Myths and Legends - Amazons Ch. 13

"Now, what did they say when you told them we were all but refusing to explain how we got so strong?"

"They weren't the slightest bit happy," Xāda giggled. "I think that's the ultimate reason they didn't want to give me a plane I wanted."

"So, you're saying they gave us that hunk of junk out of spite?"

"Of course, I can't prove it. However, they were at least amenable on a decent plane at first. They had found a used Gulfstream G700 would have suited our needs, if not perfectly, then decently. After I mentioned that we would not be sharing knowledge of how we attained our strength, they immediately took that off of the table."

Jake just rolled his eyes. "Typical bureaucratic bullshit."

The door to the bedroom swung inward and Tatiana, Sestia, and Lenore walked in, looking slightly worse-for-wear. Sestia dove for the bed and, with a playful giggle, she landed opposite Jake and bounced once before snuggling into his back. Tatiana leaned down and kissed first Xāda, then Jake soundly before pulling back with a smile.

"The house is furnished, my king," Lenore informed them.

"Are all the workers gone?" Jake asked.

"Yes, Dikos Mou," Sestia purred from behind him as her hands roamed across his naked body. "Will you play with us, now?"

Jake chuckled has he found one of her hands and squeezed it. "Later. I promise. For now, I'm starving and I don't want to get dressed."

Epilogue

Washington, DC

The Pentagon

Lily Blackburn stared at the screen in front of her, more through it than at it. She'd been a jumbled mix of raw emotion since receiving the news of her brother's death. Trying and failing to mask her grief with her work, she only went home to Nebraska long enough to attend the funeral before returning to Washington. A funeral where there was no body to say goodbye to.

A small part of her dared to hope that, with no body, Jake was just lost somewhere. At sea. With nothing to keep him afloat. He'd...

She teared up again, and she blinked her eyes to try and clear them away. She shook her head slightly and tried to focus on the task at hand. Her productivity had suffered for the last two weeks. Her boss had known it, but her adamant refusal to take some time off outweighed his displeasure from her less-than-adequate performance.

Her inter-office relationships, which normally would be amicable at best, were strained to the breaking point. So much so that she just avoided talking to any one unless her job expressly required it.

"Blackburn!"

Lily jumped, startled at the sudden burst of sound coming from her boss's office. She'd been drifting off into catatonia again.

"Get in here!"

Lily sniffled, composed herself, and stood. She smoothed out her knee-length skirt, straightened her back, then walked confidently into her boss's office.

"Yes, sir?" she said.

"Shut the door and sit down, Captain," Major Michael Hughes ordered.

"Sir, I'm not in the Air Force any longer. It's just Miss, now," Lily corrected him as she took a seat opposite his opulent desk. "Or just Lily."

Michael was a stout man, though tall and lean of build, with dark hair speckled here and there with gray strands trying to peek though the surface. Only a couple of years older than Lily, he never married and didn't date. One might say he was married to the Air Force and had no time or need for a woman. Lily, for her part, had been immediately attracted to the man with the piercing blue eyes and chiseled chin when she first met him. However, inter-office relationships of that kind were strictly forbidden. Though she would admit to no one but herself that on more than one occasion of horniness, she'd masturbated to the mental image of him atop her.

"Bad habit, I'm afraid," Michael replied. "Best get used to it unless you're willing to just call me Mike."

Lily managed a small smirk despite her depression. It took five years to get him to this point of familiarity, and though she was coping with some deep personal emotions, she was eager to jump on the opportunity.

"I believe that can be arranged, Mike," she replied with a soft smile.

Mike stiffened slightly at the sound of his own name, not expecting her to actually agree to his off-handed request.

"What did you want to see me about?"

Mike picked up a sheet of paper from his desk and offered it to her. "Effective immediately," he replied.

Lily's heart jumped in her chest, hammering rapidly as she took the paper with shaking fingers. [Are they firing me?] she thought. As she read it, her face scrunched up into confusion before she looked up at her boss.

"This, this is a mandatory leave request," she uttered, confused.

"It is," Mike replied. "Came all the way from the top."

"You're... you're making me take a vacation?" she asked, bewildered. "I don't understand. I told you I needed to work."

