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Never Cross a Telepath

Part 1

Black woke up to the sensation of his face against the pillow. It was unusual
enough for him to tense. He always slept on his back so he could jump quickly
out of bed in an emergency.
He gasped and arched against the mattress when two heavily lubricated fingers
slid into his ass. They pushed in gently, retreated, then filled him again up to the
knuckles. Tendrils of silken hair trailed over his shoulders as Calyx Starr
murmured into his ear, "Morning, Darkness. I was about to start without you."
It was testament to Black's recent exhaustion that he hadn't felt the empath climb
onto the bed with him or pull down the sheet and Black's sleeping pants. Black
wasn't in a mood to complain, though. He needed the proof that Starr still
desired him after learning that he'd once been Genesis. He needed to be
convinced that Starr had meant every word he'd said, and wouldn't abandon
Black now that he was physically weaker.
"Your emotions are leaking," Starr whispered, sounding vaguely surprised.
"How can you still doubt me when I've had plenty of time to cut and leave,
sweetheart?"
Black instinctively started to tighten up his shields... and then decided not to
bother. He had nothing left to hide from Starr. Starr knew everything; he may as
well know Black's emotions, too.
The empath let out a pleased hum as Black said, "You can't blame me for being
afraid." He turned his head enough so his cheek brushed Starr's lips. "You didn't
join JC2 because you wanted to."
"But I stay because it's my home and the other guys are my brothers," Starr
replied, his voice warm and moist against Black's skin. "And I'm staying with
you because I love Black. That's who you are now, right? Black, not Genesis?"
Black closed his eyes as tension seeped from his limbs. "Yes. Genesis was
Starwood's creation, and died a long time ago. I will never be him again."
"Then I don't have any reason to leave you. A life on the streets without you
sounds pretty damned sucky, sweetheart." Black moaned and grabbed the
corners of his pillow as the fingers inside him stroked over his prostate. "The
only form of sucking I like happens during sex, Darkness, and I can't have that if
I don't have you."
Black spread his legs as Starr moved up tighter behind him. The empath's bare
knees pressed against his inner thighs. Black hoped Dr. Parker and his wife were
keeping Mneumonia and Gelie Lark busy in another part of the house.
"Are you going to fuck me?" he asked in a low voice, his cock lying stiff and
hard beneath him.
A tongue curled around his earlobe. "Do you want me to?"
The lust that rushed through Black's body felt clean, untainted, carried in new
blood.
"Yes," Black whispered, lifting his knees to leave himself spread like a frog.
Starr's chuckle made goosebumps pepper Black's skin. "Yes, what? Talk dirty to
me, Darkness. I know you can do it."
"Fuck me," Black groaned, bearing down on Starr's fingers, rolling his hips and
shamelessly fucking himself.
"Mmm, you seem to be doing it all on your own," Starr teased. He caught
Black's earlobe between his teeth and tugged on it while his free hand moved up
to the bed beside Black's pillow to brace the empath's body as he lowered his
hips atop Black's. The hot length of his dick rested against Black's thigh. "If you
want my cock, you need to stop moving, Darkness."
An easy order to obey except Starr pressed his fingertips against Black's
prostate, causing the brunette to buck back against him and gasp helplessly.
"Come on," Starr taunted in a smug voice, "just stop moving, sweetheart."
"I -- fuck." Black gritted his teeth and shuddered as Starr continued to
deliberately massage him. "S-stop. Stop, damnit."
"But you look like you're enjoying it."
Black pressed his hot face into the pillow. He began to hump the bed while
pushing his ass onto Starr's fingers. The empath's lips trailed across the nape of
his neck, placing soft kisses there and occasionally biting him. Starr shifted,
rubbing his cock against Black's thigh.
"Want to fuck you," he murmured against the back of Black's neck. "Want to fill
your ass with my cock, sweetheart, make you moan..."
Black panted into the pillow. His entire body was hot, but he wanted Starr to
make him hotter. He reached back with one hand and blindly fumbled about
until he grabbed a fistful of the empath's taut flank. He pulled, urging Starr
closer.
"Just do it," he ordered. "Stop fucking with me."
"Oh, I've only begun to fuck with you, Darkness."
That filthy, whore-ish tone of Starr's voice sent shivers racing up and down
Black's spine.
"I think you're -- stalling because you're -- about to blow -- your load," Black
panted, turning his head enough on the pillow to let Starr see him smirking.
"Oh, you did not just say that," Starr growled, hooking his fingers in Black's ass
and twisting them.
"F-fuck," Black moaned, his shoulders and hips lifting off the bed. "Damn you,
Starr... stop torturing me!"
Starr ignored him and began to press his fingers rhythmically against Black's
gland, milking him from the inside. Black could barely breathe. His cock was
living stone, practically vibrating with tension and forming a damp spot beneath
his hips where it was leaking from the tip. His toes curled in the sheets. His
fingernails dug so hard into the pillowcase he expected to hear the sound of
ripping fabric any second.
"You asked for this when you asked me to stay," Starr purred in his ear. "For the
rest of your life, sweetheart, this is what you'll get from me. Nothing but torture.
Nothing but endless fucking with your mind and with your body."
Maybe a saner man would have been alarmed by the declaration, but Black
loved it.
"Then fucking torture me better," he snarled, squeezing his inner muscles around
Starr's fingers. "Give me your cock, Starr."
Starr's thumb teased along Black's cleft. "First, tell me you love me."
Black laughed hoarsely. "You know I do. Nothing else matters in the world
except you."
He felt the cock lying against the back of his thigh pulse as if in pleasure. "Then
say the words, Darkness. Satisfy the girl in me."
Black dropped his eyes, unaccountably shy even though he had Starr's fingers in
his ass. "I love you. I love you more than I love myself."
Silence fell. Starr's fingers were motionless inside him. He could feel the
empath's breath lightly fanning the back of his head.
"Fuck that answer, Darkness," Starr snapped. "I'm no better than you are and
there's no reason you can't love yourself just as much as you love me. I mean,
hell -- you make me sound like some kind of loser for loving you since you seem
to think you're not worth very much."
A smile touched the corners of Black's lips. "I hadn't considered how my
diminished worth might affect your reputation."
"I care very much about my reputation, sweetheart. Calyx Starr is a name with
impact in Juxtapose City." The fingers in Black began to move again, carefully
massaging him into insensibility. "I'm not letting it get around that I've got a hot
boyfriend with poor self esteem. Screw that, Darkness. Fucking love yourself
right now."
With the fingers moving in him again, Black let out a strangled laugh. "You're
doing it for me."
"You know what I mean, Darkness!"
Subdued, Black stared at his pillow. "I do." He felt strangely ashamed. "I'll try."
"Good," Starr huffed. "Now let's get back to the dirty sex." He draped himself
over Black's back, his tight nipples poking the back of Black's shoulders, his hair
falling in a soft curtain around their arms. "Tell me," Starr breathed into his ear,
making Black shiver from the sensuous tickle, "how much you want me to fuck
you. Tell me what a dirty boy you are."
Black clenched his jaw as his cheeks washed with heat. "I'm not telling you that,
Starr. You should know me better than that."
"Hmm? Do you want this --" Starr flexed his hips, rubbing the head of his cock
across the back of Black's balls -- "in your ass? Because if you do, you have to
do and say everything I tell you to."
"Maybe I'll just get off on your fingers."
"And maybe I won't let you come," Starr shot back.
He pulled his fingers free. Feeling bereft and wishing he'd played along, Black
lay still as Starr's hands moved through the sheets and up to his pillow. The
empath's hands encountered the bandages wrapped around his wrists and
faltered, but then they continued up until Starr laid his hands over the backs of
Black's and entwined their fingers together. Starr knelt up and pulled on their
shared grip, forcing Black to awkwardly use his face as leverage so he could
push up onto his knees, too. Before Black could figure out what Starr was up to,
the empath twisted his hands under, which pulled Black's arms backwards
behind him, trapping him.
"Pretty good technique, hmm?" Starr tugged their hands, causing Black to fall
backwards against the empath's body. Starr's cock glided up the crease of his ass.
"Do you see where I'm going with this?"
"You're going to fuck me with no hands. I guessing I'm supposed to be
impressed," Black said, deliberately goading Starr.
"Oh, you are such a smart-assed little whore, aren't you?" Starr nuzzled the top
of Black's right shoulder. He worked his knees between Black's and then took
advantage of the slippery sheets to spread his own knees, taking Black's wider.
Black's balls, already tight, drew up even tighter at the suggestive positioning.
"Guess who's wide open and begging for it?" Starr taunted.
Black's cock clung tightly to his belly. He looked down and saw how copiously
he was leaking, although he didn't need the visual proof to know how close he
was to coming from all of the teasing.
"I'm not begging," he murmured, turning his face away when Starr began kissing
his jaw line.
"You were earlier," the empath reminded him. Starr moved his hips until the
head of his cock notched at Black's entrance. It rested there, smooth and wet,
applying only the barest pressure, but it was all Black could focus on. His thighs
trembled with the effort of holding still and not pushing back to be impaled.
Black closed his eyes, heat racing through his veins, as Starr whispered into his
ear, "Beg me."
Black shook his head.
Starr leaned forward, the movement pushing the head of his cock through the
ring of Black's entrance. He didn't move any further, though, just enough to
lodge himself inside Black's body where Black could feel the empath's heartbeat.
"Beg me, sweetheart."
A bead of sweat slid down Black's left temple. He could imagine what it would
feel like when Starr finally pushed inside him; he remembered how incredible it
felt to be filled by the empath and dominated by him.
"I won't," he panted.
Starr gave a warm chuckle of amusement and then tightened his grip on Black's
hands to keep them twisted up between them. He flexed his hips and pushed two
inches of his cock up into the tight channel of Black's body.
"Oh, god," Black moaned, his head tipping back. His cock jumped against his
belly. It throbbed like a third-degree burn. "Fuck me. Just fuck me. I'll say
anything you want. Just move!"
"Tell me you're my bad little boy," Starr cooed in an infuriatingly smug voice.
He pushed in another inch, his breath hitching as Black convulsed around him.
"Fuck, Darkness, hurry up and say it so I can fuck your brains out."
Face burning, balls throbbing, Black swallowed his ego and mumbled, "I'm a
bad little boy."
"Oh, fuck," Starr swore and Black could actually feel the empath's cock swelling
inside him. "That's so fucking hot. Say it again!"
Growling low in his throat, Black blurted out angrily, "I'm a bad little boy. Now
stop talking and fuck me like you promised!"
"Oh, you are bad," Starr murmured, sounding thrilled about it.
Black was about to yell at him again for stalling when the blonde thrust into him
in one smooth stroke. Black collapsed against Starr's hold, his hips taut and
trembling. Starr seemed to fill his entire body.
"Fuck me," Black begged, turning his head and searching out Starr's mouth.
Starr kissed him sloppily but Black didn't mind. He sucked hungrily on the other
man's tongue and had the satisfaction of making Starr whimper.
The empath released Black's hands and grabbed his hips instead. Black fell
forward to brace himself on his palms while Starr took advantage of his position
to thrust long and deep into him from behind. Each thrust forced a moan higher
and higher up Black's throat until it eventually rolled from his tongue. He heard
Starr give an answering moan as the empath clutched his hips tighter.
The bed they were on, an old queen in an extra room in the Parkers' house,
began to squeak and Black dreaded the others hearing them. But he couldn't bear
to ask Starr to stop. Black was ready to burst and he could tell from Starr's
increasingly erratic thrusts that the blonde wasn't too far behind.
"Fuck me," Black gasped. "Give it to me."
"Christ, Darkness, I am," Starr said with a strained laugh. "You're just too
goddamn sexy... I can't take it."
Black couldn't take it any longer, either. He felt the familiar tingle in his groin.
He fisted the sheets and clenched his teeth together as his orgasm snapped
through him with the power of a lightning strike. His body clamped down hard
on Starr's cock. Black vaguely heard the empath crying out at the constriction
before two more thrusts rocked Black's convulsing body and Starr collapsed
across his back.
"The hell," Starr panted against Black's shoulder blade. "We need to have sex
more often, sweetheart. I'm out of shape for you."
"I liked it," Black mumbled, slightly breathless.
"Mmm, I know you did. You nearly pinched off my dick, sweetheart."
Black made a face as Starr began laughing. In retaliation, he twisted his
shoulders to the side, dumping the empath to the bed. Starr reached up and
yanked Black down with him and wrapped him in his long arms.
"I've wondered what it would be like if you and I were off the team and just
living together," Starr murmured as he caught his breath. "I think this is how it
would be."
Black tensed. "This isn't a vacation. We have to go back for the others."
"Oh, believe me, I want to. That screwball Genesis deserves to be taken out once
and for all." Starr combed his fingers through Black's unruly hair. "But you can't
blame a boy for fantasizing, sweetheart. This is the first time it's been just you
and me for a long time. I like having you all to myself."
Black liked it, too, but it wouldn't do them any good for him to encourage Starr's
fantasy. They couldn't hide out at the Parkers' forever. In fact, Black was
counting the minutes until the door was kicked in by the police.
He raised his left arm between them and studied the bandage wrapped around
his wrist. Starr's fingers gently curled around the bandage protectively, as if the
empath was afraid Black was having bad memories. But that wasn't the case at
all.
"Dickerson's going to come looking for us here," Black told him, "unless we
take drastic measures."
"Sweetheart, I may fantasize about disappearing, but I know it's not possible.
Not with the SynTrack in our veins."
Black held his eyes. "Exactly. But right now, only you carry the marker."
It took a few seconds before Starr's eyes went round. They flicked from Black's
face to his bandaged wrist. "What do you -- You mean --"
"As far as Dickerson's grid shows, I'm still mostly in that bathroom at the
station." The idea of it was morbidly amusing to Black. "That or the spreading of
my blood has created an unreadable signal. Dr. Parker has replaced enough of
what was left in my veins to ensure that the marker is too diluted to register my
location anymore."
"Holy shit." Black could see the wheels turning behind Starr's bright green gaze.
"Sweetheart, oh, my god, sweetheart -- you're saying that if I get a full body
transfusion, I could disappear off the grid, too!"
Starr's excitement and hope was compelling, but Black was hesitant to share it.
He hadn't wanted to bring up the possibility at all because he feared risking Starr
to the potentially dangerous procedure. But as a partner, as an equal in this fight,
Starr had a right to know where they stood and how their position could be
improved.
"I'm not asking you to do it. I'm not even suggesting it," Black said clearly.
"There's a reason so few marked psypaths try it."
"I thought it was because it's hella expensive and doctors are under orders to
report the procedure to the cops."
"All of that's true," Black admitted, "but the real danger is in the procedure
itself. Psypath bodies are more prone to rejecting new blood, even if it's
compatible blood from another psypath. I've seen a bit of the research, not
enough to fully understand where the problems come from, but enough to see
that it's dangerous. The fact I came through the operation fine is mostly luck."
"Yeah, but luck is half the reason we've lived as long as we have," Starr retorted,
sitting up. "You and I have run into a dozen people and situations that should
have killed us, but we made it through. If you think a needle and a couple of
bottles of blood are going to kick my ass you're wrong, sweetheart. I've survived
a hell of a lot worse than this."
"We can get by without it," Black pressed, needing Starr to be aware of every
option. "Dickerson's confused by now. He probably thinks something's wrong
with the marker system. I'm not showing up on the grid, someone else is leading
JC2, and you're apparently wandering the city on your own. We can take
advantage of that confusion and make another plan."
"But what plan, Darkness? We don't have one. If we do this -- if I do it -- then
we finally do have an advantage. We can do what we need to do to get rid of
Genesis and save the team without worrying about Capt. Dick swooping in and
blowing it all." Starr's eyes were fierce. "And then we can leave Darkness. We
can hightail it to the Silent City and live happily ever after and all that other
garbage."
Black sat up, too, feeling abruptly vulnerable. His voice came out sounding
more defensive than he intended. "You think they'd let me in? You said they
know that I'm Genesis. You said they showed you what I've done. Why would
they want me inside their Utopian city after I've done all that? That makes no
sense unless they were lying to you, unless they want me for something. I'm
tired of being used, Starr. I'm not letting it happen again."
"Okay, you're right. I don't know what they want from you. I'm jaded enough to
expect that they do want you for something other than being buddies,
sweetheart, but can it possibly be worse than it is here?" Starr waved his hands
to encompass the small room. "We're sitting in the house of maybe the only
normal in the city who sympathizes with us, and that's because he fell in love
with a little psypath boy with a face as adorable as Parker's -- and if you tell him
I said that I will kill you. This city isn't meant for us, Darkness. The Silent City
is our home. That's where we belong. That's where we can live and not just
survive.
"Let the normals have this shit hole. I don't want it and I doubt you really do,
either. Let's go someplace good, someplace you can defend with a clear
conscience, a place we can be proud of. Jesus, I sound like a preacher. I'm
making myself gag here."
"No, it's alright," Black said, reaching out and cupping Starr's cheek. "It's
because it means a lot to you. It's alright to be passionate about it. If you don't
care, that means you're ready to die."
"I'm too sexy to die," Starr pouted.
Black rolled his eyes. "And also too young." He dropped his hand back into his
lap. "So you really want to do this. You want to do the transfusion. You want to
risk your life on a chance."
"I want to be free," Starr said with feeling.
Black could sympathize with that desire very, very well. All of his life he'd been
owned by someone more powerful than he. Even when he'd been saved from
Hangway by Captain Dickerson, he'd merely exchanged one master for another.
"I'm doing it, Darkness." Starr's face was poignant in its determination. Black
wanted to lie in bed and gaze at him forever, but of course that wasn't possible.
"I won't be able to access my credit accounts to pay Dr. Parker," Black said, his
mind already moving forward. "Hopefully he'll take an I.O.U. until I can access
some untraceable money."
"Or maybe he'll accept a blowjob in trade," Starr said with a salacious lick of his
lips. "I'm fabulous at them, you know."
Black scowled in irritation. "He'll take the money. And you will keep your
mouth shut. Literally."
~~~~~
A stray dog came sniffing around. Parker kicked an empty crumpled cracker box
at it to drive it away. He couldn't believe he was back to living on the streets.
He'd gotten used to his cushy life in the Clubhouse. He liked having a soft bed
beneath him and warm blankets above him. He was used to sleeping completely
through the night without worrying that someone would try to rob him or assault
him. Living on the streets had become an old nightmare he'd gotten over. Yet
here he was again, sleeping on the floor out in the open.
As miserable as it was, however, he could cope with this. He'd done it before.
Enduring it was a state of mind and Parker was surprised at how quickly he'd
found that mental space again. It was Jake and the others he worried about,
who'd not had to suffer this before.
He moved his right arm slightly and immediately felt the resistance as the
handcuff locking his wrist to Jake's right ankle drew taut. Another cuff locked
Parker's right ankle to Jake's right wrist. It was an awkward way to be bound to
each other, only allowing them to sleep head to toe, but Genesis knew what he
was doing. None of them could escape while they were cuffed this way.
Parker turned his head and peered through the darkness until he could see Haney
and Bee, similarly bound, lying a few feet away. He felt bad for them. He knew
they wanted to hold each other, but their odd positioning made it difficult.
They'd settled with hugging the other's leg in a pathetic attempt at intimacy and
comfort. The sight made Parker sad. And furious.
Earlier in the day they'd blown up Harlequin Tipsy, effectively closing off the
tunnel entrances forever. Then Genesis had marched them like puppets to a
nearby strip mall where the team had blasted the shops to pieces. Fortunately it
had been early in the morning and not many shoppers had been out, but Parker
wasn't one hundred percent positive that they hadn't killed someone, and that
made him shudder with revulsion.
The rest of the day hadn't improved. Bee had been forced to blow up a Fire
Department truck and Parker had had to sit by with tears in his eyes while Jake
strafed a church with bullets. It had been sickening. Defeating. Parker had
wanted to scream his frustration, but thanks to Genesis' control, he'd stood by
silently instead.
Ripped plastic sheeting which had once covered part of the abandoned
warehouse's windows snapped as the dog tugged at it. Parker wished he had
something to throw at the dog to get it to go away. He was afraid it would come
sniffing around again and maybe piss on them. A hazard of being left to sleep on
the floor. Parker cursed Genesis for the hundredth time.
The telepath had his own cot and sleeping bag, purchased with Jake's money and
carried and set up by Bee. Genesis had made a big show about having Bee set up
the bed for him and then climbing into it with a loud sigh while the rest of JC2
was forced to lie on the hard, dirty concrete floor.
Parker wanted to kill him. He wished he'd blown Genesis up the first time. It
was bad enough that Genesis was doing everything he could to destroy JC2 and
Black's reputation, but he was forcing the team to do it to themselves. Parker
hated being under the influence of telepathy. He only ever caused harm while
under its influence. Maybe because the only telepath who'd influenced him was
Genesis, and Genesis was an asshole.
Parker stared up at the steel beams criss-crossing the ceiling and wondered if
Black and Calyx were still alive. He would have thought Black would be here by
now if he was; JC2 was his baby, the JCPD his life. There was no way he would
have stood by while Genesis destroyed both the team and his career. No way,
unless he was dead.
Or in the Silent City. But Parker tried not to think about that.
"They're coming," Jake whispered softly from beside him. "Black won't leave us
like this. Not if he's still alive."
Parker had hoped Jake was asleep. The sergeant had looked haunted and
exhausted as they'd caused destruction throughout the city. Parker wanted him to
have a break, just for a little while.
"Go to sleep," he whispered back.
"This team and his career are the most important things in the world to Black.
He won't abandon us."
"What about Calyx?" Parker asked.
"What about him?"
"He means more to Black than this team. If Calyx wanted to go into the Silent
City, Black would have followed him rather than risk losing him."
"The freak would have at least said goodbye to us," Jake muttered, but he
sounded tired. Hopeless. Parker could hear the soft rustle as the larger man
turned his head on the dusty floor to look over at the cot where Genesis slept.
"They'll come back. But if they don't, I swear I'll find a way to kill this bastard.
Even if it's with my bare hands."
"I can't believe the things he's made us do," whispered Haney, his voice thick
with emotion. "I feel horrible. I feel sick. I hate him so much. When he made us
shoot up that mall and that woman came out and Genesis made me point my gun
--"
"Shhh," Bee soothed. Parker's heart broke at the sadness he could hear in that
simple sound. "Let it go, Haney. We've all been forced to act against our will.
Everything we've done is what he's done, not us."
"But, Bee, the rest of the Department thinks we're doing this on our own! They
think Lieutenant Black is leading us! He would never do something like this.
Never!"
"Keep it down, Haney," Jake warned. "Look, it's not like we can't tell everyone
what happened once this is all over. We can explain. They'll have to believe us.
This makes no sense otherwise. We wouldn't just flip out like this. It's
impossible."
"We have to make sure we hang on to the body," Parker said flatly. "Once we
kill Genesis, I mean. We need proof that he was controlling us."
"But how are we going to kill him?" Haney asked in a dispirited voice. "He
knows what we're thinking. We can't get close enough to do anything."
Jake snorted. "Look at him now. He's sleeping like the dead. I bet it takes a hell
of a lot of effort to control all four of us since we're continually resisting him.
How long can he keep it up? I'm betting it's not much longer. He'll crack, grow
weaker, and that's when we rip his head off."
"Assuming we make it that far," Bee said ominously. "He's painted himself into
a corner by doing this. Everyone is after him."
"You think he has a suicide plan in place?" Parker asked in a hushed voice. It
was something he'd secretly feared, that Genesis was on a last hurrah and taking
down everything Black held dear as he did so.
"I do."
Parker closed his eyes, more tired than ever. He wished this was only happening
to him and not the others. He'd made his mistakes. Maybe he deserved this. But
the others didn't. They were policemen trying to protect other people. They were
the good guys.
Then again, this was Juxtapose City, a place where good and bad blurred
together. No one knew that better than Black, and Black was nowhere to be
found.
"How can he do this?" Haney whispered. "How is he this strong?"
"He's the most powerful telepath in the city," Jake reminded him.
"But he went crazy, Jake."
Jake sighed. "I don't know what to tell you, then."
Parker opened his mouth to blurt the truth, but at the last second set his teeth
together. Telling the other men that the telepath sleeping beside them was in fact
Phoenix and not Genesis wouldn't serve any purpose. It definitely wouldn't be a
good idea for them to know that Black was the old Genesis. They needed to
have faith in Black, and that would be difficult to do if the truth came out.
There were so many loose ends, all leading to Black.
You'd better come get us, Parker thought at him, praying Genesis wouldn't pick
up the stray thoughts in his sleep. Hurry, Black, before he kills us all.

Never Cross a Telepath

Part 2

"I'm not a baby," Starr mumbled. His eyes were on his fingers which were
plucking at the sheets covering his legs. An I.V. snaked out from a vein in his
elbow. His skin was so pale his veins and arteries stood out like streets on a
roadmap. "You don't need to hover."
Black watched him. "I never said you're a baby, and I'm not hovering."
"I chose to do this. The risk is worth it."
"It's your body. It's your choice," Black agreed.
"I have to do this." Starr's brows drew together. "It's the only way for us to be
free. You can't change my mind."
Black nodded. "I won't try. I know you believe in what you're doing."
Starr lifted his head. "Damn it, Darkness, you're supposed to act all worried
about me!"
Black sighed and cupped the empath behind the head and drew him against his
chest. Starr was shaking. Black wasn't surprised. Once the empath had made the
decision to go through with the transfusion and Dr. Parker had agreed to it, Starr
had been a wreck of nerves and second thoughts.
"The only reason I continue to live is because of you," Black told him as he
stroked the back of Starr's head. "If you think the thought of losing you isn't
tearing me up inside you don't know me as well as you keep claiming you do."
"I know you better than anyone!"
"Then why are you asking me to behave in a way you know isn't natural for
me?"
"I don't know," Starr mumbled, rubbing his cheek against Black's chest. "I don't
want you to be all weak and wimpy for me. I like that you're a badass,
sweetheart. I really do."
"Some badass," Black muttered. "I tried to kill myself."
"Only because you worried about me learning that you're the most powerful
telepath in the city. That's still badass."
"And a vicious killer. Don't forget that."
"What you were, made you what you are. I like the badass you are now,
sweetheart."
Black sighed. "Whatever."
"I'm not like you," Starr murmured. "I'm only badass on the dance floor. Or
maybe in bed. Shower's not too bad, either. Or I guess any horizontal surface --"
"I didn't ask you to do this." Black carefully tilted the other man's head back. "If
you don't want to go through with it I won't be disappointed."
Starr's eyes were large and luminous. He looked far younger than he was, and it
broke Black's heart. "Are you scared for me, Darkness?"
Black gave a faint smile. "Feel me."
He opened himself to Starr, holding nothing back.
Starr's pupils dilated as if he were on Bliss, which he most definitely wasn't.
Black gazed at him, entranced by the effect Starr's empathy had on the blonde.
He stroked Starr's cheek as a tiny line appeared between the empath's eyebrows.
"Now you're even more scared because you're feeling me," Black chided.
"Yeah, but I also felt the other stuff," Starr breathed. He reached up and caught
Black's hand in his. "I like the other stuff. I like it a lot. It's better than drugs,
sweetheart. So much better."
"So I can anticipate blackmail attempts in the future?"
Starr smirked. "Absolutely. If you want me to behave you'll have to share
yourself."
"That's hardly fair, Starr."
"Mmm, but you like naughty boys, don't you, Darkness?"
Feeling his pants beginning to grow tighter and aware that Dr. Parker was due
into the operating room any minute, Black gently but firmly guided Starr to lie
back against the operating table. "Behave."
"I want you when I'm back to normal. A sex-fest, sweetheart. Promise me that."
Black didn't like promises, but he would make this one if it would give Starr the
will to fight through any possible complications from the surgery. "I promise.
Whatever you want."
"You are sooo going to regret that, sweetheart." Starr paused to consider. "Or
maybe not. I am pretty damned good at sexing you up."
"Please don't ever use that term again."
Starr grinned. "Turning you on, then. Making you horny and hard. Making you
beg for me and whimper and moan --"
"I can tell we're in good spirits," Dr. Parker said amiably as he entered the room,
his wife following behind. As she began checking instruments, the small doctor
winked at Black, who felt his cheeks flushing. "A good mood makes for a
quicker recovery, Lt. Black. Good job."
"Yeah, good job, sweetheart," Starr cooed, and then laughed.
Dr. Parker smiled down at Starr. "Any last minute questions for me, Calyx? If
not, I think we're ready to go."
Starr's smile faded. His eyes flicked from Dr. Parker to Black. "I'm scared out of
my fucking mind, but I want to do this. I want to be free. I want to be with him."
Black's throat tightened. He was glad he'd closed himself off to Starr. His current
emotions would have overwhelmed the empath.
"Then I guess we're ready to go." Dr. Parker smiled sympathetically at Black.
"Why don't you make yourself comfortable elsewhere in the house? My wife
and I will take care of Calyx. Please don't worry."
"I won't," he said.
Calyx gave a wobbly grin. "You're a pathological liar, Darkness."
~~~~~
"Count backwards from ten for me, Calyx."
Black pressed his ear to the door frame of the operating room.
He heard Starr say, "Ten. Nine. Eighhhh..."
"Calyx? Calyx, are you with me?"
Silence from the empath.
"Ready to proceed," Dr. Parker told his wife.
Black straightened away from the door and wiped his clammy palms on his
jeans. There was nothing he could do for Starr now and that frustrated him. He
didn't like not being in control of the other man's safety.
He headed straight for the dining room, where he'd seen Dr. Parker's liquor
cabinet. He found a bottle of Scotch and a glass and sat down with both at the
dining table. As he was pouring himself a fifth, he heard a shuffling footstep at
the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Expecting Mneumonia, he hid his surprise
at finding Gelie Lark, dressed in a fluffy pink robe, staring back at him. Holding
her gaze, he downed his shot and quickly poured himself another.
"Nice robe," he said.
"It belongs to Mrs. Parker. There's nothing they won't offer. I see you're taking
advantage of their generosity by drinking all of their liquor."
He forced himself not to take a third shot. "I have every intention of replacing
this with a full bottle."
He was surprised to see her on her feet. But besides being paler than normal, she
looked fine. He nonetheless hoped she would return to her room.
He wasn't so fortunate.
He watched warily as she pulled out the chair across from him and sat down.
Her eyes never left his face, as if watching him for reaction. He wasn't about to
give her one.
"Disappointed that I survived?" she asked.
"On the contrary."
Her lips tightened. "You nearly killed me."
"Mneumonia obtained revenge on your behalf. I think we're even."
She smiled then, but it wasn't pleasant. "I heard you cried."
He said nothing.
"Maybe we can ask Mrs. Parker for hotdogs for lunch," she went on. "How does
that sound?"
His fingers tightened around the glass. It was all he could do not to reach for the
bottle and pour himself another shot. "If you want an apology from me, you're
not getting one. You threatened my men. I'd shoot you again in a heartbeat if you
tried it once more."
She shook her head and briefly touched her chest where he thought her injury
was located. "I don't want your apology."
"Then what do you want?"
Her hands dropped to the edge of the table and gripped it. Her nails had been
bitten to the quick. "I want to know how you've managed to trick everyone into
forgiving you for being Genesis."
"I haven't tricked anyone."
"Is it telepathy?"
He relented and reached for the bottle again. "I don't do that."
"You used to. When you were Genesis. You're still him, even if your name has
changed."
He paused with the glass raised halfway to his mouth. "No, I'm not him. Just as
Mneumonia isn't the person she was when I knew her."
"Apparently not," Gelie said with a frown, "if she's willing to forgive you for
killing her sister." Her expression darkened further. "You killed a lot of people.
You did horrible things to them. They're right to call you a monster. I don't
understand why she's giving you a pass for everything you did."
Black had thought long and hard about it, too. He'd expected it to be more
complicated than it had been. He'd pulled the trigger. There was no denying that
he'd done everything he was accused of having done. But she'd forgiven him,
and he could tell, even without his telepathy, that she meant it.
"We're not the same people we were, and she sees that." The alcohol warmed
him on the way down. It would be easy to become drunk right now and escape
Gelie's accusations and the fear he held about Starr's operation. He forced
himself to push the bottle and glass away from him.
"I don't care if you don't understand it," he told Gelie. "I didn't expect to receive
'Monia's forgiveness. Maybe I don't deserve it. But she's given it to me and I
accept it. You should, too. We're not enemies any longer, Gelie."
"Oh, yes. Us against Phoenix." She leaned forward. "But he's not Phoenix now,
he's Genesis. You've foisted all your crimes onto him. How nice of you."
"He's not innocent, either," Black replied, beginning to grow annoyed.
"Genesis has always been a monster. You forced Phoenix to become one, too, by
switching your identities."
Black's eyes dropped to the tabletop. He traced a stain on the surface with his
fingertip. "The monster was inside him," he said quietly. "I didn't create
something that wasn't already there."
"I don't believe you."
"Fine." Irritated, tired of her pushing, and feeling the effects of the alcohol so
soon after his own near-death experience, he decided to push back. "I'll let you
see for yourself."
He slid into her head without resistance.
(He may be going by the name Genesis now, but back then, Phoenix was already
becoming him....)

He could hear them cursing each other, and the dull thud of flesh striking flesh.
Dreading what he would see once again, Genesis leaned into the doorway and
peered around the corner. Mneumonia was on her hands and knees, her head
hanging between her shoulders. Her hair streamed to the floor. Tears had
streaked her eye makeup so it ran in black trails horizontally across her cheeks.
"Fuck you, Phoenix," she spat. She flinched as Phoenix, standing over her,
pulled back his foot and kicked her in the ribs.
She grunted in pain and collapsed to the floor, curling into a fetal position.
"No, fuck you, you picky bitch," Phoenix retorted. He spat a big glob of saliva
on her hair and turned away from her.
He jerked when he saw Genesis standing in the doorway. Immediately the
blonde-haired blue-eyed boy's face lit up, transforming his expression of hate
into one of delight. "Hey! I was just going to find you. I've got some stuff for
us."
Genesis' mouth began to involuntarily salivate at the prospect of drugs, but his
anticipation dimmed as he looked down at Mneumonia again, who was trying to
glare through her tears at Phoenix's back.
"Come on," Genesis said solemnly, jerking his head so the blonde boy would
follow him out of the room.
It was better in the hall. Out here he didn't have to listen to her muffled sobs or
worry that his own girlfriend would come and blame him for not protecting her
sister.
"You shouldn't hit her," Genesis mumbled as he and Phoenix walked. "She's a
girl."
Phoenix threw an arm around Genesis' slighter shoulders. They were the same
height, but Phoenix had begun to fill out, suggesting the man he would soon
become.
"She's not a girl, she's a bitch," Phoenix replied cheerfully. "If you ask me,
you're the girl around here." He tugged on Genesis' shoulder length black hair.
"You dye your hair and wear makeup. Sounds like a girl to me."
Genesis made a face but didn't bother arguing. Phoenix didn't understand that
Genesis did what he did to himself to hide. Starwood and those other men
couldn't hurt him if they were hurting another version of Genesis. The real
Genesis, brown-haired and caramel-skinned -- still hopeful -- was safely hidden
behind the artificial mask he made for himself.
"You shouldn't hit her because then K.J. comes complaining to me," he said,
trying to use a different angle and appeal to Phoenix's sense of boys against
girls.
"Kennon's a bitch, too," Phoenix growled, his arm tightening around Genesis'
shoulders. "I swear she's fucking around on you with Starwood. I swear she is."
Genesis flinched, afraid of a truth he couldn't handle. Not that one. His
relationship with Kennon Jones was his lifeline in the crazy, horrible world that
made up Starwood's gang. He couldn't afford to lose it. "You don't know
anything. Shut up about her."
"I'm gonna catch her at it and then I'll show you," Phoenix promised. "We're
wasting time with the girls. Fuck them. We don't need them."
"I like K.J.," Genesis said. He wouldn't dare admit to the other boy that he
thought he was in love with her.
Phoenix scornfully waved off any praise of Kennon Jones. "Whatever. You just
want pussy."
Gritting his teeth, Genesis said, "Next time you get sick of 'Monia, come find me
and we'll do something."
Phoenix laughed. "Do something like what? Are you trying to run, like, an
intervention on me?"
Genesis tried to shake off the other boy's arm, but Phoenix held tight. "Just --
why waste your time fighting with her when we could be doing something fun?
It's stupid to be around her when you're both mad."
He wasn't sure the distraction would actually work when it come to Phoenix and
Mneumonia's relationship -- Genesis was fairly certain Phoenix didn't like
'Monia that much to begin with and had only hooked up with her because
Genesis was with Kennon Jones -- but he was willing to give it a shot. He knew
it bothered Kennon when Phoenix treated her sister like crap. Genesis didn't like
it, either, but telling Phoenix not to do something was like threatening to take his
Bliss away from him.
"Speaking of fun -- check out what I scored from Pez." Phoenix pulled a small
amber bottle from his jeans pocket. Genesis could see the curled sheet inside,
holding two tabs of Bliss. Phoenix waved the bottle beneath Genesis' nose,
laughing when Genesis' head swiveled to follow it. "You want it, don't you? You
want it baaad."
He did. It was an ache in his soul that needed filling. He could already feel the
buzz of the drug hitting his system, feel his brain soaring up and away, floating
above the suffering.
"No, I-I can't." His stomach shriveled in pain at the denial. He shoved the bottle
away from him. "Starwood says I'm supposed to help him screen some new
dealers who're coming in tonight." He hated Starwood for that. He hated being
clean and ripping through peoples' minds with his telepathy. He'd rather be
floating on drugs.
Phoenix made a sound of disbelief. "So? Take one anyway. Starwood can use me
to do it instead."
"You know it doesn't work that way," Genesis complained, angry. "Starwood
always insists that I'm there. If I'm high that just means he can't use me for
telepathy and he'll probably let them fuck me."
"They're probably going to do it anyway, so why not be high for it?" Phoenix
licked a stripe up the side of Genesis' cheek. "You want them to fuck you sober
or high? I think we both know the answer to that."
Genesis jerked his face away. "I'd rather not be fucked at all!"
"Jeez, you really are acting like a bitch." Phoenix sneered. "If you hate it that
much why do you bother making yourself look good, huh? Why don't you ever
say no? Why do you turn me down whenever I offer to take you away from
here?"
"And go where?" Genesis shot back. "We can't run. Starwood will find us. And I
need --" His tongue was dry. His eyes fell to the bottle of tabs Phoenix still held.
"I need that, and if we were on the streets without protection we'd have to... do
things to get some."
"Yeah? Well, we're already doing them here, in case you haven't noticed."
Phoenix's expression turned bitter. "We're whores here, too. Being on the street
-- at least we can pick and choose who we give it up for."
"I can't leave K.J. here. And you can't leave 'Monia behind."
"Fuck those bitches," Phoenix said angrily. "Seriously. Fuck them. Haven't you
figured it out yet? It's just you and me, Genesis. No one else. We're the ones who
have to save ourselves. We have to run away and find the Silent City. That's the
only way to get out of here."
"But what about Parker?"
"Oh, fuck him, too!" Phoenix turned and punched his fist into the nearest wall,
leaving a hole in the drywall. "Parker's just like the girls -- totally useless. Leave
'em, Genesis! It's just you and me. Like it'll always be."
"Parker's my friend."
"Parker's taken care of by Lucid. He gets anything he asks for. He doesn't know
what it's like to be with Starwood."
Genesis thought of elfin-faced Parker, the only person who'd ever shed tears for
him. "You're wrong. He knows. He told me he'll find a way to help me."
"Yeah, he'll help you but not me because he wants you all to himself. Fuck
Parker. He can fend for himself." Phoenix slapped Genesis across the chest. "It's
you and me we gotta worry about. We're the ones being whored out. No one
else. We're the ones they all want because we're special."
Genesis wrapped his arms around his chest. "I'm not special."
"Up here you are." Phoenix smiled grimly and tapped the top of Genesis' head.
"And you're special down here, too." He slapped Genesis on the ass.
Genesis glared at him, backing away. "You're as bad as Starwood and the rest."
Phoenix's smile was dark. "I've just learned to go along. You'll learn that
someday, too, Gen. It's the only way to survive."
"Maybe I'd rather be dead." It wasn't an idle threat. He thought about it often,
whenever he was sober, in fact.
But he was a coward. Whenever the urge to end it all grew strong enough to
scare him he crawled to Starwood and coaxed the gang leader to give him a tab
so he could forget about wanting to be dead... so he could forget about
everything.
"Then die already," Phoenix said with a snort, turning his back on Genesis. "I
don't need you to run. I can make it to the Silent City on my own."
"I thought we made a promise --"
"Who keeps promises, anyway?" Phoenix shot him a dirty look before stalking
off down the hallway.
Genesis watched him go, his tongue curling in his mouth, wanting to call the
other boy back and apologize so Phoenix would give him the Bliss. He heard a
sound behind him and turned back. Mneumonia was leaning against the
doorway of the room they'd left her in. Her eyes were dark and bruised. Her lip
was split, beading blood.
"I hope he dies," she whispered.
"He's your boyfriend," Genesis reminded her, although her expression told him
the word meant nothing to her.
"We fuck each other because no one forces us to," she said, watching Phoenix's
retreating back. Her eyes shifted to Genesis. "But we don't like each other. Not
like you like my sister." He watched her throat bob as she swallowed. "If you
leave here, Genesis -- if you manage to get out without him -- promise to take
Kennon with you. Take her away from this. Get her away from Starwood. I think
-- he's interested in her."
Genesis didn't want to hear it. "She's with me. He wouldn't do that. And... she
wouldn't let him."
Mneumonia was the eldest of the four of them, the unspoken big sister. Genesis
was reminded of that as she straightened and pointed a finger at him.
"You're so fucked up from Bliss you can't see what's happening in front of your
face, Genesis. You have to promise me you'll take her, you got that? You have to
get her out of here and -- and be normal together."
He laughed. "Normal? What's that?"
But she didn't smile. "Promise me."
He thought of the promise he'd already made with Phoenix -- each boy vowing
to take the other with him to the Silent City. It seemed as likely as the promise
Mneumonia wanted him to make with her.
"Whatever," he said. "If I get out, I'll take K.J. with me."
He hesitated. Mneumonia was the tough one, the one who intimidated him a lot
of the time because she bounced back no matter how many times Phoenix beat
her down. But she was also just a girl, easily broken, and Phoenix inflicted his
anger on her with increasing regularity rather than burying it with Bliss the way
Genesis did.
"I'll take you, too," he added cautiously. "I know he's not always good to you.
It's not his fault. It's just because of what Starwood makes us do, but he takes it
out on --"
"Just get her out," Mneumonia cut him off sharply. "I can handle Phoenix. I can
handle anyone." She hugged herself, wincing at a pain in her side. "Just take
care of my sister, and I'll be happy."

