Sky High After Dark - Cosmic

The sounds of merriment were heard coming from the Carter household as the night grew long. The days turned into another and then another; before Aron knew it, he was slipping out of his warm, comfortable bed. He would advise anyone expecting the Trinarti not to have a sex dream given that they were basically telepaths and have no qualms about appearing in the middle of one. Slipping into some pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, Aron headed off towards the elevator to take it down to sublevel three. Which was not where Aron found himself as he looked around the strange room, wondering how he had gotten there; then he looked up and saw the bioluminescent node of the space ferrying creature that the Trinarti use as their means of space travel. His head darted down as the floor began to morph and take the shape of a single pillar table. Upon which Jill's unconscious body materialized upon.

The door's sound or would one think of a door in a living, sentient, space traversing creature opened. In came his friend for the past four years on a hovering circular platform. If you asked Aron what a Trinarti's bioelectrical suit looked like, he and everyone that has met one would say a very blue elf version from the old Christmas animated movies. Who stood at two feet tall, with thin arms and solid silver eyes. They once were solid black but changed it when word got back to them that it made a few uncomfortable. To Aron's thinking, those whiners are eating crow now, seeing how their silver eyes are far more monstrous in his opinion.

"So, do you think it will work?" Aron asked after they had their telepathic greeting. Watching how she held the bracelet they had designed over Jill's right forearm, while the outside silver casting was in truth a neuium alloy made from one of their equally rare metals not found on Earth, one wouldn't know of the high tech circuitry laying beneath that Earthly exterior. He knew the inch wide disk of the stellar core weighed roughly ten tons each if it wasn't for the Trinarti's anti-gravity technology. He wouldn't be able to watch as he witnessed how the radiation her body had absorbed began to lift off her body in a pink tint, then shifting to blue as it was absorbed by the core piece. "How long will she have to wear it for before her body stabilizes?" Nodding when she voiced her answer into his mind. "Will it do what it was... alright, color me impressed," Aron muttered once she showed him the adapters he had designed so the gathered cosmic radiation could be used offensively should Jill wish to take up the life of a hero.

Slipping his hand into hers once he had slipped the twin bracelet onto her left wrist. He knew the next few days were going to be tough on her. On a high note, he knew his female family members would be overjoyed at the prospect of updating Jill's attire as he noted the very dated clothes. "Thank you for doing this, Zeb," Aron said, peering over at his friend. She didn't mind the name since she knew he would never be able to vocalize it in his limited human vocal range. Reaching out and shaking her tiny hand, something she insisted they do after every parting so she could emerse herself in his culture to understand what it was like to be human, stuck in one dimension. While she was a faster learner, Aron wasn't the brightest, given how he's struggled with reading their language and understanding the way they communicate telepathically. Stepping back as the room morphed at Zeb's command. His eyes moved over the readouts on the screen Zeb had displayed for him as she ran more scans on Jill to measure the absorption rate of the bracelets. How fast the collectors would fill, that would be used to power her suit should Jill wish to wear it.

Chapter Five

"This is where you've been?!" Vera huffed as she sauntered down the stairs. Wondering what her son was up to as she noted the equipment that sat beside the bed they had brought down for Jill's use. She was equally confused when Aron was just sitting by the bed. Stopping in her tracks as he quickly got to his feet, pressing his finger to his lips. Her breath was caught in her throat when she noted a pair of legs when he did.

"Not so loud; she's still out of it," Aron said low.

"Jill... is that...."

"Yes, it's her. So far, the bracelets are working..." Rubbing his mother's arm as she tried not to break down in tears.

"C-can I see her?" Vera asked with a trembling voice.

"Sure, Mom, just watch out for the equipment," Aron said, directing his mother to Jill's bedside.

"What is all this stuff anyway?" Vera inquired, looking around, knowing it wasn't there yesterday afternoon.

"Instruments needed to measure Jill's radiation level. She's harmless to us, but her body..."

"Just can't contain it," Vera finished for him. "What are you doing?" she asked when something caught Aron's attention.

"The bracelets seem to absorb at set intervals, I don't know if that was by design or what, so I'm marking down when it does, then I can exstipulate on how much of a charge is on them," Aron spoke in a scientific voice.

"But will she be okay from now on?" Vera asked, not eager to lose the last connection she had to her father.

