After the Second Fall Pt. 02.1

"Are you confident that you're ready for it?"

"I am," said Lilith as she nodded. "And if I'm being honest, I think I can do a better job than she has."

John nodded. "I think so, too."

"Really? I thought you might defend her, since the two of you were close growing up."

He nodded again. "She's good, but you're better. I bet your head is full of ideas to try, things to change."

Lilith grinned a little and gave a self-deprecating shrug. "A few -- you won't like them all."

John dismissed the comment with a wave. "Not important." After a pause, he continued, "I'm much more concerned about you and me."

Lilith's breath caught and she felt her face flush, but she didn't say anything: she was too afraid of what was coming.

"You know I had a hard time growing up, being different. That alone-ness is still with me. The act I put on every day -- the happy-go-lucky doofus that everybody likes, or at least tolerates -- it really is just an act. I realized a long time ago that I'm insecure, so I wear humor like a cloak, and it gets me through the days.

"I didn't know it was possible to actually be happy before these last months. Pip lived up to his potential, which is great, but he's still more-or-less Pip, so I know the difference is you."

Lilith was stunned. In their time together, she had never heard John be so vulnerable, and it struck her hard. He had also never before made his feelings toward her so explicitly clear. Before she could form a response, he continued, "Lilith, you and Pip are the most important people -- the most important anything -- in my entire life. More than the Complex and more than this city. It's a reality that Pip may die fighting on any given day; I hate it, but that's the nature of his life.

"With you, it feels like I have an anchor to keep me from floating away, even with the uncertainty that the Arena brings. I need you, Lilith, more than I've ever needed anyone, and I don't want to lose you to this place," he said fiercely, gesturing to the walls around them. He took a deep breath and exhaled, turning away. "Can you understand that?"

Lilith had always kept her emotions clamped down, so she was surprised when tears formed and then started flowing freely down her cheeks. John looked over and his eyes widened slightly when he saw her smiling back. "I love you, too," she said softly.

Now it was John's turn to look for confirmation. "Really?"

She nodded vigorously and her smile widened.

"So we'll find a way to make it work?"

Lilith snorted out a laugh and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "We damn well better." John just had time to catch her as she threw herself at him, kissing him aggressively as soon as her lips were near enough. After the shock wore off, he pulled her down lower and hugged her tightly to his chest. Lilith wasn't pleased with this turn, as she wanted to keep on with her assault, so she fought back, smacking him in the sides and back with her balled fists. The size difference was just too big, however, and she soon relaxed into his arms.

When John finally eased his grip, Lilith immediately popped up and gave him another kiss, then settled back down again. "Are you okay, John?" she asked softly into his chest.

"Much better now, thank you. Lilith?"

"Yeah?" she responded contentedly.

"Would you like to make it official, like with Pip and the girls?"

"Only the Adams have Firsts. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, we could get married."

She pushed away again and looked up at him. "Forever is a really long time, John. Are you sure?"

He nodded with a smile. "Completely certain. What about you?"

She bit her lip contemplatively, but was still grinning; the effect was stunning, and it made her look years younger. "Let's give it until the end of the year, and if you're still certain, then we'll do it."

He pulled her back to his chest and gave her a squeeze that was almost-but-not-quite much too hard. When he let her breathe again, his posture was much more relaxed and his characteristic smirk was back.

"You know," she said with her own grin, "I don't think you being a doofus is entirely an act."

He shrugged happily. "Maybe. Maybe not." He set her back next to him on the sofa and turned to look down at her.

"Now tell me about the changes I'm not going to like."

"John."

"Yes, Kitten?"

Caught momentarily off guard, Lilith's eyes narrowed. "I don't... hate that."

"Better than Sweet Cheeks?" he asked innocently. She poked him in the ribs and scowled, probably only teasing. "Did you want to say something," he said, wisely refocusing the conversation.

"I was going to suggest that we find something more fun to do than talk about our jobs, but if you're just going to tease me..." She let the statement hang in the air, challenging him with her eyes.

