"My name is Sylia Stingray, and I'm an alcoholic and prescription drug addict." "Hello Sylia," the group greeted her. She then sat down, still holding Linna's hand as one by one the others in the room likewise introduced themselves and were welcomed. An hour and a half later, the meeting ended. Sylia and Linna exited the building with the others, the older woman striking up a conversation with a recovering alcoholic and mother of two by the name of Miko. "You are lucky to have the support base you do," Miko said, glancing over at Linna who blushed a bit at the compliment, "So many of us have managed to drive away everybody in our lives that by the time we seek help, we're all alone." Sylia had to smile at that. What had started out as a group of hired guns to help her in her quest for revenge against Genom had in fact become her surrogate family. She was about to say something, when Linna's cell phone rang. "Sorry ladies," Linna said, "I didn't mean to interrupt your discussion, I... Sylia?" "Yes?" Linna now blushed once again as she met her leader's eyes, "Could you let go of my hand now?" With a start Sylia realized she'd been holding the younger woman's hand all this time. She let it go, looking down at her hand as she did so. Her palm was still warm from Linna's touch. She couldn't explain why, but somehow she found herself missing the connection. "Hello?" Linna said as she answered her cell phone, "What, now? Okay. What? Yeah, she's right here." With that, Linna gave the phone to Sylia and ran the rest of the way down the steps of the building to the sidewalk. Sylia watched Linna run to the curb, and put the phone to her ear, "Hello?" "Rogue boomer, sis," Mackie said on the other line, "It's a fairly small one though. Linna and Nene should be fine handling it. Henderson will be by to pick you up in a few minutes." Sylia smiled at her brother's tact, even as she saw the Knight Sabers' van race around the corner to pick up Linna. She wanted to go too, to be out there watching her girls' backs. She could feel her adrenalin pick up a bit like it did every other time her Knight Sabers went out, memories of her monitoring the battles, jumping in when necessary, coming back to her as she watched the van race off again. She closed her eyes and let out a groan. She was in no condition to do that right now, and she knew it. "Understood," she answered regretfully, "Be careful. And Mackie?" "Yes?" "Thank you. For everything," she added as she hung up the cell phone and put it in her pocket. "What was that all about?" Miko asked, noting the look of frustration and regret in Sylia's face. "Long story," she answered as Henderson pulled her car up to the curb, "See you again next week?" "Of course." Miko said, smiling at her as she watched Sylia get into the car and drive off. ------ A short time later, Sylia and Henderson arrived back at the Silky Doll. They were both going down the hidden elevator leading down into the pit, when it hit. The D.T.s were bad, the profuse sweating and insomnia were also bad, but of all the physical withdrawal symptoms she had been going through it was the nausea she hated the most. It always seemed to strike at the most inopportune time. Like now, when she was stuck on an elevator with her butler. "Are you all right, madam? You look ill." "Just feeling a bit motion sick, I guess." The elevator door finally opened, much to Sylia's relief. She ran for the bathroom as fast as she could in her high heels, reaching it just in time. When she was done, she brushed her teeth, gargled out her mouth with mouthwash, opened the bathroom door, and came face to face with Priss. "Hey." "Hey yourself," Priss smirked. "What are you doing here?" "Well, there's a rogue boomer out there," she answered, "Nene and Linna are busy, and...oh hell. Look, Linna called from the van and asked me if I could come over to check up on you. I... urgh! I'm really lousy at this sort of thing." Sylia put her hand on Priss' good arm and smiled. "You're doing fine," she reassured, "And Priss, about before, I'm sorry. Thanks for not leaving," she added, thinking about what Miko had said earlier. "Yeah, well..." "Oh, have you had anything to eat yet?" "No, but don't get Henderson for me. It's late." "I wasn't going to get Henderson," Sylia answered, "How does spaghetti sound?" "You're cooking?" "Yes, so you can put your eyes back in your head," she laughed, "It's been helping me keep occupied," more seriously she asked, "Any word yet from Nene or Linna?" "None yet. I hate this. It's one thing