Pygmalion
By DocPaul
Chapter
Forty-three: Wolf in a hen house…
Day
Fifty-seven: Tuesday,
“Please
calm down.”
Michael
just growled as he paced, staring at Strickland handcuffed to a chair. If
Michael had been an animal, he would’ve been a large jungle cat with his tail
swishing angrily as he stalked his prey.
“Michael…”
“I’m
calling him again.”
Maria
sighed and put her hand over his, stopping him. He had already called six times.
This wasn’t speeding things up, and perhaps was hindering Max more than
anything else.
“Michael,
please. You’re upsetting the babies.”
Michael
paused and placed his hands on her stomach. He could feel the strain and the
power under his hand. Maria was keeping them calm, but he could feel her
exhaustion. Groaning, he leaned against her forcing himself to take deep calming
breaths.
“I’m
sorry. I forgot how it affects you and them. You’re tired.” Michael wanted
to take her upstairs, away from Strickland, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t
take his eyes off the man. Not for a moment. That man. In his home. Near Maria.
Near his children. Michael’s efforts to calm himself dissolved again as he
felt his innate powers surging in anger.
“Michael,
please!” Maria begged as a picture
rattled on the wall.
“I’ll
call Max again.”
“I’m
here,” came Max’s voice from the loft door. Taking in Michael’s surly
state and the pale exhaustion of Maria’s face, he swore. Finding a safehouse
had taken longer than he thought it would. He went through all the options again
in his mind. There were none. The Department was a leaky sieve of information,
with Pierce and his informants everywhere. Where Pierce was not, the FBI was.
Nothing felt safe.
“What
took you the hell so long, Maxwell?!” Michael’s voice rose as his control
slipped.
“Calm
down, Commander! That isn’t a request!” Max’s voice took a hard cold edge,
his deep brown stare met Michael’s more violent golden one, and neither seemed
able to break the stalemate between them, until Michael gave a slight nod and
went to stand apart, breathing in and out.
“Sean
and Kyle?” he asked quietly.
“They’re
already at the house. Cap is outside with the Chief. They’ll watch our back
along the way.”
Michael
nodded. “You want to take him?”
Max
understood. Michael didn’t trust himself to lay hands on Strickland. The
man’s body was shaking in rage. Max went to stand next to his partner. “You
were right. He came to us.” Michael made a snorting noise. He didn’t care if
he had been right. That didn’t matter now. Max firmly held Michael’s
shoulder in comfort. “Get Maria squared away and we’ll be waiting in the
car.”
Max
removed Strickland’s handcuffs. The man was remarkably silent. Michael scared
him. In the forty minutes he had been in Michael’s custody, Strickland had
learned something about himself - there was something he feared more than
Pierce, and that was Michael Guerin.
Max
took the man to the door, looking back at the silent Maria sitting at the
breakfast bar, rubbing her stomach in comfort. “Maria?”
She
nodded at him. They were fine. She would be fine.
Once
Strickland was out of their home,
Michael’s stance wasn’t so stiff and overwhelming. He went to her, pulling
her tightly in his arms, hugging her to him.
“It’s
okay. He’s out of here,” Maria murmured comfortingly.
Michael
framed her concerned face with his hands, and he kissed her. Hard and long. He
could still smell himself on her skin, on her body. It was arousing. His anger.
It was arousing. He was hard, and…he had no time to do anything about it. She
was safe.
“I
can’t…” Michael gulped hard. What was wrong with him? His body seemed to
be working on instinct. “I can’t leave you here alone.”
Maria
ran her hand down his neck. “I’m okay. We’re okay.”
She
understood. Strickland was the man responsible for all the horror in their lives
of late. In a difficult time, a time when her body had been suffering from
preparing to give birth to babies that were more advanced then she, she was
further terrorized by Strickland’s malicious intent. Mrs. Mulhoney. Her
mother. Michael at work. Kyle and Tess. Julia. The list of people in their lives
threatened because of this one man was endless, and now this very man was
demanding their protection.
Michael’s
territory had been breached. Strickland had been in the safe zone that he had
created for Maria and his children, and as long as Strickland remained in that
haven, Michael was unable to settle down. Maria ran a comforting hand down his
arms. He had been that way since Rath entered their home in murderous intent.
Jonathan,
unknown to them, had been a Shifter. And it went deeper. Cassie. She not only
had entered their home and actually slept there, but Michael had entrusted her
to protect Maria from harm. All of these instances had made Michael into a man
walking a steep edge, only inches from a fall…a real meltdown.
“I
can’t leave you here alone. Unprotected.” Michael breathed in deeply. Max
was waiting. The others were waiting. He was torn between his duty and his need
to stand watch over his family, his life.
Maria
grabbed his face and kissed him hard, long and deep. Rubbing her face against
his, she rested her forehead to his. “You have to go. It’s what you do.”
