Jade is so sweet...
Eleven
"Okay, so how are you guys today?" Tori pulled both legs up under her and sat cross legged, leaning on the arm of her chair as she regarded her small group of teens. "Did you have a good Thanksgiving?"
Five sets of eyes rolled. "I hate holidays." Lena groaned. "We had the whole family, my grandparents, the cousins, everyone at our house. I had to dress up. It sucked." The tiny, brown girl made a face.
Tori chuckled. "Oh yeah.. I remember those days." She said, "Thanksgiving was always big at my parent's house. We had thirty, or forty people there sometimes."
"Did you like it?" Lena asked, doubtfully.
Tori thought about that. "Sometimes." She answered. "When I was really young, I did, because all my cousins would come over, and we were too little for anything really formal. They'd let us loose in the solar with a couple of the nannies, and we'd have a ball."
"Oo." Erisa pushed a lock of dark hair back off her forehead. "You were, like, super rich, huh?"
"My parents are well off, yes." Tori replied.
"So, what did you do for Thanksgiving?" Lena asked. "Did you cook that turkey you got?"
How did we end up talking about me? Tori wondered. "Yes and no. I did get to cook it, but it was a few days late. I was out of town for the holiday."
Casey sat up. "You took off? What'd your SO think of that?" Everyone's ears perked up visibly, and they watched Tori with interest.
"Mm… well, Jade knows my job entails a lot of traveling, so she understood." Sort of . "But as it turned out, she was traveling too, and we both ended up in Chicago together. So, it worked out." Time to change the subject. "Anyone seen Barbara? She usually doesn't miss a group meeting."
"Oh.. yeah, I forgot to tell you." Lena slapped her head. "Shit man, my brain is like, not even here. She got promoted." She snapped her fingers. "Like to an assistant manager, you know? She had to work a little late tonight. I went by there on my way here."
"That rocks." Erisa clapped her hands. "So, like, Tori, I guess you were right, you know?"
Tori smiled. "I guess I was." She agreed. 'I'm glad to hear that. It's good to know that Barbara took a chance, and she really got something out of it." Her body shifted and she straightened up a little. "That's a good message. Sometimes you do have to take risks, and those risks turn out to be some of the best things in your life."
"I dunno." Lena sighed. "I had to listen to my folks for two days tell me how I should get a boyfriend. They're so clueless, I mean, like... hello? Those are not pictures of Timothee Chalemet on my wall, okay?" She twisted her limbs in the chair, moving into a position that made Tori wonder if she had bones or plastic rods in her body. "You think they'd know, you know? Do I have to paint , like, my whole room in friggen rainbow stripes?"
"They'd probably think you were just doing that retro seventies thing." Casey snorted. "My freaking father finally caught a clue when I dumped a box of friggin condoms he'd left in my room in his cereal bowl and told him I wasn't interested in letting anything that fit in them fit in me."
Tori bit back a snort of laughter. "What did he say?"
Casey shrugged, and laughed without humor. "He said thank fucking god, at least I wouldn't go out and get stupid and pregnant, and make him pay for it."
"Yo… he'd rather you be gay than a slut, right?" Lena remarked. "My folks would rather I be dead than gay."
Tori sobered. "You don't know that."
"Sure I do." The slim blond looked directly at her. "My mom told me that, right to my face, after she watched some PragerU shit about gay kids." A snort. "She said if she ever found out I was gay, she'd shut me up in my room and gas me. She lives in Fucking San Francisco… but as long as it aint' her kid…"
Holy crap. Tori took a breath to steady herself. "I don't think she meant that." She reassured the girl. "Parents say things like that to scare their kids sometimes."
Lena shrugged. "Yeah, maybe, but I know why so many gay kids pretend they ain't. You get so sick of people thinking you're just so fucked up. "
"Yeah." Elina nodded. "I was thinking the other day, is it even worth it?"
Tori sat up, and put both feet on the ground, clasping her hands between her knees as she leaned forward. "Listen." She spoke slowly, and quietly. "My parents don't like me being gay either, and that hurts, because I love my family very much." She sorted through her feelings. "I hated having to make a choice between them, and the truth about myself."
"They just don't get it." Elina remarked softly. "It's like they don't understand it, so they have to hate it."
Tori nodded. "That's true, and believe me, I was scared after I realized I was going to have to face that. I didn't want them to hate me." She paused, and collected her thoughts. "You know, I never knew what it would be like to fall in love. So when I fell in love with Jade, it was all so much of a surprise to me. How good it felt, and what an amazingly powerful emotion love is."
They all looked at each other, then back at her.
"It's worth it." Tori stated simply. "I wouldn't give up Jade for all the money, or the approval of my parents, or anything else in the world."
