[Note: The last scene of the chapter is rated PG-15 for intimacy.]

Day Sixteen ∞ Saturday evening

MICKMI WEPT until she fell asleep. Danny wished he could do more for her, take that pain away. But he realized he was already doing what she needed, by being there, holding her in his arms, and supporting her as she released her grief. He suspected that going on this journey to claim her ship compounded her sense of loss because she was also leaving behind the new life she'd sampled with him and his family. And she didn't know if she'd be returning.

It was heart-wrenching.

He lifted some hair away from her face, tucking it under her bulky headset, then returned to the view outside. He found he was no longer afraid of flying, the raw emotions triggered by his traveling companions had swept that fear away. Now he was free to focus on what lay ahead.

There was a shift in the angle of the plane. The sun's rays changed position in the cockpit as they started to descend. Danny looked at his watch—almost five hours had passed since take-off. It should be sunset at home soon. Were they approaching their destination? The land below looked sparse, but he wasn't sure if that was the desert. He gave Mickmi a gentle nudge and stroked her face. She opened her eyes with a shuddering breath.

"Hey."

She pushed herself out of his lap, wiped her face and nose with the towel from her bag, glancing through the window before meeting his gaze.

"You okay?"

She nodded, but she was subdued, not in the mood to talk. He caressed her cheek, and there was a fleeting smile in response.

"Seems like we're landing soon," he said.

∞

The convoy had turned into a control camp, with one helicopter gunship at a time maintaining the ceiling overhead and a canopy to camouflage the alien structure from satellite view. The team was supplemented by twenty additional men and strategically spread out with weapons on standby, silent, waiting, watching, consuming their rations, smoking, and resting in shifts. Four men monitored Selina at all times. Apocalypse sat in an armored car a distance away, using it as his command base with eyes on Selina and the vessel. He kept operations at Casper and his employer apprised of the situation.

Selina sat on the ground inside the shield, meditating with her light-self beside her as the shadows grew long. Nothing else happened. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that she would not be provided with food or drink. Entering the vessel could only occur under mortal threat to her Queen, so she remained unmoving in lotus position and branched her self into the ground. One probe reached the vessel and tapped the infinite energy capsule within in preparation to meet the upcoming rapids. The rest of her electrons radiated in streams from her, drawing on Earth's energy. She passed a stirring scorpion to merge into a scrawny brush inside the shield and two others just outside, and gently milked their plant energy. She took her time, quenching her bodily thirst and hunger.

"Sir, you should see this," one of her detail said into his comms.

The utterance brought her out of the depths of her meditation. She observed her surroundings without opening her eyes and realized she had lapsed in her vigilance. As dusk fell, chilling the air, her reach became obvious—tendrils of light spreading from her like tree roots in the ground, some reaching meters beyond the shield. The brushes were alive with light. As it became darker, they became brighter. So did her luminescence that merged with her globe-self hovering above her hand. It was too late to hide it all.

Jesus Christ. Apocalypse's unshielded thought was unexpected but clear to Selina as he approached and kicked at a retreating tendril. His sudden dread struck her as he surveyed the shrinking extent of her reach, the fading brushes, and her aura. It might really have to happen. God... forgive me.

Selina was alarmed. What was it Apocalypse thought he had to do? She brought the rest of her electrons within the boundary of the shield.

"What's this new trick of yours?" He spoke as if he were bored, displaying no outward signs of his uncharacteristic anxiety.

She lifted her gaze to meet his without getting up. "You believe this is a threat. This is not. This is my means of sustenance since you provide me with none." She spoke with a soft tone.

"And you expect me to believe that there's no threat?"

"I expect you to believe that I am hungry after no food for fifty-six hours."

Apocalypse scrutinized her through the shield, the edge of that tension she felt in him wearing off. But only slightly. What ever it was, he was still considering it.

"Well then. Bon appétit." With that, he walked back to the armored vehicle.

Disturbed, Selina trailed him with an invisible micro-stream. As expected, Apocalypse made an immediate call to 'Actual', his employer.

