Feathers and Thunderclouds
Kris bit her lip in an attempt to keep the tears from falling. Failing miserably, she glanced at Sabrina. Bri, not quite over her anger, glared at Jill.
"Now you know," she said. "Now you all know."
Jill, unable to look at Sabrina, let the tears freely fall. "Gosh, Bri, I'm so sorry, I'm so nosy, I didn't even-I couldn't stop myself-I-I…" She cut herself off, seeing the look in Bri's eyes. Now was not the time to apologize. Sabrina needed to get whatever was bothering her off of her back. Because, deep inside, Jill knew-as did the others-that Bri was hiding something deeper than that. Something too dark and terrible to say. She had lost more than a mother, more than an unborn brother. Yet she was not willing to tell. She had to get it out soon, though. Jill did not know why, but she got the terrible feeling in her stomach that something dreadful was about to happen to Sabrina. And, worst of all, it was going to happen very soon.
It was Kelly who saved them. Finally speaking up, she looked at Sabrina.
"What was his name?" She asked quietly.
Sabrina's head snapped up. "What?"
Kelly tried again. "The baby. What was his name going to be?"
Kris inhaled sharply, nervous as to Sabrina's reaction, but Jill smiled the tiniest bit. Jill had seen this before, unlike her little sister. She had seen the strong connection between Kelly and Bri. Stronger than friendship. It was a sisterly love, just as unwavering as her and Kris' bond.
"Andrew." And, for the first time that night, Sabrina smiled a genuine smile. And Kelly smiled right back at her.
Kris and Jill grinned at each other. All was forgiven.
Jill broke the companionable silence. "All right, enough of the sappy stuff. Come on, we gotta figure out who was in here, huh?"
Sabrina's smile faded. She growled at Jill, and, before any of them had time to react, had Jill pinned to the floor. Jill looked absolutely stunned. She managed to gasp out, "Bri! I thought we were past this? Oh, come on, I'm sorry I'm so nosy, gosh I've such a loud mouth! Sabrina, I'm so sorry!"
Bri grinned. "You're not paying that penalty. You are forgiven for that crime."
Jill laughed nervously. "Aw, that's real generous of you! You know what else would be generous, Bri? Getting off!"
Sabrina's smile grew even wider. "Typical Jill. You always knew how to break a heartfelt moment."
Jill was pulled back on her feet in a sudden, swift movement. She turned to Sabrina, giving her a cocky grin. "Ah, well, you know me. Always gettin' on your bad side."
"Yeah. No one does it as well as you, Jill." Bri cast an annoyed look at Jill, to which she answered by sticking out her tongue and smiling triumphantly. Kelly rolled her eyes at the two of them.
She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hiya." Kris smiled down at her. "You okay?"
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Why are you worrying about me?"
"Because," Kris said, narrowing her eyes at her friend, "I care about you, hon. You and Bri seemed a little, ah, how shall I put this…?"
"Less than friendly?" Kelly supplemented.
"Yeah. I was just wondering if everything was alright."
Kelly offered her younger friend a small smile. "I don't know, Kris. There's something I've wanted to tell her for a while now, and I just can't seem to get the right words. But today…I think I did tell her. Not in the way I had planned it, though. I just-I don't know if she wanted to hear it." Her voice faltered at the last part. Kris put her arms around her friend, not minding the obscurity of her words. The way Kris saw it, Kelly needed a friend. And Kris was a friend. As easy as two plus two.
"Why don't you ask her, Kel?" Kris broke the ice.
Kelly smiled. "I don't know if I want to ruin her mood just yet."
Kris chuckled quietly, and then laughed out loud as Jill threw a pillow in Bri's face. Sabrina yelped. "Oh, you are so dead, my little friend. I will make you regret that, I promise you."
A flurry of white soon ensued. Kris watched her sister and her friend with a smile on her face. Then, remembering that Kelly's issue had not yet been resolved, she turned around and opened her mouth to speak. It snapped shut in a second.
Where was Kelly?
Alarmed, she swiveled her head back around, looking frantically for her friend. A pillow smacking her shoulder interrupted her frenzied search. She snapped her head up to see Kelly, grinning from ear to ear. Kris glared at her friend, her blue eyes now turning to blades of ice. Had Kelly's confession simply been a distraction for this treachery?