There was utter silence, and she glanced from face to face, as they stared. "C'mon, it wasn't that profound." Tori chuckled, then realized they weren't staring at her, they were staring past her. She turned her head, to find Jade leaning in the doorway, her arms folded, and a quiet, pleased smile on her face. "Ah. It's you."
"Yes, it is." Jade agreed.
Tori was aware she was blushing. "C'mon in. Guys, this is Jade."
The sandy haired woman entered and circled Tori's chair, perching on an arm of it as she regarded the circle of young faces. "Hi." She greeted them briefly, then turned her attention to her victim. "You're late."
Tori found herself flailing bewilderedly in that sea of blue. "I am? For what?"
"You have an appointment with me, some of my stone crab friends, and a tall bottle." Jade told her, watching the startled delight creep into Tori's features. "With lots of bubbles in it." She turned her head and peered at the girls. "You'll excuse her, right?"
Five heads nodded.
"Good." Jade turned her attention back to Tori. "Well?" She held a hand out, palm upmost, and a lifted an eyebrow. Tori put her own hand up and clasped it, their fingers curling warmly around each other. Jade stood, and tugged, and waited for Tori to join her.
"Um." Tori faced her group, who were now smiling and giggling at her. "I guess I'll see you guys next week, huh?" She flashed them a rueful grin. "See? She's definitely a keeper."
They walked out of the meeting room and out through the church, still clasping hands, respecting the peaceful silence until they pushed the large outer door open, and went from the slightly close air into a cool fall night and a gusty breeze tinged heavily with salt. "Wow." Tori turned her head to regard the profile outlined in stars next to her. "That was a surprise."
Jade nodded. "I know. I had a tough day, and ended up getting through it by planning the night with you." She admitted. "C'mon…let's go count stars."
Tori smiled and turned her face to the wind as they walked towards the small, seaside restaurant nearby, its table candles fluttering in the breeze. Her hand felt warm in Jade's, and the concrete sidewalk seemed to turn into a soft cloud.
The ocean rolled in nearby, a rhythmic shush and roar followed by a faint tinkle of shells. Jade and Tori were sitting braced against a tree with their legs extended out along sand still holding the day's warmth. Or, to be more precise, Jade was leaning against the tree, and Tori was leaning against Jade, as she was seated between her wife's legs in a blissfully comfortable sprawl.
"So, I'm a keeper, huh?" Jade drawled, a hint of a chuckle in her voice.
"You bet your boots, Dixie Cup." Tori lifted one of the hands clasped loosely around her waist and kissed it. "How long were you in that doorway, anyhow?"
"Not long." Jade said. "I heard what that little blond haired girl said, then what you said back."
Tori exhaled. "I can't believe her mother said that. How could a parent be that…" She paused, and reflected. "You know, I don't think even my parents would have said something like that to me."
"You think the mother was serious?" Jade sounded doubtful. "That sounded like one of those 'if you don't behave, I'm going to cut your hands off' kind of parental things."
"That's what I thought too, then." Tori agreed. "But the more I think about it, the more I wonder why someone would say that to a child, even if it wasn't serious."
"Well." Jade shifted a little, then gave Tori a squeeze. "I don't know. You get frustrated, I guess. When I look back on when I was younger, I know my mother said things to me that came from her being so at a loss with how to deal with things that I did." She paused. "I think maybe you want your kids to be perfect, so when they're not, and you can see all the things you want to be different in them, it gets you crazy." Another pause. "But even when she said things, I never remember feeling afraid of her."
"No.. but if you're really upset about something, and scared, you take things like that to heart, Jade." Tori sighed. "When I had my confrontation with my parents, I was an adult at least. I knew who I was, and I was old enough to have developed a mind of my own."
Jade chuckled. "I'd certainly agree with that statement."
Tori stuck her tongue out at her. She found it caught between Jade's teeth an instant later as it was gently nibbled and tasted, then lips brushed hers and disappeared, restoring the view of the ocean to her. "Oo." Tori enjoyed the tingling. "That was erotic." She turned her head. "Can we do it again?"
"Only if you're interested in making the front page of the Lifestyles section of the Chronicle." Jade indicated the strolling passersby. "On the other hand, I know a hot tub that might be willing to look the other way for us."
"Eeoorwl" Tori emitted a contented gurgle and stretched. "I could go for that. You can tell me more about this petty person who's giving you such a migraine. Do I need to come down to the base again and have a chat with her?"
Jade stood, tugging Tori up with her, and they started back towards the church parking lot. "No. The Chief's all right. At least she knows what she's doing, and understands base ops. I just get the feeling she'd like to bump me into the two hundred pound hamburger grinders and give herself a mark for reducing chow costs." She said, "I feel like I'm walking around with a slightly rabid dog trotting around after me, ready to clamp on at any second."
"Hm." Tori's nose wrinkled up as she smiled. "I think that's how people feel about you sometimes, you know."
A sigh. "I know."
"Not really nice, huh?" The brown eyes twinkled.
