Linna looked at her office's computer screen, trying to
focus on her work, but after a few moments the stockbroker shook her
head in defeat. 'I can't concentrate,' she admitted to herself, 'not
with what's going to be happening tomorrow.' With a soft sigh she
shut her computer down, picking up her briefcase from beside her
chair and grabbing her coat.
Sylia had sent them all home to rest up after the meeting
ended, feeling that they would all be reasonably safe for now. Sylia
was the main target, not her friends, so she asked them to go about
their regular business while she began to make the preparations for
tomorrow's attempt to reach the board meeting at Genom.
'I hope Sylia's got a good plan,' Linna noted as she exited
into the lobby, and headed out, 'because we're going to need it.' As
she stepped out of the door her eyes widened slightly, noticing an
attractive, dark haired woman leaning up against her car. "Haven't
we done this before?" Linna asked her with a smile.
Reika Chang shrugged, "I was feeling a bit anxious." She
pushed herself off the car, giving Linna an admiring glance, "You
look good."
"Thanks," Linna blushed slightly. She unlocked the car
doors, and the two climbed inside. A look over at Reika, "Any word
yet?"
"My contacts got some information," Reika noted as the car
slid out into traffic, "it appears that Genom's moving combat models
into the city."
Linna's fingers tightened on the steering wheel, then
relaxed. "I guess I was sort of expecting that," she admitted.
"You're looking not too terribly worried about this," Reika
quietly noted. She was still a bit surprised, every now and then, by
the calm acceptance that Linna and the other members of the Knight
Sabers had, how easily they all dealt with these situations. Not
that her own background didn't prepare her for this, but still...
"Yeah, I'm worried," Linna admitted, "but I'm confident,
too." She gave Reika a slight smile, "Genom doesn't know the full
capabilities of our upgraded suits, and they certainly aren't aware
of the allies we have." With that she reached over, gently squeezing
Reika's hand.
"Am I... just an ally to you?" Reika murmured, looking down
at Linna's hand on her own.
Linna Looked over at her shyly as she continued bringing
them across town, "You're much more than that to me, Reika." The car
slowed down, and she smoothly pulled up in front of the older
apartment building.
"This is your building," Reika looked up in surprise.
Oddly, Linna looked much more nervous than she had when
talking about the combat Boomers. "I was wondering if you'd care to
join me upstairs for dinner..." she started.
Reika's eyes widened slightly, "I'd love to."
"... and maybe stay after," Linna finished, a bit of a blush
appearing on her cheeks.
Reika looked over at her in surprise, realizing what Linna
was offering her. "If you're sure," she said as Linna nodded
firmly, "then I'd love to."
Across town Nene sighed to herself softly, luxuriating in
the warmth and safety of Akiko's arms. Both of them were nude,
enfolded in the sheets of Akiko's large bed, a place that they had
retreated to almost as soon as they had gotten there.
Akiko chuckled to herself softly, ruffling the younger
woman's hair as she murmured, "I should give you a ring more often
if it makes you that enthusiastic."
Nene twisted a bit, gently kissing Akiko. "It wasn't just
the ring," she sighed happily, "the proposal helped, too." They lay
there a few moments, "Why did you decide to propose now?"
"I wanted to propose to you a bit earlier," Akiko admitted,
tightening her arms a bit around the younger woman, "but I had the
feeling that you were keeping something from me. Once I knew what, I
felt it was time to ask."
Nene nodded slightly, "I wish I had told you earlier, then."
She hesitated, "What does your son think of all this?"
"Ryo's happy for me," Akiko reassured her, "he knows that my
primary interest has been with women these past few years." She
smiled a bit wickedly, "He would like to meet you, though."
"Oh, boy," Nene sat up in surprise, her face going a bit
pale.
Akiko chuckled softly, "Don't worry so much. He's a tech
geek too, so you two should have a lot in common."
"Yeah, maybe," Nene conceded, snuggling back into the safety
of Akiko's arms. Quietly, "Tomorrow's going to get pretty hectic,
Akiko. I want you to stay out of it, please."
Akiko gently tipped Nene's face up, "Just because I don't
have a suit of battle armor doesn't mean I can't take care of
myself, love." She stroked the cheek, "I promised Sylia I would
help, too, and I'm a woman of my word."
Nene made a face at that, "Remind me to get Sylia for that."
Akiko opened her mouth to protest and Nene smiled up at her
wryly, "I know, I know. You're determined." A deep breath, "Just be
careful then, please?"
"Always," Akiko answered. Nene snuggled a bit closer, and
Akiko's eyes widened as Nene's hand slid up her thigh. "Again?
You're insatiable!"
"I don't hear you complaining," Nene purred.
Akiko laughed, "Of course not, I'm insatiable too."
The motorbike sped along the seaside, the waters shining
beneath the afternoon sun. The rider pushed her bike, riding hard
and fast, the wind whipping by, then slowed. The little rest stop
looked just the same, the shack and vending machine sitting by a
good view of the water, while not far away the shell of an old Genom
research station stood.
