Chasing Robes & Shadows

Everyone stood silent for a moment but Shaw didn't relax her stance.

"Now, you've got me here. But. I'm out of touch. Much longer and guards will come and check up on me."

"Guards? You mean," Shaw said, "like Queen Anna had that night? Big like Bobby?"

"But stronger than me. I was made," Anna looked at Dave with an almost apologetic air, "to be strong. And, well, they're designed for nastiness. Different gene changes."

"We believe you, but, Anna, can you bring Peter back down? Let him go now?" It was Shaw speaking but the others nodded and Dave glared.

"No."

"Huh, why? Are you worried he'll reveal---"

"He's dead."

Shaw went stiff, glared. Dave's mouth moved soundlessly.

"Did you..."

"No, the satellite. He and Queen Anna were on it when it crashed. There was... a mutiny, the mutineers tried to take over the reactor control rooms but something went wrong. Way wrong. I'd left months before to go to another satellite---"

"There are three," Mel interjected.

"WERE three. Then I was already on Earth when it crashed but there were messages during the fight. Four centuries ago when we found your planet with telescopes then the probes we sent some of my people felt we'd bring you peace and prosperity. To my people, war was something only in our history books. But, you've infected us and now some of my people want to destroy you, most of you, take this planet, Queen Anna would've never agreed with that. It's been a bit... hectic since the crash. We lost our Queen and don't know if there are still any of... those others among us. We think they were all on the crashed satellite..."

"Clusterfuck, we call it," Chris said, "lucky it didn't hit a city."

"He did that, Peter did," her hard expression silenced the rest, "the mutineers tried once it was obvious it was going down. But he'd burrowed deeper into our systems than we'd known. He crashed it where no one was."

"He'd grown up here," Shaw said, "knew these states really well."

"What about Jayne? Cat?" Dave wheezed and winced as he spoke.

"My best friend, but, well, our agent. For years. Leave her alone, I've told you everything. Now, the door..."

Chris helped Dave shift as Anna turned but they all stopped when Mel spoke firmly.

"No, last thing. That star, the one that blew up, that was your home wasn't it? You're refugees?"

Anna turned and looked at Mel.

"Yes, demon, we were meant to be explorers. But then someone attacked our sun two centuries ago, it went unstable, Queen Anna's lover Ian figured out it would go supernova. A fleet, with millions of my people in hypersleep, is on the way. We think. We hope. The last messages said they'd made it out just in time but with all of the interference from the supernova we're not getting communications."

A Changed World

Chris pulled Dave aside and Anna threw the door open and strode rapidly out and collided with Asha two steps out of the room as Mel and Shaw stepped where they could see.

"Oof, hey, bitch," Asha said before her voice trailed off as her hands pushed off of Anna's bare arms, "oh, wha..."

Asha looked to her left and saw Chris supporting Dave, then back at Anna. Anna's eyes became slits as she looked at Asha's eyes, hat and eye patch still missing. Beyond them Terry led Maria into view from the stairs, their expressions studies in sudden surprise.

"Lemme go," Anna broke loose and half ran past the shocked pair and turned the corner to the stairs.

"What the fuck?" Asha half yelled as she ran in and grabbed Dave, "I'm going to kill her."

She glared at Mel and Shaw, the policewoman's right eye narrowed slightly when she registered Asha's apparent recognition and reaction to the device Mel still held. The demon held it alongside her tiny, pleated skirt but that didn't hide it from the redhead before those gold eyes went back to Mel's glittering black eyes.

"And maybe you too. You did this."

"Asha, wait!"

Asha looked at the policewoman then at her hip where she held the gun pointed at the floor. Shaw was certain only Asha could see the weapon, that the others outside of the storeroom didn't have the angle.

"I'll be faster, calm down. She's not---"

"I know she's not," Asha snapped, "I know what she is. Fuck's sakes. Why didn't you bring me---"

"Because you told us not to, upstairs, remember?" Mel's voice was firm and competitive.

Asha exhaled slowly, nodded.

"Anyway, I'm taking this one the hell away from here before you bunch get him killed. C'mon, Dave."

Dave stood firm for a moment, looked at Chris then Mel. His voice was wheezy and chopped.

"Chris, Mel, thank you. Finally."

