by Lia Davis
"Ni-ik," she said a little louder, a little sweeter, with an extra syllable to get her point across.
Sky blue eyes looked up as if he had heard her just fine the first time, but hadn't wanted his train of thought interrupted.
"Something on your mind? Or, do you just like ignoring me in favor of a boring bowl of chicken noodle?" She kept her lilt light as a breeze off the harbor on a sunny day. She could lose him right now if he thought for one moment she had a connection with Fagin. Which she didn't. Dani didn't. Dodger was another story altogether.
"We need to discuss why Fagin tried to kidnap you this afternoon," he said.
She sighed, but favored him with a small smile full of promise and her favorite rose-colored lipstick. "Honey, I already know why Fagin wanted to kidnap me. The only thing we need to discuss is how to tell Robby that he'll have to leave town for a while if he wants my kidney."
Nik jerked upright, as if he'd forgotten about the reason he'd contacted her in the first place. Of course she'd have to leave the city for the transplant.
"You know why he wanted to kidnap you?" He banged his spoon down on the table, the full force of his aggression on her as he leaned over the table to grab her hand. "Why? What's going on that I don't know about?"
"Gently, Nik. This is one of my two favorite hands." She plucked at his fingers to loosen his grip.
"I'm sorry." He let go, with a proper apologetic look. "You scared me this afternoon. I stop by Generation Med to ask you to dinner, only to find you standing there in the parking lot fending off three men twice your size, and with a gun in your hand."
"Which I handled quite well, all things considered." She picked up her fork to spear a floret of broccoli sitting next to her Reuben. She could at least try to eat something healthy while calming down Nik. "There was no reason to be scared."
"No reason to be scared," Nik repeated. "Fagin, Thunder City's nightmare, targets you for a kidnapping and you say there's no reason to be scared."
She let the sarcasm roll past her. It was best to let the man get it out of his system before she talked reason with him. Besides, the broccoli was cooked to perfection. No reason to let it go to waste. Not with the Reuben going to her waist in a few minutes.
Nik slammed himself back into the booth hard enough to catch the attention of the other diners around them. A strapping man in a skintight T-CASS uniform would catch anyone's attention on a good day, but in Thunder City most folks had the good grace not to interfere with an Alt if he looked like he was on duty. Tonight, Nik looked like thunder, which only made him sexier and more attention-grabbing.
Dani ate in silence for a few minutes while Nik watched her.
"So, tell me why you think Fagin wanted to kidnap you."
"He wants to stop my research." It had taken a while to calm herself down and think through Fagin's motivations from his point of view. He didn't know about her Alt ability. He didn't know she had once been his Artful Dodger, his right hand man and lover. Dani had always expected that he would figure it out some day. Someone would put two and two together and Fagin would come after Dodger for setting him up and stealing his money. Dani never figured Fagin would care about Dani, so her research was the only other explanation. "I found a cure for blitz addiction. That's why I joined Generation Med. Well, one of the reasons. They want to support my research and start clinical trials. Fagin wants to stop the research because I could put a huge dent in his operation."
"Makes sense," Nik said. She could see him processing the implications of her research, the cute way his eyes shifted back and forth, as if he were reading his own thoughts. Adorable. "How does it work? Your cure?"
She shrugged. "I wrote about it in a paper I published last year. It involves increasing the number of antibodies used to attack blitz before it enters the brain. Antibodies are not infinite. The goal of my research is to prevent the addict from continuing to increase the amount of blitz he ingests to get high. The idea is to create an implant that will release as many antibodies as needed to attack the blitz before it enters the brain."
Nik had that deep in thought look again. "So if it works, blitz addiction will be neutralized forever because the implant will keep releasing antibodies every time the addict ingests more blitz."
Dani shrugged. "If people want a cure, it'll be available to them. You can't force people to give up their addiction if they don't want to."