Jill burst out laughing at her little sister's expression. "You look like you've just lost a game to Cathy Mayers!"
Sabrina stopped her constant attack on Jill for a brief moment. "Who is Cathy Meyers?"
"Somebody you very much do not want to meet." Kris said. It came out as more of a growl. She was still thinking about Kelly's betrayal, and adding her childhood enemy, Cathy Meyers, to the picture was not helping her mood. It did, however, make her want to hit Kelly even more. She turned around and grabbed the pillows out of the hands of a surprised Sabrina. "Hey! No stealing ammo!" Bri cried. Kris did not seem to hear her. Pillows held in clenched fists, she turned towards Kelly, eyes blazing.
Jill crawled up to her friend. "I think Kelly's gonna get it," she whispered.
Bri looked on in amazement. "She looks like my father when he's about to open fire!"
And open fire Kris did. With a yell of, "Traitor!" she leaped at Kelly, raining pillows hard down upon her. Both Sabrina and Jill roared with laughter as Kelly, cowering and begging for mercy, scrambled away in search of escape.
Jill grinned. "All right, I'm not usually one to break up a good pillow fight, but we should probably get down to T.I. We do have a job to do."
Sabrina's eyes widened as she looked at her watch. "Yeah, Jill's right, look at the time! We just went through the entire night!"
At Townsend Investigations, about one hour later
"Good morning, Angels." Charles Townsend's voice came through the small box, the man behind the speaker unseen as always.
"Hi, Charlie!" The Angels chorused back. It was a practiced response.
Bosley smiled at the girl's timely arrival. In fact, they were five minutes early. "Well, you girls certainly seem eager to work today."
Kris, Jill, Kelly, and Sabrina all turned to Bosley at the same time. Jill spoke up first, always the one to provide the comic relief. "Well, Bosley, you know what they say!"
"Time…" Sabrina and Jill started.
"…is money." Kris and Kelly finished through giggles.
All the girls laughed together. Bosley harrumphed and shook his head at his Angels. His frown deepened as he heard Charlie's more muffled, quiet chuckle. "Alright, let's just get down to business. Kris, always good to have you joining in the fun." He acknowledged Jill's little sister's presence with a friendly smile.
"Well, I can't stay bored for too long. 'Sides," she grinned at Jill, "I need to make sure she doesn't get herself into too much trouble."
Jill glared at Kris. "Are we forgetting who is the eldest here, Krissy?"
Kris's mouth opened, and then clamped shut again. "Jill, please," she begged her sister. "Please, please, don't use that name. I hate it."
Jill smirked. "Do you acknowledge my superiority?"
"Yes, Almighty Jill. I bow down before you, as your loyal disciple. I shan't fail to recognize your authority again." Kris said mockingly. There was no hint of sarcasm in her voice, but the Angels, having known her for a long time, knew that she was teasing Jill. Jill knew this as well, and she gave her sister a haughty look and turned away, huffing in annoyance. Kris merely rolled her eyes and found a place on the couch next to Sabrina.
"Let's just get on the case," Bosley said, shaking his head at the Angels. "Sabrina? Are you, uh, good to go?"
"Yes, John, I'm quite capable of kill- I mean, getting to the bottom of this." Sabrina replied, ignoring the concerned looks.
"Okay, let's get straight to business then. The attacker's name was Mark Creed, a professional assassin. He was hired by John Leblanc and Caleb Anders, two gangsters working for crime lord Nathaniel W. Ellington, a.k.a. 'The Wizard.'" Charlie said through the speaker.
"Were there other attempts made?" Sabrina asked.
"Yes, but those attempts were all successes, Sabrina, You were the first to come out alive." Bosley's eyes softened as he said this. And I'm glad for it, he added mentally.
"Why 'The Wizard'? What does that signify?" Jill wondered aloud.
"No one knows. And no, it has nothing to do with his middle name, Jill." Sabrina answered.
"You know of him?" Bosley said, surprised.
