An ambulance takes Jesse away and I don’t ask where. The paramedics had seemed more worried about her than I thought and there had been quite a bit of blood. She managed to be sweet one last time and not bleed on me. I don’t know how, but I’m thankful.

At first, the med crews look almost as worried about me as they are Jesse, but all I have are small nicks and bruises. The Lady will be on suicide watch. She won’t be going to jail right away – she’ll need to stabilize first – but she won’t die either. They leave me alone once I let them give me a real look over, but not happily. I hate being poked and prodded at. Even when I’m not injured it hurts.

The Lady took the majority of the glass. Falling from a building didn’t result in my untimely demise. Even through it all, even after she fired a gun right at me . . . I saved her life.

Does that mean I finally lost the last of my “Antihero” title I half pretended to fit?

More must have happened today than I remember. I’ve lost all sense of time, or both options are true, because it feels like it should be far too early in the day for the sun to be setting. It does seem to fit the thoughts going through my head. A day is ending and it feels like a chapter of my life is almost over. What’s important is that Olivia will be okay, Aurora will be okay . . . Midas City will be okay. I only played a small role in that, but it was still an important one. I think even I’ll be okay, better than I’ve ever been in my life once everything sinks in.

Five years ago I never would have imagined myself jumping out a window. All things considered, I’ve never been super in that way before. I’ve sparked up minds, saved innocents, blinded crooks, used my ability to fly subtly to keep my balance - but that was something exciting. It was also terrifying, but knowing I pulled it off makes me feel like a million sparks.

I wish Mind Bore could have turned out differently. It would be amusing to imagine them in adjoining cells. How long would it be before one of them was kneeling? Now I’ll never get to know.

Have I finally consciously used the ability in my mind that saved me from Yanta? Thinking about it, the blinding sensation feels a lot like how it felt when I betrayed The Lady to Jade. The voice in my head could be a person, a personality, an essence, a link to something otherworldly, or I’m just a little crazy. For my sake, I’ll pretend there’s no logical reason why I would be a little bit crazy. There’s no chance constant mental manipulation could give me some rare tropical disorder.

For some reason that makes me think of Dust. She’s going to get at the very least a stern talking to before I give her sorry ass over to the cops. I need a new uniform after this mess too. I wonder if I can bleach out the blonde or if I’ll need to dye over it.

This is life for Silver Girl, Sarah LaSilvas . . . There are still a few things left to deal with before I can really call the whole matter settled, but it’s a lot nearer than it usually is only a day into what could have been an awful crisis. Dust and Pink are still unconscious back at my apartment, I should check to make sure Jade is safe, and my family is being watched over by Nightshade. Swinging back home before dealing with anything else sounds like the best plan.

After all of that dies down I can check on The Lady in the hospital, for her sake as much as mine. I want to look her in the eye and have her see who is in control now. I want her to see that I finally have reached my prime.

“You need any more help, Silver Girl?” A familiar voice calls out to me and I smile when I see who it belongs to. Officer Rask, Jenny Rask, is one of those cameos that keeps popping up in my life. She was one of the cops I went to before I was recruited into Chronos. She was one of the cops that waited outside while Jade, Nightshade, and I tried to find the Slut Squad and I met The Domina for the first time. We know each other well enough to talk without feeling awkward, but we don’t know each other.

Though with her pretty almost white blue eyes, straw blonde hair, and very well shaped curves, I have the feeling if I didn’t have a wife and a daughter waiting for me at home we probably would know each other a lot better by now – or that would change very quickly.

Brushing away thoughts of taking off that just too tight enough blue uniform, I smile in a softly tired way. “Not really . . . Maybe soon, but I think right now everything’s all right. How’re things on your side of the thin blue line?”

“Things seem to be going okay . . . Luckily this corruption seems to have been cut at the roots before it got a chance to fester. You need an ambulance? A ride?” It’s women like her that make me feel glad to have the good old police department on my side and not just supers. Not the curvy woman part of her that makes parts of me feel melty and warm, but the part of her that is amicable and even though it doesn’t take super powers to be a super heroine she doesn’t feel the need.

