 
                        --===JUSTICE SEVEN===--
 
Justice Seven
 
Episode 7: 

Rage of the Nightingale
 
* *
 
_Author's note:_* This episode begins shortly after _Episode Four:
Strength to Weather the Storm_ ends, and it overlaps both episodes 5
and 6.  I know that this material is becoming a bit confusing where
time is concerned, so if you are getting lost, you should download the
season calendar, which has a list of events up to the current episode. 
The season calendar may be found on the story information page.*
 
* *
 
...---=== http://netwolf.wolfpub.org ===---...
 
 
 
    Claire woke up, as she had for the past week, in a bad
mood.  She just couldn't seem to figure out what her life had turned
itself into.  In the last five weeks she had begun having sex with both
her stepfather and her stepbrother, and she had been repeatedly
accosted by Paul.  She knew that she could not entirely blame Paul,
because she was completely unable to refuse his advances, but he knew
about the problem, and should have been more sensitive to the issue. 
As to her family members, that was something she was just going to have
to deal with in her own way.
 
    During the few moments when Claire was willing to admit the
truth to herself, she knew that she didn't mind Mark's attention. 
After their first time, he had settled down quite a bit, and their
lovemaking had been more gentle and caring.  She still felt it wasn't
quite the right thing to be doing, but she would put up with it for now.
 
    Rob, on the other hand, was a whole different story.  It
seemed that most of the enjoyment that Rob got from their encounters
came from the fact that he was forcing himself on her.  Even four weeks
after their first encounter, every time they had sex was still a rough
and tumble event.  He showed no signs of caring for her whatsoever, and
it seemed that the less she enjoyed it, the more *he* enjoyed it.
 
    She thought about these things as she made Mark's
breakfast, her mind working the problem over and over while her hands
absently cooked the food.  Mark's usual morning kiss on his way out the
door didn't help matters, either.  It was merely a reminder of all the
problems she was facing in her life at that time.  The frustration was
welling up within her, and she wished that she had someone that she
could discuss it with.  Once again, she thought about going to Andie,
but she didn't want to reveal what was going on to her best friend.
 
    *This is nuts.  If I can't trust Andie, who can I tell?*
 
    All of this was running through her mind as Claire got
herself ready for school.  Of course, once she was ready, she then had
to get her brother up.  This was a job she had come to dread over the
last few weeks, and today was only different in the degree of dread she
felt.
 
    Walking into his room, Claire grabbed Rob's shoulder and
shook it forcefully, with enough strength that she was certain he would
be awake.  Rob rolled over and threw the covers off himself, exposing
his nude form to her once again.  His cock was already hard, and it was
clear just exactly what it was he wanted from her.
 
    "Hey, sis, we don't really need to go to school right now,
do we?  Why don't we stay here and have a little bit of fun?" Rob
suggested, advancing toward her.
 
    At this point, Claire lost it.  The fire was clear in her
eyes as she said, "Listen, you mother-fucking son of a bitch, I am not
your goddamn whore!  You throw off your sheets and wave your dick at
me, and you just expect me to spread my legs because you want it?"
 
    At this point, Rob backed away from his stepsister, alarmed
at her new, aggressive nature.  Since they'd first had sex, Rob had
been able to easily get his way with his sister whenever he wanted, and
it was a rude awakening to suddenly have her in his face about it.  It
was clear that Claire was just warming up, and that this was probably
going to be a long tirade.  Rob held up his hands in supplication,
trying to calm her down.
 
    "Hey, look, you can't tell me that you haven't been having
fun.  You've been screaming pretty loud during those orgasms of yours,
sis."
 
    If Rob had looked for a worse thing to say to his sister at
this point, he probably could not have found one.  Claire's face paled
in barely controlled rage, and she walked up to him, almost touching
him, the anger in her eyes holding his gaze.
 
    "Listen closely, you son of a bitch," Claire said, her
voice a deep, harsh warning, "maybe you think it's fun, and yes, I'll
admit that *my body* enjoys it, but you make the rest of me sick.  We
aren't going to be having sex anymore, you bastard, and that's all
there is to it.  This is my body, and I will do with it what *I* want,
and what *you* want is irrelevant."
 
    Rob was shocked at his sister's behavior, and dismayed that
he might not be getting any anymore.  He thought he had a way around
this, however.  He couldn't help the little smirk that crossed his
face, and he saw that it only enraged Claire further, but he plunged
forward anyway.
 
    "Now look," he said somewhat calmly, or at least affecting
it, "you don't really want to piss me off over this, do you?  I mean, I
know you've been doing Dad, too.  If I don't get what I want, I just
might have to spread the news about that."
 
    "You try it, you asshole, and you'll find yourself in a
juvenile detention facility.  I will lie to protect Mark, and I will
tell them you raped me."  Seeing the look on his face, Claire nodded
evilly.  "Oh, yeah, I can make it believable, too.  I can tell them
about the first time, when you were so forceful with me that it left
bruises.  I can make a judge and jury believe that you are the most
vicious bastard in the world.  If you try to get between Mark and me,
I'll make you wish that we had never met."  Claire hoped that Rob would
not see through her bluff.  She didn't really care for Mark as much as
she was letting on, but she hoped that Rob would believe that their
relationship was close enough for her to follow through on her threats.
 
    The way Rob's face paled at her comments told her that her
threat was effective, at least for the moment.  He tried to back away
from her even further, but there was no room left for him to move.  He
raised his hands in surrender, and nodded slightly.
 
    "Okay, okay.  You win.  I'll leave you alone from now on." 
In his mind, Rob was thinking,* You win this round, bitch, but there
will be payback.*  Rob slipped around his stepsister, and headed out of
the room, not looking back at her.
 
    Claire leaned over, putting her hand on Rob's desk for
support.  Her breathing was coming in ragged, gasping breaths, and she
could feel her heart racing in her anger.  She wasn't quite sure what
had come over her, and she didn't know how she had finally managed to
stand up to her stepbrother, but she was glad it happened; she was glad
it was over.
 
    She certainly didn't understand what she had started.
 
 
 
...---=== http://netwolf.wolfpub.org ===---...
 
 
 
    "Okay, what have you got for us?"  Mimir said to Hercules. 
Herc pulled out a folder of possible flyers for posting around the
school and the city.  He passed them around one at a time, letting
everyone look at each one carefully.  He took their advertising
campaign seriously, and he had been put in charge of the effort to
develop these advertisements.  Once he passed all of them around, he
sat nervously waiting for people's opinions.
 
    Everyone, except for Loki, praised Herc for the work he had
done.  Claire, especially, looked at each one carefully, trying to
decide just exactly what kind of image she wanted to be associated
with.  The one that caught her eyes the most had a title in large, bold
letters that read, "_NEED HELP?_"  The tone of this flyer clearly
expressed her desires for the MDSA, and it was exactly the kind of
image she felt they ought to have.
 
    Holding up the flyer, Claire said, "I vote for this one."
 
    Loki retorted, "of course you take the pussy one.  What do
we want to deal with, a bunch of losers who can't handle their own
problems?"
 
    "But that's precisely the point, Loki," Aurora replied. 
"Anyone who *can* handle their own problems doesn't need us.  I think
Cl- ... Nightingale is right.  This is the one we should go with." 
Aurora blushed slightly at her slip of the tongue, as she struggled to
remember that they weren't supposed to use their real names during
these meetings.
 
    "Of course you go with the one your boyfriend did."
 
    "My boyfriend did *all* of them," Aurora shot back.  Loki
wisely kept his mouth shut at that point.
 
    Mimir then looked at his girlfriend, and received a nod. 
It was clear that all of the girls wanted that specific flyer used. 
Mimir had not developed an opinion for himself yet, but in the
interests of harmony, he was willing to go along with the girls. 
First, though, he wanted to get Herc's opinion on the matter.
 
    "Herc?  Which one did you want to use?"
 
    Hercules shrugged.  "I liked all of them, whichever one you
guys want to use is fine with me.  Besides," he said with a chuckle,
"I'm not about to contradict my girlfriend."  Aurora slapped him
playfully on the arm, and he tickled her back for a few seconds before
they got serious once again.
 
    "Okay, then, I guess the decision is made."
 
    "What, I don't get a say in the matter?"  Loki grumbled
from across the room.
 
    "You've already had your say," Atlanta replied.  "We
disagreed with you, and besides, the vote would be five to one against
you.  Do you really want to rebel against the group already?"
 
    "Whatever," Loki growled.  "Are we almost done yet?"
 
    "Is there any other business?"  Mimir asked the group.  His
only answer was several negative shakes of the head.  "Okay, then. 
Herc, if you'll go ahead and make copies of those flyers, and get them
posted wherever you think they'll draw attention, I'd appreciate it. 
Do you need some help?"
 
    "He'll have whatever help he needs," Aurora answered for
him.  Herc blushed slightly as the rest of the room chuckled.  At that,
the meeting broke up, and everyone got up to leave the room.
 
    "Hey, Princess, how come you never treat me like that?" 
Paul asked Claire.  He slid himself up closer to her so that he could
whisper in her ear.  He said, "why don't we sneak off for a little fun,
just the two of us?"
 
    Without warning, Claire whirled on him, her hand clenched
into a fist, and her arm tense.  Paul had no time to get out of her
way, and no one in the room was expecting her to get physical with him
-- at least not violently so.  Claire's punch connected with Paul's
jaw, and though she didn't have any real strength, her punch knocked
Paul back about a foot.  His eyes went suddenly wide, and everyone saw
a strange wave of disfigurement pass across Paul's face.
 
    Claire could not have cared less about any strange effect
that she was having on Paul.  She lunged at him, trying to get her
hands around his throat.  It was clear that she was beyond reasoning;
there was a wildness in her eyes that warned the others of real
danger.  She nearly reached him when an invisible force gently but
insistently restrained her.  She struggled within the invisible field
before she realized that Jim had wrapped her up in a telekinetic hold.
 
    "Let me at that mother-fucker!  I've had all of his shit
I'm going to put up with!"
 
    Jim stepped between the two people, and tried to push
Claire back without actually touching her.  This was definitely not a
time when he wanted to give even the slightest impression of making
some kind of move on her.  At that point, Paul decided that he would
apparently rather make things worse.
 
    "God dammit, that hurt!  You stupid bitch!"  Paul screamed.
 
    Jim turned around to face Paul, and everyone else in the
room knew that some line had just been crossed.  Jim's expression
hardened, and his eyes blazed with anger.
 
    "You can apologize to her now, or I can let her at you. 
Nobody calls a girl that in front of me.  Say you're sorry, *now*."
 
    Paul stared at him for a long moment, trying to decide
whether or not he was serious.  It was clear that Claire was furious,
and that she would attack him again, if given the opportunity.  He also
had to admit that her punch had hurt far worse than it should have.* 
Is my medical condition coming back?  Is this some strange reaction to
the amount of transformation I've been doing lately?  Now is really not
the time for this sort of thing to crop up.*  Paul decided that now was
not the time to confront angry people with supernatural powers.
 
    "Sorry, Claire.  I...  Misspoke."  Paul made it clear that
this was the best they were going to get.
 
    "That was pathetic," Jim snarled.  He turned to look at
Claire, and noticed that she had calmed down quite a bit.  The
questioning glance he gave her got a nod in return, and he released her
from his telekinetic hold.  Turning back to Paul, he said, "look, I
promised to help you with your little game against Coach McMahon
tomorrow night, but after that, don't expect much in the way of help
from me.  I realize that Jen and I are the newest members of this
little group, and I know I'm in no position to be giving orders, but I
also know that I don't have to put up with this kind of shit."  Jim
turned to walk away, getting a smile from both Claire and his
girlfriend.  He then decided there was one more thing that needed to be
said.
 
    Turning back to Paul, Jim said, "and if you ever, *EVER*,
called Jen a bitch, I will personally put you in the hospital."
 
    "Whatever," Paul muttered as he pushed past everyone and
out of the room.
 
    Jim looked at Luke and Lori and said, "sorry if I
overstepped my bounds.  I just... I know how much it hurts my sister to
be called that, and I've grown so used to defending her over it that I
just sort of went on automatic pilot."
 
    "That's fine, Jim.  I think we all wanted to say it to him,
but you sort of beat us to the punch," Lori replied.
 
    Jim smirked and said, "No, Claire beat us both to the
*punch*."
 
    The remainder of the group laughed as they began to leave
the room.  Now that the business of their gathering was over, Jen had a
question to ask.
 
    "Claire, where's Andie?"
 
    "Her father was making her do something or other.  I don't
know what.  I'm a little worried about her; her father is a real shit."
 
    "Let us know if there's anything we can do for her, okay?" 
Jim asked.  Claire nodded, her gratitude for his concern plain on her
face.
 
 
 
...---=== http://netwolf.wolfpub.org ===---...
 
 
 
    "No, really, man, that's okay.  I'll be over in a bit.  No,
don't worry about it."  Luke hung up the phone with a heavy sigh.
 
    "What's the matter, bro?" Zoe asked, seeing the look on his
face.
 
    "Rick needs help with a computer project that's due this
week.  He's going to be busy with other classes for the rest of the
week, so he needs help tonight."
 
    Zoe shrugged.  "What's the big deal?  You help people all
the time."
 
    Luke looked at her sideways, and lowered his voice. 
"Lori's mom is out of town tonight.  I was going over to her house."
 
