Authors note** Just wanted to thank Steffen for helping me get this story back on track. I was dangerously close to giving up on it but with some excellent suggestions we were able to bring it back from the brink of death. Thanks, Steffen!!!

 

Blaze

by Maddy V

Part 3

 

"Here are the test results you wanted, Robert," Sandy said as she handed him a thick packet of papers. "I think you might want to run her AS charts again, they can't be right."

"They probably are accurate. I expect all her readings to be odd compared to what we are used to seeing. There is something going on with her still. I think she's still in her change," Robert replied.

"We have her fertility test back, too. Any guesses as to what it says?" Sandy asked.

"My money is on a positive," Robert bet.

"You should go to Vegas, looks like Jess can be a mom some day."

"I don't know if she'll think that's good or bad news."

"What's your theory on that? I mean how do you go from being a guy with sperm to a girl with eggs? I can understand the body changes, hormones can do a lot and her skeleton didn't change a whole lot but we are talking basic building blocks here." Sandy asked.

"You're half right, hormone changes can make drastic changes to a body but it won't change the skeleton or make a penis into a vagina or vice versa. RV's ability to make the body revert to a developmental stage is the key here. For all intensive purposes, Jess was reborn during her burndown. She's as much a woman as the next girl," Robert explained.

"How does RV know what to do? It was a simple little virus made to do one job. Now it does things that are so complex that we don't even understand how they work."

"Mother nature's in the driver's seat now. She's modifying our little bug for her own means and we have never been able to figure her out. I hope I can figure out what is going to happen to Jess next."

"How do her readings compare with Cole Draven's?" Sandy asked. She knew Dr. Stevens well enough to know he was on to something. He just couldn't quite grasp the thread that would tie everything together. Sometimes a little Q&A helped jumpstart his thoughts.

"They don't. Cole's are exactly what I'd expect. There isn't anything unusual about them. Other than requiring so much support, he was a standard burndown and recover. Jess, on the other hand, is taking everything we know about RV and turning it on its head."

"That's why you like RV so much. I expect that Jess has really piqued your curiosity," Sandy commented.

"She certainly got my attention. Her entire case is so different from what we have seen so far. I wonder if maybe she was infected by a new strain or if she is just a very unique case."

"A new strain? I'm not sure I want to think about that. We have enough trouble with the three we know about. Are you expecting anything major with Jess?"

"No, I don't think it'll be anything major. I think most of the changes will be small and gradual. Her AS readings have been tapering off very slowly. Until they drop down to a normal level, I think she'll still be in rebuilding."

"Well, there isn't any more you can do here today. When was the last time you went home?"

Robert had to stop and think for a minute, "What's today?"

"Saturday and Jess came in a week ago," Sandy answered.

"I guess it's been about a week then," Robert was surprised that it had been a week already. He hadn't spent that much time at Skyview in a long time. "I guess I should take a break. Could you make copies of Jess' file? I know I'm missing something and it's in those pages somewhere"

"I will as long as you promise not to be back here for at least two days," Sandy ordered.

"OK, I'll stay away as long as there aren't any emergencies here."

"Nope, two days minimum. Dr. Smith can handle anything that comes in as long as it's not as crazy as those two," she replied pointing at Cole and Jess' files.

"I'll only call if that's the case."

"Alright, two days unless we have something major. Can I have my copies now, please?" Robert asked sweetly.

He knew that Sandy was looking out for him as she always did. She was probably right about taking a few days off but Robert knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from Jess' case for long. There was just too much he was surprised by. His curiosity had been prodded and experience told him he would be nearly obsessed with it until he got his head around what had happened.

"Yes, Sir," Sandy saluted and left to make the requested copies.

Robert took the next few minutes to straighten up his office. Basically living there for the last week had taken its toll, leaving it in less than orderly condition. A small herd of empty Styrofoam coffee cups was threatening to take over his desk. He gathered them up and dropped them in the trash. There was a pile of dirty clothes in one corner that contained nearly all of the extra stuff he kept there just in case of a situation like that one.

'I guess it is time for me to go home, if only to do laundry,' he thought to himself. There were a few files on his desk that needed to be looked at, but he wasn't in the mood to look at them. They found their way to his in box to be sorted out later.

