Just Cause: Revised & Expanded Edition (23 page)

“Do you promise not to tell anyone else?” Sally asked as she felt her face grow hot.

“I swear on my brother’s grave not to repeat anything you say to me tonight.” Sondra’s voice was so deadly earnest and her face so serious that Sally shrank back a little. Sondra cracked a little smile. “You can trust me. You know that.”

Sally took a sip of scalding hot chocolate and burned her lips and tongue. “Me and Jason… well, we kind of… hooked up.”

“Really?” asked Sondra. “I’m not surprised.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sally stiffened and set her mug down on the end table.

“It’s okay, kiddo. Think of me like your big sister. You can tell me anything.”

“I never had a sister. Or a brother,” said Sally. “Mom always said she couldn’t possibly keep up with two of us. Although she never remarried after Dad died.”

“I only had a brother, myself,” said Sondra. “He died when I was about your age, but that’s another story. About Jason… did he treat you okay? He didn’t hurt you or anything, did he?”

“No, no,” said Sally. “He was very careful… very nice about it all. I just, I mean, uh…” She trailed off as tears threatened to overflow once again.

Sondra’s eyes widened. “Was it your first time?”

Sally nodded and sniffled.

“Oh, honey… no wonder your emotions are out of whack.” Sondra handed her a box of tissues. “It’s an intense emotional experience.” She took a sip of her own chocolate. “Did it hurt?”

“Only for a moment. Then it was… I don’t know how to describe it. Like riding on a roller coaster, I guess.” Sally giggled, then started to cry again, then tried to do both at the same time and failed.

“I’m going to talk to you like a big sister for a minute, okay?” Sally nodded her head. “It’s okay to have sex. Most everybody does, one way or another. You’re going to be confused a lot. You’re going to wonder if you love him or if you don’t want to see him anymore. One second you’re going to think he’s wonderful and the next you’ll be so steamed you’d rather kick him in the face than have to look at him. He’ll charm you, irritate you, put you on a high pedestal and knock you off of it. He won’t understand what he does wrong when he does it, and he won’t understand why you get mad.” Sondra leaned back on the couch and smiled. “This is perfectly normal. We’ll never understand men as well as we understand each other, and they’ll never understand us. It’s why we go to the bathroom in groups and they don’t.”

“How is that supposed to help me understand what I’m feeling?” asked Sally in irritation.

“It’s not. You may never understand it. But you can decide to enjoy it anyway. Sex can be fun or it can be a chore. If it becomes a duty instead of a pleasure, you’re with the wrong person. Sometimes you’ll come. Sometimes you won’t. Sometimes you’ll need to help yourself along. Sometimes it won’t matter.”

“How do I know he’s the right person?” Sally mumbled as she finished her chocolate.

Sondra shrugged. “You may be asking yourself that for the rest of your life. If you believe he is right now, then he is, and he will be as long as you both feel that way.”

“Do you think I did the wrong thing? Was it too early? Should I have waited until after the mission?”

“Who knows?” Sondra smiled. “Do you have regrets? Would you do it again? Will you?”

Sally thought for a minute as she remembered how tenderly Jason had kissed her and how they had snuggled in the bed. “Yeah, I’d do it again.”

“Well, there you go,” said Sondra, as if that settled the matter. “Because don’t you think for a minute I’m letting Jack out of here without getting some from him.”

“How long have you and he been together?”

“Eight years or so.”

“Wow. Why don’t you guys just get married or something?”

“Oh, we probably will someday. When we get around to it, I suppose. For now, though, it amounts to a lot of flirting and as much sex as we can get around duty schedules, missions, and his public relations work.”

“Does Juice know?”

Sondra laughed. “Juice knows damn near everything that goes on in this place. I swear, if I didn’t know better I’d say he was a mind reader. He told us both that he didn’t want to have to make a policy expressly forbidding it, and that we’d better not let it affect our job performance, and that was that.”

“I had a poster of Jack in my dorm room at the Academy.
The Face of Just Cause
,” said Sally in amazement. “Is he… good?”

“Jack’s a very skilled lover. He’s worth clearing my schedule for. Believe me,” Sondra dropped her voice to her favorite conspiratorial whisper. “It’s like he was trained in a brothel or something.”

