Same stuff applies as always. Hope you guys enjoy!
PART SEVENTEEN
I woke up with my cheek smooshed against Jon’s chest. We had fallen asleep together. I had had an excellent sleep, not even stirring until some shifting on Jon’s part had woken me up.
“Sorry,” he apologized. “Did I wake you?”
“No, its okay,” I told him quickly. “I’m just going to…” I climbed off of him, and stood shakily. I desperately needed to escape the situation, and the most logical refuge was the bathroom. I scurried over to the door and yanked it open. Coat closet. I remembered belatedly that I had never actually used the bathroom at Jon’s place before, and therefore I didn’t know where it was. The next door was the bedroom. *Definitely* not going in there.
“Kaylie,” Jon called groggily from the sofa, “what are you doing?” But I wasn’t paying enough attention to answer him. Finally, I tried the last available door and struck gold.
“I’m borrowing your toothbrush!” I called to Jon before I slammed the door closed and locked it. I only caught a glimpse of his face, but it was enough to tell that he was supremely confused. I fell against the door, and sank to the floor.
What had we just done? We had slept together. Well, not in the metaphorical sense, but in the falling asleep while occupying the same space sense. Which scared me almost as much as the other thing did. It implied a kind of intimacy that I didn’t know that I was prepared for yet. One that we hadn’t even *discussed* yet. We had gotten pretty… intense lately, especially last night, but we hadn’t… you know… yet. My clothes were still all more or less in place, even though there were a couple of extra buttons undone on my shirt and… Oh, this is awful, I thought to myself. I can’t even think about these things locked inside a bathroom, let alone actually talk about them with Jor. Jon. Whatever. What’s-his-name has probably had had tons of experience before. That one ex-girlfriend of his, and who knows who else. A girlfriend in college. Date to the prom. In the back of a tractor stranded in the middle of a cornfield after he had crashed into a tree because of his obscene driving… Stop it! I ordered myself. I was starting to get hysterical. The point was, we had crossed a threshold I hadn’t even seen coming until we had zoomed by it. And what did he think about it? Was he expecting it? What exactly was expected as far as intimacy goes in this stage of our relationship? Where exactly were we in our relationship?
“Kaylie?” Jon knocked on the door, disrupting my thoughts. “Are you okay?” I jumped involuntarily, and a bolt of heat vision sneaked out and scorched the tile floor.
“I’m fine!” I called to him, falsely cheerful. “I’ll be out in a minute.” Okay, obviously I couldn’t spend the entire day locked inside a bathroom. I would have to come out eventually. I splashed water on my face and finger-combed my hair. Despite my efforts, I still sported a distinctive “morning after” look, even though it wasn’t technically the morning after anything. Well, it was the morning after breaking into an illegal lab and being exposed to Kryptonite, but it wasn’t after anything… um, you know. I was doing it again. Stop thinking about sex, I commanded myself. Go out and convince your boyfriend you haven’t gone completely insane!
Jon was busy puttering around in the kitchen when I finally got the nerve to make an entrance. “There you are!” He smiled at me in that alarming fashion that he has a habit of doing, and handed me a cup of coffee. “How do you like your eggs? You have a choice between scrambled and a big sloppy mess that looks like it’s been scrambled.”
I tried to laugh, but didn’t really succeed. “I, uh, burnt the floor in the bathroom a bit,” I confessed. “Sorry.” Jon immediately picked up on my tone, and left what he was doing to sit down beside me at the table.
“Okay, what’s bothering you Kaylie?” he asked. “You seem really on edge. It’s more than the Sproxton thing, isn’t it?” I fingered my coffee cup tentatively.
“Jon, how would you classify our relationship?” I asked hesitantly.
“Well,” he began slowly, “I guess you could say that we’re dating. That we’re serious about each other and where the relationship is going. That we love each other. Why are you concerned about this Kaylie?
“Well, you know I’m not very experienced with relationships. And with the whole intimacy thing, I’m not really sure how it’s supposed to work. But I know you’ve dated before. Seriously dated, which means you’ve probably… you know. And I guess with what happened last night I’ve been unsure about how it’s supposed to go. What are we supposed to do now?” I asked helplessly.