"She'll have to wear the bracelets for four months straight to stabilize her body's radiation levels, but after that, once a week for an hour or so, she'll be fine." Repeating what Zeb had told him, without deciphering mental images that the Trinartis are known to speak in.

"Really?!" Vera whispered from behind her cupped hand.

"Really," Aron nodded. Peering down at his daughter from another age as she rubbed her cheek against the pillow, curling herself deeper into that ball of hers beneath the blanket he had draped over her.

"Why didn't you take her clothes off?" Vera asked when she caught sight of the 1950s style shirt.

"That'd be kind of creepy, don't you think, me undressing my unconscious daughter? What would the neighbors think?" Aron joked.

"I'm going to go tell the others," Vera stated lightly, laying her hand on his arm.

"Just tell them to keep it down," Aron said, knowing they needed this and he wasn't about to disappoint his grandchildren. He would never get over that; nor that he was a father to a woman that was technically older than he was. Yet time is a strange creature; he knew the moment his counterpart had sent him back, he had fundamentally altered the time line causing his to no longer exist. Yet, seeing how his past self was in his past, he was now a part of his timeline. That was how his mother and everyone else were still born, allowing him to be born again. Still, even if she was older than he was she was still his daughter. He would do what he could to help her cope with the world she was about to wake into.

Jill groaned as she stretched, arching her back, feeling like it's been forever since she's been awake. Then her mind suddenly cleared as she surged up from the bed.

"Shh, it's okay, you're safe here," Aron said, leaning forward and placing his hand over his daughter's. What happened next had everyone there speechless, namely Aron. Who was holding out his hands as Jill just kissed him, and it wasn't a small peck; no, this was her tongue's exploration of the deepest parts of his mouth.

What Jill saw at that moment as she looked at the man, his older image overlayed his younger one. She knew this was going to happen; he did tell her it would before she went into that tube. Her lips pulled at his as they inched apart as she stared into Aron's eyes, looking for the man she knew as her father. Then the tears and the overwhelming sadness flooded her body, knowing she would never see the people she loved the most ever again.

"Just hold me, Daddy," Jill pleaded into his neck.

"I'm sorry..."

"I know, you are; you prepared me for this. You told me this would happen, but... Mom, Henry, you..." Aron lightly rubbed her back as she broke down in a fit of crying. "Dad, who are these people?" Jill asked after she had calmed down enough to rein in her emotions.

"Well, they're you're nephews and nieces, that's Neil..."

"Neil, little baby Neil?!" Jill's face lit up as she looked at him. "My, I see a lot hadn't changed since the last time I saw you when you were ten months old," Jill teased, causing Carl to burst out in laughter at his brother's expense.

"That's Carl, beside him, is Chery, that little spitfire right there is Tazia with Henry in her arms," smirking at the look she shot him also seeing how misty Jill's eyes got when she looked at his son, "and holding that beautiful, sweet girl is Aminah, and that woman right there standing beside that rather handsome man," playing up his father who naturally was happy to go along with it, "given that's where I get my looks from is my mother Vera and father Noah, and those two are my sisters Isabel and Lyla," Aron said, pointing to them who waved in kind to her.

"Well, hello, dreamboat," Jill said heatedly as she laid eyes on Troy. "And just who might you be? What?" Looking at Aron when he nudged her in her arm.

"That's Troy, you can do so much better than an EMT," Aron said in a teasing light getting a 'Hey!' from Isabel and Troy.

"But he's just the dish, Dad?!" Jill played along. Her eyes quivered; some things never change.

"And yet he's duller than a sack of potatoes," Aron stated with a broad grin at his brother's expense.

"Even a dull potato can be sharpened," Jill countered. "He is cute..." Her hand flew to her mouth as flame can to life, dancing along every single strand of Isabel's hair as her jealousy roared. Before burying her face in her hands and sobbing at the fact, Isabel looked so much like her mother when she did that. Her arms once again wrapped themselves around Aron when he lightly placed his arm along her shoulders to offer her some comfort.

"It's going to be okay," Aron said in a caring voice as he rubbed her back.

"Here, Aunt Jill," Carl spoke, holding out a box of tissues for her. He grew still as she reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. Those violet eyes of hers changed due to the amount of radiation she had absorbed before being placed into cryosleep, which was hauntingly familiar to him.

"I can see Henry in you. You're a speedster, aren't you?" Jill asked, catching Carl and the rest of them off guard.