I wonder if in some distant parallel universe I wound up with just a normal badge. The blue would definitely go with my skin tone.

She makes me smile a little more without trying and I look toward the sunset. “That’s good. Definitely the kind of thing that wouldn’t get any better . . . I might be a little sore, a few bits of glass still hiding here or there, but I don’t really look that bad. Do I? And well . . . a ride might be nice. I feel a little woozy and over exerted. Keeping a bike going straight is a lot trickier than it sounds.”

When I look back down from the sky at her those pretty eyes look more than a little worried as they scan over me. “You had the paramedics take a look at you, right?”

“I did . . . but this is free, and you never know when that itch is being caused by a shard of red glass, so . . .” It doesn’t work, but I try to pretend the piece of glass I flick to the ground didn’t just come from my arm. “Probably should have them give me another quick once over before you give me a ride, huh?”

“Yeah. Let’s . . . Let’s do that.” She leads me back over to the lingering medical staff and watches as they poke and prod at me, asking me a thousand different variations of “does it hurt when I do this.”

Most of it I tune out, just answering the questions, and they tell me I’m fine. They don’t exactly say that, but they don’t say I need to be hospitalized so I’ll take that as a completely clean bill of health. It’s good enough for Jenny too and she leads me back to her car. I’ll have to come back for Sylvia later. Hopefully getting a little rest will make my head feel on a little straighter, and my body feel a little bit less shaky.

Maybe when I visit Jesse in the hospital (I’ll have to or I won’t be able to believe she’s actually been stopped) I’ll let them go over me again. Maybe I should just swing by The Midas Touch and let Gale work her magic. The latter option is probably a good one, but it’s out of my way and I take up enough of her time as it is.

Jenny’s car isn’t quite as comfortable as the limo, but I don’t mind. It’s nice to be sitting upright and thinking straight. I wonder if that naked limo driver will end up doing that for a living.

I know if I was rich I’d pay extra for service like that.

“Thanks for the ride . . . Don’t worry about me too much though, I’ve been through a lot worse. Compared to the whole Quillspawn situation, and even a few things since . . . This was nothing.” It was nothing physically anyway. Smiling through the emotional exhaustion makes me feel better, so hopefully Jenny will think that means I’m feeling better. I’ve never enjoyed worrying friends, or even acquaintances.

“Oh, I’m not worried too much . . . Though you didn’t need to come down here like this. We had people coming in . . . Though I hear there’s history.” She glances over at me as a red light calls for us to stop. “Well, I read the files. I know there’s history.”

My eyes trail across the cityscape as I try to resist the urge to pitifully sigh. We have enough history to cover every rooftop. How much do they know about my time in Chronos? No one ever tried to apprehend me or question me about them, but by the time I was out of Yanuka’s clutches Chronos was already thoroughly dissolved. They probably know more than I want them to, but not as much as I’m afraid they might.

Thinking of the police trying to take down The Lady with her telekinetic panic button is not a pleasant thought. “Your people wouldn’t have been enough. I’d love to think they would be, but . . . she didn’t do great this time, but she’s not a smart person to underestimate. We do have a lot of history, and Jesse . . . She’s not one to go down, and if she did, she would have gone splat.” Remembering the rather heroic rescue makes me feel more than a little proud of myself. I wish someone had recorded that. Then, some years down the line I could show it to Aurora as proof her mom is cool.

“Maybe it would have been better that way . . . She’s done a lot of . . . Well, let’s not talk about that . . .” Jenny stops glancing over at me and the car moves a little quicker than it was before.

Her implied wall of silence feels far too solid and I don’t try to bring up anything else. Instead, I just watch the city move past us and let my mind wander. I wouldn’t be half the heroine I am now without Jesse. I had enthusiasm and passion, sure, but no training. I didn’t even really know how to use the gifts I was born with. She didn’t do it for the right reasons, but her actions really have made Midas City a safer place.