Maria nudged her mouth to his. “The babies are a little hyped. Nothing is
getting anywhere near us tonight.” Maria forced Michael to look at her.
“I’ll call Jonathan. He’ll protect me with his dying breath. You know that
now. You know what he is.”
Michael
nodded. He knew. Jonathan was their natural protector. His ongoing fight with
Jonathan had been two protectors battling over the same territory, namely Maria.
Jonathan had found her broken, restored her to health, and made her part of
himself, setting himself up as her protector. Unlike Sean, he never relinquished
his position to Michael. He couldn’t. It wasn’t in Jonathan’s nature to
stop protecting. They had been two people at war over common ground.
“Call
him.” Maria was right. He could trust Jonathan to watch over his family. Of
that he was certain. “Until he comes, you stay safe! You don’t answer the
door to anyone. Not even people you know. I mean it, Maria. Not even your
mother! You can feel Jonathan. He’s the only person you let into this house.
You understand?”
Maria
nodded. “Yes, Commander. I understand.” She stroked his hard cheek, hating
how wired and tense he was.
Strickland
was a hunted man. Hunted by a psychotic sociopath, an alien able to blend and
shift into anyone. The path led here.
“Go,
Detective. Go, so you can come home.”
Michael
kissed her one last time, and was out the door without looking back. If he
looked back, he wouldn’t leave. He paused on the doorstep long enough to hear
the locks and the safety chain engage. When he entered the car, Max pulled away
without saying a word.
~~~
Jonathan
stood looking out into the night. It was dark. The streets were silent and
empty. Glancing over, he watched Maria sleeping restlessly. Her hand kept
reaching out to touch a body that wasn’t there. She was reaching for Michael
in her sleep.
Jonathan
laid a comforting hand on her stomach. Smiling, he could feel them. They could
feel him. He was part of their mother, and they felt him through her. His life.
His very life, he pledged to protect them.
Protecting
the Royals had been a duty. His duty. Maria had been his choice. Protecting her,
and now her children, was a duty he accepted and assigned himself. She was the
closest thing to a real family he had in all his existence, in this planet or
his last one. What happened between him and Max…it mattered not. It would work
out, or it would not. But not Maria. She was set in stone. Inside him. He owed
her everything. His very ability to feel and breathe. To actually have a sense
of belonging and family. She had given him more than he ever gave her.
“Go
to sleep, little ones. I’m watching over her. She’s safe.”
Maria
signed softly as she shifted position yet again, trying to find a comfortable
way for her pregnant body to sleep. Jonathan stroked her cheek as she settled
and quieted.
Leaving
them, he went downstairs, not needing the lights of the loft to see. He walked
through the dark. Stopping in front of the newly built wall in the new addition,
Jonathan placed his hand on the brick. A handprint illuminated on the wall and a
door suddenly appeared. Jonathan walked through it into the large area that was
yet to be renovated and surveyed....
The
Granilith.
It
was bigger than he remembered. Humming softly, he studied the machine that had
fueled a destiny joining two parts of the universe into one joint journey.
Walking around the Granilith in the dark area of the loft, Jonathan reached out
and touched the instrument of so many salvations and so many dooms. Built for a
purpose, it would always be an object of desire and abuse. Where was it going to
go? Why wouldn’t it be on Earth when it was needed, thereby forcing the
children of the Commander and his mate to build it, and their friends to guard
its very existence?
So
much was written, and so much unknown. Without realizing it, Jonathan was
looking up at the main catalyst for the pivotal turning of human history.
He
left the room, his hand reaching out. Behind it the brick wall reappeared. The
Granilith slept until it was called on to do whatever was its purpose. Jonathan
returned to the upper landing, watching from the shadows into the night,
standing guard over Maria and her children. He could feel the eyes upon them.
Watching. Waiting. Walkers. Skins. Pierce’s men. They waited, watching to see
what the Royals did, and when the Granilith’s location would be revealed.
~~~
“I’m
not talking. Not without immunity.” Strickland was firm on that one point.
Jim
looked at Daniel. They shared a common knowledge. There would be no immunity.
Not for Strickland. They couldn’t let corruption walk away from their
Departments unanswered. It was something that couldn’t be done, and even
Strickland knew that.
“Immunity?”
Jim said sitting on the edge of a table looking at Strickland. “There is no
immunity for you.”
“I
won’t tell what I know. I won’t give you Pierce.”
Chief
Daniel Travalis looked at Jim in concern. Almost every person in that room had
been targeted by Strickland. They were like one large police family. Strickland
was a fool to trust them any more than he could trust Pierce. Strickland was a
dead man either way.
“I
walked in on my own. I gave myself up! I want Federal protection. I know things.
Important things!” Strickland looked around the room at the men in the
shadows. Guerin’s silhouette was hard to miss, but he knew that Evans, DeLuca
and Valenti were there too. “I know things about Pierce that would be valuable
to the Feds!” Strickland laughed almost hysterically. “
Max’s
eyes narrowed. Strickland knew. He knew that Pierce was Nasedo…the
Shapeshifter. He probably also knew Pierce’s secret identity. He was holding
out the information.
