The Store

"What? Really?" Kelly was shocked by this, so much so that she almost didn't hear the faint sound of screaming from one of the smaller side streets that ran away from the large dual carriageway they were moving along.

"Christ -- come on, it's got to be close by." Tim said as he dragged her with him.

****

The people at the bus stop we all huddled together. Some were crying, others were screaming. As Tim and Kelly rounded the corner they saw it -- the grey-blue blob rearing up like some obscene nightmarish giant slug. It slammed against the Perspex of the bus shelter and rapidly began to digest it.

"Come on -- we haven't got much time." Tim said as he ran to the bus stop. The people continued to scream as he stood just behind the mass. Kelly hobbled after him, unsure what he was trying to do. "Stop this!" he shouted. Kelly watched in awe as the blob suddenly stopped what it was doing and seemed to twist in his direction.

"You don't want to hurt these people -- you're scared, I appreciate that," Tim said. Kelly was astonished, as the mass seemed to recede in size and move closer towards Tim. "You've never hurt me before, and you never hurt the others in the lab -- it's not in your nature. I understand you were trying to protect me...weren't you?" He stretched out his hand to touch the glob of matter -- and stroked it. There was no scream of pain like Kelly expected, and she was sure that she could hear some sort of low level rumbling noise that sounded distinctly like purring. The mass then moved swiftly, climbing up his legs and beginning to cover his torso. Tim turned to face Kelly. "Shot me -- now, while it's trying to connect to me."

"What? That's insane..."

"It's the only chance we've got -- you have to shoot me." The matter was now covering most of his body except for the extreme parts of his harms and his head, and to her horror it seemed to be soaking into his flesh without burning it. Kelly pulled her pistol out from her holster and aimed it at Tim's chest.

"I'm sorry..." the words slipped past her lips as she pulled the trigger twice. Both bullets found their home as they crashed into Tim's chest. His body hit the floor with a wet thud. Kelly struggled across to him -- but she could see the lifeless eyes staring up at her. Whatever was left of the blob seemed to have gone, absorbed within his body. She pulled the mobile phone from her jacket pocket and dialled a number.

"Is it done?" the voice on the other end answered.

"Yes."

"Did you recover the sample?"

"No...no it was lost." Kelly lied.

"That's...unfortunate." The voice said. "Bring the body to Heathwood Industrial estate -- we require proof of it before payment." The phone line went dead.

****

The industrial estate was deserted, pretty much as she'd expected it to be. She pulled the Audi up in the large car park and flashed her headlights twice. From out of the darkness came a large dark transit van. It stopped and the doors opened. She counted four occupants that got out of the vehicle and slowly approached her as she put the full magazine into her pistol. She recognised one of them -- she knew him as Evans, her liaison with Biotech's special operations division. Kelly opened her door and got out.

"Do you have the body?" Evans asked as he handed her a briefcase. She opened it and saw the packets of fifty-pound notes inside. "Cash as you requested."

"In the car." Kelly's reply was flat, trying to suppress the various emotions that were swirling around her head.

"Good." Evans indicated to two of the men. They moved around the Audi and took the cargo from the compact car. Kelly watched as they carried Tim's body to the back of the van. Evans looked at her.

"So the sample was lost then?" he asked. Kelly nodded. Evans shook his head. "As I said that is unfortunate..." In her peripheral vision she saw the bodyguard standing closest to Evans reaching into his jacket. Kelly reacted as quickly as she could, pulling her pistol from her holster. Even so, she was still a fraction of a second slower than the guard. The gunshots rang out in quick succession.

The impact of the shell against her shoulder knocked Kelly to the floor. She struggled to turn herself over as her left shoulder burned with pain. This was more immediate and intense than the sensation that had been resonating from her leg. As she pulled herself back into a sitting position against her car she glanced across and saw the bodyguard lying on the floor -- his white shirt covered in a plume of red. Evans walked over to her and picked up her pistol.

"Very commendable." Evans said as he looked the weapon over. "And a fantastic shot there too, it's just a pity it's all for nought." Evans levelled the weapon at her prone form. Kelly found herself staring down the barrel of her own gun.

Afterwards Kelly wasn't sure whether she saw the light or heard the explosion first. Sometimes when she replayed the events over in her head they were simultaneous -- other times the light filled the night sky a fraction of a second before the shockwave of the explosion knocked her down. What she did recall with one hundred percent accuracy was the sight before her eyes afterwards.

Standing about twenty feet away from her and approaching rapidly was a humanoid shape -- covered from head to toe in the same blue-grey matter that had made up sample two six one. Kelly looked closer -- there seemed to be a large, cannon shaped structure growing out of the figure's right arm. Evans had now regained consciousness -- upon seeing the figure advancing on them he blazed away several gun shots. Despite them hitting their target they seemed to have no effect. The figure became stationery, then raised it's right arm to point the extension at Evans.

The hairs on the back of Kelly's neck stood on end for a moment before a beam of purple energy shot out of the cannon appendage at the prone Biotech executive. In the blink of an eye Evans was vaporised. The figure then resumed its progress towards Kelly. Fear gripped her stomach, yet her wounds meant she was unable to flee. The figure reached her; knelt down and extended it's hand.

"You are injured." The voice was gravely, yet strangely familiar. "Without adequate treatment they will become critical. We will assist you." The figure reached out and placed its hand on her shoulder. The substance flowed from the hand and began to cover her shoulder. Kelly screamed as she felt it enter her wound. As she managed to open her eyes against the pain she saw that the hand on her shoulder was now an all too human looking one.