Asha glared at them then turned and gave Terry and Maria the same look and they stepped back. The sound of a crowd was obvious on the stairs, strange murmurs made clear the mood was confused, likely by Anna's presumed passage. Dave had his arm over Asha's shoulder and the other across his body as they looked up.

"Make way," Asha's voice brooked no dissent and she led Dave up the stairs. Shaw slipped out of sight and returned her gun to its holster, adjusted her trouser leg and stood as Mel returned the device to the shelf and hid it behind grain containers.

Chris led their trio out of the storeroom and Mel pulled the door closed then stepped to twine her left arm around his right and reached out and Maria took her free hand, the photographer had a fretful look.

"Hey, Chris," Teresa spoke as soon as she'd landed at the bottom of the stairs, "Anna grabbed Bobby and they left at warp speed. And Dave and Asha. What's up?"

"Nothing we can do anything about tonight, guys," Chris said as Shaw pushed past with a nod at Terry and ran up the stairs just as Sam also made it to the bottom, "shit happens..."

"Asha," Shaw yelled as Asha trailed a trio out the front door, her brother and Brandi with a scrunched over Dave between them, hat and eye patch in hand.

"Get him in the car, Aron, I'll be right there." She turned to face Shaw, who stopped just inside the living room.

"I warned you. I'll be faster, this time, detective," Asha's usually clear voice was harsh.

"I almost shot her," Shaw said, "it was close. Dave insisted that he be there, he needed to know about his friend."

Asha let out a long exhale, seemed to shrink slightly.

"Yeah, I know. Those two. I'd never met them. I spent barely an hour at their Halloween party... and my life has been turned upside down..."

The Broiler incident was enough for one person to go through, thought Shaw. And that was, well, almost normal after what had just happened in the basement.

"And that thing Mel had, you know what it is?"

"I... gave it to them. But, it's decades old, how'd they get that damned thing to WORK? Thought it would just be something to tease them with."

"And your parents are, were, somehow involved?"

"Yeah. Don't tell them, leather boy and devil girl, ok? Things around them..." She put her right hand alongside her head and twirled the extended index finger. Shaw smiled softly and nodded quickly before she spoke.

"They've worked it out, some of it at least, I saw you all talking. They didn't tell Anna anything about you. She just knows Dave was a friend of Peter's, why he cared. Not about you."

Shaw looked back as voices indicated at least a few people were climbing the stairs.

"I'm outta here," Asha said as she looked to see if anyone had arrived.

"Look out for 'guards,' bigger than Bobby, strong people, wear black suits, fedoras, sunglasses, at least used to. You know, muscle."

"Got it," Asha nodded and surprised Shaw with her speed in those boots as she hit the sidewalk and dashed right with her skirt flying, any onlookers would've had quite pleasant if flashed views. Apparently their car was at the Glen too.

"Hey, Joyce," she pushed the door closed and turned and saw Terry, his face a cloud of concern, "what happened? Mel and Chris said something about a friend of Dave's."

"He was my friend too," Shaw's voice was soft, "found out he's dead."

"Sh... it...," Terry said slowly, "that student that disappeared?"

Shaw nodded.

"You knew him. Hell. How?"

"I was his teacher... long time ago," Terry grunted in surprise as more people came upstairs. The first few walked into the small room next to Terry's bedroom and gathered their coats.

"Hey, Terry, we're heading out. G'night!"

Terry waved and Shaw nodded, she didn't recall more names. It appeared the steam had been taken out of the party as the remaining guests followed suit.

"Maybe I should be going too," Shaw said softly.

"Sure? Welcome to stay," Terry said back, "plenty of beer. Other stuff."

"And ears... Maybe just ears," he added very softly.

Mel, Chris and Maria came around the corner. Mel walked up and took Joyce's hands. Her blazer was again unbuttoned.

"We're sorry about Peter, we didn't know. Well," she looked at Chris, Maria's arm was around his, "we thought it might've been the case, but hoped he was on another one."

"Lots to talk about demon, but hey, that's what the morning's for. This is bigger than him. Or me, or all of us."

"You going to file a report?"

"Not yet, this is all off the record. So far. The government's always known it was a satellite, like you said on the tape. They'll have the bodies. But hey, his family, fuck them. But I want it, bury him properly. But, well, I don't think yelling now about Anna and Queen Anna and Jayne will help me get it. Or do much other good. Yet."