Jade gave her a look. "Are you laughing at me?"
Tori pulled her closer, tucking her hand around Jade's arm. "I'm not laughing at you. I was just thinking that it must be strange for you to be faced with the kind of challenge that you usually present to other people." She felt Jade sigh again. "Why don't you try making friends with her? I'm sure you two have something in common."
They approached Tori's car, and she power unlocked the door, then muffled a smile as Jade opened it for her. She got in and paused, as her wife leaned on the window and watched her get settled. "Meet you at home."
"Drive careful." Jade told her, then closed the door. She walked around the back of the Spider and got into her own car, starting it and pulling out after Tori onto the main street. They drove along the beach road and turned right onto the highway that led home, navigating the relatively sparse traffic in tandem. They reached the bay bridge and rolled over it, reaching the top and starting down the other side.
It took Jade's mind a frantic second to confirm the headlights coming towards them were really in the wrong lane, a half ton of truck barrelling down towards Tori who was starting to react, throwing her wheel hard to the left and sending the Spider bolting towards the center edge.
For a second, Jade froze, her eyes caught in the glaring headlights bearing down on both of them. Then she reacted in pure instinct, gunning the engine of the Volvo and roaring past Tori, putting herself between the oncoming four by four and the skidding Spider as she slid into a sideways block.
The blue vehicle jerked to the right, then suddenly made a hard turn, skimming Jade's front bumper as it clawed it's way over the center edge and teetering over nearly making it onto the eastbound lanes, missing a taxi by a hair and hanging over the bay precariously..
Jade slowly unclenched her fingers from the steering wheel and pushed back, her heart slamming so hard in her chest it threatened to squeeze between her ribs and escape. She jerked the door open and tumbled out of the car, hanging on to the edge of the window for a long moment as her shaking legs refused to hold her up. Then she took a breath and forced herself into a run to where Tori's car was half up onto the center island, her engine off, and her headlights shining wanly into the bay.
The door opened as Jade reached it, and she yanked impatiently, dropping to her knees beside the seat as Tori leaned halfway out. "Hey." She hugged Tori to her in mindless relief, feeling the shaky breath as Tori buried her face against Jade's neck. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Tori nodded. "Just scared the holy pooters out of me."
"Me too."
Tori released her, and got out of the car, leaning on Jade's shoulder as she glanced around, and examined the damage. Though the other car hadn't touched her, climbing onto the center edge had done evil things to a car not intended as a four wheel drive vehicle. "Erf."
Jade got to her feet and regarded the apparently broken axle. "Well, that's it."
"That's what?" Tori was leaning against the side of the car. She turned and gave her wife a puzzled look. "I'm sure they can fix this."
"You're getting a new car." Jade responded matter of factly. "If that thing had hit you, this would have folded like a used piece of tin foil."
"Oh, I don't know about that, Jade.. it always seemed pr.." Tori got a good look at Jade's face, and cut her sentence off in mid word. As traffic around them began to flow slowly, some honks of support. Some pulling over to where the truck driver was stuck in the cab. "Well, I was thinking about a new one the other day. Maybe it's a good idea." She walked over and leaned against her partner. "Can we call a tow for this, and go home? "
"No can do… That guy is gonne need some help.." Jade took out her cell phone as they walked towards the balefully crouching Volvo , its hazard lights flashing as traffic drove cautiously around it. "We can go car shopping on the web when we get there."
Tori let out a slightly hysterical chuckle. "Honey, we don't have to do that.. besides, I think I want to check out one of these for myself." She patted the SUV. "It's nice and solid, right?"
Jade glanced up from her conversation. "I was thinking maybe a Hummer." She went back to the phone, and gave directions.
"A what?"
"Unless maybe Dad could get a Humvee." Jade closed the phone, tapping it against her chin thoughtfully, her face completely serious. "He probably could."
Tori knocked on her chest. "Hello? Earth to Jade? I'm not driving an armored personnel carrier around San Francisco, so I hope you're joking."
Jade nudged her into the car, then closed the door and got in on the driver's side. "Deny that it wouldn't be handy in afternoon traffic." She started the car and moved cautiously into drive. "Maybe a tank."
"Jade."
"What? They come in surplus, and dad loves tinkering with the engines."
"Jade!"
"Hell to park, though."
"You are joking, right?"
Pale blue eyes regarded her, as they waited for the emergency vehicles to arrive. "Yes." Jade finally smiled. "I tend to say stupid things when I lose my mind."
Tori lifted a hand, and they interlaced fingers, a gesture that always brought a sense of warm familiarity to both of them. "Well, I was completely safe. I had this huge Volvo between me and the kamikaze wackos. They'd have probably bounced off and ended up in the Bay." She was rewarded by another smile. "Crazy people."
