Chapter 5

"You are much troubled," a low voice noted from the door.

Mel looked up, startled. "Oh, Kallissa. Hi."

"Daggon... Cole bears a heavy burden as well," she said, sitting across from Mel. "Would you share it to perhaps render it lighter?"

"If I could." Mel shook her head, amazed by how easy this woman was to talk to. A complete stranger, and one who had once aspired to wed Cole, Kallissa's manner made her impossible not to open up to. "I'd assumed he was on edge because of what had happened to me. Now I'm starting to wonder."

"I do not see how your victimization could fail to trouble him."

"I know, but..." She shook her head. "There's more to it than that. Whenever he talks about anyone anymore, he talks about being able to trust them. Like he doesn't trust anyone else. It's not like him."

"No," she agreed quietly, frowning. "It is very much against Cirronian nature to be openly distrustful. Does he have reason to suspect anyone?"

"Not that he's shared with me," Mel sighed.

"He is surely not in the habit of failing to share his feelings with you?"

"Not usually, no." Mel shook her head. "Which is why he's got me worried now. And... did he tell you about Stashia and Eikon?"

"He has." She nodded faintly. "Eijan is of the opinion that this piece of intelligence will not be the last to come from source or sources unknown."

"What do you think?"

"Me? I believe that strategic advantages are to be taken where they may. Yet, neither can we close our eyes to the shape of the universe. Opportunism is rampant in all species."

"You think someone's playing us?"

"Personally, I would not be inclined to judge it so. Many things are universal, among them a willingness amongst criminals to buy amnesty with information about other criminals..." She examined her hands thoughtfully for a long moment before speaking again. "More troublesome to my mind is Cole's abrupt shift to an emphasis on the issue of trust."

"He hasn't really been himself since Kaehto. Jess' visit is helping, but..." She shook her head.

"Jess? The young human female he is so fond of?"

"That's the one." Mel smiled. "She's a good kid. Cole adores her."

"I will look forward to meeting her." Kallissa nodded faintly. "But, at present, I must confess myself more fascinated by you."

Mel blinked, startled.

"Cirronians are not subtle by nature. I see no reason to conceal my true nature from you of all women."

"O...kay..."

Kallissa smiled faintly. "Nallyn was quite shocked to hear that he had found love again. Part of her doubted it possible. She was most eager to hear my evaluation of you."

"Oh..." Mel murmured, abruptly self-conscious. His sister in law and the woman who had once aspired to marry him were putting their heads together about her? This can't be good...

"She was pleased as well as relieved to hear that you have a good heart." Kallissa smiled at Mel. "It pleased her further that you are a lovely and compassionate creature."

"You could tell all that about me from a few minutes meeting?"

"I am Cirronian," she pointed out simply. "What gave us both the most joy was that he is so clearly devoted to you. You make him happy. That makes our hearts glad."

"I do my best by him. He's been so good to me..."

"It is in his nature to be kind."

"That's why I love him."

"There is no better reason, Melah en'i." Kallissa smiled warmly at the woman. "He has a higher opinion of you than of most. I look forward to seeing what you are capable of. It will be... elucidating."

"Well, I'll try not to let you down..."

"Concern yourself with him, not me," she advised. " He, after all, is the one you must spend your life with. Shana would like a sample of your blood," she added.

"What?" Mel blinked at the abrupt shift in the direction of the conversation.

"The mechanics of hybridization are not yet well-understood. All things Terran are popular at present. Children study your history in their spare time, scholars analyze your language and customs, and certain fringe biologists claim your species as a missing link. Some argue that you prove it."

"Me?" Mel laughed, shaking her head.

"Ridiculous, perhaps, yet appealing to the public imagination. The press adores you, Miss Porter." Kallissa smiled sardonically. "Your existence should be an impossibility. That it is not raises certain questions that even the most mainstream of scientists are eager to answer."

"I'm not sure how I feel about being studied like some... lab-rat."

"Invasive investigation is unnecessary," Kallissa assured her. "Your genetics alone will disclose much. The Alliance is not in the habit of vivisecting sentient forms."

"Yeah, but..." She shifted uneasily. "People are really interested in me?"

"How could we but be?" Kallissa asked mildly. "Mel, you are a series of improbabilities wrapped inside a compellingly alive shell." She shook her head. "I do not know which to be most surprised by, frankly. Your status as a hybrid boggles the mind. Your ability to have won Cole's affection staggers it."