When we finally park I pull my thoughts back from redundant curiosity and look at Jenny with the most somber expression I can. “I . . . I want to know. I know what she’s done to me, and to some others, but . . .”

“Hey. It’s okay. It’s over. You don’t have to think about it, all right? You come down to the hospital when you’re feeling better. We’ll have half the station there watching her.” As comforting as that is, her evasion only makes me feel worse. Up until now I didn’t really want to face just who she was when she wasn’t being sweet to one of her “employees.”

“Not all that long ago, I flew out a window for the first time in my life. Really. I’ve given it a try, flying, in private . . . But I fell half the time. I’m still in a little bit of muted shock that I didn’t break my legs or her skull. Please tell me? It’ll probably help me calm down a little.” She almost shot me, so it’s not like it will be as shocking as it would have been before. When someone tries to kill you it’s not hard to believe them capable of almost anything.

Officer Rask does her best soft smile and it makes me feel like a little girl being given a teddy bear. “Bad stuff . . . Come on . . . you know. Extortion. Prostitution rings . . . slavery. There was even the occasional murder to get rid of people that got to be too much trouble. Come on, you know everything. Don’t worry about it. It’s over.”

She did seem a little bit too comfortable with that gun. I can only imagine just how bad things would be if no one had been suspicious. “I didn’t let myself realize it was probably that bad. You know, I was in love with her. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t real, that it was just a part of her control, but I was. The best part is, it turns out that she was even worse than I thought she was and all of my rationalizations to try and explain away her less than perfect deeds barely scratched the surface.”

Without another word I get out of her car. Everything should be the way I left it. Nightshade doesn’t strike me as unskilled or irresponsible, but this isn’t an average situation. I guess time will tell.

“Hey! Hey, Silver Girl . . . Sarah . . . You need anything else?” I’m halfway to the door when I look back to see Jenny standing beside her car looking like I punched her in the stomach. Saying something like that really isn’t the best note to leave this meeting on, I guess.

“I could kinda use a drink.” Laughter springs from my mouth but it sounds fake even to me. “But after everything that happened today I really just want to know for sure that my family is okay, you know? And hey, I’m still in . . . fuck. This is hardly my uniform.” Glancing down again at the tube top and platforms I let out a long pitiful sigh. “I’ll need a new one . . . Bitch had to go and wreck that too. At least she didn’t mess with the skirt. I like this skirt.”

Jenny stares at me and closes her teeth around her bottom lip. I can feel the tension in the air, and preemptively I let a sigh escape. “Uhm . . . It’s got a huge tear in the back. I can see your ass . . .” She stays silent for another long pause as if to apologize before speaking again in an apologetic tone. “I’d buy you a drink, but I’m on duty.”

“No fucking . . .” Groaning I turn around to face her before looking behind me. It’s an awkward angle but the tattered gap just perfect enough to show off my silver cheeks is very plainly visible. “I can pretend that’s the window’s fault. No way in hell it is, but I can pretend. I’ve pretended worse. Goddess this is awful. There is no intact piece of my uniform. Hey, it’s an excuse to get a new one! Maybe I can get another skintight suit. Olivia seemed to like that one.”

How many people caught a glance of my ass, and a pink flash between my legs, thanks to this little alteration? All of the paramedics, no doubt, a large handful of police officers . . . oh god the internet is going to be swimming with pictures.

Oh well, there’s no way it can be anywhere near as bad as the Psyche picture craze.

At least I have a really nice ass. Normally I’d be a little more humble, but if my ass looks good from this angle, even better when I make it shine just enough, it must be a nice ass. Just in case anyone comes out of the building it’s probably a better idea I stop making my ass spark. Grabbing the two tattered sides I desperately try to pull them together. It doesn’t work very well, but it makes me feel a little less exposed.