“Andy.
Andrew Garza of Vice. Your own cop. What about him?”
Strickland
could feel the sweat trickling along his collar. Looking from Jim to Daniel, he
shrugged. “He was collateral damage.”
Sean
made a move forward from the shadows, but Kyle pulled him back.
“Collateral
damage?” Daniel’s voice was low
and cold. “Is that what you call the assassination of another officer?”
Strickland
looked at the men in the room. Killing one of their own. There was no offense
more heinous and deserving of capital punishment. “It wasn’t me! It was
Pierce! Garza had information on Pierce.” Strickland quickly uttered the lie,
hoping to buy himself a better position. “He was an informant for IA. The
little….” Strickland pulled it back. The reaction of the room was volatile.
“Garza was tailing me. Following me unobserved. I don’t know for how long.
He took pictures. Some that made no sense to him. The strangeness was enough to
push him to move in closer into Pierce’s network.”
“Pierce’s
network?” Daniel asked. Some details would be needed.
Strickland
began a long winding detailed description of his involvement with Pierce ranging
over fifteen years. Michael yawned and walked out of the room.
“You
want to go home and check on Maria?” Max asked.
“No.
Not until we decide a course of action for Strickland. If I leave, I won’t be
back. I wouldn’t want to risk leading someone, either Pierce or his men, back
here.” Michael rubbed the back of his neck.
Sean
came outside and sat on the edge of a banister around the back porch area and
lit a cigarette. He stared off across the backyard. It was almost daylight. The
sun would be up fully within the next twenty minutes. It was autumn now, and the
trees hadn’t yet started to lose their foliage. The air was still hot, and the
Dog Days of Summer were pushing beyond September.
“Collateral
damage.” Sean said. “How easy it is for him to write off a life. Not so easy
now that his is the one in danger.”
Max
looked down at the porch. “Sorry, Sean. I know Andy was a real friend to
you.”
“Andy
to me. Mrs. Mulhoney to Maria and others. Even Alex’s friend, Freddie.” Sean
drew hard on his smoke, his ears narrowing to the cloud as he exhaled. “Julia.
She’s part of this in some way too. But how? Why target her? To shut me down?
Stop me from testifying? Andy had so much more on Strickland. I’d swear on my
grave, he had proof. Something physical and tangible that made him a risk.”
“I
thought you were going to check out an old hiding place in case he left
something there for you.” Michael said.
“Was.
Then we got Chameleon, and that sort of went to the wayside. If Strickland
doesn’t produce, I’ll check, but I don’t have any great hopes. What Andy
needed to tell me died with him.” Sean ground the cigarette butt under his
foot. “I’m sick of this game we’re playing. I don’t like being on the
defensive. I want to run after the Big Boy. Take the war to his street. A moving
target is harder to hit.”
“None
of us liked being victims, Sean.” Kyle said from the doorway. “I felt my
life draining from my body, and I lost all sense of Tess in my arms. I won’t
forget what it felt to feel my life slip away and know I would never see my son.
Hold him. Hold my wife. Knowing that if I died, she would be left to pick up
pieces of her shattered life again.” Kyle leaned back against the house. “I
loved her all my life, and nothing prepared me for having her buried alive next
to me, facing the same death. None us like being the hunted. Vulnerable.
Defenseless to an unknown assassin.”
Michael
was silent. He had held a dead Maria in his arms. It was by the grace of his
unknown alien physiology that she was alive today. He and his children together
healed her, altered her into something unique to this world. She was already
unique enough on her own, but they gave her an added boost. The loft fire played
often in his mind as the final straw that lost him and Maria their battle for
survival. That one act of malicious intent broke her. Mrs. Mulhoney was a soul
very hard to replace and impossible to forget. It was an added insult that both
Jim and Amy were almost taken from them. The road was too long for all of them.
Their lives, so complex in overlapping lines, had somehow solidified into a real
sense of family.
This
world was his. He had no idea or memory of either Antar, or some alien world
named Celzia. They were nothing to him. Earth was everything. His friends, his
family, his job, and Maria were all he cared about. Nothing else mattered. He
was Mikey Guerin’s son, and that was all he wanted to be.
“Max,
you’re our leader. What do you want us to do?” Michael asked quietly.
Max
stared at Michael. Maybe in another life he was the King, but not in this one.
Michael was the only one to have followed him then, and even that had been more
convenience than loyalty. “I’m no longer King, Michael. That time is gone.
Zan is dead. He died over half a century ago; only his ego survives.” Max
stared at the coming dawn. “It’s a new day, gentlemen. A new world in so
many ways. We’ve been wandering in the dark, lost here, held hostage by a
destiny. I don’t always understand it, but it’s not in my nature to wait for
things to happen to me. We have a job. Strickland or no Strickland, Pierce is a
threat. It’s time we take care of this threat to our city, to our people, and
to the innocents we swore to protect.” Max looked at the others. “I’m no
King, but I trust each of you with my life, and there isn’t a one of you that
I would not die for.”