to be out there fighting, but this waiting..." "I know. How did Mackie and Nigel ever get through these waits? Nigel..." Priss looked over to see Sylia in her fashionable low cut business suit she'd worn to the A.A. meeting suddenly stare off with a lost look in her eyes. She knew she needed to try distracting her before something happened. "Uh, Sylia, I still haven't had dinner yet." "Huh? Oh, right," she said, trying her best to smile, "Follow me." Priss followed Sylia through the dining room. As they walked past the mini bar area, she noticed it had been cleaned out, only ginger ale and bottled waters remaining on the mostly empty shelves. She also noticed the pamphlets on the dining room table. "So how's Leon doing these days?" Sylia asked over her shoulder. "Huh? Oh, Leon? You know him. Talks for months about starting a private detective agency with his friend Dailey, then turns around and joins in on the revamping of the new AD Police. I don't know what I'm going to do with him," Priss said as she picked up one of the pamphlets labeled The Twelve Steps to Recovery. "Priss, can you give me a hand in the kitchen?" "Yeah, sure," she said, laying the pamphlet back down on the table. She then turned around and walked into the kitchen, trying to stifle a chuckle as she saw Sylia wearing an apron over her business suit. "Can you cut these tomatoes for me?" Sylia asked, holding up her shaking right hand. "I'm not sure I'm all that safe with a knife right now." Priss had to smile at the situation. Sylia, the control freak, was asking for help cutting tomatoes. Better still was the fact that due to her injury Priss could only use her left hand to cut, and she was right handed. "Well, this'll be one for the 2041 Darwin Awards." "What?" "Nothing. Give me the knife, you try to hold the tomatoes steady." ------ Nene and Linna bounded from one rooftop to another heading home. The rogue boomer was one originally designed for the Tokyo Fire Department to help in situations where the danger to a regular fire fighter was perceived to be too great. It had been keeping the AD Police at bay with one of it's built in high-pressure water hoses, a separate hose connecting it to the nearby fire hydrant, when they'd arrived. Nene acted as the distraction, allowing Linna to use her ribbon cutters to sever the boomer's connection to the hydrant. Before it could react, Nene fired her needles into its eyes, giving Linna the opportunity she needed to reach in and crush its core. "Mackie, this is Nene," the youngest Knight Saber radioed in, "The boomer's been suppressed. We're coming back to the Silky Doll." "Roger. Meet you there. Sis says she's fixed spaghetti for everyone, so are you going to hang around?" Nene wasn't sure which was more shocking; that Sylia was cooking or that she was fixing them spaghetti at 10:45 at night. She thought about it, then she thought about the last time they were all together. The things that were said. The tears... "No. I'm going home after I change." "Oh." Mackie replied, sounding a bit down. "Nene," Linna said, "she is getting help. She's trying..." "I said no!" Nene blurted out, effectively silencing both Linna and Mackie. The rest of the way back was passed in silence. ------ "Hey Linna, hey Mackie," Sylia called out from the dining room, the scent of garlic and tomatoes heavy in the air. "Where's Nene?" Linna and Mackie both looked at one another. "She's not here." Mackie answered as he tried to avoid eye contact with his sister. "She, um..." Linna began. Priss looked at Linna and Mackie's facial expressions, frowned, and made a mental note to have a talk with Nene next chance she had. Sylia broke the silence, "I understand," she said, masking her feelings behind a smile, "So, who wants dinner?" ------ Priss had left about fifteen minutes ago. Mackie followed soon after, and Linna was now staying behind to help Sylia with the dishes. Sylia, thinking back on Priss' Darwin Award comment earlier in the evening, couldn't help but think with a bit of morbid humor about the award that would go to a biker chick that just had to ride her motorcycle home one handed at midnight on a moonless night. She looked over at Linna, and smiled. She's been with her during the worst of her withdrawals over the past four days. She could still remember her fellow Knight Saber making her stay tucked in bed as she scrubbed away the mess left on the floor in the bathroom, holding her when she thought bugs were crawling under her skin, and staying by her side through her first