A/N "The street' is a term used to mean "Wall Street" or investors in general.

Thank you for your posts and suggestions. I appreciate you taking the time and interest.

The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost)

"So that's new," Bridget said as she waltzed into Helena's office, throwing her thumb back in Sui's direction.

"It is called progress, Ms. Cummings," Helena said, tired of explaining things.

"Well, he's a little too chatty for my taste, but ….," Bridget shared, walking over to Helena's desk when something caught her eye. Helena had left the door open to the apartment and now the glass incubator was on display. "…what the hell is that?" The woman didn't wait for an invitation to view it closer – she simply marched right in the next room to see for herself.

Helena rolled her eyes and let out a deep breath. "Please, do take a look," she said after the fact. She got up and walked to the adjoining area.

"Helena, what is this?" Bridget asked, touching the smooth surface and feeling the cold exterior.

"I was experimenting," Helena said from the doorway.

Bridget was fascinated with the cube and walked completely around it. "I could get foreign investors to pour money into this," the financier thought out loud. "At hotels? In the desert resorts? We could call it the Ice Room."

"I'm not building them. This is it. One. And I've no use for it now," Helena explained with impatience. She was not deterring the woman who had a keen eye for what made successful investments.

"OK then we donate it. Oh Helena – you and Myka are inside of this …working at desks…downtown near Wall Street," Bridget said imagining the scene. "Corporate transparency," she said sweeping her hands across the air, thinking of Myka's talk.

"More like corporate lunacy," Helena remarked.

"Well, we have business to discuss," Bridget said, but her mind was still on a use for whatever the object was.

"Oh well, of course," Helena said, throwing her hands up in the air because she didn't like when someone else was orchestrating. She returned to her chair and sat down.

Bridget walked back into Helena's office, pushed her jacket sleeves up her arms, and sat down. "The street is worried about Myka going to Columbia," she said, folding her hands in front of her and waiting.

"Remind me why I care what the street thinks?" Helena said not looking for an answer.

"This is my favorite part of our meetings, Helena. You know the part where I remind you that qualified institutional investors have their fingers on the pulse of the street. If you need funding for one of your genius inventions, we can secure that if they're feeling confident about the company. You haven't always been the poster child of accepting partnerships graciously, Helena," Bridget said, bottom lining it.

"It's a bloody business transaction. I don't need to dine with them to make them millions," Helena scoffed. Her days of doing gratuitous appearances for wealthy investors were over.

"We've been over this. People like you. Part of the reason they invest in your projects is because of you. They want to touch you," Bridget said and saw the look on Helena's face. "Metaphorically speaking," she lied. "And if they can't see you, they want to at least know you're okay. The point is, your projects are elaborate and time consuming. That takes money. Wells Corp has deep pockets, I know, but you have at least six projects with possibly a break through any week now."

Helena smiled feeling proud of her achievements. This didn't even count the two she developed since last week. The android and a little something for Myka.

"So, how do you want to handle Myka's leaving to teach at Columbia?" Bridget asked. She could have gone straight to Myka and asked her, but as a professional courtesy she went straight to her client first.

"Myka will make her decision by Friday," Helena said, the topic still a sore one for her.

Bridget was all for careful planning, but was a believer in emotions having no place in business decisions. "We need something now," Bridget said, edging up in her seat so she could rest her folded arms across Helena's desk. "I want to be prepared either way."

The fact that Helena allowed this to go on was a testament to her belief that Bridget was good at what she did. She was annoying, but she was good.

"Ms. Cummings, Wells Corp is solid. Our reputation for ingenuity and innovation does not rest solely with me. If Ms. Bering were to go to Columbia, nothing stops here. My succession plan is already in place. Why would it be different for Ms. Bering?" Helena asked.

"Because you care where Myka is," Bridget said matter of factly and sat back.

"Are you suggesting that I cannot do my job?" Helena said, shooting out of her chair and leaning over her desk now.

Bridget didn't get to be a partner in the premier investment banking firm by being thrown by clients' responses. Nothing Helena did surprised her. "No, I'm suggesting that people are always looking for the chink in the armor and the press loves you two. I'm suggesting we get out in front of this – so that when CNBC has me on in the morning, I can tell them what you have personally said to me," Bridget said. She learned a long time ago, never duel with Helena Wells unless you were prepared.

