CH 9

Only a few states were left that the PSR had a solid hold on, all on the west coast. John knew Delilah was making progress in southern California. She's done it smart, surrounded San Diego, then when they couldn't resist any longer, the PS folded. That was no where near Sacramento however. Since Joan and her group were in PA, and Jackie and Duncan were in Collinwood. John had Jackie go meet up with Joan and head west together. He also had Cameron drum up all the support she could from states along the way, mainly by interstate 80, that he told Joan to travel west on.

Cameron got positive replies, especially from groups of people who'd been driven from California. They wanted their homes back. Many were in Utah, Nevada and Colorado. The ones willing to fight as 'National guards" were to bring their weapons and meet with Joan at I 80 exits. Real National Guardsmen were coming to, and bringing everything possible.

Knowing Joan would need tank support, Cameron sent 50 tanks to meet her, along with 20 of the plasma mounted ground attack planes. Sacramento had to be surrounded and forced to submit like San Diego was, and LA soon would be. Delilah's strategy took a while but it worked and saved casualties from their side and inflicted large casualties on the PSR.

It was going to take weeks for Joan to get to California with an ever growing convoy. Cameron and John were hoping by then that the PSR would be sending the mass of their troops south to deal with Delilah's forces.

.

Due to the size of his force, and what he'd been seeing coming to the road, JJ put out 3 scouting parties as they approached Dana point. San Climente was empty of PSR, and had very few people there. Highway 5 turned inland here, and there was still a coastal road. He'd have to make a decision, go inland on 5 or stay on the coast. Secondary roads here also went everywhere from Dana point on. He was getting to the outskirts of LA.

JJ decided that he would keep most of his force at the junction where Dana Point road split off from RT 5. A terminator and five men squads would go out searching the area for any PSR. He made up six of these to go down the various roads and search for PSR and people who could tell them something. He didn't have enough forces to feel comfortable about splitting them up to go down the coast road and out in RT 5 and the same time. Until he knew more it was scouting parties and holding his main force in reserve until he had a better idea of where PSR was, and was not. He sent Delilah what he was doing. She concurred.

In two days of searching the search parties reported that again, there were few people here. PSR people mostly had been at Monarch beach, but had now moved. Many going south. An old man beach bum heard some PSR guys talk about being recalled to LA. He didn't know why. They had left up the coast road on highway1.

Not wanting to dally any more than he had to, Day four no PSR had been seen by anyone. JJ decided it was time to move. He did split his forces some. 2 tanks, 10 terminators and 50 men went up the coast road. The rest went up route 5. they were encountering more roads and buildings and fewer houses. The highways were getting bigger. Delilah send for him to get to the LA river if possible, but stop at a line he could defend.

Looking at the maps, JJ wanted a shorter front if possible and be able to block the Canyons to the north. JJ made his line from Laguna beach, up through Laguna woods and up to Lake forest to the canyons, it was still a 14 mile front with only a couple hundred soldiers. Basically, a long picket with large spaces between his men. The tanks that had long range optics and the terminators long range sight, he was able to spread out and cover the area. Dips and low areas he had guardsmen stationed. If PSR came at him they best he could do in this position was know about it.

It seemed LA was too big to encompass with the troops they had.

Delilah had been busy putting her aircraft to work. The large power lines feeding LA were prime targets. Not only the wires were shot and parted, but a few towers were taken down. JJ had stopped -because he had to form a line and cover it - right in the middle of the lakes region, the main water supply for LA. She send him another 200 recruits and another hundred terminators and 5 more tanks. Delilah also had forces swinging around inland to come at LA from the east. She had nothing to close off LA from the north. She requested John to re-route Joan and her forces to come at LA from the north.

.

John and Cameron were looking carefully at Delilah's request. Yes, Delilah would need many more troops to surround and force LA into submission, but the one they needed to be hit worse was Sacramento. "Want me to call her and tell her?" Cameron asked.

John shook his head. "I'll do it." He called Delilah.

"D here."

"GJ, how's things going there?"

"Not the best. I'm getting more troops, but not nearly enough to isolate LA. This is a huge project."

John sighed. "You've already done great. I can't redirect FB. FB needs to go to the place assigned. It's more important than LA. I'm sorry, but that's how it is. If the most you can do is get and keep their attention, then do that. Maybe terminator raids into where they are? Push on them, I'm sure they will try to push back."

"K, GJ, we'll do what we can. We'll let them know we're here and eager to fight. LY."

"LY. Just do the best you can with what you've got."