Gelie's eyes cleared. She shoved her chair back and stumbled backwards, putting
distance between them.
"Still raping peoples' minds?" she accused shakily. "You haven't changed at all."
He kept his face impassive. "It was the only way to show you. You wouldn't
believe me if I told you."
"Was that scene supposed to make me feel sorry for you?" He heard the derision
in her voice.
"You wanted to see the truth."
"Why don't you show me the truth when you killed her sister?" she shot back.
Black didn't flinch. "I can show you that, too, if it would be helpful. I doubt it
will be."
Gelie mumbled something beneath her breath.
"What was that?"
She glared at him. "I said, you're not fooling me. You say you've changed and
that we should all forgive you and trust you. You think you're a good guy now
just because Phoenix is the one who looks crazy to everyone. But you made him
crazy. It's your fault he is the way he is. It's your fault he's wrecking the city and
hurting all these people."
Black held her eyes and said, "Yes."
His bluntness surprised her. "That's it? Just yes?"
"What do you want me to say instead?"
She fumbled for words. "I don't know -- apologize?"
He studied her. "Would an apology make a difference? I can't undo what I did."
Her face reddened. "Don't you owe him something?"
"I do. But that's between me and him."
"Your personal feud is going to kill all of us!" she snapped. "Why do you have
to drag the rest of us down with you for your mistake?"
"I didn't ask any of you to help me with this," he said, impatient. "I know what I
did. I'm willing to face the consequences of it. I never asked for help. Or
forgiveness. But Starr and 'Monia insist on helping because they've got
something at stake, too. So do you."
"The only thing I care about is her. I don't understand why she wants to help you
clean up your mess."
"Ask Mneumonia," Black said tersely.
Gelie backed away. "She used to want you dead just as badly as she wants him
dead now. You've tricked her somehow. You're screwing with her mind."
"'Monia knows what's really happening," Black muttered. He looked longingly
at the bottle. "Some of us were made into monsters... and some of us chose to
become one."
~~~~~
Calyx was dancing. Damn, he was a good dancer. And sexy, too. He could see
himself in the mirrors ringing the dance floor and of course his image was
reflected back at him from the eyes of all his admirers. He had a lot of them. He
deserved every single one of them. He was hot.
The club's DJ was one of his favorites; the man knew how to mix songs so they
peaked with that screeching, metallic crescendo of sound that made Calyx's
brain leave his body and his feet lift off the dance floor. It was a moment of pure
perfection, bested only by Bliss and the occasional hot fuck. That peak was
screaming in his ears, making him grin like a fool, when strong arms slid around
his waist from behind.
He loved to dance alone, flinging his arms and hair this way and that. But
grinding on a hot guy was good, too. When he turned in the stranger's embrace,
he laughed as he found himself faced with exactly what -- and who -- he wanted.
"Darkness!"
Black was possibly almost as gorgeous as he was, just in a different way. While
the laser lights refracted off of Calyx's snowy hair, pale skin, and green eyes like
light bouncing off a crystal, the lasers swooped over Black's darker skin and
seemed to slow down, almost caressing him. And when the lights skipped away
to illuminate other dancers, Calyx was still visible but Black would practically
disappear into the shadows, only the glimmer of his coffee brown eyes visible.
He'd look like a panther then, to Calyx. All dark and powerful and sexy as hell.
Or maybe like chocolate, slowly melting in Calyx's mouth and in his hand.
"Oh, fuck, I want you so bad," Calyx moaned, wrapping his arms around Black's
neck. "How did you get so lucky?"
Black's teeth flashed briefly in the darkness as he smiled. "I don't understand it,
either. Someone upstairs must like me."
"Screw him. All that matters is that someone down here likes you." Calyx
dragged his fingers through Black's hair, making it even messier so that it fell
partly over the other man's eyes. "Mmm, you look delectable, Darkness. I
haven't eaten in ten hours because of that damn surgery. I could eat you alive."
He wiggled his ass when Black cupped it with his palms. "Actually, Starr, it's
been longer than that. The operation is over. You should wake up now."
"I don't wanna," Calyx pouted. He hooked a leg around Black's trim hips and
ground their crotches together. "This is much better," he said with a sly grin.
He caught Black's mouth beneath his, and pushed his tongue between the other
man's lips. The grip on his ass tightened, dragging him closer. Calyx moaned
and tangled his tongue with Black's, showing him with a not so subtle pumping
action just what he was in the mood for.
Black forcibly pulled his mouth away. "We can do this later," he panted. "You
need to wake up, Starr. I want to know that you're alright."
Calyx nuzzled his neck. "Mmm, I'm more than 'alright', sweetheart. Try fan-
fucking-tastic. Or how about un-fucking-believable. Or trim off all the fat and
let's get straight to the fucking."
He dropped a hand to Black's chest and massaged his firm chest muscles. Calyx
found a nipple through the fabric of his shirt and began to rub his thumb over it.
Black gasped and caught his wrist, stopping him.
"Please, Starr." With his other hand he cupped Calyx's cheek. "Wake up for me. I
want to see your eyes. I want to do all of this in real life, not just in your
dreams."
Calyx tried to keep moving, tried to follow the beat of the music, but the sound
was fading. His fingers curled in Black's shirt, holding on.
"I'm afraid to," he whispered. "I'm afraid I won't wake up. Stay here with me,
Darkness. No one can hurt us in here."
"I won't let anyone hurt you out there," Black told him, his eyes shining with
determination. "Please wake up. Please. For me, Calyx."
Calyx dropped his forehead to Black's shoulder. "You know I'm a sucker for you
calling me by my first name."
"I know," Black whispered into his ear. "Now wake up so I can call you Calyx
for real."

He opened his eyes. It was bright as hell.


"Fuck!"
He heard a long breath being exhaled from his right side, and an unfamiliar
chuckle from his left.
"Welcome back, Calyx," said that unfamiliar voice. Oh, yeah. It was Dr.
Parker's.
Calyx blinked and looked around. He was in the operating room, but all of the
gear had been put away. "Aw, man," he whined. "When are you going to do the
operation? I thought it'd be over by now!"
The stifled grunt of laughter to his right pulled his eyes to Black, who was
seated in a chair with his head on the edge of Calyx's bed. Black raised his head
and gave Calyx a rueful smile. He looked tired. "You idiot. You had the surgery
eighteen hours ago. We've been waiting for you to wake up."
"Really?" Calyx looked down at himself. Oh, he still had an I.V. in his arm,
hooked up to a clear bag, but he also had bandages on his other arm. Either he'd
become a junkie in his sleep, or someone had been poking needles into him. He
lifted his eyes to Black hopefully. "Did it work?"
Black's smile melted Calyx. "It worked. Your blood is clean now."
"It's clean." Calyx dropped his head back against the pillow. He was clean. No
evil micronano-whatevers crawling around in his veins. He could go anywhere.
He was free.
Unexpectedly, his eyes began to tear up. He was grateful when Dr. Parker turned
his back to fiddle with something that probably didn't need to be fiddled with.
A hand touched his hair. "You okay?"
Calyx nodded, looking up at the ceiling so the tears wouldn't fall. "I'm just upset
because my hair's a mess and I probably stink, too. I hate being smelly,
Darkness." He hiccupped. "I really hate it."
"When Dr. Parker says you're strong enough, I'll help you take a bath."
"I think a shower might be better," Calyx said, turning his teary eyes to Black,
who pretended not to notice. "Both of us can fit in there."
A dull flush crept across Black's cheeks as he glanced up at the doctor's back.
"Um, we'll see."
"Darkness, you promised me all the sex I wanted!"
Black's blush deepened. "Damn it, Starr, we'll talk about it later!"
Dr. Parker made a suspicious coughing-choking sound, but Calyx ignored him.
"Darkness," he whispered, excitedly. "We're free. We made it."
Black's expression softened. "We did."
Calyx bit his lip, unhappy with what he had to say next. "Are we still going after
Genesis?"
"You know we have to."
Calyx nodded. He knew it. He couldn't leave his boys behind, anyway. "Are the
girls coming with us?"
"We have to work out the logistics. Mneumonia still has SynTrack in her system
and I don't think she wants to undergo the operation. We'll have to work
separately so the police can't use her to track us."
Hearing Black talk about the police as a 'them' rather than 'me' or 'us' lightened
Calyx's heart. He didn't know how things could possibly be better.
Oh, wait. Yes, he did.
"Darkness," he whispered fiercely, and probably too loudly. "As soon as he's
gone will you give me a blowjob? I'm really horny right now. I had this great
dream --"
As Black blushed, mortified, Dr. Parker turned around with a smile and said,
"Let me just run a few tests on you, Calyx, and get out of your hair. I'm sure
you'd like to rest a bit more."
Calyx didn't bother to hide his lecherous grin. To hell with being modest. He
was alive, clean, and about to receive a blowjob from Darkness. He was going to
enjoy his present condition no matter who knew.
"Please hurry, Doc," he urged. "The sooner you give me the okay, the sooner I
can get on with what's really important in life."
"Starr --"
"Hold your horses, sweetheart," he admonished. "You can blow me in a minute."

Never Cross a Telepath

Part 3

Captain Dickerson wasn't a man who appreciated being called to task. As he sat
before Chief Harmon in the man's unreasonably cold office -- was his air
conditioning set to forty degrees? -- Dickerson accepted that he couldn't avoid
the bullet much longer. The sweat beneath his arms turned instantly into an icy
slime beneath his armpits. He returned Chief Harmon's gaze impassively, but
inside he cursed the older man for making him feel like a rookie again.
Chief Harmon was only six years older than him, but the chief was easily
mistaken for a man in his late forties whereas Dickerson looked his age and then
some. Also unlike Dickerson, Harmon kept in shape, regularly boxing with the
other officers in an interdepartmental league. He ate some strange hippie-diet
which his wife, some cunty vegan, swore would keep the man active into his
nineties. Dickerson couldn't stand health nuts, and he especially resented health
nuts that were his boss and made him feel lazy and slovenly in comparison.
Dickerson's priority was the Job, not his body. The department would fare a hell
of a lot better if it lay in his hands, rather than in Harmon's.
"Something troubling seems to be happening within our Special Teams, Carl."
Harmon twirled an expensive pen -- a gift from the mayor -- between his fingers.
Dickerson was sure he was showing it off to him. "Anything you care to share
about your JC Units? The rumors I'm hearing are enough to make me think
twice about allowing their continued existence."
"You understood from the beginning that there was a potential for controversy
with them," Dickerson replied. He held Harmon's eyes, unwilling to let the other
man shy away from that complicity. "We agreed that the benefits outweighed
any potential PR risk."
"The condition that I agreed upon was that the JC Units would remain under the
radar. They would be secret. That's what you promised me. A police version of
Delta Force, that's how you sold it to me, Carl. I never read about Delta Force in
the news or see it on TV. Instead, I see reports about JC2 shooting up a church."
Harmon's eyes narrowed. "My wife's family attends that church, Carl. My wife's
family."
Dickerson had no acceptable explanation or excuse for that, so he didn't bother
offering up any. "We face a challenge in this city that SWAT and R&R aren't
equipped or trained to handle. Either we let the psypaths take over or we use the
JC Units the way they're meant to be used. Problems are to be expected, but
considering what we're dealing with, I believe it's within the range of
acceptable."
"I was at a luncheon today," Harmon said conversationally. "You know what the
mother of our City Planner said to me? She asked me why we haven't sent
SWAT after the monsters who are blowing up our city. She's eighty-two years
old, Carl, and she wants SWAT to move in on them. Clearly we've moved
beyond the range of acceptable if I've got grandmothers demanding I take action
against your men."
Grinding his teeth, Dickerson shrugged. "SWAT serves its purpose. To people
like that woman SWAT is the pinnacle of our Special Teams. It's okay if they
fuck up because they're public. They're held accountable for their actions. We
need SWAT to take the heat." He leaned forward, hands clawed on his knees.
"But to get the real shit done, sir, the dirty business that SWAT can't touch, we
need my JC Units. Someone has to get their hands dirty and meet the psypaths
on their own level. If we aren't willing to do that, the psypaths will be raping our
wives and smashing our children's skulls with bricks."
Harmon winced and looked away. "Jesus, Carl..."
Dickerson enjoyed the other man's discomfort. Harmon was too soft. He was too
political. He hadn't been in the field for a good fifteen years or more. The only
danger he faced was losing his job. Dickerson liked rubbing their differences in
the older man's face. Dickerson was the soldier in the trenches. Harmon was on
his horse, watching from the safety of a hilltop.
"I'm handling the problem with JC2," Dickerson went on with false confidence.
"They'll be quiet by the end of the week and all of this will blow over. They're
too valuable to dismantle, sir, and you know that as well as I."
Harmon slanted his eyes at him. "Tell me the truth, Carl. Have you lost control
of that team?" He reached over and clicked a button on his desk. His computer
monitor rose up from a slot in the desk and he pressed a few more keys. He
pointed at the screen, which Dickerson couldn't see, but didn't need to. "This is
the team with that young lieutenant. Your special case."
Dickerson's fingers dug into his knees as more icy sweat slid down his ribs. "It
is. I have reason to believe he's not responsible for what's happening, however.
I'm still looking into it."
"I gave you leave to promote him," Harmon murmured, studying what
Dickerson assumed was Black's file, "even though a lot of people weren't happy
with it. I deflected the questions and the accusations because I trusted your
judgment about him, Carl. I believed you when you said you'd stake your
reputation on him. But I'm having second thoughts now that all of this nonsense
is occurring."
Nonsense. Dickerson wanted to punch Harmon in the face for being so soft. This
so-called nonsense was going to tear the city apart if the chief didn't let
Dickerson go and take care of it.
But then again Harmon's willful ignorance about some subjects -- the man
believed the less he knew about some things, the more politically buffered he
was -- had allowed Dickerson to propose and develop the JC Units in the first
place. Any man with half a brain would have second-guessed Dickerson's plans
and questioned his rigid secrecy. He'd recruited and trained the two JC teams
with hardly any input or interference from Harmon. Dickerson could have been
training terrorists for all Harmon knew. It amused Dickerson that this was nearly
the case. Harmon had no idea that he had personally given Dickerson the tools
and the power to eventually overthrow him.
"Lieutenant Black is a special recruit of mine," he said evasively, "a young man
who has proven to possess a particular skill set and experience that other
candidates for the position lack. Combating the psypaths is a unique struggle,
sir. Black is uniquely skilled to engage them."
"That's the kind of answer my teenage son gives me when he doesn't want to tell
me where he's been all night."
Dickerson smiled humorlessly.
"Elaborate on this 'skill set'."
Admitting to Harmon that Black's true name was Genesis and he was the most
powerful telepath in the city wasn't an option. He'd taken a big enough risk
already by adding Starr and Parker, both known empaths, to the team. Empaths
were relatively harmless as far as psypaths went. But a telepath -- especially one
capable of scrambling the minds of every officer in the department -- was
another story.
"He grew up in the streets in a gang alongside psypaths," Dickerson hedged. "He
knows how they think, what motivates them, and what their goals are. He retains
many contacts from those days and he uses them frequently for information and
interrogation."
"So he's a snitch just like your Agent Starr." Harmon appeared to find the
apparent betrayal fascinating.
"Yes, sir, you could draw that parallel."
"And you continue to trust him, despite what's going on?"
Dickerson nodded, and replied with a straight face, "I trust him like a son."
Harmon studied the screen a moment longer and then nodded sharply, as if he'd
made an internal decision. "Very well. I expect you to have this problem cleaned
up by the end of the week, Carl. I also expect you to give me a reasonable
explanation to hand out to the press to get them off my back. Whoever you
choose to take the fall," he told Dickerson carefully, "be absolutely certain they
are expendable, because they will be done here, understand? No second chances,
no opportunities to sneak back in and raise questions down the line."
Harmon wanted his ass covered. Dickerson sympathized, although he preferred
a pro-active way of achieving that. "Done, sir."
The chief dismissed him and Dickerson went straight for his office and locked
the door behind him despite the officers from R&R who were waiting to speak
with him. There were more pressing concerns.
At his desk he pulled up his monitor and accessed the SynTrack mapping
program. The screen immediately filled with a handful of yellow code numbers,
scattered atop a map of the city. He had memorized three specific codes. In the
last week they had dwindled.
When Black's marker had disappeared from the screen just before JC2 blew up
the tunnels to the Silent City, Dickerson had felt his stomach drop into his shoes.
The possibility that Black had been killed threatened to sabotage a career's worth
of ambition and careful planning.
Anna wouldn't like it, either.
But Dickerson had forced himself to calm down and think more clearly about
the situation. Black was too tough to die so easily. If he could survive Hangway
as a sixteen year old, he could survive a puny explosion. Confident that Black
was alive, Dickerson then believed Black had somehow managed to override the
marker in his bloodstream so he could get away with leading his team in a
mutiny against the city without being recognized. Black had always been
obedient to Dickerson, but the captain wasn't a fool. Black was Genesis. He
could kill on command or kill in a berserker rage. You couldn't miraculous
banish that sort of behavior. You might leash it, but the beast didn't magically
disappear. Dickerson had always treated Black as a gun without a safety, capable
of firing at the wrong times.
It was why he'd brought Starr onto the team. Starr, who was supposed to become
Black's liability, his Achilles' heel, the person Dickerson could take away and
use to force Black to behave.
But Starr hadn't participated in JC2's rogue destruction spree. Starr was
elsewhere according to his SynTrack marker and Dickerson knew in his gut that
where the empath was, Black was, too.
Yesterday, Starr had disappeared off the grid. Vanished, just like Black. And that
was when Dickerson began to suspect a new turn of events: someone else had
taken control of JC2 and Black and Starr were on the run. Whether Black had
handed over the team or it had been taken from him was beside the point.
Dickerson had lost control over all of them.
Now his last ace against Black was about to slip from his fingers, also.
Dickerson had been keeping an eye on that telekinetic freak, Mneumonia, ever
since she'd disappeared from the JC clinic. As long as he'd known her location it
hadn't been important to round her up. At any time she could be pulled back in
and used to manipulate Black. That had been Dickerson's plan.
But just as with Starr, this woman wasn't proving to be as amenable to
Dickerson's machinations. Her SynTrack signal had been growing steadily
weaker over the past few weeks and now blinked inconsistently on the screen.
He didn't like not knowing what was interfering with the signal. Was it because
she was a woman? She was the only female thus far in the database so he had
nothing to compare her to. Another possibility was that her telekinesis was
somehow affecting the marker in her blood.
"I should have kept her as a lab rat," Dickerson muttered, cursing himself for the
missed opportunity. He'd been so intent on using her as a tool against Black that
he'd overlooked her potential as a possible weapon. Telekinetics were rare, and
she was supposedly a strong one.
Frowning, he studied her marker. She was definitely on the move, more than ten
miles from the block where she'd been holed up for weeks. Something had
driven her from her safe place and Dickerson would bet his ass it had something
to do with Black and Starr. Starr's marker had overlaid hers for a few days,
indicating he'd been in close proximity with her before his marker disappeared.
Starr's unexplained disappearance had nearly given Dickerson a stroke from the
resulting rage. The sudden movement of this woman was just the icing on the
cake. There was a good chance Black was marshalling his forces before
Dickerson could use them against the younger man. That stoked a deep rage
within the captain. No one played with his pawns except him.
He stared at the screen, willing Mneumonia's SynTrack flickering marker to
solidify. Aggravated, he forced himself to look elsewhere, his eyes seeking out
Parker's marker. According to the map, the braided empath was at the bay. The
assumption was that JC2 was there, too. Dickerson considered driving down
there himself to confront them. He wanted to know who was leading them and
why they were doing what they were doing. He wanted to know, most of all,
who thought they had the balls to take his team away from him.
But despite what he'd promised Chief Harmon, Dickerson had no intention of
hamstringing JC2 just yet. There was a way to turn this situation to his
advantage and pull Black to him once again; he just had to find it.
~~~~~
"Parker, I'm horny. Come here and suck me off."
Jake sat up straighter, his hands balling into fists by his side. "Leave him alone."
Genesis, reclining casually inside the aqueduct pipe where he had led JC2 so he
could watch the cargo ships loading and unloading in the bay, smirked at Jake
and deliberately began massaging his cock through his pants.
"Make me, tough guy," Genesis purred. "Oh, that's right. You're not a telepath.
You're a normal. I guess you can't do anything but flap your fat lips." His smile
hardened. "Parker, come here. Be a good boy or I'll have to jump in your brain
again."
"Don't," Jake blurted again. "Please."
Delight spread across Genesis' face, while shame reddened Jake's, but he refused
to back down. "I'll do whatever you want. Please leave the rest of them alone."
"Jake, stop," Bee spoke up. He sat side by side with Haney and looked as tired
and beaten down as the rest of them felt, but alarm hovered in his eyes. "He's not
interested in making bargains."
"And even if he was, you can't trust him," Parker said softly, staring,
emotionless, at Genesis. The prescient slowly stood up. He gently but firmly
pushed Jake's restraining hand aside. "You want to play, Genesis? We'll play."
"Sacrificing your non-existent virtue to protect your friends?" Genesis taunted.
He reached down and opened his pants. He pulled out his stiff, reddened cock.
"That will only work if you're a skilled enough whore, Parker."
"Shut the fuck up!" Jake spat.
"I can pretend," Parker replied, "but I doubt I'll ever be as good as you were,
Genesis."
Jake pursed his lips, hiding a triumphant smile as Genesis' expression hardened.
Parker was going to get himself killed by talking back, but Jake was beginning
to believe they were all just counting the minutes. Genesis had been growing
more and more unhinged as the hours wore on. Jake suspected the strain of
keeping four defiant men under constant telepathic control was taking its toll on
Genesis. Sooner or later the telepath was going to break. The question was
when, and how many members of JC2 he took down with him.
He had to look away as Parker stepped between Genesis' spread legs and
dropped to his knees on the dried weeds and leaves that had collected at the
bottom of the pipe. Though he didn't watch, he could hear the moment Parker
took the telepath into his mouth. Genesis made sure of that with his exaggerated
moan of pleasure.
Jake breathed harshly through his nose and concentrated on Bee's gaze, which
was steady and supportive like a strong grip. The big man had his arm around
Haney's shoulders, a protective gesture which would mean nothing if Genesis
decided he wanted Haney's attention. So far, though, Genesis had used only
Parker, taking great pleasure in exacting revenge on the prescient. Jake didn't
hold out hope that Genesis would leave the rest of them alone. Again, it was a
matter of time.
"Bee," he groaned softly. "I can't take this." Every time Genesis called for Parker
it killed Jake a little more inside.
"I know," the big sergeant replied. "Hold on, Jake. He's strong. You need to be
strong, too."
"How am I being strong?" he asked around an incredulous laugh. At the mouth
of the pipe, Genesis let out another throaty moan. Jake shut his eyes. "If I were
strong, I'd find a way to kill him. I'd save Parker from this. I'd save us all."
"That's Black's job," Haney said quietly. Jake opened his eyes. The younger
sergeant stared back at him with such unflagging confidence on his face that
Jake asked himself when Black had become synonymous with Superman in
Haney's eyes.
"Black's not here," Jake bit out. "He may never come. He may have been killed
in the tunnels when we blew them up, remember?"
"But Genesis doesn't believe he's dead." Haney nodded at Jake's surprise. "He
expects Black to come, too. That's why we're all still alive. We're hostages for
Black to come rescue."
"Genesis was unconscious --"
Haney frowned. "It doesn't matter. Genesis knows Black the way we don't. He
believes Black is alive. I believe he is, too."
"Then where the fuck is he?" Jake snarled, using his own voice to cover up the
sound of slurping and moaning coming from the other end of the pipe. "He's
taking his sweet time, isn't he? In the meantime half of us are going to be raped
and eventually JC1 is going to show up and gun us all down."
Haney's eyes widened. "The captain wouldn't let --"
"To them we're rogue, Haney. To the captain we're now a political hot potato.
He'll want to wash his hands of us because technically we aren't even supposed
to exist, much less destroy half the city."
"What are you proposing?" Bee asked patiently. "You think we should try to take
Genesis on our own? Without waiting for Black?"
Jake scrubbed at his face. "I don't know. We've already discussed this. We all
agreed it'd be suicide since he'd be able to read our thoughts before we got too
close. I don't know what I'm saying, only that I can't take much more of this."
(Why don't we test that?)
Jake stiffened. He turned warily to find Genesis with his hands on the back of
Parker's head, holding the prescient motionless with his nose buried in the
telepath's disconcerting blonde pubic hair. Why couldn't the freak be bothered to
dye the carpet to match the drapes? It was like he wanted to prove to them all he
was a natural blonde.
"Come over here, Sergeant Cole, and give your boyfriend some pointers. He's
doing a mediocre job of sucking my cock."
"I'm going to enjoy ripping your nuts off and stuffing them down your throat,"
Jake growled, spinning completely around and crawling over to the two men.
The fury, the sickness and frustration that was building in him, was
overpowering his brain. It was more powerful than any telepathic compulsion.
"I'm going to make you scream in agony for every second you've made us suffer,
you fucking psychotic --"
He gasped and dropped to the floor of the pipe, wrapping his hands around his
head as a hot needle slid through his head and stabbed him repeatedly behind the
eyes.
"You've got a nasty mouth on you, Sergeant Cole, and an even nastier brain.
Let's see if I can stir it around and make a more palatable soup."
Jake heard Parker give a muffled cry of protest, but the fact that the prescient
was gagged on Genesis' cock only made Jake feel worse. He clenched his jaw
and fought not to whimper as Genesis poked and prodded and touched things in
his mind in a way that made his entire body shudder in revulsion.
"What's this?"
Genesis startled outburst pulled Jake's eyes open. The telepath was looking at
him in shock. "What was that?"
"How should I know?" Jake muttered, wincing at the throbbing in his head. "I
was too busy being soup."
It was his turn to be surprised when Genesis shoved Parker away from him and
refastened his pants over his wilting cock. Jake sat up and quickly pulled Parker
towards him.
"What did I see?" Genesis demanded. "What did I see about Black's 'drives' with
Captain Dickerson?"
Though it hurt his brain to do it, Jake searched his memories for what Genesis
was referring to. Oh, yeah. The shooting thing. He wondered if it mattered now
whether Genesis now knew Black's secret activities with the captain. From the
telepath's expression, it seemed to have made an impression.
"Did you know about this?" Genesis demanded of Parker.
The prescient leaned against Jake's side for comfort. His head was down as if he
were ashamed of what he'd been forced to do. Jake slipped his hand into the
other man's and squeezed.
"I've helped him on a few occasions," Parker mumbled. "Why? Weren't you
invited?"
"You bitch," Genesis drawled, his eyes narrowing. "He may be your friend now,
but he didn't trust you back then. He always knew you only pitied him."
Parker's hand tensed around Jake's. "And yet he trusts me and not you."
Genesis' scowl deepened. "Tell me what you're doing to those psypaths with
Black. Why are you killing them?"
"You won't find the answer in any of our minds," Parker told him. "Black doesn't
know, so he's never told us. It's Dickerson's project. Black just goes along with it
because he feels he owes him."
"Do any other psypaths know?" Genesis asked with an urgency that Jake found
interesting, if unsettling.
Parker seemed to feel the same, for he hesitated before answering. "I haven't told
anyone, but I don't know who Black has told. And we didn't kill all of them.
Some of them survived the experiment. I don't know where they are."
"Survived?" Genesis' blue eyes were piercing. "Who?"
"I don't --" Parker let out a cry and toppled sideways into Jake. Jake clutched
him, cursing beneath his breath as Genesis raped his lover's mind.
"He experimented on you!" Genesis stared at Parker in shock as the prescient
slumped against Jake and panted for breath. "What did it do to you?"
"I don't know," Parker mumbled. "Dickerson claimed I'd failed to pass, but
Black bargained with him to allow me to live."
"I want to know what it does." To Jake, Genesis sounded like a petulant kid who
demanded to know why he hadn't been let in on a big secret. "Tell me or I'll rip
your fucking mind open like a coconut."
"If you think I would try to hide anything from you, you're crazier than we
already think you are," Parker mumbled. Jake shook his head, willing the other
man not to push Genesis. But the telepath rose to his feet and began to pace, lost
in his own thoughts.
"Experimenting on psypaths. Why haven't I heard? Someone should have heard.
Seen." Genesis ran both hands through his black hair. "Do they know about this?
They're so close. Someone must."
"I think you broke him," Jake whispered to Parker.
He was heartened to see a small smile touch the prescient's lips. Jake wrapped
both arms around the slighter man and sighed as Parker rested his cheek against
Jake's chest.
"Black is coming," Parker murmured. "You can't give up hope. He's coming. He
won't let Genesis get away with this. This team is Black's life and he won't allow
Genesis to take that from him a second time."
"A second time?"
"It doesn't matter." Parker pressed tighter against him. "Just don't fight him. Stay
alive. Black will come, and we'll be free."
"I wish I had your faith," Jake sighed. He watched Genesis pace the mouth of
the pipe, muttering to himself as he did so. "We're all sitting on the bomb this
time and we don't have Calyx's fancy shooting to save us."
~~~~~
Calyx took one look at himself, one look at the door in the alley ahead of him,
and then allowed a smug smile to ease across his face.
"Oh, I agree with this course of action, sweetheart. I agree wholeheartedly. That
includes my cock."
Beside him, Black straightened his leather jacket. "I'm thrilled you approve. Try
not to screw this up and get us both killed. We've got a lot to accomplish
tonight."
Calyx was insulted. "Sweetheart, you just don't understand. We're in my world
now. This is my turf. You may hold the fancier title, but make no mistake, I'm
the commanding officer here."
"Right. Commanding officer of the club scene."
Black shook his head and started forward down the alley. Calyx glared at his
back and followed him at a more leisurely pace. Calyx Starr sauntered when he
went to clubs. He had no reason to hurry. They always saved the best tables for
him.
Black's first order of business since leaving Dr. Parker's house was to learn as
much as they could about what was happening to JC2. They could either go
straight to the source -- the police -- or rely on the less dangerous, though
slightly less reliable street sources.
Calyx had suggested one better: his own personal sources. They wouldn't lie to
him and they wouldn't rat him out. The biggest difficulty would be finding a
source that wasn't drunk or high. It was why he'd dragged Black to Aura, a sex
club where the Bliss was used in a more controlled manner than in dance clubs.
Two of the most reliable sources in the city came here, and Calyx was confident
he could squeeze them for what he needed.
"This is a swinger's club, you know," Calyx called out as he walked behind
Black, admiring the other man's ass cupped in black leather -- Calyx's
suggestion, and damn, did he make good suggestions. Black looked both butch
and beautiful and Calyx realized belatedly he would be in for a rough night of
fending off would-be interlopers. Shit.
"So what?" Black called back, sounding distracted. He was in mission mode,
heading for the green lit door come hell or high water.
"So you can't get in by yourself, sweetheart. No singles unless they're ladies.
You need to slow up and let me be your arm decoration, Darkness. Plus, when
they see me they'll give us the VIP treatment."
"And you know how much I care about that," Black muttered, but he paused,
allowing Calyx to catch up with him. He held out his arm, which Calyx was
thrilled to thread his own through.
"This is so chivalrous," he gushed.
"It's so I can keep you under control when we get inside. Stay with me, Starr. No
wandering around on your own. Someone in there might have heard that you've
been working for the police."
Calyx brushed off the concern. "No one in here would care, sweetheart. This is a
legal club, and all anyone worries about is getting off with as many different
faces and asses as possible. It's ideal."
Black snorted at that, but Calyx just grinned. He was looking forward to their
first night out together as clean psypaths. In a warped way, he viewed this as
their honeymoon. He wanted to enjoy himself while still getting the information
they needed.
"Behave," Black muttered as a final warning as he opened the door. Dark stairs
led downward. A wave of moist heat belched up into their faces. Black
grimaced.
"You're going to get sweaty," Calyx whispered into his ear. "But it's okay.
Everyone will be. It'll be sexy."
"Sounds unhygienic," Black sighed, but he led the way down the spiraling stair.
As they descended, Calyx's excitement and lust did the opposite and began to
climb. He hadn't even taken a tab yet, but he was already anticipating the
touching, groping, and kissing that would soon take place. He was a very
physical person. Using his body allowed him to avoid using his mind and
empathy. And it would be a thousand times better with Black here because now
Calyx would have an excuse to molest his brown-haired lover every chance he
could under the guise of remaining under cover.
"This is going to be so good," Calyx said, his hips beginning to sway to the low
music that was growing louder the deeper they descended.
"We're not here for play," Black reminded him.
"I know. I know. But it's still going to be fun, Darkness. No one said it can't be."
But when they reached the foot of the stairs, Black froze and Calyx felt the chill
as if he'd opened a meat locker. Following Black's gaze, Calyx smiled in relief.
He'd been expecting JC1 or Genesis.
"Oh, relax, Darkness. They're our only allies anymore. We need them."
Out of the darkness stepped two blue-haired men.
"Nice to see you again," Jax said with a smile.
"And I'm not brain dead," Junxion said, staring at Black.
Calyx laughed uneasily. "Great. Now that we've made introductions let's go get
fucked up. Who wants a drink?"
"I've got a better idea," Junxion said, still staring at Black. "Why don't we switch
up partners? We're in a swingers club, after all."
Calyx gulped and looked to Black. The tension on his face was unmistakable.
Calyx wondered if he regretted having nearly killed Junxion or regretted not