"Fine!" Helena said, but when Bridget didn't move, she realized they were going to discuss this now. Bridget was right of course, and Helena knew it. Just as she wanted Myka to make the decision uninhibited by her influence, now Helena had to speak as the CEO of the company, not as Myka's fiancée.

Helena sat back down, calming herself as she thought about Myka.

"Columbia's gain will not be Wells Corp's loss," she started and Bridget immediately liked it. She hit record on her phone. "Wells Corp will provide Ms. Bering with everything she needs to balance both jobs if that is what she wishes. She is too valuable to us not to do that. Our purpose at Wells Corp is to make the world a better place by developing the future's innovations today. Teaching the next generation of lawyers is exactly that. It's not just Ms. Bering's knowledge that she would be sharing, but the heart and soul she pours into her work. If she could inspire that passion in others, and Wells Corp helped in some small way, then I believe it's a win for everyone," Helena said so sincerely that when she stopped, she noticed the talkative banker was sitting there with her mouth open .

"Jesus, Wells, you should write books or greeting cards or something," Bridget said, shutting off her phone.

"It's been suggested," Helena mused.

Bridget jumped up from her seat because she got what she came for. "OK this is perfect. If Myka wants to go, Wells Corp endorses it because y'all are about the future." That slip of a colloquialism was proof Bridget was excited about this. "So I can take the cube?" she asked, taking one last look at it.

"Of course," Helena said, not wanting to be reminded that she had made an error.

"Thanks. I'll send people for it," Bridget said, walking out of Helena's office.

Sui was standing at his desk, organizing papers to bring into Helena. "Your boss is a genius, you know that?" Bridget asked, rushing past him and pressing the button for the elevator.

"Yes, I do know that. I am here because she is a genius," Sui shared.

"Ha. Maybe you will make it past a week," Bridget said under her breath as she stepped inside and pressed the button for 16.

Bridget wanted to burst into Myka's office because she hadn't seen her since before the conference, but she knew Millie would frown on that. Bridget teetered constantly between Millie's 'A' and 'B' list of people. The 'A' list people were offered coffee or tea that was placed in front of them. The 'B' list people had to sit where the coffee cup was placed usually, and had to endure sporadic interruptions as Millie found reasons to buzz Myka or come into the room to adjust a volume on the bookshelf. Bridget once told Myka she had gotten her tetanus shot just in case Millie bit her.

After a brief interlude with Millie, Bridget was successfully announced and offered coffee. The cup was placed right in front of her.

"So while the rest of us have skeletons coming out of our closets, you have enamored professors who are offering you prestigious jobs?" Bridget teased after the warm hug.

"It's as much a surprise to me as it is to anyone else," Myka said, happy to see her friend.

"Oh the only thing I'm surprised at is that he's lived to tell the tale. I mean, he was here, right? Not in holographic form?" Bridget asked, taking her jacket off.

"Yes, they met. He doesn't really know Helena and she was ….…..,," Myka stopped and smiled. She didn't want to say what she was really thinking about how much she loved when Helena was possessive.

"…benevolent and let him live. That was nice of her," Bridget finished the thought. "So, I'm all set to offer the corporate inquiries about this whole thing. Are you excited to be teaching?"

"Nice try, Cummings," the lawyer said. "I haven't committed yet. And I won't unless I think I can do both jobs well."

"Of course. Well, I don't know how your fiancée feels about it, but your boss is willing to fall on the sword to accommodate you. What's good for Myka is good for Wells Corp is the general theme," Bridget said, not dressing it up.

"I have a great boss," Myka smiled. Just talking about Helena made her stomach fill with butterflies.

"So when will we know?" Bridget said, draining the coffee from the cup.

"Helena and I will discuss it. The official date is Friday, but I'll know before that," Myka assured her.

"I told Helena we need to stay out in front of this. She's got so many projects going on that any one of them taking off could mean we need additional funding, " the banker said.

Myka said she understood and assured Bridget she'd be among the first to know.

"How is Sarah?" Myka asked, as Bridget put her jacket on to leave.

"She's good. She's got a new line coming out and she's totally absorbed in it, but that's a good thing. We're going out to the Hamptons this weekend. It's dead; no one is there this time of year," Bridget said, as she kissed Myka on the cheek. "Let's have dinner soon, the four of us. Or five? How's the puppy?"

"He is, oh my God, Bridget, he's adorable," Myka gushed.