Jade nodded,walked toward the precarious vehicle in quiet relief that it hadn't been her. The draining of the adrenaline that had raced through her body left her almost sleepy in it's absence, "you alright?" another bystander asked. She nodded becoming a bit sluggish. The Police and other emergency vehicles arrived.
The police took their statements, and with pleading and assurances that the Tractor had missed them, the two women were able to drive home once Tori's car was towed.
As they rode over to the island. Then she turned and gazed at Tori's profile. "You sure a Hummer's out of the question?"
"Jade."
"They come in nice colors."
"Blue, gray and green." Tori regarded her bemusedly. "And black. I'd like something a little lighter."
"Hmph." Jade leaned her knee against the steering wheel. "The tank comes in desert camo.. that's light."
"Jade." Tori started laughing. "Would you just cut that out? I'm not getting a tank."
They were both quiet for a few minutes.
"Can you imagine the gas mileage those things get?" Tori finally spoke up. "It'd cost a fortune."
"No problem. I'll give you a raise to cover it." Jade responded instantly. They looked at each other, then they both burst out laughing in relief. "Think of the impression you'd give, pulling up to a consolidation in THAT." Jade got out.
Tori just kept laughing.
Thunder rolled sullenly over the ocean, lightning flashes outlining the whitecaps which scurried up the beach and ruffled the water's dark surface.
Most of the island was still dark, the houses squatting on the edge of the land silent and brooding, their windows blank and featureless in the predawn hours.
From one outward facing window, however, a faint light poured. Anyone insane enough to be walking out along the beach in the storm would have seen a profile outlined in it, as someone stood inside the dry, safe building watching the surge of the waves.
"Wow." Tori leaned against the counter, feeling the cool surface through the thin cotton of her shirt. "Glad I'm not out there." She turned her head as the toaster released four slices of fragrant cinnamon raisin toast. "Ah." A moment later the toast was resting on plates, and she was spreading softened butter over it. They were so used to waking up early, that even today, when their usual morning run was out of the question they both were up and rambling around the house.
Jade was in her study catching up on mail, and Tori set the plates of toast and scrambled eggs, along with two glasses of orange juice and coffee onto a tray before heading in that direction. For a moment she paused in the doorway to watch her wife, hard at work behind her desk, before she continued on and set the tray down on the small table nearby. "Anything catastrophic?"
"Hm?" Jade looked up, her face outlined in luridly ghostly phosphor light. "I got a compliment on you from Intratech… whatever you did with Bellsouth yesterday got them back up and running."
"Really?" Tori looked pleased. She set the plate of toast and eggs down then handed Jade her orange juice. "Bottoms up."
Jade took the glass and leaned back, hitching her knee up to rest against the desk's edge as she sipped at the brightly colored beverage. "Nasty out there, eh?"
Tori took a seat on the couch and tucked her legs up under her, leaning on the broad, padded arm as she selected slice of toast and nibbled on it. "Very. I hope it calms down before we have to get out of here."
Jade looked thoughtfully at the window as a lightning strike hit somewhere close, causing a wicked cracking sound. She picked up the phone on her desk and dialed a number, listening for several seconds before it was answered. "Morning, John. This is Jade West. How's it looking?" She cocked her head as the lightly accented voice answered, then grunted. "That's what I thought. Thanks." She hung up and eyed Tori. "We have some closed roads…"
"Oh gosh. You mean we're stuck here?" Tori asked ingeniously. "I'm devastated."
Jade smiled. "I can see that. I'm not sure the company would feel the same way, though." She gazed at her inbox. "I can just imagine what yours looks like if I"ve got three pages."
"Eek." Tori got up and circled the desk to peer at Jade's screen. "Well, some of those are from yesterday, Jade..I cleared my box before I left work last night." She scanned the headers. "Some of them are duplicates of mine, too, I can tell you what h…Jade?" Teeth were nibbling on her hip, and she glanced down to see mischievous blue eyes peeking up at her. "Do you give a shit about the mail?"
"No." Jade responded cheerfully. "I just wanted you to come over here." She chuckled. "It's not like either of us can do anything about the weather, Tor."
Tori leaned over and kissed Jade's head. "That's true. I'll call Ops, though. We might have staffing issues if people can't get to work, and I think I just heard they've got power outages in the Pacific Northwest." She felt Jade's arm circle her leg. "Hey, after that, maybe we can go car shopping."
One of Jade's arms moved, and her hand curled around her mouse, clicking on a closed window and opening it. "Funny you should say that." The new window revealed the Volvo website, snazzy and sleek looking with various models of the auto maker's wares appearing and disappearing. "Look what I found?"
"Oo." Tori nudged her. "Move back so I can sit down."
Obligingly, Jade scooted back in the huge leather chair and gave Tori room to perch on the edge of it, wrapping herself around her wife's body and peering over her shoulder as she took possession of the mouse. "It's pretty cool. You can choose your model, pick a color… tell it what you want inside, and send an order to the nearest dealership." She paused. "And get it delivered to your house."