.

Their last day at the lodge, they talked and Duncan was the only one who had been to war and knew it. He didn't want the responsibility of leading troops, so he agreed to be Joan's advisor. Joan was looking at it like it was a football game. Get holes through the opposition. only in this case the goal was to take the opposition completely out. While Joan never concerned herself with war, the football field did give her useful ideas in tactics. Connor was of some help also. It was Anne who was her biggest help.

Anne had seen battlefields through the centuries. She'd been sent on many spy missions. When they left to start their cross country journey, Duncan drove the truck, Allison sat on the passenger side, Joan sat in the back seat with Bob and Anne as Anne explained to them knowing where the enemy was and what he was doing were as critical as dealing with the ones facing you. Confusion and chaos into the enemy was more harmful to them that dealing with the line you faced. Anne had seen much of every world war. Better equipment was important, but so was speed and flexibility. As they traveled Joan and her command team learned how to fight wars.

Behind them, Connor drove along with Malinara in the Jeep.

They picked up I 80 right in PA. They also got their first reinforcements in the western part of the state. 4 fully loaded fuel tanker trucks and six bus loads of men coming to fight. They all had good weapons. Some had high powered sniper rifles. It was 195 men eager to go help put down PSR. They even had their own packs and supplies, and their own commander. Going into Ohio, a line of ten buses full of men with three tractor trailers of supplies and another two fuel trucks were waiting. this was another 450 men with their Colonel who wanted to see PSR gone for good. The Colonel was a little put out that woman was leading them, and offered any assistance Joan needed. They even brought a flatbed truck with two artillery pieces on it.

The column behind Joan's truck was long already. They hadn't even gotten to the exit where the Texas guard additions were to meet them.

.

One week ago

Bruce was gone. Only the HULK remained. Waking up in the collapsed shed, the Hulk threw off the lumber over him with roar. He searched for what had knocked the building over on him, ready to pound it into the ground. Eyeing the scene with angry eyes, he paused and tipped his head slightly. The trees were no longer brown shafts rising up and filled out with full green leaves. They were thin and black, No bushes were on the blackened ground, it was bare.

This could not be home, home didn't look like this! The house they made was here, but that wasn't it. The front side of this house was blackened, and the roof was missing shingles. He strode over and looked at the small door. No this wasn't right.

Sniffing, all he smelled in the air was a brunt smell and the rot of death. He let out a roar of defiance. This was not the right place! No one was around, that proved he was someplace else. He was in a place trying to fool him into thinking it was home. At home, things were pretty. Little Jo was here! Little Jo made him happy. She fed him and slept with him and was a joy to be around. If this was home, Little Jo would be here.

He had to find home, find Little Jo. Off in the distance, the ground didn't look burnt. He walked that way. Maybe home was that way. Even as he strode off to find home, the place he woke up in looked much like home, only a burned up, smaller copy of it. He growled at the brief thought that it was home, and everything was gone. He let out another roar with a hint of a whine in it at the thought Little Jo might be gone. NO! She was someplace, he just had to find her!

He didn't think about why things looked smaller now. That had to be a trick. He didn't realize he was now eleven feet tall, and wider than most men were tall. He just walked and searched. He wanted to fight something, but there was nothing to fight. Puny humans would help him at home, but there were none here. This wasn't home.

Walking aimlessly and searching, he did see a road. He walked over to it, expecting humans in their wheeled cars to come along and tell him where he was. As far as he could see, there were none.

He heard a faint noise. It sounded like a motor. It came from the right. He walked that way, searching. A short while later he saw buildings and car, but no one was around. A building he was about to pass, a woman came out of.

"Bruce?" the red head asked, looking at him.

Yes, this was the taller human, Sonya. "Where Jo? Where home?" he asked.

Sonya took on a forlorn look. "I'm so sorry. Jo is dead. All the humans are dead."

"NO!" he roared. "Jo NOT DEAD!"

The wind from his voice blew Sonya's hair back. "She is dead, a bomb killed all of them!" Sonya insisted. She paused and added, "I can see what it did you you."

"JO... NOT DEAD!" the hulk raged.

"SHE IS, so is Mark ... and everyone!" she yelled back. "Your home is ruined! Our lives are ruined!" she yelled, tears coming to her eyes. "They are all gone, that's it! None of them are ever coming back!"

The hulk clenched his fists and bellowed out an angry roar. "Where is bomb that kill my JO!" he asked in a demand.

