Jay had been sitting in the kitchen watching the ‘training’ from the back door as she sipped her water. Even with the nausea dropping, it still kicked in every now and then. Toast had been all she could manage that day. Bigger problem was she had also ended up getting her system cleaned while she was in the hospital. Good for dealing with the morphine. Bad for the withdraws. Some how every stash she had had been cleaned and trashed. Her medication was under lock and key. And she had been told that for now, she was to watch and listen.
“this sucks…” She sighed, putting her head down on the table.
---
Conor felt this training was unfairly weighted. He had tried to make the argument that learning to shoot wouldn’t get him anywhere since for all he knew his abilities wouldn’t require it, but Mathias had shot that down and Imara had made him do even more push ups for it. He was on his sixth round of push ups, trying really hard to keep feeling in his arms and keep his hands steady when he finally hit something.
He was pretty sure it was dumb luck. But he also knew he was hot, sticky, and sweaty, and it was cold enough outside that as soon as he cooled down even a little it was miserable. So he was forced to keep moving.
His next shot went short, and he was again finding himself face down, working on pushups again. His arms burned and ached, and he was ready to tell Imara he was done with this silliness. He’d never seen a gun before he’d come to America, not in real life anyway.
Picking up the dart gun after his set, he sighed, and waited for his arms to stop shaking to take the shot, actually managing to hit the target. He took a deep breath again, kind of starting to get a feel for the darts and how they flew. But he bet Jane was probably shaking her head at the whole thing. He didn’t have the heart to look.
---
Imara could see his annoyance in his face but she didn’t care. He had the gift of a silver tongue already. Now he needed to be able to put his money where his mouth was. Any agent needed to be able to handle any situation. He, however, was going to be put through the ringer. Lopezite had already won her favor so his training was more...skill oriented. Conor’s, and Jane’s, were going to be broader. She already had a hunch where she wanted both of them to focus. Jane’s gifts lay with infiltration of different areas. Conor with more...special areas. But before she would even consider turning them loose, she would make sure they were a pair of warriors.
And then he finally hit one. “There you go. It’s about aim and focus. This isn’t just about using a gun.” Imara said, walking behind him. “Any weapon requires aim. Leucite’s spear. My bow. Even something as simple as a stick. If you can’t aim, you can’t trust something to find a mark. Especially things that move as fast or faster than you.”
One hand went up and smacked him on the shoulder. “Take a break and get some water. I need to make a phone call.”
Slipping back into the house, she eyed Jane who picked her head up and watched her cousin before looking towards Conor. “Nice shooting Tex.”
---
Conor was able to not wince when Imara smacked his shoulder and he took that as a good sign. Nodding, he got up, and headed into the house after Imara, stopping to grab a cup of water and when Jane made her statement he snorted a bit.
“Aye, not the best shot with darts, I’ll tell you that,” He said with a grimace. “But I’ll learn, hopefully. The pushups are making it harder, I think, but what do I know.”
He leaned against the counter as he sipped his water, trying not to go to fast. He’d learned the hard way the first day not to guzzle. “How are you holding up, Jay-bird?”
---
“Bored out of my ******** mind.” Jay responded, her head hitting the table again. “Mars has me reading a bunch of books on spying and infiltration of enemy camps since i can't get up and move around too much. Besides that, naps and music. The Internet gets old and I can only watch stupid cat videos so many times.”
She moved her arms under her head and looked in his direction. “Well, at least when you get done with this you will have the accent and the body to go along with it. American women love hot European men for some reason.”
---
Conor chuckled. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of reading after all this… As much as I’m going to say I won’t mind having the body to go with the accent, it really only matters if I can enjoy it. The way she’s running me into the dirt I think she’s trying to secretly kill me.”
He rubbed the back of his head and then ran some fingers through his hair. “Well if you’re bored of your normal dosh, I got some dvds with stuff I recorded from home if you ever want to take a gander. Not sure what sort of things you prefer to watch, but I tried to get a good gamut of things.”
He rolled his shoulders then and took another sip of his drink, eyeing her for a few moments. He was glad she was at least willing to talk to him after all this - he’d half expected the cold shoulder after her outburst in the car, but she was sending him all sorts of mixed signals, from the laying her head in his lap to talking to him now, so he wasn’t sure exactly where things stood between them. That alone was vexing.
---
“Honestly? Not Western or sappy romance. And at this point throw in war movies as well. I don't want to see how the Nazi invited things for awhile or the Japanese blew up Pearl Harbor. Ps. That movie sucked.” Jay pretended to gag which made her stomach flinch and wince.
Falling silent again, she listened to the white noise of the house around them until Fergus came up looking for an ear rub. Looking down, she gave it to him before standing up slowly.