"This is a lot for your fiancée. Puppies, job offers. Remember what I always say, Myka," Bridget said like an older, wiser sister. "Make the most of your time together. And I don't mean reading books, or inventing the next cure for something."

"Okay," Myka said, blushing because she knew exactly what Bridget was suggesting.

"Dress up or something. Make it interesting. Oh I could totally see Helena as a….," her friend tried, but the office door was opened and Myka was already blushing.

"Yes! Thank you, Bridget. Excellent idea. I'll keep you abreast," Myka said, trying to sound like they were talking about the next deal in the making.

"Freudian slip there, Bering?" Bridget said and then caught the look on Millie's face. "I'm going, I'm going."

Myka smiled, closing the door to her office. She was looking forward to being alone with Helena. In spite of being with her all weekend, she still hadn't gotten her fill.

Leena was getting used to having the puppy underfoot. She had worked out a similar solution as she had for Helena on other things. She prepared the vegetarian chili as requested and had the living room fire roaring before their arrival home. "You like that better than Helena's expensive shoes, don't you?" she asked the dog who was gnawing on a bone biscuit. His ears perked up as soon as he sensed Myka was getting out of the car and began his scampering to the gated doorway. "Can I let him out?" Leena called and when Myka said yes, he shot out of the room like a bullet. Myka laughed at how his own legs couldn't keep up with how anxious he was to see her and he slid from side to side before he reached her. She was learning how to teach him not to jump, but caved and picked him up. "Now let me put you down," Myka whispered before Helena came through the door after her. Helena was surprised that the training had not completely transformed the dog and asked more than once, how many more weeks?

As soon as Helena entered the hallway, the Fashion Institute intern appeared and caught her coat before it hit the floor and leapt sideways to catch her bag. Being a gymnast in high school was going to prove helpful. Myka thanked her as she returned upstairs.

"Good evening, Ms. Wells," Myka said, even though they had ridden home together. There was something about finally being there together that made Myka happy. She leaned in to kiss Helena closely. Bandit had been sitting right by Myka, but now wormed his way between their legs and tried to grab at Helena's shoe strap.

"Bandit!" Myka said, removing her lips from Helena's.

"You know, I could have built you one of them that would have come properly trained," Helena said, staring down at the puppy.

As if he understood the implication of what the Brit just said, he sat there wailing his objections. It sounded as if he was saying 'noooooooooooooooooooooooo' and Myka cracked up what it sounded like.

"But would yours have talked?" Myka asked, trying to soften Helena's stance.

"That's rather the point," she said, turning her focus back to Myka.

"Let me take him for a walk…," Myka was suggesting when a young man they had never seen before came out of the kitchen with the leash.

"I will take him, Ms. Bering," the young man in a jacket said and Bandit ran to him.

"Oh and you are?" Myka asked, because she cared who was taking the puppy. Helena was already looking through the mail.

"Chuck Davis, ma'am," the youth said, shaking Myka's hand. "I am a student at the Animal Hospital and was selected out of twenty candidates for this internship," he said proudly.

"Internship," Myka said, trying not to sound like it was a question.

"Yes, ma'am. We are getting college credit for training and taking care of Bandit," Chuck said and that caught Helena's attention. He put the leash on the over active puppy and excused himself as he went out the front door with his charge.

"I thought if we can get interns for Helena's closet, why not Bandit?" Leena said, passing through the hallway as if on cue.

"Bloody brilliant," Helena said, happy someone else would be paying the pet attention.

"Yeah, I know," Leena said because she knew it was a bigger favor to Helena than anyone else.

Just then the fashion intern, who didn't wish to disturb them, excused herself and started to brush the bottom of Helena's dress.

"What exactly are you doing?" Helena asked, since this had never been done before.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Wells, but I was trying to remove the dog hair from your dress," the intern explained.

"The what?" Helena asked as if she didn't understand the words. Myka bit her lip, grateful the dog was not present.

"Dog hair," the youth repeated.

"He sheds?" Helena asked as if the fact had never occurred to her. "Oh," she shuddered at the thought and closed her eyes.

"Let's get ready for dinner, okay?" Myka said, taking the injured party upstairs as her raven-haired lover listed the reasons dogs and haute couture were not a good mix.

Twenty minutes later, the offender was safely in the kitchen enjoying his sleep and the lovers were seated in front of the fire on the couch, eating dinner.