    "Oh," Zoe said, dragging the word out as if this was some
startling revelation.  It wasn't.  "Well," she said, thinking hard, "I
can take you over to Rick's, then I can go keep Lori company until
you're finished... Then I can take you over to Lori's.  You're not
going to be *that* long with him, are you?"
 
    "No, probably not.  Rick often needs hand-holding on these
things, but he's usually got the ideas down pat.  It shouldn't be more
than an hour, hour and a half, tops."
 
    Zoe nodded.  "Okay, so that's what we'll do, then.  I'll
tell Mom, and then we can go."
 
    "Thanks, Zoe."
 
    Zoe walked away with a smile on her face.  Rick's sudden
desire for assistance wasn't a surprise to Zoe, either.  She knew that
he'd want to sleep with her for the favor.  *It's worth it,* she told
herself.  Tonight had been carefully thought out, and carefully
planned.  An hour and a half was cutting it a bit close... but she'd
told Rick to take two hours, and since she knew he wanted in her pants,
it was likely that he would give her two hours.
 
 
 
-----
 
 
 
    When Lori answered the door, Zoe had to work hard not to
laugh at the disappointed expression on her face.  She quickly replaced
it with a smile, but it was too late; Zoe knew what was planned for the
evening.
 
    "Hey, Zoe," Lori said, forcing cheer into her voice. 
"What're you doing here?"
 
    "Well, Luke has to help a friend for a little while, and
rather than me going back and forth to the house, I figured I'd come
over here and keep you company until Luke was finished.  You know, you
and I don't really know each other all that well, and I think it'd be
cool if we could be friends, since you and Luke are so close..."
 
    "Well, okay, sure.  C'mon in," Lori said, her smile more
genuine now.  She let Zoe in and closed the door, leading her back to
her bedroom.
 
    *I have you now, my pretty...* Zoe thought, her mind
tacking on the kind of maniacal cackle that was heard in bad movies.
 
    Zoe was somewhat surprised at the femininity of Lori's
bedroom; she'd expected something more masculine from a jock-girl. 
That suited Zoe just fine; she wasn't big on girls pretending to be
boys, anyway.  She immediately began looking around for things that she
could use to advance her plan.  She expected this to be a difficult
problem, and she didn't even expect to succeed tonight, but in these
sorts of things, Zoe could be very patient.  

    As Zoe kept looking around, she listened to Lori chat,
throwing in comments when appropriate, but letting Lori carry the
conversation.  This seemed to be something that Lori was willing to do.
 
    *Is she nervous about something, or does she just like to
talk?* Zoe wondered.  She realized just how little she knew about Lori,
although she was now getting a crash-course in Lori's life.
 
    "So, what about you?" Lori finally asked, having given a
brief history of her own life.
 
    Zoe smiled at her.  "I don't do much.  My only real
interest is boys."  She wondered what kind of a response that would get.
 
    "They are fun, aren't they?  But c'mon, you're not
interested in *anything* else?"
 
    *Not that I can tell you about yet...*  Zoe shrugged.  "Not
really.  I figured to be a housewife and stay-at-home mom someday.  I
don't do books, and sports just seemed pointless to me - no offense."
 
    "None taken," Lori assured her.  Lori didn't make the
mistake of assuming that her lack of broader interests made Zoe a
shallow person; she simply knew what she wanted.
 
    Zoe took it as a good sign that Lori wasn't putting her
down for her views.  In truth, she didn't plan on getting married until
she was in her twenties at some point; she wanted to have her fun,
first.  Besides, working would be a good experience, she thought,
before she settled down and began to raise a family.  So far, she
hadn't really found anything that would help her plan, but then she
spotted a dress hanging on the door of the closet.  It was a very nice
dress.
 
    Zoe walked over and fingered the soft fabric of the formal
dress, and she wondered about it.  Turning to Lori, she asked, "You and
Luke going somewhere tonight?"
 
    "Huh?" Lori asked, then realized what Zoe was referring
to.  "Oh, no.  There's a fund-raiser for the track team on Saturday.  I
was figuring on wearing that... but I'm still not sure.  I hate
fashion, I can never figure out what goes with what or what looks good
on me."
 
    *Everything looks good on you,* Zoe thought enviously. 
What was important was she had a possible opening.
 
    "Well, fashion is something I'm good at.  Why don't you let
me help you pick something out?"
 
    "That would be great!" Lori enthused.  She got up off the
bed, and stepped into her closet, grabbing several choices.  She held
them up for Zoe to see.  "These are the ones I was thinking about."
 
    Zoe rolled her eyes, not at the choices, but at the lack of
understanding on Lori's part.  "I can't tell you which one without
seeing them on you," she explained patiently.
 
    "Oh, right!  Sorry, I'm not good at this."  Lori hung the
dresses on the closet door hook, and then she kicked off her shoes. 
Zoe backed up a little as she began to undress, to give her room.
 
    *My God, what a body*, Zoe thought as Lori's bra-clad chest
came into view.  As Lori slipped her sweats down off her legs, Zoe
admired the view of Lori's strong, tanned legs.  *Shit, this girl is a
goddess.  No wonder I can't get Luke away from her!*
 
    While Zoe was thinking, Lori grabbed the first dress, a
shimmering green number that Zoe didn't much like at all.  It didn't
seem to fit Lori's body type, but that was secondary to her more
important concerns right now.
 
    Once the dress was slipped into place, Zoe nodded, as if
thinking about something.  She said, "Turn around."
 
    As Lori turned, Zoe stepped closer to her.  She placed her
hand on Lori's hip, as if to stop her from moving.  Lori shivered, and
Zoe looked up at her in surprise.  Lori didn't see this, since she had
her back to Zoe.  *What was that about?*  Zoe shook it off, and stood
back, pretending to evaluate the dress.  As she stepped around Lori's
body, she let her hand trail on the dress.  Her hand 'accidentally'
slipped down and caressed Lori's ass cheek, and again Lori shuddered. 
Zoe was beginning to suspect something about Lori, but she couldn't act
on the little bit of information she had.
 
    Continuing to walk around the girl, Zoe noticed how this
dress looked like it was about to bust trying to contain Lori's tits. 
*Definitely not flattering*, Zoe thought.  She let her hand run along
Lori's abdomen, and she took the chance to look up at Lori's face.  She
could see a hint of a flush there, and she could tell that Lori was
trying to keep herself under tight control.
 
    *An odd reaction... what's that about?  Is she into girls,
and doesn't want me to know?*  Zoe smiled, and finally released Lori. 
Stepping back, she shook her head.  "Not this one.  It's too tight
across the chest."
 
    "I have that problem with a lot of clothes," Lori said
somewhat sourly.
 
    "I can imagine.  Anyway, I wouldn't ever wear this one if I
was you.  What did you buy it for?"
 
    "A school dance.  It fit when I bought it, but that was
last year."
 
    "Uh-huh," Zoe said, nodding.  "Growing can be annoying at
times.  Try the blue one next."
 
    "Okay."  Lori pulled the green one off, tossing it
carelessly on the dresser.  She took the blue one off its hanger, and
slipped it on while Zoe watched.
 
    For the next ten minutes, Zoe watched as Lori tried on
dresses.  Each time, Zoe would walk all the way around Lori, making
sure her hands took as many opportunities to touch her as possible. 
Zoe noted that Lori was becoming more and more flushed, and
disconcerted, but she didn't say anything to Zoe about it.  Zoe was
beginning to understand that Lori was just sensitive to touch.
 
    *Something I will use to the best of my advantage, young
lady, I assure you.*
 
    Finally, they came to the last dress, a strapless one that
would show off Lori's body very well.
 
    "You'll need to take off your bra.  I've got to see it the
way it will be worn," Zoe said.  She'd selected this dress to be last
for a reason.
 
    Lori nodded, and reached back to unhook her bra.  Zoe tried
not to gasp as she saw Lori's ample mounds come into view.  Zoe noted
the erect nipples standing proud from her pink areolas, and felt her
own urges surging.  She held them at bay for the moment, and waited
while Lori covered them back up with the somewhat ugly-colored but
well-fitting dress.
 
    Again, Zoe went through her routine of walking around Lori,
letting her hand trail across Lori's body.  This time, she slipped her
hand across both her ass cheeks, as if checking the tightness of the
dress - it was *very* tight - and she lingered probably longer than she
ought to have, but Lori said nothing.  It was obvious that Lori was
keeping her body under rigid control at this point.
 
    When Zoe walked around front to face Lori again, she
thought that this dress actually would be nice, but not for the
function Lori was going to.  More important, the dress fit just loosely
enough in the top - how in the hell had she gotten a dress that was
loose *anywhere* on her? - to make Zoe's plan feasible.  If it didn't
work, she'd be in deep shit with her brother, but she had to take the
chance.  Lori's reactions this evening had encouraged Zoe to push
forward, and so she'd risk it.
 
    "Will Luke be going to the fund raiser with you?" Zoe asked.
 
    "No.  We're not allowed to bring a guest.  They don't want
us distracted from buttering up the other people, who might make larger
donations than just the cost of the dinner."
 
    Zoe nodded, having received the expected answer.  "Okay,
then you probably don't want to wear this dress.  I mean," Zoe said,
letting her hands rub upward along Lori's sides, causing an
uncontrollable shiver in Lori, "if you wear this dress, some perverted
guy could come along and do..."  At this point, Zoe moved her hands
quickly up to the very top of the dress, her hands pressing in against
Lori's tits, but her movement was quick as she hooked her fingers in
the top of the dress and pulled down, suddenly exposing Lori's tits.
"..this," Zoe said, completing her sentence.  She let her fingers now
slip up onto Lori's tits and make small circles, caressing the flesh
and arousing the girl.
 
    Lori gasped at Zoe's actions, stunned into silence and
inaction.  Zoe took her chance and stepped closer.  She let her fingers
rub wider circles on Lori's tits, eventually brushing against her
nipples.  Zoe watched Lori's face for revulsion, but all she saw was
arousal.  Lori was too overcome by her hypersensitive body to resist
after spending ten minutes being turned on by Zoe's actions.
 
    Zoe continued to rub Lori's breasts, focusing on her
nipples, as she leaned in.  Lori didn't resist as their lips touched,
and in a few seconds, she began to kiss back.  Her hands remained at
her sides, though; she wasn't yet aware enough of what was happening to
push Zoe away, or to return the caresses.
 
    Zoe began to understand that Lori was inexperienced, but
not fighting.  In order to keep it that way, she decided to keep
kissing the surprised girl.  Zoe stepped even closer, pressing herself
against Lori.  She moved her hands around to Lori's lower back, and her
tongue snuck out to lick across Lori's lips.  Lori, responding
automatically to a request that Luke made often, parted her lips to
admit the wet intruder.  Soon, the girls were French-kissing hotly.
 
    As they continued to kiss, Zoe moved her hands up Lori's
back until she reached the top of the dress.  She grasped the zipper
and pulled it down quickly, before Lori would realize what was
happening.  Once it was fully undone, Zoe pulled at the fabric until it
fell free from Lori's body and wound up piled at her feet.  Zoe moved
her hands further down, now caressing Lori's ass directly.  Lori, lost
in the sensations, moaned into Zoe's mouth.
 
    Taking her arousal as a cue, Zoe hooked her fingers inside
Lori's panties, and pulled them down and off her hips, allowing them to
fall into the pile with Lori's dress.  Lori was now completely nude,
and Zoe was completely clothed.  This was definitely not acceptable to
Zoe.  She couldn't easily undo her blouse at the moment, but she did
kick her sneakers off, and then she let go of Lori to unfasten her own
jeans.  Zoe made sure that her tongue and lips kept Lori occupied, so
as not to give her a chance to really think about what was going on.
 
    In a matter of mere seconds, Zoe had her own jeans down her
legs, and her panties followed quickly thereafter.  The next part was
far trickier.  She moved her hands up between their bodies, and this
gave Lori a clear idea of what Zoe was doing.  Lori, however, was too
lost in the passion to stop at this point, and their kiss continued
uninterrupted as Zoe fully unbuttoned her blouse and shoved it off her
arms.  While she was still standing with her body pulled away from
Lori, she unhooked and shucked her bra.  Now both girls were nude, and
Zoe reveled in the sensation as she now plastered her naked body
against Lori's, feeling their tits mash together wonderfully.
 
    Zoe's hands now roamed Lori's body freely, though Lori was
still a little too lost to participate very much.  Her hands finally
came up to rest on Zoe's hips, but made little movement.  Zoe didn't
care; she would work on one thing at a time.  Zoe could feel the heat
radiating off Lori's body, pronouncing her arousal to the world. 
Sensing that it was time to move on to the next step - they didn't have
all that much time, after all - Zoe slipped her hand in-between their
bodies.  She gently but quickly worked her fingers downward, until her
fingertips were brushing Lori's inner thighs.  Zoe tenderly slipped her
middle finger between those thighs, rubbing it against the side of
Lori's clit.
 
    Lori gasped in shock, pulling herself away from Zoe.  This
opened her legs, and Zoe took advantage, keeping her hand on Lori's
pussy, though she didn't move her fingers just yet.
 
    "Zoe, I... I've never..."
 
    "It's okay, Lori," Zoe said quietly, reassuringly.  "You
already know what to do.  You just do what feels good to you, and it's
sure to feel good to me, too.  See, watch," she said, and then began to
move her hand again, slipping her finger along Lori's slick and swollen
outer lips.  Lori groaned in pleasure and confusion.  When Zoe slipped
her middle finger deep into Lori's cunt, the confusion was quickly
drowned out by the pleasure.
 
