Chapter Three: Swift Recovery
Luxie spent most of the next two days sitting on the couch and watching TV whining as much as her lungs allowed it. Heresy stayed in her room having turned the sound on her stereo up as high as possible. She wished that she could turned it even higher and drown out the sound that came from Luxie's mouth.
Jondy was out for almost the whole two days and only came back once in between to tell the two other transgenics that she was not happy with the situation, that they should get jobs and if they did not make a swift recovery they would pay – and hard.
"Heresy!" Luxie yelled over the blaring TV and screaming punk-rock bands. She knew Heresy would have heard her without having to yell as she had quickly discovered but this was important and Heresy had to know that. "Heresy!" she yelled again a while later.
"What?" she heard a vicious snarl from Heresy's bed room.
"Git!" Luxie demanded and knew she was going to be in for a beating soon. She could walk, although she winced with every step she took, but as soon as she was fully recovered Heresy's hands were going to be at her throat, trying to break Luxie's spine properly.
"No!"
"We have to get jobs," she yelled. "Proper ones," she added a moment later. Then Heresy stumbled out of the room. Her wound had healed but despite Jondy's yelling, the blonde had insisted she not use the arm yet. She had been given two stitches on each side to make sure the wound did not break either.
"It looked to me as if you were enjoy Dustin's lap dance more than he was," Heresy said with a smirk and adjusted her bangs. She was wearing her underwear which, Luxie had learned, was the most clothing she wore when she was in bed. During the two days a guy had come by the house for a few hours. Luxie had missed his face but she knew he had spent the whole time in Heresy's room, despite the way he looked. His visit explained the slightly more cheerful brunette.
"I was trying to get cash," Luxie said with a growl. She had in fact enjoyed the lap dance but she was not going to be admitting it to Heresy any time soon. "Did we get that cash?"
"Oh… yeah," Heresy remembered. She also had been having quite a good time with her 'customer' that she had forgotten the cash. During her dance she had just thought him another night's seduction. "Let's go back."
"When you say 'go back', you mean punch them till they give us money, right?" Luxie tired to clarify. She ran her hand down her spine mentally counting her vertebrae. It did not bother that she ended up having only seven of them because that was what she normally got where any one else had 33. The thirteenth vertebra she counted was slightly cracked but that was kid of obvious. She was glad that the soldier's kick had not instantly killed her or paralysed her and deep down in her unconscious she thanked Manticore for reinforcing her bones.
"When I say 'go back', I mean dress up and seduce the double amount of him," Heresy said with a smirk and returned to her room before Luxie could say anything else. Luxie gave a loud, ear-piercing shriek which received an equally loud 'shut up' from Heresy and began dressing again. The corset, fishnets and other hooker accessories as she called them had been stuffed into an empty shelf in Jondy's closet and she opted for a tight light blue v-cut t-shirt and low cut jeans. It was not anything particularly sexy but it was comfortable and that thought Luxie was the most important thing.
Jondy groaned into her beer. She had spiced up the large mug of disgusting alcohol with some vodka, coke and even added a tablespoon of absinthe was part of the mixture. She had left work early so that she could have another pitiful attempt at getting drunk.
Although it was rather helpful at times, Jondy was sure she would not have to drink a Russian general under the table very soon. She had already empty one mug of the same mixture and the bartender was watching her with interest.
"Say, Jondy, are things not going well at home?" Jondy looked up with her face portraying a yes.
"Why?" she asked and took a big gulp of her alcohol.
"For one, you've been guzzling so much beer over the last two days I would think your liver had disintegrated and two, haven't seen Heresy around for a while," he said and looked to the dance floor. The men were fairly spread out and no flocking to anywhere in particular which was always a clear sign that Heresy was not around.
"She's sick and I have to work so that I get cash for three people's food," she said with a great big sigh. "I really enjoy Luxie's company but if the two of them don't get their lazy, genetically-enhanced asses to work then…"
"Their what?"
"Lazy, giant, surgically-enhanced asses," Jondy corrected herself without much effort. Great, now she was not even drunk and still messing up what she was trying to say.
"Have you tried having a good time instead of drinking yourself into oblivion?"
"Urg," Jondy said and her head slid down on her hand. "I swear, if I could get a decent guy I'd mess it up. I'd even bet on that. Remember that guy from… that guy with the stripes," she said and pointed to her left cheek.
"Yeah, you quit that day, right? Want your job back?"
"I'm not much for behind the bar, Mark," Jondy said with a smile. "Anyway, he was great. He was hot and when I say hot, I mean even Heresy would consider monogamy. And nice. He was so sweet and well-built. Okay, right. That's about him. And then there's me – anti-relationship gal just wanting a bit of male attention and contact for once and I mess it up… I think."
