The group gathered in a large office space, a stranger in a white lab coat was busy writing ID papers to get the group into Chicago. Most of the group took up the various chairs and the sofa, trying to catch up on much needed sleep, it had been a very trying day, it was hard to believe that barely 12 hours ago I had been at home enjoying a kip, in that time I'd been shot at, attacked by military, attacked by half cat men, got into a fist fight and been kissed by one hell of a sexy man, not to mention chased by a fucking drake and nearly eaten by some unknown weird werewolf creature, all before being forced into a feral hell hole, oh yeah this day was going just great. Wizbit came across to see how I was, spending a little time healing my arm and leg wound.
"You look like hell" he told me, when he'd finished "You need anything else?"
"Just tired" I told him
"Why don't you get some rest?" I shook my head; no way was I going to sleep in such a crowded room with strangers
"I'll be alright" I told him, he gave me a sideways look that told me I was being an idiot
"You look like you're about to drop dead on your feet" he said
"I'll sleep when this is all over" I said "So where's Lathain?"
"Avoiding you, naturally" he replied "KC gave him an ear full when she arrived" he looked at me closely a moment "So this Whisperer guy, you know him?" I blinked my confusion a moment
"What? No, I don't, just met him today"
"Huh? He seemed concerned about you, genuinely concerned, seemed to think we should have turned the chopper around to pick you guys up"
"You should" I snorted, Wizbit shrugged
"We're in a chopper which you could very easily fry and pull out of the sky if you have an episode" he said "Too dangerous to pick you up with us"
"That's bull and you know it" I snapped "I arrived on a chopper and I can vent in other ways" electricity flared over my skin, my scars lighting up beneath the collar of my coat "You're afraid of me Wizbit and you've no need, stop acting like I'm dangerous or I'll show you how dangerous I can be" I turned away and headed to the showers; I tried not to let him see my tears.
The hot spray was welcoming, I carefully cleaned every part of myself, removing the last traces of blood, my skin from my newly healed wounds was pink and itched under the water, the shower unit beside mine was on, K.C taking a hot shower too, she threw me a bottle of shampoo, grateful for the luxury I spent longer in there than I should have, my skin pink and rubbed raw now a little wrinkled from the water. The towels here were rough, but I didn't mind, it was just good to be clean again. I changed into my spare gear that Convoy had brought in with him having arrived earlier with his truck, spending a little time in the shower room drying my hair awkwardly beneath the hand dryer.
I took a long look in the mirror; my pale skin had a ghosting of dark circles beneath my eyes despite only being up for twelve hours. I brushed my teeth and combed my hair letting it fall to my waist loose. I sighed, pulled on my utility belt, swapping out the main belt for the new memory blade, shrugged on my long coat and wandered back into the main rooms.
Most of the group were sleeping, Hacker and Geraldine oddly side by side on the huge sofa, their earlier grumblings forgotten in the attempt to get some shut eye, Wizbit had seen each of them in turn, K.C was dozing in a chair in the corner, Wizbit, Lathain and Convoy were nowhere to be seen, nor was Whisperer.
I walked to the window to look out at the strange city below, the corridor was an odd attachment, a place of transit, everything here was moveable, people, businesses, hell even half of the buildings looked like they could be packed up onto the back of a sturdy trailer. I watched the people below me mill around like insects, the floodlights under the artificial sky kept the place at a constant heated temperature, the extra heat was making me more sleepy, I felt my eyelids flutter, I removed my coat to cool down a little, feeling lighter without the leather weight, I rubbed my eyes to clear them. The smell of coffee drew me round to where Whisperer stood holding out a mug that steamed hot and inviting, sipping from his own mug he held it for me. I simply stared at it sleepily; he rolled his eyes at me then withdrew it, holding out instead the one he'd just been drinking from
"Hope you like it strong" he said, I sheepishly took the offered cup and took a sip, not kidding it was strong, but I needed it.
"Thanks" I said, he shrugged and took a sip of his own wincing
"Ugh, sweet" he said "I put sugar in yours, Lathain said you take two"
"Actually I don't take any" I said handing him back his mug and taking the one he held "He probably did it to make you look bad"
"Figures" he mumbled taking a sip, I took a sip of the new cup, yep very sweet, but then I was used to sweetness, just taking the drink made me think of Torrin's baking, my stomach protested the lack of food, "Mm" Whisperer began, mouth full of coffee, he swallowed and rummaged in one of his deep pockets, pulling out an energy bar and handing it to me "Almost forgot"
"Thanks" I said taking the snack, but didn't open it, he looked past me out the window to the miniature world of insect people below, it seemed like he was trying to say something, being more a watcher than a talker I guess it was difficult for him to put thoughts to words, or maybe he was just thinking of something interesting to say, the light through the window really showed the intensity of the blue in his eyes, and again there was the faintest hint of cinnamon about him, he really was attractive, well built, defined muscles, but not the bulk of the body builder, he gave off a natural energy that I was drawn to.