Sean
lit another cigarette and drew the smoke into his lungs. Until this was
finished, there would be no home, no sleep. “We need Alex. Maybe even
Eddie.”
Michael
looked across the yard. “Zeke can help. His friends move among the high school
crowds and places where the young are targeted for drugs. He can get us
information.”
Kyle
reluctantly looked at Sean. “Julia. We’ll need her too, and the DA’s
office.”
Sean
nodded. It was her job. Hers along with the District Attorney, Jesse Ramirez.
“We’ll see what power they can afford us. Strickland says Pierce has a
network. Warehouses. People. It’s time to take it down.”
Jim
and Daniel were standing in the door watching the younger generation. “What
are your intentions gentlemen?” Daniel asked them.
Max
looked over at Jim and Daniel. “To clean the city, sir. Of all threats foreign
or domestic.”
Daniel
nodded. “Then get to work. You’re burning daylight.”
~~~
“Hey,
Sid! You got the info I need, man?”
The
young man slapped hands with Zeke passing him a discreet piece of paper in the
movement. “Not like you, Zeke. You’re not a cranker.”
“My
lady took a powder. She walked out of my bed, and I haven’t seen her since.”
“Harsh.
Is it the red-headed beauty?”
Zeke
nodded. He really wasn’t ready to deal with his feelings for Margo, so he let
the silence increase. “You sure about this cat? He’s not a name I know.
I’ve got the Heat on my ass. My foster father is heavy in the mix.”
“I
hear ya. He’s green. He’ll front ya into the snow, but he’ll want a
guarantee for repeats.”
“I’m
solid. He can produce, then he’s got a customer. I was fronting a party at my
place. Time I stretched my rebellious wings. You interested?”
“Your
place?” Sid laughed. “Not gonna happen, man. Everyone knows you live in
protected waters.”
Zeke
laughed good naturally. “I’ve got connections. I got Club Hell after-hours.
I know the owner. He’s thick with one of my loft complex mates. He’ll be
gone, so I thought I would invite some of the old crowd, and few of the new.”
“Sweet!
Count me there.”
“Good
man. Bring the Boys of Summer. I’ll front the mix. They bring the stuff, and
they’ll have a collective audience of customers. I got Alex’s liquor key!
The band is staying after hours to play.”
Sid
scratched his eyebrow. “Club Hell is a safe zone. You sure about this, Zeke?
The man doesn’t allow dealers in his club.”
Zeke
nodded. “It’s cool. He’s giving me the key, and he’s gone. What the mice
do when the cat is away, is the mice’s business. I’ve got some ladies coming
too. I met some sorority chicks, and I passed a flyer around for after hours.”
Zeke
and Sid continued making arrangements for a full party that night at Club Hell.
They moved it around all four of
~~~
“You’re
going to ruin my business.” Alex said, smoking. Fuck quitting. That was more
upsetting to his system than the possible future cancer slowly eating his
organs. He had had a small black spot on his lungs. Recently that spot had
disappeared. Another advantage of being healed by aliens. Shit. Now he had a
lifetime of vice to catch up on again. “There hasn’t been a raid in my place
since I took over this establishment.”
Sean
laughed. “Bullshit, Whitman. We used to hit your place every week like
clockwork.”
Alex
shrugged. “Hitting it was fine. Gave me a reputation of a hard place, and a
reputation as the man that took on 5-0. This is different. You’re planning to
roust clients out of my protected house. That’s something else.”
“After
hours. No PR. No publicity.”
Alex
nodded. “I agreed, but this better go smooth. This is still my livelihood.”
Michael
sat down in a huff. “Quit your bitchin’. Strickland is still mum about
Pierce and his secret, secret identity, but he is giving us more on the network.
He won’t squeal about Pierce until we give him immunity and get him clear of
Dodge. Not gonna happen. We pressure Pierce from the streets with Strickland in
custody, something’s going to shake loose.”
Max
was leaning against the bar. “More than we want, maybe? If Jonathan is right,
and I tend to think he is, Pierce is already shaky. This could cause the psycho
to lose it completely.”
“One
misstep. One mistake. That’s all it takes. We never understood the nature of
the beast. Now we do.” Michael said. He smiled a smile that was twisted and
touched with malice. “It’s good to be the hunter again.”
“Amen,”
said Sean. Hard few months. No more.
~~~
“Sir?”
Pierce
frowned. “What? I told you not to disturb me!” He looked up in anger, his
eyes narrowing at the mess of footprints that Mr. Richards had dragged in.
“You have not wiped your feet!” Richards might have to be removed like his
predecessor, Mr. Kassen.
“Sir?”