Sandy returned with the copied files just as he was finishing straightening up. "Here you go, Robert. I made a copy of Draven's file as well, I figured you'd probably want to have it on hand as well," she stated, handing him the files.

"What on Earth would I do without you, Sandy? You are the best," Robert smiled at her.

"You would be hopelessly lost and would have to make your own copies. Before you go, there is a gentleman who wants to talk to you about Jess. He says he's her brother. Does Jon even have a brother?"

"Not as far as I know. Then again, I didn't know that Jonathan had been married and had a daughter at one point either," Robert responded.

"He has a daughter? Why hasn't he ever mentioned that?"

"Long story, but the net result is his ex-wife took the girl and he hasn't seen either of them in a long time. The poor kid hasn't exactly had a charmed life."

"And now RV in a major way. That is a lot to deal with. What should I do about the visitor?"

"I'll handle it, why don't you head home? I know your shift is about up."

"Will do. Now remember, I don't want to see or hear from you for at least two days. Got it?" Sandy reminded him.

"Yes, Mother, two days. I've got it."

*

 

Robert was pretty certain that Jonathan didn't have a brother. On the slim chance that the gentleman was an actual brother and not someone trying to either get some news story or find out Jess' whereabouts, Robert decided he would talk to the man personally.

Robert didn't think that the man was related to Jess. He figured that whoever it was, was either a reporter of some government agent trying to get information on Jess. Robert hoped that he was FBI, CIA, NSA, or any other agency other than Homeland Protection Agency. He had dealt with HPA agents on a few occasions and none of them had been pleasant. The Morgan act gave them way too much power and they were all too willing to abuse it.

When he saw the mystery man, Robert knew three things; he wasn't related to Jess, he was most likely HPA, and he was the last man Robert thought would want to be associated with the Home Protection Agency. The last time Robert had seen Dillon, he was a brilliant third year med student with a severe dislike for the US government.

"Hello, Robert, still fighting the good fight I see," Agent Dillon Rybeck greeted him.

"Your the last person I expected to see in that suit, Dillon. How have you been?" Robert replied.

"I've been busy. My asshole superiors have me running around checking out anything RV related. Those morons are still under the impression that RV is all bad."

"What about you? You were pretty sure RV was evil last I time I saw you."

The last time Robert had seen Dillon, his sister had just been killed by a group of Lycans. They had been extremely close and Dillon was devastated. Robert knew the feeling, having gone through it himself a short time before. He had tried to get Dillon to focus on medicine but the kid wanted revenge. His hatred of all things RV led to him leaving the field of medicine. Robert had tried to keep track of him, but they lost contact a few months later.

"Times change, Robert. I was just a kid then and I made some bad decisions."

"Don't we all. You would have made a Hell of a doctor. I'm sorry that you didn't stick with it."

"If I'd have know how things would go, I would have stayed a Doctor."

Robert heard the deep regret in Dillon's voice. There was a good deal of sadness behind it as well. Robert recognized the signs of severe burnout in Dillon. Whatever he had done for the last few years had worn him down, replacing the once vital energetic kid with a tired haunted shell of the man he once was.

"You look terrible, Dillon," Robert commented.

"Gee thanks, Robert. I just need a nice long vacation. You know, play some golf, drink a few beers, and sit still for a while."

"I know the feeling, myself. What do you say we take care of business here and go play around? I'll even buy the beers," Dr. Stevens offered.

"I'd love to, Robert but I'm on duty," Dillon stated.

"I'm a the world's foremost expert on RV. You can just tell them you were discussing a case with me."

"I see I'm not the only one who's changed. The Dr. Robert Stevens I remember would never skip out of work to go play golf," Dillon smiled.

"With age comes wisdom my son. You have to know when to take a break. I've been in this hospital for seven days straight dealing with Miss Kahne and her unusual burndown. It's time for a break. You coming?" Robert asked.

"Sounds good to me. It's been a week since I had a day off anyway. Speaking of Miss Kahne, I need to talk to her so I can tell my bosses she's no threat," Dillon answered.

"How can you be sure she's not a threat?"

"Come on, Robert, if she was dangerous, why did she help save Midwest Chemical?" Dillon asked.