finishing the job.
"Switch partners," Junxion repeated, smiling strangely now, "or I'm going to
remind you of my special skill."
"Oh, shit," Calyx blurted. "No more scrambled brains. I'm begging you."
"We'll switch," Black said quietly. "But we all remain together." He didn't break
the staring match with Junxion.
The blue-haired twin nodded, his smile sharpening. He held out his arm. "You
know you're with me."
Calyx held his breath as Black unwound his arm from the empath's. He walked
forward and then past Junxion, knocking him in the shoulder as he passed.
Junxion glared after him.
"I guess he doesn't like the arm-holding thing," Jax commented.
Biting his lip uneasily, Calyx shrugged. "He's touchy until he has his first drink.
Come on, boys. Let's get wasted."
Never Cross a Telepath

Part 4

Calyx was going down fast. He needed a parachute and he needed one, now.
"Sweetheart," he cooed as charmingly as he could,"I've got a wee problem."
He was sitting beside Jax on a red loveseat in one of the quiet rooms. Aura was a
multi-roomed lounge with each room catering to a particular kink. Black had
immediately commandeered the two loveseats in this room because the most
risqu thing that appeared to be happening in it was some serious makeout
sessions amongst the other guests on the other loveseats. Compared to rooms
like the BDSM room, the watersports room, and the sling room, this was like
sitting in the playpen.
Across from Calyx and Jax sat their respective partners. Junxion had one leg
crossed and his left arm extended along the back of the loveseat behind Black's
neck. Black looked about as comfortable with the position as a man with an
anaconda dangling above his head.
"What?" Black snapped. He was wound up tight. Seeing Echo again had clearly
set him on edge and Junxion's apparent pleasure in reminding Black that he'd
survived his mindfuck wasn't helping matters.
Calyx tried to phrase himself carefully. "I'm starting to feel ... unwell." He gave
Black a meaningful look. "Things are becoming way too intense for me in my
current condition. Wink. Wink."
"What the hell does wink wink mean?" Black growled.
"I need a hit!" Calyx snarled, exasperated. "There's too much stuff floating
around in the air. It's all going into my head and it's pushing me to the edge of
freaking out, sweetheart. I can't take it clean."
"Well, you're going to have to," Black muttered, but he didn't have the guts to
look Calyx in the face as he said it. "You still have to talk to your contact and
I'm not letting you do it while you're high. The information we need from him is
too important to risk making a mistake."
"Darkness, I can spell my name backwards and upside down while I'm high. Are
you kidding me? I'm a professional Bliss addict. I can multi-task."
"If you're trying to be funny you're failing."
"If I'm trying to be funn-- sweetheart, right now I'm trying not to strangle you
for the money in your pocket so I can buy a hit."
"No need to spend any money," Junxion said with an easy smile. He patted his
pocket with the hand not extended behind Black's head. "I'm carrying ample
supply, Calyx. How much do you need?"
"No."
Jax tensed and even Calyx's mind cleared at Black's sharply barked refusal.
Black leaned away from Junxion so he could glare at the blue-haired psypath.
"You're not giving him anything, you understand? If I find out he's taken a tab
from you I'll finish what I started back at the Silent City. No drugs."
"You'll finish what you started?" Junxion's lashes lowered, partly hiding his eyes
as he studied Black. "For you to say something like that makes me wonder if
you've changed at all, Genesis."
"My name is Black," the brunette ground out.
"You apologized to my brother for nearly killing me, yet you say you'd do it
again over a single tab of Bliss?"
"The lives of my men are at stake," Black retorted. "No one is going to stand in
the way of me saving them. I need Starr clean and he's going to stay that way.
You say you're here to help us, then help us. Don't get in my way and don't
interfere. Keep your drugs away from him."
"He looks strung out," Junxion remarked. "Won't that make his contact
suspicious? I doubt Calyx Starr has ever had to suffer from a lack of drugs."
"He's a professional." Black slanted Calyx a look that said 'you'd better prove it,
too'. "He'll handle himself fine when the time comes. If he's clean."
"Damn you, Darkness." He agreed that nothing was worth risking the guys' lives
but still... going without Bliss in such a highly charged environment was going
to be hell. It already was.
Calyx huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. That lasted about twenty
seconds before he uncrossed them and began tapping his fingers against his
thighs. Then he began tapping his feet.
"Do you want me to help you?" Jax murmured worried beside him. The blue-
haired empath gave him an uncertain smile. "Maybe a distraction would help?
It's what I sometimes try when my brother is too much for my senses to handle."
"There isn't a distraction in the world that's gonna kill this boner, sweetheart."
Calyx pointed at the bulge in his lap. "I'm horny as hell right now."
Jax tilted his head. "Then do something about it."
Calyx opened his mouth to give a snide reply, then let his mouth snap shut. Why
the hell shouldn't he find some relief? It wasn't his fault that he was like this.
Why did he have to suffer for it?
"Darkness," he called out.
Impatient brown eyes flicked to him. "What now? When is your contact going to
be available? We've been here for over two hours."
"He's in the middle of having every inch of his skin covered in clothespins,
sweetheart. That takes awhile. He's a big guy." Calyx placed both booted feet on
the carpet, which allowed the mound between his legs to take center stage. "I
need to take care of this. Want to help out a poor empath?"
Black glanced at his obvious erection and turned away in apparent disgust. But
even in the dim mood lighting of the club, Calyx could see that his cheeks were
stained lightly with color.
"Come on, sweetheart," he cajoled, suddenly in a much better mood now that
he'd gotten Black's mind on something other than business. "You don't want me
to endure an entire night with this thing, do you? I could break it on something.
It'd be useless to you."
"You're already useless," Black muttered, but Calyx knew he didn't mean it.
"If you don't help me I'm going to use Jax."
Black didn't bite.
"Okay, I warned you. You just sit there with Junxion and if you end up feeling
frisky while you're watching us I'm sure Junxion will be happy to lend you a
hand."
Oh, he just knew that had to burn. Calyx didn't even bother waiting for the
reaction. He could feel Black's glare like a pair of laser beams on the side of his
face.
Jax looked amused. He'd figured out what Calyx was up to. Calyx was glad to
have such a cute partner in crime.
"Come here," Calyx purred, patting his lap.
With a smirk, Jax slid across the cushions and onto Calyx's lap, straddling his
hips. The blue-haired psypath rested his hands on Calyx's shoulders and rubbed
his ass in an enticing circle against the bulge of his cock.
"Is there something you need from me?" Jax asked playfully. "Or make that,
some place?" He shimmied that little ass again.
Calyx didn't bother stifling his groan. It melted into the chorus of moaning and
groaning and 'oh, gods' swirling throughout the club. He cupped Jax's ass and
guided his movements. "This is exactly what I need, sweetheart. This right
here."
On the other loveseat he heard Black say, "Why aren't we using one of your
contacts? You must have plenty of people willing to tell you anything in
exchange for passage to the Silent City."
Calyx scowled. Black was supposed to be concentrating on him, not Junxion. He
decided to groan louder.
"Jax and I are playing dead. We're curious to see what happens if people believe
we were killed in the explosion at Harlequin Tipsy. It might prove valuable."
"So you're saying you don't hold the power you pretend to."
Junxion said nothing, but Calyx thought he heard him laugh softly.
"Tell me how you were healed," Black demanded. "You don't show any signs of
brain damage."
"There are men within the Silent City who are skilled in the restoration of minds
and souls," Junxion replied. His voice didn't betray any lingering anger or
resentment. The sly amusement, that sense he knew something that you didn't,
played in and out of his voice. "It's unfortunate that such men are needed, but
psypaths have been harmed since the beginning of our existence. It has become
necessary to develop a treatment for such damage. Those men saved my mind,
and they've saved your conscience. We owe them."
"I don't owe the Silent City anything." Calyx leaned around Jax's bouncing torso
and watched Black scowl at his own knees. "They kidnapped Starr and told them
a secret that wasn't theirs to tell."
"And in doing so have lifted the albatross from around your neck," Junxion
replied mildly. "I think you do owe them something."
A bitter smile touched Black's lips. He glanced to the side at Junxion. "And what
do I owe? You seem to have a payment in mind."
"You owe them the benefit of the doubt. You've written them off, but you don't
know them or their cause. Not really. You owe them an hour of your time. To
listen. To see. To understand." Junxion smiled his sly smile. "You expected and
received the same of Calyx. Are you superior to him?"
"I didn't ask him for anything." Frowning, Black glanced away from Junxion, his
eyes meeting Calyx's.
Calyx smirked. "Sorry, couldn't help eavesdropping while I'm dry humping Jax
here."
Black rolled his eyes. "Aren't you done yet?"
"No, I'm not done yet," Calyx shot back, peeved by Black's lack of sympathy or
lust. "Darkness, you're not treating me very well, you know. We're supposed to
be taking care of each other."
Something which looked suspiciously like guilt darkened Black's eyes. "I can't
do what you want," he murmured. "I'm not having sex with you in front of all
these people. In front of --" His expression closed off as he glanced furtively at
Junxion. "I can't do it, Starr." His face shifted into resignation. "Take what you
need from Jax if it'll help. I won't hold it against you."
Calyx let out a loud, frustrated sigh. "Sweetheart, you really know how to kill a
mood, don't you?" He eased a confused Jax off his lap. "Now I've got a hard-on
and I feel like a sex maniac. I'm not even turned on. Thanks a lot."
"I told you it's alright to --"
"No, forget it." Calyx slumped on the loveseat. "This royally sucks."
Across from him, Black released his own aggravated sigh. "I'm not giving you
Bliss. I can't. Not yet."
"I know."
Even without looking at him, Calyx could practically see the irritated expression
on Black's face. Calyx was creating a messy situation and Black didn't like
messy.
He heard Black rise to his feet a moment before a strong hand closed around his
arm, tugging him up. "Come on," Black ordered gently. "Let's go for a walk."
Calyx wasn't surprised when Black led him to the room where their contact was.
They'd been waiting for over two hours to speak to him. Black wanted to leave
this place as soon as possible and Calyx agreed. It wasn't turning out to be as fun
as he'd hoped... since he was sober.
Unfortunately upon entering the BDSM room they found their contact, a large
man who went by the name of Lucky because he was an obsessive gambler, still
on his knees having his skin pinched between clothespins by a pair of
dominatrices. Two rows of pins sprouted down the sides of his torso like wooden
fins. His eyes were closed, lips stretched around a ball gag, his expression one of
pain-ecstasy. Calyx passed a hand over his eyes, nearly overwhelmed by the
need-pain-desire-humiliation-lust-lust billowing out from the man.
"Sweetheart --"
"I know. But I had to check." Black quickly steered him out of the room. Calyx
closed his eyes and trusted the other man to guide him out without letting him
trip.
The next room felt better, although lust still pressed in against his senses as
though he were standing in front of a bonfire. He opened his eyes and found
himself in a room full of padded sawhorses. The sight of men and women
draped over the apparatus brought back the memory of Genesis on his killing
spree. Genesis had been tied over sawhorses back in his heyday. Calyx glanced
warily at Black, afraid this was bringing back bad memories, but Black's
expression was unreadable, his dark eyes moving over the bodies with clinical
detachment.
"You said you might know someone else here," Black said.
Calyx nodded. He lifted his hair off the back of his neck. The club was humid,
but he was sweating from more than that. "Usually two guys I know come here."
"Is Daemon the other?" Junxion asked from behind them. The two brothers were
trailing them. "I saw him in the white room."
"Daemon's the one," Calyx agreed unhappily.
Black caught it. "What's wrong with Daemon?"
"He's a bit bossy, to put it mildly. And he's got the creepiest eyes. Like a dead
man." Calyx shivered just thinking about that cold, green stare.
"But he'll have information that will help us? As good as Lucky's?"
"Probably. Daemon's nosy. He likes to know what's going on all the time. He's
afraid of open spaces so he doesn't go outside much. He pays people to dig up
the latest gossip for him."
Black turned back to Junxion. "Show me where he is."
Against all reason in a sex club, the white room was actually white. White fur
rugs covered the entire floor and round white chenille ottomans as large as king-
sized beds were scattered throughout. Black lighting caused everything that was
white to glow with nuclear intensity. The bodies that moved against that white
brilliance looked like shadows in comparison. It was difficult to make out
distinct facial features in the midst of such shocking contrast.
Nonetheless Calyx picked out Daemon immediately. It wasn't difficult. He was
the only person sitting by himself on the edge of one of the ottomans, his bare
feet resting on the fur rug beneath, his hands braced behind him as he surveyed
the orgy going on around him. He was naked save for a pair of dark pants. His
pale skin still looked dark against the fierce white glow of the furnishings.
"How well do you know him?" Black asked, looking hard at Daemon who
seemed to be looking right back at them although it was difficult to tell with his
face in shadow.
Calyx shrugged, trying to push out the lust beating at his brain. "I've blown him
a few times. He's given me tabs on occasion. He knows me by sight. He knows
I'm a regular of the scene. I don't know what else to tell you."
"Does he like you?"
Calyx had to smile. He batted his lashes at Black. "Sweetheart, everyone likes
Calyx Starr."
Black smirked. "Then prove it."
Calyx snorted. Prove it. Calyx Starr didn't need to prove to anyone that he was
desirable. Hell, half the people in the room had already paused in the middle of
fucking to stare at him. Sure, part of the reason was because his hair glowed like
the snows on Mt. Everest under these blacklights but the rest of the reason was
because he was sexy as hell. People were supposed to stare at him.
He wore his cockiness like a pair of tight leather pants as he sauntered across the
fur rugs, casually stepping over bodies on his way to Daemon. He could tell for
certain that Daemon had noticed him. The strong, compact man had sunk back
onto his elbows and spread his trouser clad legs. His eyes, hooded by the strange
lighting, were aimed at Calyx. Calyx could feel them roaming covetously over
his entire body.
"Stop."
Calyx paused, confused. Then he inwardly groaned. He'd forgotten about
Daemon's weird 'thing'.
"On your knees," Daemon said softly, but his voice was firm with authority.
"Crawl to me, pretty star."
"You are such a strange one," Calyx teased through gritted teeth as he dropped to
his knees. At least the rugs were soft. He clasped his hands together behind his
neck and tried to shuffle forward with as much swing in his hips as he could. It
wasn't easy being sexy while knee-walking. "How are you, sweetheart?"
"Much better," Daemon said softly. He stood. "Don't move."
Summoning his patience and doing everything he could to block out the
increased sexual tension and need that filled in the air ever since he'd begun
crawling across the floor, Calyx waited while Daemon circled him, bare feet
occasionally brushing Calyx's feet and legs.
"You're much more beautiful than the last time I saw you," Daemon murmured.
Calyx shivered as the other man slid his fingers through his long hair. "Not so
skinny. Not so desperate. Although..." He paused in front of Calyx and cupped
his chin, tilting his face up. Calyx looked up into shadow. "You're not high. I
don't think I've ever seen you in one of these places and not be high."
"I'm trying out a twelve-step program," Calyx replied. "I'm on step one: suffer
like hell."
"Why?"
"I've become a masochist?"
Daemon chuckled. It was a masculine sound. "You might pretend, but I've never
known you to enjoy being hurt. You'd rather be pampered."
"You know me better than I thought." Calyx smiled seductively. "That turns me
on."
"A lot of things do."
Still tilting Calyx's chin up, Daemon brushed the backs of his other fingers down
the empath's cheek. "So lovely, Calyx Starr. Why are you here? You're not here
for me."
"Why can't I be?"
Daemon's smile was a scythe in the night. "Because you came with three others.
The two blue-haired twins -- very nice, by the way -- and the other one. He feels
like a cop."
"He's not a cop," Calyx laughed.
"Then he's muscle."
"I'll give you that," Calyx conceded. "But he's only here to protect me."
Fingers traced his mouth. He parted his lips and let one fingertip slip inside. He
sucked on it for a moment, trying to find Daemon's eyes in the darkness before
the finger pulled out, painting his bottom lip with moisture.
"Are you fucking him?" Daemon asked.
"I'm still available."
Daemon chuckled. "That's not answering the question."
"Why? Do you want to watch?"
"I trust him more if you say you're fucking him. I know you wouldn't lie to me."
The fingers tightened on his chin, not enough to hurt, but to send a message.
Calyx smiled. "You can trust him."
"Hmm."
Daemon released his chin and carded the fingers of both hands through Calyx's
hair. Calyx didn't resist as the other man urged his head forward until his face
pressed lightly against Daemon's groin. He could smell Daemon, the musk and
sweat, and it made Calyx groan as the lust already loaded in his brain demanded
appropriate action.
"Why are you here, Calyx Starr?"
"I need information," he murmured against Daemon's clothed cock. He wouldn't
insult the man by lying. Daemon might have a weird phobia but he wasn't a fool.
Calyx nuzzled the half-hard mound behind the fabric. "I have money, Bliss, and
anything else you might want in trade."
"You're a friend. I wouldn't ask you for anything like that. But maybe I'll take
trade from your friends. Call them over here."
Daemon released him and resumed his sprawled position on the edge of the
ottoman. Calyx tried to read his expression and failed again. The lights were
really screwing with his eyes. At least he could trust his empathy. It told him
Daemon was curious and mildly aroused... and that he was allowing Calyx to
feel him. Psypath courtesy dictated that he close himself off when in the
presence of other psypaths. Daemon was showing he had nothing to hide,
hoping Calyx would do the same.
Calyx turned and motioned for Black and the others to come forward. Jax and
Junxion immediately dropped to their knees and shuffled forward. Black
hesitated. Calyx didn't need to see the actual scowl to know that Black wore one.
After a long moment Black reluctantly lowered himself to his knees and
followed the twins across the rugs.
When all three reached Calyx they stopped and waited for direction from
Daemon. Calyx could feel the resentment simmering under Black's skin and it
made him feel edgy and horny. The feeling increased when Daemon stood and,
starting with Jax, subjected each man to the same caresses and face-groin
rubbing treatment that he'd given Calyx. When he reached Black, he paused with
both hands in Black's hair.
"You're fucking my Calyx Starr," Daemon observed.
Calyx watched and listened, his breath caught in his throat, praying Black
wouldn't flip out.
"It's none of your business," Black said flatly.
"A cop wouldn't be fucking a Bliss whore, would he?"
Black looked up, though Calyx doubted he could see anything of Daemon's
expression. "You tell me."
"I think a cop has his limits. Even an undercover one." Daemon guided Black's
head forward, meeting, Calyx was relieved to see, only limited resistance from
Black. "If you have any limits, I'll know you're a cop."
He pressed Black's face to his groin, the action more mechanical than sexual,
before releasing Black and returning to the ottoman. "Strip," Daemon ordered as
he lay back and lifted his hips so he could shuck his own pants. "All of you. I
want the twins in a sixty-nine over there." He pointed to the other end of the
ottoman. "I want Calyx and your friend next to me."
Calyx shot a quick look to Junxion. While he'd seen the blue-haired psypaths
share a kiss and some friendly groping he didn't know if they'd go so far. But
Junxion smirked at him as he deftly stripped off his clothes and helped Jax with
his. Calyx couldn't help staring as the two lithe, beautiful bodies were bared.
Both men climbed fluidly onto the ottoman and arranged themselves as Daemon
had dictated, with Jax on his back and Junxion above him, head to groin like a
yin-yang symbol.
"Shit," Calyx whispered, entranced by the sight. It was perverted, sure, but he
couldn't deny the awesome visual they made.
"For this alone, you get a few answers," Daemon murmured, obviously agreeing
with Calyx's assessment. "What a gorgeous pair of men. I want to see you
enjoying yourselves."
"With pleasure," Junxion purred. He lowered his head between his brother's
thighs and began sucking on his cock. Jax returned the favor from beneath. Their
moans drifted up like music.
"How many answers?"
Calyx rolled his eyes. Trust Black to get to business as quickly as possible.
"How many answers does that get us?" Black persisted, staring hard at Daemon
while he stripped off all the luscious black leather Calyx had dressed him in.
"Not enough for your needs," Daemon replied, clearly amused. "And they won't
be the answers you really want, not unless you obey me."
Calyx curled an arm around Black from behind, hoping it would calm Black.
"Sweetheart, we'll do whatever you like if it gets us what we need. You're the
man with all the answers and we respect that."
"I hope you do."
Daemon rose up onto his knees and then sat back on his heels, waiting patiently
while they finished undressing. He was a muscular man. Calyx thought he must
spend a lot of his alone time lifting weights. Unlike the twins he wasn't smooth
or boyish. A healthy spread of light brown hair covered his chest and legs and
veins were visible in his forearms. His cock was a shower not a grower, a thick,
meaty monster hanging between his muscular thighs.
"Alright, cop," Daemon said with the barest hint of curiosity in his voice. "It's
time to earn your answers. Show me you don't have any limits. Calyx wouldn't
be fucking someone if they won't go all the way." He placed his hands on his
hips. "Show me what a nice mouth you have, cop."
Black tensed beneath Calyx's arm. Calyx wanted to see his face to try to predict
how Black would react. But the answer came quickly enough. Black pulled out
of Calyx's embrace and crawled over to Daemon. After a pointed moment to
stare Daemon in the eyes, Black lowered his head and rubbed his cheek against
the other man's soft cock.
Calyx gasped softly. He hadn't expected Black to comply so easily. He watched,
astonished, as Black nuzzled the slowly hardening shaft with his lips and nose.
He extended his tongue and licked a strip from the fat head of the cock to its root
and then pulled back and blew across the wet stripe. Daemon shivered, his
fingers digging into his own hips.
"You're a tease," Daemon murmured. "I hadn't expected that."
Black licked him a few more times, playing with him, before he finally slurped
the spongy tip between his lips. He tilted his head back and Calyx could imagine
those brown eyes looking up at him as Black slowly and inexorably slid his
mouth all the way down Daemon's cock to his pubic hair. Black paused there a
moment -- while Calyx did everything in his power not to imagine Black
swallowing around Daemon's cock -- and then began to bob slowly up and
down, coaxing the flesh in his mouth to hardness.
The muscles in Daemon's arms and shoulders jumped out in relief as Black
expertly worked him. Daemon tilted his face back and for the first time Calyx
got a clear look at his face. He was shocked and dismayed. Daemon had been a
decent looking man when last they'd met but it looked like he'd been jumped by
some angry guys. He was scarred now, with a broken nose that had healed into a
squashed, crooked lump of bone and cartilage and a strange indentation in his
right cheek as if the bone had been crushed there by a boot stomp to the face. A
nasty puckered scar sliced horizontally above his mouth, pulling his top lip up
into a perpetual sneer.
Calyx pitied him since Daemon had never mistreated him, but he told himself to
think practically. Daemon was ugly now and probably left his house even less
often than he did when he looked normal. It meant his appetite for gossip would
be voracious because Daemon had always been a curious person. Nosy, some
said. That worked for Calyx. Daemon knew what they didn't, and by the way the
muscles were bunching and flexing in Daemon's upper body Black was doing a
good job of convincing him to tell them everything.
And by Daemon's deepening moans it sounded like it wouldn't be much longer.
Hot on the heels of that thought came a sudden spike of irrational jealousy. The
lust from Calyx's empathy became mired in darker emotions. He couldn't believe
Black had gone down on a total stranger so easily. What had happened to not
wanting to have sex in public even if it meant Calyx had to suffer? Why did
Daemon get to enjoy Black when Calyx couldn't? And what the hell was with
this world-class blowjob?
Black stiffened. Calyx looked down and realized he'd scooted forward and had
placed both hands on the small of Black's back. The tip of Calyx's erection had
slipped into the cleft of his ass.
He waited for Black to pull away. To stop the entire scene. It would serve Calyx
right for losing control.
Instead, Black arched his back, opening his hips, and continued sucking on
Daemon.
Calyx groaned. He didn't need a written invitation. He quickly spat on his hand
and slicked himself up and added more saliva to Black's entrance. Two fingers
slipped in easily -- Black was no virgin -- and the promised heat which lay
inside was more than Calyx could take. He lined himself up and slid inside,
moaning as his hips came up flush with Black's taut buttocks.
Lust and desire, need and greed -- they all swelled in Calyx's mind. He lowered
the pitiful shields he'd been maintaining and threw his head back as carnal
pleasure flooded his entire body. He only managed a handful of erratic thrusts
before he spilled himself inside Black. Panting, he realized he was still hard and
began to thrust again.
Black's muscles clenched around him, milking him. Calyx gritted his teeth and
pushed his cock in again and again, that familiar tingling growing in his balls
and lower back.
lust-need-pleasure-lust-lust-lust
Calyx was a slave to his empathy, whimpering with each thrust into Black's
willing body. He heard Daemon grunt, saw him hunch over suddenly and clutch
at Black's hair. The sight and the feel of Daemon coming was too much. Calyx
bent over Black and fumbled beneath him for his cock. He could have wept with
relief at finding Black hard and swollen. If Black hadn't been enjoying this
Calyx didn't know what he would have done.
But Black was hard and when Daemon fell back, freeing Black's mouth, JC2's
leader wasn't shy about what he wanted.
"Fuck me," he ordered roughly, looking over his shoulder at Calyx. "Finish me
off."
Calyx didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Black's cock and yanked it in
time with his thrusts. Black let out a stifled moan and collapsed to his elbows.
Calyx followed him down. He didn't stop thrusting -- couldn't -- not even when
he heard Black cry out again and felt the warmth pulse over his fingers. He held
back his own orgasm, hoping to feel Black's leaked emotions, but when none
came Calyx gave himself permission to let go. He jammed himself into Black
and held himself there, shuddering as he came a second time.
Cool hands on his shoulders startled him, but it was only Junxion, smoothing his
hair off his face. Jax crawled over to Black and kissed him on the shoulder.
Lying stretched across the ottoman, sweating, Daemon chuckled gruffly. "I guess
you're not a cop," he said to Black. "And I guess you've earned all your
answers."
~~~~~
Daemon didn't want to talk secrets in the white room, so Black and the others
followed him into a much cooler room full of leather booths and circular tables.
Daemon selected a booth in the corner, far from the other guests. A cocktail
waitress was serving drinks. Daemon ordered vodka shots for all of them.
The lighting was better here, though Black could argue if that was an
improvement. Daemon was an unpleasant sight to look at and his eyes -- a flat,
stony green that Black was used to seeing in professional killers -- didn't endear
him to anyone. Yet despite his appearance Daemon didn't strike Black as much
of a threat. A man didn't seem that dangerous if he was afraid of going outside.
Starr, looking much better although still visibly affected by the lust in the club,
leaned against Black's side. Black could still feel the empath inside him. It was
an ache he enjoyed, although he could have done without the public sex and
having to fellate Daemon in the process. Black had worried that Starr would
look at him differently after what had happened, like a slut maybe, but Starr had
pulled him aside as they were leaving the white room and murmured into his ear,
"I understand it was just business, but you so owe me a blowjob like that one,
Darkness," and Black knew everything was fine.
The only person who did look at him strangely was Junxion. Black supposed
he'd surprised the blue-haired telepath. Maybe now Junxion would accept that
Black would do nearly anything to help his men.
As the five of them rested in the booth, it was Starr who started the ball rolling.
"We need information, sweetheart. About the cops."
Daemon waited for the shots of vodka to be delivered. Black grabbed his and
quickly tossed it into his mouth, eager to be rid of the taste of Daemon and some
of the memory of what he'd just done.
"What about the cops?" Daemon asked after tossing back his own shot.
"Impending drug busts? Raids? That sort of thing?"
"Other stuff. Anything out of the ordinary."
"You mean this business with Genesis."
Starr gripped Black's thigh under the table. Black pried it off. "What business
with Genesis?" he asked.
Flat green eyes studied him. "There's a rumor circulating that Genesis has
managed to infiltrate the JCPD."
Black kept his expression as neutral as possible. How had someone heard about
him?
"They say he's behind the strange activity of JC2 lately. That's he's somehow
seized control of it."
Black breathed deeply. "You don't say. Like he's paid them off or something?"
"Please," Daemon scoffed. "He's the most powerful telepath in the city. He
doesn't need to pay anyone for anything. He's using mind control on them."
"Technically, isn't Phoenix the most powerful telepath?" Jax said tentatively. "He
did blast Genesis' brains out his ears, didn't he? He seems more dangerous."
"I'm glad you brought him up because that's the other rumor I've been hearing."
Black gripped his shot glass. "Explain."
"Phoenix. He's been missing for seven years. The scene had written him off as
dead, or as crazy as Genesis. But I've been hearing suggestions that he might
have returned. That he's in Juxtapose City and fully functioning as a telepath.
Some think Genesis is aware of this and is toying with the police to draw
attention to himself, to try to call Phoenix out for a rematch."
It was exactly what Genesis was doing, but Daemon wouldn't know that.
"Is there any meat to the rumor?" Junxion asked casually. He had one arm slung
over his brother's shoulder, apparently still feeling intimate after their sixty-nine
session. Black had trouble looking at them. "Has anyone seen or heard from
Phoenix?"
"No, but I have a theory." Daemon paused, gathering his thoughts. "The rumors
about Phoenix haven't gained steam because of a recent sighting of him, but
because of the growing prominence of a new gang. I think they're connected."
"What gang? Phoenix's fan club?" Calyx asked with a snort.
"You couldn't be more wrong."
"Sweetheart, stop playing coy."
Daemon smiled. With his mutilated upper lip it was a ghastly sight. "What's one
of the lessons we learned from the massacre of Starwood's gang?"
Black said coldly, "That no one should try to control another."
Daemon gave him a look of interest. "You may have a point, but that's not the
most important thing we learned." He leaned forward. "Never trust a telepath
and never cross a telepath."
Starr gave an uneasy laugh. "Well, sure. Everyone knows most telepaths have a
few screws loose." Black inwardly winced at the empath's attempt to play
Daemon off but he appreciated the attempt, however tactless.
"Exactly. Every telepath you and I know is borderline crazy. The two strongest --
the only ones who were arguably sane -- are Genesis and Phoenix and look what
happened to them. Genesis turned into a psychotic killer. Phoenix imploded and
became a hermit. You have to handle telepaths differently."
"Yes, the normals have believed this all along," Junxion cut in. "Telepaths are
the primary reason the normals hate us. They fear telepathy more than anything
else, and rightly so." He glanced at Black briefly. "Only we fellow psypaths
understand that telepaths aren't a true danger. Like should stick with like.
Psypaths belong together."
"Not necessarily." Daemon ordered another round of shots. His eyes were steady
on Black and Starr. "I mentioned a gang. This gang doesn't believe that telepaths
can coexist with the rest of us."
"Then they're fools," Junxion said sharply.
Daemon ignored him. "A group of psypaths have banded together for the sole
purpose of eradicating telepaths within the city limits."
"What does that mean, 'eradicating'?" Black had a feeling he already knew, but
he needed the others to hear it.
"When telepaths are flushed out they are generously given transportation out of
the city and enough cash to build a life elsewhere."
Starr clucked his tongue. "That is awfully generous. I'm tempted to pretend to be
a telepath right now. And what happens if a telepath loves good 'ol JC and
refuses to leave?"
"Then they're given another option."
This time when the shots were delivered Black didn't touch his. "Let me guess:
they're given deluxe accommodations at the bottom of the bay."
Daemon smiled, enigmatic.
"Whoever is doing this must be stopped," Junxion said hotly. He removed his
arm from around Jax's shoulder and banged on the table with his fist. "This is as
bad as the normals persecuting psypaths. This is genocide because of telepathy.
Who's to say which psypathic abilities are the right ones and which are wrong?"
Starr gulped loudly. "What if empathy is next?"
Daemon gave him a skeptical look. "Why would anyone have a problem with
empathy? Who does it harm?"
"In a way, an empath can be a lie detector," Starr said cautiously. He pressed his
knee against Black's. "That idea might threaten some people."
Daemon dismissed it. "Unlikely. A telepath would be far more reliable for
something like that. And it's just another example of how they're dangerous to
the rest of us. What if the police got hold of one? None of us could hide from
him. All of our secrets would be vulnerable."
"Fortunately that hasn't happened yet," Black said without missing a beat.
"But it could." Daemon sat back. "That's why this gang exists. Its numbers have
doubled in the past two months and my theory is that it's growing because they
believe Phoenix has come back. No one wants to see Genesis and Phoenix
reunited. We have the proof that Genesis is still crazy, but Phoenix might be, too.
The two of them would be unstoppable."
"You're speaking as if they'd band together, though," Jax said, frowning. "That
won't happen. They hate each other."
"You're probably right." Daemon picked up his shot glass and toasted them all
before chucking the alcohol down his throat. "But what if you're wrong? The
psypaths in this gang don't want to take any chances. Telepaths are nothing but
trouble. A strong one upsets the balance. The weak ones are mentally unstable."
"How reliable is your information?" Black demanded. There were still plenty of
questions he needed to ask about what was happening with the JCPD and JC2,
but he couldn't brush this aside.
"I paid a lot of money for it," Daemon replied. "I trust it completely." He leaned
forward again, his strong arms braced on the tabletop. "Calyx is an empath. I
know that for a fact. I don't know what you three are and I won't ask. But if any
of you are telepaths, I suggest you consider relocating yourselves. These people
are serious. They've already begun the process. Anyone who's a telepath in
Juxtapose City is in their sights and they're relentless in hunting them down."
Anger tightened Black's spine. "What is this gang called?"
"The Silent Sentinels."
"I guarantee you they have nothing to do with the Silent City!" Junxion insisted
angrily.
Daemon shrugged. "I don't know whether or not they're sanctioned by the City.
All I do know is that it's a bad day to be a telepath." He smiled his horrible
smile. "And even worse to be Phoenix or Genesis."
Never Cross a Telepath