“Yeah, no getting canned just to get me a little tipsy. I really do appreciate this, you know . . . a lot. Though this situation is a bit much. I feel more than a little shaken up . . . Well, to put it nicely.” At least once again nobody messed with my pendant. The Lady probably thought of using it to pull me around.

A shudder arcs down my back and I let myself enjoy it. Finding something arousing isn’t bad. That’s how I was able to fight past the fetish programming. Maybe I can use it to fight through this.

“Of course. So, why are you afraid of going up to your place? Is everything okay?” Jenny tilts her head and looks up towards my apartment before looking back down at me. Such simple questions make my stomach feel really, really sore.

“I am, aren’t I? Shit, I hadn’t noticed . . .” Another nervous laugh rises up past my lips, but I don’t even try to put on a smile. Jenny is smarter than to believe something like that. “This is one of those days where I’m not sure what I’ll find when I get there. I trust Nightshade – even if she did throw that damned knife or whatever at my shoulder – but I’m just not in the mood for any big surprises and today has been too choc full of them. Know what I mean?”

Quickly, she reaches into her car and grabs up the radio. “Nightshade? What’s going on? Should I call in for backup?”

“No, no, n . . . Uhm . . . Maybe you should wai- . . . Fuck, it’ll probably look really bad if I tell you to wait with what’s in my apartment. I’ve got a woman bleeding out on my carpet, and other less than reputable characters drugged and tied up in my living room. One of them was under my protection. The other, well . . . She’s the one I was protecting the other from. So it’d be really bad if I told you to wait, wouldn’t it?” If Jenny didn’t know me, this far too big grin on my face would be quite incriminating.

Maybe next time I won’t try and be so gung-ho do-it-myself with my heroism. When Nightshade mentioned others coming to stop The Lady I imagined Jade or other friends of hers, not police. Maybe I should get a network of freelancers organized. No tight rules, more of a loose “You watch my back while I stop the megalomaniac roboticist and I’ll watch yours while you save the world from Nazi dinosaurs” sort of organization.

In my mind I imagine it being an idea quite like the neighborhood watch. We’d just have a lot more masks.

“We have a bleeder?” Before I can comment, Jenny radios in for an ambulance and at least two cars for backup. She is just a little bit trigger happy, but on the trigger of her radio and not her handgun. Small favors have to be the best favors fate hands out for free.

“Mind Bore is a little bit past an ambulance right now . . .” It’s a bad thing to find funny, but I think I’m still a little delirious. A thought like that really shouldn’t make me laugh. Maybe I should get this makeup off sooner rather than later. “I’m pretty sure she’s dead. She took a sword to the gut from the woman she thought she had under her sway. You see that kind of thing in the movies all the time, but I mean, take it from a girl who’s been around the mind controlling spiral shaped block of Midas more than her fair share of twists – it doesn’t happen too often in real life.”

Of course laughing about something like that doesn’t calm down a police officer, even one like pretty little Jenny Rask. She pulls out her side arm and stares at me like I’m a crazy woman, though not for the reasons I would in her place. “And you say there are still dangerous individuals upstairs? With your child? What are you waiting for?!”

“That would mostly be because the most dangerous one was the woman who told me to get my ass down there and stop Jesse Colloten before someone else got there first.” If she had phrased that any other way I wouldn’t feel sick to my stomach, but thinking of Aurora in danger . . . “On second thought, that does make me sound like a horrible mother.”

Forgetting about dignity I pull my hands from my skirt and run up to my apartment. Jenny follows close behind, in that way where our footfalls even land at almost the same time.

When the door opens, nothing jumps out at us. No telekinetics twist us into rolling piles of lust. A flood of dust doesn’t suddenly spill out into the hallway. Giggles don’t assault our eardrums like bad bubblegum pop without the school girl uniform. No metal-covered fingers reach for our ears. No metal balls clack.