"You always were a smart guy, Dillon, but what about the explosion later?"

"My report says she cooked a few Lycans and Vampira. My bet is that they attacked her and she defended herself. I do need to interview her to make sure but I bet I'm right."

"I wish you could but she left with Beowulf last night. He helping her to control her abilities better."

"Damn, that's not so good. I hate to ask, but I'm going to need get a copy of her file and any blood and tissue samples."

"I don't think you guys should be able to take confidential medical records without a court order. It's not right," Robert stated.

"Look, Robert, I don't like a lot of the things I have to do. I don't have a choice with this one. It's procedure and I have to follow it. I'll go over your head if I have to but I'd rather not," Dillon said sadly.

"Don't those guys realize that there seeing a burndown record won't tell them if someone is a threat or not?"

"You know that and I know it but they are convinced that they can set up a database and use that information to track down signs of dangerous altereds. It really is ridiculous, RV is too random for that to work."

"Why are you in with the Agency if you think they are so far off?" Robert asked.

"I have my reasons," Dillon replied cryptically.

"OK, I won't push. Let me get the file and we can get out of here."

"Thanks, Robert, I know you hate having to do this," Dillon said quietly.

*

 

"Are you OK?" Jack asked Jess as she tenderly got herself seated.

"I'll live, but I'm gonna have one Hell of a bruise tomorrow. I think I got off better than the boulder, though," she answered.

"Sorry about that. I didn't think the Twins would have been so aggressive. I'll fix that shortly. You handled yourself well, though, I'm impressed."

"I thought you said they weren't dangerous?" she asked a little annoyed.

"I didn't say they weren't dangerous. I said they weren't evil, there's a difference," he replied flatly.

Two things kept Jess from arguing the point with him. The first being that he was right, he never said they weren't dangerous. Jess had assumed that because they weren't evil they were safe. It was her own fault, she should have been more careful. That was another lesson she filed away under "lucky to be alive still". It would be placed just after "don't let your self get distracted" and "looks can be deceiving".

The second reason for her reluctance to argue with Jack was because he was Beowulf. More specifically, he was a Series 3b altered who had developed superhuman strength and speed. That meant that he could probably squash her into a little ball and dump her in a rather small trash can somewhere without breaking a sweat. Jess still wasn't sure of his temperament yet. He had seemed pretty laidback most of their trip. The only time she saw a little of the fury he was famous for, was dealing with the Twins. It wasn't obviously apparent, but she could see in his eyes that he wanted to explode. The Twins must have noticed because neither of them made an attempt to argue with him.

The last few minutes of the trip slipped by in near silence. The only sounds were from the big SUV and it's tires crunching loudly on the gravel road. Somehow, Cole had managed to sleep through the entire events of the night. He was still snoring loudly when they reached the entrance to the facility. Jess wondered just what she was getting involved with as the side of the valley began to open.

Jack had driven to within inches of the vertical valley wall and stopped. Jess began to feel a heavy vibration and wondered if something was wrong with the SUV when a section of the wall about forty feet high and forty feet wide began to move. It quickly moved inward away from the SUV then slid easily left revealing a large concrete lined tunnel. Jack put the SUV in gear and pulled in through the opening.

"What is this place, Jack?" Jess asked.

"Officially it doesn't have a name. Most of us just call it home," he answered.

She watched as they drove into the mountain. Fifty yards inside the door the tunnel began to slope downward and curve to her left. The sheer size of the facility became apparent as Jack drove. Tunnels that seemed to go on forever branched off in all directions. They'd traveled nearly a full mile before Jack turned off the main tunnel and into a smaller one. The small tunnel leveled off and opened into a huge cavern. Either side of the cavern was lined with buildings and parking spaces. The whole area resembled a city street at night.

"How many people are in here?" Jess asked.

"Not many, maybe a few dozen. Most of us are in this branch of the complex. The rest of the place is mostly unused. Someday we may need the space if things keep going like they have been," Jack answered.

"What do you mean?"

"The government has been slowly adding legislation limiting the freedom of people infected with RV. They are afraid of the power that some of us develop. I can't say that I blame them, for every one that turns out like you or me, nearly a hundred turn out to be evil bastards.