"Yes, how did you know?" Carl asked, eager to hear her thoughts.

"You're muscles twitch every so often; Henry did that too when he was stuck in one place for too long. Thank you for the tissue," Jill said, plucking two from the box. "Dad, tell me you just didn't defrost me when you found me?" Biting her lip, feeling her face heat as Aron shot her a look she knew very well.

"You sure you're my daughter?"

"Cut me some slack, Papa." Jill's voice was soft and flirtatious. "I did just wake up from a... how long was I out again?"

"Sixty years," Troy offered up, eager to be the first to know Jill intimately.

"Well, stud, I don't look bad for an eighty-year-old woman, do I?" Jill said, trying to uncover the dynamic of their bond and where she could fit in, seeing she couldn't go back to her own time. The one time she knew her father had used the 'time machine' was to send his younger self back to his present.

"Jill," She couldn't help it, a smile appeared on her lips when her name left her father's lips, "it's not wise to irk the Mt. Issy; she can get explosive," Aron warned in that fatherly voice he had earned over the months.

"So you two an item?" Jill asked, pointing between Isabel and Troy. "Awe, so sweet," she cooed when they both nodded. "You'll share, right?" Jill asked with a wide smile, causing Troy's jaw to drop.

"As long as you don't mind loaning your Dad out to me from time to time," Isabel replied.

"Deal! Come on out, there's no need to be shy; we're all family here," Jill said, peering through their bodies to gaze upon Lyla, who, for the most part, had stayed in the background.

"Lyla, no need to be shy, honey, don't you want to meet your grandaunt?" Vera asked, turning towards her daughter.

"Dad?" Jill whispered from the side of her mouth.

"Lyla's self-conscious of the way she looks in her normal skin, especially to strangers, but she's working on it."

"Why?" Jill asked, having no problem picturing a few wrinkles on his face when she listened to him talk.

"She's a metamorph," Aron said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh." Placing her fingers to her lips, knowing how looked down upon those types of people were in her day. It would seem to her that it hasn't changed one bit. She tried to get up to go and hug her relative, yet it would seem her legs just weren't up to the task.

"Easy. You have some minor atrophy; it's going to take a while to get you up to walking unaided," Aron said. His hand pressed lightly on her back as he helped to ease her back down onto the bed.

"Lyla, was it?" Jill spoke in a warm, kind tone as she peered at Lyla. "You wouldn't mind helping me up to the kitchen, would you? I'm starving," she bemoaned, getting a chuckle out of the group. "Then you and I will have a talk, okay, Dad?"

"There are some things I want to ask you too," Aron said, ever since that night. He has wondered what kind of woman Carol was. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that... I'll never get to eat mom's cooking again," Jill said with a trembling lip. Her eyes watched as Vera bent down and took hold of her hand.

"Then come and let me cook her pancakes for you," Vera said in a warm, friendly tone.

"Y-you have her recipes?" Jill stammered.

"I do," Vera nodded. "How about we get you a shower and into some newer clothes... after we get you fed," she said with a sweet smile on her lips when Jill's stomach rumbled.

"That does sound nice," Jill said in a bashful tone.

"Any..."

"I'm fine, Dad. Better actually," Jill said when Aron and Carl helped her to stand. "Oh, you're far too hot for my Dad," she uttered once she got a good look at Lyla.

"Thanks," Lyla whispered. Her cheeks burned as she wrapped her arm around Jill's waist as Jill placed her arm on her shoulders.

"I'm serious, far too good for my Dad," Jill said in a teasing manner. Sticking her tongue out at Aron as she ambled off with Lyla's help.

"Aron, she brought on a good point. Is she going to be okay..."

"Yes, she'll be fine," Aron nodded. "As long as she wears the bracelets."

"What is that?" Jill's voice could be heard filling the house as Aron was the last one to leave the basement. "No. That can't be a TV. It's too small, for God's sake, and it's flat as a board. What?! Hot diggity dog!" Jill exclaimed in her '40s slang.

"Jill, I thought us ladies could take you out and get you a whole new wardrobe." Chery's voice could be heard as she moved about the kitchen.

"I don't want to cause any trouble."

"Oh, honey, it isn't any trouble; after all, you are his daughter," Aminah said, her gaze falling on Aron as he appeared in the doorway. "And shouldn't a father take care of his children?" she stated, yet her eyes never left him as she buckled Henry into his high chair. "Get the bananas..."