“We’re not *supposed* to do anything,” he told me. “We should’ve talked about this earlier, Kaylie. I had no idea that you were so worried about this.”
“Well I wasn’t really worried until this morning. I mean, we slept in each other’s arms last night. That’s a big step, don’t you think?”
“It is,” he agreed. “But that doesn’t mean that we have to do anything else. There’s no pressure to do anything. I think we should just take things step by step. We don’t have to do anything until we’re both comfortable with it, okay?” He reached out to stroke my hand reassuringly.
“Okay,” I hesitantly.
“And just because we did something together doesn’t mean that we have to do it again right away. I think that we both trust each other enough to know that neither of us would push the other into something we’re not ready for. Last night sort of happened by accident. I’m not expecting that to be the norm now that we did it once. We’ll just take it as it comes.”
“I guess I was just nervous because I know that you’ve had a lot more experience than me,” I admitted.
To my surprise, Jon started blushing. “About that, Kaylie,” he said. “I guess I may have dated more than you. With Amanda and stuff. But as far as… anything else goes… Well, I’ve got about as much experience as you do.”
“But I’m a virgin,” I blurted out pointedly. Then, at the look that passed over his face, I understood. “So then you…?”
“I never felt that I could take that final step with some until they knew everything about me.” I understood immediately that he meant knowing about Supernova. “I thought with Amanda, maybe we would… But after I told her, our relationship just kept deteriorating and it was never the right time.”
“We’re going to have one heck of a honeymoon,” I grinned at him, then flushed in horror as I registered the shock on his face. Had I just said that? “Not that I’m just assuming we’re going to get married,” I rushed to cover up. “I mean, we haven’t even talked about that before, and it’s jumping the gun and everything. We’re just starting to really get to know each other. It’s too early to be thinking of that, I know. I was just…”
“It’s all right, Kaylie,” he told me. “I was just a little surprised, but to be honest, no matter how far I look into the future, you always seem to be a part of it.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Sometimes it seems like it wouldn’t even be worth living it without you.”
My nose tickled, and I sniffed the air experimentally. “Are those the eggs?” I asked. Jon leapt from his seat and ran to the smoldering frying pan, turning the heat off. I peered over his shoulder at the burnt mess that was stuck to the bottom of the pan.
“Yummy,” I commented sarcastically.
“I’d like to see you do better, Miss I’ve-got-the-frozen-food-section-mapped-out-in-my-head.”
“Just because I don’t cook very often doesn’t mean I can’t,” I told him primly. “Now where are your potholders?”
“What?” he asked me blankly.
“This frying pan is too hot to pick up with bare hands. I need potholders.”
“You don’t need any, you’re invulnerable, remember?” I could see his mouth twitching at the corner, holding back a smirk. “Besides,” he continued. “I don’t own any. I never really needed them.”
“What do you do if you have people over who want to help you in the kitchen? After taking one look at your cooking, you know they’re going to be begging to give you a hand.” I picked the frying pan up and dumped it into the sink without the aid of potholders. Even though I knew I was invulnerable, it was still strange to feel the heat of the frying pan and not get burned. “Didn’t you cook dinner when I came over here before?”
“I had some help,” he admitted sheepishly.
“Well, I guess it’s good to know that you were willing to go to some effort to impress me. Now get out some more eggs, and I’ll show you how it’s done.”
Between the two of us, we managed to produce a gloppy, inconsistent mixture that slimed around our plates and we had to eat with spoons. But it tasted good because we had made it together. All throughout our meal, I kept sneaking glances over at the pile of paper sitting at the coffee table, yet Jon wouldn’t let me look at it just yet.
“We have another project to work on before that,” he told me as we worked together to clean up our breakfast efforts. He looked at me meaningfully and I groaned.
“Jon, I’ve pretty much given up on the flying thing. If we get to work on the Sproxton investigation, then we can transfer your powers back and we can put the whole thing behind us.”
“So you’re not even curious to find out what it feels like to fly under your own steam?” he persisted.
