Thanks once again to Nancy and Carol, my fabulous betas, for their help!
Congratulations to those of you who guessed right.
PART TWENTY-ONE
*~Ellie~*
Jay shot me a puzzled look before going to the door and yanking it open.
“Chris?!” he asked in shock. “What are you doing here?”
“I ran away,” came the reply. “Can I come in?”
Jay stepped aside, clearly shocked by her sudden appearance. Chris entered the apartment cautiously. Her hair was wet through, and the bottoms of her ratty jeans were soaked nearly up to her knees. She hugged herself tightly, but it wasn’t enough to stop her from shaking with cold. A thin t-shirt wasn’t enough to keep someone warm during an early spring rain. She scanned the apartment with haunted eyes, and her gaze landed on me. Her mouth fell open in shock.
“You’re friends with Nebula?” she asked Jay in awe.
Uh oh. I had forgotten that I was wearing the well-known suit, and although I looked a little worse for wear at the moment, there was no way Chris wouldn’t have recognized me.
“Uh…” I said blankly.
“She sometimes stops in,” Jay told Chris neutrally.
“When I’m checking up on the neighborhood,” I added, trying to get control of myself and start acting more like a superhero.
“Wow.” Chris was staring at me in the way that young teenage girls are likely to do. Okay, I probably wouldn’t have acted much different if I met Miley Cyrus or whoever when I was that young, but it still made me a little uncomfortable.
“What are you doing here, Chris?” Jay asked, bringing her back to reality.
“I ran away, Jay,” she said. “You always said to come see you if I needed help, and after tonight…” he face paled, but she went on. “I really need some help.” Her bottom lip was trembling from the cold, and a big shiver travelled through her body.
“I’m going to find you a blanket,” Jay announced, and went off to his room.
Chris nodded blankly, and sank down onto the couch. She was still taking in the apartment, and I noticed how scared she looked. The smudged eye makeup made her seem so much smaller, and I was sure it wasn’t all because of the rain.
I took an unthreatening step towards her. “Do you trust me?” I asked gently.
Chris nodded.
“Hold still,” I said. Then I bathed her in a gentle wash of heat vision, paying particular attention to her hair.
“Whoa, are you doing that?” she asked in amazement.
“Yes, I am.” I loved the way her face lit up in delight, but I forced myself to be calm and distant with her. This could potentially be a very compromising situation, and I had to be sure to act like Nebula and not like myself.
“That’s so cool,’ she told me, feeling her dry hair.
Jay returned with a fuzzy blanket and draped it over her shoulders. He noticed her dry hair and caught my eye as Chris snuggled into the blanket. I started to smile, but quickly smoothed my expression out. I had to be distant, I reminded myself again. Nebula wasn’t the one who was hopelessly in love with this caring and compassionate man.
“How did you even know where I lived?” Jay asked her.
“I followed you home one time after class,” she shrugged.
“Of course,” Jay muttered under his breath, but I don’t think it was audible for Chris.
“I walked here tonight after I left,” Chris continued. “I could see what suite number you lived in from the sign, but I wasn’t sure if you would answer me, so I waited outside until someone else came who lived here. I said that we were cousins and that I forgot the code to get in.”
“Jeez,” Jay muttered. “How long were you waiting out there, Chris?”
“An hour maybe?” she guessed.
“Damn,” Jay whispered. I could tell that he was upset that she had been out there that long, but Chris interpreted it differently.
“Are you mad that I came here?” she asked timidly.
“What? No, of course not,” Jay told her. “I’m glad that you made the decision to get help.”
“We both are,” I added. I reached to put a hand on Jay’s shoulder, but stopped myself. That would look too suspicious for Nebula.
“Who did you run away from, Chris?” Jay asked gently.
Immediately, any sense of comfort or security disappeared as her face hardened.
“It doesn’t matter,” she told us flatly.
“Yes, it does,” Jay said patiently. “We need to tell the authorities about this.”