Sally blushed at the thought of Jack and Sondra together, but then a question burned into her mind that wouldn’t leave her alone until brought to light. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“What do you do with your wings when you’re… you know…”

Sondra burst out with infectious laughter, which made Sally giggle too and soon both women roared in amusement and had to wipe tears from their eyes. “Oh, Sally.” Sondra gave her a hug. “You’re precious. I can lie on them if I’m careful. And there are plenty of other ways to do it besides on your back.” She took a deep breath to calm herself. “So… I told you, you have to tell me. How was Jason?”

“I, uh, don’t have a basis for comparison.”

“Empirically, then.”

“I don’t think I came. I mean, it’s different with someone else, right”

“It can be. Some women don’t without help.”

“Help? You mean I still have to do it myself? I thought that’s what he was for!”

Sondra laughed. “You can still have a lot of fun that way. Trust me. Foreplay is a wonderful thing.”

“Is it always that… messy afterward?” This sent both women off into peals of laughter once again.

“A real gentleman would offer to sleep in the wet spot.”

“Didn’t have to… it was on the floor.” Sally giggled.

By the time they finally wound themselves down, the clock had bypassed four in the morning. Sally yawned so hard she thought she might dislocate her jaw.

“Do you want to stay here the rest of the night?” Sondra asked.

“No, I think I’ll be okay.” She hugged Sondra. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, kiddo. It’s nice to have another girl to talk to for a change. Stacey’s so cool and distant and I’ve never seen her let down her hair at all. You’re in for a real treat going on a mission with her in command. I hope you don’t wind up hating her.”

“Me too,” replied Sally. She left the room and went to her own door. She fought back an urge to knock on her own door, took a deep breath and walked into the room. It was strange and quiet, and she realized she couldn’t hear Jason’s breathing. She peeked around the corner to look into the bedroom.

Jason was gone, but he’d been busy. He’d made the bed, with one corner turned down. A folded card made a little paper tent atop one of the pillows. Mystified, she unfolded it and read what he’d written.

YOU’VE GOT MAIL.

Even more mystified, she went to her computer. The screen was dark and it took her a few moments of wiggling the mouse and punching keys before she realized her monitor was actually turned off. She switched it on and a picture of a bright bunch of roses filled the screen. A card-shaped icon flickered, which invited her to click on it.

Sally,

My mom says I could wake the dead with my snoring, so I figured I’d give you a few hours of peace in case I woke you up. This pic is the best I could do for flowers this time of night. Hope you like them! I’ll see you at breakfast. Thanks for everything!

J.

Sally dropped her hands away from the computer. Of all the things he could have done, all the things she might have expected, he’d surprised her. In a very pleasant way, she thought. She wasn’t really that tired, but decided that she could curl up in bed with the lights out and the covers pulled up to her chin anyway.

The pillow Jason had lain upon had just a slight hint of his shampoo, and it made her smile into the darkness. She wondered if he’d be able to come back tomorrow night and her belly tingled a bit at the thought. But then again, she was a bit sore and tender, she discovered.

Two weeks away from him seemed like a really, really long time.

The next two days passed in a whirlwind of activity. Juice, Doublecharge, and an earplug-wearing man in a nondescript suit from Homeland Security each conducted a last-minute briefing. Harris showed his prescient side as he always popped up with whatever the expedition team seemed to need before they even knew it. Sally passed through the hours in a happy daze and stole kisses from Jason whenever she found the opportunity. Definitely a keeper, in Sondra’s words. The night before their departure, she visited his room.

He answered her knock right away. He wore his ubiquitous sweats, a tank top, and a Colorado Rockies ball cap, and held an acoustic guitar.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi yourself.” He stepped aside. “I’m writing a song. Want to come in?”

“Nice hat.” She punched him gently in the arm. “They play baseball, right?”

“They suck,” he said. “But I like the colors.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “Purple and white? I think you look much better in gray and brown. Or buff.” A slow blush crept up Jason’s neck. Sally couldn’t believe herself; she was already becoming as much of a smart-aleck as Sondra.

She jumped onto the couch and looked around. His room was immaculate; everything clean, straight, and organized. “I had no idea you were such a neat freak. I hope my sloppy tendencies don’t drive you away.”