A grin split Tori's face as she pointed and clicked. "Now this is my idea of car shopping." She nodded in approval. "There we are.. the little SUV." Tory grinned as she scoped out an EX 30 the color of Jade's eyes
"It's cute." Jade mentioned. "Like you."
Tori paused, and glanced over her shoulder so they were nose to nose. "Thank you. I'm glad we're not mentioning the Hummer again, this morning."
Jade's nose twitched, and then wrinkled up into a grin. "They take too long to charge."
Tori bit her playfully, then returned her attention to the screen. "Let's see… pick a color first. Hm." She scrolled through the possibilities. "Crimson, green, blue, black, white, silver or gold. What do you think, Jade? The black is kinda snazzy."
"Not in sure. If you want it to look like every other car on the road." Jade remarked. "Go light."
"Okay." Tori clicked. "How about white?"
"Not living out here. You'll be washing it every day."
Tori eyed her. "Is this why you ended up with that gold color?" She resumed clicking. "Oh, I like the blue, Jade. I don't care if it's dark. I've got a dark car now, and it's not so bad." She admired her choice. "Yeah, I like that."
"Hm." Jade cocked her head.
"Now, what's next… ah. Interior." Tori reviewed her choices. "Oh, leather, definitely." She selected it. "I've really gotten into this stuff since I've met you."
One of Jade's eyebrows lifted sharply. "Me? Why?"
"Leather car seats, leather couches, that leather vest, those leather boots you got me…" Tori murmured. "I have nightmares of being visited by PETA sometimes and having to escape out the back." She clicked on the added options. "Hm…what do we have here? Heated seats? No thanks."
Jade was still snickering over her comments. "I never thought about that. I just like the feel of leather, especially in stuff I've gotta sit on."
Tori laughed softly. "Me too." She paused, and gave her wife a look. "Hm. Could I talk you into a pair of leather pants?"
"Sure." Jade settled both arms around Tori. "As long as you wear them." She amended quickly, hearing the chortle. "I had a pair, long time back. I only wore them once."
Tori paused, and turned again. "Once?"
Jade nodded. "They squeak." She explained. "I scared the crap out of myself every time I moved. I much prefer the fake leather. More breathable." She felt Tori start to laugh and she held on as her wife dissolved into helpless chuckles. "Ahem. Weren't we discussing heated seats?"
"Mine's plenty warm." Tori gave her a sultry, over the shoulder smirk. "Oh, you mean for the car. Right." She returned her attention to the screen. "Blue tooth, check. Wifi, Check. Sunroof, check. Four wheel drive, check. Extra electrical package, check."
"It'll be nice to have early access to the office and get a jump on things while we ride… Maybe I'll get internet on mine." Jade commented. "And put in a laptop mount." She peered over Tori's shoulder. "Air bags and ABS? Good."
"Yep." Tori reviewed her selections, and had the website provide her with a three dimensional view. "Looks good.. I like it." She investigated further. "Purchase or lease, you think? Purchase Yeah… okay, here we go." She sent her request in, and added a digital wallet and signature with her personal information. "Oh yeah, I like this, Jade. Much more fun than getting a car the old fashioned way."
"Oh, I don't know." Jade freed a hand and took a swallow of coffee. "It's sort of exciting to go to the dealership..in a sleezy, carnival kinda way." She chewed on her toast. "I remember the first new car I got.. I'd been saving up for months, and I just decided to go one night, and not tell my parents."
"Oh boy." Tori took a bite of the toast held so invitingly nearby. "What'd you get?"
"I traded in an '05 Malibu." Jade smiled in memory. "It was paid off, so that, plus the down payment I had pretty much guaranteed me just about anything I wanted on the lot.. I felt like a kid in a toy store."
Tori pulled the plate over and started sharing forkfuls of eggs with Jade. "Uh huh."
"I looked at little ones, big ones, musta driven that salesman nuts." The Sandy haired woman said. "It was such a weird feeling. I finally narrowed it down between this little sports car number which was really cute, and a pickup truck."
"A pickup truck?" Tori fed her some eggs.
"Mm. I was such a little redneck." Jade admitted. "Besides, daddy had a pickup truck." She leaned back and drained her juice glass. "So I ended up with a charcoal gray pickup with racing stripes and a roll bar."
"And fuzzy dice?" Tori muffled a smile. "Hey, don't give me that look. I used to have a pair of trolls hanging from my rearview mirror. I had to settle for something a lot more conservative though. My parents allocated cars to us every year. Whatever manufacturer was trying to woo my father." She got up and retrieved her own coffee, standing before the window and gazing out. "The first time I got to pick my own car was when I moved out here." A smile crossed her face. "I was so damn sick of teak panels and snooty hood ornaments. I remember passing by a Fiat dealership and seeing the new Spider, and boy… I was right there." She laughed. "Vroom vroom… a convertible sports car. Damn that felt good to drive off the lot in." Tori sighed. "I felt like such a rebel. My parents almost had a heart attack when I told them." She turned and looked at Jade. "How did your folks react?"