John cocked an eyebrow and stood, then started casually unbuttoning his fitted black shirt. Folding it slowly, smoothing the creases for effect, he laid it on the back of the sofa. Satisfied, he continued with his pants and so forth, drawing out the process, and looking Lilith in the eyes after each article was added to the pile. At last naked, he watched Lilith look him over, a wicked smile on her lips.

Her eyes slowly traced his broad shoulders, thick chest, and flat stomach. John wasn't heavily muscled like the Adams, but he was fit from time spent training with Pip, despite Loren's ribbing earlier in the day. Beneath his hard torso, John was fully erect, drawing Lilith's eyes. Flexing his pelvic muscles for effect, he said, "I hope you aren't too fond of that outfit of yours." Her eyes shot wide and she bolted off of the couch, but John's long arm grabbed her immediately and she found herself staring down at John's muscular ass from his shoulder.

As he carried her to the bedroom, John was already using his massive hands on both her cheeks, causing Lilith to groan, any thought of protest already dismissed. Flipping her off his shoulder with a shrug, he caught her just before she hit the bed and laid her down gently with a smile, then started slowly unbuttoning her shirt. When it was laid open, John took her camisole in his strong hands and began to slowly tear it from top to bottom, gradually exposing her beautiful pale breasts with their pink carnation colored nipples.

Already flushed, Lilith was breathing deeply when John lifted her hips and removed her skirt and panties. As he set her bottom back on the bed, she gave him her most mischievous grin and spread her legs wide, laying her arms on the bed above her head.

"Naughty Kitten," he said huskily, reaching out to gently stroke her exposed thigh.

Goose bumps raised all over her body, tightening her skin, and she moaned his name.

Leaning forward, he took most of a breast in his mouth, lightly licking, while teasing her lower lips with a finger; with his other hand he gently stroked her long, dark hair. With so much varied stimulation, Lilith's arousal was growing rapidly. As she started to buck underneath him, John slowed his ministrations and backed off slightly, repositioning himself between her legs.

Lilith shook her head slowly and sat up, staring directly into his eyes. "I have something special in mind." He gave her a questioningly look that faded as she leaned forward to take him in her mouth. Lilith spent time making sure his tool was adequately wet, and thoroughly whetted, then spun around and looked back over her shoulder hungrily. "Honey, take me kitty style," she purred as she arched her back, pushing her rump high in the air, wiggling it back and forth.

John groaned and positioned himself against her beautiful sex, easing slowly into her. Concentrating on going slowly, he resisted the urge to push harder, letting her body dictate the pace; meanwhile, Lilith's head dropped to the bed and she forgot how to think.

As she relaxed, John began moving in and out, gradually working deeper. When he reached her limit for the first time that night she groaned out, "Yes," then pushed back into him gently, increasing the deep pressure inside. After several beats, John slid back out, then started again; Lilith countered each thrust with her own response, her uttered words getting less coherent with each successive movement.

As it became clear Lilith was moving toward a climax, John increased his pace slightly while decreasing the depth of entry, then started kneading her cheeks firmly while dipping his thumbs into her cleft to tease her other opening.

The orgasm came on quickly, and rapidly spread outward, causing her legs to spasm while she grabbed the sheets. John eased her down, burying himself fully once again, but keeping most of his weight on his knees.

It took three tries, but Lilith finally managed to speak. "That was amazing, John. It still feels wonderful. Are you close?"

"Um huh," he confirmed, slowly starting to move in and out once again. "Seeing you like that always gets to me."

"Do it then," she said, wiggling her bottom again.

John chuckled and increased his pace slightly, now focusing on his own sensation. In a hundred beats he was ready, and leaned down to chew on Lilith's ear as he released himself inside her, wrapping her tight with his huge arms.

John settled more of his weight onto her and whispered in her ear, "Did you enjoy that, Kitten?" Lilith mewled contentedly, and closed her eyes, soon dozing off with her man still wrapped around her.

Chapter 3

Rachel was frustrated, more than she had been in a long time: for two and a half days she had been working the problem, but hadn't yet come to a resolution. It was like she was trying to put together an infuriatingly vague puzzle without all the pieces, mostly because Casper Carson seemed to be some sort of ephemeral spirit.