A.A. meeting. And here she was now, drying the dishes as Sylia washed them. As she looked at her, she thought back to earlier, to the feeling of Linna's hand holding hers. The older woman had playfully flirted with her and the others before, as well as her customers at the Silky Doll. It was all in fun, and she loved to watch their reactions as she pressed their buttons. But, as she continued to watch Linna drying dishes next to her, she realized she was starting to feel something for her more than just friendship. The younger woman had seen her at her absolute lowest point, with her guard down and at rock bottom, and had stayed by her side. She'd been in a relationship with another girl once when she was in high school, but it had ended badly. She'd only ever been in one other long-term relationship, and that had been with Nigel... "I said, how are you sleeping?" "What?" Sylia asked, jarred out of her thoughts by Linna's question. "You look tired. Are you having trouble getting to sleep?" Linna asked, finishing off the last of her dishes. Sylia looked down and nodded. She had no idea how much she'd come to depend on her sleeping pills until she'd given them up. "I think I've gotten three hours sleep in the last forty-eight hours," she admitted. "I thought so. Your eyes are a bit baggy and you look like you're ready to collapse. Come on, let's get you to bed." Sylia raised an eyebrow at that, "What did you just say?" "Don't argue with me. Come on," Linna said as she grabbed Sylia's hand and walked her back towards the bedroom. Sylia had hardly enough time to register the feel of her soft hand once again touching hers before they reached the bedroom door. "I'm going to wait outside the door," Linna explained, adding, "Call me when you're in bed." Sylia watched Linna shut the door behind her as she exited the room and shook her head in disbelief. 'She sounds like my mother used to,' she thought to herself as she disrobed. She then put on some silk pajamas and climbed into her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. "Okay," she called out. Linna entered the bedroom and sat next to Sylia on the bed. She then gently placed Sylia's head on her lap, and began running her fingers through her leader's silvery hair. Sylia drew in a sharp breath, "Linna, what are you..." "Shh..." Linna whispered as she continued to stroke Sylia's hair, "Whenever I couldn't sleep growing up, my mother would put my head in her lap, run her fingers through my hair, and sing a lullaby. Now close your eyes, and don't laugh at my singing skills." Sylia looked up at her friend in disbelief. Here she was; the leader of the Knight Sabers, a woman who'd faced death on more than one occasion and who demanded respect, now reduced to being sung to sleep like a five year old because of a damned chemical addiction. Still, she couldn't go another sleepless night. And she felt so comfortable with her head resting in Linna's lap as she felt her fingers gently brushing her hair. She closed her eyes, smiling a bit as Linna began to sing. "Why are there so many, songs about rainbows, And what's on the other side..." ------ As Linna finished her song, she looked down to see Sylia fast asleep. She looked so beautiful in her sleep, so peaceful. Her mind wandered back to their first meeting, to Sylia cupping her cheek in her hand as she complimented the newcomer on her beauty. She closed her eyes, inhaling the other woman's perfume as she felt her soft, silky strands of hair flow around her fingers. She was brought out of her reverie by the sound of snoring. Loud snoring. Opening her eyes, she watched as Sylia tilted her head in her sleep, a bit of drool dripping onto the younger woman's new pants. In the position she now lay in, Linna was also treated to a full blast of the garlic on Sylia's breath from the night's spaghetti dinner. She tried to get up, but stopped when her leader stirred uneasily in her sleep, putting her arm around Linna's waist as if she was a big teddy bear. Linna didn't dare move; she knew Sylia desperately needed the sleep. She looked over at the clock, noting it was 12:45 AM. 'This is going to be a long night,' she thought to herself. While it was true that she'd sometimes fantasize about what it might be like to spend the night with the attractive Sylia Stingray, this wasn't exactly going the way she'd imagined. Smiling to herself a bit at the irony of the situation, Linna closed her eyes as she allowed a yawn to escape. -To be continued-
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