Jade grinned. "Well, it was one of the few decisions I'd made that we all agreed on." She related. "It was an extended cab, with space in the back for mom, so I became the official driver in the family. Dad loved the truck, and mom loved not having him drive, so for once, we were all on the same page."
Tori tried to imagine what it would have been like to have had that kind of relationship with her parents. She couldn't do it. Her mother had been horrified when she'd told her about the Fiat, and her She had told her in no uncertain terms that the car would be left behind when she came home from San Francisco. Thoughtfully, Tori wondered if it was at that moment when she'd decided she wasn't ever going back. Certainly she'd gone a little over the line after that, staying out and breaking all the rules she'd lived under for such a long time.
She'd actually been lucky, now that she looked back on that wild period. She could have gotten herself into a lot of trouble, and not just ended up suffering a few hangovers and barely remembered near misses, the last of which had scared her so badly it finally knocked some sense into her. She'd been more careful after that, but she was still aware of that potential wild side, something she doubted she wanted Jade to ever see.
"Well. I'm going to go work on my inbox, so I don't feel completely guilty about being trapped here in my underwear with you." She winked at Jade. "Come visit me?"
Jade responded with a frank grin, visible in Tori's mind's eye as she left the study, and headed upstairs, with Chino trotting at her heels.
"Jesus." Tori tugged her hood closer, and bolted for the front door of WesTrek, crossing from the drenched air into the climate control of the lobby with a sense of being slapped in the face with the chill. She lost her footing as she hit the tile, and slid, yanked to a halt by the frantic grip of the security guard as she passed the station. "Whoa! Thanks."
"No problem, Ms. Vega." The guard patted her arm. "Careful there.. it's the Lord's own rivers raining out there."
"No kidding." Tori shook herself, scattering droplets of water over the tile, which she correctly assumed would be easier to clean than the carpet upstairs. "Much more of this, and we'll have to close the parking lot. The water's up to some hubcaps out there." She turned, getting a brief glimpse of Jade's tail lights as she turned out of the lot and headed south. "Hope Jade doesn't run into trouble driving." She glanced at her watch and sighed, turning to walk across the cold lobby towards the elevators. The rain had let up a little, the winds just enough to allow passage off the island, and they'd reluctantly decided that playing hooky from work the week after they'd both been gone for days was probably not the best idea in the world.
Rats. Tori punched the elevator button and waited. It wasn't that she didn't like her job, she did. The door opened and she entered, turning and hitting the button for the fourteenth floor. She just liked spending time with Jade more, that was all.
"Morning, Ms. Tori." The doors had opened at the tenth floor, and Brent edged on, behind a rubber wheeled AV cart.
"Morning, Brent." Tori replied politely. Brent had been avoiding her for a few months, since the night he'd found out about her and Jade's relationship. She suspected he didn't approve of her lifestyle, and she felt a little sad about that, since she'd developed a fondness for the young tech. "Who's that for?"
Brent had been staring intently at the wall, and now he glanced briefly at her. "Requisition 23343, ma'am." He returned his eyes to the wall.
"Well." Tori exhaled. "I hope the requisition enjoys it." The doors opened, and she held them while Brent moved the cart off the elevator. "Did the equipment for Accounting come in?"
"I don't know ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." Brent turned and wheeled his cart away, keeping his head down as he walked.
Tori made a mental note to talk to Sinjin about his tech, then headed for her office. She heard raised voices halfway down the hall, and raked a hand through her still damp hair as she readied herself for another fractious day.
The camp was positively gray when Jade got there. The heavy rain had turned the ground into a slew of sheeting ripples of water, broken by heavily rutted areas of mud where marching recruits and heavy vehicles had passed.
The guard didn't even blink at her this time, he just waved her through, and she navigated the puddles cautiously as she made her way into the main parking lot. "What a mess." She regarded the steady rain with a critical eye, glad she'd brought her all weather gear. She pulled her hood up and fastened the front clasps, then opened the door and slid out, her booted feet sending a respectable splash out in all directions. "Glad I remembered these, too." She closed the door and started towards the command building, ripples moving away from her towards the edge of the lot as she walked.
The Marine beside the door opened it as she approached, and she gave him a nod as she went inside the building, taking in a breath of the brass scented air with a renewed twinge of nostalgia. She took the stairs up two at a time and walked briskly through the upper hall entrance, turning right and crashing headlong into Chief Daniel who had been headed just as quickly in the other direction.
Jade hopped back a step, reaching out in pure instinct as the shorter woman bounced off her and slammed against the wall. "Hey. Sorry about that."
