Chapter 31 – Plus One
As Piper headed back out of the office, the team Instinctively grabbed their weapons and hurried out behind her. Piper was a little way up the corridor, having walked in the opposite direction to where Jack had run off to. She was stood outside a cell, looking in.
Nate was the first to reach Piper and he looked in through the cell window. There, lying on a bed was a young woman, without a stitch of clothing on, fast asleep.
Just then they heard a call from the other end of the corridor, indicating that Jack had found the elevator. Nate looked down to where the shout had come from.
"We can't just leave her here." Piper whispered.
Nate paused, "And I am not sure we can take her with us either. She is not exactly equipped for a fight, is she." Nate indicating the sleeping figure.
Cait and Curie took turns to look into the cell. "But she has no clothes on!" Curie exclaimed, pointing out the obvious.
"Listen, why don't we get Jack into this basement area that he is so keen to get to, and then ask him what is going on." Nate suggested. "Then we can come back here and rescue the damsel in distress, if she is indeed a damsel and in distress."
"She is naked and locked in a cell." Piper folded her arms, looking unamused, "I doubt she locked herself in there."
Nate nodded; Piper made a fair point. "Okay, but she is still not in any state to be running around out here, especially as we have no idea how many more raiders there are." Nate reasoned.
"I have some spare clothes," Curie volunteered. "Just leggings and a top, but better than nothing."
"Right, this is what we will do." Nate took control, "we have a job to do and it looks like we are nearly done. Once we have sorted Jack out …"
"Yes please," Cait raised her weapon.
Nate gave her an unamused look.
"Once we have Jack sorted, we can come back here and let our friend there out of her cell, if she wants, and find out what is going on, okay?" Nate looked round. "It's obvious she is not going anywhere, and she doesn't look in immediate danger, so let's get the mission finished first, right?" Although asking a question, Nate made his tone obvious that there was no room for debate. He looked around to each of the girls and they all nodded.
Moving down the corridor they met up with Jack at the end, who was stood beside a large service elevator. Jack looked at the illuminated buttons on the inside console.
"Good. The old utility elevator is still working. This will take us to the basement, come on, it is the only way down."
Nate looked at his team but none of them said anything about the interesting discovery they had just made, instead filing silently into the lift. Nate pressed the button and the elevator began descending. Nate guessed that they had dropped a good twelve storeys before the lift pinged and the doors opened. The room they entered was a filing and storage room, with rusty shelving and old filing cabinets against the walls. Directly ahead was another door. Jack ran over to it, and taking a key from his pocket, he unlocked it.
"Kill everyone you see. Don't hesitate. We can't let them release Lorenzo." Jack ordered, sounding almost frantic. With that the door was opened and Jack was running through it. The corridor that ran off ahead was roughly constructed, simple bare breeze block and a concrete floor. There were storage crates stacked up on either side. Running to catch up with Jack, the team made their way down some steps into a warehouse area before mounting further steps up into some kind of control room. Although the power was on and there were some consoles that were still working, most of the room looked long abandoned.
Nate moved up to where Jack was standing, looking out through a bank of sizable windows out into a large room beyond. The large high-ceilinged room contained a smaller capsule in its centre, which from here Nate could see acted as a prison cell. About the size of a standard bedroom, this fully enclosed capsule contained a bed, toilet and shower, a writing desk, a bookshelf and a reading chair. To get to it, it looked like there was a corridor running around the three other sides of the capsule, a bulkhead with sliding doors at each of the corners. Right now, a group of raiders had made it past all the bulkheads and were now stood by a bank of consoles opposite the entrance to the prison cell.
"Those idiots are trying to shut down the Abremalin field! That's the only thing keeping Lorenzo from breaking out of there." Jack shouted as he looked out through the control room window. "We need to get in there and stop them."
Suddenly a voice filled the room, Nate unsure of the source. It wasn't the usual tinny sounding voice from a public address system or speaker but instead it was very clear and commanding. "Hello, Jack. It's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of a personal visit."
"Father. I will stop this." Jack said softly as he began working at one of the computer terminals.
Nate and the girls looked through the large command room windows and into the cell beyond. They could see a figure stood at the cell window, looking directly at them. This must be Jacks father, Lorenzo. He was wearing a smart suit with a strange looking golden helmet on his head.
"My powers have grown, Jack. The artifact still has so much to teach me. Once I am free, I will be happy to teach you, too." Lorenzo said.
"Where is that voice coming from?" Exclaimed Cait under her breath, "This is real creepy."