Mr. Richards could feel an icy fear and sweat moving down his back.
“What!
What? What?!”
“The
northside operation just went down. We had six other shops taken out at the
exact same time. The city is quiet. Too quiet. Then all hell breaks loose. We
didn’t see it coming.”
“How
much was lost?” Pierce frowned. His eyes and ears in the Department should
have alerted him. He lost a lot with Vice taking heat from IA, but there were
other outlets. Maybe he needed to get back into play.
“Quarter
production. Three money banks, and over a quarter of annual revenue.” Richards
rubbed the back of his neck. “
Pierce
slowly rose from his work bench. “And who put out such a word?”
“The
DeLuca Family with the backing of the other Families. They sent out the
information that your Empire is crumbling fast. Word is that the house of cards
are collapsing, and anyone not wanting to be taken in the dust needs to stand
clear. A dark wind is blowing.”
The
area behind Pierce exploded. “They dare!
It will not crumble until I close it down, and not a moment before!
Humans!” Pierce spit out. “They dare to risk a confrontation with me?”
“Not
just any humans, Sir. Those that you deemed protected. They’re moving in
force.”
“Guerin
and Evans!” Pierce erupted in a fury, his form morphing among his many forms
at a lightning pace, and in front of Richards, who was horrified. “This world
will pay for this. I might not be able to touch them personally, but there are
more things in this world they love than I do.”
“Sir…your
form.”
Pierce
waved off the man’s concern. “How was the operations located?” He moved
his hand with a wave and sent a percussion pulse through the building, toppling
walls along the way. “Strickland!” Pierce turned and glared at Richards.
“Your services are no longer required.”
Pierce
reached out an invisible hand, and in a moment of pure pleasure watched his
assistant choke to death. Walking through his warehouse laboratories, he
didn’t even flinch as the building went up in an inferno.
~~~
“Michael!
Downtown is burning!” Max yelled as he disconnected his phone. “Only two
blocks from the PD!”
“Let’s
go!”
By
the time they arrived the uncontrolled fires had taken out two more blocks. The
Mayor of Roswell was already appealing to the Governor of New Mexico to initiate
Federal Assistance and request
“Dave!”
Kyle stopped a fireman he knew.
“Kyle,
can’t talk.”
“Where
is the Chief? Where is
“He’s
a block over. Six warehouses just went up like tinder. They controlled it to the
west, but we can’t seem to stop the southern movement. Winds just whipped
around, so we might get a break.”
Michael
and Sean were searching the streets lousy in Roswell FD vehicles and fire
engines. Max saw her first. Liz Parker. She was standing behind the marked off
safety tape with a few people.
“Liz!”
Liz’s
face was covered in soot, and she was coughing. “Max!” She coughed a little
more, and they then saw she was holding up a young woman next to her. Liz spied
Michael. “God, tell me that he had nothing to do with this!”
“He
didn’t. We just got here.” Max took an oxygen mask from a paramedic and gave
it to Liz to help her breathe. She shared it with the younger woman. “Liz,
what happened?”
“I
don’t know! I was running my lab…” Liz looked around quickly and continued
in a lowered tone, “My special lab. I had gotten the final results of testing on both Kyle
and Alex, when there was this silence, and then a rushing combustion. It sounded
like a freight train. Then the windows blew out.” She looked around at the
burning area. “The lab. It’s gone. We had acetone and other volatile liquids
in there. It went fast.” Liz breathed hard into the mask, looking at Max over
the top of it. “I lost two lab assistants, Max. I just hired three chemistry
students from the University part time with a promise of an internship in
genetic research. They just started this weekend!” Liz coughed as her eyes
watered. “Two of them are gone. The other was taken to General. He doesn’t
look good.” Liz gestured to a few of the young women next to her. “They got
out with me. It was close.”
“Do
you know where it started?” Sean asked.
Liz
shrugged. “No clue. I think about three warehouses over. This entire block was
in the renewal project. They were contracted to be renovated into offices,
industrial lofts, and designer corporations. There was a packaging manufacturer
over three blocks, and about six buildings still on bidding block by the zoning
commission. I picked up special compensation space as an annex for the PD
laboratories, to do special projects with high yield fumes.” Liz looked
devastated. “That’s gone now. All of it is gone.”
Michael
shared a look with Max. “Liz, even the special stuff?” Michael asked
quietly.
Liz
nodded. “Yeah. All of it. Gone.” Liz looked at Michael. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s
okay, Liz.” Max said pressing her hand in comfort. “We’re just glad
you’re okay.”
Kyle
spotted the Fire Chief and called Max and Michael over. They left Liz and the
others watching the buildings burn. The area was moving back for more trucks and
engines.
“No
news! I can’t tell you anything until we get it under control and the fire
investigators can get in.”
“Do
you know the point of origin?” Max asked.
“Hard
to miss. It literally left a crater in a good portion of a city block. The old
Wilkins building on 3rd and Lee. It’s gone. Razed to the ground.”