“Have they told you anything else about this world we have entered? They are still walking on eggshells around me. Especially Mathias.” She had to wonder if the big ape felt guilt for what had happened. But anytime she looked for answers, Mars especially told her later…
---
Conor chuckled. “Well I don’t think I have any of those, I’ll toss you the dvds later, you can take a look and if you like them, watch them. Can’t be worse than anything else around.” He said with a small nod. He watched as she gave Fergus ear scritches, and when she asked the next question he looked around as if he were checking to see where Imara might be. He moved a bit closer to the table then, reaching down to gently pet Fergus on the back before nodding his head.
“A bit, but not much more than probably what they’ve told you.” Conor said softly. “So like, it seems to be a military like gig. Mathias is like, a General, or some crazy s**t. Imara is a Captain. We’re Lieutenants apparently. So like, the lowest on the totem pole. Imara called what Mathias did a corruption… From what I saw, doing us both back to back like he did nearly put Mathias on his a**. After he did mine he looked like death. So there’s obviously a limit to the magic stuff…”
“Beyond that, I know we get a weapon… Mine’s a dog toy…” He said with a face. “But they say that having a useless weapon as a Lieutenant is normal, so… I don’t even know, seems counter intuitive to me. Maybe it’s to toughen us up? I don’t know, but that’s pretty much all I know.”
---
Jay just stood silent as she listened. Gazing outside she waited until he finished and a breath more. “I see.” she finally stated and sighed. “Not much to go on. They refuse to tell me how to switch forms or anything. Say it's too dangerous in this state and could allow the enemy to find us.”
She had been curious about this other her since she began to semi accept what they told her. “Whatever. Still sounds like a load of garbage to me.”
Turning from her spot, she moved slowly towards the fridge and grabbed a Gatorade. It was one of the few things she could stomach and she needed more than water. “I figure deal with it until i can function again and then I'm gone. I didn't sign up for this and I'm not sticking around long enough for them to turn me into some amazon woman.”
She started to walk past him. “And before you say anything, I've run away before. Not my first time making s**t up as i go.”
---
Conor got very quiet for a moment and he nodded. “... You focus on like… the other you, the uniform and stuff and you just sort of shift. It’s hard to explain. I’m not sure what they mean about it being dangerous for you in your state unless it takes a lot out of you, I wouldn’t know. They did say something about being able to feel others on like, some sort of radar, but I’ve never really noticed it when I had changed the first time. The other times were in my room but I didn’t do it for long because I was curious on how it worked.”
When she walked past him he gently reached out and took her wrist. “Look, I don’t blame you for wanting to run… I’ve thought about it too… And if you need someone to watch your back… sign me up I’m game to make a break for it myself.”
He let her go then. “If nothing else, I can make a distraction and give you a head start. You didn’t sign up for this, that’s true. So if you need help, I’ll help.” He watched her for a few more moments. “Don’t see why we can’t work together toward a common goal of freedom…”
---
Jay’s eyes looked down at his hand until he released her. Then she looked back up at him, leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips. Then she pulled away and shook her head. “You worry about your pretty little head and your connections. I’ve been fine without you to this point. I’ll be fine on my own. I don’t do well in cages and no magical war I don’t believe in is going to change that. I don’t care what anyone says. I’m not doing this.”
Then she made it clear that she was looking over his body, especially the sudden show of new muscles. “Shame. Would have been nice.” But with a shrug and slipped past him to toss her drink in the trash.
---
The kiss surprised Conor but he didn’t pull back. He did watch her though as she spoke. He gave an equally disappointed sigh. “It would have been, yeah.” He said, his eyes roving over her as well.
“But right, mum’s the word then.” He said with a nod. Oh he knew full well they’d rough him up or worse if he helped her slip out. But she deserved a chance at freedom. She had not signed up for this.
Still, a damn shame all the same. But he knew a prayer to St. Jude when he saw one.
---
“Let’s see how well you do. I still have some jail time before I can make it. Damn hospital.” Jay reached down and scratched at the itch of the wound healing before she shrugged again. “Recommendation, don’t get shot. It sucks.”
“Could you give me a hand. I think the wrapping on my back came loose. It should be around time to change it anyway.” Jay spoke now, as if nothing had even happened. She didn’t even wait for him to respond as she turned to face away from him and pulled her shirt up over her head. Of course she had nothing on underneath so he was met with just bare skin.
“Or am I just over thinking things?”
---
Conor was very much confused but as she spun and exposed her back, he didn’t waste an open invite, moving his hands to the bandages and testing them.
“Yeah, they’re a little on the loose side, aye…” He said, his fingers aching to move higher and around her front, but he took his time to check the bandages all around, having to step in closer as he did so.