Nightshade, everyone’s favorite busty ninja dressed in that delicious darker-than-black skintight suit, is the only sight that really jumps out at us. She’s just sitting there, more at peace than a Greek statue and twice as dangerous as one animated by dark magic. Somehow she managed to get Olivia, still gold, up on the couch with a blanket draped over her. Pink and Dust are still bound and helplessly out of it, leaning against each other in the corner.

Soft but meaningfully, Nightshade nods as Jenny steps in ahead of me with her gun aimed down at the floor. Luckily she’s smart enough to wait for a word from me before freaking out.

I don’t see Aurora, and for a second my heart feels like it stops beating, but then I see the crib rolled into the living room. For a ninja, she is definitely a devoted babysitter. If she didn’t empty the fridge then there’ll be one hell of a tip in it for her.

“Really sorry about the blue line surprise . . . It just sort of seemed like a better idea to let the cops know what happened than deal with things and then give them a call later as if an officer wasn’t right at my doorstep. It ends up looking suspicious, and what with my connections to The Lady . . . I don’t really need that kind of suspicion on me right now.” Looking around the apartment, I admit I feel pretty damned impressed. Everything is absolutely perfect. She even let Olivia keep some composure. Even my “sisters” are still out of it. “Where’s good ol’ M B?”

“She is in the bathroom.” There’s still a red stain on the carpet, but it’s nowhere near as big as it would be if she’d decided to leave Mind Bore where she’d fallen. It was her sword . . . “Easiest for cleaning.”

Jenny looks a lot more like the name Officer Rask fits her with that look of out of place confusion on her face.

Police don’t get to do things like this. Alternate reality me can keep the badge. I think I’ll stick with the occasional person asking why I don’t wear a cape in a less than polite tone. It affords me some unique privileges. This actually feels normal, even if it is out of the ordinary.

Looking down at Aurora’s sleeping face makes all of my worries melt away. Giving up all the things I couldn’t admit tempted me at the time are worth it for her. Olivia too, but . . . just . . .

“I don’t think the ambulance will help . . .” Jenny’s voice echoes out of the bathroom and a laugh bubbles up that is truly genuine. Even Gale with her magic touch couldn’t really make her better after that. Then again, she is a super villain. I saw her die, but there could be a million Mind Bores for all I know. Something tells me even if she really is dead on my bathroom floor that this is nowhere near the last time something she’s done will prove disastrous.

“Told you so Jenny, and . . . Thanks Nightshade. Really, just . . . for taking care of my little girl.” She squirms in her sleep and a single tear sneaks out before I can blink them all out of my eyes. “If you need a statement or something . . . I’ll admit, officer, I’m sort of . . . just glad everyone is okay at the moment. Though I admit to being a little miffed about my shoulder . . .”

Jenny steps towards Nightshade and a part of me winces at the overly proper look on her face. “I’m going to need a statement from both of you, and I’m going to have to cuff you . . .” She doesn’t even know the needle from the ninja is coming until it’s pressed into her neck. It’s not the needle or whatever she used on Pink and Dust, it’s like an acupuncturist’s needle. She puts one into the woman’s wrist soon after, and then the other. There’s no blood and Jenny doesn’t scream or make a sound, but she does drop her gun as if her body just isn’t able to grasp it anymore.

There must be a thousand needles in her hair. She just keeps pulling them from the dark ponytail and I can imagine a dark black tomato pincushion lurking just out of sight.

Another needle slides here, or there, and from the length they appear to be before they’re eased into place it’s amazing they don’t fall to the ground . . . It’s amazing, period. Jenny makes a faint gasping sound as her eyes slowly widen. Her knees gently hit the carpet as another needle presses into her shoulder. Nightshade seems to finish and replaces an apparently extraneous needle into her hair.

The officer’s body shudders while staying completely stiff. Her eyes seem so paralyzed and so vacant, so erotic while barely having any true expression at all. Her lips are stuck limp but taut, looking like they should be holding a scream in mid air.

She doesn’t even need the uniform to be too arousing for words.