"The bomb blew up. It's no more," Sonya told him. She had been wallowing in grief, doing some jobs, but afraid that if she did go fight the PSR, upon seeing them she wouldn't be able to hold back from killing them all in a rage, whether or not they tried to fight. Before her was rage. Pure and unfiltered rage. Not the smartest, but powerful. She liked helping John. She didn't like containing the massive anger she felt. Right here in front of her was powerful rage she identified with. "I can show you who did it. Will you help me destroy them?"

"SHOW HULK, HULK WILL DESTROY!"

Sonya said. "Wait here a moment." She ran inside got her cloak on, put her plasma rifle and MP5 in their holders and her sword. Running back out she said, "There's a place called Los Angeles where the people who destroyed our lives are. It's a long ways away, come help me destroy them! I will guide you."

She took off running fast. The Hulk followed.

Sonya ran cross country. Straight at the direction LA was in. She leaped streams and bounded off cliffs. A fisherman gasped when the jumped a river, then right behind her a huge green monster did the same. He watched them disappear into the distance over another tall hill. The first full day of racing along, they were into Arizona. Rage did not slow down because it was dark or the weather turned bad. Rage would not be stopped by anything.

.

The PSR General in LA, knew things were not going well. The help from China wasn't coming, and to the south and west, rebels were gathering. He was fortifying LA and asked Sacramento for more troops, he was facing a large rebellion, and all the troops he'd sent south were gone. Power was out in much of the city. He knew rebels were doing it, and waiting for repair crews to ambush them. He dare not send any out until he had the forces to guard them. Scouts had found a thin picket line to the south. He was sure these were only ones set up as targets, so when his troops attacked, the masses hiding would rise up and fight them off, then move deeper into the city.

With only 1100 real troops, he didn't dare take the risk. He'd fortify and wait for help.

.

It was night when Sonya and Hulk reached western LA. Behind concrete highway barriers the guard on duty saw something racing at him. The one running at an impossible speed was big. The one behind that was monstrously huge. "Alert! ATTACK!" he cried before the one in front reached him and drove the sword all the way through his chest. Sonya jumped the barrier and flung the body off her sword at the tent others were getting out of. The impact knocked them back in and collapsed the tent. The Hulk jumped up and stomped on the tent, killing all inside

Sonya pulled a body out to lay it on the ground. "This is the clothes these humans wear," she told him. "They are the guilty ones, the one who need to die. We kill as any as we can find, they are in this city."

"Kill them," Hulk agreed, They raced on into the city.

Sonya needed nutrients. Coming to a store, she broke the door open and walked in. The Hulk had to crawl in. Coming to the isles, he pushed them to the side to make room to get through. Bypassing everything else, Sonya went to the meat counters. No lights, Sonya felt for the packages. If it wasn't puffed up, she ripped it open and ate it. She gave the Hulk some beef and ripped open more. They both ate, not caring what it tasted like.

"Who's in there? Come out with your hands up!" a man yelled. Sonya pulled her MP5 and sent a solid stream of bullets at the lights shining on them. The lights dropped, men howled in pain. Sonya ran out, the hulk scurrying behind her. A man called for help on a radio. Sonya shot, then moved to see him behind a car and shot again, killing him.

Getting out of the store the Hulk smashed his fists down on some screaming men, killing them. Two more cars came at them. The Hulk picked up a car nearby and threw it at them. The collision destroy the one car. Sonya shot the other one, making it crash. Sonya's clip was empty. She put another in. She looked at the weapons lying on the round. 9MM but they were all pistols. With all the men dead, they walked on, looking for more to kill.

Farther down, they came to a block in the road. trucks were tipped over sideways to block the street and fill the space between buildings. The Hulk picked up a truck and threw it to the side behind the block. Sonya eyed the street beyond when he picked the truck up. Four soldiers around a burning barrel all looked at them. Sonya shot them down.

There was shouting, there was gunfire. The Hulk used more trucks as his weapons, Throwing them into buildings where the shots were coming from. Sonya ran off into building that was shooting at them. Inside she used her sword to chop, stab and kill gunmen who shot her, then backed up in terror at seeing she didn't fall, but kept killing them.

Survivors, the one's she didn't get to yet, dropped their guns and fled. They ran outside to see a giant hulkng beast swinging a street light pole at them. The few who managed not to get hit and have their broken bodies slammed into the sides of buildings, fled as fast as their feet would take them.

Once they killed every solider who didn't flee, Sonya and the Hulk went looking for more to kill.

