Author's Note: Thank you all for your patience; and your comments. All is appreciated and welcomed.
And as is known by now, the story contains mainly F/F action as well as a plot that I hope you'll enjoy. It's a patience-demanding piece and thus, some gratification is near but tantalizingly far away. Please, do check out the previous chapters if you want extra jelly on the characters. They're not listed in order but the titles are sequential as follows: (WIT)At First, Blind Borne, Escapade, Felon Failing Fallen, Just Juxtapose, Material Martyr and Nosh Nothings. That said, do enjoy the story. Please don't forget to comment....it truly does help the process 8D
TMAJO
I warned you of my frailty. I warn you of my will...
*************** Previously ******************
"Oh yes. She's in the race too. I'm beside myself with the joy of it." He got up off his perch on the table, "Come now, I'd like to make your time with me as pleasurable as I may." He moved to the door, not giving her another glance as the door hissed open. He stepped out and the air in the room fell still.
Bellinda wanted to wait and think. She wanted to think and come to the conclusion that he should shove his offer up a hole of eternal darkness. She knew she didn't want to spend another second in the dingy cell and willed her body to carry itself toward the door. No sooner had she stepped out, had the door sealed shut. She sighed and looked around the hallway to find him standing at the far end, waiting with that smirk on his face.
Fuck she hated that smirk.
*******************
He led her through the marble-chrome halls and she couldn't help but think of how much she needed a shower. He didn't seem to care that she was wearing the microbial grime of a few days and was starting to tell. She'd by now settled for herself that her captors had been keeping her for more than a few days. She'd been drifting in and out of shock-driven haze, mental slumber and pseudo manic catatonia. He walked by her side, eyeing her every now and again; his aura seemingly ready to burst but he held his tongue.
"Your mother must've been a sight to behold." He stated casually, though just under his breath, as they got into the elevator; the only elevator, it seemed.
Bellinda realized, only after she was in, how easily she had followed him. She had to admit he was charming; disgustingly so. Yet she wasn't sure know why she trusted him so, so-
"What?!" Something else hit her. The air in here felt harsh in her nostrils. Like the air in the cabin of a plane when it was too cold, over-sanitized and the pressure was just enough to keep your eardrums from popping.
"Your eyes and that mane of lava...you most certainly didn't get that from daddy, now did you?" He said with a sly smirk.
"..." Bellinda couldn't find her words. Or perhaps they were too hot to spew sans fire.
"Ah...forgive me sweet. Sometimes I do get carried away." He stopped as though waiting for something. The elevator opened and he smiled; his expression melting a little. With a wide gesture, he ushered her out of the car and into his private hall.
Bellinda eyed her surroundings. The lights weren't as blinding, but she still felt ill and a tad light-headed. She caught herself thinking about the sweaty glass of water.
"Welcome to my loft." He announced airily, breaking her wet reverie. They'd come upon a very spacious room without walls or sections of any kind.
The redhead immediately took note of the fact that there was just a fireplace and a long lounge sofa. Off to a side, stood a wide stone table and a couple of comfy chairs; it was a loft indeed. It was obvious he didn't live here.
"Please have a seat...enjoy the décor as I imagine it is to your liking." His voice echoed through the mostly vacant space. He moved to the bar to dispense a truly acidic cocktail.
The redhead held her silence and merely observed the place. The ceilings towered well past the usual nine feet. Close to double. The lights from outside poured in through huge, slant-style windows. More dizziness. She turned and spotted him brandishing two drinks as he made his way back to where she stood.
"Care for a drink?" He donned that smile again.
Bellinda didn't respond. She was ill of his games; getting more and more irritated; a swelling desire to bite his head off.
"Well on with it then." He quipped and set the glass down on the nearest flat surface. He studied her lush face for a moment, taking in the bleached caramel shade of her skin. The flash of anger brewing just beneath her silky armor, dashing a hot glow to her face; it made him thirsty. He clasped his hands together in an easy gesture "How about a shower?"
*****************
"Hello?"
"This is Jack Ross speaking, are you Mavin Bright?"
"Yes, how may I help you?" Mavin swallowed.
"You can start by telling me where the hell my daughter is!" Jack Ross barked through the receiver, going from zero to sixty in less than a blink.
Mavin felt the heat flushing through her. "I don't know where she is."
"I don't believe that!" The senator roared in his brogue. "I know about you and my daughter and that's not the issue here."