Max
nodded. He grabbed Michael and they moved back to the safety barricades.
“Maxwell,
what was on our list for Pierce? Was it one of them?”
“Yeah.
That was one of the buildings.” Max said dryly.
Michael
scratched his eyebrow. “Guess we got Pierce’s response to our stepped up
operations. He’s on the move.”
Max
nodded. Turning to stare at the destruction. “ It doesn’t matter. We finish
this.”
~~~
“Zeke,
I don’t think you should go.” Maria said biting on a nail. What the hell was
Michael thinking involving Zeke? He was too young.
“It’s
okay. Eddie and Alex will be there.” Zeke finished depositing a few bags of
groceries on the table for Maria. Michael had sent him to check on her.
“You
have school tomorrow. What is he thinking? I don’t want you involved in a drug
bust or whatever he has planned.” Maria paced the room dialing her phone at
the same time. “He’s insane.” She frowned at her phone. Michael wasn’t
answering. As she banged her phone on the table in frustration, Jonathan came
over and took it from her, calmly putting it aside.
They
had been watching the news reports all day, and the only time Maria saw Michael
was on news coverage with him and Max, Kyle and Sean against the flames.
Jonathan had made a snide comment about how if something was burning to the
ground, he expected Michael to be nearby.
Maria
continued to pace, and she was rubbing the small of her back. Jonathan frowned.
She was supposed to be resting with her feet up. “Maria…”
“Don’t
start with me!” Maria stopped to watch the most current report. “He could
call! He could try to tell me that he’s okay.” Zeke frowned at her
agitation. He made a gesture at Jonathan and quickly slipped out of the loft
before Maria could find a way to stop him. He had his role to play, and he
needed to make it to Club Hell before they opened.
“Maria!
You’ve got to control yourself!” Jonathan noticed the rattling pictures on
the wall. The longer Michael was out there, the more agitated she became. Easier
said than done. “Listen to me! Give him a focus. Connect.”
Maria
stared at Jonathan and then nodded. Of course. She cleared her mind, and reached
for him. The rush of power through the matrix was almost instantaneous. The
tuning. A feeling of balance and harmony. Maria’s body suddenly relaxed, and
she lay down on the sofa. Jonathan watched as she went to sleep almost
immediately. Michael was okay.
Isabel
knocked on the glass door. Jonathan stared at her for a moment, and let her in.
He hadn’t talked to her since….since Max found out. He didn’t know what
Max told her. Liz was with her.
“How
is Maria?” Liz asked quietly. Her voice was slightly husky from the smoke
inhalation earlier.
“Asleep.
She finally connected with Michael long enough to settle down.” Jonathan
reluctantly let them into the loft. Glancing over at the sleeping Maria, he
noticed how restless she appeared, and her agitation in sleep had increased.
“Any
news from Max and the others?” Isabel asked chewing on a nail. If they ever
got through this, they were all going to need manicures. Liz watched her with a
sign of irritation on her face.
“Only
what’s on the news.” Jonathan noticed Liz and her look. “What’s wrong,
Liz?”
Liz
shrugged. “Don’t know. I guess I’m tired of being a bombing victim. My
home. My work. My lab. It’s really getting old.” She rubbed her neck where
she had taken the knife from Cassie. “It’s been a long time since any of us
have felt completely rested. Completely normal or safe.”
Isabel
looked at her roommate and frowned. “I’m really sorry, Lizzie. Sorry that we
dragged you into this.”
Liz
laughed. “It’s okay. I sort of asked for it. It was nice to feel part of
something this big. Almost like I was always part of it.” Liz looked at her
watch. “I need to get back to the PD. Does anyone need anything before I
leave?”
Before
they could answer, Kyle and Sean let themselves back into the loft. They had Amy
and Tess with the baby. Isabel instantly went to her nephew, taking him from
Tess.
“Sorry,
Jonathan. We brought you more women to guard.”
Jonathan
snickered. “Great. Go gay, and the world confines you to the trenches with the
women.” Jonathan kissed Amy on the cheek. “She’s asleep finally.”
“Thank
you, Jonathan.” Amy searched his face, and then she smiled. It didn’t
matter. She had known him too long to doubt him. He had given her back her
daughter all those years ago. That was all that mattered. “I better start
cooking. We’re going to have hungry people. I was thinking of my special
raviolis.”
“Sounds
lovely, Amy. You want me to call the Towers and have them deliver some
extras?”
“Nonsense.
All of us here can cook.” Amy searched Jonathan’s face. “Do you need to
go? I know that Foundation probably has a job to do, and…”
Jonathan
kissed Amy’s forehead. “This is my job. Watching over you and Maria.”
Jonathan noticed Kyle and Sean talking to Liz. She was nodding and talking to
them as Zan gurgled at Isabel. Jonathan turned his attentions back to Amy. “So
what are you cooking me? I’m starving.”