Part 5

Black blindly stared at the empty shot glasses scattered across the table. He
could tell by the weight of Starr against his shoulder and the empath's increasing
inability to keep his hands off Black that he was drunk and feeling no pain. The
twins looked flushed as well, and murmured into each other's ears with an
intimacy that still made him uncomfortable. The only person who still seemed to
have his wits about him after hours of drinking was Daemon, but Black didn't
exactly enjoy looking at him, either.
"Is there anything else you needed to know?" Daemon asked, his dead green
eyes flicking over Black's shoulder into the rest of the room. It was the only sign
that he was uneasy with being in a relatively open space filled with people.
"How recent is your information about Genesis and JC2?" Black asked for the
third time.
"Like I told you, I heard it today. Before I came to the club." Daemon flicked
one of the empty glasses with his forefinger. "The information's legit. If you
want to make a move, you should make it now."
"But you said you came by the information because your source had first
acquired it for someone else." Black didn't like that. Who else would want
information about the team's whereabouts? The list he was aware of wasn't
pretty: Captain Dickerson, JC1, and now possibly the Silent Sentinels.
"Yes, someone else wants to know where your friends are. They paid my guy
twice what I paid him, so take that as you will. He didn't tell me who that person
is, though, because he knows better than that."
Black forced himself to meet the other man's gaze. "But you have your
suspicions. You've heard things. You like coming up with theories."
Daemon smiled, though it came out more of a snarl because of his scar. "I do.
It's a hobby of mine."
Starr snickered. "Sweetheart, you have silly hobbies."
Black covered the empath's wandering hand with his own, pinning it against his
lower belly. He didn't break eye contact with Daemon. "What's your theory,
then?"
Daemon laced his fingers together, stretched them until his knuckles cracked. He
took his time unfolding his hands. Black gritted his teeth, impatient.
"I think Genesis went to the bay for a reason," Daemon said at last. "There are
plenty of places for him to hide out. The bay is one of the poorest. But he's there,
controlling JC2, which can't be easy for him to maintain."
Black ignored Starr nuzzling his neck. "So what's his reason?"
"Could be many things. A lot of business takes place at the bay. Maybe he has an
investment there. Maybe he wants to make one."
Black thought this over. When he'd heard that Genesis had taken his men to the
bay he'd initially feared the worst, that the telepath planned to kill JC2 and dump
their bodies in the water. But although that was Black's M.O., it didn't suit
Genesis who needed the hostages.
He considered what kind of legitimate goings-on occurred in and around the bay.
If Daemon was right, something there was important enough or interesting
enough to Genesis to risk taking the team to such an indefensible location.
"I may have an idea."
Black frowned at Junxion. "Then say it."
The blue-haired psypath looked to Starr and gave the blonde a conspiratorial
smirk. "You know it, too, Calyx, if you think hard enough."
The empath was drunk, high on lust and need, and frustrated that Black wasn't
allowing any fondling to occur under the table. Starr just scowled.
"I have no idea, sweetheart. Just spit it out."
Junxion, unperturbed by Starr's surly response, murmured, "I was told you had
discussed this in the ... white room."
Black tensed at the reference to the tube entrance of the Silent City. It was where
Starr had been informed Black was Genesis.
Starr sat a little straighter, his fingers curling around Black's. "A lot of things
were said there. Refresh my memory."
Junxion paused, clearly enjoying having the advantage over all of them. His
green eyes were full of amusement.
"Genesis isn't alone in the world like everyone would like to believe," he said
slowly. "He hasn't been alone for a long time. Like many of us, he has a
guardian angel."
Faces flashed through Black's mind, but he was afraid to settle on any of them.
"Who?"
Beside him, Starr tensed further. "But I thought he was in the Silent City? Why
would he come out here?"
"Who?" Black demanded, tired of this game.
Starr's expression shuttered with caution. "The man who saved Genesis. The one
who put him back together again."
Black stared at his profile, piecing together what the empath meant. He'd always
wondered how Genesis had recovered. His memory of leaving the other telepath
in the street, his hair sloppily dyed black, pancake makeup smeared across his
face, was as vivid as an impression of the sun against the back of his eyelids.
He'd done what he'd done to Phoenix because Phoenix had looked like a
vegetable. Hell, the telepath had been drooling and his pupils were blown, not
reacting to light or shadow. Phoenix had been brain damaged. Black wouldn't
have performed the deception he did if he hadn't been sure that Phoenix would
never recover enough to suffer the consequences of it. That's what he told
himself. That's what he had to tell himself.
And it might have been true, it might have all settled quietly, if someone hadn't
helped Phoenix. With that one act of dubious kindness, Phoenix recovered
enough to embrace the mantle of Genesis and wreak the havoc he was causing
now.
"I may be wrong," Junxion conceded, though he grinned as he said it. "As
Daemon says, Genesis may have more mundane business. But I have to point it
out as a possibility."
"I dunno," Starr mused, his fingers flexing around Black's. "I don't know why
anyone would risk leaving the Silent City to help out anyone, much less
Genesis."
"As I said, the idea is a stretch." Junxion cocked his head. "I have another idea.
The City is active in the bay. Maybe Genesis knows this."
"So I was right." Black would rather concentrate on this subject. He narrowed
his eyes at the blue-haired psypath. "The Silent City moves supplies via the bay.
That or they steal the cargo that's stored there."
Junxion just shrugged.
"Is that where they're planning to stage their invasion?"
"I told you the City only wants peace," Junxion replied with a smile.
"Wait a sec!"
Black had to physically restrain Starr from crawling across the tabletop to
Junxion.
"Will the Silent City let that fucker in?" Starr demanded, struggling ineffectively
against Black's hold. "Because if they do then screw them, Junxion! Screw them.
We're not helping them with anything! You tell them that!"
On the other side of the table Daemon gaped at the empath. "Hell's bells.
Everything you've been saying -- you're telling me you have contact with the
Silent City?" He suddenly turned to Jax and Junxion, studying them with new
interest. "That's who you are. Echo! I'd heard a rumor but I hadn't trusted it at
the time. I guess I shouldn't have beat the crap out of that guy, but the idea -- the
idea of twin brothers selling passage to the City --"
"Is old news," Black bit out. "No one around here is in that business any longer.
Those brothers are dead, Daemon." His voice became as hard as the gun hidden
in his boot. "As dead as anyone who tries to claim otherwise."
Daemon sat back, his fingers drumming restlessly on the tabletop. "Shit. I see."
He stabbed his other hand through his hair. "Shit!"
Black turned to Junxion. "Answer Starr's question. Does the Silent City want
Genesis, too? And don't play name games with me. You know who I'm talking
about."
"I don't know," Junxion replied.
"Bullshit."
Junxion shared a look with Jax. "Does the Silent City welcome all psypaths?
Yes. Are they willing to forgive crimes that have been committed because of
pressure by normals? Yes." He tightened his arm around Jax. "But in order to
enter the City a psypath must possess a genuine desire to become a good psypath
and contribute to psypath society. If Genesis is willing to do this he will be
admitted. If he can't prove this satisfactorily, then he will be denied admission"
"The Silent City is very forgiving," Jax added, looking pointedly at Black.
"Do you think that's why he's down at the bay?" Starr asked Black, his green
eyes wide with worry. "Do you think he's trying to find a way into the Silent
City?"
"I don't know," Black replied, grim, "but I'm going to find out."
~~~~~
Jake opened his eyes. The light sifting in through the morning clouds was still
pink. It wasn't quite dawn, but already he could hear the mournful horns of ships
out on the gray waters of the bay. Periodically the beeping of cargo loaders came
from the loading docks and the metallic rattle of chains grumbled across the
surface of the water.
Dirt and pebbles stuck to his cheek as he raised his head cautiously. Parker,
beside him, was fast asleep, lines of weariness and stress looking foreign on his
elfin face. Behind him, Jake could make out the mound that was Bee and the
smaller form of Haney beside him. Each man looked exhausted, sleeping hard.
In fact one of them should be even wearier. His heart beating hard with hope,
Jake turned his head. Genesis was sitting at the mouth of the aqueduct pipe,
watching him.
"An hour earlier, and you might have caught me," the telepath told him in a flat
voice. There was a strange manic light in Genesis' blue eyes, the orbs red-
rimmed. The assault rifle he carried with him constantly lay across his drawn-up
knees, pointed in the general direction of the other members of JC2. The telepath
stroked the barrel of the weapon with fingers that trembled. "Cuff your friends
together. Tell them to keep their mouths shut or I'll order your boyfriend to walk
to the bottom of the bay."
The moment was primed for resistance. Genesis was a wreck after a week of
keeping all four members of JC2 under constant telepath suggestion. Jake could
barely stand to obey the telepath when he knew he could overcome him. But
stretched thin or not, Genesis could still pull the trigger on that gun.
Jake pushed to his knees and pulled out the magnetic cuffs that had become
standard issue after, ironically, they were successful used on Black by the
Consortium. Captain Dickerson, you are a sick man.
Parker looked up at Jake in sleepy confusion as he slapped a cuff around the
prescient's left wrist. His brown eyes cleared when Jake tugged the smaller man
to roll over and extend his arm so Jake could cuff him to Haney. Bee and Haney
were both awake and watchful as Jake cuffed them together.
"Now you to your boyfriend," Genesis ordered.
Jake cuffed his left wrist to Parker's right. The four members of JC2 maneuvered
themselves into sitting positions side by side along the bottom of the pipe. Jake
had deliberately cuffed them so that he had his right hand free and so did Bee. If
anything went down, he wanted to be able to count on Bee's strength.
Genesis slid the rifle off his lap and stood up. He placed a dirty finger before his
lips. "You boys are going to keep your mouths shut, understand? I don't care
what you hear, but you're not going to say a word. The first person who does
gets a bullet between the legs."
Jake clenched his jaw. If Genesis didn't care about witnesses or being overheard,
that meant he didn't expect there to be anyone alive afterwards. Jake needed to
do something soon.
Genesis turned away from them and looked out over the bay. Jake took the
opportunity to catch each of his teammates' attentions. He didn't dare speak, but
he used hand signals to warn them to be ready for action. It was telling that none
of the other men protested or gave any indication that they thought he should
wait for Black to show up. They had eyes. They could see that Genesis was
strung out. They had to get to him before he snapped and forced them to kill
each other.
He took stock of their possessions. Genesis had taken their weapons away from
them and stored them in their assault vehicle, which was parked a few hundred
yards away in the warehouse district. The vehicle could be opened by key,
remote, or code so if they could reach it they could access the weapons.
Escaping to it was the tricky part.
Without those weapons they had nothing but the assault gear they wore which
would at least protect them from attacks to the torso but couldn't stop a bullet to
the head or neck.
Basically they were left with two choices: overcome Genesis or sneak away
without him noticing.
The latter became a notable choice when a voice hailed the telepath from the
direction of the bay. Jake tried not to react as Genesis strode forward with
sudden eagerness. He walked out of view of the mouth of the pipe. Jake waited,
listening to Genesis speak with a man, but after several minutes of this he
realized the two men weren't coming back to the pipe. He pushed up onto his
knees and motioned for his teammates to follow him as he shuffled forward to
peer out of the pipe opening.
Genesis stood within the mouth of another pipe, talking to a light-haired man in
all black whose back was to Jake. Genesis was clearly excited to see him, his
face animated. Obviously this was a friend of the telepath's but was he
something more? The man looked nothing like Black, so he didn't fit in with
Genesis' typical type, but there was no mistaking the light in Genesis' eyes as he
looked at the man.
"Who is that?" Jake asked, glancing back at Parker, who was peering over his
shoulder. "Another psypath?"
"I don't recognize him."
"It doesn't matter who he is," Haney said urgently. "We need to go!"
Abruptly, Genesis stopped speaking and his expression hardened. He looked
beyond his friend and stared directly at Jake and the others.
(Take a step out of that pipe and I'll shoot Haney in every limb until he bleeds to
death.)
"Fuck," Jake hissed, urging the others back into the pipe. "Alright," he said
aloud, angrily. "We're sitting here, Genesis. Fuck off."
(Shut your mouth and wait like good little dogs.)
Jake punched the air with his free hand.
"Relax," Parker murmured to him.
An impossible request. Jake's frustration was nearly blinding. He almost didn't
care if he wound up dead. Anything was better than being Genesis' puppet. Jake
accepted orders only from men he respected. For him, this was torture.
He stewed in silence, watching the sky gradually lighten. Occasionally a word or
two of Genesis' conversation floated to the mouth of the pipe but never enough
to string together a sentence or determine the subject matter.
Jake's mind began to clear. To his relief, his frustration melted away.
(...don't try...)
"Forget about trying anything," he muttered. "It was a bad idea."
(...can't get away...)
"Yeah," Haney agreed, pale-faced, but visibly calming. "Let's not even bother.
We can't get away. It's a waste of time to even try."
(...wait...)
Behind him, Bee nodded absently. "He'll catch us. Let's just wait and ride this
out."
"Yeah," Jake said, calmness suffusing him. "Forget it. We'll wait for him."
(... don't resist...)
"I'm tired of resisting him," Jake mumbled, slumping where he sat.
(...don't fight...)
"It's not even our fight," Haney agreed.
(...sleep...)
"Let's go back to sleep," Parker suggested, yawning. "He'll come back
eventually."
It sounded like a wonderful idea. Jake was so tired. He closed his eyes. It felt
like he began dreaming immediately, even though he was certain he was still
sitting upright. In his dream Parker was tugging at his wrist, urging him to his
feet. In the dream Jake began walking, stumbling because it was dark for some
reason, but hands were there to catch him. A familiar scent, like a whorehouse,
really, wafted to his nose--
(...smell nothing...)
No, he didn't smell anything. He continued to walk blindly in his dream,
occasionally tripping over things that felt like rocks, his boots stepping from
concrete and leaves onto crunchy gravel.
(...dreaming...)
He was dreaming. And walking. The sounds of the bay faded, as did the smells
of rust and bay water. In the darkness he ran into a living wall.
"Open your eyes, Cole. You nearly flattened Parker."
Shocked, Jake's eyes flew open.
Calyx Starr smirked at his expression. "You look like a fish, sweetheart. Very
attractive."
Jake whipped his head around. He was still cuffed to Parker and the others, who
looked as astonished as he was to find themselves standing beside JC2's heavy
utility vehicle while Calyx and a familiar-looking blue-haired man waited beside
the open back doors.
"What -- who --"
Calyx snickered. "This is so funny."
"Black's saved us!" Haney exclaimed joyfully.
Calyx snorted. "With our help, you know." He patted the blue-haired man on the
shoulder. "You remember Jax."
"From the club," Bee said in wonder. "You and your brother are the ones who
know how to get into the Silent City."
Jake blinked. "You're all alive. We thought when we blew up the tunnels --
where's Black?"
Calyx's smirk faded. "He's back at the bay, ready to run interference in case
Genesis figured out what he did."
"What did he do?" Parker asked, holding out his arm as Jax swung a special
metal rod over their wrists, de-polarizing the cuffs.
"Messed with our minds, obviously," Jake answered. "I thought I was dreaming.
I guess that makes sense. If we don't know we're escaping then Genesis wouldn't
know, either."
"So far, so good.." But Calyx kept glancing back at the way they'd come, his
forehead creased. "I didn't think it'd work this easily. Black told us Genesis
would be strained, but this was a walk in the park."
"He's distracted." Parker joined Calyx's side as the two psypaths looked to the
bay. "He's meeting with someone. I've never seen the guy before but Genesis
was excited to see him."
Calyx frowned. "You don't say. I'll bet my ass that he's --"
(God damn you, Black!!)
Jake cringed as that hated mental voice shrieked through his head. "I take it he's
noticed we're gone."
"Get in the truck," Calyx urged. He followed them into the back, Bee closing the
doors on them and taking his usual position behind the wheel of the assault
vehicle. The rest of them peered through the small bullet-proof glass windows
toward the bay. "Come on," Calyx urged. "Darkness, get your ass in gear."
"Is he out there holding off Genesis by himself?" Jake asked, aghast. He quickly
handed out weapons to everyone.
"My twin is with him," Jax spoke up, though his face was pinched with worry.
Jake looked at him and shuddered. "Oh, no. I remember your brother."
"That's why he's out there," Jax said. "As backup if Black can't hold --"
(On your knees, Black!)
The mental compulsion was weak, merely overflow from its intended target,
Black. Yet even though it hadn't been aimed at him, Jake still felt a faint urge to
slide forward onto his knees. He couldn't believe Black was able to resist the full
onslaught of that command.
"Come on, sweetheart," Calyx muttered, straining to see out the glass.
The men tensed as gunfire strafed the air.
"Shit!" Calyx slid off his seat, moving towards the door, but Jax caught him by
the arm.
"Wait," the blue-haired man urged. "Let them do it their way. If we go, we can
become distractions or worse, hostages."
"But --"
The air cracked with more gunfire.
(Can you hold us both off?) Genesis taunted. (Fight us!)
A chill went up Jake's spine. His eyes sought Calyx's, which were wide with
comprehension.
"The other guy's a telepath, too," Calyx whispered. "Holy fuck. Can Black
handle two of them?" he asked Parker desperately.
The prescient went pale. "I don't -- I don't think so."
Then suddenly Jake was groaning in discomfort as his brain flipped topsy-turvy.
He heard the others moaning and cursing in similar displeasure as Junxion's
mind-blender went into effect.
"What's... wrong with me?" Haney moaned.
"It's alright," Parker soothed. He hadn't been affected by Junxion back in the
club and remained immune. "It will pass. Nothing bad is happening. Just ride it
out."
"Aw, fuck," Calyx moaned. Jake cracked open his eyes and saw the telepath
curled up on his seat, cradling his head. He remembered that Calyx suffered
more because he was a stronger psypath. That meant Black --
Something banged against the back doors. Jake swallowed down a startled
shout. Parker pushed past him, looked out the windows, and then he and Jax
opened the doors.
The second blue-haired telepath from Harlequin Tipsy, Junxion, was supporting
Black, who was busy retching behind the back tire.
"Aw, Darkness," Calyx moaned in sympathy.
"He'll survive. We need to go," Junxion said, hoisting Black's arm higher on his
shoulder and dragging him to the back of the vehicle.
Jake shook his head at seeing Black's ashen face. He shuddered to think of how
it must have felt to be close to Junxion when the psypath let loose his power.
Jake helped the two men into the back of the truck. Calyx immediately dragged
Black against him and held him as the brunette dropped his head between his
knees.
"You'll be alright, sweetheart," the empath murmured as he rubbed Black's
shoulders.
"Go, Bee!" Jake shouted. The vehicle lurched into motion.
"I hate your power so much," Calyx muttered, glaring across at Junxion.
The blue-haired psypath shrugged. "Genesis hated it, too, so be grateful."
Picturing the psychotic telepath puking his guts out was consolation. Jake
released a long breath. They were free. He let his head drop back against the
wall and let out a tired laugh.
"If anyone tells me to do anything ever again I'm going to punch him in the
face," he declared.
Haney began to laugh, and eventually Parker joined him.
"You saved us," Haney breathed, shiny-eyed as he gazed at a sick-looking Black.
"I knew you would."
Black lifted his head and gave the buzz cut blonde a wan smile. "I didn't do it
alone."
"I know." Haney gave Calyx and the twins wide grins. "You guys are awesome."
"You should have figured that out a long time ago, sweetheart," Calyx sighed.
Parker crab-walked across the back of the vehicle so he could sit next to Jake.
He gripped Jake's knee.
"We did some pretty awful things out there, Black," Parker said. "I'm not sure if
you know everything --"
"I know," Black muttered. "I also know it wasn't your fault."
Jake felt Parker relax against his side. They might never forgive themselves for
the things they'd done while under Genesis' control, but hearing Black state their
innocence eased their consciences somewhat.
"What's the word?" Jake asked, trying to imagine how their actions could have
been interpreted by the Department.
"You've gone rogue," Black said, finally sitting up and slumping back against
the side of the vehicle. He still looked gray, but his eyes were clear. "I haven't
spoken with the Captain about this, but the assumption is that the team is a
liability. JC1 has orders to find you and immobilize you. If they'd found you first
it would have been a shoot-out to the death."
Jake nodded. "I feared as much."
Haney looked anxiously between them. "But now we can go find the Captain
and tell him everything that happened. It'll all be okay once we tell him, right?"
"Maybe," Black said, and looked away from all of them.
Dread settled in Jake's stomach. "What are you saying? Why wouldn't the
Captain believe us and let us back?"
"It's a matter of trust," Black replied, still staring out one of the windows. "He
may allow you and the others to reform the team, but Starr and I are out."
Calyx sucked in his breath. "Darkness..."
The look on the empath's face gave Jake a sinking feeling. The freak could only
be excited about one thing. "Don't tell me you're quitting the team, Black."
Haney looked ready to pass out, but no one said anything as they waited for
Black's response.
"The JCPD may not be the right place for me right now. There are a lot of things
happening that I don't agree with. I --" Black broke off and looked down at his
hands, which had curled into fists atop his thighs. "I don't know if I'm quitting,
but I can't see Captain Dickerson until I have some answers."
"This isn't JC2 without you, though," Haney said in a small voice. "Who's going
to take over? Jake?"
Though he was next in command, Jake had never felt such a lack of ambition as
he did then. "What do you want us to do, Black? We can stick with you and help
you find these answers. Or we can go back and try to learn them from within the
Department."
Black looked at him sharply. "This has nothing to do with you."
"Doesn't it?" Jake challenged him. "We were just pawns in an attempt to draw
you out. We're in this the same as you, Black. And even if you count all of that
out, we're still a team. We don't abandon any man. Especially not our leader."
"Darkness, he's right. They want to help us so let them."
"And if it places them in danger?" Black shot back.
"We wouldn't be a Special Forces team without that, would we?" Jake retorted.
"Face it, Black. Whatever's going on, we've got a stake in it, too. Genesis used
us. He made us do horrible things. Disgusting things. He made Parker --" He
couldn't go on. The prescient gave him a sad smile and squeezed his knee. Jake
covered the slim hand with his own. "Stop fighting us. We've been sitting on our
asses while someone else made us act against our will. Let us make our own
choices. Let us help."
Black glowered at him. "You're an idiot. You're all idiots. You're potentially
throwing away your careers." He held up his hand when Jake began to argue. "If
you're too stubborn to listen I'll put you to use." He shook his head, exasperated.
"I can't believe you're not upset with me for letting this happen to you. And now
you want to make it worse for yourselves. Unbelievable."
"You didn't do that to us," Parker said quietly. "Genesis did. We were conscious
of that the entire time. The blame lies with him and him alone."
But Black gave him a bitter smile. "It's never that easy or that clear-cut. None of
us are innocent. All of us are guilty of something."
"That may be so," Jake said defiantly, "but someone's gotta draw the line
somewhere. I'm sure as hell ready to do it."
~~~~~
Genesis lifted his face from the puddle of his own vomit and groaned, "What in
the hell was that?"
A hand caught him beneath the elbow and helped him sit up. Thankfully the
nauseating disorientation had disappeared completely as if a tornado of pain had
swept through on its way to cause further destruction elsewhere.
"That was a psypath named Junxion. He's part of a gang called Echo. For
enough drugs or money they'll help you get into the Silent City." A warm
chuckle. "Well, perhaps anyone but you."
"He's a dead man," Genesis snarled, rising shakily to his feet. "I'll tear his mind
apart and piece it back together so it's a perpetual nightmare. I would have had
Black! He was right here!"
"I don't think your nemesis had any intention of facing off against you today...
Genesis."
Genesis noted the slight hesitation before his name. His friend had grudgingly
accepted his decision to embrace the Genesis identity but still had difficulty
calling him by the name.
"Black is a coward," Genesis spat. "He's afraid of me."
"That may be," his friend murmured.
Genesis kicked the rocky ground. "And now they're gone! They're all gone! He
was supposed to meet me. Confront me. I was going to break him down and
fuck him over for everything -- but he's gone!"
"If you ask me," his friend said carefully, "it's better that it didn't end this way."
Genesis gave him a suspicious look. "What do you mean?"
While he trusted the other man because he was one of the few who knew he was
truly Phoenix, that didn't mean Genesis trusted him completely. He'd raped
enough minds to know that every man had his price, that weakness that could
empower him or hold him hostage. Every man lusted after something, be it
power, money or knowledge. This man was no different.
"You have him on the run, Genesis. You've accomplished what you set out to do.
He's ostracized by the JCPD. They consider him a criminal on the lam. He's lost
his team and all of his career aspirations." His friend smiled at him, but it wasn't
a pleasant smile. "For the last seven years he's been constructing a fantasy for
himself -- the perfect life. In one week you've torn it down and stomped it into
the ground. You should be very satisfied with what you've done to him."
"It's not enough, though. I wanted his complete surrender. You said you'd help
me with that!" Genesis snapped.
"I'm in a tenuous situation. I walk a delicate line. What I can do from my
position is subtle unless I want to be discovered. You don't want that. You need
me where I am, pulling strings, watching."
Genesis wished he could thrust his claws into the other man's brain and see what
he was really up to. But since his friend was also a telepath, it would take more
effort than it was worth. And he did need the other man, no matter how much it
pained Genesis to admit that. He was Genesis' inside source, accessing
information that he wouldn't otherwise have.
"You don't seem to understand what's happening to him," the man continued.
"Black's been trying to live the life of a normal, but you've killed that dream for
him. No normal will help him now. His only option is to turn to the streets, to
seek the help from the very people he's been betraying all these years. How
accepting of him do you think they'll be? He's a psypath killer. He's a telepath.
He's the real Genesis. Any one of those reasons is enough for psypaths to hunt
him down." The man stepped closer to Genesis and placed a hand on his
shoulder. "You want him to fall? He's about to fall as low as he can. He'll live
the life of an animal, and when he's near the breaking point that's when you'll
confront him, Genesis. Then you'll have all the time in the world to play with
him in all those sick ways I know you've been fantasizing about."
The lust and excitement those words incited in Genesis made him tremble. "He's
going to pay," he hissed. "I may not kill him. Not at first."
The other man nodded. "I don't think you will, either. He needs to suffer."
Genesis's mouth salivated. "Oh, he will, and so will everyone who's helped
him." He laughed darkly, picturing again every member of JC2. "The list is
growing, and it's going to be my pleasure to cross them off, one by one."

Never Cross a Telepath

Part 6

Black splashed another handful of cold water over his face. When he raised his
head and looked in the mirror he saw Parker standing in the restroom behind
him.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Black replied, shaking his head to clear the droplets since the public
restroom was paperless, only offering automatic dryers. He studied the prescient.
"You?"
Parker smiled wryly. "Just as fine as you are."
Black didn't smile back.
He'd directed Bee to drive the team to an upscale shopping center in the upper
west side, gambling that the expensive shops and their rich and important
clientele would make Dickerson hesitate to launch a full scale offensive in
public. Though the SynTrack marker no longer ran though their veins, Parker
still carried the marker. It was a matter of time before someone at the station
checked the grid and noticed that JC2 was no longer at the bay but had moved
into the city again. The Captain would most likely want to send JC1 in after
them, but because of the surroundings Black hoped the other team would be
hampered enough to give his team time to slip away.
The mall had satisfied some of their basic needs besides providing a hiding
place. Earlier, he'd ordered Starr to help the men find new clothing, an excursion
Black was thankful he'd been spared. Currently, while Jake and Bee kept a
lookout in the parking lot, Starr and Haney were buying take-away for lunch.
Eating was the last thing on Black's mind, though, and apparently the same was
true of Parker.
Black looked down at his dripping hands. They were rough and lightly scarred
from a lifetime of difficult living. They looked incongruous in the polished
marble sink.
In a low voice he said, "I'm sorry for not coming earlier. I should have spared
you from what he did."
He kept his head down as the other man approached him. Parker's presence at
his shoulder caused Black to brace himself. Though he didn't really expect it, he
wouldn't have been surprised if the other man decided to strike him.
"You didn't do those things to me," Parker said, his voice even, betraying
nothing. "And I"m a survivor. Just like you are. Just like Calyx is. We
understand that living another day means you do whatever you must to survive
the next hour."
"This is different, Parker." Rage flared and ebbed in Black, though he let nothing
show on his face. "He did those things to you because of me. Because of what I
did. You were just a pawn."
"Can you take it back, then? Can you erase it from my memory?"
Black looked up sharply. Parker gazed back calmly in the reflection. "What
happened is done, Black. We can't erase the past. We can only prepare for how it
affects the future."
"Have you seen the future lately?" Black's hands curled into wet fists. "Do you
know how this ends?"
Parker's warm fingers curled over his wrist. Black flushed as the prescient
stroked his fingertips across the the raised scar there.
"It doesn't end like this," Parker said, his eyes sad. His forefinger smoothed over
the scar. "This ends nothing but your own suffering. It does nothing to end
everyone else's. This only makes it worse." His voice cracked. "Black, how
could you? After everything we've been through how could you think this would
make it better?"
Black tried to pull his wrist free, but Parker held tight. "You don't understand."
"Then make me understand! Tell me what could have driven you to try to kill
yourself after all that we've --"
"Starr learned the truth about me. He knows I'm Genesis."
Parker gasped softly. His fingers fell slack. Self-conscious of the scar, Black
covered it protectively with his other hand.
"He knows everything?" Parker stared at him in disbelief. "How?"
"The Silent City told him." Black's voice took a bitter edge. "I had no choice in
the matter."
"My god... then you -- then it's real? You know where it is?"
Black smiled humorlessly. "I'm not telling you where it is. They gave me a good
reason not to trust their intentions."
"Because of Calyx."
Black nodded.
"Maybe they were trying to help? They thought Calyx needed to know."
"If Starr wasn't who he was, if he hadn't made the promise to stay with me, I'd
be dead and he'd be a walking target on the streets. Things didn't go to shit only
because he didn't allow them to, not because the Silent City knew what they
were doing."
Parker still looked at him doubtfully. Annoyed, Black moved on to another
subject. "Your father fixed me. 'Monia and Gelie were there with him like you
promised. They know the truth about me, too."
Mention of his adopted father made Parker smile wistfully. "So everyone knows.
We're a gang again."
Black snorted. "History won't repeat itself, Parker. I've learned my lesson."
"Have you?" Parker studied him with interest. "No more hiding? No more
denying the truth of who you are and what you represent?"
The question irritated Black. He turned away from the sink and headed for the
door. "What does that mean? I represent nothing but myself. I'm not a figurehead