    Zoe stepped a little closer to Lori again, and Lori didn't
retreat.  Reaching out, Zoe took Lori's hand and brought it down to her
own waiting cunt.  Lori was very unsure of this, but Zoe was gentle and
insistent.  She used Lori's hand to rub her own pussy until Lori got
the idea.  It took a few more seconds for Lori to manage the movement
on her own, but when she did, Zoe groaned.  Lori's long, slender
fingers slipped across Zoe's hot box, and caused tingles to shoot
through every nerve in Zoe's body.
 
    As Zoe felt her own heat rising, and she could sense that
Lori was already close to orgasm, she leaned in and resumed their
kissing.  Lori's tongue was far more active now, and her fingers
suddenly slipped inside Zoe's cunt.  Zoe gasped at the sudden pleasant
intrusion, and her own fingers began to move faster in gratitude.  It
wasn't long before Lori shuddered, and her back arched, pushing her
tits firmly against Zoe.  She began to buck on Zoe's hand, and her own
fingers faltered in their assault on Zoe's cunt.  When Zoe broke their
kiss, Lori let out loud groans and cries of passion that filled the
room.
 
    After a few moments, Lori's orgasm subsided, and it was
clear that her knees were weak.  Zoe guided her over to the bed; she
wasn't finished with this goddess yet.  She laid Lori down on the bed,
and crawled next to her.  She removed her hand from Lori's cunt, but
did not remove it from her body.  Instead, she let her soaked fingers
trail a path from Lori's pussy up to her tits.  She rubbed her fingers
repeatedly across Lori's nipples, getting them wet and sticky with
Lori's juices.  As it appeared that Lori was beginning to regain her
senses from her intense climax, Zoe leaned over and applied her lips to
one of Lori's nipples.
 
    Lori gasped in pleasure, and her hands immediately flew to
the back of Zoe's head, pressing her firmly against her tit.  Zoe
didn't object, and let her other hand continue to work on the free
breast.  She switched breasts after a little while, and made sure to
lavish the other nipple with as much good feelings as the first.
 
    When Zoe felt that Lori was calm enough, and accepting
enough of the situation, she let her lips leave the nipple they had
been sucking on, and trail wet kisses down Lori's abdomen.  As she
reached the vee of Lori's crotch, she gently pushed Lori's legs apart. 
It wasn't long before she was looking down at the beautiful pussy of
this most beautiful girl.  When she ran her tongue along the outer edge
of Lori's pussy lips, the girl let loose a long, low wail of ecstasy.
 
    In that moment, Zoe maneuvered herself on top of Lori.  The
two girls were now in a sixty-nine position, but of course, Lori wasn't
actively participating.  Zoe would have to work at getting her into it.
 
    "C'mon, lick me, baby," Zoe said in her most seductive
voice.  "You can do it.  You know what feels good down there.  Go for
it!"  Zoe let her words sink in as she bent her own head back down to
resume licking at Lori's cunt.
 
    Lori was terribly unsure of herself, but she felt guilty at
not giving Zoe any pleasure when she herself was receiving so much. 
Very cautiously, she reached her tongue out to drift a feathery lick
along Zoe's slit.  Zoe's body jumped in pleasant shock, and Lori could
feel Zoe's gasp of pleasure on her own cunt.  Encouraged, she slipped
her tongue once again along Zoe's cunt, and got another favorable
reaction.  The approving response of her partner encouraged her to
become more active, and she reached up with her hands, pulling Zoe's
hips a little lower to make her cunt easier to reach.
 
    Zoe readily shifted her position, and smiled to herself. 
*Step one, complete!*  She then returned her tongue and lips to working
over Lori's cunt.  The girl beneath her was beginning to writhe again,
once more rising toward her peak.  Zoe was getting there herself, since
Lori's inexperienced but highly enthusiastic tongue had begun working
on Zoe's clit.  Zoe decided to return the favor, and perhaps educate
her partner.  She licked at Lori's clit until it had exposed itself,
and then she sucked it into her mouth, treating it as if it was a small
dick.  Her tongue lapped against it and her lips kissed it forcefully. 
It didn't take Lori long to get the idea, and soon they were sharing
the same pleasures.
 
    When Zoe stuck her middle finger deep into Lori's cunt,
that was all Lori could take.  Her body was suddenly wrenched by a
massive jolt of energy, and she came wildly, bucking beneath her
partner.  Her screams vibrated Zoe's clit, and shot thunderbolts of
bliss throughout Zoe's body, pushing her over the edge into her own
orgasm.  The two ladies bucked and squirmed on the bed for long moments
before their pleasures subsided, and they were able to regain their
breath.  Zoe pivoted herself so that she was lying the same way as her
partner, and she smiled at Lori, who looked slightly embarrassed, but
very well sated.
 
    To test the waters, Zoe leaned over and pressed her lips
gently to Lori's.  Her kiss was immediately returned, and Lori's hand
came up to caress the back of Zoe's head.  When they broke the kiss,
Lori looked a little nervous and unsure.
 
    "I've never... done it with a girl before," she admitted
unnecessarily.
 
    "I figured.  Did you like it?" Zoe asked.  This was an
important question.
 
    "Oh, God," Lori moaned in reply.  "I never knew that would
feel so good!"
 
    "You mean Luke doesn't go down on you?" Zoe asked in
surprise.  He ate her out regularly.
 
    "I won't let him.  I can't... I mean, I don't know how
to... you know, go down on him, and I don't think it's fair to let him
go down on me if I won't."
 
    Zoe then got an insight into just how special the
relationship between Luke and Lori was, and she had to alter her plan
just slightly.  It was obvious these two actually *needed* her.  She
smiled at Lori.  "Well, whenever you want to get eaten, you can just
give me a call.  You learn fast, by the way."
 
    Lori blushed crimson.  "Thanks," she mumbled.  Zoe kissed
her again, but this was a loving kiss, rather than a lover's kiss. 
Lori returned it likewise, and then the two lay together, embracing
gently.
 
    "Promise me you won't tell Luke about this?" Lori asked
seriously.
 
    "Why not?" Zoe asked, curious.
 
    "I just... I don't think he'd understand," Lori replied, a
little shakily.  Zoe tightened her embrace to show support.
 
    "Okay, Baby," Zoe said tenderly.  "But we might want to let
him know at some point... at least, if we will ever be doing this
again... And I'd really like to."
 
    "You would?"
 
    "There aren't that many bi-girls at school, and lesbians
are too anti-male for me to get along with them.  I prefer guys, just
like you, but I really enjoy spending time with a girl, you know?"
 
    "I think so," Lori said with a smile that turned into a
giggle.  Zoe joined her.
 
    "So, do you think we can do this again?"
 
    "Okay," Lori nodded, "but you have to promise not to tell
Luke.  At least, not until I'm ready."
 
    Zoe nodded, knowing that there would be a surprise for both
Luke *and* Lori on that day.  She settled against her lover, content
with the successful completion of the first phase of her plan.
 
    Just then, the phone rang.  Lori jumped, startled.  Zoe
just giggled at her, and reached for the phone.
 
    "Hello, Darlington residence... Oh, hey, Luke...  She's in
the bathroom," Zoe lied, getting a wicked grin from Lori.  "Okay, I'll
let her know, and then I'll be over in a bit to get you... No problem. 
My pleasure," Zoe said the last and had to strangle a laugh, because
Luke would not understand it.  Lori put a pillow over her own face to
contain the sound of the laugh that she could not mute.  "Okay, see ya
in a few."
 
    Zoe hung up the phone and let loose with the laugh that she
had been holding in.  The two girls laughed heartily, holding onto each
other and letting loose the nervous tension.  It was the same way every
time Zoe had ever approached a girl about sex, and it felt good to
release it.  Their laugh finally ended with the two looking deep into
each other's eyes, and a warm, deep kiss ensued.
 
    After a few moments, they broke the kiss.  "If I don't get
going, Luke will wonder what's going on," Zoe said.  "You might want to
change the sheets, too," she said with a giggle.  Lori laughed and
nodded.
 
    "Okay.  Zoe?"
 
    "Yeah?"
 
    "Thanks.  I never knew... I mean,"
 
    "Yeah, I know.  Most girls don't."
 
    "Why me?" she asked.
 
    "Well, Luke kept going on about how sweet and smart and
nice you were... I just wanted a little piece of that myself."  Lori
blushed, but she kissed her new lover anyway.  Then the two got up to
straighten things for Luke's sake.
 
 
 
...---=== http://netwolf.wolfpub.org ===---...
 
 
 
    "Call me when you're ready to come home," Laura told her
brother.  She smiled as he nodded to her.  He watched her drive off,
then headed up the walk to ring the doorbell.
 
    It only took a few seconds before Mrs. Young opened the
door.  Jim tried not to stare.  Although he had been over to this house
many times, and he and Stacy had talked frequently, it was one of the
rare times he'd seen her in something other than her uniform, and it
looked as if she was wearing something more than her usual
around-the-house clothes, too.  Her fiery red hair was pulled back into
a ponytail, and her green eyes flashed with intelligence.
 
    "Hi, Jim!" Stacy said brightly.  She stepped aside to let
him in, but not far enough aside that he didn't brush against her as he
entered.  She didn't say anything about it at all, though.
 
    "Dinner's almost ready.  I think Jen's in her room.  Why
don't you go get her?"
 
    "Sure, Mrs... uh, Stacy."  She had told him not to bother
calling her 'Mrs. Young', since she felt like they were becoming such
good friends.
 
    "No goofing off, mind you.  Dinner's on its way to the
table," she told him sternly.  It was only the smile on her face and
the twinkle in her eyes that betrayed her amusement.
 
    "Yes, ma'am!" he said with a smile of his own.  He walked
back to Jen's room and knocked on the door.
 
    "C'mon in!" she said.  She knew who it was, and was kind of
surprised that he'd actually knocked.  On further consideration, she
realized he'd never enter her room without knocking unless she told him
to.  She smiled when she saw him, and got up from the bed.  She moved
quickly across the room and wrapped her arms around his neck.  Her lips
wrapped themselves around his own lips, and they kissed deeply for a
long moment.  Jim's hands worked their way around to Jen's ass, and
squeezed.  She moaned at that, and their kiss grew hotter.
 
    Jim had to break their kiss before they were both *very*
late for dinner.  "We can't do this now.  Your mom will yell at me. 
She *warned* me not to fool around."  He smiled and winked at Jen, who
turned her head downward slightly and blushed.  "Anyway, dinner's
ready."
 
    Jen kissed her boyfriend again, quickly this time, and then
let him lead her out of her room back toward the dining room.
 
 
 
-----
 
 
 
    Dinner turned out to be ham, potatoes, vegetables and
home-cooked rolls.  The meal was very good, and it felt to Jim almost
like Stacy was trying to impress him.  *I must be deluding myself. 
What has she got to prove to a high-school kid?*  He enjoyed the meal,
anyway, and both of the ladies were very pleasant company.  The
conversation was light and cheerful.
 
    As dinner was finishing up, though, a strange look came
over Jennifer's face.  Jim was the first of the other two to notice.
 
    "Are you okay, Baby?" he asked tenderly, without concern
for the fact that Stacy was sitting right next to him.  Jen shook her
head negatively, and scrunched up her eyes.  It was clear that she was
in pain.
 
    "Jen?  What's the matter, Honey?" Stacy asked her daughter.
 
    "Cramp," Jen managed to get out through clenched teeth.  "I
think I need to use the restroom."  She got up without another word and
staggered out of the room toward the bathroom.  Jim looked at Stacy
questioningly.  Stacy kind of shrugged, indicating she didn't have any
better idea than he did what was wrong.
 
    "I imagine she'll be all right," Stacy said after a few
seconds.  "Maybe she ate something that didn't agree with her... Geez,
I hope it wasn't the ham..."
 
    Jim didn't think it was anything they'd had for dinner. 
Food usually gives you a couple hours of enjoyment before it turns on
you, and so he figured if it was food-related, it might be lunch, but
probably not dinner.  To take his mind off something he couldn't fix,
he said, "Let me help you clear the table."
 
    "Thanks."
 
    The two of them worked together to get the table cleared
off, and the dishes rinsed and into the dishwasher.  They were putting
away the last of the leftovers, and Jen still had not reappeared.  Jim
could tell that something else was on Stacy's mind at the moment,
though.  He didn't know what it was, and was too shy to ask her about
it.
 
    He need not have worried about that.
 
    Stacy closed the fridge and turned to face him.  "You
know," she said with a smile, "I don't think I've ever thanked you for
all you've done for my daughter.  You've saved her from trouble a
couple of times, and you've also made her happier than I've seen her in
a really long time."
 
    What was he supposed to say to that?  "It was my pleasure,"
sounded completely wrong, considering some of the things that had
happened... and did you say that to a girl's mother about the *other*,
more pleasant things they'd done?  He didn't think so.  Jim kind of
stammered, then shrugged.  Stacy smiled at him, understanding his
discomfort.
 
    "You know, you're every mother's dream for her little
girl.  Geez, I hope I'm not giving you too big of an ego trip."  She
could see that Jim was blushing.  She stepped closer to him, and put
her hand on his shoulder.  "It's important to me that Jen is happy. 
With her worries over her abilities, and this thing between myself and
her father... things haven't been easy lately.  I can't help her like
you do."  She saw the blush return to his face.  "Well, not like you're
thinking, though I think that was almost as important for her.  I mean,
you understand what she's going through.  You can relate to her
troubles.  That's something I just can't do."
 
