It took three agonizing hours to get the keys to the Gull and get rid of everyone. They were down to Dwight, Vince, Dave, Nathan and... Jennifer.
The visions had been clear, but the orb hadn't been able to capture the level of pure manic energy in the girl. If she hadn't known for sure, she never would have pegged her as being a halfling, much less a pure OtherWorlder as it appeared she must be.
There was no stillness, no space for quiet contemplation in her. She'd never have fit in where they came from. She wondered if the Cause had started throwing failed research subjects through Thinnie's.
That or her parents loved her too much to let the Cause have her, sending her instead in the only possible direction of Hope.
Lexie naively hoped it was the second.
They were hanging back, watching the men talk about macho man crap. Jennifer was vibrating, the air around her alive with anxiety as Lexie spoke. "So, you're Jennifer. The one who heard us. I'm Lexie."
They shook, and then Lexie felt it clearly. Sameness. Camouflaged but definite. Someone had tried to protect her, to make her blend in.
Someone had loved her.
"Yes, yeah, I'm Jennifer, it's nice to meet you. I already feel like I know you so well." Her face instantly flamed bright red, and she stuttered, "I mean, not that well! Not like intimately. I just mean-"
"Shh." Lexie held up a hand, laughing so hard her chest protested and her stomach ached.
"I know what you heard, it's okay. I'm sorry my shenanigans were broadcasting so loudly." She couldn't stop laughing, though she made a valiant effort, arms wrapped securely around her ribs.
"I didn't tell! I only told them what you told me to, don't worry, Mara, I was really careful."
Lexie sobered instantly, putting a finger to Jennifer's lips. "Careful. Lexie, I'm Lexie right now, okay? Don't be so nervous about me, it's making you lose focus. You and I are fine. Better than fine. There's nothing to worry about, nothing to fear, okay?" She pulled her hand back, leaning in to hug the girl.
"I'm sorry, Lexie. I'll be more careful. I just. I am really kind of in awe of you. You're amazing. I can't believe you're real."
"You're the amazing one. You heard, and you were brave enough to act when you were asked. You saved us. You're your own kind of bad-ass."
Jennifer flushed, bouncing as she shook her head, self-deprecating and humble as a priest. (Not one of the pervy ones you see on the news, but the selfless ones in books.) Mara had to shake her head to fix Lexie's derailed train of thought.
"There's nothing bad-ass about me. I'm just a freak who hears voices. Sometimes, at least."
"Jennifer, have you stopped to ask yourself why you're different? What it is that allowed you to hear us when no one else could? Jennifer, you're not a freak. You're just like me, I mean it. I'll explain when we have more private time, okay? Just remember, call me Lexie."
Jennifer nodded as the men approached. Lexie watched her move silently to Dwight's side. They were so different. Huge and tiny. Quiet and boisterous. Calm and frenetic.
Lexie thought they'd balance each other out nicely.
"I can't believe you're doing this, you don't need to give her that!" She heard Nathan's voice, arguing again.
He was starting to get on her nerves.
So far she'd overheard, "Incapable, Not a Cop, Untrained, Unskilled, Scared, Risk and Bad Idea" several times. He was like the Barn, repeating the same song over and over.
She turned her gaze, narrowing her eyes. She straightened her spine, shoulders back, bruised chest proudly out. She even pulled her top down an extra inch, skirt up another. Trying to convey the dual messages 'I'm a dumb, slutty bartender and by the way I just died' at once. She strutted up, eyes challenging.
"Still complaining about giving me a gun, Detective 'Nice-to-meet-you-now-murder-me'?" She pointedly took the gun and holster from Dwight, attaching it to her belt without looking before she took the new phone from Duke.
"I wasn't complaining, I was-"
"Whining? Moaning? Bitching? Or maybe you're more of a 'registering a stern protest' kind of guy." She looked at his face. "Ah, stern protest it is."
"You just didn't seem very comfortable with guns earlier." He defended.
"My issue is less about the Second Amendment than it is murder!" Lexie exclaimed in exasperation.
They'd already, in these dreadful 3 hours, had 5 different versions of this exact same discussion. She was tense, tired, cranky and ravenously hungry. Nobody had offered her so much as a soda and her blood sugar was tanking, not having eaten since whatever the last thing Audrey had eaten before the Barn. They'd only drank in there. She just couldn't take it right now. She was going to break cover, punch him or just all-around flip her Bitch Switch and then she'd give them away.
"I call time-out." She announced to everyone, stomping away.
Okay. Everything is okay. Nathan always starts out cold, and he's upset. He hadn't been aggressively unfriendly, he was just...
Irritating her.
She could only imagine how it would be for a brand new persona matrix dumped here, without her super-ego to guide her. The thought made her want to cry.
"C'mere, beautiful." Duke had chased her down, of course. She went willingly to his arms.
"He's being a dick."