“Do they need rewrapping or a fresh set?” He asked, angling his head down slightly to try to look over her shoulder. “Cause, I’m more than happy to help.”
---
Pulling her shirt away from her front, Jay looked down at the larger wrap from the exit wound. “This one still looks fine but I can't see that one so you tell me.”
Pulling the shirt back to her chest, Jay shrugged. “Damn thing keeps draining. At least it isn't infected but this needs to stop so the hole can heel.”
Another shrug and she let her shirt shift to look at her front again. “Be a fun scar though.”
---
“And a hell of a story to tell,” Conor said with a nod, moving his hands down to rest lightly on her hips. “Well the one back here is pretty loose, might be a good idea if we get a new one on it and hopefully the draining will stop soon.”
Conor nodded his head and moved his hands back up to touch the edges of the wrap. “But glad you aren’t having worse problems.”
He looked around for where Imara might have stashed the wraps, but knowing her it was in the master bath or something silly.
---
His touch on her hips made her skin cover in goose bumps. She was still tender and shivered. “They are in my room.” She started, noticing him seeming confused. “I normally do the front myself. “
Walking out of his hold, she headed back down the hall. Passing the masters, she could hear Imara on the phone clearly having a disagreement about something. If it went south, Conor was going to have a fun afternoon.
Slipping into her room, it was clear she spent most of the last few days there. Clothes, books, movies and her laptop everywhere. But she headed to the side of the bed and pulled out the bag of medical things. “Figures i cant smoke this stuff. Or want to.” Throwing her shirt on the bed, she kept her back to him as she pulled things out.
‘--
Conor hoped that Imara won whatever argument she was having as he had no desire to spend another night sleeping on sore muscles. But he might be doomed anyway. Moving in, he sorely wished that Jay wasn’t injured. She looked very lovely without a shirt - even from the back.
His hands begged to be let loose to act wayward but he simply took the bag and went to work, changing the wrap like Imara had shown him on the off chance both Mathias and she were busy.
“Lord knows it would probably be an awful trip if you did.” He said with a chuckle, disposing of the old wrap and testing the new ones with his fingers again.
---
Jay leaned forward, hands resting on the bed as she left out a laugh. “Lord would it. First off, i don't want to know how fast these things burn. Second...what would one smoke? The gaze and antibacterial pads? Look i may be down but even I'm not that bad.”
She turned slightly as he messed with the wraps. Oh she knew it gave him a hint of her front. That was the point. In a way.. it was pay back.
“Watch it. They rip.”
---
Conor did not hide the fact that he was looking, trying to catch every potential chance she gave him to get an eyeful. Conor wasn’t going to let an opportunity pass him by, no sir. This of course caused him to have to focus even more on his hands and their actions but once he was sure the wrap was secure and not going anywhere, he took a step back, finger running up her spine as he did so.
“God help us if either of us ever fall so low,” Conor said with his most winning grin. “Not even sure it’d get you a high to be honest.”
Probably another trip to the ER. Still his eyes roamed again, knowing full well he was going to have to deal with his needs later thanks to Jay’s teasing. If that’s what it was.
---
“I'll tell you what.” Jay shivered, reaching to grab her loose shirt and turning for for a split second he got a straight on view of her body before the fabric went down her body. “If you try it, let me know what happens.”
Chuckling now as she shifted her hips to check the hold, Jay seemed satisfied with the work. “That should hold for a bit. And hopefully stop that annoying itch. That feeling when you need to take care of something you can't reach is annoying as ******** was then the master door opened. One look down the hall and Imara moved to stand in the doorway staring at them both. “Mathias is on his way home.” Was all she said before turning to walk away. “Conor, dishes are on you tonight.”
---
Conor seared the image into his memory, for at least the moment it was the closest he was going to get and he was okay with that. If by chance something came along to assist his needs easier he would pursue but for now he was up a creek
“Hoping, not to get there but I’ll let you know,” he said with a smirk. “Aye, that’s the worse, an itch you just can’t scratch…”
Then Imara was in the door and Conor turned his head toward to look at her. “Oh, okay, will do…” He watched her walk away, counting his blessings she hadn’t ordered him on a death march. Though, he had to wonder if the phone argument had been a lover’s quarrel.
The rest of the day went fairly smoothly, and by the end of the week, Conor had actually gotten used to the constant muscle ache. Mathias seemed to understand the caloric intake Conor needed since he was sure none of them went hungry.
What was probably the best for Conor though, was watching Jay’s condition improve each day. While he was a bit sad that it would also mean her departure, Conor did as best he could to spend time with her between training and the other tasks Imara and Mathias assigned him around the house.
Torvil