    "Stacy, I..." Jim started, but Stacy cut him off.
 
    "I know.  You're just being yourself.  That's what's so
great about you."  Stacy wrapped her other hand around Jim's neck.  He
was now very confused.  *What's happening here?* he thought to
himself.  He didn't move as Stacy stepped a little closer yet.
 
    "And I just wanted to say Thank You."  With that, she
pressed her lips to his, and pressed her body tightly to him.  Jim was
in total shock, but not so out of it that he didn't return her kiss. 
Their lips mingled for a long moment, but when his hands reached out to
take hold of her hips, he finally realized what he was doing.
 
    Jim broke their kiss, and Stacy readily let him go.  She
didn't, herself, quite understand what had made her do that, but she
didn't regret doing it at all.  It was plain on her face that there was
no insistence on anything, but also no refusal.  Jim's face contained
more clear emotions: shock and confusion.  His mind struggled for
something, *anything*, to say in this situation.
 
    "I'd better go check on Jen," he finally managed to come up
with, and fled the room.  Stacy watched him go with a slight smile on
her face.  She was also slightly flushed; Jim was a very good kisser.
 
    Jim stopped in the hallway, just outside the bathroom, and
tried to collect his thoughts.  That wasn't working, though, because
his thoughts refused to fit into any sort of collection.  He decided to
wrap them up and set them aside for later sorting, and deal with an
issue more readily understandable: Jen's illness.
 
    Jim very lightly knocked on the bathroom door.  "Jen?  Are
you okay?"
 
    Jen could hear the concern in her boyfriend's voice.  "You
might as well come on in," she said.  "I hate talking through doors."
 
    Jim opened the door and walked in.  As he closed the door,
the smell hit him.  He wrinkled his nose, but said nothing.
 
    He didn't need to.  "I know, it's bad.  It reeks, quite
frankly.  Could you hit the fan?"
 
    Jim nodded, and turned on the vent fan.  "Are you okay?" he
asked when he'd turned back to her.  He crouched, because he didn't
like looking down at her.
 
    "Not really... I don't know what's wrong.  Hurts pretty
bad, and the diarrhea... oh, man, you really didn't want to see what
came out of me the first go-round..."
 
    "No, probably not," he said with a soft smile, tinged with
a lot of concern.  "What do you want me to do?"
 
    She looked at him in confusion, not really understanding
the question.  He said, "You want me to call someone, go home, stay
here, rub your shoulders, tell you a story, what?"
 
    Jen was smiling at him now, though it was a little weak. 
"I'll be okay, I think.  Why don't you just go watch a movie with Mom,
and I'll be out when I can."
 
    The mention of her mother caused an odd look to cross Jim's
face, but she couldn't decipher it, and it was soon replaced with his
continuing concern for her well-being.  His regard for her was very
touching, and she loved him dearly for it, but there was, of course,
nothing he could really do about it, much as he wanted to help.
 
    "Okay," he said after a moment, "but holler if you need
anything."  He leaned forward, and kissed her on the cheek.
 
    "You think you're going to get away with that?" she said,
and pulled his face around until her lips were plastered to his.  They
kissed for a long moment, and then parted.  "My stomach may not be
working, but the rest of me's still okay."  She softened her tone
considerably and said, "I love you so much, Jim."
 
    "I love you, too."  He hugged her, and then stood back up. 
"I'll be in the living room if you need anything."
 
 
 
-----
 
 
 
    The living room, of course, was a bit uncomfortable at
first.  The TV was already on, and some movie was playing, but Jim
didn't immediately recognize it.  Stacy was nowhere in sight, and so
Jim shrugged and went to sit on the couch.  He could see Stacy's glass
of soda on the end table, so he knew she'd be back.
 
    When Stacy did come back into the room, she smiled brightly
upon seeing Jim.  Her concern for her daughter quickly came to the
front, though.  "How's she doing?"
 
    "Cramps, diarrhea... generally feeling 'icky.'  I hope
she'll be okay."
 
    "I'm sure she will.  And I hope she appreciates how much
you care for her at a time like this.  This is the point where most
high school boys book it out of here to go home."
 
    Jim just shook his head.  He couldn't explain that, though
he'd mentioned it as an option to Jen, he wouldn't leave her like this
except under a direct order from her or her mother.  He decided to try
to relax and get lost in the movie.  There was nothing he could do for
Jen except worry, and he could do that on autopilot.
 
    He was greatly disturbed, therefore, when Stacy moved
closer to him and took hold of his left hand.  She lifted his arm up
and insinuated herself next to him, dropping his arm across her
shoulders.  She laid her head on his shoulder, and there they remained,
quietly watching the movie.  Jim couldn't possibly follow the plot in
the movie with all the distractions he was stuck with.  He didn't
understand Stacy's behavior, especially since she knew he belonged to
her daughter.  He tried to ignore her presence - no easy task - and
just watch the movie, but every so often she'd shift her weight, just
to keep comfortable, and his attention would once again be riveted on
the admittedly beautiful female that he had his arm wrapped around.
 
    About halfway through the movie, Jen returned from the
bathroom.  She cocked an eyebrow at the two of them, but she didn't say
anything.  As soon as Stacy saw her daughter, she smiled, and got up
from the couch.  She said softly, "I was keeping him warm for you," and
winked.  Jen blushed slightly.  Jim was beyond the point of blushing
for the evening.  As Jen came over to him, he scooted over to the arm
of the couch, and turned.  She recognized the position immediately, and
she turned to cuddle against his body, her back to his chest.  His arms
came around her, but he didn't clasp her tightly like he usually did.
 
    "How's your stomach?" he asked, his hands coming up to very
tenderly caress her abdomen.
 
    "Ugh.  Lousy.  I don't know how long I'll be able to be out
here.  Thanks for sticking around."
 
    Jim leaned down and kissed Jen on the earlobe.  He felt her
shiver.  "Anything for you," he said.  It was meant as both a tease and
a serious comment about how he felt, and she got both meanings.  She
reached up and back, holding his head forward as he nibbled on her
ear.  Finally, she let him go, and he leaned back.  She went with him,
until they were reclined.  Rather than leaving his hands around her
waist, Jim put one hand on her hip, and lifted his other to lightly
stroke her hair, something which he knew she enjoyed.  They sat that
way until the movie ended.
 
 
 
...---=== http://netwolf.wolfpub.org ===---...
 
 
 
    "Mom, do you have to go?" Andie asked.  Her voice was a
pleading whine, and it often got her what she wanted... at least out of
her mother.
 
    "Sorry, Sweetie, but it's company business.  I'll only be
gone for about four days."
 
    "Four days alone with him..."
 
    "Andrea!  That's your father you're talking about!" her
mother snapped.  "Go to your room!"
 
    Andie stomped off to her bedroom, and shut the door.  *Four
days.  What the hell can he do in four days?*  Just then, a knock came
at the door, one knock, sharp: her father's knock.
 
    "It's open," she said.  He opened the door and looked in.
 
    "Let me just make this clear junior; for the next four
days, you're mine to do with as I please.  You're going to straighten
up, or there will be very nasty consequences, do you understand me?"
 
    "Yes, sir," she replied.  She hated his nickname for her:
"Junior".  It was a boy's nickname.
 
    "I really don't think you do," he snarled.  He looked at
her with an odd gleam in his eye.  "But you will."
 
    As he closed the door, Andie began to shiver.  She knew
that look couldn't mean anything good for her, and it had seemed almost
predatory in nature.  She knew she had to talk this over with Claire.
 
    Not being able to leave by the front door, because both her
parents would want to know where she was going, she slipped out her
bedroom window.  She walked across the roof of the garage, and climbed
down a trellis.  She ran next door, and rang the doorbell, looking
around feverishly for anyone who might see her and tell her parents.
 
    "Hi, Andie," Mark said upon seeing her.  "Claire's in her
room.  Go on back.  Will you be staying for dinner?"
 
    "I, uh... don't know.  I'll talk to Claire about it."  She
didn't really know what she was doing; she only knew that she had to
talk to Claire.  In fact, she wished she had a boy or man to talk to
about this, but there wasn't one she trusted readily available.
 
    She knocked rapidly on Claire's door, and didn't wait for
an answer before pushing it open.  Claire looked up from her desk
irately, until she saw it was Andie.  She was about to smile at her
friend, until she saw the look on Andie's face.
 
    "What's the matter?"
 
 
 
-----
 
 
 
    Jim and Jen walked together through the junkyard toward
their meeting place.  Jen had missed a day of school from her little
stomach bug, but she had recovered rapidly, and was now fully well.  As
they'd made their way into the junkyard, she'd made Jim tell her all
about his experience with his sister the day before.  Even though it
had been at Jen's insistence, he was still embarrassed about it.
 
    Entering the clubhouse, they made their way to the main
room, and greeted everyone.  It was immediately clear that Andie - now
Shadow - was very shaken about something.
 
    "What's the matter?" he asked her.  Mimir interrupted.
 
    "What about Loki?  Did you call him?"
 
    "I didn't figure Shadow needed his bullshit today. 
Nightingale said it was urgent, I didn't feel like putting up with his
shit..."
 
    "He's still a member of the team, Herc."
 
    "You really think he's going to help her?  All he'd do is
sit there and make snide remarks.  Look at her!  Does she need to put
up with that shit?"
 
    "Look that wasn't your decision to make, and -"
 
    "Enough, you two!" Atlanta said.  "Can we for once have a
meeting that doesn't involve us having to deal with the trouble caused
by Loki?"
 
    Both of the boys settled, and backed down.  Hercules
whispered an apology to Shadow, and then backed off, standing next to
his girlfriend.
 
    "Okay, Nightingale, you called this meeting.  What's the
problem?"
 
    "You all know about Shadow and her dad, right?"  She got
affirmative nods from everyone.  "Well, normally her mother is able to
keep his nastier attitudes in check, but she's going out of town for
four days, starting tomorrow.  Tell them what you told me."
 
    Shadow said, "He came into my room and basically told me I
was his to do with as he liked.  The look in his eyes... it scared me."
 
    Hercules frowned.  "Nightingale, you don't think he
meant..."
 
    Nightingale nodded.  "I think he just might.  Herc, he
wanted a boy.  He's done everything he could to turn Shadow into a
boy.  But look at her; she's beginning to bloom, and it's very, very
hard to pretend anymore."
 
    "I noticed," Herc said quietly, and blushed.  Shadow's eyes
widened a little, and she blushed, too, looking away from him.  She
hadn't thought that someone who was already in high school was paying
any attention to her.
 
    "I think he might try to force her girlishness out of
her... you know, abuse her so bad that she won't *want* to be a girl
anymore."
 
    Herc's look hardened.  "How do we stop him?"
 
    "We have to catch him in the act.  That's going to be very
hard to do and still keep Shadow safe."
 
    "Could we hide in her house?" Atlanta asked.
 
    Nightingale shook her head.  "There's no place to do it. 
Shadow's house is pretty small."
 
    "Mimir?  How old do memories have to be before you can read
them?"
 
    "Too old.  Minutes.  He'd have done anything he was going
to do before I'd know it.  Sorry."
 
    "What does that leave us?" Nightingale asked.  She noted
how Shadow was shrinking in on herself.
 
    "Standard police procedures," Aurora answered.  "They call
it a stakeout."
 
    "We can't watch their house twenty-four hours a day.  He'd
call the cops on us."
 
    "True.  But I think the time between him coming home from
work, and when he goes to bed, that's the crucial timeframe."
 
    Hercules had to nod at that.  He noticed Shadow shrinking
in on herself, too.  He looked over at Mimir, who was also looking at
her.  The two shared a look, which both apologized to each other for
their earlier eruption, and came to a decision.
 
    "That bastard," Hercules said quietly, "isn't going to hurt
her."
 
    "Agreed," Mimir replied.  None of the girls understood what
had just happened between the boys, and that was probably a good
thing.  No one knew that the person Shadow's father should fear most
was not a boy at all.
 
 
 
...---=== http://netwolf.wolfpub.org ===---...
 
 
 
    The three of them sat in the garage, listening.  Mimir held
the receiver, which was receiving its signal from Andie's room, hidden
behind a knick-knack on her dresser.  Hercules sat on top of a
workbench that looked like it never got used.  Nightingale paced back
and forth, worrying for her friend.  The boys looked at each other,
knowing there was nothing they could do about Nightingale's worry.
 
    They were in Nightingale's garage, and it was the last
night of their surveillance.  Each night, they'd brought their
homework, and they'd sat and listened.  It was nearing the time when
they would go home, and they'd already gotten all their work done. 
Now, they could only sit and wait.
 
    "If nothing happens," Mimir asked quietly, so as not to
drown out anything that might be on the comm-link, "what do we do?"
 
    "In that case, I guess we all misunderstood what her father
meant."  They knew already that the man had tormented Andie mercilessly
this week.  He had tried to make her do all sorts of boy-things that
she wasn't good at, like playing baseball, drinking beer - she'd nearly
choked on that - watching porn, he'd tried it all.
 
    It was about nine o'clock when they heard Andie's bedroom
door open forcefully.  They knew it was forceful because they heard it
slam into the wall.
 
    "Dad!" they heard on the radio.
 