“It’s okay. My dad was in the Navy, and he made us run a tight ship at home.”

“Us?”

“Me and my two brothers. Justin and Jordan.”

“And Jason. Your folks like the letter J?”

“Yeah. We all have the same middle name too.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll never tell.” He grinned and set his guitar on a stand by his desk. “Okay, it’s Aries. My folks have a twisted sense of humor.”

“Mine’s Judith, after my grandma.” Sally walked over to Jason, sat on his lap, and put her arms around his neck. “Our family joke is that speed runs in our blood. How about you? Are your brothers paras too?”

“Yeah. Well, kind of. Justin’s two years younger than me. He tested positive on the Musashi test, but hasn’t ever shown any kind of powers. Jordan’s fifteen and starts at the Academy next year. He’s strong like me, but not nearly as tough. I can whip him if I need to.”

“Take off this stupid hat.” Sally pressed her lips to his. After a few minutes, she smiled down at him. “I thought I’d come and give you a going-away present.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you’re not… like… sore, or anything?”

Sally smiled. To tell the truth, she was still a bit tender. On the other hand, she’d spent her free time earlier reading online about certain techniques and hoped she might get him to try a few of them. “I’m a speedster,” she whispered and nibbled his ear. “I heal fast.”

Jason grinned and threw away his hat.

Duty call was at five the next morning. After an evening spent in some very pleasant close proximity to Jason, Sally almost missed the alarm he had set for her. She’d told him she only needed five minutes to get herself ready, and he’d set the alarm for four fifty-five. She’d gone to sleep, satiated after his ministrations, and didn’t move the rest of the night.

At the alarm’s first beep, she sat up in surprise, wrapped in his sheets. Her hair was a mass of tangles and much of it hung in her face. Jason rolled over and murmured “’snot timma geddup yet,” and shut off the alarm, more asleep than awake.

She rubbed her eyes and then grabbed her clothes and his Rockies hat on impulse. “You’re amazing,” she whispered in his ear, and kissed it.

Without opening his eyes, he grinned, which tempted her to stay a bit longer.

“I’ve got to go. I’ll see you in two short weeks.” She peeked into the hallway to see if it was deserted and found herself looking right at Jack as he headed for his first cup of coffee like it was the Holy Grail.

“Morning, sugar,” he said with little enthusiasm.

“Uh, hi,” she said. He walked a bit further up the hall, then stopped and turned around to look in confusion at the door in which she stood. She smiled and shrugged. Realization dawned on his face and he smiled back, not so sleepy that he hadn’t figured it out.

She dashed into her room, showered, dressed, and tucked her plaited hair through the back of Jason’s cap. By the time she was done and back in the Command Center with her luggage, Jack had just sat down.

“Sleep well?” He eyed her latte with interest.

“As well as you, I’m sure.” Sally noticed something stuck in his hair and pulled it out with glee. “Look, a feather!”

Doublecharge walked into the room with her wheeled suitcase behind her. She looked out of place wearing jeans and a button-down blouse, like a business executive on a weekend trip. “Good morning.” She leaned her bag against the conference room wall. “I trust you’re both ready to leave?”

Sally nodded while Jack muttered something incomprehensible into his coffee cup.

“I didn’t quite catch that, Jack.”

He set his cup down. “Yes, I’m ready.” Sally glanced over at him. The tone in his voice carried more than a hint of animosity.

“Morning, everyone,” said Glimmer as he walked into the room. He noticed the tension between Doublecharge and Jack. “What’s going on?”

Doublecharge ignored him. “Since we’re flying as civilians, we need to be at the airport by six o’clock. That gives us just about half an hour to eat and review the mission.” She motioned to someone outside the room, and Juan walked in with a tray piled high with fruit and fresh pastries.

While they dug into the delicious home-baked pastries, Doublecharge went over the salient points of the mission. The primary objective was to locate Destroyer’s base of operations. They had the name and contact information of the CIA’s operative who had originally tipped off the team to Destroyer’s presence. He would be their starting point for the investigation.

The secondary objective was to find out any information about the antimatter woman’s origin. To that end, they would visit her hometown of San José to retrace her steps.