Her chin jutted out and I could see the stubborn teenager emerging from within the frightened shell.
“I don’t want to tell anyone about this. Can’t I just stay here for a few days until I can find somewhere else or something?”
“Chris…” Jay sighed. “No, of course you can’t.”
“Why not?”
“You need to face what’s happened,” I spoke softly. “I’m proud of you for making this first step, but you’re not done yet.”
She still looked stubbornly committed, so I was forced to try again.
“Chris, if your… parents or whoever come looking for you, it won’t look good for you to be living here with Jay. It could actually get him in a bunch of trouble.”
I could see that that comment hit home. She blinked, and then settled her face into a nervous scowl.
“They won’t come looking for me,” she insisted, shaking her head emphatically.
“Do you really think that, Chris? Or do you just not *want* them to come looking?” Jay asked gently.
“I…” she glanced nervously between the two of us.
Jay reached over and placed a hand on her knee. “Just tell us who it is that you ran away from, Chris.”
“My stepdad,” she finally confessed, barely above a whisper. “Mom got married to him like a few months ago even though I *knew* before that that he was a creep. But Mom wouldn’t listen to me. He’s got money and we’ve always had a hard time…You know, Mom doesn’t make very much money and she always… Well, there are some things she spends a lot of money on.”
Judging by Chris’ nervous glance in my direction, I guessed her mom was involved in something she didn’t want me knowing about. Drugs, maybe? It didn’t really matter, though. I think I had gotten a pretty clear idea of how things were at home for Chris.
“Tonight was really bad, though,” Chris continued. “Craig drinks a lot sometimes, and he missed work today for the third time this week. Mom was getting mad because he’s going to lose his job, and then we’ll all have to live off what Mom makes. And then Craig got mad right back at her and said that *we* had been living off *his* money for a long time and he never complained.” Tears were starting to leak out, and I felt my own eyes clouding up. How long had she been listening to stuff like this? “And then he turned to me and was just saying everything he always says. How I’m stupid at school and useless around the house. He didn’t hit me, though,” she said with pride. “You taught me a lot of good stuff, Jay.”
Jay looked like he was trying to say something, but all he could get through was a weak nod.
“But anyway, I knew things would only get worse,” Chris continued. “I’m pretty good against him when he’s drunk, but he’s really strong when he sobers up.”
“Chris, you need to go to the police with this,” I urged, unable to hear any more at the moment. “They can get help for you. But none of that will happen if you don’t tell someone.”
Chris bit her lip, and glanced over at Jay.
“El- uh, Nebula’s right, Chris,” Jay told her. “You need to tell the police what’s happening. They’ll look after you in a way that I can’t.”
She still hesitated.
“If we tell the police, they can get help for your mom, too,” Jay told her.
“What kind of help?” she asked warily.
“Probably counseling to start,” Jay replied. “They’ll get her the help she needs to conquer anything that may be keeping her from taking care of you like she should.”
“Would I have to be in a trial like with a judge and everything?”
“Not like a big trial you would see on TV,” I stepped in to tell her. “You would have to tell a few different people all the things that happened. And it would depend on the circumstance, but there might be a judge present.”
Chris balked at that idea. “I don’t want to get my mom in trouble,” she said.
“You wouldn’t,” Jay told her with confidence. “As long as you tell them the truth, everything will be fine, I promise.”
“Okay,” she finally surrendered. “I’ll tell the police about it.”
Jay and I both breathed a sigh of relief.
“How about I fly you over to the nearest station?” I offered. “Have you ever flown with someone in my family before?”
“No,” she told me, shaking her head shyly.
“Well, it’s something to experience for sure,” I said with confidence. I glanced over at Jay, and he smiled in approval.
“Keep the blanket for now,” Jay told Chris. “It’ll get cold flying out there.”
“You’re coming with me, right, Jay?’ Chris asked suddenly.