for anything or anyone."
Parker intercepted him, blocking the entrance. "Then you still don't get it, do
you?" Parker shook his head, tendrils of loose hair falling around his jaw.
"You're the most powerful telepath in the city. Phoenix -- the man we know as
Genesis now -- he's strong, too, but mentally he's a wreck. That means you're the
man everyone wants. The psypaths will want you as your leader. Captain
Dickerson will want you as his weapon and maybe as an example that psypaths
can be put to use. Even if you manage to avoid everyone, the street is going to
look to you for leadership, Black. As soon as they learn you survived with your
mind intact psypaths are going to flock to you for protection. Psypaths needs
someone to believe in, someone they can rally behind."
"I'm not that person," Black retorted impatiently. "I framed a man for my crimes
and then I left him for dead. I sold my soul to the police so I could pretend to be
someone else, a man who became a psypath assassin. Why should anyone want
to follow me or trust me?"
"Because you're powerful," Parker said flatly. "People will always be attracted to
that. It's up to you to decide how that power is used."
"I'm not a hero," Black muttered, annoyed with the conversation and how
simplistic -- no, how childish its logic was. He raised his eyes to the prescient.
"How many times did Genesis fuck you while he held you captive?" He saw the
other man flinch and pressed his advantage even though it made his gut churn
with guilt. "How many times did he do it and force Jake to watch?"
Parker, pale, shook his head. "That's not your fault."
"Isn't it? I can't even protect my friends, Parker. There's no way I can protect a
city or a race of people. I'm a flawed man trying to correct my mistakes. Don't
make me something more."
Parker opened his mouth to reply, then shut it. Seeing Black's surprise, Parker
shrugged.
"Why should I argue with you any longer? I know you. When you're pushed you
often do the opposite, just to prove you can."
Black smiled ruefully. "Not always."
"Often enough." Parker touched his arm. "You've got enough to worry about."
Mental exhaustion washed over Black. "I don't care about myself or my future
right now. My biggest concern is the team. JC2 might be free, but for how
long?"
"There's that." Parker sighed in frustration. "I don't know how to help you with
that. I'm aware I'm a liability because of the SynTrack in my body."
"If we keep on the move that won't be a problem. Worse comes to worse I'll keep
you with me and we'll separate from the others. But if Jake wants to return to the
ranks and try to help me from there we need to come up with a way of getting
him and the others into the station. If JC1 intercepts them before they get there
they'll shoot them on sight. But once they're in the building they'll be safe."
"I'm not going on the run and leaving Jake," Parker said firmly. "I'd rather be
shot than give him up."
"Then I won't ask you to separate. But for the initial contact you can't be with
him or the others. The SynTrack won't let you within a mile of the station before
they catch you."
"Alright. So they go in without me and convince Dickerson to let me back, too."
Black frowned, thinking hard. "The challenge is convincing Dickerson to accept
the team back without punishment. JC2 is an embarrassment to him right now
and a possible career killer."
"Too bad that isn't true of his illegal activities," Parker muttered with disgust. "If
you weren't involved I'd have no trouble going to the media and telling them
about the experiments and the killings and the forced prostitution."
The latter caused a flush of humiliation to work up Black's neck. He looked
away. "That's not your secret to tell, Parker."
"I know," the prescient sighed. "I wouldn't do that to you." He groaned and
slumped against a marble tiled wall. "Sometimes I wish I could self-induce a
vision. It would be helpful."
"No, it wouldn't," Black said immediately. "That's a risk I refuse to let you take."
"Fine. Fine. I do have some unrelated information, although it's useless as far as
our current situation goes. I can't believe I'd forgotten about it for so long."
Parker looked slightly angry at himself. "But... it happened right before Genesis
kidnapped me and Calyx, so maybe I blocked a lot of that out of my mind."
Black tensed as guilt and discomfort roiled in his belly. "What is it?"
Parker told him. Black tried to process it.
"You must be mistaken."
"Ask Calyx. He saw it, too. And you know he'd never make a mistake about
that."
Black conceded this was true. His blonde lover did possess certain areas of
expertise whether or not Black liked it.
"We can use this," he said slowly. "I have an idea."
Parker looked perplexed. "What good is a bunch of --"
"Distraction," Black said, smiling grimly. "With a touch of blackmail."
~~~~~
Dickerson tapped his steepled fingers together and continued to stare at
Lieutenant Sundhill, waiting for the blonde man to crack under the scrutiny. To
his credit, Sundhill stared back stoically, his handsome face revealing nothing.
"You could have had them at the bay, but you dragged your feet. Now they're at
the Gold Circle Mall and you can't touch them."
Sundhill inclined his head slightly. "We were en route. We missed them at the
bay by mere minutes, sir."
"Minutes, hours, weeks -- do any of them change the final outcome?"
The skin around Sundhill's blue eyes tightened. "No, sir."
Dickerson pursed his lips. The pressure from Chief Harmon was unrelenting.
The man was too obsessed with his political future to care that shutting down the
JC Units was a tactical mistake the normals couldn't afford to make in this war
against the psypaths. Harmon wanted JC2 brought to heel, and he wanted it done
yesterday.
"The Golden Circle isn't a complete logistical nightmare, sir."
The comment brought Dickerson's thoughts back to the immediate present.
"How is it not? The Governor's wife shops there nearly every day. The wives of
all the important men in the city have tea at that snooty British restaurant there.
You think I'm going to allow you to run an operation there? Do you think I'm
that stupid, Lieutenant? Is that why all this is happening? Because I'm stupid?"
Sundhill flushed, his jaw working. He shook his head tightly. "Of course not,
sir."
Dickerson glared at him. "Then I fail to understand how you think storming a
high end mall is a good idea."
"It's not a good idea, sir, but it's an idea. The alternative is to wait them out, but I
don't know what kind of time restraint you're working under."
"You mean what time restraint you're working under," Dickerson snapped. He
leaned back in his chair. "Do you think I'm the one going down for this fiasco,
Lieutenant?" He narrowed his eyes. "Not hardly. JC2 will bring down your
career, not mine. You're the one who'll be left hanging when your team is
dismantled, Lieutenant. You remember that."
Anger flashed on the younger man's face. "Yes, sir. I understand that. Which is
why I'd like to give this a go. Let me take my team into the mall and flush them
out. I can do it quietly."
Dickerson snorted. "Impossible."
"Sir, not if we --"
Dickerson slammed his open palm on the desk. "You're not going into that mall
and causing a scene, understand? None of you. Fuck, the last thing I need is for
you bozos to end up on the news, firing your guns at rich old bitches wearing
furs and diamonds. Do you have any fucking idea what a disaster that would
be?"
"Of course I --"
"I don't think you do! The wealthiest people in the city shop there and --"
Dickerson's private PRU buzzed. He picked it up warily. Only a handful of
people had the number, and one of them --
"What the hell is going on, Captain?"
-- was Chief Harmon.
"Turn on your news stream, you moron!" the Chief yelled, panic turning his
voice strident. "You clean this up by tomorrow or you're up shit creek!"
With his blood cold in his veins, conscious that there were a whole host of
skeletons that could have fallen out of his closet, Dickerson switched to his news
feed. The video showed one of the private JC clinics downtown. In fact it was
the one where those telekinetic bitches had been kept until they were
mysteriously whisked away.
There was a large crowd of downtown scumbags and a handful of news
reporters and cameras gathered around the front doors. As he watched, the
camera feed he was watching moved into the building and down a hall, heading
for one of the rooms. The camera ducked inside and zoomed in on a wall of
cabinets whose doors were all wide open. Dickerson choked on his own spit
when he saw what filled the screen. Conscious of Sundhill in his office,
Dickerson quickly muted the volume and turned on the closed captioning.
"A Juxtapose City private medical clinic has been revealed to be hoarding and
selling mass quantities of the illegal street drug Bliss."
The camera focused on the unmarked boxes which a reporter opened up with a
penknife. Inside lay a damning amount of boxes of the drugs. Dickerson grew
pale.
Investigation into the clinic has revealed it is licensed by Dr. Reginald Walsh, a
former private practice physician who has been the primary consultant for the
JCPD and the District Attorney's office for the past six years. Questions have
been raised as to whether the JCPD knew about Dr. Walsh's activities and if it
has been supplying the doctor with the illegal drugs he now sells.
"What the fuck?!" Dickerson cried out.
Sundhill jerked straighter in his seat, alarmed. "Sir? What's going on?"
This latest discovery is leading many in the community to question if the JCPD
is a den of corruption. A rogue team of special forces officers has been
terrorizing the city for nearly a week now, and many are wondering if the two
incidents are connected. Pressure is mounting on Chief Harmon for a press
conference to explain these latest developments and declare what will be done to
keep Juxtapose City safe from violence and drugs. The mayor's office has so far
declined comment but a staffer inside the office has stated off the record that the
mayor plans to investigate the leadership within the JCPD and find the guilty
parties responsible.
"Goddamn tabloid reporters," Dickerson muttered, shutting off the PRU and
tossing it across his desk. "What kind of news is that? It's all speculation!"
"No one believes gossip," Sundhill offered, trying to be helpful in his ignorance.
Dickerson leveled another glare at him. True, gossip would fade and die, but this
wasn't gossip. The Bliss shown on the news feed was being stored there for use
in his experiments. Only Dickerson and Dr. Walsh were supposed to know about
it. Could Walsh have decided to make a little cash on the side? Who had
discovered this if that was the case? Walsh was too sneaky to have been caught
ripping them off. He must have been working with someone else, someone
who'd snitched...
A knock sounded on the door.
"Go away!" Dickerson shouted.
He stared, incredulous, as the door opened anyway.
Jake Cole stepped into the room, his face hard and blank.
Sundhill jumped to his feet. After a brief hesitation Sundhill grabbed Cole and
jerked him into the room, kicking the door shut. He wrenched Cole's arm behind
his back. Dickerson noted the sergeant wasn't resisting. Cole held Dickerson's
eyes.
"I'm here to turn myself in," Cole said, "and to explain what happened to us."
"Where's the rest of your team?" Dickerson asked. "Where's your lieutenant?"
"Standing by, sir. They'll come in peacefully once I give them the word. I
ordered them to remain out of reach until I could confirm that we'll be treated
fairly and not like criminals."
"You shot up the city!" Sundhill blurted hotly, staring at the sergeant. "How are
you not criminals?"
"Lieutenant, kindly let me handle this interrogation," Dickerson snarled. "Leave
us."
Sundhill gaped. "But, sir, he could be dangerous."
"Then frisk him and get out."
Red-faced, Sundhill thoroughly frisked Cole for weapons. "He's clean," the
lieutenant muttered.
"Get out."
Dickerson was impressed with Sundhill's restraint as the handsome lieutenant
gave a curt nod and let himself out of the office, closing the door quietly behind
him. He knew Sundhill would remain outside the door, though, ready to jump in
and assist if necessary. Sundhill was a loyal man. Dickerson's mood darkened
when he reflected that he used to have two loyal men.
"Where's Black," he growled again. "Why is his marker off the grid?"
"I don't know anything about the marker, but he's not coming in. He's off the
team, sir."
"I decide when he's off the team." Dickerson steepled his fingers again, studying
the other man from above them. He didn't bother offering Cole a seat. "Tell me
what really happened to your team, Sergeant."
Cole hesitated. "It was Genesis, sir. He infiltrated the Dugout while Lieutenant
Black and Agent Starr were on reconnaissance."
"Reconnaissance of what? You were in the middle of the Echo mission. They
were looking for the tunnels, weren't they? Did they find them?"
"I don't know, sir."
Liar, Dickerson thought angrily.
"So Genesis took control of your team," he said aloud. "He used his telepathy to
control you. Is that what you're trying to tell me?"
"Yes, sir."
"And Black allowed this to happen?"
A flicker of emotion on Cole's face. "You'll recall that Genesis forced us to blow
up Harlequin Tipsy. Black and Calyx were trapped by that explosion."
Which meant to Dickerson that the two men had been in the tunnels beneath
them. Black knew how to reach the Silent City. Was he there already? Was that
why his marker had disappeared?
But that didn't explain why the empath freak had been on the move elsewhere in
the city, eventually meeting up with the telekinetic bitch. Unless... maybe Black
had abandoned the empath and entered the City alone. That would explain his
missing marker. The empath slut had then gone to Mneumonia for help and she
must have shown him a second entrance to the City which Starr had then used,
leading the disappearance of his marker.
It was a workable theory, except Dickerson didn't believe Black would abandon
his team to Genesis' control, nor his slut of a lover.
"How did you free yourself from Genesis?" he demanded.
"Lieutenant Black returned and distracted him long enough for us to escape,"
Cole replied.
Dickerson worked hard to keep the relief from his face. If Black was still in
Juxtapose, Dickerson could get his hands on him.
He allowed a small, tight smile. "That's a very convenient excuse for your
actions, Sergeant Cole. Where's your proof? Do you have the telepath in
custody?"
"No."
Dickerson's smile faded. "Then all of this could be lie. Chief Harmon won't
believe any of it without proof."
"That's why I'm here, sir. You have two public relations fiascoes happening right
now," Cole reminded him. "I'm here to offer you a solution to one of them and a
way to prevent more from occurring."
Dickerson's spine tightened. "Go on."
"You need a sacrificial lamb to clear my team. Black is willing to be it. Tell the
public he snapped, that he forced us to follow his plans. The team remains, but
he goes. JC2 is cleared of all charges. You won't have someone to prosecute, but
the other officers can vouch to the media that he's a real person and that he's no
longer on the Force."
Dickerson fisted his hands. "He thinks he can escape his responsibilities that
easily?"
"He's giving you a way to keep your JC Units and save face."
"Watch your tongue, Sergeant," Dickerson snapped, jabbing his finger at the
younger man. "None of this embarrassment was my fault. It was yours. Your
team let themselves be played like a bunch of finger puppets. Pathetic. I'm
ashamed to call you a special forces team after this."
The skin of Cole's cheeks burst with angry color but he kept his mouth shut.
Smart man.
"Tell me what's to keep me from having you and your men arrested?"
Cole took a deep breath as if to marshal his temper. "Black says the news
coverage at the clinic was not the work of a snitch, nor was it an accident.." As
Dickerson stared at him, breathless with anger, Cole went on, "He says further
phone calls can be made if you're not willing to accept this scenario."
Dickerson couldn't wait to get his hands on Black -- because he would, he had
no doubt of that -- and remind the brunette how much he had suffered in
Hangway. A second visit would do the handsome young lieutenant some good.
"I see. So I accept your men back into the fold, write off your lieutenant, and all
is forgiven."
"Yes, sir," Cole said, wary, obviously expecting Dickerson to refuse.
Dickerson nodded. "I have no choice, do I? I'm obligated to protect the
reputation of this police force." He sat back in his chair, physically dismissing
the other man. "Give your report to the desk sergeant. Bring in the rest of your
team to do the same. You have my word that you won't be held liable for what
you did while under Lieutenant Black's 'control'."
"We won't?"
"I said so, didn't I?"
When Cole hesitated, his expression doubtful, Dickerson smiled thinly before
raising his voice. "Lieutenant Sundhill!"
The door opened immediately, the blonde lieutenant barging in.
"It seems Sergeant Cole and his team were the victims of a massive betrayal by
Lieutenant Black. Please escort the sergeant to a debriefing. Make sure the rest
of the officers are made aware that the members of JC2 are innocent and will not
be charged with any crimes."
Sundhill was visibly stunned, but he nodded. "Sir."
Dickerson watched the two men leave. When the door shut behind them, he
closed his eyes and imagined all the things he would do to Black before he
buried the man in Hangway. He'd been too good to Black. Too soft. At his heart,
Black was a street punk, evidenced by this slimy attempt to blackmail him.
Black needed a healthy dose of discipline and pain to learn respect. It would be a
long, hard lesson, and Dickerson had never looked forward to anything more.
~~~~~
When the call came in, Bee and Haney high-fived each other in celebration and
Parker hugged himself with a smile. Starr couldn't conceal his skepticism, but in
the face of the other men's reactions he didn't say a word. Black was glad for the
empath's restraint, because even he wanted to believe that the pressure on
Captain Dickerson had worked according to plan.
That didn't mean he wasn't cautious.
"Be careful," he warned Bee, Haney and Parker as the three men loaded up in
JC2's heavy utility vehicle. "If you see signs that the Captain isn't holding up his
end of the deal you leave immediately. Get away and contact me. Don't
hesitate."
"Understood, sir." Bee climbed behind the wheel.
"We'll stay in touch," Parker promised from the back of the vehicle where he sat
with Haney. "We'll keep our ears open and share everything we learn." Black
had warned them of the possibility of other psypaths on Dickerson's payroll. He
hadn't mentioned anything about the Silent City's moles because he didn't trust
Parker not to try to make contact with them.
He felt bad for the deception as the vehicle drove away, but he told himself it
was for the best. He didn't trust the motives of the Silent City. If Parker entered
the City he might be used as leverage against Black. None of his friends were
going to become pawns again if he could help it. That meant none of them were
going into the Silent City.
He re-entered the mall and walked to the nearest restroom corridor. He passed
the men's room and after checking to see that he wasn't being observed, ducked
through a service entrance door.
It brought him into a hall that ran the length of the mall, used by store employees
and the cleaning staff. Earlier he'd located a store space that was up for lease, its
interior empty. The windows were blocked out with paper to provide a clean
appearance to shoppers from inside the mall, giving Black and his team the
perfect concealment. He found the door to that shop and rapped on it four times.
Jax opened the door and let Black inside.
Inside, Junxion and Starr were sitting knee to knee, comparing the size of their
hands.
"-- much bigger than you are, sweetheart. And you know what that means,
right?"
"Bigger gloves?" Junxion drawled.
Starr smirked. "You keep thinking that, sweetheart, if it makes you feel better."
Shaking his head at the comparisons, Black pulled out a PRU that he'd
confiscated from a female shopper while she'd been distracted by a shoe display.
He pulled up the device's browser and found a news channel. He wanted to see if
Dickerson had held a news conference to exonerate JC2 and declare Black a
fugitive.
He found the station with a live video feed, and saw that he was just in time.
Dickerson was in the middle of the conference which seemed to be taking place
on the steps of City Hall.
The sound was on mute. As he pushed the volume button to bring up the sound,
he noticed the news ticker running across the bottom of the screen. When he
read what it said, he gasped out loud.
Starr jumped to his feet. "Darkness, what is it?"
"Dickerson," Black choked out.
"The press conference?"
But Black couldn't say anymore. He listened, aghast, as Dickerson responded to
the news that ran across the ticker.
"Captain Dickerson, can you explain more about who this Genesis person is?"
"Genesis is a very notorious telepath who has been murdering normals since he
was a teenager. He's been in hiding for the past several years and only recently
surfaced for this failed attempt to overthrow the JCPD and this city. Thanks to
the strong-minded officers of my department they were able to overcome this
heinous psypath and wrest control away from him."
"Where is Genesis now?"
"Unfortunately he was able to escape, but we have several leads on his location
and expect to be apprehending him shortly. I want to emphasize that I do not
want the public to attempt to capture Genesis. He may be an enemy of the
normals, but he is someone who should be arrested and properly tried by our
system of justice. Just because this telepath harmed many of our innocent
citizens doesn't mean he lacks the same rights that we do."
Black paled. Dickerson had just called for open-season on Genesis.
"Do you believe that this single uprising attempt is actually another salvo in the
psypaths' ongoing battle for equal rights in the city? "
"I can't say whether Genesis was working alone or whether he had the support of
the psypaths. I will say this, if this was the work of a single man he's the most
genius man in the city."
Now Dickerson was setting up conspiracy theorists.
"Regarding your question about the ongoing conflict, I think the situation at
large has very little to do with equal rights, but with the psypaths' belief that they
know what's best for us normals and should be allowed to use their unnatural
powers to achieve this. Clearly they're mistaken. Clearly, in this particular case
with Genesis, we won't let such a belief go unpunished."
And with that he'd fanned the flames of more psypath hate.
Black dropped the PRU, heard it hit the floor with a clatter. He didn't care if he'd
broken it. He'd steal another.
"Sweetheart?"
He spun out of Starr's grasping hands, turning his back on the other men.
"It's all gone wrong," he said, stabbing his hands through his hair. "He called my
bluff."
"What bluff? I thought you're going to tell the media about everything he's up
to?"
"I can't." Black laughed harshly. "The only way I can prove what Dickerson's
been doing is by going public, and that will out me as a psypath. What will I tell
them? That I used my telepathy to lure innocent men into Dickerson's
experiments? That I helped him kill them and dumped their bodies in the bay?
The majority of the public will believe him over me. Those that do believe me
will use it as ammunition to claim that their fears about psypaths are justified. I
single-handedly represent every horrible stereotype the psypaths want to
eradicate. I'm the normals' nightmare." He rubbed at his face. "I just -- I can't do
that. I won't stir the pot any further."
"But -- but do you have to go public?" Starr asked. "Can't you drop anonymous
tips?"
"I'm the only one who's seen what he's doing, Starr." He thought briefly of the
investors who got off on watching him seduce new subjects for the experiments.
They were the only other witnesses and they would be difficult, if not
impossible, to find. There was a reason Dickerson had never allowed Black to
meet them.
He groaned at how effectively Dickerson had turned the tables on him. The man
had turned a blackmail attempt into a situation that made Black's and the lives of
every psypath in the city that much more dangerous.
He staggered blindly to the back of the store. "He's playing this game better than
I am. They all are. I don't know what I'm doing --"
"Darkness, shut up!" Starr forcibly spun him around. "Enough with the pity
party. So this didn't go according to plan. That doesn't mean we go belly up. It
means we adapt. We try something else. Hell, sweetheart, that's what we've been
doing our entire lives. Nothing ever goes as planned."
"My mistakes are fueling a war," Black argued. "It's the last thing I wanted."
"No, he's starting a war." Starr shook him. "No matter what you say or do, he's
going to find a way to twist it around into something bad. I've known that since
the moment I laid eyes on him. It's taking you longer to realize this because he
all but adopted you. He tricked you with kindness and now he's stabbing you in
the face."
Black's head fell back. "Everyone tricks me. I'm everyone's fool."
"Says the man who's been hiding his identity for the last seven years."
Black put up only token resistance as Starr pulled his head down and tucked his
face against the empath's throat. He let his arms fall naturally around the
empath's trim waist. He needed the contact. He needed to stop pretending to be
strong and admit he was weak and useless.
"He's fucked this up for us but he hasn't won anything," Starr told him. He
stroked Black's spine. "Jake and the others are back in the department. JC2 is up
and running again. You won those, sweetheart. Those are your victories. And
you know what else you won? Our freedom. The two of us are standing here
doing exactly what we want. We don't answer to anyone."
"Hiding in an empty store inside a mall isn't exactly what I want," Black
muttered. "I want a different victory."
"Like what?"
"Peace between the people who want war. I believe psypaths and normals can
live together. I want to prove it."
"It's a noble goal, sweetheart. Personally I think you'll be lucky just to keep us
from killing each other."
Black slumped. Starr was right. Who was he kidding? He sounded like a jackass
by saying he wanted peace.
He turned his face and pressed his lips to the empath's pulse point. When Starr
shivered, Black whispered, "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Make me
think about something else. Fuck me. Fuck me hard."
Starr's arms tightened reflexively. "Darkness, you know I'm never one to argue
about sex, but are you sure? Double-trouble are sitting right over there. I know
how shy you can be with an audience."
Starr's use of the word 'shy' to describe him bothered Black. When had he last
been allowed to be shy? When had he known privacy of his mind or his body?
He opened his mouth and stroked his tongue down Starr's throat. "I don't care.
Fuck me."
"Mmm, you're persuasive," the empath murmured. He pushed his thigh between
Black's legs, testing Black's arousal. "But I think, actually, that I care if they
watch." He moved his leg back. He stopped caressing Black and merely held
him. "Not here, sweetheart. Let me keep you to myself. You're mine, no one
else's. And -- Jesus, I can't believe I'm saying this -- but maybe sex right now
isn't the thing you need."
Frustrated, Black jerked out of the empath's arms.
"Aw, sweetheart, don't be like that."
But Black didn't appreciate being rejected.
He stormed over to Jax and Junxion, who watched him warily.
"Tell me everything you know about the man who saved Genesis," he
demanded.
"You mean Phoenix," Junxion said dryly.
"You know who I'm talking about!"
Starr tugged on his arm. "Sweetheart, calm down."
"Fuck off," Black snarled, jerking his arm free. To Junxion he repeated his
question. "Tell me everything you know about him. Why did he save Genesis?"
Jax and Junxion shared a look. "Why?" Junxion asked. "Are you planning on
hunting him down?"
"Tell me --"
"Darkness, you're seriously pissing me off."
Starr grabbed him again. Black reacted emotionally, lashing out with his open
hand. It caught the empath across the face.
Black stared at the red hand print rising on the other man's cheek. Inside he
despaired. He couldn't believe he had struck the man he loved. But he met Starr's
shocked gaze and growled, "If you're not interested in giving me what I want I
have no use for you. Go wait in the corner."
Starr, who'd been reaching towards his face, let his hand drop. "You did not just
tell me to wait in the corner."
Adrenaline rushed hot through Black's veins at the warning timbre of the other
man's voice. He stepped toe to toe with the blonde. "You heard me."
Starr licked his lips. "I heard you. You asked me to fuck you. You're gonna get
what you want."
Starr jumped him. Black fought back only enough to feel the other man restrain
him, to confirm that Starr wasn't playing and was going to give him what he
wanted. The twins staggered out of the way when he and Starr fell sideways,
crashing into the nearest wall. He elbowed the empath in the gut, hearing his
breath gust out of him. Starr retaliated by fisting his hand in Black's hair and
banging the back of his head against the wall. As Black saw stars, the real Starr
spun him around and shoved him face first against the drywall.
"You're so fucked up in the head," Starr snarled into his ear as he jammed his
hand between Black's hips and the wall and yanked open his pants. "You want to
hurt? You want to be punished for a failure that isn't a failure? Let them to watch
you being used like a whore? You got it, sweetheart. Never let it be said that I
leave my boyfriend hanging."
"All you do is talk," Black panted, wincing as the other man jerked his pants
down, burning the skin of his hips on the way down. "You have a big mouth,
Starr. No wonder Dickerson made you a snitch."
"Oh, Darkness, you want it bad, don't you?" Starr purred. Black felt him
fumbling behind him, heard the zip of his pants. The next moment hot skin and
flesh pressed against his ass.
He heard Starr spit and felt the empath prise his buttocks apart and press a slick
finger against his hole. He expected Starr to tease him, but the empath shoved
two fingers into him. Black groaned and clawed the wall.
"We should go," Jax mumbled from the middle of the store.
"You stay," Starr ordered with vehemence. "Watch him getting fucked. Watch
him be reduced to a begging whore. That's what he wants. That's how sick he is.
He can't take the pressure so he has to revert back to this. This is the fucked-up
prostitute he used to be."
Black's lust fled, replaced with anger. He growled and threw his head back,
trying to headbutt Starr. He missed and Starr jerked his fingers free of his ass in
retaliation. The burn made Black hiss. Starr shoving his cock into him made
Black scream.
Starr fucked him against the wall, made it hurt, made Black moan just like the
whore Starr accused him of being. The intensity of the sex made Black gasp.
The knowledge he was being fucked so roughly in front of Jax and Junxion
made him want to die.
"Is this what you want?" Starr groaned against his ear. His fingernails dug half
moons into Black's hips. "Always this dirty, Darkness? Always shameful?
Always hurting? They win when you want this. Every man who's ever hurt you
is behind you now with their dick up your ass because you won't fight this."
"I'm fighting this," Black choked out, clawing at the wall. He bucked on Starr's
cock. "How can you say I'm not fighting?"
"I'm not talking about fighting me. Fight this hatred inside you. Fight this need
to be the creature they made you."
Black punched the wall, the soft paper giving way beneath his fist.
"I can do this until I kill you," Starr continued roughly, hips churning, "and it
will never be enough unless you stop the cycle."
Black groaned, shutting his eyes. He didn't want to hear any of it. He wanted to
get away from the pressure. He wanted to be fucked because he could handle
that. He could master it.
"You're such a coward." Starr bit the back of his neck. "You won't even beg me
to touch you. You want to suffer. That's how much of a self-hating masochist
you are."
Black didn't argue, and the empath didn't touch him. Starr did punish him in his
own way, fucking him with long, hard strokes, forcing Black to cry out with
every deep thrust into his body. Starr taunted him, told him to beg for their
audience. Black did, unashamed, falling back into the familiar role because it
was safer there.
"Bitch," Starr panted, his voice breaking. "I never wanted a bitch... I wanted a
partner."
He slammed into Black one final time and pulled out with a cry. Black
shuddered as hot liquid spattered across his back and over the globes of his ass.
His own cock throbbed painfully between his legs. When he moved forward,
letting the swollen head touch the drywall, he came instantly, painting the wall
in pearl.
"You want victory, sweetheart?" Black remained pressed to the wall, his face
hot, as Starr zipped himself back up. "Every time you try something and fail,
you win, sweetheart. You know why? Because the old you, Genesis, was afraid
to try anything. Genesis was a coward. He was a scared little boy who hid
behind Bliss and did everything he was asked. He never stood up to anyone.
You've overcome Bliss. You've stood up to Dickerson. Now overcome the rest of
it. Stop hating yourself just because you tried and failed. Hate the right people."
Starr paused for a shaky breath. "It's killing me to see you like this. Kink is one
thing, but I can't -- I have to get out of here."
Starr stomped out of the store, slamming the access door behind him.
A hesitant step behind him made Black tense. He was highly conscious of the
fluid cooling on his ass, the soreness between his cheeks.
"Are you alright?" Jax asked him hesitantly. "Did he hurt you?"
"He's not hurt," Junxion told his brother in a solemn voice. "Not the way you
think. Come on, brother. Let's take a walk."
They left him, too. It was only after the door closed behind them that Black took
a sobbing breath. He slid down the wall and curled up on the floor. Starr's voice
mocked him in his head.
This is the fucked-up prostitute he used to be.
I never wanted a bitch...
From whore to hero. That's what Starr and Parker wanted from him.
Yet it was impossible. He couldn't do it. He knew what he represented and it
wasn't anything good.
But maybe that's what Dickerson and his enemies were counting on.
When you're pushed you often do the opposite, just to prove you can.
Black cleaned himself as best he could. He picked up the discarded PRU. He
began planning his next steps, his eyes lifting every so often to the closed shop
door.