"It's not my choice, Lily," Mike replied, softening his tone. "Brass has begun to take notice of your performance, or lack there-of, since you returned from the funeral. They're forcing you to take some time off."

"This is my mother's doing," Lily replied, heatedly.

Mike chuckled. "There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't heard from your mother begging me to let you come home. But, no. This has nothing at all to do with your mother. This came straight from General Voles' desk, Lily. And even if it didn't, you need to take some time off. Go see someone, get some help. Hell, I'd make the appointment for you if I knew you'd go."

"I don't need to tell a stranger about my problems," Lily shot back.

"Then go home," Mike replied. "Go see your parents. This may sound harsh, but this isn't just about you. They need you just as much as you need them. You need to grieve as a family."

Lily stared blankly at the sheet of paper in her hands. Her heart was in turmoil, her mind a jumble of thought. Finally, she looked up at her boss.

"And if I refuse?" she croaked. Her emotions were getting the better of her, clouding her judgement, and it was all she could do to keep the sob from escaping her throat.

Mike handed her another sheet of paper. His face held a mix of emotions that he didn't dare consider expressing as he sat back in his plush office chair. Lily's eyes widened as she read this current document.

"They're firing me!?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

Mike nodded. "One way or the other, Lily, you're going to take some time off."

"This is more than unfair, Mike, and you know it!" she bellowed. "This is bullshit, is what it is!"

Mike's expression turned sour as he leaned forward in his chair. Lily's eyes widened and she shrank back in her seat as she looked away.

"It's only because I sympathize with your ordeal that I'm allowing you that single act of insubordination, Captain Blackburn," he warned, reverting to his clipped military demeanor. "Don't let it happen again. I know you're hurting. I know you're dealing with a complex round of emotions threatening to tear you apart. Don't let them ruin your life, Captain."

"Sorry, sir," Lily replied, properly chastened. "It... won't happen again."

"Take the time, Lily," Mike urged her. "Go home. See your family. Let them help you deal with this in the same way you'll be helping them."

"Will you... will you watch my boys?" she asked, knowing he'd always dog-sat for her in the past when she had to be away for more than a night.

Mike shook his head. "Take them with you," he offered. "Dogs are incredibly empathic creatures. I suspect that the only reason you've been able to function this long is because of them."

Lily chuckled sadly as she finally allowed herself a few tears in the presence of the one man who wouldn't care one way or the other. Her eyes were downcast as she just couldn't hold back the sobs any longer. Her face fell into her hands as she cried.

Suddenly, Mike was standing before her, his hand wrapped gently around her wrists. "I've never been good at comforting women," he replied in a whisper so low she could barely hear it. "But I'm here if you need-- OOF!"

In a flash, she was up and wrapping her arms around his large, muscular chest as she crashed into him. She buried her face in his shirt as she cried. He wrapped his arms around her and held her until she had no more tears to shed.

~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~

Lily walked out of Eppley Airfield in Omaha with Badger and Baxter--her dachshunds gifted to her by her brother upon his death--under each arm to be greeted by her step-father, Micheal Smith. Mike grinned broadly when he saw his step-daughter. An airport luggage attendant followed closely behind, towing Lily's bags.

"Good flight?" Mike asked with a smile as he popped the trunk of his car so the attendant could stow Lily's luggage for her. He hugged his daughter briefly before pulling back and giving the dogs an affectionate pat on the head.

Lily stood seemingly aloof in a baggy pair of sweatpants and a loose top. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a loose pony-tail and wisps of her hair stood out in all directions. Her eyes were bloodshot and tearstained, and ringed with dark circles. Her shoulders slumped in a defeated posture as she waited for Mike to say something else.

When he didn't, Lily shrugged as she got in the passenger side of the car. "Not too bad," she replied mechanically, forgetting to thank the porter when he was finished. "I could have reserved a car, you know," she mentioned, almost absently.

"I know," Mike said as he rounded the other side of the car and sat behind the wheel. "But then it would have just sat there for two weeks while you drive your car around."

Lily glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as he pulled away from the curb. "You, fixed my car?" she asked.

"I did, Lil," he replied, good-naturedly. "The old 'Stang is running smooth and strong."

A tight smile crept across her lips before she sighed and leaned her head against the glass of the door, staring out at nothing as the city passed by them. Badger and Baxter sat in the back seat panting with their tails wagging uncertainly.