Mel pulled her into a hug then let her go. She rejoined Chris and Maria and they walked to the stairs and all three climbed. Shaw let out a long and slow exhale. Terry looked at her as she spoke softly.

"Your sister? Sam?"

"Probably just stayed downstairs, that's hers, their room. Have their own bathroom. Same upstairs and this level too."

"I've had the worry I'd be taking advantage of you, what with... Pam, right?"

Terry laughed. "Now I'm worried I'd be taking advantage of YOU... But hey, you want to talk about your friend? We'd heard about it in high school, then Mel and Chris chasing it, but well, that's it."

He waved his arms around the room.

"And it's not like we have anything else to do."

She smiled.

"I could use a beer. Need one yourself?"

He nodded but she took his hands quickly, squeezed them and released and he walked quickly out. She looked, sat down on the couch and crossed her left leg over her right and leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She opened them when she heard a sound and saw Terry with two glass mugs, not the plastic cups they'd been using, of whatever good ale this was. She nodded at the spot alongside her and he handed her a mug and sat down.

"You were a teacher? And now, that uniform's real, right?"

She nodded and took a long drink, licked her lips.

"I loved, well, love poetry. Literature. But I did some ROTC in high school, liked that too. Grew up shooting, handling guns. Did English and psychology double major, with a teaching certificate thrown in."

"Bet you didn't party much in college, with that load."

"Not enough! Got the job at Peter's high school, it wasn't a good school. So I talked to a couple of contacts, left that after three years and entered the police academy... shi... almost a decade ago! I thought I might do more for delinquents that way, I wasn't getting through to them teaching. At least, not to most of the bad ones, Peter was a rare case that way, it wasn't like the whole school was bad but there were too many... The police wanted to 'evolve,' trying to get us humanities types in. 'More rounded.' Did vice and undercover a few years, just before Christmas I made plainclothes. But hey, this was a costume party, right?"

They both laughed at that.

Shaw sat up in bed, the room dark but for an ethereal glow of streetlights around the boundary of the closed blinds. She was confused. Where was she? What the...

Then the body next to her in the bed stirred but didn't awaken. She turned. Sandy hair, nice, firm build, pale skin with a slight sheen. Oh, yeah. She looked down, she was naked and covered in dried sweat too. She looked past the sleeping form, the phosphorescent hands on the clock were a single glow on the right side. 3:15 then. Must be a.m.

Then she went still. There were creaks. Someone moved. More than one. Above her somewhere. She tilted her head a couple of times and willed the fuzz of sleep out of her brain and tried to remember where her revolver was. She saw the end table on her side of the bed, registered it was in that drawer.

She smiled. The handcuffs. Sam had come upstairs while Shaw and Terry were still on the couch, he'd just expressed his admiration for his sister's strength and with her investigator's side she'd nudged him to confess his role in pushing their small town Idaho family to accept Teresa was gay.

That had been when Sam had shuffled into the room. She'd been barefoot but still in that gown, her face was reddened but nothing like her time describing why Mel loved ice cream. Her breasts weren't quite as large as the taller Mel's, but they were as round and with her shorter frame they were just as perfect. This gown hadn't offered as clear views as had Mel's and Asha's open blazers but they'd still been quite obvious and enjoyable all night.

Maybe her young colleague Holmes was right in her preferences. She should've brought that woman along. Next time.

"Detective..."

"Sam? You okay?" Terry's question, Shaw glanced at him then at the redhead.

"Those cuffs. Are they..."

Terry's brow furrowed but Shaw smiled broadly.

"Hold this," she handed her mug to a confused Terry before she rose high enough to unclip the old handcuffs from her belt with her left hand. Sam's eyes followed her other hand as it tapped the pocket in her service trousers. She handed the cuffs to Sam, her smile just formed.

"You ever used---"

"Terry, hand those to Joyce and hold your hands out."

Shaw grinned broadly and nudged the badly confused young man. He handed the beers over and obeyed.

With two rapid flips of her wrist Sam secured both of Terry's wrists, metal rasps locked tight with loud clicks in the quiet room.

"Wha...," Terry's voice trailed off as his eyes widened.