"That doesn't even come close to my list of things I thought I'd never hear. Of course he is. He's as warm as a penguin's balls when he meets new people. Especially when he's upset. You know this. But see, I have you beat, because I've gotten the 'You're not good enough anymore' treatment more times than I can count."
She barked a short laugh, fighting tears. "He's done it to me before, I just thought..."
"That the first time felt the worst? Not hardly. Every time hurts more, until you feel like you're swallowing razor blades when it happens. Hey, I promised not to lie." Duke reminded her.
"I know you did. I just hate the thought of you hurting. Hate it."
"I feel the same about you."
"How long do you think they're going to honor my time-out?"
"Why, what's on your mind?"
"I'm wondering if we have time to fuck against that tree." Lexie whispered, pointing.
"Totally on my list. They'll make time."
He swept her to the indicated tree, pulling at his fly. She wiggled out of her panties, tense and urgent. He backed her up to the tree and she locked her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck. "You're so sexy wearing a holster." Duke nipped at her neck.
He entered her quickly, barely giving her time to adjust before he was really moving, enough that she could see the beech leaves swaying with the motion.
Her breath came in gasps as she kissed him, drawing his breath, borrowing his strength. He had enough to share- he'd brought her back to life, after all- and he was willing.
She clung to him tightly, moaning into his mouth. He swallowed the sound, pushing into her harder and she was trying to be quiet, but the low wail broke from her chest as she stopped breathing and clenched around him, forcing his response. He broke the kiss, straining for air as he groaned in her ear.
They clung to each other, rocking back and forth as they relaxed together, the tension finally leaving her muscles. He kissed her slowly before he pulled out, holding her steady while she got her footing. She smoothed his mussed hair and clothes, he adjuster her straps, skirt and holster, fingers lingering on her thigh overlong.
"You look so beautiful right now I can't stand it." He grabbed his new phone, capturing a couple of pictures before she could laughingly stop him.
"Damnit Duke, you'd better-"
"Better what?" Duke demanded, smiling.
"Send me a copy. Trade you." Lexie snapped him with her own phone.
They danced around for a minute, trying to get better pictures of each other before they heard the rustle of footsteps.
Lexie didn't even tense up as Nathan entered the clearing.
"They're about done for the day, thought you might need a ride to pick up your car."
"Sounds good, we were just saying it's been a long day."
Nathan's eyes zeroed in on Duke's face and Lexie froze.
"Is that right?" She saw the tic in his jaw and the tightening around his eyes, and Lexie followed his laser gaze.
Her panties. Shit.
She knew Duke didn't see the hit coming and she jumped for it, taking a nasty punch to the face but landing a fairly decent kick to Nathan's gut.
They hit the ground at the same moment, and Duke stood frozen in shock for a heartbeat before he dashed to Lexie, who was sporting a massive shiner, groaning as she held her ribs.
He rounded on Nathan.
"What the fuck, man? Why are you hitting people?"
"That's what you've been doing all this time instead of trying to find Audrey? Fucking her? They're not interchangeable, Duke!"
Nathan moved as if to strike again when he heard the most horrible, beautiful thing in the universe.
"Nathan Thaddeus Wuornos, you self-righteous hypocrite! Like you're one to talk?"
He turned slowly, heart in his stomach as he looked at her; terrifying, heart-stopping, brilliant, beautiful and alive.
It was like Lexie had grown six inches. She was furious, moreso than he'd ever seen. She stomped toward him, backing him into a tree and then jabbing him with her finger every other word. He flinched each time she touched him, but she was relentless.
"You smug, arrogant son of a- gar!" She yelled in frustration, kicking the tree. "You come to Sarah all 'Bow-chica wow-wow', knowing- fucking knowing she had a fatherless fucking child, never even telling Audrey that you're the fucking father! Finding out from the Barn? That's a new low, even for you!
"Then you have the nerve, the unmitigated fucking gall to act like I'm somehow deficient! I'm not as smart, as strong, as capable as I was three fucking days ago! Well fuck you, Wuornos!" She accidentally said his name right in her wrathful haste, but she wasn't done.
"Audrey came after Sarah! After! Audrey wasn't part of Sarah! Only the new personality has the others inside! So I'm not good enough to ride with you, to wear a gun, to wear a badge, but I'm still too good for Duke? Huh? Is that it, Nathan, or is it that Duke's too good for me? You need to get your shit sorted out. You love him, quit leaving him hanging!"
She stomped her foot and screamed in rage, turning back to him. "If you sell me out to Vince, so help me gods I will castrate you myself."
"It's not about saving me! Ending the Troubles is more important!"
"Did you ever think that just maybe I was smart enough to do that, too, or is that just beyond the intellectual capacity of 'Stupid little Lexie'?"
They were so close, almost touching as she shouted him down. In his mad desperation he reached out and kissed her.
She reciprocated enthusiastically for a few long, long moments. Eventually thought returned to her and she backed up, panting.
He had the most beatific smile on his face, his eyes half-closed in bliss.
Snarling, she leapt forward, giving him a black eye to match her own. "Felt that, didn't you?"