"If it's the difference between a cure and jail — "
"There will always be new addicts, Nik. My cure is specific to blitz. Don't think a guy like Fagin is going to disappear just because I poisoned his well. He'll change his colors, switch his operation and sell something else."
"Televisions would be nice," Nik muttered.
Dani laughed, licking a drop of Thousand Island off her fingertip. Still no reaction from Nik. Damn, he was a tough nut to crack when he was on a case.
"Now that we know why Fagin wants you, it'll be just a matter of time before he slips up. We'll arrest him and put him away for good. You won't have to leave."
Even to her ears, Nik's words sounded hollow. Perhaps even desperate. Oh, this sweet man with the tender heart didn't want her to leave. Her own heart went all pitter patter at the sentiment.
Laughter from the booth behind her distracted Dani from her thoughts. She raised her voice to make sure her man could hear her. "Let's not kid ourselves, Nik. Fagin's network and power in Thunder City may have diminished since his conviction, but if you think he hasn't continued to operate from behind bars, then you're a fool."
"I'm not a fool." Nik ripped open a small package of saltines to add to his soup. Dani could almost pity Fagin if Nik ever got his hands on the drug dealer. "I know what he's been up to, but no one's been able to prove it."
Dani wiped the edge of her mouth with her napkin. "And, that's the problem. You can't play by the rules with Fagin and expect to win."
"We won last time. We put him in prison."
"For less than a decade," Dani said. "Convicted of possession of a quarter pound of unprocessed blitz, not because of the warehouse full of the stuff you uncovered. Not for any of the people he murdered. If you had a solid case against him for any of that, he'd still be in the city prison."
If he'd been an Alt it would have been different. Rocklin Prison, which held the worst Chaos Alts, would have prevented Fagin from continuing his operation, but without a proven Alt ability, Fagin had remained in the regular city prison with the other Norms. Security was tight, but Fagin would always find ways around it.
"C'mon, honey." This time Dani reached out to rub the back of Nik's hand. "Let's finish dinner and head back to your place. We'll have some more of that lovely wine and forget our troubles. Tomorrow morning, I'll explain the situation to the Generation Med board. They're going to have fits about security, but that's not my department and not my problem. By tomorrow afternoon, I'll be safe and secure in a hospital outside of Thunder City. Robby will get his kidney and you'll get to feed me cherry-flavored gelatin while I recover."
She hated the defeated look on Nik's face. The look that said Nik would wrack his brains to try and find another way to keep her safe here in Thunder City. Unlike Dani, Nik wouldn't leave the city of his birth. After the transplant, she'd have to make a decision whether or not to risk her heart for a city that never promised her anything and delivered nothing but pain.
Not even several hours of heart-pumping sex could distract Nik from the need to keep Dani safe. No matter how many kisses he used to try and convince her to stay with him, she refused to move into his penthouse.
"I have security, Nik," Dani had said. "Security I paid for. It'll keep Fagin at bay."
He gave in only so she wouldn't fight him when he insisted on escorting her home again. This time he didn't bother with the front door. He phased her into the middle of her living room. No need to turn off Thomas's security net. Nik knew his way around the system so he wouldn't trip any wires, and Thomas's programs auto-loaded Nik's profile in
to every system in the city. Nik could get in and out of buildings no matter what security Thomas provided.
It was the unwritten law of the Blackwoods: Keep Thunder City safe and Thunder City will keep you safe. They all had to believe that or every bit of Catherine's work over the years, all of the sacrifices the T-CASS members made, would be for naught.
That, and Thomas liked to play in the gray areas of the law. For once, Nik was grateful for his stepfather's consideration. Otherwise, he'd be fending off whatever countermeasures Thomas had built into this particular system. Nik hoped those measures would be enough for tonight because he'd be back here first thing in the morning to take Dani to work.
"Nightcap?" Dani waved her hand toward the small wine refrigerator tucked into the corner.
Nik grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms again. She was like a drug he couldn't get enough of. Her head didn't even reach his chest, and yet the curve of her body against his electrified him, at the same time as it gave his mind a sense of peace. He lowered his chin to kiss the mop of curls piled on top her head. "No. Not tonight. I still have work to do."