A recent bill proposing to require all people who exhibit physical or mental abilities to be registered and tagged was narrowly defeated in the House last month. The only thing that stopped it was the tagging part. I'm afraid that it's being rewritten as we speak and will probably have a good chance of passing next time around."

"What? They can't just do that. Don't we have a constitution to keep them from doing things like that?"

"That didn't stop them from passing the Morgan Act," Jack responded.

The Morgan Act was a sneaky piece of legislation the Senator Douglas Morgan tacked on to a Homeland Security amendment. It laid the groundwork for the Homeland Protection Agency and its ridiculous authority. Basically, it gives agents the power to do just about anything they want in tracking down and dealing with dangerous entities infected with RV.

When it was passed, there hadn't been any "superheroes" created. People thought that RV only created monsters so they were willing to sign the agency into existence. Senator Morgan was named to lead the agency and he is less than sympathetic to the plight of RV victims.

He staffed the agency with the worst kind of government agents. Most of them will do anything it takes to ruin the lives of any RV altered they feel might be dangerous. They even have the power to arrest anyone, infected or not, they feel is hindering their efforts. Many stories of brutality and intimidation tactics have come from confrontations with them.

Even without the legal power to terminate RV altereds, an inordinate amount of series 3's have met an untimely death because of them. The public's support of the agency has fallen some but most still support the basic concept of it. With all the physical changes, Jess had forgotten about the people who would now be policing her.

"How did we let those maniacs get in control?"

"Look, I don't agree with the methods, but I do try and work with them. The fight against Lycans, Vampira, and other 3c's isn't going well. There aren't enough law-abiding folks developing substantial abilities to keep the field level. The general public doesn't know how severe the situation is getting. Inside the city zones is still relatively safe but I'm afraid that won't last much longer."

"I got the feeling that things were getting worse. Mandy and I have been called out on night runs a lot more lately," Jess said. "Lycans are acting weird, too. They are attacking but they're not killing. We had half a dozen Lycan attacks last month and all of them lived."

"I've been getting similar reports from other cities. The general feeling is that they're trying to increase their numbers even more. Those kinds of actions have us worried. A few years ago, they were driven by instinct alone. I'm not sure that's the case anymore. Both Lycans and Vampira appear to be getting smarter."

"What does that mean for us?" she asked.

"Nothing good. The government is getting scared. They want a quick solution to the problem. There is a growing movement that is favoring giving the HPA a shoot first, ask questions later order and they aren't specifying infection types either. If they get their way, all people infected with RV will be targets."

"I think I'm going to be sick. Please tell me it's not that bad," Jess pleaded but Jack just looked at her.

"I wish I could say it wasn't that bad but it is. Let's get you settled in a room. We have an early start tomorrow and it's going to be a long day."

"Oh boy, I can't wait," she said sarcastically.

 

*

'This is not what I had in mind,' Jess thought as she pulled herself out of the wall that Cole had thrown her through.

Jack had brought Cole with them to see what both his and Jess limits were. Cole hadn't developed any elemental abilities but he was strong and fast, maybe even more so than Jack. He had been enjoying tossing Jess around all morning. She was getting tired of being a wrecking ball/ punching bag but she didn't trust her own abilities enough to try and use them against him.

The object of the exercise was immobilizing your opponent without causing lasting damage. Jess took that to mean don't hurt Cole while Cole took it as don't kill Jess. She had managed to keep from being pinned down but was taking a pretty serious beating along the way.

Cole seemed to be enjoying himself, which worried Jess. She thought he could at least look like it wasn't all fun and games.

"OK, hold it," Jack said before Cole could get his hands on Jess again. "Jess, what are you trying to do?"

"What am I trying to do?" she asked rhetorically, "I'm trying to keep him from using me as his own personal wrecking ball."

"How's that working out for you?"

"Not so good, obviously," Jess said angrily.

"At least you realize that. Look, Jess, you can't go toe to toe with Cole. That's playing to his advantage. Strength and speed aren't your strengths. You need to start using your own abilities."

"Jack, I don't trust my control. I'm afraid I'll hurt him," she answered, thinking about the Lycans and Vampira that had attacked her in the park.