Even so, she admitted to herself that some small part of her was enjoying the game, if that's what it was. Being a direct person, she most often tackled problems head-on, which usually meant going to the interested party and letting them know what she needed. This didn't work so well when the interested party didn't want to be found. On the positive side, Rachel felt confident that the one-sided contest was working toward its conclusion.

She had started by going to the area where the trainers were housed. She hadn't been in this part of the Complex before and found it very sterile, like the Adams' dormitories. The aesthetic consisted of block walls and concrete floors, all in grays and whites; except for John Rogers' door, which was painted an obnoxious shade of red-orange. Rachel smiled when she saw it and kept going, politely interrogating anyone she met on the whereabouts of Mr. Carson.

Nearly all of the people she talked with were surprised at her inquiry, but they were unfailingly polite -- she suspected this was in large part due to her position as Pip's assistant. She did get a sense that some of them were just playing along with a timeless prank, as if she had been told to find a mythical creature.

When half a day wandering the halls and talking with people didn't work, she had decided some research was necessary, so she spent the remainder of that first day in the Personnel department, learning what she could about her objective. According to the official file, Casper Carson was approaching seventy years old and had been retired from actively training Adams for almost twenty of those years -- this was an oddity, but not directly relevant to her investigation, so Rachel set it aside.

He was reported to be of mean height and weight for a male, with a 'medium' skin tone, grey-brown-blue eyes, and brown-black hair. Altogether, the description was entirely unhelpful being that it could describe more than fifty percent of Rieckenburg's male population, and was likely part of the still unfolding game. It was as if he picked the vaguest descriptions that would be accepted by the Personnel department, just to cause her trouble. Or maybe he just thought it was funny.

Another curiosity, and the one most pertinent to her task, was that no assigned living quarters were listed for Casper Carson. That space had been redacted with a large black box in the physical file, and Rachel couldn't get access to the electronic file without direct permission from one of the directors, being that there were only about a dozen terminals in the entire complex. That might eventually be necessary, but only if normal footwork didn't resolve the situation first.

Rachel spent most of the following morning with Financial Services. Mr. Carson was still (presumably) receiving a pension, so the compensation had to go somewhere. When she finally found the documentation, which had been misfiled by both name and profession -- he was not an Adam, after all -- she was surprised to see his delivery location listed as the general dropoff in the Adams' dorm.

Sensing that something was still amiss, Rachel went to Buildings and Grounds and pulled the drawings for the building, as well as the assignment roster. Strictly speaking, this should have also required director level approval, but Rachel got on well with Jim Wilkins, the Grounds manager, who got her the information with a smile.

As she had suspected, Mr. Carson was not assigned to any of the dormitories, so she highlighed all of rooms currently listed as vacant on her copy of the drawing. For good measure, she also cross-checked the names on the roster against the list of Adams she had obtained from Personnel, happily finding that they matched.

After lunch, she made her way to the Adams' dorm. Since most of the fighters tended to be solitary -- to the point of being antisocial -- she only saw a couple of people in the halls, a middle aged woman in the blue and tan PET colors and a thin man dressed in the dark green shirt and pants of Maintenance.

Rachel knocked politely on each of the rooms highlighted on the map, never receiving an answer. This was as expected, but she thought it best to be thorough. Then she went to the first room in the dormitory, took a steadying breath, and knocked. There was a grunt from inside, some movement, and the door opened.

Rachel peered up at one of the largest Adams in the entire Complex. Stash's brown eyes looked out under a large brow, and his head was shaved, giving him a severe look, even though his face was neutral. He had clearly not been expecting a visitor and was dressed only in undershorts. As with all the Adams, his musculature was well defined, and he was criss-crossed with scars, most notably a large one running down his sternum. His face quickly went through several machinations before settling on curiosity. "Yes?"

Rachel quickly explained her search, which soon had him smiling, and as she finished, he was chuckling, a deep bass sound that made Rachel's own chest vibrate. Excusing himself for a moment, he returned quickly, now dressed, and the mismatched pair walked down the hallway. Stash confirmed that he knew of Casper Carson, but had never met him. He also did not believe the man lived in the dorms, but helped Rachel check each of the vacant rooms using the master key assigned to him when he was made Lead Adam.

