CHAPTER 17

"Jaden?" Jeff called out, walking down to the pond that rested in a corner of the old property Mark owned, where they were currently living. He stood at the edge of the water, staring out.

Jaden surfaced not too far away, smiling when she seen him. "Jeff, come on in, the water is great.!" She shouted.

Jeff shook his head, eyeing the water uneasily.

"What's the matter?"

"You'll laugh at me."

"No, I won't." She promised, swimming towards him.

Jeff crossed his arms over his chest. "Promise?"

"I promise."

"I'm terrified of water," At Jaden's giggle he scowled. "Not like bath water but… you know what I mean!"

She nodded, arranging her facial features into a sympathetic expression.

"I almost drowned once…" He explained lamely.

"Can I tell you something?" She asked, trying not to smile.

He ndded.

"I've been underwater for over an hour… you won't drown, you don't need to breathe, remember?"

Jeff cocked his head to the side. "I never thought about that." He confessed.

"I think it'd be possible for us to live underwater if we really wanted too," Jaden said musingly. "We could live on fish and stuff… we don't need to breathe."

"All the same, I prefer land."

"Baby." She splashed him.

Jeff shrieked, leaping out of way but getting soaked anyway. "You little…" He growled.

She batted her eyelashes. "Come and get me then." She challenged, eyes sparkling.

Jeff quickly shed his clothes and dived in, all fears apparently forgotten.

***

"Mmm…" Isis leaned back on her heels and stared around the night garden she had been planting. "Thank heavens for night blooming flowers." She murmured, reaching out to touch one of her roses.

"Out here again?"

Isis glanced up as Mark strolled down a path to her, standing up to kiss him. "I'm always out here."

"I've noticed." He inhaled deeply. "Mmm."

"Like?"

"It's all right." He grinned at the look on her face. The grin turned into a frown when she decked him. "That hurt woman."

"Oh darlin', I'm sorry." Isis snickered, hunkering back down. She began to hum as she resumed her work.

Shaking his head, Mark wandered down the garden path, admiring Isis' work.

"Not just my work," She said absent-mindedly. "Nature had a hand in it too."

Mark spun around, staring at her with an open mouth. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" She asked, glancing at him curiously.

"You read my mind." He thought.

"Oh… Oh!" Isis' eyes widened.

***

"Jaden?" Jeff whispered, staring down into the water, trying to keep his voice from sounding fearful. Apparently being dead did nothing to allay his fear of water and drowning.

"Jaden this isn't funny!" He exclaimed, treading the water, glancing back at the shore wistfully. He screamed in panic when he felt something grab his leg, dragging him underwater.

It took a minute for Jeff to realize he wasn't drowning, water wasn't filling his lungs. It took him another minute to open his eyes. He couldn't see as well as normal due to the murky water, the moonlight not helping him much but he could see Jaden's face swimming in front of him, she was smiling.

That pissed Jeff off. He had confided his deepest fear to her and what did she do? She had tried to drown him! The rage slowly turned to contentment as his senses began to take over. He watched the exaggerated movements as he kicked slowly through the water, smiling a bit.

Jaden watched Jeff, her eyes adjusted to the water, infact she could see fairly clearly. She smiled as his hair swirled about his face, glad that he didn't appear angry with her. When his head snapped up, eyes locked on her intently she shivered.

Jeff smiled wickedly, lunging forward as best as he could, the water slowing him down some but his supernatural stregnth and agility kicking in. He went to grab her arms but she darted to the side and quickly swam off.

Jaden glanced behind her to see if he was following, smirking when she seen he was and ploughed on, fish darting out of her way as she practically flew by.

***

Mark and Isis stared at each other curiously. Mark finally sent out another thought, just to be on the safe side. He grinned when he seen Isis blush.

"You're a pervert." She murmured, getting to her feet and wiping her hands off on her overalls. "You know that darlin'?"

"I do now." Mark enfolded her in his arms. "I wonder how this happened?"

"Maybe it's just an evolution happenin'." Isis mused, looking up at him thoughtfully. "You know, just because we're technically dead doesn't mean we stop progressin'."

"I never thought about it," Mark said slowly. "We're not really dead Isis, we have to feed, we do get hurt and the wounds heal, obviously we're alive. We're just the next step up above humans."

"Hmm… and here I thought the X-Men were just comics." She chuckled.

"What was that?"

"X-Men, you know, the comic books?" Isis smiled when one red eye arched. "Nevermind… I keep forgetting you're an old man."

"Old man?" Mark growled, snatching her up, tossing her over his shoulder. "Let's go inside and I'll show you old man."

"Mark!" Isis laughed, smacking his back playfully. "I'm scummy, put me down!"

"You can be washed up." He replied, grabbing her ass with one large hand.

She started giggling as they disappeared into the house.

***

Shannon watched as Glenn stormed out of the gas station, looking like the cat who caught the canary. She smiled when he got in the SUV. "Well?"

"They came this way." Glenn turned the keys in the ignition, backing up. "About time someone was able to tell me something."

Shannon spotted the blood pooling in the corner of his mouth and leaned across the console to lap it up with her tongue. "Was it good?"

He smirked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

Shannon chuckled, sinking back into her seat. They had been on the road for two months now, traveling to all the places Glenn said Mark was likely to take them only to find nothing. Finally they had hit pay dirt.

"So where to now?" She asked, leaning forward to straighten out her thigh high hose, smiling at the appreciative look Glenn shot her.

"My guess would be east, I'm not overly familiar with this part of the country. We'll just hit whatever town we come to first and ask around." He reached over to stroke her upper thigh. "If we don't get side tracked first."

Shannon giggled.

***

Jaden shrieked but only bubbles came out of her mouth when Jeff finally caught her, his hands grabbing her hips and yanking her back to him. She tried to wiggle away but froze when she felt something poking her.

Jeff smirked, slowly moving his hands up her bare body and to her breasts, cupping them gently.

Jaden leaned back against him, reveling in this new experience. They were just floating in the depths of the water, their bodies molded together. The sensation of both the water caressing her body as well as his strong hands were more than turning her on, she was ready to get on dry land!

Jeff seemed to be well adapted to this watery enviroment though and had no intentions of leaving it yet. Instead he turned her around, the water rushing between their bodies until he pressed against her again.

Jaden smiled, looking at him, finding his green eyes half closed, the look of a predator etched on his features.

Her own eyes widened when he grabbed her thighs, pulling her legs up around his waist, shuddering when she felt him slip into her.

***

Isis glanced up from the couch when she heard the front door open. Her eyes narrowed into slits when two naked and extremely wet people walked in, trailing water on the floor. "What the hell?"

Jeff and Jaden both jumped, looking around guiltily.

Isis sighed, untangling herself from Mark to stand up, quickly pulling her overall straps up. "Go dry off you perverts… I don't even wanna know."

"Thank you." Jaden sighed, heading off towards the stairs.

Jeff just shook his head, following more slowly. "You two should really go for a swim sometime." He smirked.

Mark sat up, looking at Isis. "A swim does sound nice." He admitted.

"Oh hell no," She laughed. "I'm not swimming in anything they've fucked in."

***