"Your friend Bridget was in to see me," Helena said, taking a spoonful of Leena's own recipe.

"She said," Myka commented.

"I gave her an official statement about the possibility of you teaching," Helena said, placing the bowl on the table near them.

"What do you really think about it, Helena?" Myka asked, putting her food down and turning to her lover.

"Myka, I am torn inside about it. I am so proud of you and all you have accomplished that I believe it would be selfish of me not to share you with the world. I know in my very heart you are mine. Not because I conquered you or won you over, but because you have given yourself to me. Nothing can break our bond, Myka. You were right about that. At the same time," Helena said, not as comfortable with the next admission. "…..I don't want to share you. I cannot get enough of you and so the thought of you being away from me, torments me. I never tire of looking at you, or touching you or being with you. I know it is ungracious of me to be so possessive, and it is not that I am threatened. I just don't like sharing you," Helena said, baring her soul. "It is you who possess me, Myka. My very heart and soul are yours."

Myka sat there, wanting to say something, but the lump in her throat prevented her. She, who had grown up craving the feeling of belonging to someone who loved her for herself, belonged to this amazing woman before her who was apologizing for doing the very thing Myka loved.

"No, Helena," was all Myka could get out before the rush of emotions sought their escape. Tears flooded her eyes and down her cheeks at the sweetness of Helena's words. Her need to touch Helena rushed to her fingers and she pulled Helena down on the couch. Her overwhelming joy at being this woman's lover weighed on Myka as she straddled Helena's warm body and leaned down to kiss her, inhaling her perfume and embracing her with her entire body.

"I adore you Helena. I always have, I always will," Myka whispered next to Helena's ear. Helena's arms were around Myka's waist. Myka's weight pressed on parts of Helena that burned in wanting more. "Nothing else can ever do for me what you do, Helena," Myka said, because her entire being drank in the satisfaction of being in Helena's arms. "I love it when you want the world to know I'm yours."

The lovers lay together, motionless, as their spirits melded into the Oneness that they created. The room flickered as the flames danced in the fireplace, but the real warmth lie between them.

"So you like it when I'm possessive?" Helena finally said, breaking the silence.

Myka had slid off and now lay next to Helena's side, playing with her hair. "This is terrible to say, Helena. But when you pulled the professor closer to you, I …oh this is awful to say….," Myka said, burying her head in Helena's shoulder.

"Yes?" Helena prompted her to complete her thought.

"I get turned on," Myka said, and Helena didn't need to look at her to know she was blushing.

"Then you must have been frenzied today," Helena laughed, hugging Myka and thinking of how snarky she was with the visitor. "I want to show you something."

Myka frowned at Helena's timing, wanting to be consoled for her admission of wrong doing. "Now?" Myka asked, wishing Helena wouldn't move.

"Yes," Helena confirmed, sat up and reached down and grabbed what looked like a brief case and placed it on the coffee table.

"OK," Myka said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice …and failing.

Helena snapped the locks opened and lifted up the top of the briefcase. Inside were what appeared to be three translucent gloves.

"What are they?" Myka asked, curious about the timing of their appearance.

"When you were away, I found myself very bored," Helena said, taking the first item out.

"Yes, I heard," Myka smiled, pulling her legs up and hugging them.

"Well, I started to work on this from the material that the Frederic brothers' had invented. I made some minor, yet fascinating improvements and came up with this…..," Helena said, as she donned the glove. Myka watched in amazement as Helena's hand seemed to disappear.

"Oh my God, Helena! It's a real cloaking device?" Myka asked astonished that Helena's arm seemed to end at the wrist.

"Yes, it is," Helena said, twisting it back and forth proudly. She took it off and placed it back in the case. Then she took the second one out and placed it on her hand. She clenched her fist tightly and when she opened it, a flame in the shape of a ball appeared. Myka gasped at the sight. "No more computer generated images," Helena laughed at the fire-retardant material. She closed her fist and the self-produced fire was suffocated.

"Helena, they'll want me to go away more often when they see these," Myka laughed. "What is that one?" she asked of the last glove.

"Ah yes, well they will never see this," Helena said, picking up the last item carefully and pushing her right hand into it. When it was finally inside, she pressed the clear material on so tightly that when she showed Myka her hand, there was nothing visible.

"Is it on?" Myka asked, staring at Helena's flesh.