He felt her hand slip around his waist to cup his backside. "Well, then, I suggest to you get going, because I have to get my beauty sleep."
His heart raced even faster as she slipped him a saucy wink over her shoulder as she turned to walk toward the stairs. He counted to ten, listening to her footsteps leading up to where he presumed her bedroom was. A powerful need to follow her, to make sure there were no monsters hidden under her bed, almost forced him up the stairs, but he'd seen Dani handle a gun today. She didn't need his protection, any more than she needed him in her bed after they'd spent most of the late afternoon in his.
He waited until he heard water from the shower pour through the pipes before he sunk into the house's foundation and raced away before his heart and his lust could change his mind. It wouldn't have taken much encouragement for him to join her in the shower, but he really did have to earn his keep, so he aimed for the Arena instead.
The overnight shift had already settled into their routine by the time he logged into the system. Thomas's set of worker bees, so-called because of the bright yellow polo shirts they wore along with their black pants, sat at their work stations around the perimeter of the darkened oval-shaped main hall. Above his head, huge television screens streamed the local news broadcasts from Thunder City and Star Haven. In the center of the hall, two sets of T-CASS teams in colorful uniforms sat around a levitating table waiting for an alert that would send them into action.
Nik knew there were other work stations in the back conference rooms, so he headed in that direction. If he was lucky, Thomas's advanced team would have left for the day and he would use one of their stations.
"Nik, can I talk to you for a moment, please?"
Nik stopped, but hesitated to turn around as the worry for Dani's safety dribbled out of his heart and left only dread behind. He should have known Serena would stay past her shift. She always stayed past her shift.
He couldn't ignore her though, couldn't pretend he hadn't heard her. So, he turned to face his ex-fiancée, ex-girlfriend, ex-lover. She had been all that and more, on and off, since high school. He couldn't ignore her any more than he could ignore their shared past.
Serena stood in a neutral stance, hands at her sides. Instead of her bright yellow on-duty uniform with matching barrette in her jet black hair, she wore a simple pair of dark yoga pants and a green Thunder City Tornadoes T-shirt.
"Sure." He motioned her ahead of him, since he didn't know if she was going to take this into her own office or somewhere more private. Serena had taken over from Gavin Harris, Blockhead, as the head of training. It was a huge responsibility, ranging from teaching control to the new Alts in the elementary and middle school systems as their powers manifested, to recruiting alternative humans in high schools to work for T-CASS after they graduated. Her job responsibilities hadn't caused their break-up the second time, but they hadn't helped either.
She led him to her office and closed the door. Like Serena herself, the office appeared as neat and tidy as an unused kitchen. No paper dared litter her desk. Every file folder had its place, every pen was stashed away. He noticed the picture of the two of them at the senior prom no longer sat next to the picture of her parents and siblings. He couldn't blame her for removing it. It didn't take a genius to know how much of her pride he'd damaged in breaking off their third attempt to make their relationship work so soon after the raid. Had it been less than a week since he'd walked away?
"What's this all about?" He sat in the hot seat, the chair next to her desk. Many a young trainee had sat there to get a harsh review of their performance. Serena held a standard higher than T-CASS required for all of her trainees.
"What do you think you're doing, Nik?"
"About what?"
Serena twisted her computer screen around. Nik could tell from a glance it was the Thunder City Tattler's web site. It only took a glance to recognize the front page photo of him and Dani dancing at the club. Ghost dumps Highlight for Mysterious New Woman? He didn't need to read the rest.
"It looks like I had a fun date. Hardly a reason to call me into your office." He stood to leave. The last person he was going to discuss Dani with was Serena.
"Sit down, Nik. I'm not finished with you yet."
Nik stopped short. For all of their fights and arguments, she'd never talked him like that. He'd also never pulled rank on her before, never let his family ties to the founders of T-CASS color their relationship. He must have done more damage than he thought to put her so far off her game.