"Soooo" he finally broke the silence, eyes out of focus through the window "You and Lathain . . ."
"There's nothing going on" I interrupted
"Oh I know that" he said confidently "That's not what I was going to say, but thanks for confirming it for me"
"Huh?"
"I was going to ask where you, Lathain and Wizbit are heading after this, that Convoy guy too, I take it he's with you guys? I want to say he is but he doesn't gel like the three of you do, so I figure he might be new to the group"
"Oh he is" I stuttered "Well I mean he's on a job with Wizbit and Big Ears"
"Big ears huh? And the chances of me getting away with using that nickname are?"
"Slim" I said "I barely get away with it at times"
"And he calls you Casper right?"
"Yeah, you're pretty observant" he finally took his eyes out of the window and shrugged
"I like to keep an eye on things"
"What kind of things?" he gave me a shy smile
"Anything that interests me" the shyness gave way to a slight flirty look and I blushed, hiding my face behind my hair.
"Ghost" Wizbit called "Lathain wants a word"
"K" I called back, turning to Whisperer again "Thanks again for the coffee"
"Told you we'd get a drink sometime" he said with a smile, I smiled back, hiding my blush "Maybe next time we could go to a little bar I know?" he asked, a shy hopefulness crept to his voice, the eyes behind the glasses softened a little, it was incredibly tempting to reach out to him there and then, heart thudding in my chest, I stepped forward, slow and tentative . . .
"Ghost!" Lathain's shout came across the room, breaking the moment and starting K.C awake from her doze. The tall elf came striding to the window, looking pissed off "Do you want me to tell you what's going on or not?" he asked arms folded looking very much like a child. Is eyes showed intent jealousy at Whisperer
A low growl of annoyance could be heard, I was a little surprised to see that it wasn't just me, but Whisperer as well, Lathain caught it in an instant.
"Oh I see" he said grinning broadly "you two were about to hit it off big time, did I interrupt you in your special moment?" Air quoted fingers
"I was just asking . . ." Whisperer began
"And I said sure, and yes you are interrupting" I butted in ignoring the look of surprise from Whisperer followed quickly by a grin "Why should I care what's going on now anyway? You said yourself when I first arrived I should just leave, and you did just leave me and KC in the middle of fucking no-where"
"I didn't mean that you had to, I mean things have changed since we took the job and"
"I was about to leave" I carried on regardless of his feeble muttering "But Whisperer here has convinced me to stay, given that I think he should be involved in your little secret meeting, K.C too since she's about the only person here who's been in my good graces recently"
Lathain's mouth wagged up and down silently, lost for words, he looked from me to Whisperer, who simply held up his hands
"Hey mate, don't look at me, I got someplace to be, have your little meeting, I'll catch up later" with that he strode past Lathain to the door, thought better for it a moment and turned back "Friday?"
"Friday" I confirmed, I wish I had a comm. link to take Lathain's picture in that instant. The elf leaned in for a moment
"How well do you really know him?" Lathain asked me
"Intimately" I said copying Whisperer's earlier comment, I gave Lathain a smile, leaving my uneaten bar and half drunk coffee on the windowsill and walked to the adjoining room where a very confused looking Wizbit and Convoy waited.
"Do I want to know?" Convoy whispered to Wizbit, the mage shrugged.
"Probably not"
"The device is indeed a weapon" Lathain announced "Napper gave me that much before we blasted her to pieces" he grinned at that. "We've also managed to confirm that Napper was taking the device to auction in Chicago, her main man Demonia is carrying it on his person, Napper was to oversee the exchange between the weapon and the highest bidder whilst putting in a bid for it herself. Now I've been keeping tabs on the comm. chatter and the base are sending someone to take Napper's place, I vote we highjack this person and take their place instead, then swipe the weapon that way" he grinned again, a sound plan but for one problem.
"Yeah, great idea except the contact will have been given certain code words and such that we won't know about" Wizbit said voicing my thoughts
"Ah but this is where your magic mumbo jumbo stuff comes in, you can get him to talk" Lathain said, I looked to Wizbit who shook his head
"Neither of us has that capability" Wizbit said, the elf's ears dropped a little as did his grin.
"I can get him to talk" K.C said from the back where she leant casually "I just need five minutes" Lathain looked pleased, I groaned, this was never going to work
"Why don't we just go in as a bidder?" Convoy asked "Buy the thing legit" All eyes turned to him, probably with the same thought that I had which went along the lines of Why didn't we think of that? Convoy shrank down into his chair "I'm just saying" he mumbled
"And it's a good idea" I said "We'll do that, but I agree with Lathain that we need to stop Napper's counterpart, though I am curious as to why Napper didn't just stop the device going to Chicago in the first place if she wants it for herself, if we can compromise Napper's position then we can have a better chance of stealing the thing if we don't win the bid" there was a general murmur of agreement.