Mavin sighed. 'Of course you don't,' she thought wryly. She could think of a few reasons why he didn't believe her. The fact that they hadn't even been formally introduced was a good place to start. However, she didn't care for his tone or the implication that she had any ill-will towards the redhead.
"What then is the issue?" Mavin rumbled back.
"I want to know what you've done with her." He cut her off thickly.
"Right." Mavin rolled her eyes she could already feel her head pounding. "I'm looking for her too. I would have contacted you before but I needed to be sure. I may have a lead on her whereabouts but if I let you in, you and I will have to proceed with great caution."
"IF you let ME in?! Now listen to me, YOU WILL let me in and you WILL tell me where she is-" It was his turn to be cut off.
"Wait a second. We can't contact the feds! They'll likely endanger her. I haven't heard from her but if these people work the way I imagine they would, they'll want to bait either of us." Mavin said slowly and left the part out of her already having been baited.
"I don't care. What price wouldn't I pay for my daughter?!"
"I understand your disposition Senator and I'm sure we can both agree that it's a delicate situation." Mavin pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You're damned right it's delicate. But I promise you, if anything and so much as a hair is hurt on her-."
Mavin heard the line go flat with a long beeping sound. "Hello?"
"Had to cut that short Doc, we have something." Sam's voice bubbled into her ear.
Mavin was both relieved and tempted to ask the triple Ws but thought better of it. "Well, is it worth knowing?"
"Absolutely, we intercepted an incoming wave and got hot on the keys." Sam sounded giddy.
"What's with the peppiness?" Mavin got up to her drug stash trying to find her migraine meds.
"Dude, you gotta see this code, it is outta this world-"
"Sam?" The butch gulped down a tiny pebble.
"What?"
"The whereabouts of my girlfriend's takers...?" She pushed it down with water; glad she wasn't choking.
"Oh, right. We have narrowed it down to a trailer way over on Mott Avenue. We had to do a ton of digging too."
"I'll get the details later; do you have the trailer on map?"
"Sure do. I'm linking up to the T4 systems they have on board. Of course, this is all via backdoor trace routes so I gotta watch my ass. It's coming to you in...now."
Mavin felt her PDA vibrate at her hip. "Thanks."
"Now, wait Mave, don't do something stupid." Sian's voice filtered into the conversation.
Mavin was already bouncing into her outerwear. "What was that; thought I heard you say something stupid?"
"Do you need any help?"
"What more can you do?" Mavin grabbed her keys.
"Well, we figured a way to use their code as ours. How fast can you get here?" Sian cut in again.
"As soon as you pick me up from Fort Rock."
"That'll take forever, get to the beta jump point. I'll have a car waiting."
"Will do."
Mavin heard the line go flat again and sighed. She looked up at the ceiling of her apartment. One of the three she owned in New York City. She alone knew it existed. Times call for measures; she flipped up her cell and dialed her brother.
*****************
She'd been too shocked to speak at first. But she couldn't really refuse a chance to wash her skin of day-old grime and two-day vapors. However, she made sure he understood her displeasure. Still, she couldn't get rid of the dull, tried aches that were washing through her joints.
He'd simply nodded and pointed her in the direction of the washroom down another hall. She'd have a change of clothes as well, that is, if she didn't mind sweatpants and shirts. She'd turned off her ears at that point. Not wanting to know further details. She'd long made up her mind that he talked too much and said nothing.
She took simple note of the washroom. No tub; just a tiled wall sprouting with shower-heads. She took the fastest shower she ever had and didn't even completely strip her clothes. She maneuvered within them, washing all the necessary hygiene offenders. She wet her hair to rinse out some accumulated grease and grime. She dried off quickly and found the rack of spare clothes that seemed as impersonal as the shower-heads. Only then did she strip...sort of.
Making her way back, she found him sitting at the stone desk, nursing his drink and flipping through what looked like a report folder.
"Feeling refreshed?" He said without looking up.
"Why am I here?" Bellinda spat back, echoes bouncing. Unsure of whom the question was directed at.
"I thought we went over that." He leaned back into his chair then swung left to reach into a flap box. He pulled out a cigar and promptly clipped off the end. "I know you don't mind." He said as he sucked the cigar to life on a mini butane-torch.
A few more puffs and he cleared his throat and licked his lips. "Please have a seat. I've got secrets to share with you." He waved toward the sofa as rose from the desk. He picked up his drink and carried it with him to the lounge area.