"Status hasn't changed. We've pushed out security, however threat is imminent. Second unknown is inbound, no ETA. Request tasking."

Selina heard the crackle in the airwave signal. "You are cleared for termination on primary ghost. Subdue, detain, and or neutralize the secondary unknown. Use of Condition Anarchy – is – authorized."

She withdrew her probe, her understanding complete. The upcoming rapids had just become lethal.

∞

Danny was last to hop out of the plane, and he stretched as he looked around. They were parked near a shed, gray and sagging in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing else. All he could see was an expanse of semi-dry grassland stretching out in all directions with a fence in the distance, and some humps even further away that could possibly be rooftops. A wind indicator barely lifted its sock.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Need to know basis, kid," Atlas said. "I'll be doing the masterminding around here. You just take care of her majesty. There's a bathroom at the back she might want to make use of while we wait." He headed for the porch where a payphone was mounted.

"Wait?" What for? There was no point in asking. Danny shook his head and followed Mickmi as she wandered around the west side of the shed with her towel in hand. A rusted, red gasoline pump stood sentinel by a large tank, the pump nozzle fixed in place with a padlock, the long hose neatly rolled up. 

"Oh." A piece of cardboard hanging from a hook on the wall answered Danny's question with 'FOR FUeL SeRViCe – CALL BOB' written in faded letters. He caught up with Mickmi as she paused to look at the rear of the building. An outdoor washbasin leaned next to a water pump. The restroom was a standalone appendage to the shed, its board door locked with a peg. He stuck his head inside to check the facility and was surprised.

"It's pretty decent, considering," he said. 

She nodded and entered. Danny tested the pump. After a few tries with the heavy lever, some water came. He rinsed out the bowl and left some clean water for her. Then he returned to the front of the shed.

When Mickmi rejoined him, she looked a little brighter, refreshed. He got up from the bench and gave her a hug. She leaned into him and hugged him back.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," she said into his neck.

He kissed her temple as Atlas passed and threw them a glance. She lifted her head to watch him walk beyond the Cessna.

"You trust him not," she said.

"Yeah, well... that's part of my job as your shield," Danny responded. "I don't trust him further than my nose."

She met his gaze. "I trust him." She had that serene smile once more, radiating the calm that kept her grounded.

"Why? A man like that? He's dangerous. He'd kill both of us without batting an eye."

"He is the right person to help us." She turned her back to Danny, holding his arms around her as she contemplated Atlas. "He knows helping me is likely to be the last thing he will ever do."

"Don't ever trust a desperate man either."

"He is not desperate." She shook her head and turned around. "Not in that way."

"If you say so," he said. "Still don't trust him."

Mickmi patted his cheek, amused, and freed herself from his embrace. She went to the plane to retrieve her bag and walked to Atlas who was staring into the distance. Danny followed a few paces behind. She stood in front of Atlas for a few moments, looking him straight in the face. Then she dug into her bag, took out an apple and offered it to him. He glanced at the fruit and met her gaze, gave her a slight nod and took it from her. But he only started eating when she returned to Danny.

"He is human too," she said with a humored glint in her eyes.

"Could've fooled me," Danny muttered and bit into the apple she held in front of his mouth.

They stood eating in silence until a dust cloud appeared on the horizon. After a while, they could discern a vehicle coming in their direction.

"That must be Bob," Danny said.

∞

Jagg barely fell asleep after the grill-pool party with his crew when a creak from the staircase had him wide awake.

Hm. Night-walking was getting to be a habit. He reached for his jersey pants and pulled them over his trunks.

He found Lora pacing the poolside. For a while, he stood watching her from the doorway, noticing how the subdued lights lining the edge of the pool and the encircling path bounced off her bare legs and thigh-length nightwear. Eventually she sat down on the corner of a brick flower box and held her head.

Something else was troubling her and had been for a while now. It wasn't just about what happened at the last heist.

He stepped barefooted across the smooth planks of the patio and down the two steps onto the stone tiles. Lora didn't react to his approach, but he was sure she heard him. He halted a couple of paces away as she lifted her head to look across the pool.