"You know I can't let you out until I can remove the artifact." Jack responded to his father's suggestion. "Let me see …" Jack continues to tap away on the computer in front of him. "Lucifer's balls. They've locked down all the security doors. I'll have to open them one by one from here while you work your way down the hallway. Quickly now!" Jack turned to face Nate.
The team readied weapons and moved to the set of sliding doors leading to the first section of corridor.
"Lucifer's balls, really?" Piper chuckled under her breath, as she formed up next to Nate. Cait and Curie giggled and Nate just shook his head slowly.
The first set of doors slid open and, bringing their weapons to bear, the team entered in their traditional stack formation, making their way down the corridor.
"That's right. You need to shut down the containment field in order to open the door." Came Lorenzo's disembodied voice as the team advanced. "I'll be happy to show you how to get more of the serum. As soon as you let me out of here."
The second set of bulkhead doors slid open and the team turned right and continued down the corridor.
"I'm opening the main doors, Hurry!" came a shout from back down the corridor. Jack, was obviously still in the control room, running things from there. "The Abremalin Field is down!" Jack shouted as the final doors slid open.
The team immediately engaged the group of three raiders who had broken into Lorenzo's inner sanctum. Nate and Cait kneeled and began firing at the two who were moving towards the door to Lorenzo's cell. Piper and Curie squeezed past and turning right, worked their way around to the other side of the cell to engage the last one. Nate and Cait felled their targets with aimed shots, and a burst of automatic gun fire from Nate's right told him the third raider had fallen to Curie and Piper.
In the middle of the chaos of the gun fight, Lorenzo's voice continued to resonate around the chamber.
"That's it, I can feel my strength returning. Now I will finally be free!"
"It's not too late," Jack shouted from his place in the control room, using the address system. His voice metallic and raspy, a direct opposite to his father's almost god like resonance. "It will take some time for him to regain his powers. We still have a chance to stop him."
"Don't listen to my son. He's the crazy one, you know this. Look at what he has done to me." Exhorts Lorenzo.
"I have built a failsafe into the containment grid." Jack announced. "Switch the four Abremalin generators to "manual override" and I can flood his cell with a lethal dose of zeta radiation."
'He wants me to do what?' Nate asked himself, looking around. He spotted Curie picking up some vials from a table off to her side of the room, but what did Jack mean. Where were the manual override switches?
"Do the right thing. Open this door and let me out." Lorenzo intoned.
"As soon as you set the Abremalin generators I can end this." Jack announced.
"Think back on everything Jack has told you. Who do you think is really the crazy one here." Lorenzo droned.
'Generators, where are the generators,' Nate asked himself as he looked around.
"Here!" shouted Cait as she ran to a large double throw lever on the wall near one of the terminals. "There is another one over there," She pointed.
'Way to go, Cait', Nate thought as he ran to one and flipped it.
"Hurry, his powers are returning." Jack shouted.
Cait flipped the one she was stood next to.
"Everything my son has told you about me is a self-serving lie. That must be obvious now." Lorenzo shouted, sounding more desperate now.
Nate spotting the third at the other end of the room, sprinted to it and flipped the final lever.
"That's it!" cried Jack, "you've done it!" Jack's voice softened, "I am sorry father. I did everything I could to avoid this. I believe I was close to finding a way to remove the artifact."
"Liar!" shouted Lorenzo as he fell to the floor of his cell, the radiation obviously having an effect. "You would have fed upon me here forever if you had your way!" Nate came to stand at the window of the cell. "Puny worm, do you … truly think … you have … the power … to destroy me?" Lorenzo then took his last ragged breath and lay still.
"Goodbye, father." Jack said quietly.
Nate looked at the girls and said, "right, let's get out of here."
Back at the command centre, Nate went up to the still figure of Jack who was looking down at the terminal he had been working on. "We didn't have any other choice, did we?" Jack asked.
Nate stayed silent, as there wasn't much he could say anyway. He knew little of the reason why Jack had imprisoned his father or what the serum Jack had him find was used for. As if reading his mind Jack turned to face Nate.
"I suppose I owe you an explanation for all this." He paused. "It all began on a secret expedition to the Rub' al Khali desert in the Middle East back in 1894. My father and his partner went searching for the hidden city of Ubar. My father's research had led him to believe that this city had once been populated by visitors from another world. They discovered a subterranean structure holding non-human remains and artifacts. Among these artifacts was a mysterious crown, which became the only item Lorenzo took from the site. Burying his work, fearing its discovery Lorenzo returned to Boston wearing this crown."