With the morning came the mass of protesters the PSR General called up to stop the ones who'd decimated their western defenses. So they could eat and keep their place to stay, thousands filled the streets, looking to find these rebels. they marched east on the streets, knowing no police or soldiers would fire on unarmed or very poorly armed citizens. Sure they were going to hold back the invaders they went on chanting their slogans.

Coming down the street towards them caused the ones in front to stop. A very tall, bloody looking woman walked beside a big green monster. The monster grabbed a light pole and ripped it up. The woman brought out a sword.

"MOVE OR DIE!" the woman bellowed.

The slogans quieted as the impossible pair got closer. a couple fools stood up to them and shouted. The woman kicked one to the side to send him flying into a building. The other go whacked on the head by the pole the monster was carrying, crushing him flat. Both men lay limp, unmoving. The protesters parted to the sides as far as they could and let the pair walk on.

The squad of soldiers in the back who came to prod the protestors on, called for them to surround and beat the pair. They were exposed now. Sonya pulled her plasma rifle and shot them. A man tried to pick up one of their guns, Sonya shot him too.

The crowd pressed themselves quietly to the sides as Sonya and the Hulk went by.

Far behind the group, a soldier on a motorcycle sped away.

.

"Sir, it's two, I don't know what to call them! A really big woman and a gigantic sized green man. Nothing can stop them!" the messenger exclaimed.

"There has to be a way," the commander stated, "Collect the reserves, we'll attack them front, sides and back! We WILL kill them!"

.

Sonya noticed the buildings around them were getting taller. The street they were on jogged to the right. A nice tall building was on the corner, 15 stories high. "I got an idea, stop in this alley." She guided the hulk in. "Stay here," she said and punched a hole in the wall. Going in, she noted the building structure and smiled. Down the street she saw a long column of solders coming. Perfect.

Going back out the hole she made, she told the Hulk, "When I say to, push up on the building."

Getting a grunt in reply, Sonya went back inside and began using the plasma rifle to cut the structural supports except the the side the hulk was on, and the ones facing the street all those soldiers were coming down. She could hear the building sagging. She want back to the hole. When the long column was hearing the intersection, she began blasting the supports facing the soldiers. Not just to cut them but to take big chunks out of them. She cut them all free and the walls started to crumble.

"PUSH!" she yelled and cut the last supports free on their side. She then ran out and helped push as much as she could.

The long lines of soldiers looked up. The building in front of them was shedding bits of wall, glass was shattering and it was tipping towards them. "RUN!' one intelligent man cried. Packed up in ranks, they couldn't move very fast. Many watched in horror until the building came down on them. The building hit the street, blasting debris to the sides.

Sonya and the Hulk ran over the debris, charged the soldiers who were far enough away not to get crushed. They were still recoiling when Sonya came down on them, slashing away like a wild woman with her sword. The Hulk stomped on many, and picked up others to throw them hard into ones still fleeing.

Again, those who could, broke and ran. When there was no one left near by, Sonya plasmaed the ones retreating and gave case. Running fast enough to catch up with them, she shifted to her sword and cut each one down as she came to them.

"No please!" One soldier cried and tried to avoid her. No chance, she swung and cut through his upper chest, blood flying as his head and shoulders seperated. Another tried to turn and shoot her, he got two shots square into her chest, She chopped his head off.

Two men were left, retreating in a jeep. Sonya ran up behind them, grabbed the bumper and flipped the jeep. She slowed as it tumbled end over end to land on it's top to slide to a stop. It had no roof, one man was smeared on the road. The other had been knocked out of the jeep. He was still alive, but moaning in pain from broken bones.

"So this is the great PSR," Sonya said in a growl.

The man only moaned in pain. She squatted down by him. "So you know, you have broken ribs and your lungs are punctured. You only have a few more minutes to live. I'm hoping you can hold out for an hour."

"Kill ... me." he gasped weakly.

"OH no, you get to die in agony as did all my family and friends did when you dropped that bomb on us. If I had a way to make you hurt more before you go, I'd do it." She got up and looked to see where the Hulk had gotten to.

.

JJ and his troops heard the gunshots, many of them, and the far off booms. The only thing he could think of was Delilah was attacking from the west. Why hadn't she told him!

A fast as possible, he pulled his long picket in and formed up squads, each supported by a tank, and pushed north.

On a much narrower front, with a few terminators watching their sides and back, he led his forces deeper into the city. They passed fleeing people, but not one PSR man. Coming to a big block in the road, Kaede threw vehicles out of the way so they could get through, and more people fled. A few men had fatigue pants on but no shirts. JJ let them go.