"Damn, Red, you're better with those than I am!" Shaw had exclaimed. Terry just swung his gaze from the detective seated next to him then at the angel whose halo didn't match a grin usually seen on devil girl's face.

"Too bad I don't have the key!"

"Uh, whAT?"

"Oh, well, " Sam was only momentarily serious after a pause of a few seconds as Terry's head swiveled and his mouth hung open, "I can help you get his pants off, if you need a hand."

"Hey... uh... WHAT?"

"I'm sure I can manage, need be," Shaw started then paused as her right hand suddenly found her pocket and dug in, "found it!"

She pulled the key out and tossed it in a high arc, the younger woman caught it and in a fluid motion freed the confused young man. She flipped the cuffs and held them in her right hand.

"My uncle gave me an old pair. I used to arrest my stuffed animals," was the limit of her explanation, "g'night!"

She'd turned and was gone in a flash, a supervillain's cackle trailed her.

"That's new... oh, wow...," had been Terry's only statement to Shaw's laughter. She'd decided then she'd talk to the angel in the morning, tell her about a 'boutique' in a less attractive section of town surrounded by pawn shops, liquor stores that specialized in the less refined brands and a 'sell your plasma' clinic. But it was a nice place and had cuffs that were more appropriate, at least for what she assumed Sam had planned.

In the morning.

She recalled the floor plan above her. That large rec room, Chris's bedroom, a bathroom. Oh, hell. Chris. Mel. Maria. 3:16. Were those three STILL at it? She looked at the form next to her, put her hand lightly on the exposed shoulder. Asha had been right, he'd been no slouch. But he, she, there'd been a slowness, a halting entwining, it hadn't been fast and frantic like that night with Peter. Shaw tried not to think it explicitly, but for now she hoped this time it wasn't one and done.

Unlike the last time. That night a bit over five years earlier she and Peter had agreed with barely more than a couple of words that their time together would be, had to be, that single night.

Now she knew he was gone. Truly gone.

She had no doubt that Anna had told the truth, as much as that... that woman? That alien? She'd seen admiration in that face and her posture even if her voice hadn't carried it. That... creature... was so human but that voice. There was... something in it but whether it truly confirmed she was what the demon and her drudge called her was still in question. Even if she had essentially admitted it. But while she was THAT, her feelings for Peter seemed real. And for this boy, Bobby, she was with.

This sweet boy, his loss was not all that. But it was, as these things always are, nothing to dismiss. She sighed. After Peter she'd always blamed her work on vice for pushing her sex drive subterranean, what she saw and had to deal with. Tonight it had surfaced. Had it really been her work?

"Oh, hey, Joyce? You awake?"

"Shit, he, Terry. Sorry! Didn't---"

He rolled over and sat up, put his hand on her back. It was warm. He pulled her closer.

"Just um, them," she lifted her chin, smiled as a last set of footsteps went across the floor. He looked up and nodded as he laughed, mouthed 'I know.'

She pushed her hand down his torso and under the cover, found he was fully awake.

"So long as we're awake..."

She pushed him onto his back and he helped her straddle him. She grabbed his erection and rubbed it up and down her slit and purred as she moistened the swollen head. She held it steady and lowered herself slowly until his entire length was inside of her. He reached up and caressed her nipples as they woke up as well.

"Mel and Chris like to go out to breakfast on Sunday mornings," Terry said softly as Shaw rose and fell on his shaft, "Pam wasn't big on going. But, you interested?"

"What if we oversleep?"

"Don't worry about that, with those two," his smile was broad.

"Better not be Bill 'n Ada's," she said with force before she leaned forward and coaxed his lips apart with hers as her hips gyrated and he slowly pumped with his thighs.

*****

I hope you've enjoyed this tale. Detective Shaw will return soon, she also appears in the "Chronicle: Mel & Chris..." series beginning with chapter 4 of that saga. It will be up soon in Science Fiction & Fantasy. Asha and Tracy of course star in their own series, "You Promised Me Geeks," in NonHuman. The second tale of that series, "You Promised Me Geeks: Asha & Tracy," is the full story of Nixon and Gail and Jake and Bonnie's gang crashing dinner at The Broiler restaurant, if you haven't already read about Tracy's difficulties with actors, well, an actor, and Asha's talent with sharp instruments.