The girls had come to join Nate to listen to what Jack was saying about his father.
"That was the thing he had on his head, no?" confirmed Curie.
"Yes indeed. This crown changed my father and not for the better. Lorenzo returned to Boston a changed man, both physically and mentally. The artifact he wore greatly boosted his physical condition, halting his aging, increasing his strength, and even giving him psychic abilities such as telekinesis. It also could no longer be removed from him without causing great physical damage. Furthermore, Lorenzo became increasingly psychotic, paranoid, and violent, posing a risk to everyone around him; his personality became unrecognizable to the rest of us, his family. He proceeded to commit numerous crimes which would have landed him the death penalty had it not being for my intervention. For his protection and that of the family, Edward and I confined him here in the basement of the asylum."
"So, what has this to do with the serum you had us find a while back?" Nate asked.
"Ah, yes, the serum." Jack looked down. "In my studies to find a way to remove the helmet, I discovered the compounds in my father's blood that could halt aging. This is the reason why you see us, as a family, much as we were at the end of the nineteenth century."
"And what about the woman you have locked in the cells back there?" Piper stepped forward, standing a little too close to Jack.
"Oh, Valkyrie, erm yes… she's quite something is our Valkyrie." Jack stammered.
"Yes, go on." Piper said, smiling as Jack took a step back.
"It was all part of the plan, you see." Jack looked at Nate, a slightly crazed glint in his eyes. "Lorenzo's blood was so fascinating, it held such magic. We had all benefitted from its marvels. But I had to ask myself the question, what if we could infuse blood into a subject so that they had nothing but Lorenzo's blood in them, what wonders would we discover then?" Jack enthused to his sceptical audience.
"So, let me get this straight," Cait stated, "you found someone and injected them with Lorenzo's blood, so you could harvest your voodoo juice directly from them rather than Lorenzo. Then you could kill Lorenzo and get the helmet from him, whilst maintaining your supply of eternal youth?" Cait did nothing to hide her contempt for Jack and his ethics.
"It's nothing like that, I swear!" Jack exclaimed, "But whilst you might not approve, I have to admit that I wouldn't have been able to have done this without you. I owe you this much at least." Jack handed Nate a note, on it was a promise to pay the bearer one thousand caps. "Present this at my house, Bunker Hill, Good Neighbour or the Dugout and you will be paid."
"And the girl?" Piper reminded Jack.
"Oh, she can go with you if you want, I have everything I need from her now that I can create the serum artificially." Jack smiled a smile that contained no warmth.
"Thank you for this," Nate held up the note, "We shall head off now, but do let us know how you get on."
"I have done so much research on the artifact … I may be able to do something with it. Come back and see me at Cabot House in about a week or so. All my research may not have been completely in vain."
Before Nate could say anything, Jack ran off up the corridor to his father's cell.
"I don't like that guy one bit," Piper said quietly as she moved up to stand next to Nate.
"Really!" Nate smiled at Piper, "you had not made that entirely obvious from the very first time we met him. You have been very subtle."
"Listen, we got paid didn't we?" Cait joined in, sticking up for her friend.
"Yes, we did, and I don't know about you guys, but I quite fancy getting the hell out of here." Nate suggested.
"What about the girl?" Curie asked.
"Oh yes, of course." Nate turned to Curie, "lets go back and talk to the naked girl, locked in her cell, as if this day wasn't weird already."
The team made their way back to the Elevator and up to the Level the prison cells were on. Moving up to stand outside the same cell, Nate coughed lightly as he looked through the mesh window. The figure first looked up from where she was lying and then slowly stood. The girl was a little taller than his Cait, but she had the same muscular definition, whilst being locked up she had obviously been keeping herself fit. Her hair was blonde and cut short in a messy bob style.
"You better have a damn good reason for being here, you lost or something?"
For some reason Nate was needled at that. As a potential rescuer, shouldn't she be a little less snarky to him and the team.
"Oh, I woke up here. Just me, my underwear and regret." He said sarcastically.
"Funny. Levity is in short supply around here." The naked girl responded.
"Are you ok?" Curie asked.
"I've got a couple of split ends and haven't rebalanced my stock portfolio in a while, but other than that, I'm dandy." The girl answered.
'A smart mouth', Nate thought to himself. This girl reminded him of Haylen, the young Brotherhood of Steel Scribe who was under Paladin Danse's command. He was starting to like her.