Nik fought to keep his voice down as he turned back around to lean over the desk. "I'm not one of your trainees, Serena. Don't you dare speak to me like that again."
Her Adam's apple bobbed up and down as she swallowed her own outrage. "I'm sorry, Nik, but this is serious business."
She broke eye contact to click a key on her keyboard. The Thunder City News-Journal appeared on the screen. This one showed a screen capture from a security camera: Dani fending off Fagin and his men in the parking lot. Nik's pride in Dani rose up to snuff out his anger. His fear for her safety remained, but it wasn't the near paralyzing fear he felt earlier.
He sighed. "What are you doing, Serena?"
"I'm asking you the same question, Nik. T-CASS has enough problems with the quarry raid investigation. We don't need a security breach."
"What security breach?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you...dating a woman with an arrest record. We can't afford to have you give Star Haven an inroad into T-CASS operations. If they think you're passing information along to a woman with her background. . . ."
"That woman has a name," he snapped.
"I know her name," Serena crossed her arms and looked him directly in the eye. "You couldn't walk through the hallways of Kensington without hearing her name."
Nik stepped back. He needed space to think, room to get his thoughts in order. He had to separate Nik, a man in love, from Ghost, a man with a responsibility to T-CASS. "I know I hurt you, Serena. Hooking up with you after the raid...it was a mistake. I led you to believe we could make it work. It won't. I'm sorry. Attacking Daniella Rose based on nothing more than high school hijinks is beneath you and it's not going to help T-CASS."
Serena stepped around the desk, violating his personal space. "You think this is about our relationship? Nik, that's hardly the problem. The problem is her record."
"She doesn't have a record. The judge dismissed her case." Serena should have known that. She would have known that if she'd truly investigated Daniella, like Nik had before he'd contacted her.
"It doesn't matter." Serena returned to her seat behind the desk. "Daniella's arrest still made the papers. Her past will reflect on your present, Nik. If you keep seeing her, her past will reflect on T-CASS. If you have any hopes of taking control of this organization, you can't get involved with people like h
er."
This was the crux of their problem. Serena lived and breathed for T-CASS and couldn't understand why Nik didn't join her. His refusal to commit every waking moment to his work for T-CASS annoyed her. The first time they'd broken off their relationship, he had thought she'd hung her star on marrying into the Blackwood family so she could shine next him. But in reality, Serena had deserved every bit of praise she'd gotten for her dedication to T-CASS. She modeled herself after Captain Spectacular, his mother, and never understood how Nik could split his loyalty between his long-divorced parents.
"Mom never promised to let me take over T-CASS when she retires." He'd said it before, but he could see Serena gearing up for another argument.
"Stop being so naïve. The expectation is Catherine will hand you the reins sometime in the next five years."
Where the hell had she gotten that information? "I can't control other people's expectations."
"And, we're getting off track." Serena stopped, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Daniella Rose is bad news, Nik. She always was."
"So, nothing she's done in the past ten years counts for anything? Not her education? Not her unblemished employment record?"
"People don't change that much. Look at her." Serena clicked the screen again to increase the size of the image. "That's Fredek Varga — Fagin — but I don't need to tell you that."
"He's targeted her because of her research at Generation Med. I'm handling her security."
"Which T-CASS has not authorized you to do, by the way," Serena said.
Damn, she was on a roll today. This was why it had never worked between them. Serena never backed down. She would fight long after she'd won or lost an argument. Their last and final argument as a couple had been just like this. Nik had realized that he was following in the footsteps of his parents. The endless string of arguments over everything. As a child, he would phase into the walls and listen. Then, he'd wander the grounds of the estate, depressed and unable to understand why he couldn't get his parents to stop shouting. By the time his father moved out of their house, Nik had come to believe that the arguments were a normal part of any family. It took time, and many friendships outside of the family, to learn the right way to argue with someone you loved. Some folks never learned that lesson.