Never Cross a Telepath


Part 7

Calyx stormed down the employee corridor, so shaken he could hardly see
where he was going. A door to his left was marked 'Mall'. He didn't think, he
pushed it open. Just outside the door was a small alcove, a smoking area
according to the smokeless ashtrays and the silent air ionizing umbrellas
stretched over the three narrow benches. He was surprised the area was empty,
but noticed that this small cul-de-sac of the mall held an upscale rock shop and
a Turkish furniture import store. Clearly the demand for rocks and foreign
furniture wasn't high in Juxtapose City.
Satisfied that no one would see him in this area of no man's land, he walked
over to the benches and sat heavily on the nearest one. He studied the ashtray
receptacle and was thrilled to notice it doubled as a vending machine. He had a
few untraceable credits left on a money card Black had bought for each of them
with money borrowed from Jax and Junxion. Calyx used the last of it to buy a
pack of cigarettes. The first inhalation made him shudder and then close his
eyes.
His hands were shaking. He could feel it every time he brought the cigarette to
his lips.
"I'm not being paid enough for this shit," he muttered as he opened his eyes and
gazed at the rosy marble tiles beneath his boots. He scuffed his boots across the
gleaming surface. It was the first time he'd stepped foot on polished marble. He
was living the high life, even if he was an interloper in it.
Still, interloper or no he was living a much different life from the one he'd
expected for himself. His plans pre-JCPD had consisted of having as much fun
as he could with the least amount of pain before eventually shacking up with
some rich S.O.B. who could take care of him. Hardly lofty, but a thousand
times better than the fate of most empaths or hookers, especially those with a
Bliss addiction.
Yet those plans had changed dramatically. Here he was, sitting in a fancy mall,
wearing expensive clothes favored by the normals, with a boyfriend with the
mindset of a nuclear bomb. Something, somewhere, had gone screwy.
It was easy enough to point the finger at the police, at Darkness. Everything had
changed the moment he was snatched up off the streets and forced to become a
snitch. Lately, though, he had to admit that he carried much of the blame for the
path his life had taken. Apparently he was a sucker for head cases. Apparently,
he had a thing for drama-prone brunettes.
He loved Darkness. He loved the man more than he could love anyone. And
there was no 'but' to follow those statements. He loved Black and it didn't
matter if the younger man was a mental wreck and a sexual Quasimodo. Calyx
wouldn't leave him. He was in too deep now.
He only wished he could handle Black better, handle him in a way that didn't
scare the crap out of Calyx. What had happened in the store would happen
again. He knew it, Black knew it. Too much of Black's identity was wound up
in what had happened to him as Genesis in Starwood's gang. Black had been
delusional to believe he could leave that chapter of his life behind and begin
anew as Lieutenant Black of the JCPD. It was impossible. Every thought, every
reaction, every decision Black made was an indirect result of what had been
done to him as a teenager. His attempt to wipe the slate clean had merely
applied a coat of paint over the scars, prettied him up even though you could
still feel the marks beneath.
Calyx could feel those scars, each and every one of them. Many were similar to
his own, some were deeper, some in places he didn't want to think about. He
didn't doubt that Darkness could overcome his past. But it would take time. And
it would hurt. That was what Calyx feared most of all. He was a coward. He
didn't deal well with pain, his own or that of others. He was an empath, for
crying out loud. Other people's pain was poison to him.
All of his life he'd taken the path of least resistance. That's what you did if you
were smart. Or if you were afraid. Looking back on it now, he was dismayed to
realize he'd spent a lot of his life on the streets being afraid.
His friend would argue the point, but in truth he'd put up a good front. He had
to. He'd built up the Calyx Starr legend because it provided a form of
protection. People knew him. People liked him. Sure, a lot of them paid to fuck
him and were transitory friends at best, but the important thing was that when
you thought of Calyx Starr you came up with good memories, good
associations. When new turf lines were drawn, new gangs vying for control, he
wasn't someone you considered a threat. He made sure no one had a reason to
hurt him.
And now, in a strange twist of fate, he was the one in the position to do the
hurting. Black may be a badass, but inside he was a lot like a little boy. Calyx
had seen toughs like him growing up, skulking in alleys, trying to act like
grown-ups in the hopes that it would deflect the ugliness. Those teens had
resisted the reality around them, refused to submit to it. They tried to control the
people who controlled them. It rarely ended well. Most were swallowed by
gangs, turned into thugs who died violent deaths. Those who resisted joining
gangs eventually disappeared and few people had illusions as to what had
happened to them: they were either kidnapped and sold into prostitution or
ended up in dumpsters. Black would have been one of those teens, sullen-eyed
and angry, on a fast track to pain and death. Calyx felt guilty that now, as adults,
he was the one supplying the pain.
But it was what Black wanted so that made it a little better, didn't it? And Calyx
couldn't claim that he didn't find Black's masochistic side a little sexy, a little bit
of a turn-on. After years of being the bottom, being the pretty, thin boy whose
looks demanded to be corrupted, it was exciting to be the one calling the shots.
He shifted, feeling his cock, still a little sticky, roll across his scrotum. Even
thinking about it now, the scene in the shop had been hot. He'd enjoyed fucking
Black that way. He'd gotten off on the dirtiness of the scene, of being able to
say to someone else what people had often thought of him.
But deep down he knew it was wrong, no matter how hard it made his cock.
Black was his lover. Calyx had no problem providing sexual punishment, but
what they'd just done had been different. Calyx didn't want to be the hammer
that came down whenever Darkness believed he had failed. He'd meant what he
said; he wanted a partner, not a bitch. He didn't want Black to begin believing
the only way he could go on was if Calyx absolved him of his sins.
He had to figure out how to get Black to realize that twisted sex was fine, using
it to hide from life was not.
He tensed, his weight shifting forward onto the balls of his feet when the door
that he'd just came through opened again. He relaxed and finished his cigarette
as Jax and Junxion came through, the two men looking cautiously around as
they left the employee corridor.
"No one's here," Calyx told them, blowing out a last streamer of smoke which
was immediately sucked in the overhead ionizers. He pointed to the bench
directly across from him. "Come keep me company. Take my mind off things."
"It's dangerous to be out in the open like this," Jax said, still look anxiously out
of the cul-de-sac toward the direction of the mall's main arcade.
"Sure, we look a little too stylish for these people," Calyx acknowledged,
twirling a lock of purple-tinted hair and winking at Jax's blue coif, "but they
can't argue with our taste in clothing. Everything we're wearing we bought in
these stores. We're as boring as they are."
Junxion smiled as he took a seat on the indicated bench. "Wolves in sheep's'
clothing." He lifted his arm then dropped it around his brother's shoulders when
Jax slid onto the bench beside him.
Junxion's smile took on an edge. "So if we're safe enough to talk, care to
explain what we just witnessed back there?"
Calyx dragged the lock of hair across his lips, hiding behind the action.
"Darkness is a kinky boy. He gets off in weird ways. Just think of them as
moods. Once the mood passes he's back to normal, ready to kick ass."
"You weren't this calm about it," Junxion noted, green eyes holding Calyx's
own. "In fact, you acted like you're afraid for him."
Calyx considered his options. He could exaggerate the situation and scare
Junxion off. Junxion was still an agent of the Silent City and wanted to turn
Black over to the psypaths if Black could be an asset. However, a messed-up,
unreliable telepath wasn't anyone's idea of an asset.
If he went that route the Silent City would leave them alone. After being
kidnapped and brain raped Calyx wasn't such a big fan of those guys and it
might not be a bad idea to put some space between them and him and Black.
But he had to consider the consequences. Alienating the Silent City might not
be the safest course of action. Calyx was all about self-preservation and
aligning himself with the most powerful players. He'd learned that long ago in
the club scene as a prostitute without a pimp. It would be wiser to keep
stringing the Silent City along until war, if it came, was unavoidable. He and
Black could then play both sides.
Never burn a bridge, Calyx knew that much.
"I'm not afraid of anything where Darkness is concerned," he told Junxion
drolly. "He goes into his funks, sure, but what do you expect? He's the most
powerful telepath in the city. Along with all that genius comes a certain amount
of mad scientist."
Junxion exchanged a dubious glance with Jax. Calyx could tell they weren't
buying it.
"Look, sweetheart. I'll bet you my ass, literally, that when we go back in there
Darkness will be back to his badass self and barking orders like a four-star
general. He'll get the job done, no matter how much shit he has to wade
through. He always has."
"He would receive help if he returned with us to the Silent City," Junxion
purred, his eyes becoming heavy-lidded. "Then you wouldn't need to make
excuses for him."
"Yeah, but --"
"His team is safely free of Genesis now, exonerated of all crimes and prepared
to go on without him. His obligation to them is over. He and you are free to do
whatever you like. So why remain in Juxtapose City and struggle on your
own?"
"We can't just skip on into the Silent City." Calyx smiled at the idea, although it
was bittersweet. The Silent City had become a mixed bag for him. He yearned
after the idea of it, but he wasn't keen on what he'd experienced of it so far.
"Genesis is still out there. He's not going to pack up his crazy and go home just
because we stole JC2 back from him. He'll go after them again. Maybe the next
time he'll make them kill each other. There's no way in hell Black is going to let
Genesis run free while he still poses that kind of threat."
"What if we could broker a deal with him?"
Calyx frowned, unsure of what he'd heard. "What are you talking about? With
who?"
"Genesis. What if the Silent City could convince him to move into the psypath
city?"
Calyx snorted. "He won't go without Black."
Junxion smiled. "Exactly."
There was so much wrong with Junxion's suggestion that Calyx had to laugh.
"There's no way Black will let you use him as bait to lure Genesis to the Silent
City."
"Black doesn't strike me as being afraid of him," Jax remarked.
Calyx shook his head. "It has nothing to do with that. Darkness wants Genesis
dead. Permanently buried. Coaxing him into the Silent City accomplishes
nothing except giving him new neighbors. If Genesis shacks up in the Silent
City he'll try to become the psypaths' messiah or something. Genesis has to be
wiped off the planet for Black and me to sleep at night."
"But does Black truly want Genesis dead?" Junxion asked pointedly. "Genesis
is who he is today because of Black. There's a reckoning due and it doesn't
necessarily come at Genesis' death. Not the man who currently goes by that
name, that is."
Calyx stilled. "I thought you wanted Black on your side. Right now you sound
like you've bought flowers for his funeral."
"I'm only pointing out that justice might not have to come by death, either
Black's or Genesis'." Junxion removed his arm from around his brother's
shoulders and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees as he stared
Calyx down. "If Black is as strong as you say he is, then he's a valuable player
to both sides. That's already been proven by how badly the Silent City and your
JCPD both want him."
"They're not my JCPD," Calyx snapped.
"His latest actions suggest he's turning his back on the police," Junxion went
on. "So where then, is he turning to? Jax and I aren't here because we're in need
of friends. We're here to recruit you. You've known this all along."
"You're hurting my feelings, sweetheart."
Annoyance narrowed Junxion's eyes. "We moved Black safely from the tunnels
when he was dying. We helped free his team from Genesis' control. It's time,
Calyx, for some payback. You owe us."
"We owe you? Are you smoking crack?" Calyx gaped, because he genuinely
found Junxion funny. "Sweetheart, your buddies in the Silent City kidnapped
me, used my brain as a slide show screen, and upset Black enough to make him
think he should kill himself. Fuck owing them anything, you hear me? Jax
helped me get Black out of the tunnels. I'll give you that. But he didn't save
Black's life. Dr. Parker did that. And yeah, maybe your whacked-out psypath
power helped knocked Genesis on his butt long enough for us to get the team
away from him but I'm pretty sure Darkness could have done that on his own if
he had to. So at best we owe you a ride. That's it."
Junxion half rose to his feet. Calyx braced himself both physically and mentally
for a nasty brain mashing. Jax caught his brother by the arm, though, and pulled
him back down on the bench.
"We're on your side," Jax said urgently, looking between Calyx and his twin.
"We shouldn't be fighting."
"No," Junxion said slowly, breathing heavily through his nose, "we should be
talking to Genesis."
Calyx stared. "Genesis. Right. The Silent City may be generous enough to
allow him inside but I have a tough time believing they're ready to put their
faith behind him as a leader against the normals."
"Then give us Black."
"Yeah, okay. Let me just get him." Calyx rolled his eyes. "It doesn't work that
way. *He* doesn't work that way."
"But he has a weakness," Junxion reminded him, clearly irritated. "I just saw it.
That can be exploited. It's up to you whether the Silent City does it or you do."
Calyx experienced a wild vision of the president or the ruler of the Silent City
spanking Black across the ass and calling him a slut. Junxion was nuts.
"It's not a weakness," he ground out. "He likes to work out his frustration in
funky ways. Normally he runs, but he can't exactly go for a jog right now so I
fucked him. End of story."
He plucked another cigarette out of his pack and lit up, not bothering to offer
one to the other men. The rush of nicotine into his lungs soothed his frayed
nerves.
"I don't want to argue with you," he said, flicking the ash away. "We've got
enough to deal with. Let's put this conversation on the back-burner. Right now
let's deal with our current bag of goodies: JC1 has painted a target on our ass,
Capt. Dick wants to get his hands on Black, and Genesis is probably frothing at
the mouth and cursing us to high heaven. I think that's more than enough on our
plate, don't you?"
"Those are your problems," Junxion pointed out.
Calyx smiled sweetly. "If you want Darkness to lead your psypath army then
they're now your problems, too, sweetheart."
Junxion glared. Calyx calmly took another puff.
"Since we're working together," Jax said into the silence that followed, "we
should think about who Genesis was meeting at the bay. If he's working with
someone else that someone else is our enemy, too."
Calyx's eyes widened slightly. "That's right. I'd forgotten about that. But -- I
thought it was his buddy from the Silent City? That guy who supposedly saved
him after his fight with Darkness. The one who helped get his mind fixed."
"Is that who it was?" Junxion's tone said he was still annoyed with Calyx.
The empath pretended he didn't notice. "Who else would it be? If Genesis had a
friend here in Juxtapose I would have seen him that day when he kidnapped me
and Parker and held us in his freaky lair. Instead all I saw were the creepy
Darkness look-alikes that he was keeping prisoner. This new guy came out of
nowhere. I say he popped over from the Silent City to lend a hand."
"I highly doubt that's true." Junxion settled back on the bench. "The Silent City
wouldn't allow him to interfere with what's happening out here, especially if it
involves Black."
"But if they don't know?"
Junxion looked away dismissively. "They know everything."
Calyx thought the answer was a cop-out, but chose not to argue it. Maybe
Junxion was right and the Silent City had eyes and ears everywhere. He
wouldn't put it past them to send spies to follow anyone who chose to leave the
Silent City. The City struck him as a giant jealous boyfriend.
"So if it's not the guy who helped heal him, then who could it be?" he
wondered.
Junxion shrugged. "I didn't see his face."
"He was too far away," Jax offered.
Calyx made a face. "Well, isn't that convenient."
In truth, he didn't think the twins were lying. They didn't know who it was.
Which meant Genesis' mystery contact would have to remain so for a little
while longer.
~~~~~
Having failed to blackmail Captain Dickerson into playing along, Black knew
he had limited time before the older man sent someone after him and Starr.
Yet that wasn't his biggest concern.
With the press conference, Dickerson had shown that he didn't care if he
instigated civil war today. That worried Black, because it meant the
experiments were further along than he had realized. Yes, Junxion had shown
him the plans for the inhibitor bracelet that the Silent City wanted to produce.
The City knew something of Dickerson's plans and was working on a solution.
But they didn't have it nailed down yet and Black feared they may have run out
of time. Dickerson might be ready for war today, and if that was the case, the
psypaths were in trouble.
With that knowledge gnawing on his mind, Black grew impatient waiting for
Starr and the twins to return. They needed to leave the mall and find a more
suitable hiding place, one they could use long-term to plan out their strategy. As
the minutes stretched and his unconscious worry that he'd disgusted Starr grew
too great to handle, he decided he needed to get away from the scene of the
crime. Feeling dirty, he left the store and headed back to the mall restrooms.
In the alcove of the restrooms he paused, surveying the scene. At the edge of
the alcove where it opened into the main body of the mall was an information
kiosk. An elderly woman was using it while a dark-skinned man looked on
from over her shoulder. A few feet away another man knelt, head down, as he
tied his shoelaces. Black studied the threesome for a moment before continuing
on into the restroom.
It looked empty once again, but he walked the length, checking each stall just to
be sure. Then he returned to the door and put his back to the wall just behind
where the door would swing open.
It did so a minute later. As soon as the door completed its inward swing Black
kicked it, sending it slamming shut. He didn't wait for it to close; he surged
forward, hooking his left arm around the neck of the man who'd entered and
pressing his gun to the man's head.
"You saw me," Sundhill muttered with disgust.
"You're not very good at undercover," Black replied. He herded Sundhill deeper
into the restroom. "Are the rest of them following?" he demanded, pressing the
barrel of the gun deeper against the other man's temple.
Sundhill grunted in discomfort. "I brought them but I told them to wait in the
parking lot." He raised his hands. "I'm carrying one in a butt holster. It's my
only weapon."
Black found the gun, tucked it into his own pants. "Don't move or I'll shoot you
and prop your body on a toilet." He released Sundhill cautiously. When the
blonde remained motionless Black quickly frisked him for other weapons.
"I told you I only have the one gun," Sundhill muttered.
"You'd do the same in my position."
Satisfied that Sundhill was unarmed, Black pushed the other man toward the
mirror and quickly backed away, putting space between them.
Sundhill sighed and turned around, leaning his hips against the sink. He was
dressed in civilian clothes -- khaki pants and a white polo -- and looked as
handsome as always. Black nonetheless found it easy to resist his charms.
"What are you doing here?" Black demanded.
"I wanted to talk to you about what's happened. I need answers."
"You heard the press conference." Black couldn't keep the anger from his voice.
"Dickerson spelled it out plain and clear."
"I heard it on the way here," Sundhill confirmed. "It's not what the captain told
me when Sergeant Cole turned himself in. He told me that you were the one
who'd betrayed JC2, not Genesis."
"Dickerson sounds like he's changed his mind about who should take the
blame."
Sundhill frowned. "That's not how it's supposed to work."
Black didn't jump on that like he wanted to. "Clear it up with the captain."
"Damnit, Black, I want to clear it up with you. That's why I'm here, against
Dickerson's orders, by the way. A lot of unexplainable things have been
happening within the JC Units lately and I want answers. I want the truth."
Black shook his head. He lowered his weapon. "You don't want the truth,
Andrew. You want an answer you can live with."
"Which is the truth," the blonde insisted.
"Are you sure?"
Black pulled out his stolen PRU and called Starr on it.
"Darkness!"
The empath's voice was bright with curiosity, and a touch of relief. If anyone
had a reason to be relieved, though, it was Black. He'd been afraid his lover was
still upset with him.
"I need you and the twins to keep an eye out. JC1 is on the premises. If you see
them, avoid them. Don't engage."
"How do you know this?"
"Just do it, Starr." He cut the call.
He leaned against the wall behind him, arms crossed, gun still in hand. He
studied Sundhill, searching his expression for some sign that the lieutenant was
lying, buying time for JC1 to surround them.
"You've never cared about the truth before this," Black noted. "You're
Dickerson's favorite. You follow his orders and you don't ask questions. Just
like I used to do."
"Maybe it's time that changed."
Black blinked, surprised.
Seeing it, Sundhill let a wry smile cross his face. "I know what you think of me.
You think I'm his yes man. In a lot of ways I am. I don't plan to be carrying
around a gun all my life. Eventually I'm going to be in a position to order grunts
like us around. To do that I need to know the right people and be on their good
sides." His smile faded. "That doesn't mean I'm blind. Politics are politics.
People make decisions to cover their own asses. In our line of work that can
mean good men take the fall for other peoples' mistakes."
"But why do you care?" Black persisted. He could buy the idea that Sundhill
didn't like being cut out of the loop, but he didn't think the man cared about
righting any sort of injustice that was happening within the department.
Sundhill was ambitious and pragmatic. He wasn't naive. He didn't strike Black
as being particularly idealistic.
"I care because I don't want to wind up with a bullet in my back. Call it looking
after my interests. The more I know, the less likely I am to end up in the bay."
When Black tensed, Sundhill nodded. "I've heard rumors about what you do
with Dickerson. Nothing concrete, nothing strong enough to make anyone
actually consider looking deeper. But I've heard things. I want to know what's
fact and what's fiction."
"It's better if you don't know, Andrew. Trust me on this."
"I do trust you. I probably have very little reason to, but I have good instincts
about people. I know who has something to say that's worth listening to and
who's just blowing hot air." Sundhill tapped his head. "Like this thing with
Genesis and your team. I think the captain lied to me initially and then told the
truth at the press conference. I think Genesis did manage to take over your
team. In fact, I'm nearly positive."
"Is that so."
"It is. I have confirmation from one of my men." Sundhill grinned. "I can be a
hard-ass when the need arises. The need arose for the truth so I backtracked,
tried to pinpoint the moment when everything changed. I tracked it back to
when I asked Agent Parker to help me suss out a psypath who had information
about the tunnels. While we were doing the interrogation I had my men search
your houses."
Black didn't know anything about Parker and a psypath interrogation but the
last part was easy enough to grasp. His face went cold with anger. "You
searched JC2 on Dickerson's orders?"
"Close enough. That's not what matters. My men were in your house -- the one
you call the Dugout -- and one of them found an unconscious man there. My
man decided to take matters into his own hands and empty the bottle of sedative
you were using and refill it with water."
Black cursed beneath his breath.
"You had Genesis in your possession, didn't you?" Sundhill asked, watching
him closely. "You were keeping him sedated and when my man switched out
the drug he woke up and took control of your team."
"Yes," Black gritted out. "Be sure to let me know which of your men I need to
pay a visit to."
"Oh, he's been punished already. I don't like what he did anymore than you do."
Sundhill paused. "My question is, if Genesis is to blame, why did you send
Sergeant Cole in to tell the captain that you were responsible? Why take the
blame for that shit-fest?"
Sundhill obviously didn't know that Jake had done the opposite. Jake had told
Dickerson the truth about Genesis' coup but under Black's orders had also
strongly suggested to the captain that he announce Black as the guilty party to
give the police a fall-guy and to cut Black's ties with the department.
"Genesis is my problem," he said. "What he did to JC2 was a result of a
personal vendetta between him and I and I can't put an end to it -- to him
--while I'm an officer of the city."
"So you deep-sixed your career?" Sundhill looked flummoxed. "But you're
Dickerson's protg. You could be mine, too. You know I'd bring you along
with me as I advance."
"I know that," Black said quietly. Sundhill, for all his faults, seemed to
genuinely like Black or at least had convinced himself that lust equaled
friendship. "But my career with the JCPD is over. I don't -- I don't belong there.
Not with men like you."
"What the hell does that even mean? You're a fine officer. You have a brilliant
mind for tactics and a --"
"I can't," Black cut him off crossly. "What Dickerson and the department want
are different from what I want. I've finally realized that and now I can't look
back."
Sundhill mulled that over, his handsome face creased with confusion. "So
you're giving up your career, your future, to seek revenge on this telepath."
"Yes."
"Why was he drugged in your house? Why would you have a personal tie with
the most notorious telepath in the city?"
Black stared at him. "Like I said earlier, Andrew, you don't want the answers.
It's better if you don't have them."
"Come on. That's a bullshit answer and you know it. I'm a big boy. I can handle
it."
"If you want to one day be Chief, it's best if you don't know," Black stated.
That gave Sundhill pause, just as he'd known it would. The blonde lieutenant
might be a decent man whom Black wouldn't mind at his back, but in the end
justice didn't motivate him, ambition did.
"I have orders to apprehend you," Sundhill sighed at last. "Agent Starr is
expendable. The Captain wants you alive if possible."
The casual dismissal of Starr's life caused a growl to bubble up Black's throat.
"You know I won't allow that to happen. Starr and I will go down shooting."
Nodding wearily, Sundhill rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "I know.
That's why I came in alone. Consider this a warning. A head-start. However you
want to take it. The next time we meet, we'll be exchanging bullets instead of
words."
"You could give us a pass."
Sundhill shook his head. "I'm sorry, Black, but you know I can't do that."
It was the answer Black had expected so he wasn't too disappointed.
"I told my team to give me half an hour," Sundhill went on. "That leaves you
around ten minutes. You should go."
Black straightened off the wall, his mind jumping ahead to their escape from
the mall. He moved to the door, then paused and glanced back. "You came all
the way out here and risked Dickerson's wrath. You doubt him, too."
"I had questions."
"Keep asking them." Black put his hand on the door. "Maybe eventually you'll
realize you can handle the answers."
He pulled open the door and ran out, dialing Starr's PRU as he did so.
~~~~~
If there was one thing Mneumonia missed, it was the presence of her girls when
she entered a new club for the first time. Her telekinetic sisters had been as
good as a bullet proof vest as far as she was concerned -- better, for they could
also fend off knives and asshole men.
When it was just she and Gelie things felt a little dicey.
The club they had just entered didn't have a name that she knew of. Everyone
she'd spoken to earlier that day had simply referred to it as 'that club down on
the corner'. It wasn't her and Gelie's usual sort of place. No dance floor, only
one bar, and everyone sat at little two- and three-person round tables like they
were getting ready to have a romantic dinner. It was kind of creepy, especially
when nearly every man she could see was dressed in a shade of gray and wore a
white band around his throat like a wannabe priest. She and Gelie in their dark
leather and naked throats stuck out like sore thumbs even though they tried to
act like they belonged there.
They clearly didn't, though, which was why Mneumonia wished her old gang
was still alive to watch her back.
Gelie led the way as they threaded through the choker-wearing men to a wall
where they could study the layout of the club and who was in it. If there was
music they couldn't hear it. The place was abuzz with voices, like they'd
stumbled into a meeting hall.
"I think this is pretty good evidence, don't you think?" Mneumonia commented,
giving Gelie's hand a squeeze.
Beside her, Gelie's expression darkened as she looked out over the men. "There
are more than I thought. They're older, too."
Mneumonia nodded. She'd noticed that, too. This wasn't a gathering of young
punks whose blood was high and demanded immediate gratification. Most of
the men she could see were at least ten years older than her. They appeared
serious and grim as they spoke to one another. No passionate flailing of the
arms, no red faces. Just a single-minded determination to discuss a shared
concern and find a resolution to it.
"This isn't good," Gelie murmured. "I don't think we should stay much longer."
A man walked past them, his eyes narrowed suspiciously as he gave them the
once-over. Mneumonia watched him from the corner of her eye as he stopped in
front of three of other men and said something to them which caused all four to
look back at the two telekinetics.
"'Monia --"
"We're going," Mneumonia agreed, her heart beginning to thud. "Let's go."
Gelie didn't need to be told twice. She tightened her grip around Mneumonia's
hand and tugged her through the crowd back the way they'd come. Snatches of
conversation drifted to Mneumonia's ears, each new word making her skin
break out in goosebumps.
"-- gearing up for it soon."
"-- be handled swiftly and concisely --"
"-- mercy will make us weak --"
"-- rumor that he has a partner, an empath --"
The last bit of conversation drew Mneumonia up short, causing Gelie to jerk
backwards against her grip. Mneumonia quickly scanned the seated men, trying
to pinpoint the conversation she'd overhead.
"Excuse me, miss."
She looked up and found herself staring into a pair of flat black eyes. Their
owner wasn't much more palatable, a grub of a man, pale and sweating, his
thick neck bulging around the white collar he wore.
"This club is closed tonight for a special function," he told her, giving her a
smile so devoid of pleasure that he may as well have spat on her and saved his
facial muscles the effort. "How did you get in past the doormen?"
"It was a mistake, honey," she said tersely. "We're leaving."
He tried to catch her arm. "Who are you?"
She lifted her metal hand to his chest and pushed. His beady eyes widened at
the feel of the unnatural appendage.
"We're leaving," she repeated. Under her breath she muttered, "Gelie, go."
The redhead shoved forward, dragging Mneumonia behind her. No one else
tried to stop them, but when they burst from the club onto the street outside it
felt like they'd ripped free from the clutches of a child molester.
"Next time we're leaving a scene like that to them," Gelie groused as she urged
Mneumonia to start walking.
Mneumonia agreed. Calyx and Black would have to do their own research if
they wanted to learn more about that particular faction.
"What did that guy say these weirdos call themselves?" she asked Gelie.
"The Silent Sentinels."
Mneumonia nodded. She'd have to remember that. They might be important.

