New Markets - 02 (54 page)

"Feel free to.  Although we can head directly to your place and you can change right away."

"Okay.  My shoes won't fit either."

"You probably don't need them now, but I'm thinking you'll want to do some shopping for those soon too."  She nodded at me.

The nurse set the paperwork and pen on the bed.  "Be careful signing that, you might crush the pen."

Daphne picked up the pen like an egg and carefully scribbled out her signature.  I noticed now that she was standing she was as tall as I was.

We left the room, passed the officers and took the elevator down to the normal level and walked out through the front entrance.

As we left the building Daphne sighed and said, "It's nice to be out of there."

"Yeah.  So what do you do?"

"I'm a model."

I stared at her for a second.  "Well, I can see that.  I don't know what you looked like before the change, but you're gorgeous now."

She smiled, "Thanks."

I walked us out to my cycle and sat down.

She said, "No helmet?"

"You're a brick now.  You'll do far more damage to the blacktop than it can do to you, if it could even scratch you."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's a nice thing."

"Just be careful of grabbing things.  I'm pretty sure you are nowhere near as heavy as my friend, though, so you probably won't even have the problems with furniture that he does." 
Oh, crap, I hope she's not heavy, or the cycle won't handle it.

She slid up behind me - fortunately it seemed no different than any passenger might.

I started it up and slowly rode to the corner of the facility.  I stopped and put down the kickstand.

Daphne asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah.  We're just waiting for some friends.  I kind of lied about bringing you home alone, we've got other supers on the way.  I'm hoping the kidnappers try to go after you.  You're armored, so they can't hurt you, and with a group of us we can take down these damn mercs."

"Are you sure I can't be hurt?"

"I can cut you with my claws and let you heal it to prove your healing speed.  Or I could punch you to prove you can't be hurt by that."

"No, I'll pass, thanks.  I hope all this extra muscle doesn't hurt me from getting contracts."

I twisted in the seat and looked her up and down.  I couldn’t tell what her legs looked like with the sweats, but her upper body was hot.  "You look great, are you kidding me?"

"Most modeling companies don't want much muscle on the models."

"What about doing work for workout magazines, commercials, workout equipment, sports gear, extreme sports, and so on.  Hell, cold might not even bother you, so you could get into doing strange stuff in arctic weather that others can't do because of the cold.  Or volleyball, surfing.  You could look great in movies as well."

"Can you write those down for me?"

"How about I text them to you, what's your number?"

She gave me a number, I typed up the text while we waited for the others.  "There, text sent."

"Awesome, thank you for that."

"Glad to help."

Shortly a modified Jeep with the top down rolled up.  I recognized Gatecrasher from his size and costume.  Most of his head was hidden by a helmet, which had a white tinted faceplate.  The rest of his costume was a mix dark green areas over medium green areas near each joint and on the sides of the torso.  He grabbed the roll bar and leapt out of the jeep near us.

I stepped off the cycle and moved to shake his hand.  He put up his hand in the stop gesture and shook his head.

"Greetings.  I don't shake hands."

"Not a problem.  You can shake hers, though, she's a brick."

He turned toward her and he held out his hand.  They shook hands.  He said, "How in the world did you manage to change without become super wide?"

He was right, the two were wildly different.  He had to be about three feet wide at the shoulders.  She was perhaps half that, perhaps not even that much.  His entire body was stocky, just like Lance's.  Hers was shapely and well, a cross between athletic and voluptuous.

She shrugged.  "I'm Daphne, and I've got not idea what happened.  I was thinner before though."

He popped up the faceplate, it swiveled to stay on the top of the helm, much like a knight's visor.

He looked back at me, "Did you select her because of her looks?"

I grinned, "Yep.  Think about it.  Who wouldn't want
her
being their bodyguard?  She's multifunctional, and could appear as an escort for a wealthy guy or as a bodyguard.  Plus, being a brick she's a known auctionable.  Blasters and Psychics you don't know what you're really getting.  But a brick?  Clean and simple, great security."

Gatecrasher stared at me, then at her.  "Hmm, you might be right."

I heard the smooth engine of a sports cycle much like my own, it sounded like Hellshock's.  "I've also had a public argument with the F.B.I. agent.  Hopefully the mole was in hearing range, and they now know that I'm protecting her - and that I've failed versus their people already twice.  They might think they can nab me as well."

