Author's Note: Wow, I never meant to be gone that long…I really didn't. There were a whole lot of reasons for the long absence…such as I just started a new job and I'm taking some summer classes in the hopes of getting some credits for college out of the way and my ex boyfriend wants me to take him back. Yeah, I've been having fun. Oh and ff.net sucks which you all know. I'm disliking the not being able to see review counts on stories. And my story fairy and my psycho fairy seem to have become one entity and has taken upon its/their self/selves to smack me upside the head many times with new stories…I got three new story ideas in one night…that's just painful.
I've already started writing one of them and it looks like it's gonna be really, really good. And also Jondy has been making me write later chapters and she absolutely refused to write on this chapter until I got the aforementioned story underway and then she was more cooperative…the little minx. But so here is the next chapter and I sincerely hope that it's been worth the wait and that your review will show me just how much you missed me. And incase anyone goes to look at any of my other fiction and they happen to see "weak." There is one review and it's under my name but I wasn't the one who wrote it… My friend was on my computer after having read "Has anyone ever" and decided to write me a review and I didn't realize that she was doing it under my name until too late. Wow, that was a long Author's Note…sorry for boring you with my world.
Review and tell me how happy you are to have me back in the game!
That's Enough for Me
Chapter 7: A ball of string
~*~
Careful what you say cause you're on display every night and every day. Somebody's hiding in the great unknown and everytime you think you're alone somebody's eyes are watching. Somebody's eyes are seeing you come and go. ~ FootLoose, "Somebody's eyes"
~*~
Jondy bounced back into the HQ, a smile plastered on her face. Stopping she blinked at the faces turned her way. "What?" She suddenly put her hands to her head as her eyes went wide; "did the horns come back?"
"Where's Rich?" Max asked cautiously, her large brown eyes following Jondy's every move.
She smiled sheepishly and fluttered her eyelashes, "I dunno." Max's eyes narrowed slowly as she looked at the other woman until Jondy threw her hands into the air with a huff, "fine, you glared it out of me!" She crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged her shoulders unhappily; "I killed 'im."
"You what?!" Max's mouth dropped open and Alec started counting the seconds before there was a fight.
"I killed 'im, are you hard of hearing?" She smiled sweetly. "What did you think I was gonna say?"
Max took a step forward when Rich appeared in the doorway with a sheepish grin, "You aren't gonna make me sing infront of anyone are you?"
Jondy smiled sweetly and nodded her head before she turned back to Max, "geez, girl, you need to lighten up. I'm tellin' ya, you're gonna give yourself a complex." Jondy watched with a grin as Max shook her head and walked off grumbling to herself. Jondy looked over at Alec and shrugged, "I seem to have that effect on a lot of people."
"So I noticed."
"You've known me a day, how could you possibly know?"
"How can anyone who has known you for ten minutes not know?" He smirked and lifted an eyebrow in her direction.
She stuck her nose in the air, and brushed a stray strand of cerulean blue from her face, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
With a laugh he threw an arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the door, "how about we find you a place to sleep tonight?"
"Ah, no hurries," she waved a hand in the air and let a puff of air from her mouth.
"What do you mean no hurries? It's four a.m." He blinked down at her.
"Well, I don't really sleep…we think I might have some shark in my cocktail but I'm not too sure."
"'We think?'" Alec blinked several more times before raising an eyebrow curiously. He steered her through the warehouse, and out towards where he bike was parked.
"Uh…me and the voices."
""The voices?" he asked dryly, refusing to look at her this time.
"Yes, the voices. They talk a lot…and have names, one's this weirdo named Jessica and she's always telling me what to do and muttering. She mutters crazy things like, I'm a figment of her imagination." Jondy threw her hands up in the air even as she watched him swing a leg over the bike and then followed suit. "Can you imagine that?"
"Strangely, when it's coming from your mouth…I can."
"Strangely?" She smiled," honey-child, that ain't strange…I speak the world listens." Then she shrugged, "'course half the time the world doesn't understand what I'm sayin' but they listen anyway."