    "All right, you little cunt!" he yelled.  "So, you want to
be a fucking *bitch* do you?  Well, you little whore, let's see how
good you are at doing what fucking bitches do!"
 
    "Dad, no!" Andie screamed.  At this point, they heard the
tearing of clothes.  They would have heard Andie screaming for her
father to let her go, but none of them waited that long.  Hercules
threw open the garage door, and the three of them bolted across the
yards.  When they reached the door, it was locked.
 
    "Is there any way you can open it?" Mimir asked Hercules. 
"Should we find an open window..."
 
    Just then they heard a loud scream, and Hercules didn't
wait for any further options.  He turned to the door in front of him
and concentrated as hard as he could.  The door's hinges creaked, but
then the door was blasted across the inner room and crashed into the
wall, shattering a mirror and crushing the hallway table.  The three
moved into the house quickly, and started up the stairs at a dead run.
 
    When they reached the top of the stairs, they saw Andie's
father dragging her out of her room, his hand yanking her along by her
hair.  Andie tried to follow as best she could, but she was clearly
off-balance.  They could all see her body; her clothes had been
completely ripped to shreds.  Simon Miller's pants were at his feet,
hampering his movements.  His dick waved back and forth, but a close
inspection - something nobody really wanted to do, but had to,
nonetheless - revealed it wasn't wet yet.  They had gotten here in time.
 
    "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT!" Simon screamed.  "Who the
fuck are you people?  Get the fuck out of my house!"  He seemed to have
a favorite word in his vocabulary.
 
    "Herc... take him."
 
    "Gotcha."  Hercules extended his telekinesis around the
man, and lifted with a grunt.  He threw the man forcefully backward,
slamming him into a wall.  The quick movement had thankfully forced him
to let go of Andie, who slumped to the floor, sobbing in terror.
 
    Mimir was about to begin his work on Simon's memory, but
Nightingale stopped him.  She could see the man was only barely
conscious at this point, and she felt he hadn't suffered enough. 

    "Let him go, Herc," she said.  The low, menacing tone in
her voice caused both boys to look at her, and they took an involuntary
step back.  Nightingale's eyes were actually glowing, and it wasn't a
pleasant thing to look at.  She, however, didn't realize it.  She
walked up to the man, who was only now beginning to come around.
 
    "You wanted to do that to your own daughter?  You goddamned
mother-fucking son of a bitch!  I'll make sure you never fuck anything
again!"
 
    Nightingale reached down and clutched Simon's balls in her
hand.  She meant to squeeze them into marmalade, which might or might
not kill him - she didn't really care at the moment.  What happened was
something unexpected, and far more horrifying to witness.
 
    Before Nightingale even had a chance to squeeze, Simon
screamed in agony and terror.  All three of the team members watched as
the man's face became instantly gray and drawn.  His skin began to sink
in on itself.  Nightingale could feel energy flowing into herself, she
was drawing energy *out of* her target, rather than releasing energy
into him.  Her rage continued until she began to see what appeared to
be the outline of his facial bones.  That scared her badly enough that
she staggered backward, releasing him.
 
    Simon immediately slumped to the floor, unconscious.  His
flesh gained some slight color, and his skin relaxed, at least hiding
his bone structure, but it was clear that he had been severely wounded
by Nightingale's unexpected - even to her - attack.  Nightingale stared
at her hands in shock, completely lost as to what had happened.
 
    The boys had decisions to make.  There was simply no way
for anyone to prove Herc's telekinetic powers, but what Nightingale had
just done could be easily connected; she'd touched someone, and they
had suffered.  How that had happened wasn't important now, but they had
to do something about it.
 
    There was also Andie to deal with.
 
    Mimir and Herc looked at each other.  Mimir finally said,
"I'll deal with the asshole."
 
    Hercules nodded.  "I'll get Andie cleaned up, and ready to
go.  We can't leave her here."
 
    "Where, then?"
 
    "I know somewhere.  Let me handle that, okay?"
 
    Mimir nodded, and moved to deal with Simon.  Hercules
walked to Andie, and knelt down.  They were ignoring Nightingale at the
moment because they had to; there was work to do, and only after that
could they concern themselves with their friend's shock and dismay,
which were clear on her face.
 
    "Andie?" Herc said softly.  "Andie, c'mon.  We need to get
you some clothes, and..."  Hercules faltered when she looked up into
his eyes.  The pain and anguish he saw there made him want to hurt
somebody.  It also made him want to protect Andie, and he wrapped his
arms around her.  She clutched him, still sobbing.  He carefully lifted
her, using his TK to help him.  He walked her slowly into her room with
her still clinging tightly to him.
 
    Hercules got her sitting on the bed, and he had to be a
little more forceful than he would have liked to get her to let go of
him.  He knew that someone would notice the trashed front door; they
had to get out of here quickly.  As he stepped away from her, his eyes
naturally swiveled downward to take in her body.  He was thoroughly
ashamed of himself for that, but couldn't stop his reaction.  He did at
least get useful information out of it; with the exception of some cuts
and bruises, she was not badly hurt.
 
    Turning away in disgust with himself, Hercules moved to
Andie's dresser to grab some clothes.  He got everything she'd need,
and also threw some things in a bag he found in the closet, so she'd
have a change of clothes or two.  A quick trip to the bathroom gathered
up some of her personal toiletries, and then he came back to the room.
 
    When he entered, Andie was still sitting on the bed, nude. 
She was shivering, cold, scared and in shock.  Again, Hercules had to
control his gaze.  What he had to do next would be even harder;
obviously Andie was going to need to be dressed, and Nightingale was in
no condition to do it, so it fell to him.
 
    Gently, Hercules took her hand, and stood her up.  She
didn't resist him at all, and did what he asked her to.  Carefully,
gently, he began to dress her, putting her panties on first.  He looked
at the bra, and realized that, though he knew how to take one off, he
had no clue how it went on, and so he threw it back onto the bed.  He
struggled next to get some sweats on her, and finally her T-shirt,
covering her newly-budding breasts that had so attracted his attention
earlier, to his shame.
 
    Now that she was fully clothed, the rest was easier.  He
sat her down and put on her socks and shoes, suddenly realizing how
awkward it was to tie shoes from the other direction.  Andie was now
fully dressed, but still somewhat non-responsive.  Herc realized it
might be the room; he had to get her out of here quickly.
 
    He grabbed the bra off the bed and threw it into the bag,
zipping that up and slinging it over his shoulder.  He took Andie's
hand again, and pulled her gently out of the room.  She followed him,
but it was clear she was still lost.
 
    By the time Hercules exited the bedroom with Andie in tow,
Mimir had finished wiping Simon's mind of anything having to do with
the attack.  He now believed that three robbers had come in and been
surprised.  Andie was staying with a friend that night, and his wife
was out of town.  He would not remember the actual attack at all; his
statements could not be seen to conflict with his known injuries, and
Mimir had no idea what was actually wrong with him.  Having finished
his major task, he had turned to Nightingale.
 
    "Nightingale!" he was calling out now, trying to get a
response from her.  She shivered uncontrollably, mumbling something to
herself that he couldn't hear.  "Claire!" he hissed in a low voice,
hoping that would snap her out of it.  She snapped her head around to
him.
 
    "What did I do?" she said, her voice shaky and brittle. 
"What the hell did I do?"
 
    "You saved your friend," Mimir said forcefully.  "We've got
to get out of here *now*."
 
    "But... Andie..."
 
    "Is right here, Nightingale.  She's fine."  To Mimir,
Hercules said, "You two need to leave.  When you're gone, I'll call
Stacy - Jen's mom.  She already knows about me, but there's no reason
to give her any more information than she already has."
 
    Mimir had to bow to the logic of that.  Leaning in, he
said, "We can't just leave Claire like this..."
 
    "Take her home, and get her to her room... maybe she'll
settle down once the situation calms down for her."
 
    "I hope.  What the hell do I tell her parents?"
 
    "Hell, I don't know!" Hercules snapped.  "Think of
something!"
 
    Mimir nodded, letting the anger pass by.  It was only the
stress talking.  "Okay.  Good luck."  Turning to Nightingale, he raised
his voice again, and said, "C'mon, Nightingale, let's get you home."
 
    "Andie..." Nightingale said again.
 
    "I'll take care of Andie," Hercules said forcefully.  There
was something in Nightingale's - now normal - gaze that Hercules
couldn't read, but he didn't have time, anyway.  They all headed
downstairs, and Mimir led Nightingale out the door, turning to take her
home.
 
    Hercules, who now thought of himself as Jim again, turned
to Andie to find her shivering uncontrollably.  He moved to her quickly
and hugged her.  Andie wrapped her arms around his midsection and held
on tightly, almost squeezing the breath out of him.  He knew she needed
a lifeline right now, and so he let her be.  He spotted a cordless
phone sitting on the kitchen table, and instead of trying to walk with
Andie clutched around him, he used his telekinesis to bring the phone
to him.  He dialed a number.
 
    "Jen?  It's Jim.  You and your mom need to get over here
right now.... No, Jen, I mean *right the hell now*.  Okay, I'll be
waiting."
 
    Jim hung up the phone, and set it down.  He maneuvered
Andie into the living room, so he could lean against the back of the
couch while she continued to hold onto him for dear life.  He rubbed
his hands across her back absently, trying not to think of what he'd
seen in her bedroom.  The last thing she needed tonight was another guy
thinking of her in that way.
 
    It was only ten minutes before Stacy showed up with her
daughter in tow.  The delay became obvious when he noticed that Stacy
had dressed in something other than her normal house-clothes.  He also
noticed she was carrying a gun.
 
    "What happened?" Stacy said in her cop-voice.  It wasn't
something he'd heard from her before, and it was disconcerting. 
Normally, she was very pleasant, but now she was demanding.
 
    "The mother-fucker tried to rape her," Jim said.  Jen
gasped in shock.  She'd noticed how tightly Andie was holding on to
Jim, but she hadn't thought it was that bad.
 
    "Where is he?" Stacy said, her voice turning cold and ugly.
 
    "Upstairs.  Unconscious.  He's going to need an ambulance."
 
    "I'll be the judge of that," Stacy said, clearly indicating
she thought he might need a beating instead.  Jim knew differently, but
let her go to look, anyway.  He stopped Jen from going up; she didn't
need to see that.
 
    "How bad did you beat him?" she asked quietly.
 
    "I didn't get a chance.  *Claire* did it."  Seeing Jen's
eyes widen, he had a further surprise for her.  "She's got a new power
now.  She nearly killed him... I think she drained his life-force, or
something.  It was a scary thing to see... the look on her face... her
eyes were *glowing*, and I mean really!  And what she did to him..."
 
    Stacy Young bolted down the stairs, and began looking for
the phone.  Jim pointed it out to her, and she dialed 911 without
saying anything to the kids.  When she got off the phone, she looked
pale.
 
    "What the hell happened to him?"
 
    "I can't tell you that," Jim said.  He wasn't being surly
or intransigent; she knew that tone of voice meant he was protecting
someone.
 
    "Okay.  We need to get you guys out of the house.  What...
how do we explain this?" Stacy wasn't sure what she'd tell her
colleagues.
 
    "Okay... Jen, Andie and I were out together, just hanging
out.  You were driving us around.  We were at the mall last, for a
couple hours.  We were about to drop Andie off, when you noticed the
front door was broken in.  You came in to investigate, and found him."
 
    Stacy nodded, and herded them all out onto the front lawn
before the ambulance, or worse, her brother law-enforcement officers,
showed up.  She looked at Andie with pity, and to Jim with even more
respect than usual.  He was holding the girl tightly, trying to calm
her down.  Andie was still weeping uncontrollably, and Jen had stepped
away from the two, to give them privacy, even though she clearly wanted
the details of what had happened.
 
    While they waited for emergency response, Jim looked to
Stacy and said, "Can Andie stay with you guys tonight?  Her mom is
supposed to be home tomorrow..."
 
    "Sure, Jim.  No problem.  That is," Stacy said, twisting
his tail slightly, "If you can get her to let go of you."
 
    Jim blushed, but Andie acted as if she hadn't heard a
thing.  That was not good news.
 
 
 
-----
 
 
 
    It took a couple of hours before they were able to leave. 
The investigating officer was not happy with anyone's explanation of
things, but he had no reason to doubt them, either.  Jim had watched as
Luke had been picked up by his sister shortly after the police had
shown up.  They, of course, paid that no mind, as he wasn't part of
anyone's account of what had happened.
 
    Finally, they got in the car and drove to Jen's house. 
Andie had finally managed to let go of him, but she insisted on holding
his hand.  He didn't mind this; he knew she had fastened on him for
support, and he was willing to give her all the support she needed.  He
just hoped this was not getting him into trouble with Jen or Stacy.
 
    Jim led Andie into the house, and then back to the guest
bedroom.  He got her to lie down, and finally she let go of his hand. 
He brushed her hair out of her face, and then he grabbed a blanket that
was sitting on the dresser.  He unfolded it and covered Andie with it. 
She was already curled up in a fetal position, still shaking from the
night's events.  He didn't know what else to do for her.
 
    On impulse, Jim leaned down and kissed Andie very softly on
the cheek.  "It's going to be okay, Andie."
 
    In the meekest voice he had ever heard come out of anyone's
mouth, Jim heard Andie say, "Thank you."  He squeezed her shoulder
gently, turned off the lamp next to her, and left the room.  Something
told him not to shut the door all the way, which allowed some hallway
light to filter into the room.  He made his way back down the hall, to
Jen's room.  He knew she'd be waiting for details.
 