Never Cross a Telepath

Part 8
The comparison to walking into the lion's den had never felt more apt as Parker
opened the door of the JCPD headquarters and stepped inside. As soon as the
door shut behind him, every set of cop eyes in the room moved to him. Few
looked pleased with the view.
He didn't blame them. Not only was he an empath to them but he was also
someone who'd given the JCPD a bad name by 'allowing' himself to be
manipulated by Genesis and destroying half the city. He'd brought shame to the
police department in multiple ways. Frankly, he was surprised someone didn't
spit on him. On the streets they probably would have.
He tried not to meet any of their eyes as he scanned the room quickly for signs
of his teammates. He would have preferred skipping this building altogether, but
Jake's instructions had been clear: each member of JC2 had to be debriefed,
alone, about what had taken place. And it had to be done at HQ. Captain's
orders. Jake had already prompted them on how to answer so they would keep
their stories straight, but Parker couldn't help remaining nervous. He wasn't like
the other men. He was a special case and he didn't doubt he'd be given equally
special treatment.
As he completed his pass through the room he was worried that he hadn't seen
any of his friends yet. He was standing in the intake part of the room where
everyone could stare at him, which they were. He'd already heard a few less than
subtle comments referring to him as 'that other freak' and 'damn traitor'. The
sweat was beginning to bead on his brow. He wanted to turn and run.
Remember who you are! he told himself firmly. He squared his shoulders. He'd
once been the leader of Ortega Street. He'd quelled gang uprisings and fought
off those would aspire to take his place. And he'd survived the Starwood mess.
Only a handful of people who'd known Genesis and Phoenix had survived to tell
the tale.
Unfortunately the latter thought only depressed him. He felt like he was living
on borrowed time.
"Agent Parker, I see you took your time."
The voice sent a chill through his body. He didn't want to, but he turned to face
Captain Dickerson. The older man looked different from the last time Parker had
been face to face with him. His hair held a few more strands of gray hair. His
eyes carried deeper, darker bags. It had apparently been a rough week. Parker
didn't feel an ounce of pity for him.
"You're the last of your team to make it," the captain went on, his eyes hard.
"Unless your lieutenant and Agent Starr plan to make an appearance?"
In your dreams. "No, I'm the last. I don't know where they are."
Dickerson smiled thinly. He didn't believe Parker. "Then come to my office and
we'll have your debriefing."
He said this loud enough for the officers nearest them to overhear. Dickerson
was obviously covering his ass. Parker swallowed and followed the other man to
his office.
The door was locked behind them. Dickerson didn't take a seat. Neither did
Parker. He moved to put a wall to his back. The older man smiled again. It didn't
reach his eyes.
"You should have been dead a long time ago," Dickerson said in a
conversational tone of voice. "Black begged me for your life. I think I may have
been too generous with him by giving in."
The back of Parker's skull itched where something had been shot into him as
part of Dickerson's mysterious experiments. He resisted touching it, even though
it felt like a giant tick had burrowed beneath his skin.
When Black had first told him about the drives, Parker had been furious both at
what the drives required of his friend and what their purpose was. Black had
claimed that the experiments were intended to inhibit psypathic powers. Or at
least, that was what Black theorized. He wasn't positive because Dickerson
refused to give him any details.
Parker had seen all the things wrong with the scenario but somehow he'd let
Black talk him into volunteering to be a subject. Looking back on it now, it was
a horrible risk they'd both taken when they hadn't known what the outcome
would be.
But Parker knew why he'd done it. He'd been in love with Black. He'd thought
Black's insistence that he undergo the procedure meant that Black loved him and
didn't want him to die from the prescience that was gradually killing him.
The truth was much less romantic. Black didn't want psypaths to exist, not even
if the psypath was Parker. If the experiments could turn them into normals,
Black believed the city would settle into peace.
Parker smiled sadly. Black had been so naive.
"It wasn't as though you took a loss by allowing me to live," Parker replied as
calmly as he could. "I may have failed the experiment but you were able to get
some use out of me on the drives. Black and I lured in innocent victims for you
to kill and play with. I'm sure your investors enjoyed the threesomes we
formed."
"You joined him only twice. I deserved more out of you but I allowed Black to
talk me into giving you your freedom." Dickerson's eyes narrowed. "Obviously
that was a mistake, too. Another overindulgence of my lieutenant."
"Of your son," Parker reminded him, but Dickerson didn't flinch.
"Now he's gone," the captain said coldly, "and I'm experiencing a lack of
properly trained personnel. What do you think I should do about it, Agent
Parker?"
Parker paled. He didn't need his prescience to predict where this was heading.
"I'm not a telepath. I can't lure anyone to me."
"Maybe not, but you're slutty enough to attract enough of the right sort of
attention. I'm confident you'd hook a few desperate fish. Enough to complete the
experiments."
"I'd rather be dead," Parker said, but his heart ached to say it. It would have been
true a month ago, but things had changed. He was in love with Jake. Jake loved
him back. For the first time since he was a child, Parker looked forward to a
future.
"If you died, I think Black would become quite upset, don't you?" Dickerson
stepped closer. Parker backed up until the heels of his boots hit the baseboard.
He tilted his head back to meet the captain's eyes. "When Black becomes
distraught he's a loose cannon," Dickerson went on softly. "Too hot-headed. Too
impulsive. Black becomes a danger to himself and to those around him. My
department has standing orders to shoot on sight any telepath they deem
uncontrollable. Do you want to be responsible for that, Parker?"
"He's your son!"
"He's a dirty tool that I polished into something usable. Which do you think is
more important to me: my career or the life of gutter trash who should have been
left to rot in Hangway?"
Parker had to look away. The lack of emotion in Dickerson's eyes left him
feeling ill. Poor Black, who believed deep down that the Dickersons were his
family, had no idea how the captain really felt about him. It made Parker want to
claw Dickerson's eyes out.
A touch to his hair made Parker flinch back violently. He had nowhere to go as
Dickerson pulled his braid forward and pressed it to the captain's mouth. Parker
shuddered, as repulsed as if the man had kissed his skin.
"I've forgiven JC2 for a multitude of sins," Dickerson told him. "No one believes
your bullshit story about Genesis but I'm letting it stand. You should all be in jail
but you're not. I'm not doing this out of loyalty to your team or because I even
like you. Your team remains free if you play nice, Parker. I need these
experiments to continue. The testing is nearly complete. You're going to finish it
for me or Sergeant Cole and the rest of your friends will be stripped of their
badges and placed under arrest."
"The rest of the team isn't responsible for anything," Parker protested. "They're
completely innocent."
"They're liars. They're lucky I haven't had JC1 take them out. They're lucky
they're being allowed to remain a team. When a new commander is assigned to
them they'll learn their lesson."
Parker looked up in surprise. "A new commander? But, Jake -- Sergeant Cole is
second-in-command."
"Do you honestly believe I would trust him to lead the team after what just
happened?" Dickerson gave a mirthless laugh. "JC2 is out of control but it will
soon be reined in."
Parker wondered if Jake and the others had any idea about the new leader that
would be coming in. What would it mean to their efforts to supply Black and
Calyx with information? Would the new leader be sympathetic to psypaths or
would Parker find himself in a new world of trouble? And what of the
relationships that already existed on the team? Parker didn't know much about
police regulations but even he knew the situation on JC2 was unconventional
and only existed because Calyx had pursued Black so aggressively that it forced
him into a position of being called a hypocrite if he forbade the other men from
pairing up.
"JC2 will be handled and you'll do what I say," Dickerson went on, "otherwise
there will be trouble for your friends, understood?"
Parker reached up and jerked his braid out of the other man's hold. "I won't kill
psypaths!"
Dickerson growled, "Will you feel the same after Sergeant Cole's tortured,
mutilated body is discovered?"
Parker's knees went weak. He prayed for his prescience to strike so he could see
if the captain's threat would become reality. But his power was fickle. Visions
dangled beyond his reach.
"You're making a mistake," Parker said, so sick inside he wanted to bend over
and retch. "I'll do what you want, but Black is going to stop you. He'll make you
pay for everything you've done to us."
Dickerson snorted. "He's barely more than a kid. A broken one, at that."
The comment, though, sparked an ember of hope within Parker. He raised his
eyes. Dickerson looked smug.
Dickerson was a fool.
"He's much more than that and you know it," Parker said softly. He smiled at the
older man, a strange sense of peace and inevitability settling over him. "You
should have left Genesis in Hangway. Soon you'll discover why the entire city
fears him."
He finally got his flinch out of the captain, and it felt every bit as good as Parker
hoped it would.
~~~~~
Calyx took one look at the motel room Black had 'coerced' the clerk into giving
them for free and without IDs. He smiled. "Well, isn't this charming? And only
two beds. Looks like someone's going to get lucky."
Black shouldered past him into the room. "Get your mind out of the gutter for
once. This isn't a slumber party. We're regrouping."
Calyx waved it off as he bounced experimentally on the bed nearest the door. It
squeaked obscenely. "You call it regrouping, I call it regroping." He leered at the
brunette. "I like my version better. I promise I can make you like it, too,
sweetheart."
Jax laughed and took a seat on the other bed while his brother shut the door and
locked it.
"How long do you intend that we hide out here?" Junxion asked as Black laid
their limited supplies on the sole desk in the room and began sorting it. The
blue-haired psypath frowned when Black didn't answer. "This is a waste of time.
If you go to the Silent City Genesis will follow you there. If you want to avoid
death that's where you should confront him, not out here where you're at the
mercy of normals. You'll get a fair fight there."
Calyx smirked. "You think Genesis will play by the rules just because he's in the
Silent City? You need to hang around him more, sweetheart. He's a real riot.
He'd sooner rip your mind out of your head than fuck you."
"The Silent City won't allow psypath attacks within their walls," Junxion said
impatiently. "Conflicts are decided with arbitration, a court of law."
"And what makes you think I want that?" Black said. He lifted his head. In his
hands he held his gun. "You know my history with Genesis. We all know who
the guilty party is. It's me. That's why he's after me." His face turned stony. If
Calyx didn't love him he would fear him. "I can't afford a trial that will throw me
in prison and allow him to roam free, Junxion. He's a danger to everyone I care
about, especially to Starr. That means Genesis has to die."
It was an unconventional declaration of love and Calyx loved it. "Sweetheart,
come over here so I can molest you."
Everyone in the room ignored him.
"You're under the assumption that the Silent City will deem you guilty," Junxion
said. "You don't know this for certain. The City is aware of what happened seven
years ago and what's occurred since. They know both sides of the story, Black."
"You think I'm going to believe you?" Black shook his head and set his weapon
on the desk again. "Your job is to sell the City to me, Junxion. You know that, I
know that. You'll say anything to get me to go. Honestly, I don't trust you."
"We don't want to hurt you," Jax protested, sitting up on the bed. "The City
wants you because they admire you and they need you in the war against the
normals. They wouldn't try to hurt you, Black."
"There won't be any war with the normals," Black snapped. "Not if I can help it.
And you can't tell me the City doesn't have a problem with that. I don't want to
play their game so why should they be willing to play mine?"
"So your plan is to move from hiding place to hiding place until you can
confront Genesis on your terms, is that it?" Junxion looked unimpressed. The
blue-haired man had grown increasingly impatient since they'd left the mall and
Calyx was beginning to grow annoyed with him. "If that's all you want, why not
walk outside and send him a mental message? He'll be here within minutes."
Black stalked to the mirror above the dresser and took a brief look at himself.
Calyx doubted Black saw how sexy he was, only how ugly and hurtful he
believed himself to be.
"It's not that easy or that simple." Black put his back to the dresser. Like the
others, he'd dressed in what Calyx had purchased within the mall in order for
them to fit in with the normals. Calyx was proud of his choices for Darkness.
The black turtleneck sweater and charcoal pants were maybe -- not quite
accidentally -- one size too small, leaving Calyx with a mad urge to tear the
garments right off of him. Too bad Darkness didn't look like he was in the mood
for fun.
"I have Starr's safety to consider. I don't want Genesis coming anywhere near
him."
Calyx smiled. He loved having a protective boyfriend.
Oblivious, Black went on. "I also want to know who Genesis met up with at the
bay. He won't give me that information once we start fighting. He knows I want
it too much. He'll do everything he can to protect that man."
"You could tear it from his mind," Junxion said flatly.
Black's expression hardened. "He's stronger than he was before. I might not be
able to do it without killing him. And once he's dead his accomplice will bury
himself. My only chance to find him exists while Genesis remains alive. I'll take
him out first, then Genesis."
"Why do you want him? He hasn't done anything to you," Junxion pointed out.
"Because his sympathy is with Genesis. That makes him a danger to me. He'll
want revenge someday."
"So you intend to erase the memory of Genesis from this world," Jax said
slowly. "You won't permit anyone who knows the truth about Phoenix and
Genesis to live, is that it? What about my brother and me? What about Parker
and the telekinetics? Are we next on your list?"
Jax's suggestion left Calyx feeling cold, not because he feared for his own safety
but for the safety of the others. Black might be crazy enough to decide to
eliminate everyone who knew the truth about him.
"That's a brutal way to erase a guilty conscience," Junxion murmured, watching
Black closely.
It was an awful way to erase one, and Calyx didn't like it.
"Sweetheart," he said cautiously, "maybe the twins are right. The real blame lies
with Starwood, don't you think? He's the one who hooked you on Bliss and set
you and Genesis on the road to destruction. I hate to say it, but maybe you
should let it go instead of turning into, well, Genesis."
Black turned on him, brown eyes narrowed. "Let it go? I did what I did because
I was out of my mind on drugs and years of -- Genesis is becoming worse than I
ever was and he's doing it purposefully. Anyone who supports him is just as
bad."
"So you're only after the two of them, then," Calyx said, quickly latching onto
that. "You're not wiping the memory of Genesis off the planet; you just want to
get rid of him and his savior."
Black hesitated, and then nodded.
Calyx turned triumphantly to Junxion. "There. You see? Two targets. That's it.
The rest of us are safe."
"Unless the Silent City's mole within the JCPD becomes a problem," Black
added ominously.
Calyx groaned and fell back on the bed. "Sweetheart, you're totally ruining my
efforts!"
"If their mole interferes or harms JC2 they're going down just like Genesis is
going to."
"You should trust the City," Junxion said. Calyx rose up onto his elbows, not
liking the tone of the psypath's voice. "Don't make an enemy of them, Black."
"They haven't impressed me so far," Black retorted, his eyes flicking to Calyx.
Jax shook his head. "Calyx needed to know who you are. It was an obstacle you
two needed to clear and now you have. Everything's better between you two
now, isn't it?"
"They had no business interfering in my personal life," Black retorted sharply.
Moving to the curtained window and peering out, Junxion said, "You no longer
have a personal life. You've become a figurehead, or you're about to. You won't
have the luxury of secrets any longer." He let the curtains fall shut as he faced
the room again. "My brother and I are here to help you, Black. We're here on the
City's behalf. Who else is helping you? The normals aren't. The JCPD isn't. We
are. Please remember that."
"Please remember that I'm indebted to you, is that it?"
Calyx snickered. Black wasn't stupid.
Junxion didn't take offense. He shrugged. "Everyone has an agenda. When they
align, you consider yourselves friends. When they're at odds you become
enemies. Right now we're working toward a common goal: the day you decide
to join us. We'll wait if you believe that day will come once you deal with
Genesis. You're valuable to us, Black. That gives you a certain power over us."
The words seemed to mollify Black. If there was one thing Black despised it was
people trying to control him. Calyx ordering him around in bed was one thing,
but tell Black to do something outside of the bedroom and he flew off the
handle. Junxion would be wise to keep that in mind whenever he mentioned the
Silent City.
"How long are we going to stay here, sweetheart?" Calyx stood up and stretched.
"I could go for a shower if we have time. I'm a little sticky from previous
activities." He wagged his eyebrows at Black.
The brunette flushed. "We have time. I'm waiting for Jake's call that everything
is alright with the team."
"Then I think you should join me, Darkness." Calyx passed the other man on his
way to the bathroom, being sure to brush his fingers across Black's groin as he
did so. He smiled to himself as Black danced back, hitting his butt on the
dresser. "You need a shower, too. I'm probably still inside you."
He glanced back at Black's face. Red stained the other man's cheeks. There was
a visible lump in his too-tight pants.
Jax gave a husky laugh. He rolled back on the bed and extended his arms to his
brother. "Junxion and I feel left out now. We'll have to dirty ourselves up so we
can share the shower, too."
"No orgies," Black growled. "You two are staying out here."
Junxion, crawling over his brother, threw him a smirk from over his shoulder.
"Take your time. We'll certainly take ours."
They were all a bunch of sex maniacs, Calyx decided as he pulled a barely-
resisting Black into the bathroom with him and shut the door.
"We're not having sex," Black declared as Calyx turned on the shower and
started stripping. "This isn't playtime. We clean up and get out."
"Hmmm, whatever you say, sweetheart." Calyx pretended to fumble with the
button on his pants as he watched Black pull off his sweater. Washboard abs and
that perfectly formed chest made Calyx thank the gods of the JCPD for turning
Black into a fitness freak. Was there a more perfect specimen of a man anywhere
in the world? Well, besides himself, of course?
Drooling, he watched as Black toed off his shoes before shucking his pants.
Calyx had deviously purchased Black some extra tight boxer briefs and they
disguised nothing, least of all Black's hard, round butt and the jut of his hard-on.
If Black thought they weren't having sex he was nuts. The underwear sealed the
deal.
Calyx took his time in sliding off his own pants and shoes, conscious of Black's
eyes on him. He, of course, wasn't wearing any pesky underwear.
"Did my come dry on the inside of your thighs, sweetheart?" he asked as he
straightened.
Black, who'd been staring at Calyx's cock, quickly looked up. "Don't be sick."
"It's the truth, though, isn't it?"
"I cleaned myself up," Black muttered, reaching past Calyx for the shower
curtain. "Stop talking and get in. You stink."
"Mmm, I smell like sex, Darkness. I smell like your body after I've fucked it."
He caught Black's arm and dragged him close. He inhaled loudly. "And you
smell like you've been fucked, sweetheart. We smell like each other."
Black tried to jerk out of his grip so Calyx shoved him against the tiled wall and
pinned him there with his own body. He found it encouraging that Black
flattened his palms against the wall behind him rather than pushed Calyx away.
The empath smirked and wedged a knee between Black's thighs.
"You want it again so soon?" he teased. He moved his hands between them and
lightly thumbed Black's hardened nipples. He smiled as Black turned his head to
the side as if trying to hide his reddened cheeks. "Stress relief, sweetheart? Or
are you just a horn dog?"
"I'm surprised you want to do this again after what happened earlier."
Calyx calmly continued to stimulate Blacks nipples. Black shifted, a damp spot
forming on the front of his underwear.
"I'm not going to hurt you this time. That's true, sweetheart."
"I'm sorry I asked for that," Black mumbled.
Calyx pinched him. Startled brown eyes flew up to him. "You didn't disgust me,
Darkness. I just don't want you to associate sex with failure. Or your perceived
failures. I'll spank your ass and pull your hair any time, sweetheart." To prove it
he reached up with one hand and fisted it in the coffee-colored hair. A tug pulled
a faint, lustful groan from Black. Calyx smiled. "When it comes to kinky sex for
the sake of getting off, I'm game, Darkness. When it comes to soothing your
fears we need to find another way to do it. Agreed?"
Black licked his lips. "Agreed."
"Good." Calyx released his hair and reached between them again to comb his
fingers through Black's pubic hair. "Now, remind me what we came in here for."
"I came in here for a shower," Black ground out. His breath hitched when Calyx
raised his thigh and rubbed it up against the bottom of Black's scrotum.
"I think you came in here hoping I'd come in here." Calyx dropped his hands and
cupped Black's ass and squeezed. The firm muscle flexed beneath his palms.
Smiling, Calyx touched his lips to Black's. "You want to be fucked in the
shower, Darkness?" It turned him on to say it. It turned him on even more to
watch Black's pupils dilate.
Fingers dug into Calyx's hips as Black yanked him closer. "I think I want you
wet, first," Black breathed against his lips.
Calyx shivered. "Oh, Darkness, we'll be drenched by the time I'm through with
you."
"I want to be dripping with you," Black husked back.
Calyx groaned. "Darkness, you're so fucking hot."
A knock sounded on the door.
"Are you serious?" Calyx snapped. He turned his head and shouted, "Go away.
We're washing important body parts in here."
"There's someone at the door," Jax called through the wood.
"Yeah, no kidding, sweetheart. I'm trying to send that someone away but he
seems to be completely clueless. Jesus."
"I meant the front door. Junxion's talking to him."
Black shoved Calyx back. "Get dressed."
"Damn it," Calyx muttered as he reluctantly dragged on his clothes. "If Junxion
ordered pizza I am so kicking his ass."
Dressing in record time, Black threw open the door and stormed out. Hopping
on one foot as he pulled on his boot, Calyx followed him.
The man who had been at the door was now inside it with the door shut behind
him. Junxion was still talking to him.
"What's going on?" Black demanded. Calyx could tell he was pissed. "Why'd
you let him in here without talking to me first?"
"This man is part of Echo," Junxion replied, unperturbed by Black's hostility.
"He's been keeping track of business for me by my request."
"He's been following us?" Black looked ready to knock heads. "Do you realize
that someone could have been following him?"
"I'm not an amateur," the newcomer sneered. His upper body was wiry, dressed
in a long-sleeved black shirt. His lower half drowned in billowy black bondage
pants. By the acne on his pointed face he was still a teenager. His blonde hair
was gelled back. A blob of it clung to his hairline. Calyx gnashed his teeth
together, wanting to comb out that offensive blob.
"Timothy knows the streets as well as any of us," Junxion explained calmly. "He
knows better than to let himself be followed."
"Timothy?" Calyx frowned. "That's not a psypath name."
Timothy lifted his chin. "It's not. I'm a psypath sympathizer. Psypaths are the
next evolution of humans. You shouldn't be treated like second class citizens.
You're superior to them. Er, us." He glanced at Junxion guiltily.
"I get it," Calyx drawled, dropping onto the bed again. "You're a groupie. How
cute."
"I'm not cute." Timothy scowled, but his eyes lingered on Calyx. "So... you're a
psypath? What kind?"
Quelling the urge to laugh, Calyx drawled, "Your lust just doubled, sweetheart.
Be careful. My boyfriend's in the room."
Timothy's eyes widened. "You're an empath?"
"He belongs here and you don't," Black said tersely. He glared at Junxion. "Tell
him to get lost and stay lost. He's a liability we don't need."
"He brought us information we do need." Junxion squeezed the teen's shoulder.
"Tell him what you told me."
It was obvious that Black intimidated Timothy. The teen couldn't look Black in
the eye. In his nervousness he ended up relating his information to Calyx.
"Junxion asked me to keep my ears open for rumors about what happened to
Echo and Harlequin Tipsy. A lot of it was just stupid stuff, people saying the
club was blown up because the humans knew we were helping psypaths get to
the Silent City; rumors that Echo had been assassinated by the Silent City
because they'd let too many psypaths through; people saying they saw Jax or
Junxion at this club or that club. Just a lot of junk like that.
"But last night I was out with my friends and I heard a rumor that wasn't about
Echo, but seemed pretty interesting. The people I was with heard that one of the
older clubs downtown that had closed last year had opened up again. It's
supposed to be a private club but it's open to the public three days a week."
"Tell them what the club means when it says public," Junxion prompted.
"They mean psypaths," Timothy said. "There are empaths at the door to make
sure the wrong kind don't sneak in."
"So what?" Black asked, irritated. "There are plenty of psypath-only clubs in the
city."
Timothy finally summoned the nerve to look at him. "You didn't let me finish.
The club's open to any kind of psypath except telepaths. The owners are --"
"The Silent Sentinels," Black finished for him. He shook his head at Junxion.
"Why do we need to know this?"
"They can be considered our enemies. 'Keep your friends close and your
enemies closer'. Wouldn't you prefer to know where they can be found?" Junxion
patted Timothy's shoulder almost proudly. "He's given us valuable information
even if you refuse to see it as such."
"The only information I care about right now is who Genesis' so-called savior is
and where he's hiding." Black pointed at Timothy. "Don't even think of sending
him to find out, either. I'll kill him if he screws this up for me."
Timothy let out a 'meep' but Calyx just shook his head in amusement. Black
wouldn't kill the kid because scaring the crap out of him would work just as
well.
Junxion bent and murmured something into Timothy's ear. The teen, his eyes
fixed on Black now that he'd identified the brunette to be the greatest threat,
nodded at whatever the psypath said to him. With a brief wave at Jax and a shy
nod at Calyx, Timothy opened the door and let himself out. Junxion locked the
door behind him.
"I sent him away for good," he told Black when he faced the room again. "I
agree that he'll endanger himself and us if he continues to shadow us. But he was
helpful so far."
"You think the information he gave us is important. Why?" Black crossed to the
desk and began to pack the gear into a backpack they'd bought in the mall. "If
we're careful we won't ever cross paths with the Sentinels."
"That would be true if they weren't actively hunting you. While you're searching
for Genesis' accomplice, they're searching for you. They might find you before
you find your man."
Black paused, his hand on a flashlight. "You could just tell me who this man is.
No one outside this room will know you told me."
Calyx looked with interest between the two brothers. "I thought you told me in
the mall that you had no idea."
"No, we told you we didn't know who Genesis met with at the bay," Junxion
corrected him. "Neither my brother nor I saw the man. And we said we doubted
that Genesis' accomplice, who lives in the Silent City, would leave that safety to
help with whatever Genesis is doing out here."
"Besides, we don't know the name of Genesis' savior. We only know of him,"
Jax added. "Every psypath in the Silent City knows the story. The Genesis-
Phoenix battle is treated as a sort of parable to illustrate the dangers that
psypaths face in the world of normals."
Black frowned. "Explain that."
Hesitant, seeing that he'd stirred Black's ire, Jax explained. "If I may use your
original names for clarity," he said apologetically to Black, "Phoenix's savior is
seen as a hero, someone who recognized that Phoenix, though cruel, was a
victim of both Genesis and Starwood."
Black gave up on packing and crossed his arms. "Is that so." He didn't sound
pleased.
Jax withered under his glare but continued on. "The psypaths of the Silent City
believe that Phoenix and Genesis were both manipulated by Starwood's use of
Bliss, which many psypaths believe is a creation of the normals to oppress and
control them. They forgive Phoenix for goading Genesis to commit the massacre
of Starwood's gang. Phoenix was in love, they believe, and it was his Bliss
addiction that misguided him and caused him to try to use Genesis to eliminate
everyone who was potential competition."
"Phoenix wasn't addicted," Black spat out. "I was. He knew exactly what he was
doing when he pressured me to shoot Starwood and Kennon Jones. "
"That may be true," Jax said, "but that's not how the psypaths of the Silent City
see it. They empathize with a pair of young telepaths who were under the control
of an adult normal. To them, Starwood is the culprit. And is it so wrong for them
to feel that way? It's because they do that they'll allow you inside, Black. They're
shocked that you betrayed Phoenix by trying to make him look like Genesis, but
they think they understand why you felt you had no choice but to do it. It's the
normals' fault. They gave Phoenix and Genesis no choice but to act the ways in
which they -- I mean, you -- did."
Calyx's brain was a little befuddled after all of that, but he thought he got the
gist of it. "So basically the Silent City has turned Genesis and Phoenix into
martyrs."
"Am I supposed to be pleased by any of that?" Black asked with disgust.
"According to you, psypaths can blame every bad thing that's happened to them
on the normals. Psypaths are completely blameless for their crimes no matter
how heinous."
"Would you rather they hold you accountable?" Junxion asked, incredulous. "If
that were the case you'd have more to fear than the Silent Sentinels. The City
would be after you to punish you for crimes against fellow psypaths. But they've
forgiven you because they know, apparently better than you do, that the heart of
all our crimes, all our problems, is caused by how the normals treat us. If
Starwood hadn't taken you and Phoenix in --"
"He's Genesis now," Black said.
"If he hadn't taken you and Genesis in, and if he hadn't addicted you to Bliss,
you would never have killed those people, Black. It's not your fault you did what
you did."
Calyx wanted to hop on this train, but even to him it sounded wrong. "I'm all for
getting away with everything you can, sweetheart, but this just sounds like an
excuse to avoid responsibility for yourself."
He could see that Junxion was frustrated. "I don't understand why you're fighting
this. This is better for you."
"It's the reason why we're heading to war," Black told him, exasperated. "Don't
you get it? Each side is blindly blaming the other. No one's accepting
responsibility for their actions. I don't want to be a part of that kind of thinking. I
committed a crime. Several crimes. Eventually I'll pay the price for it. But so
will Genesis, and he'll do so on my terms, not those of the Silent City."
"There can be a different sort of reckoning if you both join the City," Junxion
told him, repeating what he'd said to Calyx in the mall. "The psypaths don't need
two telepaths to lead them. It can be one. It can be you. If you ask for the right to
Genesis' fate, the City will give it to you in exchange for leading them."
"So you'll sacrifice your so-called hero to make me happy." Black checked the
bullets in his gun. "That hardly inspires confidence, Junxion. What if Genesis
decides to broker the same deal before I do? Then I'm the one who's up the
creek, aren't I? It won't matter then that I'm a 'victim' of the normals. I'll be a
pawn for the City to use to get their telepath leader."
"They'd prefer to be led by you." Junxion sounded as though he were grinding
his teeth down to nubs. "Genesis isn't completely sane. Some may say the same
of you but the City is prepared to take their chances with you. You have inside
knowledge of the JCPD which is invaluable. You've proven yourself a leader of
men. For many reasons they'd prefer to do business with you. And they will, if
you'll join us."
Finished packing, Black shouldered the backpack. "I have an offer, then. Tell
them if they turn over Genesis' accomplice and look the other way while I deal
with him and Genesis I'll meet to discuss possibly entering the City."
"Possibly?" Junxion gave Black a skeptical, suspicious look. "They'll want
something better than that. You're asking them to sacrifice two of their own for
you."
Black smiled. "I'm the telepath they want, aren't I? They'll do anything for me.
You said so yourself."
Calyx sighed and shook his head. Junxion may protest, but there was no way he
wasn't going to carry the offer to the Silent City. Junxion and Jax were merely
messengers.
"Where will you be tonight?" Junxion asked, motioning for Jax to join him at the
door. "We'll have an answer for you by midnight."
Black shook his head. "I'll call you."
Junxion wanted to argue the arrangement, but instead he nodded stiffly. "Until
tonight, then." He opened the door and peered out for several seconds. Then he
stepped out and Jax quickly followed him. Black moved to the door and locked
it behind them.
"You have no intention of calling them, do you, sweetheart? That wasn't very
nice of you."
Black shrugged. "I needed them off my back." He stood at the window and
carefully peeled back one edge of the curtain so he could watch the parking lot.
"Once they're gone we're booking a room in another motel. You can take your
shower there."
"And after I soap you up and stick my fingers and my tongue inside you, what
then?" Calyx purred.
Black spared him a dry look. "Then we're going out to talk to some snitches."
"Darkness, I sorta get why you're going after Genesis' savior but I don't get why
you're so gung-ho about it. It's almost like you're annoyed that someone spoiled
your dirty work."
"If Genesis had been left to die on that street, a lot of people would still be alive
today. Whoever saved him and restored his mind didn't do anyone any favors. I
want this guy to appreciate just what he's done."
Calyx tilted his head. "Come on. Spill it. There's more, isn't there?"
This earned him a wry smile from Black. Calyx loved it because it revealed
Black's youth. "You don't trust me to tell the truth?"
"I know you, sweetheart. You're a bullshit artist to the nth degree."
"You're right. About there being another reason, not about the artist part." Black
broke into a full grin which, though brief, made Calyx very happy. "I think
Genesis' savior and the Silent City's mole is the same person. I think there's a
good chance he volunteered to keep tabs on the JCPD and possibly me, too. He
went to all the trouble of saving Genesis. He's got a vested interest in seeing that
nothing happens to him again."
"Ooh, you're very clever, Darkness. I hope you're right. That'd be killing two
birds with one stone. The mole is a bad thing, I gather."
"Yes, I don't want the Silent City having inside information on the police. While
the two sides remain equal in information, weapons, and manpower they won't
dare instigate anything. It's only when the balance tips that the trouble will
start." Black straightened away from the window. "Ready to go?"
Calyx used the mattress to bounce himself onto his feet. "You mean am I ready
for shower sex? Sweetheart, do you even need to ask?"
Rolling his eyes, Black opened the door.

Never Cross a Telepath

Part 9

On the days when he had the pleasure of pounding Black into the mattress -- or
in this case the shower wall -- Calyx liked to believe the world was a shinier,
prettier place.
It seriously bummed him out, then, when Black immediately dragged him out
onto the grimy streets to look for snitches.
"Sweetheart, someday we're going to lounge around in bed and play with each
other after having sex," he groused as he tromped after Black through a dirty,
stinking alley behind a Chinese restaurant. "We're going to relax."
"If that day ever comes I'll enjoy it," Black replied without turning his head.
Calyx huffed.
He wasn't really that upset. He'd gotten great sex from Black and the rare joy of
Black calling him Calyx afterwards. Plus, now it was just the two of them,
which Calyx preferred. The salesmen twins were gone. While he appreciated the
help they'd provided, anyone could see they were annoying Black. And an
annoyed Black usually gave Calyx headaches.
"So are we looking for anyone in particular or are we just dragging a net,
sweetheart?"
"I have a snitch in this neighborhood."
"Someone you knew from back in the day?" That interested Calyx. Black didn't
often talk about past associations.
"No, I busted him for selling when I was out driving. I decided he'd be more
helpful on the streets than in the tank."
"When you were out driving..." Calyx snorted in amusement. "You take a lot of
Sunday drives in the slums, Darkness?"
"I like to keep in touch. In order to take drugs off the street I need to know
where the drugs are and who's moving them."
"And I suppose you didn't care that it was dangerous for the leader of JC2 to do
his snitch hunting on his own," Calyx remarked, staring at Black's ass.
"Alone is the only way to get any information, Starr. They can smell a team of
cops coming from a mile away."
"Which begs the question what do they smell when you and I come around?"
Black didn't miss a beat. "Sex."
Calyx could live with that answer.
They made a series of turns through the slummy neighborhood and then ducked
beneath a line of clothes hanging out to dry. The clothes served as a door or
barrier of sorts, Calyx discovered, because behind them sat a plastic crate
version of a tent city.
Large colorful crates in reds, whites, and greens lined either side of the alley like
a slum condo community. Most had ratty blankets or plastic sheets hanging over
their openings to provide privacy and protection against the elements, but some
were left open, affording Calyx a view of the usual homeless visage: dirty, gaunt
and haunted. Most were men, although he did see a few women and even one
toddler, left on his own to play with a pile of empty plastic bottles.
The smell was atrocious as was to be expected. Calyx breathed through his
mouth. What was worse, though, wasn't what he smelled, but what he sensed.
"Darkness," he murmured in warning.
Black turned, saw his face, then reached back and took hold of the empath's
hand. "We're almost through."
Calyx closed his eyes and trusted Black to lead him through the crate city. He
could barely concentrate on walking while so much of his attention was focused
on trying to block out the misery and hopelessness that these homeless people
emitted. He would have thought these people to be psypaths, but either they
were and were piss poor at shielding their emotions from other psypaths, or they
didn't bother with social niceties. He'd seen insanity in a few of the dull gazes so
he was pretty sure it was the latter.
He was thoroughly depressed by the time they emerged from the alley onto a
lonely street. To his surprise, arms hesitantly wound around him.
"I'm sorry for that," Black murmured, awkwardly patting his back. "I'd forgotten
that you haven't had a hit recently."
His mood lifted if only because of Black's self-conscious attempt to provide
comfort. Calyx played it for all it was worth, dropping his head to Black's
shoulder and letting out a pitiful moan.
"I feel horrible," he whispered.
"I know you must. I'm sorry."
"That was once me, you know." Calyx felt only a little guilt at the white lie.
Sure, he'd been homeless, but more often than not he found someone to shack up
with. Only for about a year had he physically lived on the streets. Once he'd
recognized the value of his appearance, he'd soon found people to convince to
allow him to crash in the back seats of their cars or on the floors of their
apartments or stores. Street living had been a torture he'd endured only
immediately following the abandonment by his mother, that bitch.
"Your life is different now," Black assured him, still awkwardly patting his back.
He sounded vaguely embarrassed to utter the platitude and finally Calyx felt too
bad about the situation to milk it for more. He lifted his head and smiled
crookedly at Black.
"I'm better. My head is clearing. Thank you, sweetheart."
Black nodded, and then disengaged with visible relief. Calyx was amused.
"Where to now?"
Black pointed down the street. "One more block. There's a dealer named Happy.
He's small time but he's been around a long time and he has lots of friends. He
may have heard something about Genesis or the man who saved him."
"He'd have a seven year memory?"
"Let's hope so."
He followed Black down the block and into another alley, this one thankfully
free of a crate city although there was one single green crate tucked up against
the side of a fire escape. Though free of unwashed homeless people, for some
reason this alley smelled a hundred times worse. Calyx gagged and pulled his
hair over his nose and mouth to use as a filter. Black let out a murmur of surprise
and slowed his steps. Calyx followed suit, trying to see what had set off Black's
alarm. He soon saw the unmistakable form of a body curled up against the brick
wall, wrapped in newspapers and plastic trash bags.
Calyx stood by uneasily as Black crouched beside the body and peeled back the
paper covering its face. Calyx looked away and heard Black let out a soft curse.
"Let me guess," Calyx said, breathing shallowly. "It's your snitch."
"Looks like he's been here a while. Smells like it."
"It's been nearly a week," piped up a young girl's voice. "Leave him be."
A girl of no more than twelve emerged from the green crate beside the fire
escape. She was dressed in an assortment of garments, some of which fit and
some which didn't. Her hair was braided and bound with fuchsia clips. She had a
dirty face, but she was cute despite it. She wore a pugnacious expression on her
face, and in her hands she clutched a jagged PVC pipe.
"Batty, what are you still doing here?" Black sighed upon seeing her.
"This is my home. Get out of here!"
"You should have left, Batty. Are you living here by yourself?"
She waved the pipe at him. "I work here."
Her answer irritated Black. His face hardened. He walked forward and yanked
the pipe out of her hands without effort. It didn't deflate her tomboy attitude,
though. She balled her small hands into fists and spread her feet. Seeing the
stance, Black threw the pipe down the alley with disgust.
"Why are you still doing this?" he asked her, exasperated. "You saw what's
happened to Happy. He's lying here like trash and no one's going to claim him.
That's going to happen to you."
"What're my choices? I ain't got no money to do anything else."
Her response, her peevishness, felt like dj vu to Calyx. He'd been just like her,
angry at being left behind, afraid of trusting anyone, scared at being penniless.
He wanted to say something to her to let her know he'd been there, but her dark
eyes were only for Black. And Calyx didn't blame her. In her place, he'd pay
attention to Darkness, too. The man couldn't be ignored.
"You could go to a cyber school," Black said. "They're free. There's one in every
kitchen and I know you use the kitchens to eat, Batty."
She made a face. "Sit in a room and stare at a screen all day so people can tell
me things? No thanks. Sounds boring as shit." She glared at Calyx. "And who
are you? What are you doing with him? You're not a cop."
"I was in the same pickle you are, sweetheart. I didn't do what he says and now I
have to follow him around and say 'yes, sir' all the time. It's a real bitch."
She thawed slightly, sympathizing with a fellow street person. "What, he makes
you go to school, too?"
"Worse. He makes me do his laundry."
She rolled her eyes. "No he doesn't. You're just making that up."
"Scouts honor, sweetheart. And you haven't seen hell until you've done laundry
for a cop. Trust me. School's way better than scrubbing out bullet proof
underwear."
She snorted, but Calyx caught a glimpse of a grudging smile.
"What happened to Happy is going to happen to you," Black told her. "Maybe
worse, since you're a girl."
She shrugged mutinously. "That's just the way it is, ain't it?"
Black stepped forward. "I should arrest you."
She scrambled back. "I ain't done nothin'!"
"If I search you now am I going to find G-28 on you, Batty? Or maybe just plain
old Bliss."
"You ain't got no right!"
"I could throw you in jail, Batty, and they'd force you to take classes. Only there
you'd be doing it in your cell. You wouldn't have the freedom to see your friends.
You'd be locked up until you were of legal age."
Her lower lip trembled. "You can't do that."
"I'm a cop. I can do anything I want to."
She kicked at a piece of lettuce, her head hanging. "What do you want?"
"Information, your stash, and to see you in the nearest cyber school. There's a
kitchen on 48th with a school that should be decent."
"Gah, you don't ask for much, do you?" she cried out.
Black didn't budge. "It's either that or jail. Your choice, Batty."
"I'm too young for jail."
Calyx winced at the dark shadow that moved across Black's face. "Unfortunately
you're not."
Batty hemmed and hawed, kicking at the garbage on the ground and gnawing on
a dirty thumbnail. "They'll come after me for the stuff," she mumbled. "I owe
people."
"I doubt it. You stole the drugs from Happy's body, didn't you?"
Calyx was surprised there was enough innocence left in her to blush. Oh, god, he
thought, please save her.
"He didn't need it no more," she muttered. "Someone else was gonna steal it if I
didn't."
Black held out his hand, palm up. "Give it to me. You don't need it. While you
have it you're a target."
She lifted her chin. "I could sell it."
"Or someone could decide it's cheaper to beat you up and maybe a rape you and
take it from you for free."
Red-faced, she turned and dropped to her knees. "Hold your horses."
She crawled into the crate and dug through the scraps of cloth piled in the back,
eventually backing out again and standing. She held out a cheap plastic thermos
with the latest teen idol printed on it. Black took it and opened it. He seemed
satisfied with what he saw inside. Calyx was dying to know if there was Bliss in
the thermos but he had a hunch revealing his weakness in front of Batty wouldn't
provide the best example for her.
"Gather whatever you want to keep and come with us," Black told her.
She hesitated, looking back at the crate. Then she squared her shoulders in a
move so painfully familiar to Calyx that his heart ached. How many times had
he done the same while growing up, pretending he wasn't beaten down, that he
still had spirit?
"I ain't got nothing worth keeping," she said, daring Black to argue with her.
He didn't. "Come on. We'll walk you there."
"You don't trust me!"
"Not especially."
Calyx hid a smile.
She continued to hesitate, though now her reluctance stemmed from the body
lying on the ground. "What about -- what about Happy? I've been keeping the
dogs away, but if I'm gone..."
"I won't let the dogs near him," Black promised her. "He'll get a clean
cremation."
She worried her bottom lip. Calyx wondered if Happy was a relative or just
another soul who'd taken someone weaker than he under his wing. She looked
up from Happy's body and stared hard at Black, searching him for truth. "Okay,"
she whispered. "You'd better keep your word."
Black nodded.
They walked Batty to the kitchen on 48th. Calyx had been in plenty of these
places when he was a young child, before he'd learned that sex could buy a meal
in a restaurant. The smells brought back an odd nostalgia. It was probably pretty
pathetic that his fondest memories were of eating free food with a bunch of
bums, but that was how it was. He'd used the kitchens when he was still
relatively clean and innocent. He hadn't been that way in a long, long time.
He waited, savoring the atmosphere, while Black spoke with the kitchen director
and introduced Batty. Calyx suspected Black was putting pressure on the man to
keep Batty in the kitchen's underground housing unit. It was supposed to be a
come and go sort of place, nothing long-term, but Black would make sure Batty
stayed and that someone watched to make sure she attended the virtual school.
Sometimes it was good that Black could be a bully.
Calyx was contemplating joining the line so he could sample the soup of the day
when Black walked passed him, minus Batty. He had his stolen PRU to his ear,
calling in Happy's body so the police would pick it up. "It's done. Come on."
Calyx jogged after him into the evening dusk. "That was a very sweet thing you
did, Darkness. I wish someone would have done it for me."
"I doubt that. You enjoy partying too much."
Catching Black by the arm, Calyx pulled him back. "No, sweetheart. I mean it.
That was a good thing you did for her."
"She could still run away." Black looked away. "This didn't guarantee anything
for her."
"You gave her a chance. It's more than you and I got, isn't it?"
Black met his eyes briefly then pulled his arm free. "We've got work to do."
"Another snitch?"
"Batty gave me a name."
"When? Just now?"
Black shrugged.
Calyx grinned. "Aw. She likes you."
"I threatened her."
Calyx smirked. "Whatever. She still gave it to you. So where are we going?"
"Congress Sports Complex. There's a group of people I need you to visit."
Calyx raised both eyebrows. "I need to visit? As in me on my own?"
It was Black's turn to smirk. "You can handle it."
~~~~~
Calyx wanted to strangle him. "You cannot be serious, Darkness!"
Black crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the painted cinderblock
wall next to a soda machine. "There's no way they'll trust me. They know I'm not
one of them."
"Well, I'm not fucking one of them, either!"
The amused expression on Black's face didn't waver. "You have a better chance
of getting the information than I do. They'll shut down if they see me coming."
"This is stupid."
"This is a chance. We have to take it."
"You should have to take it. You're the one who's got his panties in a bunch over
Genesis."
Black frowned at that. Calyx wished he hadn't said it. He threw up his hands.
"Alright, alright. I'll do it. You owe me, Darkness, and you know what kind of
payment I expect."
"You want to fuck me," Black said simply, his gaze intent. "I'll let you. As hard
as you want. As long as you want. Until I'm screaming."
"Hell." Calyx had to adjust himself in his pants. Black had made him hard. "You
fight dirty, Darkness."
"I thought you liked it that way."
Calyx gave him a dirty look because of course it was true.
Grumbling beneath his breath, he left Black beside the soda machine and walked
across the industrial carpeting to an indoor baseball diamond covered in fake
turf. He had no idea indoor sports complexes existed, much less that there were
two of them in Juxtapose City. If he paid taxes he would have been outraged at
the waste of his money, money that could be better spent providing psypaths
with health care or something. What kind of pansy kid needed to play sports
indoors?
He had his answer ahead of him. Stomping over the fancy baseball diamond was
a group of around twelve or so young high school-aged boys who were
pretending to fight each other with plastic swords. He wanted to gag. As two
overweight teens dressed in cardboard boxes covered with aluminum foil hacked
at each other with their fake weapons, the other equally ridiculously dressed
teens who were gathered around them raised their swords and let out a pathetic
cheer.
How in the hell Black thought he could fit in with these guys was beyond
Calyx's comprehension. If anything, he thought these losers might better
appreciate Black and his fondness for guns better than a 'cool' guy like Calyx.
"Hey, nice hair!" one of the tinfoil warriors called out to him when he caught
sight of Calyx. "Are you cosplaying Remo from Galactus Space Pioneers?"
At the mention of the Galactus-whatever-it-was, several of the other teens turned
away from the fake fighting to stare agog at Calyx. Feeling like an idiot and
trying to keep his eyes from rolling up into his head, Calyx waved back.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked with false cheerfulness. He approached them and
pointed at their costumes. "Very nice. Realistic if I squint hard enough."
"Thanks!" An acne-scarred teen with glasses proudly held up his sword, which
Calyx saw upon closer inspection was a cardboard blade duct taped to a spray
painted water cannon. "This is my ion cannon. It took me two weeks to do it."
"Not bad." Calyx pointed at another warrior's utility belt. "That almost looks like
Batman's."
"I took it from a Batman costume and modified it with Roman period designs so
that it's more accurate for an Araxian Warrior First Class."
What the fuck? "Ah. I thought so."
The kid who'd first noticed Calyx pointed at his clothes, which were simple
black, purchased at the Gold Circle Mall. "So are you Remo during his
mourning period after his wife Calanthe was killed during the Half Moon War?
You've got his hair down perfectly."
Vowing to not only fuck Darkness but slap him around a lot, Calyx stretched a
grin across his face. "You've got me. I worked pretty hard on this. I still need to
tweak it a little."
"Yeah," said another tinfoil warrior, a chubby one with tin foil wrapped around a
bowl and attached to his head with a strap that bisected his fat jaw. "You still
need to work on the hair. Looks like you've bleached it too much. It's kinda
frizzy."
"Well, fuck, isn't this fun?!" Calyx cried. "So enough with the chit chat. I don't
want to take you away from your gladiator shit. Maybe you guys can tell me
where to find JoJo? I heard he hangs around here."
"That old guy?" The Araxian Warrior First Class made a face. "He's always
trying to run us off even though the sports complex is supposed to be open to
any physical competition. He keeps arguing with us that our battles aren't
competition. That old jerk. We're practically athletes."
Calyx wanted to start slapping himself around. "Yeah, he sounds like a real
bummer alright. Where I can I find that jackass? Maybe 'ol Remo can kick some
sense in to him." Oh, my god, shoot me now.
One of them pointed with his sword at the food court. "He's usually in there. He
sneaks in beer and liquor even though the signs clearly say they aren't allowed. I
bet he smokes, too."
"Yeah, if you see him smoking make sure you report it to the authorities."
"You betcha, I will." Calyx thought he was going to start bleeding from the ears.
"Thanks, sweethearts. I'll go see what's up with JoJo and maybe I can get him
out of your hair -- helmets. Haha! Go back to your battle. You need to practice
so you'll be ready in time for the next -- war, or whatever. Fuck, I'm outta here."
He all but ran away from them, ignoring their confused calls of 'Remo!' He ran
straight to Darkness, yelling, "Oh, fuck you, Darkness, that was awful!"
Black shook his head and pushed off the wall. "You are such a drama queen. Did
you find out where he is?"
"According to the intergalactic Roman legion he's in the food court corrupting
the little kiddies with booze and cigarettes."
"Then let's go."
"You do realize you get to hear me whine about that experience later," Calyx
complained as he and Black headed for the food court. "I'm demanding two
fucks as payment, sweetheart. Two. And one of them gets to involve ropes."
"Whatever you want."
Black pulled up short just as they reached the half-wall separating the food court
from the other public areas of the indoor sports complex. "He looks familiar," he
said, eyes narrowing as he peered at the lone man sitting in profile to them at a
fiberglass table. "Do you recognize him?"
Calyx squinted. "Shit. Yeah. I do. And it's not good. He was going by Hazard
when I knew him. Led a gang of normal punks who worshipped the ground he
walked on because he claimed to be a telepath."
"Is he?" Black asked sharply.
"I never found out. My only interest in him was the Bliss he pushed. He's not a
nice man, Darkness."
"But he knows you." Black looked thoughtful, and Calyx could figure out where
this was heading.
"You want me to approach him and try to score a hit off him again?"
Black made a face, but he nodded. "Try not to actually buy anything but act like
you are."
Calyx laughed. "That makes about as much sense as this entire building,
sweetheart. He knows me. He knows I don't play around with Bliss."
"Fine. Buy what you need to. But it's information you're after. Batty said Happy
and JoJo -- Hazard -- were good friends from way back. Hazard may know
about the day Genesis was rescued off the street and taken to the Silent City."
Calyx thought about it while he studied Hazard. The drug dealer was a gnarled
bear of a man, hunched over with long, stringy gray hair, streaming a line of
white pot smoke from his lips. The years hadn't been kind if he'd resorted to
hanging around food courts and harassing teenagers with tin foil swords. He was
probably grumpy as hell.
"I don't know how I'm going to get him into a conversation about something that
happened seven years ago, sweetheart."
"You have to try, Starr."
Of course he did. Because Calyx would do anything for Black, even if he
thought it didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding.
"I hope he remembers me," he muttered, smoothing out his hair. He couldn't
believe that fat warrior had called it frizzy. As if.
"Good luck." A pat on the butt made him smile. That wasn't like Darkness. Cool.
Feeling upbeat, he entered the food court and sauntered over to Hazard's table.
"Well, look who's here."
Gray eyes lifted to him. They widened first in surprise and then narrowed in
suspicion. Not good.
"How're you doing, sweetheart? Remember me?"
As he straddled the curved bench next to Hazard, Calyx smiled and tried to look
stupid as the other man studied him.
"Calyx Starr," Hazard uttered around a streamer of smoke. "It's no accident that
you're here, is it?"
Swallowing down nerves, Calyx cocked his head. "So you've got me. I was in
the neighborhood and was looking to score. I heard you were here." He looked
around at the sports pennants hanging from the ceilings and the wall of trophies.
"Never took you for a fan of athletics, sweetheart. You always seemed more of a
horses man to me."
"Don't pretend you ever knew me, whore."
Calyx kept his smile in place with sheer force of will. "Why the hostility,
sweetheart? I'm not interrupting anything am I?"
Hazard's hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of Calyx's hair. Calyx grimaced as
he was yanked forward, nearly into the other man's lap.
"I've heard things lately that I don't like," Hazard rasped.
"Sweetheart, your taste in music has always been suspect."
Hazard's grip tightened. "I've heard you're working for the cops."
Darkness, where the hell are you? "Hmmm. The cops must have higher
standards these days."
"I've heard you're fucking one."
"You know how I go in for handcuffs."
Hazard growled. "Have you turned against us, Calyx? Has that whore mouth
developed a taste for bacon?"
"It goes straight to my hips, sweetheart."
He winced as he was yanked forward by his hair. Hazard's breath rushed across
his mouth, smelling of whiskey and weed. Great. Drunk and high. A delightful
combination.
"Answer me, Calyx. Whose side are you on these days?"
Calyx didn't like people being mean to him. He'd done everything he could
during his life on the streets to avoid making enemies. His choice of friends
helped -- important dealers, gang leaders, men with money and influence -- but
so did being smart. He didn't associate with the wrong people and he never
found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Now, however, he was as guilty as sin and in the company of a man who would
kill him for it. It was a frightening feeling.
"Now, now, sweetheart," he purred, ignoring the pinpricks of pain in his scalp.
He took a chance and slid carefully onto Hazard's lap. Up close, the man smelled
like he'd been living in that crate city. His body odor was sour. Calyx forced
himself to slide his hands up the other man's chest. "You know me, sweetheart. I
like to party and fool around. Ninety percent of the time I'm too high to know
what's going on. I'm the last person who could supply the cops with reliable
information. I'm as useless as a perforated condom."
"But not everyone is aware of the holes, Calyx." The empath held himself as
relaxed as he could while Hazard nuzzled along his throat with chapped lips. "To
the cops you're background. You've been in the shadows while a lot of important
business went down."
"The only important business I paid attention to was where I was getting my
next hit, sweetheart. Come on. Be realistic."
"I am being realistic. If I was a pig I'd think about inserting you back into the
scene. No one would expect a hot fuck like you to be a pigeon."
"Then don't do any business while I'm here, sweetheart. It's as easy as that."
Calyx wound his arms around the other man's neck even though he shuddered to
do so. Hazard was unpredictable and Calyx was risking a lot by playing him.
"Let's just hang out and socialize," he murmured into Hazard's ear. "No business.
Just fun."
He closed his eyes as calloused hands slid around his waist. You can do this, he
told himself. You've done it a hundred times for reasons less important than this.
Do it for Darkness.
Keeping his eyes closed, he kissed along the side of Hazard's neck, trying in
vain to ignore the strong body odor. His lips ghosted over a thick gold chain. It
was so tacky. Black would turn his nose up at it. But Calyx had kissed plenty
and he did so now as Hazard's hands slid up under his shirt and stroked along his
ribs and stomach.
Damn, he thought, am I going to have to fuck this guy right here?
"Remo! Remo!"
The shouts broke him and Hazard apart. Hazard stood up, practically dumping
Calyx from his lap. "What the fuck do you want?!" Hazard screamed at the
tinfoil warriors.
"Leave Remo alone!" The Araxian Warrior First Class shouted at him from
behind the protection of the half-wall. "We're reporting you, JoJo!"
Calyx took back every bad word he'd said about them. He loved them.
He stood up and straightened his shirt. "Well, I guess they intend to break up our
fun, sweetheart. Maybe there's somewhere else we can go. How about we grab a
bite to eat? I'm buying."
Ignoring the tinfoil warriors, Hazard studied him with renewed suspicion.
"You're buying? Since when does Calyx Starr pay for anything besides drugs?
And even that I doubt you do very often."
Calyx shrugged, though he was grinding his teeth. "I'm doing better these days,
sweetheart, though I'd do a lot better if you joined me for dinner and shared
some blissful affection."
Hazard gave him a toothy smile. "Blissful affection, huh? Yeah, that sounds
more like you. Okay. I'll let you spend your money on me. I know a cafe around
the corner. Locals only. No pigs."
"Oh, goody." Calyx linked his arm through Hazard's. "It'll be nice to let our
guards down and relax."
"You're up to something," Hazard growled. His smile made the hairs on the back
of Calyx's neck stand on end. "I'm going to call in a friend to join us. You don't
mind, do you?"
Calyx pouted, while inside he was panicking. "I don't trust strangers, sweetheart.
Why can't it be just you and me?"
"Because I don't trust you."
Something hard jabbed Calyx in the ribs. He'd hung around Black long enough
to recognize a gun when he felt one.
"Sweetheart, you're paranoid."
"Maybe. Maybe not. Let's go meet my friend. You can buy him dinner, too, and
we'll all share some of that affection you're looking for."
Wearing a strained smile, Calyx let Hazard lead him out of the food court,
waving off the tinfoil warriors. He kept expecting Black to leap out from behind
the trash can or from behind that vending machine. Maybe he was behind the
bulletin board. No? Then maybe --
And then they were outside and Hazard was on his PRU calling for someone he
called 'sir' to meet them at the Midnight Cafe. Calyx looked around as
surreptitiously as he could, but the sidewalks were empty, the street silent. He
didn't see Black anywhere in sight.
They reached the cafe and Hazard pushed him through the front doors. Three
people were hunched over their meals at the counter. Two couples were in
booths and minded their own business as Calyx and Hazard passed them by.
Darkness wasn't waiting for them in a booth. He wasn't anywhere. Calyx began
to sweat.
A man waited for them in a corner booth far from the other diners. Calyx didn't
recognize him, though he had the feeling it was very important that he should.
The man stood.
"I hear you're buying us dinner. How generous." He held out his hand. He wore
a dark suit. His fingernails were clean. "It's nice to meet you, Calyx Starr. We
have something in common."
Calyx laughed uneasily. "Unless you're a former client I don't think so."
The man smiled. "I'm the president of an organzation called the Silent Sentinels.
You've heard of it? My name is Robert Starwood. Please have a seat. I'd like to
get to know you."