“Sure, I’m curious,” I admitted. “But I can’t seem to get more than a few inches off the ground before I get visions of very, very long falls and their unpleasant ends. I can’t even climb a ladder without getting jitters, how am I supposed to fly?”
“Kaylie, right now you’re invulnerable. Even if you did fall, you wouldn’t be hurt in the slightest.”
“Try telling my subconscious that,” I grumbled.
“Look, I have an idea,” Jon told me. “Will you at least try it out?”
“Fine,” I conceded.
“Okay, stand up,” he instructed. “Come over here into this open area… and close your eyes.” I followed his instructions obediently, but then my eyes flew open when I felt his lips brush my mouth.
“What are you doing?” I asked him, although I lacked any kind of accusatory tone. I was actually enjoying his little lesson even though I had no idea how it would help me to fly. He didn’t explain, just merely shushed me, so I closed my eyes again, allowing him to continue. I kissed him back, and to my delight, I was able to hear his heart rate increase. And as for the affect on me… Well let’s just say that although I wasn’t ready for that thing we were talking about before, after more of that kissing, I would definitely get there. Sadly, he pulled away all too soon.
“Are you relaxed yet?” he asked, and I was pleased to hear him slightly out of breath.
“Yes. Wow, if this is a flying lesson, you should’ve signed me up earlier.”
He smiled at me. “Look down,” he said. I did, and was startled to see how high we were from the floor. I looked up and saw that our heads were brushing the ceiling. But this time I didn’t panic and fall like I did with Clark. It felt kind of like all those flights I had taken with Jon, except this time I was the one supporting us in the air.
With gentle instruction, Jon gave me steering tips as we looped around the room. Then he got me to set him down and try flying by myself. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I even went for a little jaunt outside of his apartment via a secluded window. But I still preferred being the passenger as opposed to the driver. Flying made me nervous, and I was still a little shaky at navigation. But at least now I had done it. If I was borrowing Jon’s powers for the time being, then I might as well get the full experience. I successfully made a loop high above Jon’s apartment building, and then landed triumphantly in front of him.
“Pretty fun, isn’t it?” Jon asked. Despite his light words, I could see the wistfulness in his expression.
“You miss it, don’t you?” I asked quietly.
“I do,” he agreed. “But I’m willing to go without my powers for the time being if that means I can be well enough to help you with this investigation.”
“Which means we have to get to work on it,” I commented. And with that, we started o work through the Sproxton material, which was definitely rich in information. There was enough in the files for a solid conviction. Records of business dealings with Intergang, and a complete scientific report of the development and execution of Project Titan.
“Something’s going on,” I commented in frustration as we flicked through all the technical documents we had stolen. “We know that there was green K in that satellite signal that hit you. The schematics show there being two types of Kryptonite in that machine. But there wasn’t when we were there. I didn’t feel any pain.”
“Were they maybe in separate compartments?” Jon asked, pulling the diagram closer to him.
“No. Same location,” I said.
“Well it must’ve been removed then.”
“By who? Sproxton?”
“He’s the most logical one,” Jon pointed out.
“But why would he dismantle his own machine?” I asked
“He didn’t completely dismantle it. It was probably still operational until we took out the red K.”
“So he needed the green K for something? What?”
“What everyone uses it for,” Jon shrugged. “Protection.”
“Wait, do you think he might’ve figured out that I was onto him?”
“Well, that police raid was pretty convenient to just happen when it did,” Jon suggested. “But then again, he could’ve just been taking standard precautions.”
“Oh, crap,” I groaned. “The police raid.”
“What about it?”
“When I knocked that cop out I might as well have left a calling card for the NIA,” I explained. “The way I knocked him out, and the fact that I took his gun screams government training. You can’t just yank a gun out of a police holster,” I told Jon in response to his still disbelieving face. “You have to pull it out in a certain way otherwise it won’t budge. The officer would have had to report the missing weapon to his superior, and it might’ve been mentioned to other officers in the precinct.”
“Sproxton has sources in the police department?” Jon asked in surprise.