"What do you mean?" Mark asked and gave a guy next to Jondy a beer. Jondy had lived in the club for long enough to know what she was supposed to look like after two and a half mugs of beer and vodka, so the guy did not bother even trying to chat her up.
"He ran away," Jondy sad and took two huge gulps from her mug. "He goes. Nothing's wrong. Gotta go. With like… not a glance at me. This sucks," she muttered and hung her head over the glass. She sat there for a while muttering curses to her existence, Manticore, Heresy, crazy super soldiers, Luxie and herself. Also, she found that the beer deserved a curse.
"Jondy," she heard Mark say and when looked up he nodded behind her. Jondy turned and her depressed facial expression went straight to confusion. Tom had just walked into the club and looked around. He was still on the bottom floor and possible looking for Jondy on the dance floor. Jondy laughed.
"Mister Oh-so-hot is looking for me on the dance floor," she said and smiled in his direction. Then his head snapped towards her as if he had heard her and he smiled too. Jondy threw a few dollars onto the counter and jumped off her stool. "Let's see if he can make my life worthwhile yet," she said and ran down the metal stairs.
"Hey," Tom said with a smile and gave her a hug. Jondy smiled in response.
"Hi." The two of them stared at each other for a while and then both opened their mouth at the same time. Jondy giggled.
"Wanna dance?" Tom asked and grabbed her hand before pulling her onto the dance floor. Soon the two of them had adapted to the rhythm and were dancing as if they had not left the place two days ago.
"What's with the tattoos?" Jondy asked and received a confused look.
"Oh," Tom suddenly remembered and ran his hand down his left cheek. "Just a thing I had when I was sixteen."
"I like them," Jondy told him with a smile and ran her hand across them. "Very different."
"You like different?"
"I'm on the top stair of different," she said with a smile.
"Listen," Tom began and stopped dancing. Then he pulled Jondy off the dance floor and they walked over to a bar on the lower floor. He ordered two beers and then turned to her. "I want to apologize for running off like that."
"I was kinda upset," Jondy admitted. "But had you waited a minute later, I would have disappeared too."
"Why?"
"Family stuff," she said with a shrug. "Why'd you leave? Your brother?" she remembered.
"Got into a bar brawl. He's not one of the nicest guys around."
"And you? Tough guy?"
"I supposed I can get pretty mean when I'm protecting a damsel," he said with a smirk. The beers had arrived and he passed one over to her. She took a deep gulp forgetting she was in the company of a human and she had to ration her drinking speed.
"Not a damsel," she said smirking back at him.
"I would never think…"
"Dustin!" Luxie suddenly exclaimed. Heresy turned to the raven-haired girl and raised an eyebrow in question. "The transgenics are after Dustin. We have to protect him?"
"Why? A guy that retails most of the major weaponry in the California area out of the way is a pretty good way of people not getting shot. He sells the guns to Manticore, you know."
"But," Luxie said and stopped because she had not found anything that worked to follow the word. She sighed.
"Well, while you're rubbing your body up against his, he'll be safe," Heresy said sarcastically. "To a certain extent."
"What are you going to be doing?"
"I dunno, finding someone to hook up with," the brunette said with a shrug. She had not really made a plan for herself yet but that would eventually fall into place. Luxie flicked Heresy's shoulder causing her to howl in pain. "Fine, I'll be there," she said with a growl.
"Good. Because I just know those soldiers will be attacking while we're there. They do that you know," Luxie explained. Back at Manticore Luxie had been allowed the privilege of watching many, many old movies in which the bad guys always seemed to choose to attack when there were armed forces everywhere.
Ten minutes later Jondy's eyes widened when she saw her two roommates rush into Savage. Heresy although mostly healed still had a scar to show her bullet wound and Luxie was skipping at every second step.
"What's the matter?" Tom said and turned to look back. He watched the two girls run past the dance floor and up the stairs."
"Uh," Jondy said trying to get some time to formulate a plot. "That was weird."
"Do you know them?" Jondy thought a moment and debated between truth and lie. She decided on the truth because if she was lucky, this guy would be around for a while.
"The tall one is my sister, the short one is… a friend," she said not sure what connection Luxie would have to them. She wondered what the two of them were doing here and hoped that it would not end in another massacre with the Manticore soldier. So far neither Dustin nor his friend or bodyguards had said anything to the media and the night had been for their eyes only (although they had been unconscious most of the time).
"Why are they running?"
"Maybe they need to pee," Jondy said with a shrug and turned back to Tom. She would not let those two demon women wreck her wonderful evening with Mister Dream Guy.
"Are you sure you don't want to check on them?" he asked sounding concerned. Jondy shook her head.