Mel frowned faintly.

"It is no insult. Consider it a compliment. Cirronians are monogamous for life. They do not take new mates when the old ones die. Most languish and die themselves in short order. Remarriage is... it is unheard of."

"Wow," Mel whispered.

"It must have been frightening for him, falling in love a second time," Kallissa noted, rising. "The first time is terrifying enough." She turned to leave, then paused. "Nallyn wishes me to discuss the issue of bride-price with you."

"Bride-price?" Mel repeated, staring.

"On Cirron, it is customary that a man tender to a female's family a substantial payment upon marriage."

"What?" Mel demanded, stunned. " Men buy wives on Cirron?"

Kallissa stared at her, appalled by the very suggestion. "You mistake us. No woman ever marries without giving full consent. The payment to a female's family is in recognition of her value to them, symbolic recompense for her loss." She shook her head. "We do not trade in sentient forms. It would be unthinkable. Bride-wealth is given for the opposite reason."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

Kallissa shook her head. "No offense is taken. Our customs must seem as strange to you as yours do to us."

"They take a little getting used to," she admitted.

"As Cole's next-of-kin, it falls to Nallyn to pay the bride-price."

"His sister-in-law is going to pay me to marry him?" Mel blinked.

"Who else in such a case? She wants nothing but what is best for him. Finance is not a concern. I am not sure if you were aware, but Cole is now a rich man. A wager was placed in his name, a year's back-pay at hundred to one odds. Bendal reverted it all to his family. On hearing that he had found love again, Nallyn declared it hardly ample. Her main concern was the form it should take. Does your family have a preference?"

"I..." Mel swallowed hard, shaking her head. "I don't have a family any more."

"It is regrettable. In such a case, the gift falls to you. Have you a preference?"

"I..." She shook her head. "I don't want or need anything from Cole. He's given me so much..."

Kallissa smiled faintly. "Perhaps the matter should be between yourself and Cole, then. I will convey this to Nallyn. And, from her, I convey all love and a wish that the two of you may become friends as well as sisters."

Mel flushed and bowed her head, flattered.

"I would convey the same from myself," Kallissa added quietly.

"Uh..." Mel hesitated, clearing her throat. "Doesn't it bother you even a little that I am... was... am sleeping with the man?"

"Should it?" Kallissa asked, mildly surprised.

"Well, I mean..." She cleared her throat, speaking quickly and not meeting Kallissa's eyes. "Cole once said you, uh... proposed to him..."

Kallissa chuckled softly, shaking her head. "You think it my right to be jealous?"

"Well... it would be weird if it were me."

"Does not your own ex-lover now call another his mate? Do you bear her ill-will?"

"That's different," Mel protested, shaking her head. "I broke up with Vic. Besides, Detective Cruz makes him very happy..."

"And you make Cole happy. So my regard for you can only increase in consequence. Understand that had I come here and found him unhappy or somehow deceived as to your nature, my attitude towards you would be far different. But he is happy and well-cared for by a loving mate. And to see the fire in his eyes burn a little brighter for your presence..." She trailed off, smiling and shaking her head. "I never thought to see it again. There are not words for the gratitude I bear you."

Mel blushed again, shaking her head. "I didn't do anything."

"I have read his mission logs. You have done everything. May I?" she asked, raising one hand.

"Uh, what are you going to do?" Mel asked.

"I can not convey my gratitude to you in words I do not know, but you are Cirronian as well, which makes the form not inappropriate."

Mel nodded and leaned forward, lifting her chin a little uneasily. She was not sure if she really wanted to know what any other Cirronian's touch felt like. What if those delicate hands made her feel the same things that Cole's strong ones did? What if that desire towards him had only ever been desire for simple, Cirronian contact?

"Why does it scare you?" Kallissa asked quietly, lightly brushing her fingertips over Mel's throat. "The touch of a friend is not the touch of a lover. It never can be. Do not mistake the two simply because your lover touched you in friendship before he did in passion."

Mel cleared her throat and nodded, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I've just been really bite-shy lately. I..." She trailed off, drawing a series of deep breaths to steady herself. "My mind is unbalanced."

"It happens to us all at times and is doubly understandable in your case." Kallissa gave Mel's throat another caress, this one soothing. "If you ever wish to speak of it, I am available and I am a Corps-certified psychologist and spiritual counselor."

"I'm... not sure I'm ready to talk about it yet."