Their investigation was relatively quick and entirely fruitless, but Rachel enjoyed herself all the same. Where Pip was kind-hearted and naturally humble, Stash was confident in all he did, obviously secure in himself, and possessed a surprisingly well developed dry humor that caught her by surprise more than once. Since both she and Stash were quiet by nature, she found the silences between sentences to be comfortable, rather than tedious.

"Thank you, Stash. I appreciate your help."

"Of course," he replied, "but why didn't you just get Pip to open the doors for you with his key?"

"He doesn't have one."

Stash's eyebrows raised in surprise, making his whole face open up, immediately softening his features. "Well, here you go then," he said a bit reluctantly, holding out his key.

Rachel smiled and shook her head. "Please keep it, at least for now. I'll talk to Pip about it, but I think he would prefer for you to have the responsibility."

Stash slowly straightened back up and nodded. With a wave, Rachel turned to leave, then stopped abruptly. "Stash?" He acknowledged her with a head tilt. "You should consider joining us for lunch. We usually eat in the Courtyard, so long as it isn't raining." Still smiling, Rachel departed down the hall.

In all, Stash wasn't sure how to feel about the unexpected visit. The whole experience was odd: the young woman seemed entirely genuine, but had obviously given him a bullshit reason to enter the rooms; on the positive side, he had never actually seen someone turn the 'ghost hunt' into an excuse before. Maybe the truth was Pip wasn't happy with his assigned room? As the new Lead Adam, he could have any room he wanted.

And the lunch invitation was... strange and out of place, particularly because it essentially came from one Adam to another.

But the experience was pleasant nonetheless, so he was also smiling as he went back into his room.

Rachel went immediately back to Buildings and Grounds, where Mr. Wilkins quickly handed over a master key for the Adams' dorms with an apology for the oversight. In actuality, Jim Wilkins gave Rachel his own key, so he would have to talk with his peer from Buildings to get a new one made -- if he could find the man -- but Wilkins hardly ever went into the dorms so it wasn't an urgent problem. Rachel waved off the apology happily and was on her way again, satisfied with the day's progress; besides, she had her regular activities to attend.

The following morning, Rachel was sitting in the oversized chair when Pip awoke. She was usually out and about by the time he got up, so he knew there was something on her mind. When prompted, Rachel quickly recounted the previous two days and asked if he would like to meet with Casper Carson.

"Sure, especially since you've gone to all the trouble, but you just said you hadn't found him yet."

"I haven't, but I have a good idea where he lives now. It might be best if you're with me."

"In case he is violent?" Pip asked, surprised.

Rachel shook her head quickly. "In case he moves before I have the opportunity to take you back. He seems to value his privacy, so you might just have this one chance before I would have to find him again."

Pip smiled and agreed with her logic. After a quick breakfast in his room -- which Rachel had, of course, foreseen -- Rachel led him into the hallway. Rather than turning to leave the dorm, however, she walked the opposite direction. Pip followed along curiously, trusting Rachel's instincts.

She stopped at the end of a hallway with a door on either side: numbers twenty-three and twenty-four. Due to the enormous size of the Adams, the hallway was about five of her strides across and three times her height. "From the building plans here," she said, indicating the drawing she held in front of her, "you can see that these two rooms should be the biggest in this section, because they wrap around the end of the hallway to form a blocky 'U' shape with a wall in the middle." Pip nodded his understanding. "When I was in the rooms yesterday with Stash, I noticed that they are both rectangular, which means where the bend should be, somebody put walls instead. I think there is an open space between the two rooms. I suspect that's where Mr. Carson lives."

"Okay," said Pip, intrigued, "so what do we do about it?"

"My guess is that his access is through one of the rooms, or maybe both, so we can try to find it, but I'm a little worried that if we start to look on one side he'll just go out the other."

"If he's here..." said Pip.

"Right, but I suspect he is." Pip raised his eyebrows questioningly. "It's why we came over here so early."

"I see," replied Pip, enjoying the prospect of unexpected adventure within the Complex itself, especially after being told he wasn't allowed off-campus. "How about I go into the room here," he pointed to number twenty-four on the right, "and you stay out here, just in case." Rachel nodded and Pip entered the room.