Jondy found her arms once again wrapped around his waist as his motorcycle roared to life between her legs. She smiled as she buried her face in his back and breathed him in. The intoxicating scent of leather mingled with a scent that had no name but was man and animal coming together to form something new and all Alec. She mused silently that if she could take that smell and bottle it she could make millions.
"How ya doin'?" Alec called over his shoulder.
"I'm just dandy," she answered placing her lips next to his ear so she wouldn't have to yell too loudly. She nuzzled softly at his cheek like a cat, "we're we goin by the by?"
"My place," he answered as she felt him lean back into her slightly. "It's the best place for you to stay, for now." He pulled to a stop infront of an old apartment complex, and lowered his voice as the roar of the died. "We're working on making more places in TC habitable, 'til then I'm living here, and you can stay with me as long as you need to."
"What happens when TC is livable again?"
"Well, I'm moving there and you're welcome to do what you like." Suddenly his face broke out into a wide grin, "I guess I got you to come home with me after all."
"Don't get your hopes up, I'm sleeping on the couch," she swung a leg over the bike and stood waiting for him to do the same.
He started for the building and up a flight of stairs, "I was going to take the couch and give you the bed, actually."
"Very gallant of you, but it's unnecessary." They came out of the stairs into a long hallway, "I already told you I don't sleep much, you'll get more use out of it then me." She watched as he slipped a key into his lock and opened the door, she smiled at her first glimpse inside. "Plus this is where the TV is."
"Ah," Alec shook his head and pointed towards the back of the apartment. "The bathroom is that way, you mentioned not getting a full shower earlier." He walked over to a closet in the short hallway, took out a towel, and threw it at her.
She held it up to her hair with a smile; "I match! And a shower sounds heavenly."
He pointed beyond the bathroom, "my bedroom is in there, the offer on the bed is still up…and if you want company I won't object…as long as its me."
"I'll keep it in mind." She started for the bathroom and gave him a peck on the cheek on her way past. "Thanks, babe, you are worth every penny they spent making you."
Alec beamed at her, "thanks."
~*~
The next afternoon at Terminal City was quite even with Jondy bouncing up and down peering over Dix's shoulder as he made yet another attempt at deciphering Max's runes. She looked down happily at her new jeans with buttons running up the sides, happy also to have a bra to go along with the rest of the outfit.
"What's that one mean?" she asked and pointed at one that looked like a squiggle with another squiggle…not that that was any different from the other squiggles.
Anyone else would have been annoyed by her constant questions but he just smiled at her, happy to have someone to keep him company, even if she couldn't seem to stop moving. "It means death," he looked back down at it and frowned.
"What kind of death?"
"What do you mean, what kind?" He looked up at her blinking slowly as she just shrugged.
"Figuratively or literally?" She leaned over him biting her lip. "Death doesn't always mean death, sometimes it just means change. Sometimes it means both at the same time."
Dix stared at his translations for a long time. "It's an interesting point," he said finally, "but I don't think anything but actual death or plague would fit."
"Just a thought," she kept bouncing on the balls of her feet as she looked around the large room of TC headquarters. Her blue eyes landed on a head of sandy blonde hair coming her way. She smiled when she caught Alec's eye and waved.
"What are you doing here?" he asked slapping Dix on the shoulder.
"Well, you left for work and boredom set in…so there was boredom then a shopping expedition, then more boredom at your place, boredom and then I decided to come play. I've been trying really hard to annoy Dixie here but he's just not gonna do it."
Dix smiled up at her, "so sorry."
"No worries," she shrugged and batted her long dark lashes at Alec.
"Sounds like you had a busy day."
"The problem with so little need to sleep is you have a lot of time on your hands, and what worse is that I'm not the kind of person who should be left to her own devices for very long."
"What do you mean?" His eyes narrowed slightly.
Jondy grinned showing off perfect white teeth and a hint of fang, then her hand came up with a sock puppet, her voice went high and squeaky, "'ello!" Alec's mouth dropped open as button eyes stared at him.
"You made a sock puppet…" he started to laugh and then something occurred to him, "where'd you get the sock?"
"Sock? What sock?" Jondy's eyes went wide brimming with too much innocence for her to hold.
"The most important part of the sock puppet that you made, you know, the part it's named for."