To his surprise, they drove deep into the city right up to City Hall. There, he saw Sonya sitting on the steps. She was a bloody mess. JJ jumped out and called, "Everyone guns down, she's on our side! Get the medics!"

Sonya looked up as JJ approached.

"Help's coming," he told her. "How many times did you get shot?" he wondered. Her clothes were riddled with bullet holes, She had skin falling off.

"Don't know, don't care," she said. "Bruce is inside. He finally calmed down enough to shrink back into himself. He's having a real hard time knowing Jo is dead. You probably shouldn't go in there."

"Then we won't. How'd you get here?"

"We ran. I did get to let out some aggression from having our town destroyed." She looked up and him with her red eyes and added, "We killed hundreds. we slaughtered them as fast as we could. The ones here fled. We brought hell down upon them and through them. And all the killing? It doesn't help. Mark's still dead, our town is still dead."

JJ hugged her. "Nothing going to help that. It's a pain we have to bare. We do have to get rid of the guilty ones. This PSR must be erased."

"I know," she said hugging him back. "By the way, LA here is free from PSR if they aren't dead, they fled to the north I think."

"You did good, Sonya. Now let's get you patched up and those bullets out of you."

Sonya rose with him. keeping an arm around his shoulder. He had an arm around her perforated bullet ridden waist.

"Boss, look what we found hiding in a sewer drain!" a Guardsman announced. He and another man were pulling a handcuffed PSR officer between them. Seeing Sonya the PSR man screamed and tried tried get away. Sonya pulled her sword.

"She's a MONSTER!" the PSR man cried.

JJ said, "Sonya, go get patched up, I'll take care of this guy." Another terminator came over to guide Sonya to the medic truck.

JJ smile at the frightened man. "So, just now you're realizing what a hornet's nest you provoked by dropping that nuke on us, huh? Guess what, asshole, we're all monsters of one kind or another. Guys, take him back to his sewer hole, kill him and shove him back in."

JJ was glad Sonya had made it. He also realized something. They weren't fighting terminators like terminators. If he had, then he could have sent his 40 terminators through the city Killing PSR and be out the other end of LA before that day was out. Sonya, fighting like a terminator with help from Bruce had cleared the city all by themselves. Just the two of them.

Battle lines and maneuvers were for men who weren't terminators. Terminators didn't need lines for defense, they were his attack troops. They had the ability to break lines of defense and kill all those before them. From what he got from Mr. Sewer man, Sonya and Bruce had scared the living hell out of the PSR here. They needed to more of that.

JJ went back to his command truck and looked at the maps with new eyes. All the smaller places ahead of them. He split up is troops differently. A tank and 5 terminators to go in, 20 guardsmen following to clean up behind them. He talked to Delilah and told her they had LA, and who did it, then explained his new strategy. She liked it, she was headed more for the eastern side of the state and poking into Nevada. They agreed that sooner or later, the PSR was going to send massive reinforcements. Those reinforcements would also meet their terminators head on.

Kaede came in not long after JJ was done talking to Delilah. "Johnny, there's a big green guy in city hall smashing stuff," she told him.

JJ nodded. "Yeah, leave him alone. He's still trying to deal with Jo dying. He and Sonya wiped out the PSR here. Let him get his frustration out."

"Didn't Delilah want to preserve as many buildings as possible?" she asked.

"She did, but I've been thinking about that. Hon, Sonya and Bruce got rid of the PSR here in a day, while we've been pussy-footing around. They did something we didn't do. They scared the shit out of PSR. I think we need to do a lot more of that. Their soldiers will be much less willing to fight things they can't kill."

Kaede grinned. "What did you call me?"

"Kaede, that's your name, right?" he asked.

"No you didn't," Kaede said with a smirk.

"Yes I did."

Kaede chuckled. "You don't even realize you did it, do you?"

JJ eyed her. "What did I do?"

Kaede pursed her lips. "It's about dinner time, let's go eat."

JJ wanted to stop by and see how Sonya was before they went to eat. Sonya was now wrapped ninja style in bandages from head to foot. She still had her holey cloak and all her weapons. Before she ate, she wanted to see how Bruce was doing.

Going inside city hall, the place looked hollow except for the mass of rubble on the floor. Bruce, wearing only tattered remains of clothes sat in the debris looking at nothing. Sonya went over to him.

"Bruce, we're going to grab some food. Come with us."