"I understand. But when you are, remember that nothing that passes between us in the confidence of that context will ever reach Cole's ears unless from your own lips." She rose. "Remember further that I never sleep."

"Thank you." Mel smiled gratefully up at her. Cole was damned lucky to have her as a friend. "I should go see how Jess is doing."

"You should. She came a long way to see you."

"Not as long as you came to see Cole," Mel pointed out.

"Yet my trip was substantially shorter," Kallissa countered with a grin as she left.

.

.

.

The first sound to reach Mel's ears as she let herself back into the apartment was a startled, pained shriek. She reached automatically for her Collector before realizing that the only other life-force in the apartment belong to Jess.

"Shit," Mel muttered, shaking her head and hurrying for the bathroom, slipping into Hyperspeed without even realizing it. She had forgotten to warn Jess that Cole had 'fixed' the water heater... "Jess, sweetie, Christ, I'm sorry," she muttered, helping the shaking girl out of the bathtub. The skin on her back was already blistering. "Cole's a hot water junkie," she explained, grabbing a towel and running it under cold water in the sink. "Here, let me help," she said, draping it over Jess' shoulders before she could get a look at the damage. "You're just a bit pink," she lied, releasing healing energy through the towel on the pretext of patting her friend's back. "See, that's helping already, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks. I think I was just a bit shocked. Last time I took a shower here, the water was lukewarm at best."

"It takes getting used to. On the upside, I never have to wait to boil a cup of water. It comes out of the kitchen sink that way."

"Any other surprises I should know about?" Jess asked with a shaky laugh.

"After your shower," Mel suggested.

"I think I've gone off the idea of a shower right now."

Mel snorted softly, nodding. "I'll bet. Here, let me see your back. Yeah, that looks just fine," she assured Jess, pleased with how flawlessly the healing had gone. And completely without Jess' knowledge, too. Cole would be proud. "So, what did you want to do today?"

"Well, it's Tuesday and there is an old Porter/Brown tradition," Jess began.

"No, no, and hell no," she interrupted, shaking her head and leaving the bathroom. "No truth or dare!"

"Cole wants to play truth or dare with you?" Vic asked as she practically walked into him in the hallway. "Kinky."

"Jeez!" Mel yelped, jumping. "Don't do that!"

"Commentate on your love-life?" he asked innocently.

"Sneak up on me!" she hissed, shaking her head in disgust. "You're one of the few people who can, you know. You're too safe; I don't notice you..."

"Mel, baby, I'm hurt." Vic pouted at her for a moment before breaking into a grin. "Cole in the shower?" he asked, glancing at his watch. "Damn, and it's a short lunch, too..."

"It's not Cole. It's Jess."

"Jess? Jess Brown?" he asked, staring.

"Yeah. She flew in this morning. She's staying with us for a few weeks."

"Guess that explains why you're so jumpy."

"I'm always jumpy."

"Jumpier than usual, then," he amended, shrugging. "So where is Cole?"

"He's... working," Mel said, remembering that Cole wanted to test the socialization skills of the others on an unbiased Vic.

"Hey, the fact that Jess is around doesn't mean you have to get cagey with me, Mel," he reminded her.

"I was not being cagey," she protested.

"You know, if I'd had more sleep last night, I'd actually have a comeback for that one wittier than 'bullshit'. As it is, I'm tired, I'm cranky, Lana's carving people up again, and I need to know if Cole knows anything about two DBs we just got in."

"Lakeshore and Sixth?"

"Those would be the ones," Vic sighed, nodding. "Figures Mar would draw the case. This is getting harder and harder to keep from her."

"I know. I know."

He sighed. "You know what the problem is, Mel?" he asked softly. "I'm seriously starting to wonder what side she'd come down on if I told her..." Maria was getting edgier by the minute, and increasingly irritable where Vic's secrecy was concerned.

"Vic," Mel protested, shaking her head. "Maria's a good woman. She wouldn't--"

"Five indiscrete seconds of being scared shitless are all it would take, Mel, and you know it."

"Vic," Mel sighed, hugging him. "It's going to be okay. We are going to be okay."

He cursed softly as his pager went off. "Thanks, Mel," he murmured, reading the number. "I need to go talk my fiancée out of assaulting a cop. Give my love to Jess."

"You can give it to her yourself," Jess answered cheerfully, leaning against the bathroom door, wrapped in a robe.