“As lovely as that is . . . is it really necessary?” To be honest, I’m more than a little jealous. Knowing how to do something like that must be invaluable, even if it’s likely one of those special tricks you have to save for just the right occasion. It’s probably like tying knots that can grind away a mind. Still, a precise use of a skill like that gives Nightshade a certain glow of expertise I admire and feel a little drawn to.

“Life is easier the smaller police record you have.” Her voice is simple, not cold but very direct with no feeling lost. Soon after she speaks Jenny’s hat slides down the side of her face, causing her pretty blonde hair to be adorably ruined. The familiar almost gasp that half melts from her lips is one of pleasure and pain. It’s the kind of sound anyone would recognize and a sound I’ve heard more than enough times to have a closer connection to.

Her nipples rise with the sound, just enough against the almost lose blue uniform to scream for attention. Her pupils seem to quiver while staying the same. She’s in her own little world, pinned to one place in time, pinned to one thought in her mind . . .

A black-gloved hand reaches out and pulls a needle from just beyond the officer’s arm, and tenderly replacing it in her chest before repeating the process with the one on her shoulder. One by one every needle from her body is moved to her chest. Every time the points pierce through the blue covering her breasts more beads of sweat pour over her body, darkening her uniform and making her hair seem even more untamed. Her eyes roll back into her head with every other pin and every third causes another of those tender, helpless gasps.

The needles form a pattern on her chest I couldn’t describe given a year to study it, but it’s very precise. Just looking at it makes me feel a little warm.

“You did not see me when you came into the apartment. Everything else you remember the same. You will completely believe and corroborate Silver Girl’s story about the death of Mind Bore. You will cause her and her family no more trouble than is completely necessary.” Her voice keeps the same neutral well-paced tone with every word. Normally such a thing would sound dull, but coming from her like it is, it’s infinitely exciting.

Watching her doing this almost makes me forget I asked her a question. Seeing Jenny so helpless, being manipulated and so . . . My fingers grasp the edge of the crib a little tighter. “That’s . . . probably true, less of a police record . . . well, of course it’s true. I owe you twice now, more than that, but I get the feeling you don’t consider there being a debt.”

“There is a debt. I do not always collect on my debts. That does not mean I forget them.” Her dark eyes slowly move to me before flicking back down to the helpless officer, still making those half sounds. “Is there anything you wish to add? She is quite malleable in this state.”

Tempting as it is, I shake my head just a little. “If you ever do need some help, or just feel like collecting on those debts . . . I won’t fight you on it, but . . . no. You covered everything I would have done pretty well, nowhere else I would even think of taking her pretty mind. She’s a sweetheart really, she’s just a cop – which is as much a good thing as a bad thing sometimes.”

“Perhaps you do not like the shoes she wears? She is one of those exceptionally susceptible to the dance . . . Literally a puppet. For those that crave power, it is rather common.” Nightshade shrugs and I can see just how weird talking about such things as if it’s a daily situation can make someone not used to such a thing rather weirded out. From my angle, it’s just laced with a sweet twinge of eroticism. “So if there is anything, now is the time. She will not remember, and I must go as her fellow officers will be here soon.” She delicately moves a needle from her chest to her inner thigh. The beautiful shudder rolling through her body is enough to make mine clench.

“Thanks, but . . . I think she’s great just the way she is. I’ll have to keep this yummy mental image though. Maybe we can get Olivia a police uniform.” I give nightshade a wink before shaking my head and staring at Jenny all the more intently. Yeah. She’s beyond desirable anyway, and like this? “Take care of yourself though, and I meant what I said. If you are in any trouble at all, need any help, bug me. I’d say it’s a pretty big debt. Don’t worry about it being used up quickly.”

Nodding, she leans in close and whispers into the helpless officer’s ear. She continues to shudder even as one by one the needles are plucked from her and hidden away in dark hair. In fact, she shudders just a little more each time one of the silver pins disappears. Her muscles quiver more, especially her thighs, in just the right way. Once the final needle is pulled out she slumps pitifully back onto the ground as if the whole time she’d been frozen mid-fall.