"That's not the most important part," she said shaking her head and looking at the sock puppet on her hand. "Is it Mr. Binky?" The sock puppet, Mr. Binky shook his little sock head solemnly.
"Then what is?" Alec eyebrow rose slowly as Dix looked on trying not to laugh.
"The button eyes, of course."
"Then where did the buttons come from?"
"They didn't come from anywhere," she said in a rush, holding Mr. Binky up like he could protect her.
"They had to come from somewhere."
"No they didn't."
"Yes they did."
"They materialized out of no where. They were a message from Ga-ed."
"Ga-ed?"
"Yeah, you know the Blue's brothers? 'We're on a mission from Ga-ed.' 'How much for the women? Sell me your women.'"
"Okay," he gave a grimace and then looked back at her. "And what was the message saying."
She blinked at him like she thought he was daft, "to build a sock puppet…duh."
"I'm gonna be short one sock, aren't I?"
"Only a left one, I just got it before the washing machine could." She batted her lashes sweetly at him. She drew a circle with the toe of her black work boots as she looked up at him through her dark full lashes. "You aren't mad at me, are you?"
"What shirt did you take the buttons from?"
"I didn't! I told you they were a message Ga-ed!" She threw her hands in the air in exasperation, "nobody understands me!" She pointed at Alec, "not you," her finger moved to point at Dix, "and not you." She lifted Mr. Binky up to look him in his blue button eyes, "well, maybe my sock puppet understands me a little. But no one else!" She stomped off as Alec and Dix stared at each other with open mouths.
"What the heck…" Alec started as Jondy came running back.
"How was my tantrum?" She bounced on her heels, "was it believable?"
"Very impressive," Dix answered still blinking."
"Yay," she bit her lip as she turned to Alec. "Max said that when you got here she wanted to see you so you two could go over to Logan's for some mission thing-y or other."
"Oh, great."
"Can I go?" she batted her lashes sweetly and smiled. "I'm liable to get bored otherwise and I'm sure there's a whole lot of fun trouble I could get into if you left me here."
"That sounded like a threat."
"Did it now?" she smiled sweetly, brimming with innocence once again. "Can't imagine why."
"What was I thinking?"
"I don't know, that you were missing a sock? So can I?" She put her hands together, the sock puppet still on her hand, "pwease?"
"Max is gonna kill me," he said with a smirk and then nodded his head for her to follow him to where Max was waiting.
"Max, dahling, it's been a whole hour, did ya miss me?" Jondy called with a grin. She turned to Mole who was listening to Max talk with a cigar clenched in his teeth, "Lizzy! My main reptile dude, how's it goin'?"
Alec and Max seemed to both hold their breath on a gasp as they waited for Mole to explode or growl or something unpleasant. They almost choked as they watched him pull his cigar from his mouth to grin at her. "It's goin' better than it was this mornin.' Thanks for the new gun by the way," he patted his side where a large black .9mm Glock seemed to blend in with his fatigues.
"Ah, I figure it was the least I could do for letting me play around with the rest of your collection today." Jondy bit her tongue playfully when he gave her a slap on the back, gave a nod to Alec and excused himself to go argue with the Arctic transgenic. Jondy turned with a smile back to Alec and Max, "he's a nice guy, isn't he?"
"Uh, yeah," Max answered with a shake of her head, "he just isn't usually that friendly." Alec couldn't help the guffaw, but cleared his throat with a shake of his head when Jondy looked at him funny.
She held up the sock puppet, "Mr. Binky thinks you need to be nice."
"Mr. Binky?" Max raised an eyebrow.
"My sock," Alec glared at Jondy who just smiled and shook her head.
"My sock puppet," Jondy corrected. "So are we goin'?"
"What do you mean when are we goin'?"
Jondy looked at Alec meaningfully, and he jumped him with a lopsided smirk, "I told her she could come, I mean, why not right?"
"Logan might not like having more people come along," she started.
"She might be able to help," Alec smiled disarmingly and put and arm around Jondy's shoulders. "She even promises to behave…dontcha, J?"
She drew and 'x' over her chest, "cross my heart."
"All right," Max finally agreed with a nod of her dark head, "just don't get into anymore fights."