“Well…”
“I’ll drop you off at the station, and then come back to get Jay. Does that sound okay, Chris?”
She nodded in agreement.
After some brief planning, Chris and I were in the air, heading towards the police station.
“I know an officer at this precinct,” I told Chris. “She’s very good, and she’ll help you in every way possible.”
“Thanks.”
“Chris, before we go in there, I need to ask you a favor,” I started hesitantly.
“What?” she asked with curiosity.
“Not a lot of people know that I sometimes visit Jay,” I said carefully. “And if people were to know, then that could put Jay in danger.”
“Oh.”
“Now, I’m not asking you to lie,” I told her. “But I am asking you to not go around telling everyone that Jay sometimes helps me out with some of the neighborhood watch things going around in the area.”
“So you two really are friends, then?”
“We’re more like acquaintances,” I corrected. “Who sometimes collaborate together on certain projects.” More or less. Anyway, Chris seemed to buy it, because she didn’t ask for any more detail. She probably had enough to think about tonight as it was.
It didn’t take us long to reach the police station, and I placed Chris in the care of Officer Ramirez before I left to go get Jay.
I had hardly landed in his apartment before Jay lifted me off my feet, and spun me around, kissing me all the while.
“Yeesh, someone’s happy to see me,” I smiled once I had pried my lips off his.
“You have no idea,” He replied. “But do you realize that the first night we’ve ever had with the opportunity to explore a… certain aspect of our relationship is going to be spent in a police station? If that isn’t cosmic cruelty, I don’t know what is.”
“You wouldn’t want it to be any different,” I told him softly.
His face sobered. “I’m so proud of her, Ellie,” he spoke. “She’s lived for months with that monster, and knowing that she’s finally broken free has just made this night so much better.”
I felt better, too. Although the day had been filled with awful images of that mudslide, the time I had spent with Jay had rejuvenated me, and being able to help Chris had strengthened me.
“Let’s get you to the police station,” I told Jay. I was ready to tackle this one last hurdle before the night could truly be over.
I stepped towards Jay, and stretched my arms around him. My head rested on his chest, and I happily felt the warmth of his skin through the shirt he wore. I could stand like this forever, I decided.
“Um… Ellie?”
“Yeah?” I asked, jerking my head away.
“Aren’t we supposed to be flying to the police station?”
“Right. Sorry,” I mumbled with embarrassment.
“I was doing the same thing,” Jay told me with a smile. “But then I realized that the sooner we leave for the station…”
“The sooner we get done, and the sooner we can get back to this,” I finished.
“Exactly.”
* * *
*~Jay~*
Never had police procedure seemed so onerous. Chris had refused to speak to Officer Ramirez until I got there, and after that I was asked to give an official statement of all the injuries I had noticed Chris suffer during the time I knew her, along with anything else I had observed. Then we had to wait for Child Services to come and do everything all over again.
Ellie was there as much as she could be, but a police station isn’t exactly the best place for a superhero to go if she wants to be left alone. She was in and out several times as she was constantly called on for assistance.
Needless to say, it was quite late before we were able to say goodbye to Chris. She was being taken to an emergency shelter for the night, but they were actively looking for a better placement for her. With Nebula taking a personal interest in Chris’ welfare, I trusted that she would end up in a good situation. More importantly, the police were going to pay a visit on Chris’ mom and stepdad and try to get her mom some help. Maybe they could even reach the stepdad somehow.
Ellie didn’t speak as we took off, and she continued the silence throughout the flight. I didn’t break it either. Her eyes remained focused on her task, and her arms tightly circled my torso as we flew. I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like she flew a lot faster than she had on the way to the police station. She seemed to be under a lot of tension for some reason, but I wasn’t sure why.
Was she nervous about what was going to happen once we got back? Sure, she seemed confident enough earlier, but now she had had hours to work herself up. I was pretty sure I had been clear about my not expecting anything, but she still might not entirely get it. I had to remember that I was technically the experienced person here, although I didn’t really feel it right now.