Nightshade steps into the kitchen and I get the feeling that if I moved to follow her she wouldn’t be there. The whole display is freakishly impressive and beyond arousing. I’ll need to find a way to do something similar if I can. I have witch blood, right? I might just have some magical abilities besides the hypnotic version of magic missile.

Jenny stands up and brushes herself off in the most casually adorable way, and except for the slight smell of sweat and musk I could believe nothing happened. She looks at me as if she wants an answer. Oh, right! She wanted to know just what was going on.

“So yeah, Mind Bore ended up getting stabbed by a woman she was using as a slave . . . and Pink, well, she was here to supervise. Dust had been here because I was looking out for her. She came to me for protection from Pink after a few of her dust bunnies got turned into giggling bimbos . . . yeah, it’s all a little convoluted, but it all makes sense. Olivia, Aureus, she’s a little out of sorts because I didn’t get my wits back about me before I’d already immobilized her. But she’s fine . . . and my daughter Aurora is fine . . .” Wow, that really does sum up things rather well. Another quiet day in Midas City.

I can hear the sounds of the ambulance and the police cars pulling up outside and a quick glance out the window confirms it. “Oh . . . right . . .” Jenny’s nipples are still calling out for attention, and some of her composure melts as she starts to cutely sway. “So . . . who . . . who is going to jail . . .?” She motions her finger around in a drugged sort of way, looking more than a little fuzzed.

“Well not me . . .” I laugh, but after watching Nightshade pierce her mind through her body, well . . . I know if I was here I would question that judgment. “Dust, Pink . . . Mind Bore needs to go to a morgue . . .” Not staring at her chest is just far too difficult. She just has to arch her back in the perfectly right way, doesn’t she? Thinking of that sweetly well-fitting blue uniform makes me realize I’m not exactly well dressed. “I . . . Do you mind if I change really quick? I don’t want everyone seeing my ass, and this outfit, it’s . . . kind of embarrassing . . .”

“C-course not . . .” Jenny arches just a little bit more just before reaching a hand up to rub right below one of her nipples where I’m sure a needle had been. Her face is lost in a half-dreamy still aroused smile that screams “seduced” and “afterglow.” “Right . . . Dust . . . Pink . . . dead girl . . . got it. I’ll deal with it . . . Drink after? I’ll pay for it . . . Ambulance for gold lady . . . just to check up on her, and dead girl . . .”

Goddess it is so beyond tempting to reach out and grab her, just a little. I could always spark them, just enough to see if they get any harder, but my luck right when I did the police would come in. That would look absolutely great.

I’d rather the cops not have a reason to watch me like a hawk.

“Be right back . . .” I wiggle my fingers at her with a wink and disappear into my bedroom. Finally being able to relax but being surrounded by far too yummy things is making me far too aroused. I’m going to need to feel the other side of mesmerizing control by the end of the day, no doubt multiple times, or I’m going to be one frustrated little silver girl.

What should I wear? I’m a little tempted to slide into my old Patina uniform with the prettily glittering leotard, but I don’t want to blend that identity with Silver Girl more than it already is. Deciding to slide into something that will still make me look tough in a pretty way I slide into a pair of black leather pants and a tight white blouse. Both colors go very well with silver. Neither garment is revealing but they don’t make me look like a slouch either.

My smile is still far too wide and just crooked enough to be a little naughty when I step out of the room. Finally it occurs to me that rubbing off that pink lipstick just might be a good idea. “And you know, we can grab a drink if you want in a bit, and I can get a checkup too . . . you seemed a little worried.”

“Oh yeah . . .” Her hands are still on her chest. They’re not just playing over the spots where the needles dove into her mind anymore, they’re grasping and twisting her nipples. Tremors flow over her body as she makes the most thigh-clenchingly delightful mewling sounds. Her eyes look glassy and lost in a self-induced trance by just how good it feels . . .

A knock comes to the door and I sigh just a little. I was enjoying the show.