“I
was just leaving to the PD.” Liz said sneaking a glance at Jonathan and Amy,
and the easy rapport they had. There was something up with Jonathan and Max, but
she hadn’t had time to catch up on the new gossip, and Isabel was strangely
silent.
Sean
sighed. He was exhausted already and the day was still young. “I need to find
the DA’s setup and pick up the next set of warrants. Kyle was going back to
the PD to pick up Hanson, Waters, and Philips. Petrowski and Sargento are
already in the field ready to push down doors.”
“I’ll
go with Kyle. What is he doing?”
“Cap
and the Chief need to meet with the Mayor and DA Ramirez in a close meeting. We
are sending no guards to the safehouse.” Sean looked over at Kyle who wandered
over to kiss Tess and talk to her. “I need to split up with Kyle, and then he
needs to come back around to pick me up. If you need a ride, we can take you to
the PD.” Sean looked at the crowd. “Wouldn’t you prefer to stay here with
the others?”
Liz
smiled. Typical. They often forgot who and what she was. “I’m a cop, too!
Granted, an information cop, but I still carry a gun, and went through the
academy like you did.”
Sean
laughed. Pulling a strand of Liz’s hair playfully, he made a face at her, and
kissed her quickly on her mouth. “Sorry Lizzie Bean, my bad.”
“You
stink! When’s the last time you took a shower?”
Sean
smelt his arm grimacing. Sweat and smoke. Getting too close to the fire was
always an ordeal. “You look better.”
Liz
laughed gesturing to her roommate. “Isabel took one look at me and ordered me
to the showers. I soaked for what felt like hours. It was glorious.”
“Brat!
Do not tease the stinky Sean, or he will have to hug you tight, and transfer his
smell onto you!”
“I’m
telling Julia!” Liz laughed and danced away. “C’mon, let’s go
already!”
“Yo!
Sweetpea! The lady of the night wants to hit the streets! She’s packing
heat.”
Kyle
kissed Amy goodbye, then his son, then Tess again, whispering in her ear.
“Yeah, I noticed Liz was one hot tamale. Spicy! Let’s hit the streets. You
want to play Streets of San Francisco? I’ll be the young dashing Michael
Douglas and you can be the nose!”
“Karl
Malden? No way! Your nose is bigger than mine! Liz, tell Kyle I’m too sexy to
be the nose.” Sean face turned a little red. “I am definitely more of the
Inspector Steve Keller type! You can even be a Lieutenant. I thought you liked
having a higher rank?”
“Lt.
Mike Stone?” Kyle snorted holding the door open. “Mike? I don’t even look
like a Mike!”
Liz
just snorted and crossed her eyes waving at the others on their way out. At this
rate she was never making it back to work, and her lab there would no doubt be
destroyed as well. Her luck lately. No matter how much effort she put into
keeping things under control, the more fucked up they got.
“You
two watch way too much TV!”
~~~
“Hey,”
Sean said his arms going around Julia’s middle pulling her back into him.
“Unhand
me, Detective DeLuca, or I might have to file charges.”
“Charges?
Have me arrested?” Sean laughed at that. “Don’t even tell me! You’ll
order me to arrest myself?”
“Possibly.”
Julia ignored the other people around her, turning in his arms, kissing him.
“You know how to cause a stir, Sean. The city is a hotbed today. I’ve never
seen it this active.”
“I
know.” Sean looked around quickly. “You’ve got more warrants for me?”
“I’ve
got search and seizure orders and numerous others. The little party at Club Hell
isn’t sanctioned as of yet.”
“It
goes down regardless.” Sean watched as she piled up the paperwork.
“Pierce’s outlets are closing, and at Club Hell we’re going to pick up his
street level dealers. Without them, he can’t move his junk. Not in this city.
There are two or three more clubs on the hit list tonight.”
“We’ve
already alerted County and State authorities. They’re stopping large
trucks.”
Sean
sat on the edge of her makeshift desk. “How much longer do you have?”
“A
couple of hours. My part is almost through. Jesse has meetings, but I’ve been
in chambers all day procuring all the warrants.”
Sean
grabbed her hand. “Do me a favor.”
“Depends...”
Sean lifted a brow. “...on how nice you ask.”
“Go
to Michael and Maria’s after your part is done.” Sean pulled her closer.
“Can you do that?”
Julia’s
first instinct was to fight his impulse to be protective of her, but she pushed
a button through his shirt and nodded. “Sure. I’ll be there in a couple of
hours. You pick me up when you get the chance?”
“After
we close down Club Hell after hours.” Sean kissed the side of her neck.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t.
You asked. That was enough. I finished my job, so why not make yours easier.”
Sean
smiled his usual smile and pulled her into an outrageous kiss that caused people
around them applaud. Julia pushed him away embarrassed. Sean waved to the
masses….his fans, and offered further favors for those who were forthcoming in
granting him his wishes. Julia quickly tossed him out before certain people in
the room, both male and female took him up on his generous offer.