"The boys need to go," she said absently. "They haven't been since before we left Washington."

Mike looked over at his forlorn step-daughter. "Why don't you try and get some rest," he said. "You look like hell. I'll take care of the boys."

Lily closed her eyes and shrugged absently. She had spent the last two days crying uncontrollably. She had been mortified when she had separated from her boss, her tears soaking the front of the major's shirt. He had waved her concerns away and ushered her out the door. It seemed that once she let go and unloaded all her pent-up grief on her boss's chest, she couldn't seem to control her emotions. The slightest inconvenience opened the faucet of her waterworks causing her to sob openly. The strangers that witnessed the unfortunate event looked on with mixed expressions of pity and apprehension.

Sometime later, Lily opened her eyes to see the rolling landscape flashing by outside the window. While she did sleep for a bit, and felt a modicum refreshed, her brow knit in confusion.

"Where are we, dad?" she asked.

"Almost there," her step-father replied.

"Almost where? This isn't the way home," she said, looking bewildered.

"You'll see," Mike said. "It's a surprise."

Lily sighed. "Dad," she said, sounding like she wasn't in the mood for antics, "what's going on?"

"I can't tell you."

"You know I'm not in the mood for surprises. Just tell me where we're going."

"I'd love to, kiddo," Mike said. "I really would. But this is one surprise I am not allowed to ruin. You'll just have to wait and see."

"Fine," Lily grumbled, crossing her arms across her breasts and leaning her head against the side window again.

Half an hour later, they pulled up in front of a light blue, almost teal colored two-story colonial-style home with a wrap-around, covered porch. Three other vehicles occupied the large, circular driveway. One was a large black Chevy Suburban, the other a candy-apple-red Dodge Charger, and the last was her own hot-pink, supercharged, 2010 Ford Mustang Shelby GT.

"Dad?" Lily asked as she looked at her step-father. "Wh-what's going on? Where are we?"

Mike smiled warmly at her. For the first time, Lily noted the lack of sadness in his smile; the utter lack of any grief whatsoever on his features.

"Daddy?" she asked, almost in a squeak.

"Trust me, peanut," Mike said, smiling with happy tears forming in the corners of his eyes as he let the pups out in the yard. He hadn't called her her pet name in years. "They'll be safe enough out here. Let's go inside."

Lily, clinging to her father's side, walked in the front door to a spacious elegant foyer lined with deco art that would make the most prominent art gallery green with envy. A curving staircase led from the right to the upper, U-shaped landing of the second floor. Prismatic light twinkled all along the walls from a gorgeous, crystalline chandelier.

"Dad, what is this place?" Lily asked as she inhaled deeply. The aroma of her mother's pepper-steak wafted from somewhere off to her left.

"Come on," Mike said, ushering her into the largest living room Lily had ever seen. It had plush, burgundy carpet with a recessed conversation pit off-center in the back of the room. "Wait here."

Mike walked away, leaving Lily to marvel at the beauty of the room with its turquoise walls that contrasted nicely with the dark carpet. A faint scent of fresh paint tickled her senses the closer she got to the walls, informing her that they had been painted recently. More expensive-looking art and trinkets decorated the walls as she slowly spun to take in the room.

"So," a voice spoke from behind her, causing Lily to freeze in her tracks, "Mom tells me my big sister has been overbearingly stubborn."

Lily knew that voice. It shouldn't be possible. Her heart hammered in her chest, sending her adrenaline into over-drive.

"Not coming home to help the family," the voice continued.

"No," Lily whispered in almost a squeak. "It can't be."

"Putting work before everything else to try and forget her little brother's death," the voice finally continued.

Lily turned almost mechanically slowly, her eyes widening to almost comical proportions. "Jake?" she whispered.

"Hey, Lil," Jake said with an easy smile, leaning languidly along the wall at the entrance to the room with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed with a toe resting on the floor.

"Jake?" she repeated with a hint more force.

"That's my name, sis. Don't wear it out."

"Is it really you?" she asked as tears streamed unbidden down her cheeks.

"It is, Lil," Jake said with a grin. "I'm back from the dead."

"Don't play with me," she ordered, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. "Don't you fucking play with me. Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"No," Jake said with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "But this always was: You're still as sexy as ever."