He looked up at her. "I... did this," he said weakly, looking at the destruction around him.

"You did much more than this," Sonya said. Squatting down, she said, "We took out most of the PSR and scared the rest away. They are the ones who bombed our town and killed everyone. Every human in Driftwood died. You were right to be enraged. I was too. There are few of us left and we are fighting to get rid of those responsible for killing our community. You did nothing wrong." She held out her hand to him.

"You should be afraid of me, of what I might do!" he insisted.

"Nope. I was right there with you, killing and destroying by your side. Bruce, those people deserved what they got," Sonya said firmly. "Now come on, JJ and Kaede are coming to dinner with us."

"But, what if I get angry again?" he asked.

Sonya grinned. "I doubt you'll get angry at us during diner, and if someone attacks us, let the monster roar. He's not brainless, we worked well together. He listened to me and we got rid of the enemy. THAT is what's important." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

Sonya put an arm around him. "And remember this, we still do have friends and friends watch out for each other."

.

The chow line didn't have a big assortment, but it was good and filling. Kaede paid attention to JJ, Specifically how he addressed her. While they ate, he called her 'hon' three times and 'dear' once, not even realizing what he said.

Sonya leaned close and told her, "You know, I think JJ likes you."

"Me too" she whispered back.

Pretending not to hear, JJ asked Bruce, "Are you going to stay with us? We'll be leaving tomorrow to head north. We could really use you."

Bruce winced. "I don't like fighting," he said. "Is there a place you can use me say in supply?"

"We can. Our logistics are kind of thin. We're getting what we need. A little late sometimes. It will get worst if we end up in a big battle. I can ask Delilah to give you a job in that."

"I appreciate it," Bruce said meekly.

"Hey, we're still in the process of finding the right man for each job. Not everyone's front line soldiers, and if that's all we had, we would be in trouble," JJ replied.

They had their meal, which was pleasant, then split off to get some sleep to be up early in the morning. The lead troops as JJ assigned them would start out at 6, the rest of the troops would follow at 7. The main force would stay on or around RT 5, the others would take different roads from the coast to a maximum of ten miles further inland. JJ ensured all his unit commanders knew what the plan was before he retired for bed.

Kaede went in with him. "All set for tomorrow?" she asked.

"We are." he agreed as they got undressed.

Kaede got in bed and said, "You know I could lead one of these groups. I'd be more effective doing that."

Quietly, JJ said, "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I can stop bullets and not even get punctured by them. I can handle anything we've seen so far." She cuddled up to him. "I haven't splattered anyone apart in a while. I feel like I'm not doing enough."

"You are. Kaede I do have to keep people in reserve," JJ offered.

"And keep me as safe as you can?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Why?" he asked, eyeing him.

JJ paused then offered, "Like I said..."

"No," Kaede said, interrupting him. "Johnny, I do like you. You treat me good and take care of me when I need you, I just want to know why you keep me so close. The real answer, not just because I'm a reserve killer."

JJ swallowed.

"You like sleeping with me?" she asked.

"This is real nice," he admitted with a weak smile.

"You like to have me around?" she asked eyeing him.

"Well yeah. For a bunch of reasons," he said.

"We comfort each other," she said. "If I had to deal with losing all my family by myself, I'd be a total wreck. Possibly suicidal. I think you'd be the same. We each know how the other feels, and we draw comfort in that. If you won't say it, I will. I need you, Johnny. I think you need me too. Am I right?"

JJ paused, then said, "You are. Kaede, this is strange. I mean my wives only died what a few months ago. It feels wrong lusting after you."

Kaede laughed. "I'm in the same position, Johnny. I had a dream a while back. I was in our house. it was empty, then Kouta appeared and talked to me. He said they were fine, and he wanted me to live happy. Remember them but not dwell on the fact they were gone. He told me I needed a friend who'd stand by me. I'm thinking you're that friend for me."

"I am your friend, honey, I will do my best for you."

"You did it again," she said and snickered.

"Did what?"

"That's six times today that you called me 'hon', or 'Honey'. Twice it was Dear."

"I did that?" JJ asked, surprised.

Kaede patted his chest. "It's OK, Sweetheart. I just think it's amusing you don't even realize you're doing it."

JJ left out a huff.

"We have an early day in the morning, We should get some sleep if we're not going to have sex," She said, then giggled again.

"You're picking on me!"

"I am, and it feels good to laugh." she admitted. "Really, we need to sleep. Night, Sweetheart."

"Night, Honey."

.