“Get!
Go arrest someone!”
“Yes,
Julia
pulled him back quickly, kissing him again. “You better. Better take very good
care of yourself. And, Detective, that is an order!”
Sean
chuckled on his way out. “I love when she bosses me around. Mmmm. So many
goodies. Who can choose?”
~~~
“Whoa!
Back down, Sparky!” Alex pulled Zeke back into the back room.
“I
was just checking the scene.”
“You’re
still a minor. Let the night get a little hotter before you blend in with the
Legals. My luck, I’ll be hauled in for an underage. Don’t suppose you have a
good fake ID?” Zeke looked over at Michael nervously.
“Nevermind.
Didn’t think so.” Snitching on the kid wasn’t his intention. Alex lit
another smoke and poured himself a whiskey. Before he took a drink, he sighed
and rolled his eyes. Pushing the drink away, he forgot that he couldn’t do
that anymore. His alcohol tolerance was at an all time low. He’d be drunk off
his ass in no time.
“Thanks,
Cuz.” Eddie tossed the drink back.
“Bastard!”
Alex checked the security monitors. They had never uninstalled the monitors from
months ago. “Don’t get too drunk. It’s going to be a long night. Get
Keeley and the boys to move through the crowds. I might allow pushers in the
club tonight, but I don’t want any incidents of rape drugs and Ecstasy. Keep a
lid on the exotics.” Shit. Crankers in his club. He was very, very unhappy.
“Will
do. Jimmy said that Pete and Jeremy are running extra sets, and Charley picked
up three extra bartenders that can act as bouncers.”
Alex
sat down and rubbed his eyes. “Nothing like preparing for a damn raid.”
“Oh,
I don’t know,” said Michael from where he was eating half a pizza. “Looks
like a fun night to me!”
“Hate
you, and your lilywhite redneck ass, Guerin.”
Michael
laughed. Alex was such a funny guy. Pulling out his phone, he called through to
Jim to get a situational report on their Pierce snitch, Strickland.
“Cap,
anything new?”
Michael
listened, and made a few appropriate sounds. He made a few suggestions and
quickly hung up. Max’s eyebrow went up in inquiry.
“Nothing.
Strickland’s sweating. The longer they hold him, the more nervous he gets. He
wants them to get him out of
Max
shrugged, biting into another slice of pizza. “I would be too if someone
killed my entire family.” The rest of the group was quiet. Strickland’s
family was a casualty that they all regretted. No one had thought to put up
protection for that family; they had only placed one unit to keep an eye out for
Strickland himself. The two uniforms watching the Strickland house had been
disabled. One officer was still in the ICU.
Michael
took a short walk down the back rooms into Alex’s tiny office. It only took
her a few moments to respond.
“I’m
not talking to you, so don’t even try it!”
“Professor…”
“Don’t
‘Professor’ me! You knew I was upset. You could’ve called, and…”
Michael
checked out the bed. It looked clean. Lying down he moaned at the pure pleasure
of lying vertical. He had missed sleeping last night. It was almost twenty-four
hours since he had seen his home, and he had a headache.
“Maria,
could you yell at me later?” Michael asked quietly.
Maria
stopped her bitching. “You’re tired, baby. Come home for a few hours.”
“Not
until this is done. Jonathan still there?”
“Like
a watchdog. He hasn’t left my side. Isabel, Julia, and Tess are here too with
my mom. Zan is the only happy sane one. He’s being spoiled outrageously. Mom
is upset that Jim hasn’t called.”
Michael
sighed. It was a long day. “Just talked to him. He left the safehouse. He and
the Chief have a late meeting with the Mayor and the Governor. They’re trying
to delay calling in the National Guard to help hold the city.”
Maria
shared a look with Jonathan before she responded. “Michael, Jonathan told me
to tell you that Pierce has the power to detonate the city like a nuclear
explosion if he so chooses. Protecting this destiny and the babies are probably
the only thing keeping him from going totally caustic.”
“Then
whatever happens, we can’t leave the city. You stay put. Stay with Jonathan.
Keep the others near. As soon as we take down the afterparty at Club Hell, and a
few other places in town, we’re calling it a night.”
“Michael,”
Maria cleared her mind and tried to quell her unease. “I’m not feeling too
good right now.”
“The
babies?”
“No.
Something else. Something close. I had a bad dream before when I was sleeping.
It….was disturbing. Pierce. Or something. It was close. Too close.”
“Maria,”
Michael paused. “Just stay safe, okay. I’ll be home soon. I promise.”
Maria
bit her lip. “Michael…” She didn’t know what to say. “I,…just
practice care. I love you.”
Michael
smiled slightly. “Love you too, Professor.” Michael disconnected. He rested
for a moment with his hand over his eyes. Close. Too close. Maria’s dreams
were never wrong.