Lily's eyes widened again, her hands covering her agape mouth as she gasped.

"Jacob!" she squeaked.

"It really is me, Lil," Jake said as he moved away from the wall and stood facing her fully.

Lily was at a loss for words. Nothing more could be said. Her hands stretched toward him. Her body moving forward, but her legs rooted to the spot. She ached to hold him, as if doing so would solidify in her mind what her heart was crying out to her. [JAKE IS ALIVE!!] it screamed. [HE'S ALIVE!!]

Jake was in front of her in an instant. She'd never seen anyone move that fast. She had barely stumbled forward than he had her in his arms. In the space between heartbeats he had moved from half way across the room to hoist her up and hug her fiercely.

"OH, MY GOD!" Lily cried, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "OH, MY GOD! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

Lily sobbed into Jake's neck as he held her. For a long while Jake stood in the middle of the living room with his kid-sister in his arms. When he finally moved to sit down in an oversized La-Z-Boy recliner, the depressions his feet left in the carpet still remained. Her arms and legs never relaxed, clutching him like he was a prized possession that would flee the moment she let go.

Eventually, her sobs quieted; her tears abated; her snot quit dribbling out of her nose. Her legs were still locked around Jake's waist and her arms locked tight around his neck. She pulled back to look in his face and Jake could only describe what she looked like as a 'glazed donut monster' from one of Bill Cosby's comedy routines.

Jake grabbed some tissued and wiped her nose and face. Lily sniffled when he was done and leaned down to kiss his lips. There was nothing sexual about the kiss--it was more familial than anything--then his cheeks, his forehead, his head, then wrapped hear arms around his head and pulled his face to the space between her chin and breasts.

"You're alive," she whispered. "I can't believe you're alive." Then, in a more normal--though still croaky from crying so much--tone, she said, "Why are you alive? How the fuck are you alive? When--" Lily shifted her hips slightly then pulled back again, narrowing her eyes at Jake. "How the fuck are you turned on right now? You know what? I don't care. I don't care that your dick is poking me in the ass right now. I am not letting you go." She pulled him to her chest again and Jake laughed. "I'm not letting you go for a good long while. I wouldn't care if your dick was somehow buried deep in my pussy, I am NOT letting you go."

"Lilliana Renee Blackburn!!" the siblings' mother admonished from kitchen. "That is not appropriate, young lady!"

"I don't care, mom!" Lily cried back. "I'll find time to be disgusted later, but I'm not letting him go!!"

For the briefest of instants, something deep within Jake's psyche entertained the idea before he very forcibly shut it down. Lily was his sister, not a conquest. As if the internal battle raged within him, something said, [But she is still mostly Amazon, as are you.]

[Fuck THAT!] Jake told himself, not wanting to entertain that idea at all.

The last argument the voice offered before going silent almost broke his resolve. [If you do,] it said, [she'll be all but immortal, like you.]

The idea of Lily being by his side as strong and as fast as him was a thought he couldn't ignore. But, no. Lily had her own life. Besides, the idea of fucking his sister caused bile to rise in his throat. [Nope,] he thought. [Not fucking happening.]

As if to add insult to injury, Jake could smell her desire as it wafted across his nose. Lily was turned on as well. [MotherFUCKER!!] Jake groaned internally. Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, the voice cackled with mad laughter.

~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~

After dinner that evening, Lily sat on a lounge-chair on the back veranda of the house watching Jake play with Badger and Butcher. She hadn't let him out of her sight the entire time. She even tried to follow him into the bathroom at one point, which was disgusting, but something in her didn't care. [He's alive.] The words took root in her thoughts and it became almost a mantra to her throughout the day.

The ghost of a presence invaded her left side and she looked up into the hazel-gray eyes of the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. Xāda held out a bottle to the blonde and Lily took it. She took a few long pulls from the bottle, swallowing the beer in loud gulps before pulling the rim away from her lips. Xāda sat in the chair next to Lily and took a few sips from her own bottle.

"He really does love those dogs," Xāda commented with a smile as Jake ran and jumped and played with the two dachshunds. The dogs yipped happily, growling and nipping at Jake playfully as they reunited.

"He does," Lily replied.

"I have a question," Xāda said. "Jake called you his big sister, but you're actually younger than he."