The chief ripped her arm out of Jade's grasp and glared at her. "You really should watch where you're going, ma'am."
"Well, I would, but my eyeballs don't extend out on stalks and reach around corners." Jade replied. "And I left my handheld radar at home. So either accept my apology, or just get the hell out of my way."
The chief wrestled her best stiff upper lip into position, and dusted herself off. "We didn't expect to see you here today."
"I bet." Jade smiled engagingly at her. "We left off at battle operations yesterday, didn't we?"
The chief's jaw jerked and her lips twitched, but she merely extended a hand in the direction she'd been originally going. "After you?"
They passed through the halls, going through offices, then the chief turned and went through a door into a stairwell. "It's on the top floor." She informed Jade, with a brief smile. "We don't have elevators." The chief started up the stairs without further word and Jade shook her head and rolled her eyes before she followed.
The six flights served to give her a nice little workout, and she was in a better mood by the time she beat the chief to the door at the top of the stairs and pulled it open, sweeping her arm forward in a courtly flourish. "After you."
The chief eyed her narrowly, then sighed, and walked past into the hall.
Jade undid the catches on her trench coat and let the edges flap free as she strode down the center of the woven carpet floor. On either side of her the walls were lined with bulletin boards, and this area had the look of a working space. It was more spartan than the floors below, and she could just detect the scent of sweat and old wool in the air. The boards held notices of classes and rotations, she caught glimpses of platoon names and the personnel assigned to them, uniformly typewritten with a first initial and surname. She smiled at a brief memory of running up here when she was very young, and searching for her father's name, hoping against hope he'd been assigned to a base unit and not a ship one for the next six months.
She'd usually been disappointed. But every once in a while, there'd been a break and she'd gone back home in giddy high spirits, looking forward to six months of piggy back rides and Saturday morning games in the backyard.
"Ms. West."
The Chief's voice broke into her memories, and she looked up, to face the sailor's dour expression. "Yes?"
"I don't care what you think about what you see in here. Do not voice your opinion in front of the recruits, or my sailors." The ginger haired woman's jaw moved. "Is that clear?"
Jade let her wonder what her response was going to be for a few seconds. "Agreed." She finally replied. "Even if it's a good opinion." She met the chief's eyes steadily. "Let's go."
They entered the doors and went into another world. Here, the quiet hallways were left behind, and a bustle of activity surrounded them, chiefly moving bodies in blue denim with serious faces. To one side, a small group of recruits was getting bawled out, their bodies stiffened against the tirade and their eyes strictly to the front. To their left, a row of closed, gray painted doors with rubber seals on them called to mind the watertight doors on a ship, and enclosed simulators, Jade knew.
They kept walking, past the open doors of a large open room, where a class in hand to hand was being taught, the hoarse yells and dull splats of bodies hitting the floor distinctive in the air.
"Chief!" A male voice hollered from just in front of them. A young man with bright red hair was leaning half out a doorway and gesturing to Jade's reluctant guide. "That damn sim program's down again!"
"Wait here." The chief ordered, heading in that direction.
Jade ignored the order, following the sailor with a look of mild amusement.
Chief Daniel stopped and turned. "Don't you ever do what you're told, Ms. West?"
"No." Jade walked past her and ducked around the redheaded sailor. "One of the major reasons I never joined the Navy." She evaded a hurrying tech carrying a piece of hardware, and let a brief grin cross her face. "This place hasn't changed." Three men were gathered around a computer console, and as she watched, one reared back and slapped the side of it in frustration. She walked up behind them and peered over their shoulders, as the chief hurried up on the other side. Lines of code were scrolling across the screen, and Jade studied them, head cocked just slightly to one side, blue eyes intent.
"What's the problem?" The chief pushed one of the sailors out of the way and sat down, punching buttons rapidly. "Did you reset it?"
"Twice." The displaced sailor told her. "Stupid thing keeps going out. Piece of crap."
The chief managed to get the display to steady, and she started a reset of the equipment. "Is there anyone in this thing? I don't want to cycle it if I'm gonna douse a furkin admiral or something."
"No. It's empty." The sailor glanced over the equipment through a one way mirrored window into the simulator. "We took the class out the second time it dumped and told em to dry off."
"All right. Let me just.." The chief muttered.
"Hold it." Jade's voice cut through the crowd suddenly. She moved the sailor in front of her aside and leaned over the chief, ignoring the look of outrage. "Move."
"Ma'am.. now you just.."
Jade's tone deepened, and went cold, snapping with an authority they hadn't heard from her yet. "I said move!"
The chief obeyed purely by instinct, sliding out of the chair as Jade dropped into it, her eyes on the screen as her fingers sped over the keys with practiced sureness.
"What are you doing?" The chief demanded.
Jade didn't answer. She was too busy racking her brain for codes and logic, as she called up the simulator's program and studied it, her brows knitting tightly as she searched the lines of green letters and symbols.
