again," she told him, letting go of his neck and looking straight into his eyes. "Promise!"
"I promise," he said, looking into her green eyes. "Nevermore, like the crow said," he added, drying with his thumb the tears that were falling down her cheeks.
"Ok," she said, regaining control over herself. "I'll ask the maid to prepare you a warm bath, and the chef has to cook you your favorites. Did you eat well? Were you beaten?" she asked, losing control again.
He put his hands on her arms, and kissed her forehead. "I was fed, and no, I wasn't beaten," he answered. "I'd love to have that lunch, though, and I want you with me in my warm bath," he said, pulling her close to him. "So you can fill me in, or vice versa," he added the last few words in a soft whisper that only she could hear. She giggled and looked at his face. He looked tired.
She caressed his hair for a second and touched her lips to his. "Go upstairs, I'll be right with you," she said. He nodded and headed to the staircase. She walked towards the kitchen, searching for the servants.
***********************************
Alex and Jen walked out to the gardens after lunch. They sat near the pool, in clothes they had borrowed from the Collinses. Alex had a white tank top and a pair of jeans, and she was wearing a pink top with a black cotton skirt.
They held each other's hands and made eye contact. They loved to do that, say it all without words, just by touching each other, and by looking into each other's eyes. Alex kissed her hand and pulled her near his body. She purred softly and let her husband hold her and kiss her hair. The physical contact was important for both of them.
They sat on a bench, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she began caressing his hands while she leaned on him, as if he was a comfortable seat. They said nothing for a long time. They just sat there, feeling complete and happy together. Jen kissed Alex's fingers, and he tightened his hold on her. "I love you," he said softly.
"I love you too," she answered.
They both fell silent again. They didn't feel like talking and they didn't need to. They felt lucky to have each other, and they took pleasure in even the smallest things. However, Alex felt he needed to talk. "I'm sorry," he said after a couple of minutes.
"Sorry for what, love?" she asked, knowing very well what he was talking about.
"For doubting you, for that stupid jealousy, for acting like an idiot," he said.
"It's okay," she whispered, kissing his hand again.
"No, it's not. I guess I was pissed off at Wes in the beginning, especially when I discovered he hadn't told Jessica anything. I stupidly doubted you, and I had no reason, because you got yourself in the mud and walked right through it. You confronted your mess face first, and that spoiled brat tiptoed around it, lying to his wife," he said. "Don't ask me how I ended up mistreating you if I was angry at him, but I did, and I'm really sorry," he kissed her hair and tightened his hold even more.
She chuckled happily. "Well, it's in the past. I say we let that go and focus on the future," she suggested, turning her head a little. He smiled at her and kissed her briefly. Unsatisfied, she turned her torso as well, and they were able to share a loving, passionate kiss.
Up in the terrace, someone was watching them with a bit of envy. Jessica stared down at the Drakes and couldn't keep her heart from wishing she could have something like that with Wes. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see her husband walking to her.
"The bath is ready," he said as he held her from behind. She looked at the Drakes again, as she felt Wes's warm breath caressing her neck.
"How do they do it?" she asked. He looked at Jen and Alex, who were now embraced; he was kissing her forehead, as she caressed his hair.
"I don't know," he said. "But I guess the fact Alex knew about the thing between Jen and me from the start helped," he went on, knowing he was stepping into dangerous territory. "I should have told you everything on our second date."
"Second?" she asked, finally turning to face him, still trapped in his arms.
"You don't expect me to tell you all that on our first date? Would you have gone out with me again if I had told you, 'you know what, Jess? I'm having a ball here with you, but I think you should know about a year ago I had the world's biggest crush on this girl that looks exactly like you, but I'm sure you don't mind, do you?' Yeah, that would have ignited your desire to go out with me every night after that."
She had to laugh at that. "I guess when we first met wouldn't have been such a good idea, but you could have told me later."
"I could have, but I was afraid," he admitted. She looked at him, puzzled. "I was scared you might throw that engagement ring in my face, followed by the glass of wine and an insult," he explained.
She snorted. "I just saw that happening in my head," she explained as she broke into a happy laugh. "Sorry," she said trying to control her laughter and failing.
"Stop that, I'm trying to make amends here! Not to mention I'm baring my heart to you!" he complained in a fake hurt tone that only made her laugh harder.
She hugged him tightly and caressed his hair. "I missed you, you know? I'm no longer mad, I'm no longer cold, all I want is to be with you, to be happy with you, Wesley, no matter what," she said in a much more serious tone.
"I'm glad to hear that," he said sincerely and they kissed briefly. "My bath is rapidly turning into a cold bath, you know?" he said pointing at the door of their room.
"We'll warm it up again, don't worry," she said with a smile he returned.
Hand in hand they walked into the bathroom, Jessica ready to let their problems disappear into the past, and Wes amazed by the warm welcome he was getting. It was considerably warmer than he had expected.
*********************************
Opposite to where Jen and Alex were sitting, the Simmonses were playing catch with some of Wes's old baseball gloves and balls. Mark threw a ball to his mother and she caught it expertly.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Kevin asked.
"Not from you, obviously," she answered playfully, at his clumsy attempt to catch a ball from Mathew.
"Hey, I'm forty!" he complained.
She laughed. "Now, that's a good one!" she cried.
The twins began laughing. Their father shot them a fake angry look. "Did I hear someone laughing at me?" he asked. The twins yelled and started to run from their father, who began chasing them at minimum speed. Josephine just stood there laughing, until Kevin pointed at her menacingly and she opened her eyes widely and yelled happily and started running along with her children from her husband.
*****************************
Fly-tag sat down on the clock tower balcony, looking at the city. Centauricon walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "What's up, butterfly?" he asked. She looked at him with her purple eyes and gave him a small smile.
"I was thinking," she said.
"About the cherub?" he asked teasingly.
"No, not about him, about Nadira and Ransik," she said.
"They are here to teach us how to please The Mistress better," he said.
"Yes, but is it right?" she asked in a whisper, as if she didn't want anyone to hear her. "Is it right doing as she asks us to?"
Centauricon didn't know what to say. Bunnistein (the mutant that looked like a bunny put together by Doctor Frankstein) walked to them. "Hey centaur, give me room," she asked. "What are we talking about?" she asked the pair.
"We were talking about the cherub," Centauricon said quickly, giving Fly- tag a meaningful look.
"You miss him too, huh?" the bunny-like mutant asked her friends. "He was good company."
"Yes, he was," Fly-tag muttered.
"There's something you are not telling me," Bunnistein said, moving closer to Fly-tag and taking her hand in a friendly way.
"She was wondering if we are doing the right thing by following The Mistress's orders. And I don't know what to say. It's a very good question," Centauricon said, putting his hand on Fly-tag's shoulder.
"I think it depends on how you look at it," Bunnistein said. "She created us to follow her orders, so doing what she says would be right, because that's our purpose in life. But I think that from the human point of view, we are on the wrong side of the street."
"How are we going to achieve unity and acceptance by being on the wrong side of the street?" Fly-tag asked.
"We can't," Centauricon said. "I want to be accepted and I want to be useful to society, but we can't achieve that status, not from this side."
"Then," Fly-tag began, holding her two best friends' hands, "We'll have to cross the street."
"How?" Bunnistein asked.
"By refusing to do as we are told."
"The Mistress would kill us!" Centauricon said.
"Not right now," Fly-tag said. "When it's time," she explained. "I say we take advantage of the training she's providing and then--" she was cut off by Centauricon's gesture.
He had just run his index finger across his neck.
To be continued..