"...T...Tim?" she managed to whisper as the pain became more intense, flaring up to a pitch she never knew possible before.

"Quiet." The gravely voice spoke. "Arterial damage repaired...Muscular damage repaired...Epidermal damage now superficial." And with that the pain in her shoulder was gone. The humanoid placed its other hand on her calf where the acid had burned her earlier. A few moments later and that wound was healed. The humanoid stood up and helped Kerry to her feet.

"Tim...is that you in there?" she asked as she tentatively brushed its face with her hand. The skin -- if you would call it that -- was smooth and warm.

"We are gestalt." The voice spoke. It was then that the head changed. The blue-grey matter melted away from the figure. Underneath she saw Tim's face looking down at her -- except his eyes were completely black. "We are the organic being known as Tim and the Other -- the Traveller." There was a pause for a moment before the figure spoke again. "Are you fit to return to the Neutral Zone?"

"Yeah...I guess so." Kelly replied.

"Good. We should leave." The figure looked at the car, then at Kelly. "You will need to drive."

****

When they returned to the store Kelly found herself confronted with the site of Ron's dead body still lying in the shop. As Tim stood there he began to convulse, his body doubling over and he fell to the floor.

"Tim? Tim? Are you alright?" Kelly feared for the worst. As he retched the now familiar blue-grey matter poured from his mouth, nostrils and eyes, forming a puddle about the size of a dinner plate. After his final cough Tim collapsed to the floor as the goo moved over to the dead body. Kelly ignored it as she shook the storeowner. "Can you hear me? Tim?"

"Yeah...yeah..." his voice was laboured and his breathing shallow, but his eyes were normal again. "Jesus..."

"What happened to you?" Kelly asked. "I thought you were dead..."

"I was -- when it started to bond with me I knew that would be the only chance I had to stop it, hence the reason I told you to shoot me." He said as he pulled himself into a seated position. "But something happened -- it was like it just jump started my body once it knew I was in danger...or rather we were in danger."

"What the hell was that thing you shot Evans with? It was like something out of a science fiction movie." Kelly said as she sat back on her haunches. Tim shook his head.

"Would you believe me if I said I think it was a fusion cannon -- it seemed to search my mind and pluck the idea out of there. I must have read too many Transformers comics recently." He shook his head. "My god, I killed people tonight."

"Tim, listen to me -- you were right -- it was a set up. They were going to kill me then take you away and cut you up." Kelly said, trying to keep him from losing focus. "You have to remember that -- and if they had realised that you were alive they probably would have still done that to you."

"I know," Tim muttered. "But that doesn't make it any easier to live with." He looked into her soft brown eyes. "How do you do it?"

"Some people deserve to die." Kelly responded, then broke his gaze. "I should go."

"What happens to me then?" Tim asked. Kelly shrugged her shoulders.

"You saved my life twice tonight. As far as I'm concerned whatever contract was in place is null and void now." She said as she stood up. "I really need to make a move."

"Why?" Tim said as he reached out and grabbed Kelly's hand.

"It's not safe here." She replied. "And you should think about moving too."

"I'm not going anywhere." The defiance was clear in his voice, even in his weakened state. "This is my shop and my building, I didn't spend six months setting up a dummy corporation to front this place just to piss it away at the first sign of adversity." Tim paused for a moment. Kelly looked at him -- his face was a mixture of emotions. "And I don't want you to go either."

"What?"

"Stay here with me -- I mean, not in the same apartment, you can use the apartment next door, and I can offer you a job here in the shop," Tim said. "But I couldn't think of anyone more qualified to make sure no other bugger gets their hands on that." He motioned towards the sample, which had now all but dissolved what was left of Ron's body.

"And what about me? Who's going to make sure they don't come after me for taking their money without delivering the goods?" Kelly asked. Tim smiled.

"Hey, I've got an alien battle suit here that's more than capable of covering your arse if you get into any trouble." He replied. Kelly shook her head.

"I know I'm going to regret this." She said as she extended her hand. They shook.

"Great, now let's get that door panel boarded up." Tim said as he managed to get to his feet.

****

Tuesday 8:45 am

Moz opened the door and dumped the banana milkshake on the counter.

"Breakfast is here." He said as he took his coat off and threw it over the chair behind the till.

"Morning Moz." Tim said as he came down the stairs from the office. Kelly was walking close behind. "Kelly, Moz. Moz, Kelly."

"Oh right -- morning X-Men Girl!" Moz said. He then looked at Tim. "We don't open for fifteen minutes."

"I know," Tim said. "She's our new employee."

"Okay," Moz said, then looked at the floor for a minute. "Does this mean...?"

"Yes mate." Tim interrupted. "You can have next weekend off."

"Great!" The elation was clear to hear in his voice as he walked over to Kelly and shook her hand. "Great to have you on board."

"It's nice to be here." Kelly replied. Tim handed her two large A4 sized books. Kelly looked down at them -- X-Men: The Claremont Years -- were emblazoned across the cover of them.

"Right you need to get reading." Tim said sternly. "Start with those, then let me know when you're done."

"Why?" she asked.

"If you work for me you need to be on the top of your game -- and the geeks and nerds who come in here will sniff out a phoney a mile away." Tim said with a smile on his face. "Astonishing X-Men my arse...bloody Joss Whedon..." he muttered as he headed back to the till.

"So," Moz asked as he began to tuck into his fast food breakfast. "What did you get up to last night Tim?"

"Oh, nothing exciting." Tim replied. Kelly looked at him and shook her head ruefully. "Just this and that."