"Whilst Napper may want the device it's got umpteen trackers attached to it" Lathain said showing a slide "and the case it is in will only open when a command is given, a GPS command, meaning she couldn't open it until it got to the auction house"
"Do we know where this auction is going to take place?" KC asked
"Not yet, but there are a few people in the corridor who are privy to that information, a contact called Spook, she apparently wants the device too and is looking for a front man" Lathain looked to where Wizbit was sat "And I think of all of us she's more likely to trust our male mage than the rest of us"
Wizbit looked surprised and raised an eyebrow "And why is that?" he asked
"Because she has a soft spot for men of your type" Lathain grinned "So you're front man on this"
"What about the rest of us?" I asked
"Well we need a few extra eyes on the ground, we'll need someone to take Napper's position, Wizbit to work for this Spook chick, and we could take Convoy's idea and go in as a separate bidder, meaning three of us out for the count, we could do with extra bodies for back up" I heard a soft snort from KC that told me she was happy to be involved, they had me, possibly Whisperer, Convoy looked uneasy but nodded too
"We can ask if anyone else wants to join?" KC asked, Lathain and Wizbit pondered this a moment, shrugged then agreed.
"Right then, let's get ourselves into Chicago shall we?" Lathain grinned, happy once again.
During our three hour trip getting into Chicago the boys had been busy making contacts to get in, the office space we were taking up belonged to an old friend of Lathain's whose specialty was forgery of documents, old school method. Known simply as "The Professor" to runners his aged appearance coupled with his quick witted humour reminded me somewhat of Torrin, that and his old style forgery kit complete with inks, dyes, wax and foils; perhaps it was because actual paper copies were so rare they were only reserved for really important files and information. It worked the same way that Torrin did, with using servers and bandwidths that were no longer in use, meaning no one bothered to protect themselves from attack on those sides anymore. The while I sat by the window, the room too crowded and noisy to sleep; or that was my excuse, in reality I just didn't trust anyone enough to be around me when I slept. After a time KC joined me, lighting a cigarette and pulling deeply on the white stick.
"You should sleep" she said "you . . . "
"Yeah I know I look like crap" I interrupted, I was getting a little tired of hearing it
"I wasn't going to say that" she shrugged "I was going to say the guys are setting off at first light, we got a room with Geraldine to share, you know on account of that girl thing despite having stayed in mixed barracks for the last five years" she growled low, bitter at the memory.
"So what are your plans?" I asked
"No clue" she said honestly "I really thought I was going to die down there, didn't ever think I'd see sky again so didn't really make a plan as such"
"Family? Friends?" I asked, she shook her head
"Not anymore, they all think I'm dead, Mom died when I was a baby, dad brought me up but he passed on last year" she slid her eyes my way, "I looked them up, there was a guy I had been with, he's married now with a kid" she paused a moment, a hand absentmindedly stroked across her belly before continuing "We were engaged" she explained "Thinking of starting our own family, then I got the call out, got this" she indicated the huge scar across her throat "Woke up underground and been fighting to stay alive ever since" she paused and smiled "Well I say to stay alive, more like long enough to be a burden to the people who took me"
"Why did they put you there?" I asked curious
"Fuck if I know or even care" she snorted, putting out her cigarette stub on the windowsill "No clue where to go from here either, been out of the loop for a long time and I was never the most sociable of people before all this kicked off anyway, feel a little out of place and time, so much has gone on whilst I've been under, Patriots won every season though so that was something" she smiled at me.
"Why don't you . . ." I trailed off as her blue eyes slid to mine again "You could stay with me for a bit until you find your feet" I suggested
"Why?" I was a little taken aback by the question at first and it took me a moment to answer.
"Well firstly you need a place to stay and you did save my ass so I kind of owe you, that and I kinda wouldn't mind the company" I confessed "I've not been home alone for long, been staying with a . . . friend" I supplied "It's weird being in a completely silent house for so long" KC raised an eyebrow at me "I have issues" I explained "and I'm probably not the easiest person to live with on account of spark outs, nightmares and a general aversion to being near other people" I mumbled. KC cracked a grin.
"Sounds perfect" she said "That'd be grand" she stared out the window with me for a few minutes before speaking again. "So . . . you and Lathain" she began
"There's nothing going on" I interrupted
"Oh I know that" she said smugly "That's not what I was going to say, but now I know you're not the competition"
"Huh?" this sort of felt like déjà vu
"He's single right?" I blinked confused then nodded, she grinned
"Yeah he's available, I mean I think he is" I said suddenly feeling awkward
"And Whisperer?" she queried, I blushed unable to stop it from happening
"I think he's free too" I mumbled remembering the heat of his kiss "Pretty sure" KC laughed the sound musical and free, the sound seemed to startle her after a moment, as if she hadn't heard her own laugh for a long time, on reflection she probably hadn't.
"Fine, I'll leave him for you" she winked at me and turned to go
"That's not what I meant, I mean . . ." I tried to correct her, blushing hugely and failing to find the words "I mean we're not, what I meant to say was we, I mean I . . ." I fumbled for words clumsily, my face hot and no doubt as red as my hair.
"Chill girl" KC said "Was just asking" she winked again and moved on leaving me red faced.