"I'm not talking about that. You have other abilities other than fire and I'm willing to bet you're smarter," he stated, "Take five and try to figure out how to use those super senses of yours."

"This isn't exactly my cup of tea. I'm a healer not a fighter," Jess commented.

"Well, now you get to be a healer and a fighter. Five minutes."

Jess was grateful for the break. Her whole body was beginning to feel like one huge continuous bruise. She was amazed at how much punishment she could take. Looking around the training room revealed a lot of holes that Cole had used her to make.

The training room was another huge underground space about the size of an aircraft hanger. The center of the room had a maze like structure that was built of two by fours and plywood. It was made to resemble rooms in a building and was very similar to where the police and military train their people. There was junk strewn about the outer perimeter and plenty of different types of walls sprinkled throughout. The whole place was set up to simulate a varied mix of terrain and situations.

'It's a good thing this isn't for real,' she thought, 'how the Hell am I supposed to out do him? Come on, Jess, use your head for something other than a hat rack. He's big. I'm not. I can see heat and he can run faster. Wait, he can't see in the dark. You can't catch what you can't see," she smiled, "Hey, Jack I'm ready."

Instead of heading straight for Cole, Jess made her way to the breaker boxes that controlled the rooms lighting and shut them down, plunging the room into total darkness. Hearing Cole swear was music to her ears. She had just gained a major advantage.

Tracking Cole down was a piece of cake. He was fumbling around in the darkness trying to keep from running into things. With his arms outstretched feeling for obstructions, he made an easy target. Now all Jess had to do was figure out a way to pin him down.

The darkness gave Jess the freedom to move around without having to worry about Cole tracking her down. She had been so busy trying, unsuccessfully, to avoid Cole that she didn't have a chance to see what was around her. She knew she was going to need something to contain him. There was no way she'd be able to restrain him by herself.

Using all her new senses, Jess began looking for anything she might be able to use. A roll of thick cable looked promising, but she quickly discounted that idea.

'A cowboy, I'm not. Cole would probably just use it to turn me into a yo-yo anyway,' she thought.

She continued her search not knowing exactly what she was looking for. Most of her search revealed useless junk. There were only a few objects that caught her attention; the roll of cable, a mostly full barrel of 90-weight gear oil, a four-foot length of metal pipe, and a shovel.

'I know, I could dig a deep hole with the shovel, coat the sides with the oil, whack Cole over the head with the pipe, and use the cable to tie him up and drop him into the hole. Nah, that wouldn't work, the pipe would probably only piss him off.' Jess joked with herself.

She was getting plenty of ideas but none of them would work against Cole. He was far too strong to be restrained by anything in the room. Jess briefly thought about burying him under a small cave in. It might be effective but she ran the risk of bringing the whole roof down her as well.

Cole had been left alone for far to long in Jess' opinion. She was on her way to check on him when she noticed a large dark area just in front of one of the buildings exits. It briefly looked like an oily lake but she realized it was just her thermal vision interfering with her perceptions. It was actually just a large space that had been cleared to allow access to the psuedo-building. The dark surface gave her an idea.

 

She remembered seeing a fairly full oil drum somewhere but couldn't remember exactly where it was. A few tongue flicks and she caught the taste of oil. She quickly followed the trail to the source.

The barrel wasn't in a good location for what she had planned. It had to be moved to a better spot but Jess didn't know how to go about moving it. She could roll it, but the noise would no doubt bring Cole running. There wasn't a wheelbarrow or anything with usable wheels that she could find. Her only choice was to carry it. That wasn't going to be easy. A nearly full barrel of oil isn't exactly light.

Jess decided to give it a try just to see if she could pick it up at all. Maybe she could drag it without too much noise. She grabbed the top edge and tried leaning it over a little. Much to her surprise it tipped over easily. She was able to balance it reasonably easily with one hand.

'Well, that's new,' she thought dryly.

Jess changed her grip putting one hand on the top of the barrel and one on the bottom. With a lot less effort than she had expected, she was able to pick it up. It certainly wasn't easy but she was able to manage. She was stronger than the average person but not anywhere near either Cole or Jack.

The sloshing contents of the barrel made walking difficult, causing her to stumble on more than one occasion. Jess carefully made her way to the entrance on the building section. She was just able to make it without dropping the barrel. One more item was needed to put her plan into action. A quick search of the area netted her the metal pipe.