"Now, I'm sure they'll be fine. And if not, oh well," she said with a wide smile. Tom laughed and took another swig of his beer.
"Well, then. Where were we?"
"Luxie!" Dustin said and before she could rush past him, he grabbed her arm. She spun back and using the momentum he had created swung her leg around him.
"Just the guy I was looking for," she said with a smirk. Heresy skidded into a halt and watched the complete change in Luxie's attitude.
"Uh, well. I've actually been looking for you too," Dustin said seriously and gently pushed her off himself. "Come with me," he said and pulled her into a nearby room. Heresy wanted to follow but Dustin slammed the door shut in her face and locked the door.
"You bastard!" Heresy yelled. "I'm better than that failed experiment of theirs. I rock! I am sex! Open that door and let me in!" she yelled and got a few stares from the people around her. She ignored them and then leaned against the door angrily. She was angry but that would not make her as stupid as to knock down a door. Girls did not do that.
Inside the room Dustin immediately began pacing in a way that made Luxie quite uncomfortable.
"What's the matter?" she asked him slowly and he stopped. He stared at her. "Don't look at me like that."
"What happened that night?"
"What night?" Dustin glared at her. "Oh, that night," Luxie said slowly. "Er…"
"After that guy came in that other woman knocked Colin out. People don't just knock that guy out. He took down both out bodyguards and then you knocked me out."
"I did not."
"I distinctly remember you and then waking up with you gone. You, that other woman, that guy and his gun, all gone. I think that guy killed by brother."
"I ran away."
"What happened?" Luxie felt she had been talked into a corner. She was not one of the best people to keep secrets and she was getting very close to telling Dustin hers. Of course Dustin did supply her worst enemy with weapons that could kill her. "And what were you doing in my archives last week?"
"I was looking for the bathroom, kay?" Luxie tried to explain herself. "And… and… I ran away!"
"I think you're much deeper into this than you're telling me," Dustin said angrily. 'Damn,' Luxie thought. 'He was such a nice guy before.'
"And I think… birds get rabies too. Well, what do ya know, we're both wrong! Heresy!" she yelled before Dustin could say anything else and the door was knocked down. Lying in front of the room was the bodyguard that Dustin had left there and standing by the door was Heresy.
"What?" she asked with a growl.
"How did you do that?" Dustin asked wide-eyed.
"I thought he was back," Heresy asked Luxie angrily completely ignoring Dustin.
"Well, uh… other things came up. I think we should go. We don't need the money," Luxie said and turned to walk off. Dustin grabbed her arm and instinctively she grabbed his, twisted it and manoeuvred him onto the floor. "It would be better for you, if you didn't try and find out who we are," she warned him. Then she smelt something and her head turned towards the window. Heresy was looking in the same direction and just as Heresy was beginning to speak the soldier crashed through the window.
"I was quite sure that you two would be here, when I came back," he said gruffly. "And every time I try to kill you, you go and use that team work thing against me."
"Also we're two against one," Luxie said with a shrug and the two girls slipped into defensive positions. "Care to take us on again?"
"I don't think I'll bother," the guy said laxly. "A single punch and you'd both drop to the floor. You haven't recovered yet."
"How are your ribs, buster?" Luxie growled in response. "Not doing to uppity yourself, are you?"
"Caught me out, but I have guns," he said and before he could reach for them Heresy slipped out of the corner of his eye and grabbed his arms behind his back. She pushed her knee into his back pressing his intestines against his ribs. He gave no sound but it was obvious that he was in pain.
Then she turned him and got him to the ground just as Luxie had let Dustin hit the floorboards. Then she sat on his pelvis holding his arms to the floor. Dustin had sat up and Luxie was now crouching beside him and the two of them were watching Heresy take on the soldier. Heresy smirked.
"Only an RU would want to take advantage of this situation," the soldier said with a growl. Heresy glared at him and stopped moving her hips.
"Only a dog wouldn't," Heresy said sniffing.
"Good kitty," he responded sarcastically. "Took you long enough, didn't it."
"So. Why are you out to kill that guy?" The soldier turned to look at Dustin, who despite being surrounded by his wannabe murderer and two girls that seemed to have super-human strength was rather composed.
"I don't like his clothes."
"Ha, ha."
"It's my job, kitten. I kill people, you should know the deal," he said smugly. "But my mission files got updated last night – you're an '09."
"I'm so popular, I should get my own TV show."
"Hey!" Luxie interrupted. "Since when does this guy talk more than he has too?" Heresy looked down at the soldier with a shrug. Luxie got up and walked over to him. She crouched down beside him.
"Let's solve this case," she said and grabbed his mask.