Hellshock came riding up on his cycle after a moment.  He stopped right by Gatecrasher, held out his fist and they bumped fists.

The lightning hero said, "Nice to see you, GC."

"You as well, 'shock."

Gatecrasher looked back at me, "So how we doing this?"

I looked at Daphne, "What's your address?"

She gave it to me, and I texted it to both of the others.

"Okay, you guys have it in your phones.  I'll bring her home, you find a stealthy spot to hide in until they attack.  I'm thinking one of the first priorities should be to disable their vehicle, that way they can't grab anyone and fly off.  Is this a house, Daphne?"

"Yeah, far west side."

"Good."

Hellshock asked, "Why don't we park in her garage."

I shook my head, "They shot sniper rifles right through my house.  They have some means of seeing through it."

"Ah, perhaps we'll impose on a neighbor then."

Gatecrasher nodded.  "Good idea.  No chance of seeing our vehicles then."

I said, "Great, I'll lead the way then.  I'll do a run around her block to look for odd vehicles or people lurking about.  I ought to anyway, and if it's clear you guys can follow."

"Excellent.  Let's hope they attack soon then."

"I agree."

I mounted my motorcycle again, Daphne climbed on behind me.

As I started the motorcycle she said, "I wonder if this is going to make tanning harder?"

I replied, "That I don't know, yet.  A psychic friend of mine hasn't lost hers yet, but she probably turned at the same time you did."

I glanced at the street location on my phone's map, and took off toward her house.

It was an uneventful ride, apart from the many stares we received.

Chapter 32 - Paintball

Rael's Viewpoint

After riding around the block and street a few times I failed to see anyone other than a pair of people working on their yards.  One was mowing, the other planting flowers.

I parked in her driveway; she certainly had a nice house.  The entire place reminded me a lot of the house where Zena, the first kidnap victim lived.

We entered the house after she retrieved her hidden key from the back patio.  The back of her shirt split wide open when she leaned over to pick up the key.  She frowned at the sound.

The inside of the house was spacious, with items picked out to look good in each spot.  No clutter was visible at all.

I glanced into each room before she went into the hall, if nothing else than to be nosy, and also to let her know that I was there to protect her. 
She doesn't realize her own power yet.

I said, "Hey, just a reminder, be gentle with everything you touch.  My brick buddy is breaking stuff every day."

"Okay, I'll be careful.  Mind if I take a shower?  I've been stuck in the hospital since Saturday."

"It's your house, feel free."

"There are some drinks in the fridge, help yourself."

"Thanks."

This could be awkward if they attacked right now....
  Fortunately (or not) nothing occurred while she showered, and she left the bathroom with a large towel wrapped around her.  She smiled at me as she walked past. 
I swear she’s flirting with me.
  I grinned back at her.

As she passed me she said, "I hope some of my clothes fit, I'm
so
not the same size any more."

She looked through her closet - I noticed that it was a full walk-in closet, and filled with an unbelievable quantity of clothing - and began hunting for something to wear.

She muttered as she looked, but my hearing picked almost all of it up.  She swore in disgust several times as she tried on various items that no longer fit.

Finally she came out in a t-shirt and sweats, and even those were quite tight.  "I need to do some shopping ASAP."

I chuckled, "I suppose so.  That's a lot of clothes to replace, sorry about that."

She scowled at me.

She led the way back into the main living area.  "Are you hungry?"

"Sure, I've only had an energy bar earlier this morning."

She prepared us some chicken wraps with veggies.

She asked, "Guh, how do I know how many calories I need to eat now?"

"Probably double what you did before.  Super bodies burn a lot of energy."

"Yes, but I have no desire to gain weight."

"Have you ever seen an overweight super?"

She looked thoughtful for a while, finally she gave up and said, "No.  I can't think of any."

"Neither can I.  Somehow I think you are safe."

We finished eating quickly and I thanked her.  We moved out to her deck to sit and chat.

"Do you know when these people might come after me?"

"No, I'm not even certain they will.  However, they've been working on this for days, and I'm betting they won't want to hold their inventory of kidnapped supers for a long time due to the danger of us freeing them.  If so they ought to move quickly to get one or both of us."

"But you don't know that they'll even come?"

"Not really."

"Ok, I'm going to tan then."