Jess kicked the barrel over, spilling its contents and creating a small lake of oil. She backtracked to find Cole. He had managed to clear two more rooms but wasn't making much progress. She tried to make just enough noise to get Cole to follow her but not be suspicious. He eagerly followed every sound she made.

Once she had him on the right track, she retreated to her trap picking up a rock on the way. Cole had quickly followed her to the hallway leading out to her trap and then seemed to sense that something wasn't right and stopped a few feet from the door. Jess was ready for that. She tossed the rock she had picked up into the darkness beyond the doorway.

Cole smiled and obligingly came jogging through the doorway. Jess swung the metal pipe low, catching Cole about a foot above his ankles. Hitting him was like hitting a brick wall. The pipe vibrated in Jess' hands and sent shockwaves through her body.

The blow served its purpose by knocking Cole off balance. He stumbled a few steps and wind milled his arms trying to stay on his feet, but went down heavily when he hit the oily floor. There was a sickening thud when his head hit the hard ground.

Jess was afraid she might have unintentionally hurt him, but he immediately tried to stand without any signs of injury. Cole's great strength turned to a serious handicap on the slippery floor. He lacked the fine control he needed to gently free him from Jess' trap and there wasn't anything near by to grab a hold of.

"There's no way I'm being beaten by a chick," Cole yelled into the darkened room.

The more he struggled and fought, the more frustrated he got with himself. Jess could nearly feel anger radiating off of him.

"No! I will not be beaten like this," he roared as his anger escalated. "Not tricked by some glorified bloodhound bitch!"

Jess was surprised by his change in demeanor. His anger quickly grew to a rage completely out of proportion to his struggle. His movements became even less precise as he began flailing his arms and legs. His comments degenerated into grunts and growls as he failed to find his footing.

She was torn between emotions. She was glad to have won the competition but seeing the pain and frustration grow within Cole had triggered some other part of her that wanted to comfort him. She stood at the edge of the oil pool not knowing what to do.

The rooms lighting came back online and Jack appeared out of the gloom.

"Calm down, Cole, looks like Jessie has gotten the better of you this time," Jack told Cole.

"I'm not finished yet. I can still get out of this. All I have to do is get to my feet," Cole grunted.

"OK, you have one minute to get out of there. If you don't, you lose," Jack stated coldly and walked over to Jess.

"Wasn't that a bit harsh?" Jess asked thinking how she would have felt if Jack had talked to her that way.

"Maybe, but he needed to focus instead of flailing around like a two year old throwing a tantrum. Besides, he's not likely to get up and if he does, all you have to do is nudge him with that pipe and he'll go down again. You've won, he just hasn't figured it out yet."

"You can be a real dick, ya know?" Jess commented.

"You don't have to like my methods but I guarantee you'll be able to take care of yourself once I'm through with you. Thirty seconds, Cole."

"So how'd I do?" she asked trying to keep herself from running over and helping Cole out of the oil.

"Not bad, I give you points for creativity if nothing else. I think this is the first time anyone has ever won with his or her opponent conscious and unbound. I was hoping you'd try to use your thermal abilities, though. Ten seconds."

"I told you I don't have control over that. I didn't want to hurt him."

"Ever think about draining energy out of him?"

"Jesus, no! What if I drained too much? I could kill him."

"Times up! You lost this round, Cole. Maybe next time," Jack said handing him the end of the pipe Jess had used to trip him up.

Jess could swear that she could feel a mixture of anger, frustration, and pain radiating from him. As soon as he was clear of the oil she walked over and tried to give him a hug. That action struck her as very uncharacteristic but natural. She had never been a touchy feely guy and would certainly never have walked up and given someone a hug before. For whatever reason, it just seemed like the natural thing to do, now.

Cole wasn't in the mood to be hugged. He was still very upset and uncooperative. Jess stopped a few feet from him sensing danger and realizing she was already too close. Cole rushed her before she could react, hitting her harder than he had previously. The blow lifted Jess off her feet and carried her through multiple rooms of the psuedo house. A large solid steel beam stopped her progress and knocked her breath from her again.