 
 
...---=== http://netwolf.wolfpub.org ===---...
 
 
 
    Jim was waiting for Jen when she got off the school bus the
next morning.  He was actually slightly surprised to see her, thinking
she might have wanted to stay with Andie.  He was, as always, glad to
see his girlfriend, though.
 
    Jen came up and kissed him good morning.  "Hey, Handsome,"
she said with a grin.  Jim blushed.
 
    "Hey, Sweetheart," he said quietly.  Though he was not
embarrassed about being seen with her, or with people knowing they were
a couple, he was simply a private person, and didn't like to advertise
anything.  Jen knew this, and she smiled at him, wrapped her arm around
his waist, and let him lead her into the building.
 
    As they walked toward her locker, Jim asked, "How is Andie
doing?"
 
    "She was still sleeping when I left.  Mom said just to let
her be.  The police contacted her mother this morning, and told her
what was going on.  She's supposed to be in around noon or so, and
she'll come get Andie and take her home.  Mom's taking the day off to
keep an eye on her."
 
    "I can't believe that woman could leave her daughter with
such a shit," Jim said.  He could feel his anger rising again, and he
fought to push it down.  It didn't serve a purpose.
 
    "I know.  I've never met Andie's family... come to think of
it, I don't know anyone's family... I've never even really met your
sister, just enough to wave and say hi."
 
    "The trouble with who we are," Jim said, shrugging.  "Of
course, my family doesn't know about me.  If you wanted to come over
for dinner sometime..."
 
    "That'd be nice, but it can wait.  I really am worried
about Andie."
 
    "Yeah," Jim said, frowning and looking down the hallway,
away from Jen.  "She really is going to need help getting through this."
 
    "She has a good friend to lean on," Jen suggested.
 
    Jim looked back to her.  "I don't think Claire's going to
be a lot of help in the emotional support department for a little
while.  She's pretty messed up herself, right now."
 
    "I wasn't talking about Claire," Jen said, shaking her head
at her boyfriend's naivete.  "She has the same good friend to help her
that I've got."  When she saw the confusion on his face, she said with
a sigh of exasperation, "You, Jim.  She looks up to you, you've been
there for her.  You need to help her."
 
    "Jen, I..."
 
    "Look, don't give me the 'I don't know anything about
helping people through shit' speech.  You forget, you helped me through
my parents' divorce.  You *can* help her, and you should.  Look,
Andie's my friend, too, okay?  I want to see her get through this.  You
help Andie, damn you, or so help me, I'll..."  She couldn't finish the
sentence, because she really couldn't think of anything to threaten him
with.  She didn't need to; her meaning was clear.  Seeing that, she
carried on.  "Whatever you have to do for her, Jim.  I mean it.  If you
have to put doing stuff with me off to be with her, to help her out
just now, then do it.  I'll get over it.  Without someone to care about
her, Andie *won't*.  And I don't think her mother is a good choice,
either."
 
    "No," Jim agreed.  He was once again surprised at his
girlfriend.  The meaning of "Whatever you have to do" seemed fairly
clear to him, though he didn't think that Andie thought that way about
him.  Still, he would listen to his girlfriend, because he knew it was
the right thing to do.  Finally, he nodded at Jen.  "Okay.  But I'll
let it sit over the weekend, okay?  Let's let her at least get settled
back at home.  Besides, I think Luke had something he wanted to talk to
us about at tomorrow's meeting.  Oh, and I think Paul had something he
wanted us to help with," Jim finished up, his voice dripping with
contempt.
 
    "I don't like him, either, but he *is* part of the team. 
We should try to get along with him."
 
    "I meant it, Jen.  If he ever calls you what he called
Claire, there's nobody in that room that can stop me from hurting him,
really, really bad."
 
    "I know," she said, her voice soft.  She stroked his cheek
and smiled.  It was odd just how much he cared for her, she thought,
but it was very nice to her to feel protected.  Snapping out of her
warm fuzzy moment, she said, "We better get to class, or we're going to
be late."
 
    "Yeah," he said.  He leaned in and kissed her.  "See you in
bio?"
 
    "Definitely."
 
 
 
...---=== http://netwolf.wolfpub.org ===---...
 
 
 
    "Another girl?  What happened with Jen?" Laura asked as she
pulled up to Andie's house.
 
    "Nothing.  Andie said she wanted to talk about something. 
Andie's had a rough few days, Sis.  She's just a friend."
 
    "Oh.  Okay.  Well, call me when you're ready to come home. 
It's a do-it-yourself night for dinner, so no rush on that."
 
    "Thanks."  Looking around briefly, he leaned over and
kissed his sister.  She was startled that he did it in public, but she
returned it, anyway.
 
    "What was that for?" she asked after he broke their kiss.
 
    "Do I need a reason?" he asked with a smile, and then got
out of the car without waiting for a reply.
 
    *Not that I minded that one bit, but what's gotten into
him?*
 
 
 
-----
 
 
 
    Jim hurried to the front door as Laura pulled away.  He
rang the bell, noting that the door had been replaced with a brand new
one, and the jamb had been fixed, as well, though it hadn't been
painted yet, because the weather was too cold.
 
    "Yes, can I help you?" the woman who answered the door
asked.  Jim assumed it was Andie's mother, but they'd never met.
 
    "My name is Jim, I'm here to see Andie."
 
    "Who are you?  I don't know you."  Her voice was tight,
demanding, and harsh.
 
    "I am a friend of Andie's," he said, pushing past her into
the front hallway.
 
    "Now look here.  You don't just barge into someone's home-"
 
    Jim had had a bad week.  Putting up with Paul during
yesterday's meeting had not helped it at all.  He was in no mood to
deal with this woman, and his opinion of her was already lousy.  Her
current badgering pushed him over a line.
 
    "Listen, you sorry excuse for a parent, I'm one of the
people who knows what really happened a few days ago."  Jim was keeping
his voice at a low level, but his tone spoke the attitude that his
volume did not.  "You left your only daughter with that *slime* of a
human being, and you're going to stand here bitching about *my*
manners?  I don't-" Jim's voice died, because he felt the presence of
someone at the top of the stairs.  He looked up to see Andie looking
down at them.  She was looking mainly at her mother, with a frown on
her face.  When she turned to face Jim, there was a very slight, almost
sickly, smile.
 
    "It's okay, Mom.  I asked him to come over."
 
    With that, Jim stepped around the woman and moved up the
stairs.  As he reached the top, he turned to look at the woman, who was
clearly thinking about whether or not to follow them.  Jim's look
stopped her dead in her tracks.  He was capable of looking downright
nasty when he had to.
 
    Andie led him back to her room.  He noticed many changes. 
The sheets and cover had been changed, and the bed had been moved. 
Still, Andie didn't sit on the bed.  She sat in her desk chair, and
looked up at him.  He pulled the door almost shut, but left it open a
crack, just to appease the supposed parent in the house.
 
    "What's the matter, Andie?" he said softly as he sat on the
bed as close to her as he could get.  He assumed that she wanted to
talk about Thursday, and she did, but not in the way he expected.
 
    "It's Claire.  Can you talk to her, Jim?  I tried calling
her, and she won't answer the phone.  When I went over and knocked on
her bedroom door, she wouldn't even say a word.  Mark - that's her
stepdad - said she's barely eating.  Jim, I'm really worried about her!"
 
    Jim reached his hand out to her to calm her down.  She
clasped his hand tightly, and kept hold of it.  His heart ached for
her; worrying about her friend was just one more thing that she didn't
need right now.  But what she was asking...
 
    "Andie... why, uh, I mean... what makes you think I can get
through to her?"
 
    Andie let go of his hand and nearly jumped from the chair,
turning away from him.  "Look, if you don't want to do it, just say
so.  I'm sorry I bothered you."
 
    Jim immediately rose from the bed, and went to her.  He was
stuck, afraid to touch her, and afraid not to.  Ultimately, he put his
hands gently on her upper arms.  "It's not that I don't want to,
Andie.  I just don't feel like I'd be helpful  Wouldn't one of the
other girls be a better choice?"
 
    "No!  Lori's too cocky.  She's too sure of herself.  Jen...
I dunno."  Andie turned just then, and Jim lowered his hands to his
sides.  "Yes, I do know.  I *trust* you."  She saw the look on his
face, and shook her head.  "Not just because of Thursday night, though
I think I owe you big for that.  Ever since we met, and I know it's
only been a few weeks, but still, you've just... I knew that Claire and
I could count on you to be there if we needed you.  Please, Jim?  Try? 
I don't think you can possibly make it worse..."
 
    Jim had to bend to the logic of that statement, so he
nodded his head in surrender.  "Okay, I'll give it a shot.  But don't
expect too much of me, Andie.  I'm not a counselor.  Hell, I'm still
learning how to use my own powers."
 
    "I know.  Just try.  For me?"
 
    He nodded again.  He put his hand on her arm again and said
softly, "Do you want to talk about...it?"  He couldn't find a better
word than "it."
 
    Andie shook her head.  "No.  Not now."  Jim nodded, and
turned to go.  "Jim?" she said, her voice very soft.  He turned back
immediately.
 
    "Maybe in a little while," she said, her voice reverting
back to that voice he had heard Thursday night.  He stepped over to
her, and gave her a hug.  She returned it strongly.
 
    "Whenever you want to talk, all you have to do is call.  We
can talk on the phone, or I can come over," he said, still holding
her.  He ran his hand along her back in a soothing motion, hoping it
would show support.  He could tell she was crying lightly, and he let
her do so, controlling his thoughts rigidly as his years of meditation
had taught him to do.  This was definitely *not* a time for his anger.
 
    Finally, Andie let him go.  Wiping her eyes, she smiled
wanly at him.  "Thanks."
 
    He didn't reply.  There was nothing to say about it,
really.  He grabbed the box of Kleenex and handed it to her, so she
could wipe her eyes and blow her nose.  After she was done with that,
she turned back to him.
 
    "I should warn you, her little brother's kind of a prick. 
You might have to get past him in order to get to Claire.  Something's
happened in their family recently; there's a lot of tension between
Mark and Rob - that's her brother."
 
    Jim nodded, certain that no 'little brother' could be a
problem for the mood he was in at the moment.
 
    "And will you come back here, to tell me what happened?"
 
    "As much as I can."  Seeing the look on Andie's face, he
explained, "If she does talk to me, and tells me something she wants to
keep private, I'm not going to tell you about it."
 
    Andie nodded understanding, and then sat back down in her
chair as Jim turned to go.
 
    He made it down the stairs and was almost out the door
before he was caught short by the mother.
 
    "You said you know what *really* happened here?"
 
    "That's right," he said, keeping his voice under control.
 
    "And what was that?" she said.
 
    "What did Andie say happened?" he asked, not so much
evading the question as wondering which version of events this woman
had been given.
 
    "That her father attacked her, and tried to rape her."
 
    "And?" Jim said.
 
    "And I don't believe her."
 
    "Don't, or don't want to?" Jim asked crossly.  He received
a strong slap for his trouble.  "Does that make you feel better now? 
You've lashed out at someone for your own failure to protect your
daughter.  Do you feel more like her mother now?"
 
    Mrs. Miller reached out to slap Jim again, but he caught
her hand.  "There is a reason the police were told a different version
of events," Jim said coldly.  "It was because we didn't want Andie to
be completely without a family.  Push me too far, and you can spend the
rest of your afternoon explaining yourself to a police lieutenant." 
This was a lie; the police had been told a story that kept the MDSA
safe, not her mother.  Mrs. Miller did not need to know this.
 
    Mrs. Miller paled at the thought, and she lowered her
hand.  "I'm sorry," she said, almost sincerely.  "This has all been
very trying for me."
 
    "Trying for *you*?" Jim said incredulously, raising his
voice just slightly.  "God what an ego."  He bit off the rest of what
he was going to say, because there was no point in getting in an
argument with the woman.  "I'm going to go next door and talk to Claire
for a little while.  I *will* be back to talk to Andie."
 
    "Fine," the woman said in surrender.  Jim turned and walked
out the door before he let loose with what he thought of the woman.
 
 
 
-----
 
 
 
    "Yeah, what?" the boy said when he opened the door and saw
Jim standing there.
 
    "I'm here to see Claire," Jim said calmly, or as calmly as
he could.  The boy had a tone that pissed off Jim almost instantly.
 
    "And who the fuck are you?" Rob shot back.
 
    Jim stepped very close to him, to help exaggerate their
height difference.  "I'm the guy who is going to snap you in half if
you don't get the fuck out of my way.  Now *move*!"
 
    Rob wilted before Jim's eyes, and stepped aside all the
way, giving him a clear path.  He said, "Her room is the first one on
the right."
 
    "Thank you," Jim said, not because he felt any actual
desire to be polite, but because he'd been raised that way.
 
    Jim walked to the indicated door and knocked.  After ten
seconds of no response, he knocked again.  It took him a solid
half-minute before he decided that his promise to Andie to try was not
satisfied by standing at a door and knocking.  He turned the knob, and
opened the door.
 
    What he saw nearly tore his heart out.  Claire was sitting
on her bed curled up, almost in a fetal position, her back against the
wall and her eyes staring out into nothing.  He watched for a few
seconds and realized that she wasn't blinking as often as she should
be.  She was truly suffering.  She hadn't yet even acknowledged that he
was there.
 