"Oh indeed it is, Myka," Helena said, as she sat on her haunches next to Myka on the couch. "Watch," the inventor said, as she slowly lowered her hand onto Myka's exposed arm and touched it lightly. It felt just like Helena's skin and touch.

"I don't feel it," Myka said.

"Not yet you don't," Helena smiled, the flames flickering in her dark eyes.

Myka took Helena's hand in hers and all she could feel was – Helena's skin. "What is the purpose? Does it keep you warm?" Myka asked.

"No, although it can cause the body to heat up quickly," Helena divulged. "I invented this …with you in mind," Helena said, in a breathy tone that made Myka think they were back on track.

"Really?" Myka said, unable to figure out what this was.

"It can be used of course for medicinal purposes," Helena said, pulling Myka down along her on the couch. "Wells Corp is all about the latest biotechnology."

"Is it?" Myka said, because the nerd in her got turned on by Helena's brainy talk.

"Oh yes, we aim to bring the future to you today," Helena teased as she slipped her hand under Myka's loose blouse and deftly removing it and her bra. Myka could feel Helena's hand moving over her skin lightly, leaving a trail of goosebumps. Helena's hand gently squeezed Myka's breast, as she leaned down and kissed, then suckled Myka's lower lip. Myka's body surrendered, her breasts rising in peaks to her lover's touch.

"And what is my future, Helena?" Myka say breathlessly, as a yearning grew deep inside her core.

"Well, I can tell you …that in your immediate future…..," Helena spoke as her hands never stopped moving to remove Myka's clothing and pull a blanket up over them. "…..are sensations akin to rockets exploding on the 4th of July." Helena laughed as Myka turned into her and buried her face in Helena's shoulder.

"I love you, Myka," Helena said as she cupped Myka's face to stare down into her eyes. "With every fiber of my being."

With that, the genius inventor who kept her sanity in Myka's absence by inventing not just an android, but three separate coverings for the hand, let her fingers trace a path down Myka's stomach. It was so much like Helena's own touch, that for a minute it was easy for Myka to forget that there was something on her hand. Myka closed her eyes, sucking in her lower lip in anticipation.

And then Myka felt it!

The tiniest pulsation that emanated from each of Helena's fingers danced along Myka's skin. "What is …," Myka tried, but her language center shut down because even her brain knew there were some things that should just be enjoyed.

Helena's hand moved achingly slowly as Myka's lower muscles clenched in anticipation of what every neuron of her body knew was happening. Fingers moved over Myka's heat, touching her so tenderly that Myka wanted to scream. She didn't dare move, except for the involuntary jerking her legs did as they parted to welcome Helena's hand. Helena's fingers were alive with pulsations that spread everywhere she touched Myka.

"Helena," Myka gasped as her lover placed her pulsating thumb on Myka's sensitive apex and drove the sensation deeper by invading her core, causing Myka to push her buttocks up off the couch and dig her fingers into the cushions to keep from propelling off the sofa.

A sound came out of Myka's throat that started from deep inside her. It made its way up from the part of her body now ravaged with the most persistent eruption of pleasure she had ever experienced. She whimpered when it was over and couldn't control the shaking as her body attempted to regain homeostasis.

Helena hugged Myka and pulled the blanket up over them again as she tried to keep Myka warm. Myka was spent, but she was too curious to give into the slumber that weighed down on her body. "That's quite an improvement over your black glove," Myka gasped, nestling into Helena's shoulder.

"We're always looking to improve," Helena said as her fingers grazed up and down Myka's back.

Myka pushed her leg between Helena's and pressed as close as she could. She wanted as little space between them as was humanly possible. She fell asleep in no time, as Helena carefully reached up and removed the glove. She had managed to create a fabric thin enough not to impede her own touch, yet capable of producing a surge at the right moment.

Myka's body might have been incapable of movement, but that didn't mean her mind was at rest. Deep in slumber, Myka dreamed of floating in a boat on a body of water until she reached an island. The boat seemed to be taking her there on its own. When she went ashore, she looked around at the lush, green foliage and beautiful tropical flowers. She felt peaceful and immediately wondered where Helena was. She pushed past the palms and went into the jungle looking for her. Instead, she found the middle of the island was a huge pit. She was afraid of falling into it, so she retreated to the beach where the boat had come ashore.

Except when she got there, it was nowhere to be found.

Myka was all alone.