"How did you end up in there." Piper asked over Cait's shoulder.
"If I told you, you'd think I was crazy. Then again … You are standing in front of a naked woman locked in an abandoned insane asylum, so yeah …"
"Okay," Nate smiled, "What's really going on here." Yes, he really liked this girl.
"Fine," the girl said, "I'll tell you. But don't say I didn't warn you … My name's Valkyrie. I was kidnapped in the year 2075 and brought here to serve as Jack Cabot's guinea pig. Jack's team ran horrible experiments on me for over two years, and then a nuclear war broke out and I've been here ever since. Every so often taken for little walks by some of Jack's cronies but for the most time, this has been my home." Valkyrie indicated around the small cell.
"You are joking," exclaimed Curie.
"Tell you what … there's no way you're gonna take my word for it." Valkyrie said, smiling. "If our roles were reversed, I wouldn't believe me either. Why don't you have a look at that terminal in the office across the hall. See if my story checks out, and then you can let me out of here. What do you say?"
"Well, that depends," Cait replied, "what are you offering in return?"
Nate looked at Cait with surprise on his face. He thought all his girls were keen to let Valkyrie out of her cell, and here was Cait in full on negotiation mode.
"I'm sure we can work something out. How about you unlock the door, and then we'll talk." Valkyrie responded, a small amount of desperation perceptible in her voice.
Nate stepped back, interested to see how Cait would handle this. Piper looked a bit apprehensive as to Cait's line of questioning, but she was also keeping out of this part of the discussion.
"I'm not sure I should trust you." Cait stated. Nate knew this would be a test to see how quick to anger Valkyrie could be.
"I could say the same about you. Of course, you're the one holding the gun." Valkyrie stated with no sarcasm or anger in her voice, just calm resignation.
Nate could see that Cait liked that response. "Alright," Cait turned to look at Nate, who nodded back. "You can come with us. But you'd better not make us regret this." She said firmly.
"Thank you for that. I'll make it worth your while … The door lock is controlled by the terminal in the office."
"Well done, very firm." Nate said quietly, as Cait brushed past to move out of the way of the door. Nate and Piper made their way into the office and over to the terminal that was used to control the cell doors.
Piper moved up to the terminal and began typing. "So, it has three entries in here dated October 2077." She read from the screen. "Written by someone called Charlotte, it reads: It took longer than we expected, but we've finally collected enough blood from Lorenzo to perform the full transfusion on patient S-18. The procedure remains scheduled for October 19th." Piper then moved the cursor to another screen. "This next one is titled 'Success'. These sick fuckers…" She shook her head.
Nate moved to look over her shoulder as Curie and Cait also came into the room to listen to what Piper was reading. "S-18 has survived the transfusion procedure… thus far. It remains to be seen whether she will be capable of producing serum doses equivalent in potency to those from Lorenzo. We've invested over two years and dozens of experiments on her. Hopefully it wasn't for nothing."
"Valkyrie wasn't wrong, then." Curie stated.
"The next one is the day the bombs fell, nothing to do with Val." Piper said.
"Val, makes her sound old." Nate smiled. "So, what do we think, we are letting her out right?" He looked around at the girls, each nodding in return.
Piper selected the unlock option and the team went back into the corridor. Moving up to the now open cell door, Curie began to search through her pack, pulling out some clothes to give to Valkyrie.
"So," Valkyrie takes a deep breath, "If you have read that terminal, I am assuming you have some questions."
Piper steps forward to stand next to Nate, "So you are immortal?" she asked, referring to the fact that Valkyrie seemed to have been transfused with Lorenzo's blood and he didn't age.
"I don't know," Valkyrie shrugged, "I mean, if you chopped my head off, I'm pretty sure that would be the end of me. But as far as aging, disease, and death from natural causes… Yeah, I'm pretty much forever young." She stated as she took the clothes being offered to her from Curie. "Thanks." She smiled.
Cait chuckles, "Would you be willing to share some of that immortality juice with us?" She asked. Nate rolled his eyes and looked at Cait. "What?" she responded defensively.
"So that little titbit was on the terminal too, huh? Well, I guess we'll see." Valkyrie smiled as she began getting dressed. "Let's get out of this place first and then we can talk about it."
The team waited until Valkyrie was dressed with the clothes Curie had provided. Piper had gone back into the office and had gone through one of the lockers and found a pair of women's trainers.
"Ah, the lovely Nurse Deesil, thank you Charlotte." Valkyrie said ironically.