    Jim closed the door and locked it.  They did not need
company, if he was going to be any help at all.  He still had serious
doubts as to whether there was anything he could do, but he was
honor-bound to try.
 
    Before sitting down, Jim took a couple of moments to look
around Claire's room.  He'd never been in here before, and was just
curious about her personality.  The room seemed neat, and very female. 
Taking a deep breath, he realized that now he was just stalling.  What
disturbed him the most was how Claire did not seem to be conscious of
his presence.
 
    Jim settled down next to her on her left, and then gently
wrapped his right arm around her.  This got an immediate reaction;
Claire's body jumped, almost as if shocked, and her head swiveled in
what looked like fear.  Her eyes locked on Jim's, and saw the sympathy
and concern in them.
 
    It was as if a dam had been broken.  Claire threw herself
against him, her sobs wracking her body terribly.  The noise she was
making had to be hurting her throat, Jim thought.  He did the only
thing he could think of to do; he wrapped his arms around her and held
her, rocking very slightly back and forth.
 
    It took several minutes for Claire to cry herself out, and
Jim didn't do anything at all while that was going on except let her. 
He tried to think of something to say to her, but he wasn't even really
sure yet what part of what had happened had made her so distraught, and
that removed any chance he had to plan his words.
 
    Finally, he could feel the sobs dying off, and she settled
down to sniffling and silent weeping.  He absently rubbed his hand
across her back, not thinking anything of it.
 
    Claire said, "Jim, I've become a monster!  You saw what I
did to Andie's dad!"
 
    "He deserved it," Jim said, without thinking much about
that, either.
 
    He felt Claire nod against his chest.  "I know, but... but
what's happened to me?  I'm supposed to be a *healer*!  I'm not
supposed to hurt people like that!  What if... what if I can't help
people anymore, but only kill them?  I couldn't live like that!"  Her
sniffling increased, and Jim squeezed her tighter.
 
    "I don't think that happened," Jim said, trying to think of
something more useful to say.  "Each of us has gained power from time
to time, but I don't think any of us has ever lost an ability that I
know of."
 
    Claire thought about that for a moment and nodded against
his chest.  "Maybe... but, but what kind of horrible person am I that I
could *do that* to someone?  I nearly killed him!"
 
    "Claire, you were angry.  Hell, you were way beyond angry. 
You were royally pissed off.  So was I.  If you hadn't hurt him, I
probably would have," Jim said, not knowing whether it was true or not
at the time.  Seeing what it had done to Andie, Jim wanted to hurt the
man *now*.  "You're not a horrible person, you're just *normal*.  We
all have moments where we lose it.  Yours just happened to release a
new power within you."
 
    Jim sat thinking for a few seconds about some things, and
before Claire could say anything else, he said, "And I don't think it's
the first time it's happened, either."
 
    Claire looked up at him, pulling back ever so slightly. 
Jim released his grip on her, but kept his hands on her shoulders, for
support.  She, however, did not release her grip on him any more than
she had to.
 
    "What do you mean?" she asked, looking for the answer to
life.
 
    "Do you remember the day a couple weeks ago, the meeting
where you and Paul got into that little fight?"  Claire nodded.  "When
you hit him, he reacted very strangely.  It was as if your punch hit
him a lot harder than I think you're capable of hitting someone.  His
face... distorted for a second.  I think that might have been the first
time we saw your new ability."
 
    Claire sniffled a little, and thought about it.  She had
been so angry at him at that moment... she realized that Jim might be
right.  The thought of it shocked her; she hadn't been
*extraordinarily* angry at Paul, she had just been plain mad.  

    "So anytime I get mad now, I'm going to hurt the people I
touch?" she said, trying to come to terms with things.
 
    "I don't know for sure.  This is one ability it's really
hard to test, you know?  But I *think* that probably you would only
hurt the person you are mad *at*.  I mean, you don't heal everyone you
touch, do you?"
 
    Claire shook her head.  "No.  I have to think about it."
 
    Jim nodded, and said, "Well, you probably have to 'think'
about it the other way, too... it's just that the way you think about
it is by getting angry at them.  If you want, later, there are some
techniques I know for controlling your emotions... they're part of my
meditation exercises..."  Jim realized that he'd already done this for
one of the team members, and wondered very briefly if it might not be a
good idea to offer that training to the whole team.  *Paul'd never do
it.  He's too hyper, and too self-centered to think anyone else would
have a good idea.*
 
    Claire nodded, and thought about it.  She pulled herself to
Jim again, seeking the support he offered so easily.  Laying her head
against his shoulder, she thought for a little while.  Jim naturally
began rubbing her back again, hoping to settle her down and bring her
out of the funk she was in.
 
    What Jim had forgotten, in the situation, and what he
really should have remembered, was that there was a reason Claire did
not usually like to be touched.  His gentle words, kindness, and
shoulder to cry on - literally - had eased Claire's emotional trauma. 
She still felt very bad for what had happened, and she would suffer
nightmares for weeks to come, but someone who ought to know had told
her she wasn't a monster, that she was going to be okay.  That someone
was now gently rubbing her back, and with her emotional turmoil
subdued, her other, baser, emotions started to reassert themselves. 
She didn't pay attention to it at first, but as it began to grow, she
realized it actually felt pretty good.  She knew this wasn't what Jim
had intended, but...
 
    After a while, Claire leaned back just enough to look Jim
in the face.  Their eyes were very close together.  "You know," she
said, "I usually get fairly upset when guys touch me anything like
this."
 
    Jim paled.  Her words suddenly reminded him of one of her
unique qualities.  He stammered, "Oh, crap, Claire, I'm sorry, I
didn't..."  She cut off his words by leaning in and kissing him softly
on the lips.  He kissed back, and when he felt her tongue slip between
her lips, he opened his mouth to admit it  As her tongue assaulted his,
she leaned backward.  Since her arms were wrapped firmly around him, he
had to go with her.  They wound up lying side by side on the bed,
kissing feverishly.
 
    After a fairly long time, Claire let him up for air.  He
seemed a little breathless, but she imagined that might be from shock. 
She looked him in the eye, and saw a glimmer of worry, mixed with a
bunch of other emotions.  Right now, though, she needed him, and she
hoped he wouldn't scare easily.
 
    "Jim, would you make love to me, please?" she asked.
 
    "Claire, I swear, I didn't..."  She put her hand to his
lips to stop him.
 
    "I know you didn't.  Really.  But what's done is done, and
you've got me feeling very... ready.  I probably haven't ever really
told you this, but I like you quite a bit.  I sometimes feel very
envious of Jen."
 
    Jim was very surprised at that last admission.  He was
surprised that she wasn't angry with him, really, though his actions
had been entirely innocent.  It didn't take him long to realize that
kissing her had made him quite hard, and he was at least as 'ready' as
she was.
 
    To answer her question, Jim leaned in and kissed her
again.  He ran his hand along her side, caressing her.  His hand
slipped down far enough to reach the hem of her T-shirt, and as it slid
back up, he moved it under the fabric, so that he could caress her bare
skin.  Claire moaned into his mouth at the feel of his fingers dancing
across her smooth flesh.  She stopped breathing as his fingers neared
her tit, and she let out a much louder moan as they brushed along the
outside of the swell of her breasts.  She wasn't wearing a bra, and his
fingers had direct access to her body.
 
    His fingers soon found her nipple, and she arched her back,
breaking their kiss.  She groaned lowly as his fingers brushed over the
erect little nub.  Without disturbing his hand too much, Claire rolled
Jim onto his back, and straddled his waist, pausing a couple of times
to let little shudders of pleasure wash over her as his fingers
continued their dance.
 
    Claire reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt,
pulling it up and off in a swift motion that caused her ample breasts
to bounce slightly.  Jim enjoyed the sight immensely, and his other
hand soon found its way onto her free tit, mimicking its partner's
movements.
 
    Claire continued to murmur in pleasure, and she reached
down to massage Jim's shoulders, and his chest.  His shirt was in the
way, but getting it off him would be too big a pain in the neck at the
moment, and she was really happy with his hands where they were.
 
    Jim took some initiative, and sat up, keeping his fingers
slipping lightly over Claire's tits.  He kissed her again, briefly,
before dipping his head to kiss her nipple.  Claire's hands shot to the
back of his head as her body responded instantly to the sensation. 
Tingles twisted through her body until every nerve felt like it was
part of the act.  Her pussy clutched at something not yet there, and
cried out in need and desire.
 
    Claire took the opportunity to reach down and tug at Jim's
shirt, getting it loose from his pants and then up his body.  He had to
break contact with her nipple - a distressingly unpleasant thing for
Claire - to get the shirt all the way off.  When his mouth returned, it
aimed for the other nipple, and Claire was instantly besieged with
another wave of intense bliss.
 
    Jim continued to suck on Claire's nipple as his hands moved
around to her back and massaged the soft skin in the hollow just above
her ass .  Claire arched her back to push her tit deeper into his
mouth.  Jim acquiesced and sucked on her tit, lapping at her nipple
with his tongue.
 
    Suddenly, Claire pulled away from Jim and got up off the
bed.  He had a sudden moment of panic, thinking she had changed her
mind and decided to be angry at him, after all.  His fear was short
lived, as she hastily unfastened her jeans and shoved them, and her
panties, roughly down her legs.  Claire was now naked, and Jim enjoyed
looking at her long, shapely legs.  Being able to heal herself,
Claire's body also kept itself in reasonably good condition without
much effort.  Jim was envious.
 
    Claire returned to the bed, but she didn't climb back on
top of Jim.  Instead, her hand reached for his belt, and unfastened
it.  The button on his jeans came next, and the zipper followed
quickly.  Claire began to tug on his pants, and he lifted his hips to
help her get them off.  She pulled them down to his ankles, then
quickly yanked his sneakers off.  His pants and socks departed
together, and Claire soon forgot they existed.  Her eyes now were
fixated on his briefs.
 
    Reaching across from where she was kneeling at his feet,
Claire gripped Jim's briefs.  She was more careful with these, making
sure not to hurt the object of her desire.  She hummed softly as his
briefs slid down and his hard dick came into view.  It had been a few
days since she'd had one of those, and her body, now released for the
moment from its misery, was screaming for contact.
 
    Once Jim's briefs had been disposed of, Claire climbed
between his legs.  She moved up until her head was even with his waist,
and gently pushed him back down onto the bed.  Her eyes locked with his
as her hand reached out and gently encircled his prick.  Jim moaned as
her fingers began to slide lightly back and forth over his length. 
When Claire lowered her head, Jim sat up on his elbows.  As her lips
touched the head of his cock, he closed his eyes tightly and groaned. 
Her tongue slipped out and swirled around the head of his dick before
she started to move down one side of his cock, planting kisses and
flitting her tongue all along his length.  She moved back up his dick
the same way, until she had returned to the tip of it.
 
    Parting her lips, Claire let her mouth sink down onto Jim's
cock.  She could feel his body trembling, and she knew he liked it. 
Her tongue worked along the underside of his shaft as her lips slipped
along his length, taking him in as far as she could.  She began to bob
on his dick, knowing that he would not last long.  Her hand caressed
the portion of his cock not in her mouth, as her lips slid rapidly up
and down his shaft.
 
    In only a little while, Jim proved Claire right.  He
grunted a couple of times in warning, and then spewed his load deep
into her mouth.  Claire choked slightly at the first blast; it had been
stronger than she had expected, but she managed to keep sucking, and
then swallowed his whole load as it tapered off.  She kept sucking him,
getting every last ounce of his spunk she could.  She even sucked
beyond that point, hoping to get him aroused quickly again.
 
    Jim was only half-erect when Claire let him slip from her
lips.  She moved up, straddling his waist, and then pulled him up to
her.  She kissed him hotly, her body now trapping his hardening shaft
between them.  She rubbed his dick with her pussy, arousing both of
them.
 
    She broke their kiss and said, "You're not participating
very much."  She gave him a wicked grin, and he got the message.  Not
having been there yet, his hands decided to head for her ass, where he
groped the taut flesh and let his fingers slip ever so slightly into
her crack.
 
    Claire sighed at the pleasure of feeling his hands on her
again.  It was a wonderful feeling.  She continued to roll her hips,
pushing herself repeatedly against his dick, which was soon back to its
full hardness.  She licked her lips in anticipation of what was coming,
and she really couldn't wait for it.
 
    Lifting her hips, Claire reached down with her hand and
took hold of Jim's dick.  She placed the head of his cock at the
entrance to her cunt, and she slowly began to sink down on his shaft. 
Jim grunted at the feel of her tight pussy wrapping itself around his
shaft, and Claire groaned in ecstasy.  It took her almost a minute
before she'd fully impaled herself on his hard, throbbing prick.
 
    "God, you feel good," she cried out.  Jim tried not to
laugh, but he did let loose a chuckle.  His hands continued to knead
the flesh of her ass, and he leaned in to nibble on her neck, causing
her to shudder.
 
    When Claire began to move on Jim's cock, he leaned back
and, having the perfect position for doing so, began to suck on her
nipples again.  He switched back and forth often, keeping them both
pleasured with his mouth while his hands continued to fondle her ass,
also helping her to ride him.
 
    Claire was bucking up and down on Jim now, her passion
driving her wild, and her hips conspiring to fulfill that passion. 
With Jim helping her, she didn't grow tired, and she rode him for quite
a while, thrashing on top of him as he sucked on her nipples.  In an
explosion of pleasure, Claire came, flooding Jim's cock with her love
juices and filling the room with her cries of passion.
 