"Ms. West, what are you doing!" The chief yelled, almost into Jade's ear. "You do not have the authority to be touching this equipment."
Jade called up another screen. "Someone's altered the program." She moved the system into an editing mode, and started to make changes. "Someone who didn't have half a damn clue as to what the hell they were doing."
The chief's eyes almost came out of her head. "Hold it. I said, hold, ma'am. That is a state of the art system and you can't just.."
"Sure I can." Jade's hands moved in a blur. "State of the art? Gimme a break, chief. Figures the Navy'd still be using a system prototype designed by a half baked sixteen year old code jockey with an affinity for Cobol." She made a last change, then saved and recompiled the program. "There." She reset the system with a set of keystrokes, and watched as it reinitialized. She was rewarded by a steady login screen, and a slate of green lights, which flickered across the top of the machine with a set of satisfied clicks. "Hoo yah." Jade muttered softly, for the first time in a very, very long time. She got startled looks from the sailors, but she ignored them as she stood up and relinquished the terminal. "All yours."
"Ms. West." The chief's voice was very cold. "A word with you over there, please." She turned and walked into the nearest simulator and waited for Jade to follow her, then she shut the door, and spun the wheel, locking them both inside.
It was an engine room, Jade realized, as the door slammed shut, and she felt the air compress around her. Her pulse jumped, and she went still, grabbing hold of the sudden panic that gripped her guts. "Was that necessary?"
The chief studied her intently for a moment. "Who in the hell do you think you are?" She barked, advancing on Jade and making the small space even smaller. "I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut in there!"
Jade felt her temper rising. "Back off, Chief." She warned, edging away from the angry woman.
"I will most certainly not back off." Daniel poked her sharply. "I've had it up to here with you, West, and I am not going to put up with one more minute of your kiss my ass attitude!" Her voice got louder, ringing off the metal floor and walls as she backed Jade against the wall.
The room closed in on Jade, and a wash of blood and energy swept over her, warming her skin with startling rapidity. "Back off!" She repeated, her voice dropping pitch.
"You listen to me! You either decide to keep your damn mouth shut, " Chief Daniel forged on. "Or I'll…"
She never really saw it coming. One moment her civilian victim was pressed against the wall, the next moment the chief was on the ground, her skull ringing with the contact against the grill floor, with Jade West forearm pressing against her chin and a pair of wild, blue eyes boring into her like searchlights.
The chief was no coward. But she'd seen that look before, and she had the sense to realize the dangerous situation she'd initiated was going rapidly out of her control, so she did the only prudent thing left to her. She let her body go limp, secure in her own tough condition, but not stupid enough to challenge the youth, and strength she felt crouched over her.
"Back off." Jade whispered, seeing red for the first time in a long time.
"All right." Chief Daniel answered, just as quietly. "Easy." Slowly, the pressure on her throat lessened, and Jade eased back away from her, the taller woman's body rising to a balanced stance, her hands balled lightly into fists that looked fully capable of doing some damage. It was not the reaction she'd been expecting, having figured Jade for the loudmouthed type that turned into a puffball when blown on hard enough. Her angular features, now settled in darkly savage lines, struck a sudden chord of familiarity but the chief knew she didn't have time to figure out where from. "Okay, just relax, all right?"
Jade leaned back against the console, the intense surge of adrenaline still making her heart race, and causing faint twitches to shiver up and down her arms and legs. It was the closest she'd come to losing control in half a lifetime, and it scared her a little, to know just how easily the chief had triggered that. "That was a very stupid thing to do." She told the sailor, who had slowly sat up and was rubbing her head. "I'm not one of your recruits, and if you ever do that again I'll knock you right through that damn bulkhead, you got me?"
"Think you could?" The chief asked softly.
"Yes." Jade answered, with utter sureness. "When my daddy taught me to fight, he made sure of that."
Daniel studied her for a long moment, then she sighed, and got up, rubbing her elbow where it had impacted against the floor. She turned a console chair around and sat on it, resting her arms on the back and gazing at Jade. "All right." She nodded slowly. "I thought we had an understanding that you wouldn't spout off in front of my staff."
Jade let her hands rest on her thighs, her heart finally slowing to it's normal pace. "I said I wouldn't give an opinion." She skirted the issue. "I didn't."
The chief snorted. "Saying a kid designed the sim wasn't an opinion? Bullshit."
"I was the kid." Jade replied simply. Then she got up and walked over to the hatch, taking a breath before she spun the wheel and released the catches, allowing it to swing inward. The air outside rushed in, and she stepped out of the simulator with a sense of relief, to face round, wide eyes that rapidly found other objects to look at.
Then she realized they'd all been watching everything on the monitors. She walked past them without a word, and into the hallway, desperate for a moment of peace and quiet and a cup of Navy coffee.