"Even if I have to?" Jondy's smile was sweet as she shrugged and shook some blue hair infront of her eyes. With a glare directed at Alec they were off.
~*~
"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"I said no."
"And I said please."
"For God's sake let him play with the sock puppet!" Max finally yelled looking over at the other two transgenics in exasperation.
"Mr. Binky might have objections to that!" Jondy said her bottom lips jutting out in a pout.
"Mr. Binky is a sock puppet," Max spit out.
"But he still has feelings!"
"Look you made him from one of my socks and used buttons from one of my shirts…I get to play with the sock puppet."
"Call him by his name!"
"I get to play with Mr. Binky!" Alec finally yelled, and both Max and Jondy couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up from the stares directed at him from people passing by.
"That sounded vaguely dirty," Jondy reflected dryly when she saw a slight blush rise in his cheeks.
"Yeah, Alec, wanna yell that any louder?" Max asked with a smirk as they turned to make their way up Joshua's walkway. Alec just gave a long-suffering sigh and yanked to puppet off of Jondy's hand.
"Hey!" She squeaked and attempted to pull it away, as Max opened the door and walked inside. "Give it back!"
"No, it's my sock!"
"Well, you weren't cool enough to make it into a puppet. Now give it back." She took a flying leap onto his back and made a grab for Mr. Binky just as he was coming into Logan's living room. "Ow, Max, make her stop!"
Logan looked up from his computer to see Max laughing at the antics of Alec and a woman he had seen only the day before in nothing but a bathrobe. He narrowed his eyes at the childish antics but said nothing about it when he saw Max's smile. "Children!"
"Why is every transgenic I meet firmly grounded in the terrible twos?" Logan asked dryly.
Jondy jumped off of Alec's back holding Mr. Binky with an air of affronted dignity before she turned to Logan with her chin firmly held up, "because none of us had a childhood and we are desperately trying to make up for it." She squared her shoulders flipped her hair over her shoulder and then stuck her tongue out at him.
"You said you would behave," Max pointed out after she cleared her throat around a laugh.
"I lied, I lied like a dog!" Her face changed slightly as her eyes rolled up as she started thinking about something. "You know that statement isn't really accurate cause when you think about it dog's don't lie…saying you lie like a man would probably be more appropriate."
"What are you a man hater?" Alec asked with a grimace.
"No, I'm a realist."
"I have to agree with her on that one," Max nodded her head and gave Jondy a smile.
"Hi, you guys, I could use more help and less bickering." Alec grimaced and mumbled under his breath as Jondy gave a sigh and Max blinked at him for several seconds.
"By the way, this is Jay," Max nodded to Jondy and then looked back at Logan. "So whatcha got for us?"
Logan turned back to his computer, the one place where he felt in complete control even when he was surrounded by transgenics that could make him look like an uneducated fool. "I found some hooverdrone footage of White looking very buddy-buddy with Senator McKinley. It would probably be a good idea to get some surveillance on him, he might have connections with the familiars and not just White."
"So they got branches that far into the government?" Alec asked his face going serious as he sneaked a look over Logan's shoulder at the footage he was showing Max. He wouldn't go any closer to the desk however; still unhappy about the part Max had him playing.
Jondy stood next to him, "are you really surprised."
"That wasn't surprise, it was more…" he just threw his hands up in the air with a scowl not bothering to look for the right word.
"If you can get the stats for McKinley's place, we could work somethin' out," Max said, her narrowed eyes not leaving the computer screen.
"I could use some help on one of my Eyes Only project if you got some time?" Logan added as he looked over at Max.
"I should take care of this and I need Alec's help," she ignored Logan's wince and the way Alec was suddenly fascinated with his shoes. She turned to Jondy; "do you think you could do it?"
"I'm not going on some insane little mission to put my life on the line for you…nu uh, no way, hosie!"
"We owe him," Max spit out trying to keep her jaw from the floor. "He's helped the transgenic cause time and time again."
"No, he hasn't…he's helped the Max cause and as far as I can see, he owes you not the other way around."
"Excuse me?"
Chapter 8 : Some Home truths…hopefully coming soon to a computer near you.