The rider put the kick-stand down, taking off her helmet and
standing by the bike to look out at the water. "It hasn't changed,"
Priss sighed to herself softly.
With a burst of pain Priss remembered the last time she had
visited here, with Sylvie. The sexaroid had been kind, her eyes
shining with happiness as she and Priss rode out there together.
They had bought their snacks from that vending machine, eating and
talking together. Sylvie had made her feel... special, in a way that
Priss had missed.
"Wish I had been just a bit braver," Priss sighed to herself
softly. Even if Sylvie had turned her down, it would have been worth
it. But Priss had kept her mouth shut, and Sylvie had died before
she could tell her about how she felt.
The sound of a motorbike brought a flash of irritation, then
surprise as she looked up and recognized the bike. Her Aunt Natsumi
put the kick- stand down and pulled her helmet off smoothly, shaking
out her short brown hair. She walked towards Priss, the singer
wondering how Natsumi was out here with her.
"No, it's not a coincidence I'm out here," Natsumi
anticipated the question, "Sylia thought that I'd find you out here."
"Could have guessed that," Priss smiled,
"I wanted to ask you something," Natsumi put her hands in
her coat pockets nervously, "have you thought about what you're
going to do once we beat Genom?"
"It isn't guaranteed we're going to win," Priss said dryly.
Natsumi waved a hand, "Your Sylia is quite the tactician,
Priss. Personally I'd bet on her against Genom any day."
Getting back to the original question Priss conceded, "No,
not really. It's been the focus of a lot of years for me, and I'm
having a bit of trouble believing it all might be over."
Natsumi looked away nervously, "How would you like to work
for me?" At Priss' surprised look she continued, "Our detective
agency, I mean. Aoi, Yoriko and Miyuki all like you, and I think you
get along with them pretty well, too."
"That's true," Priss admitted, the look on her face
thoughtful. She frowned, "But I wouldn't want a job based on just
being your relative."
There was a soft snort of laughter from Natsumi. "You've
seen our agency, right?" she asked. "We're high on brains, but not
many of us have muscle. You're smart, you know the streets, and
you're remarkably tough," she smiled.
Priss had to smile slightly at that. "Not bad," she
murmured, "not bad at all." She gave Natsumi a considering
glance, "Let's give it a try, see how it goes."
"Glad to have you," Natsumi shook her niece's hand firmly.
Sylia Stingray smiled to herself slightly as she watched her
lover make more fine adjustments to the small device. "Tony," she
smiled over at her gently, "we know that they work, so take it easy."
"I know," Antonia Stark rubbed at tired eyes, "I guess I
just want to be sure." She frowned, "Your life may depend on these
working," she gestured to the row of little black boxes.
"I designed them," Sylia smiled tiredly, "and I, you and
Mackie helped build them." She shrugged, "I'm confident in your
skills."
Tony smiled back at her, "Hell of a plan, too." She got up
from the work bench, stretching out tiredly. She smirked, noticing
Mackie collapsed snoring away on the couch nearby. She still
couldn't get over how comfortable Sylia had made this warehouse
base, how homelike it was.
"There's no guarantees," Sylia stepped up to gently take her
lovers arm. Together they walked towards the suite that they planned
to share, "I am reasonably confident it'll work."
"When we all move out tomorrow," Tony stopped them at the
doorway to say softly, "I'm going to be by your side, Sylia."
"Once Genom figures out what's going on," Sylia cautioned
her, "being beside me is going to be a very unsafe place to be,
love."
Tony smiled suddenly before she asked, "And that's going to
be different from my day to day life exactly how?"
"A point," Sylia admitted, having heard about some of Tony's
adventures as Iron Man.
A bit more seriously Tony said, "I'm in love with you, Sylia
Stingray. No matter the risk, being beside you is what makes me
happy."
"Me, too," Sylia agreed, pressing her lips to the slightly
taller young woman, at least until Mackie's whistling got their
attention. "And how long have you been awake?" she asked her little
brother crossly.
"Long enough to get a good long look," Mackie smirked.
"We're going to bed," Tony gave him a cold look, "don't even
think of disturbing us, or I'll have to take certain steps."
"Ah, right," Mackie paled.
"Tomorrow morning is when we order the Boomers that we've
stationed around the city to move out," Madigan reported quietly,
the nearly complete darkness of the upper story office unnerving her
just a bit.
"Good," Quincy didn't even look at her, instead he was
gazing out at the twilight over the city of Megatokyo.
Quietly, "I've run things here for a very long time, Madigan. I
refuse to yield my place to that young upstart."
'You may not have a choice,' Madigan noted silently. She
continued, "We've downloaded the bio-readings and other data we
acquired on Ms Stingray into the Boomers." A short pause, "How did
you acquire that data, if I may ask?"
A cold smile on Quincy's face, "Stingray paid us a courtesy
call a few years ago, and on that visit we scanned her for that
data." There was a note of satisfaction in his voice, "Once she
leaves her hiding place, we'll have her."
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