Mel turned white. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked quietly, amazed that she managed to keep her voice from shaking.

"Long enough to know that Vic's girlfriend has a bit of a violent-streak..." She winked. "Now, you going to come down here and hug me or am I going to have to go get the step-ladder?" she demanded.

Vic laughed and hugged the girl. "It's good to see you again, too. Bye. Bye, Mel."

"Pictures?" Mel prompted.

"Oh, right." He nodded and pulled an envelope out of his pocket, Lana's latest batch of handy-work.

"Thanks. I'll give these to Cole as soon as I see him. He'll be in touch."

"Thanks, sweetie. Take care."

"The plot thickens," Jess announced as Mel carried the photos into the kitchen and dropped them on the counter.

"What do you mean?" Mel asked blankly.

"Now Vic's in on it, too."

"In on what?"

"'I'll give the pictures to Cole'. 'He'll be in touch'. Mel, Vic hates Cole. Well, he used to..."

"Yeah, well, he got over his jealousy issues."

"She must be a real demon in the sack if she can pull off a turnabout like that in the man."

"Jess!"

"What's in the envelope?"

"Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to know."

"Oh, come on, Mel. You can tell me! I'm your friend. And I do know when to keep my mouth shut. You think a girl makes a living being a waitress by going around saying exactly what she thinks?"

"It's not that I don't trust you..."

"Then can you at least tell me why you won't tell me?"

"Jess, the contents of that envelope would give you nightmares for a week." Mel shook her head. "There's a reason we don't expose you to the work we do and it is for your own good."

"The work we do?" Jess repeated. "You are up to your neck in it, aren't you?"

"I told you, things are different."

"You need a hug."

"Yes, I do," Mel agreed, accepting it gratefully. "Let's go downstairs, grab something to drink."

"Must take a hell of a lot of willpower being a recovering alcoholic and living over a bar," Jess remarked as they settled down with their drinks.

"Cole's never been short on willpower," Mel pointed out, looking around.

"Healthy crowd," Jess observed.

And healthily swelled by non-humans, Mel realized as Bendal looked up from where he was sitting with Mylik and Leila and waved. Olia and Ro'ahn were sitting on a couch along the wall, conversing in low tones and constantly returning their attention to the note-pad in his lap. Still, there were at least a double-handful of human patrons as well, lawyers and cops mostly, in for lunch. The regular crowd.

"You know, Jonas told me the other day that this place was even a cop-bar during Prohibition?"

"You're kidding?" Jess laughed, shaking her head. "Only Irene..."

"Only her," Mel agreed, smiling faintly and looking around. "Once a cop-bar, always a cop-bar. You were right, Jess."

"Doesn't seem to bug you so much anymore."

"Some things just can't be escaped. Some aren't meant to be."

"Someone's in a philosophical mood today."

"Am I? I don't know, I'm just... it feels great to have you back." She slid an arm around her friend's shoulder and looked around again, aware that it had been too long since she had honestly enjoyed being alive. Olia rose and walked to Bendal's table, stopping to speak for a few minutes before settling down at the bar. Ro'ahn deferred a shouted invitation from Bendal to get his nose out of his notebook for once with a polite shake of his head and an apologetic grin before returning his full attention to the notebook in question.

"That level of introversion can't be healthy," Jess said quietly, shaking her head. "Sad, really. Wonder what his story is."

Mel frowned slightly. "I thought you had 'gone off blokes'."

"Doesn't mean I can't feel sorry for one. Poor kid looks like he routinely questions his own right to occupy space."

Mel took another look at the young Vardian, startled by the assessment. "What happened to your tiger?"

"Oh, he's still in there. I just doubt he ever gets close enough to catnip to wake the big fella."

"Don't you even think of getting him drunk," Mel warned.

She had seen a drunk Vardian before and while they may not have been violent drunks as a species, that did not change the fact that Zin had spent twenty minutes crying into his drink while his barstool hovered unsteadily almost three feet from the ground.

"Mel, I'm not cruel," Jess informed her gently. She glanced at the bar. "Looks like one of us had better go pitch in at the register."

"Well, it's your vacation, so you aren't going anywhere," Mel informed her, rising.

"Mel," Jess called after her, nodding towards the envelope she had almost left sitting on the table.

"Thank you, Jess," Mel said quietly, picking them up. "You really didn't want to know."

"Reckon it's probably for the best, then, that you didn't forget it. You know I can't say no to temptation."