“He has sources *everywhere*,” I corrected. “That police raid worked double duty. It distracted anyone from witnessing the deal, and it also worked to flush out any agents that were working there. Even if I didn’t lay a finger on that cop I would’ve been taken into custody and fingerprinted. If that ever happens, a classified order pops up on the computer and they have to release me without any questions. But even that is enough of a clue for Sproxton.” It was a stupid mistake of mine. I could’ve made my attack seem more like a civilian who just wanted to avoid an arrest, but emotions were running high that night with Jon stumbling across my big secret. I hadn’t been thinking of those possibilities, only of getting out of the Gentleman’s Club.
“So he knows the NIA is onto him,” Jon finished for me. “What’s he going to do with that information?” I was glad that he brought me back to the present. There was no sense dwelling on my mistakes when I still had to worry about finding Sproxton.
“Cut his losses and get out of the US,” I hypothesized. “He’s been to the lab and grabbed the Kryptonite as protection from Superman or Nebula.”
“So he’s just going to hop on his jet and fly away having gained nothing and lost everything from the whole endeavor?”
“No, he’s not,” I realized at Jon’s comment. “He’s still going to want something from Intergang. Maybe try to be bought out of the enterprise. We have to find him,” I declared suddenly. “If we can catch him before he leaves the country then we can take him into custody and charge him. We have more than enough proof here that’s he’s been collaborating with Intergang.”
“Where would he be?” Jon asked. “That office you mentioned?”
I shook my head. “Intergang doesn’t know about that office. He’ll pick a place that they’ve both been to before. Like-”
“The Gentleman’s Club?” Jon filled in for me. I nodded, and then sprang to my feet.
“We have to head over there right away,” I told Jon. “Before he gets a chance to leave.” Jon stood obediently when I tugged his arm, and followed me to the window.
“Does this mean I get to see you in fishnets again?” he asked, and I noticed that he said that with a little too much hopefulness.
“No,” I told him flatly. “But I will have to raid your closet.”
* * *
I was insanely proud of myself when we landed on the roof of The Gentleman’s Club. I had flown us there myself, and even though the ride might have been a bit bumpy, I still managed to do it, which was more than I had ever done since I had gotten these powers. Jon stumbled out of my grasp and leaned against the ledge of the building, his face ashen.
“Oh, come on, I wasn’t *that* bad,” I told him cheerfully.
“I think,” He began shakily. “We’ve established a pretty solid division of duties. From now on, I promise to let you do all the driving if I never have to fly with you again.”
“Fine,” I humphed as I pulled the hood of Jon’s sweater over my head. I hadn’t had time to create a full costume, but the baggy sweater would be enough cover to keep Sproxton from getting a solid ID on me. Jon had a hat pulled low over his forehead, and he had removed his glasses to make him more difficult to identify as well.
When I first started working here, I had taken the precaution of hiding a small cache of equipment up on the roof in case I ever needed it. I had stashed it in a small, waterproof canvas bag and tucked it away in the gap between letters on the tasteless neon sign proclaiming the name of the establishment. I headed for that sign now, and pulled out my small arsenal.
“Do you want the gun or the TASER?” I turned around to ask Jon. His eyebrows skyrocketed off his forehead.
“Kaylie, I’ve never used either of those,” he protested.
“You need something,” I argued. “You don’t have any powers to protect you now.” I considered the dilemma. “I’ll give you the TASER,” I decided. “It’s just as effective no matter where you shoot it, and it’s bound to be nonlethal. Sproxton is a big guy in excellent health.” Jon looked at the weapon dubiously.
“I don’t want to use this,” he told me quietly. “It feels wrong.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to,” I told him. “I’ll take the gun so you shouldn’t need it, but you’re not Supernova right now. You’re Jon Kent and this is the best thing you’ve got.” He took the TASER reluctantly.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” I started. “The club hasn’t opened yet for the day, so no one else should be here. We’re going to comb this building-” I broke off as my hearing picked up on someone shuffling around inside the building. It had to be Sproxton.