"Oh, sure. He was involved in some heavy cases with the Mafia a couple years back, and he used to be in the military. My dad told me a bit about him."
"Yes, I've heard of that. Do you know why he got drafted in from prison?"
"Oh, I don't know Bos, maybe he did a magic trick or something." She replied, giving him a forced smile. Kris chuckled, but it sounded darker as well.
Bosley knew they wanted to hurt him, whoever he was. He recognized their anger as his own. He saw that Kelly had not spoken.
So did Charlie. "Kelly, my dear, is everything alright? You're quieter than usual."
"Oh, yes Charlie, I'm fine…I just want this Ellington found, along with the others." Her eyes flashed.
"Kel, will we have to restrain you again?" Sabrina joked. Kelly didn't reply, and it made her a little nervous. "Hey, I'm just messing with you, kiddo. Sorry."
"It's fine, I'm just worried, that's all." Kelly said unconvincingly. The disbelief on Sabrina's features was apparent, and it bothered Kelly to no end. "Really, I'm quite alright."
Sabrina knew that it was not the time to push, so she rolled her eyes and relented. "Whatever." Turning back to the box, she questioned, "How do we further our investigation, Charlie?"
"Ellington's two cronies were last seen in a hotel right here in Los Angeles. It is presumed that they split- and it is also presumed that they have weaponry." His voice had an edge to it that did not go unnoticed by the angels, and they shared knowing looks with each other.
Bosley spoke up again, his face grave. "The incident that happened recently- well, I don't want it happening again, girls." They nodded in unison, Jill looking at Kris in a protective way, and Kelly doing the same to Bri.
Sabrina twisted her mouth downward, an expression of regret. "Hey, listen, nothing will happen to us. It'll be fine, you know?" she said brightly, though there was a hint of doubt in her voice.
Kelly nodded. "Not if I- not if we can help it," she added seriously.
Charlie's long inhale could be heard through the speaker box. "All right, angels. Just take cautions, like you always do. And Sabrina…"
"Sir?" Bri asked, perking up. "I mean, er, Charlie?" she corrected, blushing. Her military background influenced her speech to people, and she usually had it under control. Except when she was nervous, or doubtful.
Like now.
She pushed the negative-sounding voice out of her head and awaited his response.
"You don't have to-"
"Charlie," she interrupted sternly. "Listen. Of course there is some part of me that is nervous. These guys aren't messing around here, obviously." The silence in the room told her that she had the other's attention, and she went on. "But, then again, that just proves the fact that I want to see them behind bars, so we can have that accomplishment of putting these criminals away."
Bosley nodded, partially because he agreed, and partially because he wished her to continue.
"One thing I know for sure, though, is this." Sabrina paused again, and then looked directly at her colleagues, one by one. "I'll be damned if I let anything happen to any of you."
"Well, I guess it's settled, then!" Jill said cheerily, breaking the respectful silence that had settled over the room.
Kelly smiled, cracking her knuckles. She enjoyed having a target. "When do we leave?" she asked in a voice that was a tad too eager. Sabrina raised an eyebrow at her, but she shook her head slightly, not caring to explain.
"Tomorrow." Charlie affirmed. "Oh, looks like I have to get back to my exercises… Farewell, Angels!"
"Bye, Charlie!" they chorused back at him, smirking at their boss's awkward excuse to have to leave so quickly.
Bosley yawned and ushered them out, giving Kris a peck on the cheek, to which she laughed at and promptly kissed him back- right on the lips. He stumbled away, blushing furiously.
The others laughed at the spectacle, and Kris shrugged. "That's what I do when a handsome man kisses me!"
Bosley frowned and blushed again. "Eh. Well… Handsome? You really think so?" He coughed discreetly and smoothed out his tie, leaning into a mirror. "Huh. Well, alright, if you say so…"
The girl's giggles could be heard echoing throughout the halls. Sabrina patted him lightly. "Ah, John, you look just fine to me."
"Sabrina." Bosley's voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Yes?" she replied.
He sighed. "Be careful, honey."
She smiled and gave him a hug. "You know I always am, Bos."
With that, the dark haired angel left, closing the door behind her. Bosley looked after her, sighing again softly.
"You'd better be."