"None for Henry; they don't sit well with him." Henry smiled widely as Aron lightly brushed his son's cheek with his finger as he passed to get the baby food.

"Then get the apple," Tazia spoke up as she cradled her niece in her arms. Letting Nettie suckle on her while Aminah fed Henry to give Aminah's sensitive nipples a rest while getting to know Jill. Smiling wickedly at Aminah when she got Henry excited in his seat. Knowing it was going to give her more time with Aron.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?" Shooting his mother a look when she had this look on her face as she set about making the pancakes for the family. Handing the jar to Aminah before tossing away the lid.

"Those babies, are they...?"

"Your brother and sister? Yes, they are; you've met Henry, that's Nettie in Tazia's arms."

"Oh, oh, my, a telepath. So cool!" Holding out her hand to him, Aron could see she needed it at the moment. "Haven't you found this all to be... odd?"

"Oh, the moment I put on Veil, that's when I noticed it."

"So you didn't dismantle her?" Jill inquired, brushing her thumb along the back of his hand.

"What? Are you crazy?! You sure you're my daughter?"

"Very... sure, father," Jill replied in a sinful tone.

"I'll take you down to see her later," Aron said, nodding when Jill mouthed a 'thank you.' "Carl, run out and pick her up some clothes for the time being until she's strong enough to walk on her own," he said, holding out his debit card to his left.

"You have a Diner's card?!" Jill uttered in shock at the sight. She's only heard rumors of them whenever they went into town.

"Huh?" Came their collective confused drawl.

"She means a credit card," Troy said, trying to impress Jill. When in truth, he did a quick search of what a Diner's card was.

"Oh, no, it's a debit card, works on the same principle, but a debit card is tied to your bank account," Aron stated, explaining it the best he could to her.

"Huh, well, isn't that the bee's knees," Jill hummed, using her mother's favorite phrase.

"Right," plucking the card from Aron's fingers after Jill had told him her sizes, "I'll be back in a flash," Carl stated before zipping out the door.

"Why aren't you helping?" Jill asked after ten minutes of watching Vera, Chery, and Noah whip up a breakfast large enough for all of them. Which, as you can imagine, caused the chefs to stop and peer at them.

"Huh?" Aron muttered, confused.

"Why aren't you helping them to cook? I know you can. I can't wait to have your crepes again," Jill said, drooling at the thought.

"Aron," Tazia's voice got a hard tone to it, "have you been holding out on us?"

"Umm," Aron hummed, scratching his cheek as he looked away.

"Aron, don't make us pull it out of you," Vera warned.

"So I can cook a few things, no big deal," Aron said. He did take a few cooking classes in case he needed to cook his own meal out in the field. Which, in truth, happened more often when he was working in his lab. Looking down when Jill took him by the arm.

"It's a very big deal, Dad," Jill said, setting her resolve. "You just can't raise me on them and then suddenly cut me off?! I know you aren't that cruel to do that to your own daughter, now would you?" she asked, using her charm as she brushed her chest against his. "You're not that cold to your baby girl, are you?"

Aron noted the deviousness in Aminah's and Tazia's smiles as Jill batted her eyelashes at him. Knowing if he gave in meant he would have to do the same they were counting on it! They could smell blood in the water, and they were eager to strike.

"Jill?!" Aron gasped as she wasted no time in fondling his manhood.

"Mmm... it's the same," Jill sighed dreamily down at her father's cock once she had gotten it hard.

"After breakfast, I'll help you shower," Vera said, turning towards the kitchen table as she waited for the flapjacks to cook while Chery handled cooking the bacon and sausage they would need to feed that big of a crowd as Noah handled the eggs. "The kids have to work today, so you'll be stuck here with just us old folks," she spoke in a light tone, trying to get Jill to really smile. When she knew Jill was only smiling for appearances.

"Thanks," Jill whispered, resting her cheek on her father's right shoulder, knowing everything and everyone she knew was gone. "So," wiping away a fallen tear, "Dad, what kind of power do you have. I know you said you became powerless when that explosion sent you back. I've always wondered what kind of powers you've always had."

"Superstrength and invulnerability," Aron stated factually.

"Huh, I didn't think, with that big brain of yours, you'd have the strength to go with it," Jill teased, winking at Troy when he was laughing along.