"Friend of yours?" Asked Cait.
"You have no idea," Valkyrie responded, showing real contempt for the previous owner of the shoes she was handed. Now fully dressed, Valkyrie walked out of her cell, looking around as if still suspicious of the team's intentions. "So, I have to ask," she looked at Piper, "where do you stand on this Cabot drama?"
Piper shrugs, "I don't know what to think."
"If reading that terminal didn't convince you what a monster Jack is, I don't know what will." Valkyrie stated a little defensively. "Lorenzo's been imprisoned for close to four hundred years. Don't you think that's enough?" The team began to walk to the elevator.
"Come this way," Nate shepherded Valkyrie towards the elevator. "Lorenzo is dead I am afraid." He stated, "Sorry."
"That is a shame, I owe my life to Lorenzo." Valkyrie paused for a second, "It's his blood that runs through my veins and has kept me alive all these years." She continued.
"Right, come on." Nate ordered, "Let's get out of here."
The team and Valkyrie made their way back down the service elevator and through to the Lab Jack was still working in. As soon as Valkyrie saw Jack, she began to move towards him, scooping up a small glass bottle as she did. Nate and Cait spotted this and grabbed an arm each, moving the girl in the opposite direction, towards the other lift.
"Oh no you don't, missy." Nate growled. "In the lift or I'll lock you up again." He hissed. Valkyrie didn't resist much and allowed herself to be manhandled into the elevator. As the lift doors closed, Nate turned to Valkyrie, "I get your urge to want to carve that man up into a million pieces, I really do." Nate pointed back the way they came. "But we are not doing that yet. Everything in good time."
The lift climbed and Valkyrie went silent. She jumped at the ping of the lift, announcing its arrival at ground level.
"I cannot wait to breathe fresh air," she said quietly.
"I bet," Cait smiled at her.
The team made their way to the foyer of the asylum and readied their weapons, preparing to leave the building.
"Don't suppose I can have something, just in case there are any raiders outside?" Valkyrie asked, pointing to Nate's weapon.
"Not yet." Nate answered softly. "We've got you, don't worry about that."
Nate and Curie stepped up to the entrance and took up positions either side of the doors. Cait and Piper pulled their weapons into their shoulders and nodded. On that signal, Nate and Curie opened a door each and stepped back, allowing Piper and Cait to move through. Nate and Curie following shortly afterwards.
"Right!" Piper shouted as she saw a raider making his way towards the door. She dropped him with two shots from her weapon. The team then spread to out cover all directions, with Valkyrie in the centre. They paused in position, to listen and look for further threats. After a few minutes, they all relaxed a little.
"Wow, that was very … military," Valkyrie said in surprise. "Who taught you that?" she asked.
"Fort Bragg," Nate answered, happy that a civilian would have no idea what units were stationed there before the war.
"Green Beret, huh?" Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "How come you are still, well you know, young?"
"Oh my god, you are now his best friend!" Cait laughed with the other girls, "none of us would call him young." She smiled.
"Thank you, Cait." Nate tried to frown at his Irish girlfriend. "I was frozen in a vault near Sanctuary. But how come you know Fort Bragg?" Nate asked.
"Frozen, wow!" Valkyrie looked surprised. She then realised Nate was waiting for an answer to his question, "Oh, sorry, I was Army Signals," she answered.
"So how did you end up here?" Piper jumped in.
"Well … I am not really sure, you know." Valkyrie looked puzzled. "You see, when I arrived at Parsons in 2075, it wasn't because I was crazy. Someone kidnapped me and brought me here. But I am fuzzy on the details." Valkyrie's voice went softer, "For my own sanity, I would love to find out who took me and why."
"We are a bit open here, how about we get moving and we can talk on the way." Nate began to look around.
"Is the whole of Boston this shitty?" Valkyrie asked. Nate smiled, yes, he did like this girl. For someone having just been introduced to the post-apocalyptic Boston, she was acting very calm and collected.
As the team began to patrol, Nate took up position next to Valkyrie in the middle of the line. "So why don't you tell us what you do know."
"The last day I remember," Valkyrie began, "before waking up bound at Parsons, I had a doctor's appointment. You see, before the war, my unit was called up and we were scheduled to ship out to Anchorage, Alaska, to assist in the war effort there." The team moved out of the grounds of the asylum and began their walk back down to Finch's Farm. "But before leaving I had to complete a routine physical and gets some blood work done. My appointment was in the morning at Medford Memorial Hospital, and it all seemed to go normal. But afterwards I was feeling lightheaded, so when I got home I just hung out on the couch and watched TV the rest of the day. Had a light dinner, watched the sunset and went to bed early … after that … my memory is a complete blank. Next thing I remember is that I am an inmate at Parsons."