I didn’t even notice that I had shifted into super-speed. I just ran silently down the stairwell and into the basement, stopping when I saw the seated figure in the middle of the room, with a small metal briefcase at his feet. I drew my gun out and pointed it at his head. Although I was getting better and better at controlling my powers, I was still far more adept at using a gun, and that would also enable me to protect the fact that I even had superpowers in the first place. It showed how alert Sproxton was when heard the click of the gun as I took the safety off, and he raised his head to spear me with his gaze.
“I have to congratulate you,” Sproxton began. “It’s been years since someone has been able to sneak up on me. You must be very good.”
“So good that I found the lab at Marten Tech. Your research is destroyed. I have the Kryptonite in a safe place. I have proof that you’ve been working with Intergang.”
He shrugged. “Kryptonite can easily be obtained. All it takes is a quick dive into the Metropolis underground, or certain lucrative government connections. And I’m afraid that you’re wrong in assuming that the research is gone. I still have all the necessary data with me on my hard drive.” The briefcase at his feet. Not waiting another second, I shot a bullet through the center and pointed the gun back up to his head. “Very clever, miss,” he commended me coolly. “But although that gave great dramatic effect, it was relatively useless. The files can still be retrieved.”
I became conscious of a dangerous prickle traveling in through my head and down to my toes. It seemed to flush the strength right out of me. I darted my eyes back down to the briefcase and caught a glance of a sickly green glow. I snapped my eyes back up to his face. He had followed my gaze and understood what I had seen.
“You didn’t really think that I would undertake this final business endeavor without some form of protection, did you? I caused severe damage if not death to the son of Superman. I had to take precautions to defend myself.” A gentle ache sang through my joints, and I steadied myself as a violent tremor shook through me. Although the hole was small, and the exposure was minimal, the pain intensified with each passing second, and I became steadily weaker. And I had left Jon stranded on the rooftop with no idea where I had gone.
“I could still kill you right now,” I told Sproxton. “I have the proof. I could defend myself in an inquiry.”
“And yet you haven’t,” he commented idly. “If you were really going to shoot me, you would’ve done it as soon as you walked in here. I’m starting to think I was optimistic in calling you good. Squeamishness is not very becoming of a spy, miss. You should perhaps consider another profession.” He was right. If I was a better agent, I would’ve shot him as soon as I saw him. But I never liked killing in cold blood, and now it seemed to be too late. I blinked sweat out of my eyes, and fought to remain standing. Even if I did shoot now, there was very little chance I would actually make the shot. “Your refusal to shoot begs the question of what exactly you are doing here,” he continued. “What did you hope to achieve by this? In a few moments, this room will be visited by several Intergang officials who will deal with you as they know best. You couldn’t have come all this way to just stand there sweating and trembling until you are killed. Do you have a partner? Is he more adept than you are? I hope for your sake he is, but given the fact that you seem to have separated I find that unlikely.” He was trying to intimidate me. And doing a damn good job of it too.
But I still had the gun, and it was time to remind both myself and him of the fact. I fired another shot, this time aiming just above his head. Even though he tried to cover it, I could see that he had involuntarily ducked to avoid the shot.
“I’m not afraid to hurt you, Sproxton,” I told him more calmly than I felt. “I’m trying to give you a chance to turn yourself in.”
He laughed mockingly. “What benefit would it be for me to turn myself in? I would only subject myself to more discomfort than if you shot me. Especially because I have complete confidence that you would miss.” This time I recognized his intimidation tactics immediately and ignored them. I retained my stance with great effort. The ache that had been throbbing before had now turned into roiling cramps that made my legs threaten to buckle. I couldn’t stop the shudder that spread through my body. “Oh, dear, you’re not going to cry, are you?” Sproxton dismissed me with disgust. “Honestly, my dear, I would’ve thought I warranted a better agent than *this*.” His last words were bitten off however, as a sharp electric crackle ripped through the air and he slumped over in his seat motionless. I turned to see Jon racing down the stairs.
He had found me. I barely had time to process this as all the tension leaked out of me like the air from a balloon. I swayed wildly on the spot and Jon managed to catch me before I fell down. He held me tighter than I’ve ever been held, and the last thing I heard was him whispering my name under his breath.