    Jim held on for the ride, continuing to fondle and suck at
her body throughout her orgasm.  It took a long time before she came
down, and when she did, she sank down onto Jim's cock fully, and rested
her body against his.  He moved his hands from her ass to her back,
caressing the skin there and holding her as she tried to regain her
breath.  His cock was still hard, and he felt her pussy spasm around
it, keeping him ready for more.  She knew there would be more.
 
    Once her body had refreshed itself, she tried to lean back
away from him, but he wouldn't let her go this time.  He gave her just
enough room to let them kiss, which she did gladly.  As their lips were
locked, Jim concentrated.  He knew he could lift the *weight*, but he'd
never tried this before.  He encapsulated both of them in a telekinetic
field, and lifted them off the bed.  He spun them slowly in the air,
until Claire was beneath him, and on her back.  He lowered them both to
the bed, and then he broke their kiss.
 
    Claire looked up at him in wonder.  The sensation of being
moved that way... the *gentle* sensation of being caressed by his TK
field... it was a very sensual act.
 
    "Can we do it my way, now?" Jim asked softly.  She merely
nodded at him, wondering what he had in mind.
 
    With long, deep, steady thrusts, Jim began to take Claire
again.  Her eyes opened wider at the feel of him sliding in and out of
her so deeply.  He continued to move inside her, and he closed his eyes
again.  At first, she wondered if he was fantasizing that she was
someone else, but then she felt a myriad of feather touches slipping
all over her body.  She shuddered in pleasure as she realized that he
was using his mind to caress her entire body at once.  It was intense,
and magnified the sensation of his cock sliding in and out of her at
its steady, wonderful pace.
 
    Jim knew that Claire was on the verge of another orgasm. 
He kept his attention focused, and paid special attention to her most
sensitive areas with his telekinesis.  He hadn't, in fact, tried this
with Jen yet, because he'd worried about whether he could do it.  Now
had seemed like a good time to try it for a number of reasons.
 
    His mind was somewhat distracted as Claire began to buck
beneath him, once again gripped by her climax.  He continued to slide
into her throughout her orgasm, and kept up his psionic ministrations
as well.  It was a long time before Claire came down from her orgasm,
gasping and panting.  Jim began to slow his movement, but Claire shook
her head.
 
    "Don't stop.  Oh, God, please don't stop.  That was
intense!  Do it again!"
 
    Jim smiled.  He increased his pace back to what it had
been, and then just a little bit faster.  Claire's mind was already
reeling from her orgasm, and the added sensations within her sent her
mind spinning.  She grunted and thrashed beneath her lover, who
continued to caress her body with his hands and his mind.  She could
only see stars at this point, her body so hyper-pleasured by the
multitude of wonderful sensations assaulting her all at once.
 
    As Jim rose toward his own orgasm, he sped up his pace. 
Claire's cries of ecstasy only intensified, and he was enjoying the
entire experience.  As his pace quickened, he grunted with each thrust,
pushing them both closer to the edge.
 
    When Jim erupted inside Claire, she lost it.  Her body
arched, bucked, twisted and writhed beneath Jim.  Jim continued to
thrust into her, spewing jet after jet of cum inside her.  His orgasm
died long before hers did, but he continued to thrust into her until
she cried out for the last time and went limp.
 
    Jim stopped then, and he gently pulled out of her.  He
moved to her side, and lay down, pulling her to him.  He held her
tenderly, stroking her hair and simply holding her until she woke up,
which took several minutes.
 
    She pulled away from him very gently, so she could look at
his eyes and know what he was thinking.  All she saw there was a warm
regard for herself as his friend, and, at least for now, his lover. 
She smiled very warmly at him, and kissed him tenderly.
 
    When their lips parted, she leaned back against the
pillows, and he raised up onto his elbow, so he could still look her in
the eye.  She sighed and said, "That was... really, really nice."  She
giggled at the understatement.
 
    "Claire, I promise, I had no thought when I came here of...
I mean, I know you hate it when guys take advantage of you, and after
what Paul-"
 
    "You're not Paul," she said with great finality.  "And you
didn't take advantage of me.  You gave me something I needed at the
time.  Paul's an asshole.  You're not.  And now I have to feel guilty
for making you cheat on Jen with me... and worse, because I actually
might want to do it again someday."  The look on her face was one of
sadness.
 
    Jim moved his hand up to gently caress her cheek.  "Jen
wouldn't care," he told her.  When she looked at him sharply, he had to
explain.  "We've already had this conversation.  In fact, for some
reason I can't even begin to understand, she actually *wants* me to
sleep around."  Claire's eyes widened at that.  Jim chuckled.  "How do
you think *I* feel?"
 
    "Does she play around on you, too?"
 
    "Not that I know of... She said she wanted me to be
happy... this all revolved around a specific girl that, if you don't
mind, I don't really want to talk about..."
 
    "It's okay, go on."
 
    "Anyway, when Jen and I talked about this girl, and why
this girl was acting a little oddly toward Jen, and I explained that
we'd had a relationship, and I had broken it off because of Jen... um,
this other girl, our relationship wasn't 'normal', okay?  That's all I
can say..."  Claire nodded, not having any interest in forcing him to
reveal things he didn't want to.  "Anyway, Jen told me she didn't care
who I slept with, as long as she was the only person I considered to be
my girlfriend.  And she is.  Heck, that night we had that conversation,
she made me go..." he had to pause; he'd almost said "home".  "um... go
and sleep with that other girl."
 
    "Wow.  I don't know.  If I was Jen, and I had you all to
myself, I don't think *I'd* be sharing," she said, running her hand
along his chest.  He leaned down and kissed her softly.
 
    "Yeah, well... she's also pressed me into service trying to
help Andie.  Jen can talk me into almost anything."
 
    "You didn't... I mean, with Andie...?"
 
    Jim shook his head.  "No... is there a reason I shouldn't?"
 
    Claire blushed.  "No.  Actually, I think she'd rather like
it if you did.  She thinks you're cute."
 
    Jim cocked an eyebrow at her.  "And you know this
because..."
 
    "Because she told me, duh.  We *are* best friends and
neighbors, you know."  She giggled at Jim's discomfort at being
discussed between the girls, but then sobered.  "Poor Andie.  How is
she doing?"
 
    "Apparently more concerned about you than herself.  Don't
take this the wrong way, but I wouldn't be here if she hadn't asked me
to try to talk to you.  No one else who'd tried had been able to get
through, and she thought I might have some luck..."
 
    "Which you did," Claire said, smiling at him again.  "For
whatever reason you came over, thank you.  I owe you so much for
helping me out of my state."
 
    "You're very welcome.  If you want to learn to meditate,
just let me know..."
 
    "I'd like that.  I'm probably still going to have some
issues, aren't I?"
 
    Jim shrugged.  "I really don't know.  I'm not a
psychiatrist.  I suppose you still have some things to work through. 
If you want to talk about them, you know where to find me."
 
    "No, actually, I don't.  I have your phone number, but I
don't know where you live."
 
    Jim blushed.  "Oh.  Well, when we get up, I'll write it
down for you?"
 
    "When we get up?" she asked, repeating his words.
 
    "Sorry, did you want me to go now?" he asked.  His tone
indicated he really didn't want to leave just yet.
 
    "No," she said, caressing his cheek and then pulling him
down for another kiss.  When they parted, another thought occurred to
her.
 
    "If Andie sent you... are you going to tell Andie what
happened?"
 
    "I have to tell her something... is there something you
don't want her to know?"
 
    "I'd prefer if you didn't tell her yet about us sleeping
together.  I'm afraid she might be jealous, and she doesn't need that
right now..." she looked off into the distance, thinking about Andie.
 
    "Well, now that you're at least talking to someone, maybe
you can help Andie sort through her troubles..."  He was hoping that
someone would take this burden off his shoulders; he wasn't comfortable
with so much responsibility.
 
    Claire looked back at him with a smile, but shook her
head.  "No... it's going to be a while before I can talk about that
night without suffering my own troubles.  Andie doesn't need that.  Her
night was worse than mine, and it would be too hard for me to see
that.  Jim, I know you don't feel comfortable with us, I mean with
girls in general, but there's something about the way you are, the way
you think, that makes you very easy for us to talk to.  I think I
respect you more now than I did when you walked in here."
 
    That surprised him.  What had he done to deserve any
additional respect?  He couldn't ask, of course; you didn't do that
sort of thing.  Instead, he said, "Thank you."
 
    The two kissed again for a while, but then it was time to
get up.  As Jim was pulling his clothes back on, after using a towel to
wipe himself clean, Claire said, "Jim?"
 
    "Yeah?"
 
    "About Andie..."
 
    She had his full attention now.  Claire couldn't tell him
that this was one of the things that made him so helpful and wonderful
to talk to: he could focus his entire attention on the person talking
to him.  She stumbled for words to express what she was thinking, but
he didn't get impatient, didn't tap his foot or sigh, he just waited.
 
    "Please, do what you can to help her through this...
Andie's been a dear friend to me for a while, and right now I just
can't be there for her.  That hurts me to say, but I damn sure don't
want to make things any worse... I know you'll treat her kindly, which
is more than I can say for most of the people in her life."
 
    "But *how* am I supposed to help her?  I don't know what
the hell I'm doing, Claire," he said plaintively.
 
    She smiled at him.  "What we just did wouldn't hurt."
 
    Jim sputtered, and Claire laughed at him.  "I'm serious. 
Of course, you'll have to wait until she would accept that, but she
needs to know that not all men are assholes.  I'll tell you a secret,
and I'd rather you didn't tell her I told you.  Andie and I have been
sleeping together for a while.  She runs to me whenever her dad has
beaten her.  The one time I couldn't be there for her, she turned to
you - a guy.  That was weird, but you were there, and you were your
usual kind, respectful, warm, understanding self, and you probably let
her cling to you like she needed to."
 
    Jim nodded, but said nothing.
 
    "You're the one guy she's going to look at and say, 'That's
what guys are like.'  Her father isn't a 'guy' to her, he's a monster. 
Although I love Andie, and I really like having sex with her, I don't
want to turn her into a lesbian.  She needs to know guys can be cool. 
She sees Paul, who's a complete shit, and Luke, who neither of us can
really read yet.  Then there's you.  I'd prefer that she got to know
about guys from you."
 
    Jim blushed at this little speech.  "How long have you been
thinking that through?" he asked.  It didn't sound like something she
just came up with.
 
    "Since she told me she thought you were cute.  I just
didn't have any way to say it before.  I've been worried about Andie
for a long time."
 
    Jim walked over and embraced Claire.  "I'll do what I can,
but I make no more promises to you than I did to Andie when I said I'd
come over here.  I will only promise to try."
 
    Claire kissed him strongly on the mouth.  "Look how well
that turned out," she said with a grin, and then let him go so he could
get dressed, which he did with a blush on his face.
 
 
 
-----
 
 
 
    Mrs. Miller didn't give Jim any crap when he came back to
her house.  He was as surprised by that as by the fact that neither of
the Bullok men said anything when Jim walked out of Claire's room
holding her hand.  They kept their peace when she kissed him at the
door, too.
 
    He pondered these things as he climbed the stairs to
Andie's room.  He knocked on the door, and got a quiet, "Come in."
 
    He walked in to see Andie lying on her bed, on her
stomach.  Her pillow was tucked under her chin, and she was hugging the
pillow to her.  She looked up when she saw him, and started to get up,
but he waved her back down.  He sat on the floor beside the bed, facing
her.
 
    "Any luck?" she asked hopefully.
 
    "She's talking now.  I think she's probably still going to
have trouble, but..."
 
    "What's the matter?"  Andie really didn't understand what
had happened that night.
 
    "Claire realized she had a new power that night.  She
nearly killed your father with it, and it scared her really bad.  She
was thinking of herself as a monster."
 
    "For hurting my dad?  But..." he held up his hand to stop
her thought.
 
    "It had nothing to do with your dad.  She felt no regret
for hurting him, really, but she feared now that she had turned into
something ugly and destructive."
 
    "Oh," Andie said, thinking for a while.  "Is she okay now?"
 
    "Well, okay is kind of a relative term, ain't it?  I think
she *will be* okay, eventually.  She's a little worried about you,
though... are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
 
    "Jim, I can't.  I mean..."
 
    He reached out and rubbed her back.  "I know what you
mean.  You know how to get a hold of me if you do." She nodded, small
tears in her eyes.  He kept caressing her back.  "We all care about
you, Andie.  I'll be here for you if you need me.  I know this has been
a rotten fucking week, but things will get better."
 
    Andie shifted her position awkwardly, and wrapped her arms
around Jim's neck.  She hugged him as the tears flowed silently.  He
could still rub her back from her new posture, so he did, letting
another girl cry on his shoulder today.  He honestly didn't mind; he
hadn't realized that he'd generated these kinds of feelings in either
of these girls, and the trust, respect, and friendship they were
showing him demanded that he return it in his usual, rather
over-devoted manner.
 
    After a while, Andie let him go.  She wiped her nose with
the back of her hand, and laughed at the wet spot she'd left on his
shirt.  He smiled softly at her, and she smiled back, though it was
very weak.
 
    "You really care?" she asked.
 
    "I really do," he replied.
 
    "I can't talk about it now," she repeated.  "But I'd like
to talk to you about it, when I can."
 
    "Any time, Andie.  Any time at all."
 
    "Thanks."
 
 
 
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