Curie, who was covering the rear of the patrol, asked, "Is there anything else you remember?"
"No, that's the crazy part. The last thing I recall clearly was watching the sunset. All I know is that at Parsons, I overheard them talking about there being something unique in my blood or DNA. And just before being abducted I had blood work done. That can't be a coincidence, right?"
"So, what are you going to do next, seeing as you are now free." Cait asked, "go back in there and carve Jack up?"
Valkyrie was silent for a little while. Nate looked over at her and saw a flicker of fear flash across her face.
"Well, seeing as I am new around here, is there any chance I can hang with you guys. I am not completely useless and know how to handle a weapon." Valkyrie stopped and turned to Nate. "You're the unit OC right?"
Nate paused, "In the field, yes." He smiled. "But longer term, what are your plans, what would you like to do?"
Valkyrie smiled, "Don't have any plans," she shrugged, "I wasn't really sure I would ever get out of there, but as far as what I would like to do." She paused, "Maybe head back to Medford Hospital, or what's left of it, and see if anything can jog my memory."
The team had moved a little way from the entrance to the asylum grounds and were nearing a clump of trees.
"What were you called in your unit?" Nate asked.
"Oh, the lads called me V," Valkyrie answered.
"I like that," Nate smiled, "Let's get to those trees and I just need a few minutes with the team before I can fully answer your request. If that's ok?" Nate indicated the trees ahead.
"Sure," V answered, and she walked a few metres ahead.
Nate stopped and the girls came to stand in a huddle around him. "Alright then, thoughts?" he said looking to his right and Piper.
"Oh, she has to join the group, we can't let her wander about on her own, military or not." Piper was shaking her head. "I mean, the girl has been through enough already, we can't walk away now." She stated passionately.
Nate looked directly ahead to Curie, who was stood to Pipers right. "You?" he asked.
"I agree, we must help … but then there is the thing." Curie slowly shrugged, indicating that she wasn't sure of the answer.
"Thing?" Piper asked.
"Oh!" Cait nodded, realisation coming to her. "The Mr Bossy thing."
"Oh, yes, that thing." Piper blushed.
Nate looked at Cait, "Ok, setting the discipline issue aside, what do you think?" He asked.
"I like her," Cait said, "She's … pretty cool."
"And you, Blue?" Piper asked back.
"Oh, I am with Cait, I like her. Cool as a cucumber, even after what she has been through. The fact is if we let her join us what do we say? 'Come on V, you have to agree to get spanked on occasion, if you want to join our team?'" Nate smiled, "Who gets to tell her about that bit?"
"Nah!" Cait dismissed the concern, "She's military, she'll be great at this stuff."
"We will still have to explain us to her." Piper took on a serious tone. "I don't want to bring anyone in who might stay for a bit and then clear off, telling everyone about us."
"We can't keep it from her when we are back home, Nate, that would be impossible." Curie agreed.
"Ok, so apart from the impossible task of explaining us to our new team member, we like V and want to welcome her in, right?" Nate looked at the team.
"Really a wine and whisky discussion, don't you think?" Curie smiled.
"Is that before or after the chat about us two," Cait grinned cheekily, indicating her and Nate.
"But we can't hold her hanging until then, can we. That's not cool." Nate answered his own question. Looking at his three teammates, they all agreed.
"We just have to rip that band aid off, don't we?" Cait asked.
"Yup, grab the nettle." Piper nodded.
"No time like the present," Curie smiled.
Nate chuckled, "I'll need your help, you know that." He looked at his companions. "Having it just coming from me will make me sound weird."
"Well," Cait smirked, "she'll have to realise that sometime, sweetie, better she learn that now."
Nate began to walk back towards Valkyrie. "Don't think I won't give you another spanking here and now, miss Murphy." Nate said, over his shoulder, and way too loud for Valkyrie not to have heard him. Suddenly realising what he had just done, he turned his head back to see Valkyrie smiling at him.
"My god," V laughed, "you sound just like my old boyfriend." She moved up to join the rest of the girls. "He was way too keen on a particular leather belt of his. But then again," she shrugged, smiling broadly, "sometimes, I just couldn't help it."
THE END
©Agoodhiding 2023