A stunned Jess found herself sitting on the ground looking back through the holes she had just created watching a duel between an enraged Cole Draven and Beowulf. It was a battle that she thought would have been a lot more equal than it appeared to be. Both of them were about the same size and neither had a speed advantage. Cole might have had a slight strength advantage but it didn't seem to be paying off.

Beowulf was calmly dodging or deflecting anything that was thrown at him. He wasn't attacking Cole at all. His defensive method confused Jess. She wondered what he was up to. As she continued watching Cole's attacks began to slow down and become less powerful. Jack could easily have ended the fight if he wanted to, but he just let Cole completely wear himself out.

Cole took one last wild swing, which Beowulf sidestepped instead of blocking. The change in tactics threw Cole's balance off and he fell flat on his face. Jess expected him to get up but he just lay there breathing heavily. Jack pulled the radio from his belt, said something that Jess couldn't make out then came over to her.

"You OK, Jess?" he asked.

"Can't breathe," she wheezed and tried to get up.

"No you don't," he said pushing her back down, "I've got medical coming. Let them check you out first."

Jess didn't argue. She was hurting in places she didn't even know she had. She just wanted to go home and forget about the nightmare her world had becoming.

*

 

Robert didn't like having to hand over Jess records to Dillon. He really wanted to tell the agent to go to Hell but that would have brought him more trouble than he could handle. Maybe in his younger years he would have told him where to go but he was too old to get involved in situations like that now. He also knew that Dillon didn't have a choice and neither did he.

The best he would be able to do is give him a very basic file and a useless blood sample. The last blood sample they were able to get was during Jess' burndown. She had changed so much that he might as well be handing Rybeck a vial of baboon blood. He found Sandy just before she was about to leave.

"Sandy, one more thing before you go, I need a stripped down version of Jess file. Just the basic readings and nothing about her abilities other than the energy draw bit. I don't want the HPA getting anything other than the bare minimum," Robert stated.

"They're after Jess already? Isn't that fast?" Sandy replied.

"The newspaper coverage was bound to attract their attention before long. I'm worried that they haven't said anything about Cole Draven. They seem to be interested in Jess only."

"How did we let those people get in charge, Robert?" Sandy asked.

"It was a rash decision based on incomplete information. But the law isn't necessarily bad. Morgan's people have twisted it into something it wasn't meant to be."

Sandy sighed knowing they had no choice but to cooperate, "It'll take me a few minutes to get the file ready. I'll bring it to you shortly."

"Thanks, Sandy, then get out of here."

Robert headed back to Dillon carrying some of Jess' early AS readings. He intended to try to explain some of what had happened to her. He was grateful that Dillon was the agent he was dealing with. He realized that not all RV cases were dangerous and that the HPA agents didn't need to use the tactics they had become known for.

'Maybe if there were more agents who used their brains instead of their attitudes the HPA would be a useful agency,' Robert thought.

Robert found Dillon sitting in a chair with his head back and eyes closed. He was a little sad that life had changed Dillon so much. "My nurse is pulling Jess' charts. I would like to show you some of her readings if you don't mind?" Robert asked the agent.

"Fine by me, anything that concerns you?" Dillon asked sounding concerned.

"Well, she required an extreme amount of support during burndown. I was afraid we might lose her a few times," Robert answered.

"Anything else?"

"Her AS readings were very strange. I've never seen anything like them before. I'm still not sure what they mean, either."

"How do you mean strange?"

"You've seen normal AS reading variations before, right? Minor irregularities in the wave, uneven waves, and sharp peaks, things of that nature," Dillon nodded, "The peaks of hers were clipped off. I thought that she night be losing brain function but they kept moving around to different areas. As far as I can tell she hasn't been affected mentally by her change."

After looking through the readings Robert had showed him, Dillon was surprised Jess had survived, "That girl's lucky to be alive. That was an ugly burndown."

"Yes it was, probably the worst I've ever seen," Robert allowed.

Dillon scribbled some notes on his PDA as they talked. "Robert, I appreciate your cooperation. I know that the Agency has a very bad reputation and mostly it is deserved. Some of us are still trying to do the right thing, though. If you hear from Miss Kahne, tell her to stay hidden. I'm afraid she may be in serious trouble if they get their hands on her."