To my surprise, Ellie took us to her little house on the edge of town, and not back to my apartment. I guess it didn’t really matter where we were, but I did wonder at her decision. Was she just trying to feel more comfortable? If so, did that mean she didn’t feel comfortable now?
We landed in her kitchen like always, and just when I was about to open my mouth and have a good talk with her about expectations, she launched herself at me.
Out of impulse, I caught her in my arms as she nearly sucked the soul out of me in one mind-blowing kiss.
“That,” she finally said, “was the hardest night of my life. Do you know how much effort it took to keep from jumping you in the middle of the station?”
“Well, that would’ve made quite a statement,” I chuckled. “Ellie, I just want to say again that there’s no pressure for tonight.” Despite her kiss just now, I still wanted to stick to my plan. “I only want to go as far as you’re comfortable with.”
“Jay,” she said evenly, “you’re an idiot.”
“Uh, okay.”
“A loveable idiot, sure, but still an idiot.”
She seemed completely at ease now, which I was glad for, yet there was something I still needed to ask her.
“Ellie, why did we come to your place?” I asked. “Not that I mind or anything, but I’m just curious.”
To my surprise, she flushed tomato red, and dropped her gaze to the floor, taking a step back. She mumbled something I couldn’t hear.
“What was that?” I asked.
“I have…” she paused to look meaningfully at me.
“You have… what?”
“I have condoms here, okay?” she finally burst out. “I wasn’t sure if you would have any at your place, and I figured this might be a good way to cut down on time. Of course I didn’t count on having to explain that to you,” she added, rolling her eyes a little.
“You have condoms?” I was still trying to process that.
She turned even redder. “I bought them a while ago,” she muttered. “Some kind of positive thinking strategy, I guess. Like if I had them in my house, we would eventually be able to use them.”
“Well, I guess it worked,” I grinned. I didn’t know she had even thought that far in advance.
“So… how about we pick up from where we left off?” she suggested huskily.
We were lost in a blur of new sensation. Touches that we had never felt in quite that way before exploded over all parts of our bodies. Was it just my imagination, or did everything seem so much better than the few encounters we had had very early in our relationship? Perhaps it had something to do with the fact we were now sharing in Ellie’s aura. I had shut out practically every other sense, and left everything to exploring Ellie. Things were starting to get a little intense to be standing in the middle of the kitchen, so we wordlessly began making our way blindly to another location.
That’s when we tripped, and Ellie fell backwards into the fridge. I landed half on top of her, and half on the floor beside her. It was a cruel way to be yanked out of bliss, and I struggled to bring myself back to reality.
“Ellie, are you okay?” I asked frantically as I sat up.
“Duh, of course I am, Jay,” she replied sitting up. Her head had dented the fridge slightly, but the damage didn’t seem too bad.
“Right,” I replied sheepishly. “Sorry, I forgot.”
“I think the real question,” she said, “is whether or not you’re okay.”
“Never better,” I replied, grinning like an idiot. I couldn’t even feel where my knees should be bruised from the hard fall. If anything, this minor accident was proof of what we had accomplished.
Ellie grinned in reply, and moved in to kiss me again.
“Wait, Ellie,” I demanded before she could wipe all sense out of me again. “I was just… thinking.”
“Bad idea, Jay.”
“No, I was wondering if… Well, this isn’t my first time, but it is yours, and I was wondering if you wanted to make it more special somehow. Like if we waited maybe? Like until engagement or something? Or even just until a really special day?”
“Jay, here is what’s going to happen,” Ellie explained to me patiently. “Either you are going to pick me up and drag me into my bedroom right now so we can find out exactly what we’ve been missing out on all these months, or I’ll be the one doing the dragging. Now, I don’t know about you, but I would really prefer the first option.”
“Okay,” I replied meekly.
I guess that showed me.