"Lora."

He waited, but she didn't reply.

"You've got a bigger problem than you thought, don't you?"

"I can not sleep."

"Why?"

"Every time I close my eyes..."—she shook her head—"I see... too much."

"You can't get those images out of your head." He put his foot up on the ledge next to her and leaned on his knee. "It's driving you crazy. You can't sleep— you're afraid to sleep. But you can't go on like this. It's gonna come crashing down on you. It's... it's not a question of if—it's just a question of when. Shit... Lora, you've gotta let it go."

"I can not forget." There was a catch in her voice. "I tried... I – have – tried." She gripped her hair and held her head again.

"If you were a normal person, I'd probably recommend a shrink. But... that's hardly a good idea in your case." He gazed thoughtfully at the ripples of light in the bottom of the pool.

There was only one thing he could offer. One thing—and it didn't include drugs or alcohol.

"Looks like you need something... Something more—something drastic."

She drew a long, shaky breath and dropped her hands, glancing at him out of the corner of her glistening eye. He leaned closer to her ear without touching her.

"Something to cut through all that—something that will really make you feel," he said with his undertone and paused, allowing his words to sink in. "Feel alive. And make you forget."

She lifted her head. "I want to forget. I can not take this much longer."

"You wanna get rid of that dead weight that's got a stranglehold on your mind. I can try to help you with that if you want." He stepped back, straightening himself. "It's up to you."

He stood eyeing her for a moment before returning inside without looking back. He went to his room, leaving his door ajar. The light from the bathroom streamed across the floor.

He was sitting in the window alcove with the soft glow from the bedside lamp casting on his shoulder when she came. She walked to the center of his room where the soft rug covered the floor beyond the foot of his king-sized bed. She stood silent and straight, staring at him, expressionless. He cocked his head, studying her form for a while, smiling to himself. Then he got up and closed the door. She turned, following him with her gaze.

"Show me your ink," he said as he faced her.

She did not react immediately, her eyes momentarily glazing over. Then she turned around and pulled her nightshirt off in one fluid movement, dropping it on the bed. She became a statue, her head turned, looking across her left shoulder.

The leopard looked as wild as ever in the light from the bathroom, staring back at Jagg with a black bra strap across its face. He felt like growling at it, but instead he went up to her and slowly pushed the strap off her shoulder so he could see its face properly. Now it was coming alive with the heaving of her shoulders.

Yeah.

He trailed his fingers along her shoulders and inward to the strap across her spine, and paused. He wanted her to be sure, so he didn't have to stop himself again. He already knew how old she was. Toni had confirmed that for him after the first close encounter.

"Lora." He bent close to her ear. "You sure you want me to go ahead?"

"Make me forget," Lora responded, her voice quiet.

With a deft move, he released the hooks and slid her bra down her arms, past her elbows until the straps slipped over her hands to the floor. A shiver went through her as he ran his fingers across the back of her hands.

He bent close again. "Then you've gotta relax and let me take you all the way."

Another shiver went through her body as he moved his hands to her waist and downward, easing the panties over the curve of her hips. She didn't move as her last piece of garment dropped past her knees.

He stepped back, pausing. "You go ahead with this, I'll claim you as mine... My woman." He'd never said that to anybody before, but he was prepared to make that claim with her. She was a fascination he could not shake, he realized that now. "You better not have a problem with that."

She raised her head, facing the window. "Make me forget," was all she said, her voice stronger.

He pulled off his trunks. He could be ready at any moment, but he wasn't going to rush. He knew it would be Lora's first time. He also knew what he looked like in the flesh, and that it could be intimidating. He closed the bathroom door, leaving a rim light around the frame. Then he went up behind her and pulled her hair aside, the touch of her choker only giving him a tingle. She lifted her head back to accommodate him, her sleek body trembling in anticipation.

"You're mine," he breathed into her ear and nibbled at it. "My tiger..."

He made his breath brush her neck, past her choker, onto her heaving shoulder. Then he put his magic arsenal to work—his hands, his fingers, his mouth, his tongue...

— ∞ —

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