"What's going on with the Agency, Dillon? What do they want with Jess?" Robert asked.

"You know I can't tell you anything. All I can say is that things are about to get worse."

"Worse?"

*

 

'Some superhero I make,' Jess thought to herself as she got showered.

The impact with the beam had bruised a few ribs and caused a minor fracture in another. Her hyper metabolism would repair the damage much faster than the typical human but she still had to deal with pain until it healed. Having RV did have some advantages.

All things considered, she had gotten off pretty easily. So far since she had changed, she had been in a major fire, gotten into a fight with two Lycans, and managed to win a sadistic contest against a serious brick. She wasn't dead or seriously injured, either.

'Well, my life definitely isn't boring anymore,' she said to herself.

Her breathing was painful but it was getting better. She shut off the water and stepped out of the steamy shower. Her reflection in the mirror still surprised her. That's not to say she didn't like it. She was still trying to get used to it.

"What am I going to do about you?" she asked the girl in the mirror.

When she first learned of her gender change, she didn't know what to do. She thought about it for a while and decided that she would just go on living like she always had. She saw masculine women everyday and knew that they were reasonably accepted. The more she saw her new face, the more she was thinking about changing her plans.

One of Jonathan's dad's many sayings was if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and acts like a duck, it's a duck. Jess looked like a girl and sounded like a girl, now all she had to do was learn how to act like one. She knew that Mandy would help and so would Robert.

She decided to make every effort to get control of her abilities and get back to her life, whatever it may be. She finished getting dressed and turned her attention to her hair. The realization struck her that she had absolutely no idea how to do anything but pull it back into a pony tail.

'Boy, I've got a lot to learn,' she thought.

*

 

"So, how are the new kids, B?" Hellstrom asked Jack.

"Jess isn't too bad but Cole's a Rager. If we can't teach him to control himself, we may have some serious problems," Jack answered, "but you already knew that."

"Just because I'm telepathic doesn't mean I know everything. Besides, you promised to pummel me if I tried to take a peak inside that brain of yours."

"I would never use the word pummel. I believe I said I'd stuff you inside your computer."

"Neither of those sound very appealing. What set Cole off?"

"Losing and he targeted Jess. It's a good thing that girl can take a hit. He knocked her through the shack and into a roof support. It nearly brought the roof down."

"She OK, then?"

"Mostly, she has a few bruised ribs and a broken one, but nothing serious. I'd say she got off lucky," Jack stated.

"Sounds like it. What do you think of her?" Hellstrom asked.

"I don't know, Lauren. She has potential but I don't think she'll be interested in fighting. Maybe we could convince her to track for us. Her senses are good. She tracked down the only full barrel of oil in the whole area. Darkness wasn't a problem. She even used it to her advantage. I still don't know about her thermal abilities yet. She was afraid to use them. She said she didn't want to hurt Cole even though he was having no trouble tossing her through walls," Jack said.

"She's smart and compassionate then. If she doesn't stay here, what are her chances at reintegration?"

"That's you're job to find out," he said.

"OK, how is she handling the gender switch?"

"That's hard to tell. She really hasn't been put into a situation that it would matter. I did notice that she's more successful when she does things in a more typically feminine way."

"Is that a sexist comment? I wouldn't expect that from you."

"I didn't mean it that way. How about this? When she just does what comes natural instead of what a guy would do, she more successful."

"Like turning out the lights and using her head instead of trying to wrestle with Cole," Lauren said getting Jack's intention.

"Exactly."

"Anything else you can think of?" she asked.

"I think she's been acting like a guy for so long that she doesn't know what is real and what is an act."

"You think she's trans?"

"I'd say gender dysphoric. I bet she has always felt out of place or out of sync but didn't really know why. Probably was depressed, too."

"Speaking from experience, Jackie?" Lauren chided.

"No one has called me that in a long time. Not since I had my burndown." Jack said thinking back to his life before he became Beowulf.

"Well, I still remember you as Detective Jacqueline Clark. It wasn't that long ago."

"That was a lifetime ago. That person doesn't exist anymore," Jack said strongly.

"True, but maybe you have something to offer Jess other than combat training," Lauren added.

"Maybe," Jack answered.

  

  

  

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