Never Cross a Telepath

Part 10

Black had tricked Starr.


He regretted it only somewhat.
The deception had begun in the soup kitchen where Batty had been grudgingly
helpful when Black plied her for information.
"I don't know nothin'," she'd said, crossing her skinny arms over her chest. The
two of them waited while the director of the kitchen left to collect the necessary
paperwork.
"You know something," Black countered. "Happy dealt to a lot of people and
those who didn't have money to pay for their hits traded information instead.
You can't convince me you didn't overhear a thing or two. You were with him at
all times."
She shrugged, looking away with childish resistance. "Maybe."
"Maybe you've heard someone mention the name Genesis."
She gave him a look that said she may be young but she wasn't stupid.
"Everyone talks about Genesis. He's been all over the news."
"Has anyone mentioned Genesis' friends?"
She affected a wide-eyed look of innocence. "Who'd wanna be friends with
him?"
"I need a name."
She huffed and glared at the other homeless people who were hunched over
their meals at the long stainless steel tables. "He doesn't have any friends. No
one likes Genesis. He's scary. But maybe there's this guy who's been asking
about you."
"By name or as the leader of JC2?"
"Both."
Black wasn't surprised. He was a valuable commodity to both sides of the legal
fence.
"I need a name," he repeated.
"Some guy who calls himself JoJo, only he don't look like a JoJo. That's a fun
name, you know?" Batty made a face. "He's not fun. He's a gross old guy who
watches kids down at the sports complex. He used to look at me that way, too.
It was really gross. If he came to me tomorrow looking to buy I'd tell him to
suck it. I'd only say it now, though. I wouldn't have while Happy --"
Her voice broke. She scowled at her own weakness and kicked the tile floor.
Black wanted to remind her she was just a child and was allowed to miss
Happy, but he knew she wouldn't appreciate the comment.
She cleared her throat, trying to look tough again. "I wouldn't have said that to
him because Happy told me afterwards that he and JoJo were friends from a
long time ago. I guess back when JoJo wasn't gross like he is now, 'cuz I know
Happy wouldn't be friends with JoJo now. JoJo's bad news." She gave Black a
pointed look, which meant that JoJo was either a drug pusher or involved with a
violent gang.
"What did he want to know about me?"
"I dunno. Happy didn't want to talk to him about it none. He knew you'd be
mad at him. Happy told him to go away, that he didn't know nothin'. JoJo said if
he heard anything about where you were to come find him. He said he'd pay.
Happy didn't say nothin', though," she added fiercely, apparently forgetting that
her former caretaker was a snitch for the police already.
The kitchen director was on his way back to them, papers in hand to begin the
intake process for Batty. Black asked one last question.
"What does JoJo look like?"
She described him. It was a vague enough description that Black could
probably pick him out at the sports complex, but he couldn't tell from the
description alone if JoJo was someone he already knew.
Black reached for his wallet. He held out a few untraceable credits to the little
girl. "This is for any supplies you might need. Take the classes here. Educate
yourself so you can get out of this dump. It's what Happy would have wanted
for you."
"I could spend that and run away," she murmured, switching her gaze warily
from the money to Black's face. "I can tell those aren't marked."
"You could. But this might be your only chance to get out forever, Batty. Not
many of us get that opportunity."
Her eyes shot to his face and stuck there. "You did. You may be a cop but I can
tell you know things most cops don't. You're from the street, too, aren't you?"
When he didn't respond, she went on cautiously, "So did someone do this for
you? The money and the school and all? Is that why you're doing it for me?"
He hesitated. "I wasn't so lucky. I got out the hard way. I wish someone like me
had come along." He held the credits higher, catching her attention with them.
"Take the easy way, Batty. Believe me on this."
He waited. She eventually snatched the credits from his hand and shoved them
down the front of her pants. "I'll think about it," she muttered.
"Good luck, Batty."
He turned to go.
"If you go looking for him," she called out quickly, "it's probably a trap."
He looked over his shoulder at her. She shrugged, trying to act like she didn't
care what happened to him one way or the other. "I could tell he was asking
about you because he doesn't like you. And he made it sound like he's not the
only one looking for you, like there's a group of them or somethin' and that's
why they'll pay big money for information."
He considered this. Combined with the information gained by Junxion's snitch,
things didn't bode well.
"Do you think people are watching JoJo?"
She nodded solemnly. "'Course. You'd be stupid to go lookin' for him. It'd be
like asking to be caught."
From the mouths of babes, Black thought. He gave Batty a last nod before
searching out Starr.
At the sports complex, Black discovered that Batty was right. He could smell
the trap that waited for him. It was risky sending Starr out to make contact with
JoJo, who turned out to be a potential telepath named Hazard, but it was a
chance that needed to be taken. The sooner Black could tie up loose ends, the
sooner he could get on with a normal life with Starr, whatever 'normal' was. In
this case a little deception was needed to make that possible.
The moment Hazard grabbed Starr Black knew the ball had been put into play.
He hid out of sight, jaw clenched, as he watched Hazard do his best to
intimidate the empath. To his credit, Starr wouldn't have appeared rattled to
anyone but Black. He noted the signs of the other man's distress as Hazard
pawed him but there wasn't anything Black could do about it without revealing
himself. It stressed him more than he wanted it to. He second-guessed himself
about sending Starr in blind. But if Starr had known that Hazard might be more
than he appeared, he might have given the game away, especially since Hazard
might be a telepath.
Watching the scene unfold was pure torture for Black, though, until he'd had
inspiration. He ran over to the teenagers Starr had spoken to earlier and told
them Starr was being attacked. The kids couldn't have responded any better,
putting a stop to Hazard's molestation of the empath. Relieved, Black watched
as Hazard backed off and then dragged Starr out of the complex.
Black followed, watching over Starr while watching his own ass. Hazard wasn't
working this alone. He'd made a call to someone, and he kept looking over his
shoulder expectantly rather than warily. He wasn't afraid of being followed, he
expected to be. Black was very, very careful.
When Hazard's destination became evident, Black ran ahead and found a hiding
spot outside the Midnight Cafe that kept him concealed while allowing him to
peer through the diner's large glass windows. It was obvious who Hazard's
contact was. Black took one look at the dark-haired man in the suit and his
heart nearly leaped from his chest.
Breathing hard, he sank down beneath the windows and struggled to get himself
together. It took a few seconds, but his breathing evened out and the blood no
longer roared in his ears. Feeling in control again, he raised his eyes to the
window again and looked inside.
It wasn't Starwood. Not the Starwood that Black had known as Genesis. The
gang leader, had he somehow survived the bullet Black had pumped into his
body, would have been seven years older, pushing fifty. The man standing in the
booth, greeting Starr with the smile of an insurance salesman, was in his very
early-forties, no older.
And he looked different from Starwood in subtle but significant ways. The
brunette hair and build were similar, but this man had a narrow nose as opposed
to Starwood's flared nostrils and broad bridge. Starwood had also never smiled
so widely. In fact, Black remembered now that his former gang leader preferred
not to smile with his teeth at all.
No, this wasn't Starwood, but he was clearly a Starwood. A brother or a cousin,
someone Black had never met. And he would bet money on why they'd
appeared on the scene.
Black sank down beneath the window again. He'd seen Starr take a seat in the
booth with Starwood and Hazard which meant he was safe for now. If they'd
wanted to kill the empath they would have left the cafe to do it. They wanted to
talk to Starr. Black needed to know what was being said in that conversation.
Distaste was sour in his mouth as he sent out a tentative mental probe.
(Starr?)
(Shit, Darkness! Warn a guy! Where are you? I'm here with Starwood, of all
people.)
Black shook his head even though Starr couldn't see him. (That's not the
Starwood I used to know. He's a relative. The real Starwood is dead.)
(He said his name is Robert. He's phonier than a hooker's orgasm.)
(Will you let me hear him through you? Through your thoughts? Otherwise he'll
notice your distraction while you think at me.)
Black 'saw' the doubts that raced through Starr's head like speeding crafts down
a freeway. Black didn't look too closely at any of them, allowing them to whiz
past.
(Does that mean I have to be quiet? No comments from the peanut gallery?)
Black gave a mental nod.
(Everything he says to you I can read from your mind. I don't need you to make
a conscious effort to do anything.)
(Okay, fine. Use me. I'm nothing but a beautiful whore to you, aren't I?)
Black spared a brief smile. He couldn't sense emotions like Starr could, but
sometimes a mental voice could convey nearly the same.
(Listen to him and try not to agree or disagree with whatever he says. Be
noncommittal. I'm nearby so you have nothing to fear.) That was a heavy
overstatement of the situation but Starr didn't need to know that.
(I'll do my best, sweetheart. Here's your guy...)
Starr relaxed his mind, something Black knew from experience was difficult for
even most psypaths to do. It required a level of trust he'd never had from the
people whose minds he'd invaded. With Starr doing his best to forget Black was
in his head, the empath's mind worked like a one-way mirror, allowing Black to
hear and see everything that Starr did:
"You've heard of my older brother," Robert Starwood stated, watching Starr
intently. "He was an infamous man. Legendary, some would say. He dared take
under his wing two lost and aimless telepathic boys and groomed them to
greatness. The entire city knows of Starwood. Therefore to avoid confusion I go
by the name of Wood. You may call me this."
"Wow, generous, sweetheart. Yeah, I've heard of your brother. I heard he was a
normal who wished he was a psypath," Starr drawled. He reclined in the booth,
his right arm along the back, his left tucked to his side to potentially fend off
Hazard who had capped off the end of the booth and trapped Starr inside its
crescent. Starr wasn't comfortable with Hazard keeping him trapped.
"Your brother was a wannabe freak," Starr scoffed. "Since he couldn't be a
psypath he became a collector of them. Most psypaths think he was a major
asshole for doing that. We don't appreciate being treated like pets."
"My brother was one of the most influential men in Juxtapose City," Wood said,
unruffled by Starr's assessment. "It was natural that some would envy and
resent him for the power he held." Wood gave a small chuckle of his own. "He
possessed the two most powerful telepaths in the city and was renting them out
as whores. Who wouldn't be jealous of that kind of power?"
Black hoped Starr wouldn't rise to the bait. Fantasies of wrapping a phase whip
around Wood's neck and pushing the power button flashed through Starr's mind,
but the empath revealed none of it to Wood.
"Power of the wrong kind gets you in trouble, sweetheart. If you don't know
how to handle it gets you killed. I wonder what that says about your dear
departed big bro?"
Black stared back through Starr's eyes as Wood gazed back, unblinking.
Wood folded his hands carefully atop the cheap table between them. "You're
fearless, aren't you, Mr. Starr? We need people like you on our side. People who
aren't afraid to speak their minds."
"Oh, I've got plenty where that came from."
Wood held up his hand, palm out. "While I appreciate your candor, you'd
probably like to know what you'd be recruited for."
Black concentrated, highly interested in what Wood had to say next.
"I formed the Silent Sentinels because what happened to my brother can easily
happen again if we don't take steps to prevent it. Telepaths are an aberration
among the psypath people. They can influence. They can do harm. They can
start wars. In short, they're dangerous, Mr. Starr, and yet they're allowed to
move amongst us without regulation, affecting the future of all psypaths. The
Silent Sentinels want to change that."
"I don't see where you get off calling telepaths aberrations. Come on. We've
been fighting that description from the normals. Now we're using it on
ourselves? That's just nuts, sweetheart." Starr reached out with his senses and
encountered the dull blur of emotions he expected to find of a man using a Bliss
tab. "Not that you'd be in a position to know. You're a normal. You're not really
on our side."
Wood's smile firmed as though spackled in place. "You're correct. I'm not a
psypath. However, just like my brother, I have great respect for psypaths and so
I choose to live and work among you. The sane ones. Not the telepaths, who are
clearly insane."
"What's that saying about pots and kettles?" Starr mused aloud. "Shove one up
your ass or something like that?"
"This may be a difficult concept for you to grasp, Mr. Starr. I'm well aware that
you've been... compromised." Wood leaned forward, watching Starr avidly.
"Tell me. How is my brother's favorite whore these days? Still turning tricks in
exchange for tabs? Or has he been selling himself to the normals in exchange
for fake respectability?"
(Easy) Black thought at Starr when he heard the angry response the empath
planned on giving.
(Fuck this guy, sweetheart.) But Starr's audible response was considerably
tamer.
"I really like how you ignore the fact that it was your brother who placed Black
in that position. Black was a fucking child. Your brother raped and tortured him,
hooked him on Bliss, and then sold him to men to seal business deals. So sorry
that I've been compromised and that I believe Black was the victim, not
Starwood."
"Genesis," Wood said, placing emphasis on Black's true name, "was never
innocent. He played my brother just like he played the rest of the gang. Even
Phoenix was fooled and fell under his sway. Genesis may have looked like a
child but he possessed the mind of a murderer. He was a master manipulator.
Now that he's grown into adulthood he's an abomination that must be wiped
from this Earth. The Silent Sentinels will see to it that it's done, as well as
remove other telepaths who would follow in his footsteps or seek revenge on
his behalf. We're here to keep this city safe."
Starr laughed. "You're so full of it, sweetheart. You don't care about this city.
You lead the Sentinels because you want revenge for your stupid brother. Don't
con me."
Wood's face was impassive. "I may not be a psypath, Mr. Starr, but that doesn't
prevent me from admiring your cause and wanting to see your continued good
health. That will only come if there is peace between psypaths and normals.
That peace is impossible to achieve while telepaths exist. The normals fear
them above all others, and they have every right to fear them. Telepaths need to
be eradicated before this city can rest."
It didn't escape Black that the ultimate goal of the Silent Sentinels -- normals
and psypaths co-existing in peace -- mirrored his own goal. But how they hoped
to achieve that diverged drastically.
(Ask him about the telepaths who live in the Silent City,) he thought at Starr.
"What about the telepaths who've made it out of here?" Starr asked. "If they're
in the Silent City they're no longer a threat to you, right?"
The toothy smile appeared again. "Of course. The Sentinels care only about
those telepaths who live within the boundaries of Juxtapose City. We encourage
the telepaths to leave here and enter the Silent City." His smile took on an edge.
"We only assassinate as a last resort."
~~~~~
Calyx forgot for the moment that Black was in his head as he ruminated on
Robert Starwood's willingness, no eagerness, to kill any telepaths who insisted
on staying in the city. Talk about a twisted family tree, he thought as he
compared this Starwood to the man Black had shot and killed seven years ago.
Both of them have a hard-on for telepaths.
It meant that Hazard, who fidgeted at the end of the seat, was not a telepath as
Calyx had always heard rumored. So if the foot soldiers like Hazard and the
president, Wood, were simple normals, empaths, or telekinetics, how did they
expect to take down Genesis and Black, who could read their minds and
therefore their intentions?
"So tell me how you plan to sneak up on these telepaths and assassinate them?"
he asked in a bored tone, though his tongue had trouble forming the world
'assassinate'. It brought up a mental image of Black on the floor, lying in a pool
of his own blood in the tunnel restroom. He'd have to ask Darkness to erase that
memory from his head.
"We have a system in place that we're currently perfecting," Wood replied.
Arrogance gave his expression a touch of coolness. "I'm afraid I can't reveal it
to you due to your compromised position."
"Let me guess," Calyx said, smirking with a cockiness that was faker than
Wood's hospitality, "you kidnap their significant others and hold them for
ransom? I hate to break it to you but the Silent City already does that. People
will think you're copying them."
Wood gave a fake yawn, covering his mouth with a manicured hand. "We're not
concerned with copying anything the Silent City does, Mr. Starr. Mr. Hazard
didn't call me here to meet with you because we intend to use you against
Genesis."
"He goes by the name of Black," Calyx supplied helpfully. "The only Genesis
currently hanging around is the loony one."
"The loony one," Wood repeated with a condescending smile. "You're certain
that applies to only one of them? But that was petty of me. Forget I said it. We
were discussing how the Sentinels plan to capture people like Mr. Black. The
answer is simple: we don't. A trapped beast strikes out. That's the last thing we
want from the telepaths. Instead, we prefer a peaceful approach. Using an
extensive and secretive network, we locate the telepaths and then ask them to
leave."
Calyx snorted. "Right."
Wood shrugged as if it should be obvious. "We're a civilized people. We're not
murderers. We're prepared to present a solution to the problem. It's up to the
telepaths to either agree to our solution or accept the consequences of refusal."
"What are the consequences of refusal?" Calyx could imagine all sorts of
things, and each mental image of Black either hurt or dying made his body
tremble with suppressed rage and fear.
(Calm down. They haven't touched me and they won't, Starr.)
The warm mental voice in his head soothed him. He'd have to remember to ask
Darkness to talk dirty to him someday like this.
(Someday. Just get through today.)
"The consequence of refusal," Wood was saying, "is assassination, as I
mentioned. I won't pretend it's something the Sentinels do with any great
reluctance. I'm not the only man in Juxtapose City who dislikes telepaths. In
fact, you should be thankful for the existence of the Sentinels because we're
giving telepaths a chance to avoid certain death by the hands of psypath
vigilantes who are fed up with the prospect of war with the normals. Most
psypaths are very much aware that the war can be mostly blamed on the
normals' fear of telepaths. Without the telepaths we would enjoy peace."
Calyx couldn't believe this guy. "Sweetheart, if you think the telepaths will ever
thank you for building a posse meant to kick them out of the city or else kill
them, you're the one who's mentally unstable and should be feared."
"Believe what you will," Wood said with a careless shrug. "The Sentinels give
telepaths a chance to leave peacefully. It's more than many psypaths would give
them."
(Ask him if the Sentinels are working with the Silent City.)
"You know," Calyx said, "the Silent City would just love to have all the
telepaths in their greedy little hands. You and they should work together. You
both want the same thing: no more telepaths in Juxtapose City."
But Wood's smile thinned. "The Silent City doesn't share the same ideology as
we do. They believe telepaths are invaluable. They covet telepaths for purposes
of war. We want to avoid conflict, not better arm ourselves for it. The Silent
City is a war machine disguised as nirvana. We will never work with them, Mr.
Starr. Make no mistake about that."
"But you said if the telepaths are gone then war with the normals can be
averted."
"In theory, yes. But we're aware that the Silent City may press for war despite
our efforts." Wood dropped the smile completely and Calyx was glad for it. It
had been phony as hell. "Let me state it to you quite clearly, Mr. Starr. There are
many Sentinels who believe, as I do, that telepaths like Mr. Black and the
unfortunate Phoenix who now believes he is Genesis should be assassinated on
sight. If either of them makes it to the Silent City we're convinced the City will
use them to spearhead war against the normals. Therefore the deaths of Phoenix
and Genesis are preferable to their simply leaving."
"However," he added when Calyx opened his mouth to give his opinion on the
matter, "the Silent Sentinels can only succeed if I have the support of the entire
group. Not all of my Sentinels agree with death for the telepaths. Assassination
makes some of my supporters uneasy because they say it reminds them of
treatment that could be had at the hands of an angry mob of normals. Or," he
said with a pointed smile, "the act of a single madman on a rampage. No one
wants to see the likes of that again, do we?"
A chill crept across Calyx's skin. He wondered if Wood had discovered his
brother's body after Genesis had gone mad and attacked. If Wood had been on
the scene of that massacre, if he'd witnessed everything that Calyx had seen
through the telepathic vision the Silent City had provided him of that night, he
couldn't fully trust that Wood would behave as his constituents wanted rather
than exact his own revenge. The Starwood crime scene had been a horrific
example of a rage killing and it would scar anyone who saw it for years
afterwards.
Calyx could see a little something off in Wood's excessive politeness. Maybe it
was a shield to conceal the bloodlust. One thing was for sure, if Calyx walked
away from this meeting alive he would count his blessings.
(Count them, because I'm not letting him hurt you, Starr.)
"I'd like to speak with him if I may," Wood said, smiling that plastic, toothy
smile again. "He's listening, I take it?"
Calyx hesitated.
(Tell him if you're allowed to get out of this booth, whatever he says to you
might get back to me.)
Though he had a bad feeling about this, Calyx relayed Black's message.
"Of course." Wood nodded at Hazard, who scowled but obediently slid out of
the booth, allowing Calyx to scoot out. He breathed an inward sigh of relief as
he stood while Hazard resumed his seat in the booth. At least now he could
make a run for it if he needed to.
"Mr. Black, are you listening?" Wood asked, head cocked to one side.
(Tell him yes.)
Calyx nodded reluctantly at Wood.
Starwood's brother closed his eyes for a moment, almost as if dredging up
seven years' worth of emotions and statements he'd wanted to say to his
brother's murderer. When he opened his eyes again they were flat, nearly
opaque. Calyx had seen that look before: in the bodies of friends found with
needles still stuck in their overloaded veins, in the gaze of a desperate junkie
who had decided to rob a drug dealer even though he knew it meant certain
death at some point in the near future. Like them, Wood had decided to take a
chance because he felt he had nothing left to lose. He had shut the door on the
future in the hopes of one shining moment in the present.
"I refuse to call you by anything other than your real name, Genesis." Wood's
tone was conversational, but Calyx still felt as though Wood was verbally
carving an epitaph. "I won't allow you to escape your crimes by calling you by
another name. You are who you are, and you did what you did. You murdered
my brother in cold blood. Until I die I will not forgive or forget that."
Calyx expected Black to tell Wood to stop with the dramatics and get on with it,
but Black remained eerily silent in his mind.
"I have a very good reason to want you dead," Wood went on, "but my passion
isn't shared by all who work with me. In order to succeed, I must work with
them, appease their dislike of violence. That means I can't tear the limbs from
your body and rape your corpse the way I'd like to."
Calyx shuddered. The words, combined with Wood's placid demeanor, were
creepy as fuck.
"Leading a glorified mob is a delicate operation. You can't lose control of your
followers or else you risk becoming a victim of the very beast you've helped
create. I can't make an example of you. I can't hold you up as warning to upstart
telepaths. Some of the Sentinels support removal of the telepaths but are
squeamish about blood, which leaves me in a quandary over what to do with
you."
"Thank god," Calyx breathed.
"Therefore you get to live for the moment, Genesis. However, the Sentinels
believe in providing solutions, and I have a solution to my dilemma that
coincidentally may suit yours. I hear you've been snooping around the streets.
Your telekinetics sloppily stumbled into one of our clubs. You were seen at a
sex club with Mr. Daemon to whom you expressed your intent to confront
Phoenix and the man who carried him to safety in the Silent City. You want
Phoenix. I think there's no doubt that he returns the interest." Wood smiled.
"The Silent Sentinels would like to see you two reunited."
At once, Calyx shook his head. "There's no way we're going along with any
meeting that you're in charge of organizing. It's obviously a trap."
Wood ignored him. "Phoenix may be insane, but he remains a dangerous
adversary to you, Genesis. You hunt him, but he also hunts you. Unlike you, he
doesn't have the liability of friends, teammates... lovers. People who will be
used against you."
"I can take care of myself," Calyx shot back, bothered by Black's continued
silence. "We all can. Jake and the others are trained special forces."
"Whom Phoenix manipulated into shooting up half the city," Wood said, finally
responding to him. "Consider how easily that was done and how traumatizing.
None of you are any match for Phoenix. Genesis knows this. Don't you?"
Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "As I mentioned before, the
Sentinels possess an extensive, some say enviable, system for locating telepaths
within the city. Consider how easily we've located you. None of this was
chance. Everyone you've met has had some previous contact with a Sentinel, be
it through a beating in the case of Mr. Daemon, or an untimely death in the case
of Mr. Happy. We can arrange to have Phoenix and his savior meet you at a
neutral location. No deception. Only the three of you will be in attendance.
"Phoenix's savior means nothing to us. Do what you will with him. It's the hope
of the Sentinels that you and Phoenix will mutually succeed in killing each
other, but we'd be satisfied with the death of one. The other will be escorted to
the Silent City. If the survivor makes any attempt to return to Juxtapose he will
be immediately assassinated."
"It's a trap," Calyx insisted, his unease growing. "One of them might be killed,
sure, but the other will be weakened. He'll be tired from the fight. That's when
you'll swoop in and pick him off. Darkness, this is bullshit!"
"While you continue to surround yourself with friends, you become less
capable of defeating Phoenix," Wood persisted. "Your easiest target is Mr. Starr
here. But then there are the telekinetics, just a pair of women, one of whom is
injured. And your team, all normals except for Mr. Parker, who's no threat to
anyone. The solution I'm offering you, Genesis, is your best case scenario. Just
you and Phoenix. No distractions. No one else in the line of fire. You finish this
once and for all."
"Darkness, don't believe him!" Calyx didn't care if he looked like a crazy
person talking to himself in the middle of a cafe. "He's in this for himself. He's
Starwood's brother, for fuck's sake. He wants you dead!"
(Tell him yes.)
Calyx collapsed in on himself.
(Please don't do it, Darkness,) he begged. (Please.)
(I won't risk any more lives for a conflict that's between me and Genesis.)
(The Sentinels won't let you live if you defeat him, Darkness. I know they won't.)
(Let me take care of that when the time comes.)
(Genesis might kill you! And then where the fuck will I be? Or the rest of the
guys?)
(I'll take care of it, Starr. Nothing will happen to you. I promise.)
Calyx wanted to hide away from Wood and Hazard and anyone else in the cafe
who might be watching. Emotion had always been the bane of his life, but this
time it was his own that haunted him.
(Please tell him yes, Starr.)
"Fuck you," Calyx whispered.
(Please.)
He was certain he was sealing Black's death warrant as he lifted his eyes to
Wood's and said in a dull voice, "Yes."
Wood's face lit up, which made Calyx want to puke, preferably on Wood. He
watched as Wood pulled out a disposable PRU that could be purchased from
any news kiosk and slid it across the table.
"I'll contact you on that when everything is arranged. If you need to contact me
in return, just see Mr. Hazard here and he'll send word to me or arrange another
meeting."
(Take the PRU, Starr.)
Feeling like he was on autopilot, Calyx picked up the unit and held it in his
clenched fist.
(Now walk out. When you exit the cafe turn left and keep walking. Take a right
at the light. Don't stop.)
Calyx turned to do as Black instructed. He didn't care if Wood decided to pull a
gun and shoot him in the back. What did it matter anymore if Black was
willingly walking into a trap which neither he nor Genesis would walk away
from? Calyx lived because Black did. There was no reason to otherwise.
"It was nice dealing with you, Mr. Black," Wood called out as Calyx walked
away. "I anticipate a satisfying resolution for both of us."
The smug tone of his voice caused a bolt of defiance to pierce Calyx's brain. He
turned his head and called back over his shoulder, "And I anticipate that you'll
cry at the end just as your brother did, sweetheart."
A strangled sound came from the booth. Calyx hummed to himself as he pushed
open the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk.
(That was a dumb thing to say, Starr.)
"I learned it from you," Calyx shot back. "I can't believe you're doing this,
Darkness."
(I have my reasons.)
"Well, I don't want to be one of them. Don't use me as an excuse to accept this
stupid set-up, sweetheart!"
(Just keep walking, Starr.)
"I'll keep walking, alright," Calyx muttered. "I'll walk away from you."
But when he heard Black fall into step behind him a half mile further along,
Calyx was ashamed for wanting nothing more than to turn around and hug
Black and tell him he was sorry for everything.
(I'm not going to die, Starr.)
Calyx wiped at his eyes. "But you lie to me all the time, Darkness. How can I
believe this time is different?"
The answering silence in his mind made his heart clench.
"I need a drink, Darkness."
(I think we both do.)
Never Cross a Telepath

Part 11

When Parker finally revealed to Jake that Dickerson was forcing him to take
Black's place in the captain's experiments, the expression on Jake's face was
heart-wrenching enough to cause Parker to have a vision.
He had no warning that it would strike. His emotions were in such turmoil
before he sat Jake down in the man's bedroom that he should have expected it,
though. Emotions were always the trigger. They followed him into the vision,
freeing his tongue to blurt out his anger and frustration, although not allowing
him to censor what he said.
Emotions were the heart of his visions. Parker theorized that he had been meant
to be an empath, but something in his brain, during birth or after, had gone
haywire. Emotions launched his visions, and emotions were what he 'saw'.
Visually, his visions provided him with nothing useful. Blobs of light and color
were impossible to identify, no matter how hard he tried. But strangely, those
mysterious images carried with them very identifiable emotions, so identifiable,
in fact, that he could tell to whom they belonged: frustration and rage that was
purely Mneumonia's; loneliness and defensiveness that was Black's and so on.
This time the emotions were recognizable as Black's and Calyx's -- fear and
anger and desperation and a hope so shiny it was a light of its own in Parker's
hazy vision. But he could sense other emotions belonging to other people. He
'saw' Sundhill's fear and determination, his purpose as hard and unyielding as a
gun. There was also Genesis, manic and full of rage and love and cruelty. Other
blobs Parker couldn't identify bled over the others, drowning everything in a
haze of pain and death and regret... and satisfaction.
He emerged from his vision with a sob, his eyes blind with tears. He found
himself held against Jake's chest, his head tucked in tight beneath the larger
man's chest as Jake rocked them back and forth on the edge of his bed.
"Shhh... shhh," Jake murmured over and over again. He seemed to notice then
that Parker was no longer cursing and he hesitantly leaned back. Jake's eyes
were red-rimmed and he looked older, so much older. "Hey," he said softly.
Parker sniffed and said, "Hey, yourself." Self-conscious, he untangled his arms
from Jake's embrace and scrubbed at his face. "I'm sorry."
Jake immediately frowned. "For what? Don't be stupid. You had a vision." He
licked his lips, suddenly nervous. "Are you okay?"
His own mortality suddenly rushed up like cold sludge around Parker. He
shivered and gingerly took stock of himself. "I -- yes. I feel alright. I'm fine."
Jake snorted at the assessment, but reluctantly allowed Parker to sit back. "What
was your vision about?"
"Nothing good," Parker admitted with a sigh. Visions were never anything to
look forward to. Strong emotion brought them on and strong emotion was all he
ever saw: death and suffering. "Black and Calyx may be in danger, but then
that's nothing new."
"Not hardly."
Parker took a shaky breath. "I'm afraid someone's going to get hurt. Maybe even
die."
Jake paled. "One of them?"
"I don't know. I saw a lot of people. Some of them I don't know." Shaking his
head, Parker added, "It's nothing new that will help. If Black and Calyx don't
already know to be careful..."
Jake smoothed down the loose strands of hair peeking from Parker's braid. "You
were telling me about what you have to do for the captain. That made you have
the vision. It upsets you that much."
"I don't want to hurt you," Parker whispered, looking down at his own hands
winding together in his lap. "I know this does. But there's no way out of it, Jake.
I'm sorry. I have to do this for him."
"No, you don't. There's no way he'd hurt me or the team if you refused," Jake
insisted angrily. "He's bluffing."
Parker raised his head, sad. "You don't know him like Black and I do. Dickerson
doesn't make empty threats. Ever."
"There'd be an investigation --"
"Which he would be in charge of." Parker sighed and cupped Jake's strong jaw,
feeling the tense muscles beneath his fingertips. "I have to do this not only to
keep the team safe but because there's a chance I could learn what these
experiments do. Black isn't convinced they're harmful but I don't share his
optimism. If Captain Dickerson is developing a virus or a tool to control or hurt
psypaths we need to know about it. Jake -- what if my prescience doesn't kill me
but something from this experiment does? We need to know what the captain is
doing."
Jake clenched his eyes shut. He laid his hand atop Parker's and held it to his jaw.
"But you're not a prostitute. You shouldn't have to do this. You're mine."
Parker's eyes burned again. "I'll be yours despite this, Jake. I'll always be yours."
Squaring his shoulders and pulling away, Jake opened his eyes, revealing a firm
determination. "I'm going with you. I'll follow behind. I'm not letting you throw
yourself out there like a piece of meat for any asshole to take a bite from."
The prospect of not being alone was appealing, so much so that Parker nearly
caved into his fears and encouraged Jake. But he reminded himself that
Dickerson wasn't playing a game here. The man was willing to kill people for
these experiments. If Jake interfered in any way, even by witnessing the
recruitment process, there was a strong chance Dickerson would have him
eliminated, too.
Parker stood up, holding Jake's hands in his as he did so. "I can't let you come,
Jake. And don't try to follow me. If he sees you -- it could end badly for both of
us."
"How can it be worse?" Jake shot back, but he was reacting on pure emotion and
Parker left the question unanswered.
A knock on the door barely caused them to react. They were too occupied with
staring into each other's eyes, searching for a way to get through this.
"Lieutenant Sundhill is at the door," Bee called through the wood. "He says he's
here for Parker."
Jake stood, looking at the door in bemusement. "Why him?" He looked to
Parker. "I thought only the captain and Black knew about this."
"I thought so, too." Parker remembered the impression of Sundhill in his vision.
His unease grew. The vision had been about death, and the blonde lieutenant had
been there. Did that mean the vision was going to occur any time now that
Sundhill was present? He clutched Jake's strong, calloused hands and debated
asking him to tag along after all.
But no, Parker told himself. Jake hadn't been in his vision. If Parker changed
that, if he invited Jake into a situation he wasn't meant to be in, who knew how
the future would be affected. Maybe in his current vision the bad guy died, and
if Parker altered it, someone like him or Jake died instead. Parker wouldn't risk
it.
"I actually feel better that Sundhill will be coming with us," Parker admitted. He
gave Jake a small, hopeful smile. "I trust him. I think he's on our side."
"As much as he can be considering he and his team were out there with orders to
shoot us down," Jake muttered.
"But those were Dickerson's orders, not his."
The line of Jake's shoulders softened. "Yeah, I guess better him than you stuck
alone with the captain. The more witnesses the better." He clasped Parker's hand
in his. "Let's go see what the Golden Wonder has to say."
Downstairs, Sundhill was dressed conservatively in jeans and a brown leather
jacket. He was talking with Haney when Jake and Parker descended the stairs.
He broke off the conversation to give both men a tight, cautious smile.
"This isn't going to be a problem is it, Agent Parker?" he asked carefully as Jake
steered the prescient to the door but wouldn't relinquish his hand.
Parker smiled a little and peeled Jake's fingers back so he could pull his hand
free. "I'm surprised to see you here, Lieutenant."
"I'm surprised to be here, quite frankly." Sundhill studied him closely. "I'm not
often called by the captain for evening operations without my team."
"Ditto," Parker said.
"Look." Jake abruptly stepped forward into Sundhill's space. The blonde didn't
flinch, although his chin tipped up a notch. "I don't know whether you're playing
dumb or if you really know what's going on, but you're going to watch Parker's
back, you understand? You're one of us, Sundhill. We all stick together."
"Sir," Sundhill said curtly.
Jake blinked. "What?"
"You forgot to add the 'sir' to your demand, Sergeant."
Flushing, Jake stepped back. "I'm sorry, sir. But I meant what I said. I don't care
if you write me up for it."
"Duly noted." Sundhill then gave Bee and Haney, who'd been listening with
shock, an amused smile to acknowledge their confusion. "I know it appears as if
I'm escorting Agent Parker to the prom and Sergeant Cole is playing the role of
overprotective father but I swear that's not the case. You may close your mouths,
gentlemen."
Parker sighed, relieved to have the tension broken for him as Haney and Bee
exchanged embarrassed, sheepish smiles. He patted each man on the cheek. "I'll
be back later tonight. Don't let Jake get to the potato chips. He'll eat them all."
He wanted to give Jake a kiss, just to make the other man feel better, but there
was no way he was going to do that in front of Sundhill. So Parker settled with
giving Jake a last lingering look before he followed Sundhill out the door and
down the walkway.
A gunmetal craft he didn't recognize waited at the curb. It looked like one of the
generic police vehicles that he saw constantly cruising the streets of the slums.
Maybe that was why Sundhill was here. If Parker had checked this craft out of
the motor pool at the station he would have drawn attention to himself.
Questions would lead to questions. No one, however, would question anything
the Golden Wonder did.
"I was told to say nothing and just drive," Sundhill said quietly as they neared
the craft. "I was also told to bring a gun and to make sure you knew about it."
Blue eyes slanted to Parker. "What's going on, Agent Parker?"
"Ask your boss. This is his show."
"Answers are in short supply lately."
Sundhill sounded annoyed, which wasn't something Parker would have ever
expected of Dickerson's lapdog.
"Off-topic, is there any chance you'll tell me the truth about what happened with
your team and Genesis?" Sundhill asked as he reached for the back door to open
it for Parker. He paused for the briefest of moments, his blue eyes searching
Parker's brown ones. "I can be on your side as Sergeant Cole requested, but only
if I know the full story."
Parker badly wanted to give in and spill everything. They needed another ally
and Sundhill and JC1 would be powerful ones.
But it wasn't his call to make. He'd have to tell Black about this when they next
spoke. He was sure Black would be interested.
"There's nothing to tell, Lieutenant," Parker replied. As Sundhill opened the door
for him, he added, "For now."
Their eyes met and Sundhill gave a minute nod of understanding.
In the back seat of the craft, Captain Dickerson waited for him. Parker wasn't
surprised at seeing the older man in a suit. He'd been on these drives before with
Black. He knew Dickerson would be meeting with an investor while the
seduction and testing phase was taking place. He deliberately didn't think about
what else Dickerson and the mystery investor would be doing. Though he'd
grown used to having an audience while he had sex thanks to Starwood's interest
in filming him with Phoenix and Genesis, Parker had never grown to enjoy it.
"Agent Parker," Dickerson greeted him with a sweeping look over his body.
Parker had dressed simply. He had no intention of slutting it up for the other
man. If Parker couldn't draw someone to him the way he was, then he'd count
himself fortunate.
"I'm only doing this once," Parker stated.
In the front seat, Sundhill glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
"We'll see how it goes, Agent Parker," Dickerson said cheerfully. "It all depends
on how cooperative you are tonight."
~~~~~
By all appearances Starr lounged carelessly on the motel room bed, at ease and
ready for sleep. Black, however, wasn't fooled. He could feel the empath's green
eyes tracking his progress as he paced the room. Starr's tension made the air
nearly too thick to breathe. Touching him would probably cause him to leap off
the bed like a furious cat.
"You've already said an earful," Black said, "will it help you to sleep if you
yelled at me some more?"
"What do you think, Darkness?" Starr's voice was a low burr. It might have been
sexy under different circumstances.
Black shrugged and lifted the bottle of Jack to his lips and took another pull
from it. He would finish it soon at this rate. All by himself.
"Is getting drunk your answer?"
"You're the one who wanted a drink." Black felt childish but he was nearing the
point of inebriation where he was beginning to care less and less. "I'm only
doing what you want. What I can do, I mean." He glanced guiltily at the bed.
Starr was on his back, resting on his elbows, one bare foot resting on the
mattress, the other leg extended. He was completely naked out of defiance, to
show Black what he possessed and which Black couldn't have. It wasn't really
about sex. Black understood the difference.
"I don't think you really do care what I want," Starr said to him. His eyes
narrowed. "I think you get off on doing what you want because you've felt for
years that everyone made decisions for you. Now that you're out from under
Captain Dick's thumb you're determined to make stupid decisions like this one
just because you can."
"It's the right decision, Starr."
"Says you."
Black nodded. It took effort. His head felt fuzzy, stuffed with cotton. It weighed
heavily on the stalk of his neck. "I know what I'm doing. I'm doing this for us."
"Hmm, that's an interesting interpretation of the situation," Starr drawled. "I
hadn't realized suicide was going to improve our relationship. How ignorant of
me for assuming most people liked having a boyfriend who was alive."
"I'm better than he is." Black closed his eyes briefly, then quickly opened them
when he started to lose his balance. He paced to the nearest wall and leaned his
back against it. He stared at Starr as he drank from the bottle again. "Even back
when we were both crazy and drugged up, I was better than Phoenix. He was
afraid of me. He still is, and now I can take advantage of that."
Starr dragged a lock of hair across his mouth. Black was fascinated by the
movement. He recalled the feel of that snowy white hair sliding over his bare
skin. Absently, he reached down and lightly cupped himself through his pants.
Starr's gaze flicked down to watch the movement.
"I think you can kick Genesis' ass," he said to Black. "That's not what I'm afraid
of."
Black blinked at him in surprise. "Then what's the problem?"
"I don't think you're going to set eyes on him. I think you're walking into a trap."
That again. Black was tired of this argument. He brought the bottle to his lips
again and tilted it back. The whiskey felt like water sluicing down his throat. He
drank too much. Not just now, but in the years since he'd become Black. It
wasn't helping as much this time, though. He could still think clearly. Not good.
He drained the bottle and let it drop with a dull thud to the carpet.
"It doesn't matter if it's a trap," he muttered. His eyes roamed over Starr's body.
"No one can stand up to me. Not Starwood's brother. Not the Silent City. Not the
captain." He rubbed the heel of his hand against his groin. "Not even you. You
should stop fighting me. You can't beat me."
"This isn't about beating you, sweetheart, it's about keeping you alive."
"I'm alive," Black breathed. He could feel his cock hardening beneath his hand.
He also felt drunk, but just enough to take the edge off. His body was relaxed,
buzzing. Everything except his cock, which refused to lay quiescent.
On the bed, Starr chuckled. He took the lock of hair that he'd been dragging
across his mouth and lowered it to stroke across a pale pink nipple. "You're
drunk, sweetheart."
"And you're naked."
"That's right." Starr's amusement dimmed. "This is what you can't have, ever
again, if you go to the trap the Silent Sentinels are setting for you." He spread
the fingers of his free hand across his taut, smooth abdomen. "All of this,
Darkness. You're throwing this away because you'll be dead. What a fucking
waste."
"It's not a waste." Black fumbled with the button on his pants. It refused to
budge beneath his fumbling fingers and he couldn't bring himself to pull his eyes
from Starr to look down. "I'm not dying. I'll come back and everything will be
better. We can go wherever we want. No one will know who we are. No one will
come looking, years from now, and hit us when we're vulnerable." He gave up
trying to open his pants and slumped back against the wall with a soft curse.
"We'll be safe, Starr. Don't you get it? That's why I'm doing this."
"You're shooting for a fantasy, sweetheart." Starr looked sad for some reason and
Black couldn't understand why. "You want to risk what we have now for what
we might get. Why can't you settle? Why can't you accept? Darkness, we're
lucky to have what we do right now. I'm a snitch and an ex-whore. You're a
criminal. We have no right to anything that we have now."
"But what do we have?" Black blurted. He stabbed both hands through his hair
and gripped the strands by the roots. "We're on the run from the police, from
Genesis, the Silent Sentinels -- even the Silent City. What the hell do we have
that's so great?"
"Each other, you son of a bitch." Starr sat up, his green eyes blazing. "I'll give
you a pass this time because you're drunk, but I swear, Darkness, the next time
you claim we have nothing that's 'so great' --" he added emphasis with his curled
fingers, "-- I'm kicking your ass. You fucking love me. Did you ever think you'd
meet a man who could make you feel the way I do? Someone you trust not only
with your body but with your secrets?"
Black shook his head, mute. When he'd taken control of JC2 the last thing on his
mind had been finding a partner, a lover. Sex was anathema to him. Sharing his
innermost secrets was something he'd rather die than do. And yet the moment
Starr had shown him that he could want all of that, that he could enjoy them,
Black didn't know how he'd ever thought he could live without them.
"I am everything you have ever wanted and needed," Starr told him in a low
growl. "What we have, Darkness, is a fantasy you didn't know you could have."
Breathing harshly, he settled on the bed again, but the long line of his body was
taut like a wire. "And don't forget about me. I love you to the point of absurdity.
I've given up everything for you and if you ask me for more I'll probably give
that to you, too, because I'm fucking 'whipped and I love it."
"You're not 'whipped," Black mumbled, but he was excited by the thought. Starr
was a wild, glorious beast that the entire city would love to possess. Black was
continually aware of this, even if he often played off the empath's appeal. It
wouldn't do to allow Starr's head to get any bigger than it already was, after all.
But he knew what Starr was. Oh, yes.
"I gush like a girl when I'm around you, Darkness." Starr's eyes narrowed again
when Black snorted in disbelief. "I don't care if you believe it, but it's true.
That's why when you say something insanely stupid such as 'what do we have to
lose by you walking into a trap?' I want to wrap my legs around your neck and
choke you."
Black gaped at him, his drunken mind hooked on the image. "You can still do
that, you know."
Starr looked on the verge of flipping him off. "The point, Darkness, is that if you
throw it all away by trying to wipe the city clean of every obstacle we'll ever
face, you'll lose me. You'll lose us."
"No, I'm trying to keep us together forever."
"We're psypaths, sweetheart." Starr gave him a pitying look which made Black
feel very young and more naive than he was. "There will always be someone
standing in our way. There will always be some stupid hurdle we have to leap
over. But we can make that jump if we're together. It's when we're apart that
things hit the fan. Like when you insist on walking into this trap."
"I have to remove Genesis from the equation," Black insisted. He understood
Starr's argument, but he felt his was just as valid. "We can escape the rest of
them. Eventually they'll give up. But Genesis never will, and neither will the
man who helped him."
Starr fell silent, chewing on the end of his hair. He seemed oblivious of his
nudity, which made Black notice it once again. It was all he could see, in fact,
and apparently he wasn't very good at hiding his fixation because Starr's
expression became calculating.
"I told you I'd do anything for you," the empath murmured. He idly stretched his
legs, causing the muscles in his milky thighs to flex and ripple. "What are you
willing to do for me?"
"I'm going to save us," Black replied absently. His eyes swept Starr's broad, pale
chest with their twin pink nipples. The muscles the empath sported were smooth
and sleek, giving breadth to his bones but keeping him lithe and lean. His
alabaster skin was the most beautiful color Black thought he'd ever seen. And all
of that was just his chest. Black's mouth began salivating as his eyes drifted
lower, over the flat stomach and narrow hips and down to the dusting of ash hair
around the empath's thick, half-swollen cock.
"If I asked you to stay," Starr said in a lowered voice, "if I told you I would stop
fucking you if you didn't... would you?"
Black swallowed. Starr was manipulating him with sex, something he would
normally detest, but right now he was drunk and horny and wanted something to
take his mind off the impending confrontation with Genesis.
"You couldn't withhold sex from me if you tried," he replied, growing a little
breathless as his arousal grew. "You want me just as badly as I want you."
Starr laughed huskily. Black shivered at the sound. He saw Starr notice it.
"Sweetheart, I'm a whore. If you think you can win in a battle of sex with me
you've got another thing coming."
"What do I have coming?" Black asked, curious and turned-on by the challenge.
He reached down and began pushing the heel of his hand against the front of his
pants again. "A lesson?"
"Mmm, you sound like you're making a request, Darkness."
Black lifted his eyes from his visual stroking of Starr's cock to meet the other
man's eyes. "It sounds like you want to grant it."
"If you walk into that trap, it'll be the last lesson you receive," Starr said, a sharp
edge sliding into his voice. "Is that what you want?"
Black couldn't take it anymore. He stalked to the bed and crawled up the end of
it, crawling over Starr's extended body until he straddled the other man on hands
and knees. Starr had fallen back as Black climbed over him and now looked up
with a smug yet excited expression on his face.
"Don't throw this away on a chance, Darkness." Starr reached up and slid his
palms along Black's sides, over his sweater. Holding Black's gaze, he slid his
hands back down to the hem of the garment and then up beneath it, caressing the
skin covering his ribs. His palms were hot, burning as they skimmed over
Black's belly and back along his spine. He slipped his fingertips into the back
waistband of Black's pants, teasing the top of his cleft.
"Let Genesis have this city," Starr cajoled. "You and I can go somewhere else. I
don't care if it means we're running away or letting him win. Let him win. We
win if we get to stay together and fuck for the next fifty years."
Black lowered his head and brushed his lips around the edges of Starr's mouth.
He felt the empath's shuddery exhalation against his lips. "I don't want that life
for you, Starr. I want you to know freedom. I want you to live without fear."
"I'd rather live in fear than live with the memory of how you died," Starr said
dully.
That angered Black. Why did Starr have so little faith in him? He sat back on
Starr's hips and grabbed the empath's wrists. He pulled them up and above
Starr's head and pinned them to the mattress. Starr didn't fight him, but the light
in his eyes grew fierce.
"I don't want to get by," Black told him, squeezing the other man's thin wrists
between his fingers. "I'm not running. I'm not hiding. And I'm not letting my
partner do the same. We have as much right to live in this city as Genesis does.
I'm not letting him win."
"Then the Silent Sentinels win," Starr shot back. "Robert Starwood wins.
Everyone but the Silent City and I will win because if you go to that meeting
you're walking to your death, Darkness. Robert Starwood has zero interest in
helping you out or doing you a favor. Even if he fulfills his end of the bargain
and Genesis and his buddy are there, none of you are walking away from that
scene alive. The Sentinels want to wipe you all out. And guess who they'll target
next? People who might avenge you. People like me."
"They won't touch you!" Black snarled. Starr winced, but Black didn't care if his
grip was too tight. It was a minor discomfort compared to the pain Starr was
trying to inflict on him. "I'm doing this to protect you, don't you see? You're
mine to protect!"
"It goes both ways, sweetheart." Starr struggled to get out from under him. "I've
lost enough already. I'm not losing you. Fuck that."
"How about I fuck you?" Black didn't wait for an answer. He covered Starr's
mouth with his own and thrust his tongue inside. He half-expected the empath to
bite him, but to his delight Starr went pliant and submissive beneath him. A
warning rang in the back of Black's head, but it was fuzzy, drowned in alcohol.
He ignored it, devouring Starr's mouth, trying to prove with his passion just how
strong and capable he was.
He ate voraciously at Starr's mouth, then broke away to bite and lick at his
cheeks and jaw. The empath's chest heaved beneath him. Starr tugged against
Black's grip, trying to free himself. But the power made Black heady. He so
rarely possessed it and he needed it now. He needed to prove to Starr that he was
capable of taking care of them.
"You've never been so controlling in bed," Starr panted as Black planted sloppy
kissing down the line of his jaw. "You're making me hot, Darkness."
"And you're driving me crazy," Black retorted as he ground his hips against
Starr's. Both men groaned at the friction. "God, you're so beautiful."
"Are you going to fuck me, Darkness? Are you going to hold me down and take
what you want from me?" Black went dizzy with the words. Starr didn't stop,
whispering relentlessly in his ear, "Are you going to punish me for disagreeing
with you? Am I a bad boy, Darkness? Do I need a spanking?"
"Fuck," Black groaned against the side of his neck. Starr pushed his hips up,
rubbing their groins together again. Black couldn't stop his knees from spreading
so he could lower his hips. They were cock to cock with only the fabric of
Black's pants between them. Moisture already dampened the fabric, thinning it.
"You may fantasize about punishing me," Starr whispered into his ear, "but we
both know you don't have the balls for it. Here you are holding me down, but
you really wish it was you beneath me." He licked Black's ear, making Black
shudder and thrust his cock against him. "You want to be held down like this.
You want me to spread your legs and shove my cock right up that tight little ass
of yours. You want me deeper and deeper, fucking you until you're screaming."
"Yes," Black gasped. He was as hard as steel. He could tell he wouldn't have
time to remove his pants. He was on the verge of coming just from the dirty talk.
"I want you to fuck me. Teach me a lesson."
Starr's chuckle against his ear was pure sex. "Oh, I will, Darkness, don't you
worry. I'll have you on your back, helpless and fucked before you know it." He
rolled his hips. "You like that. I can feel it."
The skin of Black's cheeks bloomed with heat. "I - I --"
"Your whole body is trembling. You're such a bottom, Darkness. All you want is
to be fucked."
"God, yes, I - I -- nnh!" Black thrust hard against Starr and then froze, his arms
trembling. Heat spilled throughout his groin, soaking his pants.
"Yes, Darkness. You can't live without that, even if you won't admit it," Starr
whispered into his ear.
Dazed, Black mumbled his agreement. In that moment he hoped the Silent
Sentinels never called. He wanted to remain in bed with Starr for the rest of his
life.
"You're crushing me, sweetheart. Roll off."
"Sorry," Black sighed. He loosened his hold on Starr's wrist, giving them an
apologetic rub before rolling off the other man and onto his back beside him.
"That won't be the last time we do that," he said, but his voice was slurred with
weariness and the alcohol. "I promise, Starr."
He heard the empath get up. He assumed Starr was going to the bathroom to
clean up. Black flung an arm across his eyes, falling into the spiral that would
soon lead to sleep.
"You're right," he heard Starr say faintly as if from far away. "That won't be the
last time because I won't let it be. Go to sleep, Darkness. When you wake up
you'll get the lesson I promised you. This time we're doing things my way."
The words followed Black into sleep. What did Starr mean? But he couldn't
make his mind focus long enough to decipher them. The blackness swallowed
him and he let it.
Never Cross a Telepath

Part 12

Parker tried to avoid the blue eyes watching him in the rear view mirror, but
there weren't many places for him to safely turn his gaze.
To his right sat Captain Dickerson, whose folded hands across his lap did little
disguise that he was massaging himself through his trousers.
To Parker's left sat the psypath he'd picked up in the club. He was a redhead
named Tomboy, shorter than Parker and with a distracting cleft in his chin. He
wasn't normally Parker's type but nothing he desired -- like putting an end to this
horrible game -- was within his control.
Tomboy was extremely drunk and hadn't flinched when he'd leaned into the back
of the cruiser and found Dickerson in the backseat and Sundhill waiting in the
front. The redhead was besotted with Parker; he wanted to get it on no matter
who was there to watch. He'd climbed into the craft with no further hesitation,
happy and horny. Poor Tomboy only wanted a hookup. He had no idea Parker
was poisoned bait.
Guilt burned like acid in Parker's stomach as Sundhill drove them to a motel he'd
been to before with Black. Tomboy noticed their destination.
"Right on," he sighed before nuzzling into Parker's neck. "I've been here before.
Lucky number four."
"This time it will be lucky number six for you," Dickerson murmured, sounding
amused.
From the corner of his eye Parker saw the older man stop fondling himself and
place both hands on his knees. His fingers tapped the fabric of his trousers. He
was eager for what came next. He wanted to see Parker fucked over. Parker
hated him. He couldn't fathom how Black had endured these drives with the
captain for as long as he had.
Sundhill parked the car. "Right here, sir? Do you need me to get --"
"Everything's already been taken care of, Lieutenant."
Tomboy raised his head, looking around curiously. "Are you guys in the
military?"
Afraid Tomboy might be iced before he had a chance to pass the experiment,
Parker hastily pulled the other man's mouth to his and whispered, "It's just role-
playing. You like role-playing? You want to be my commanding officer?"
Tomboy's eyes glazed over. He nodded before he gave Parker a sloppy kiss.
"That sounds hot. Let's do it. Er, private."
Parker pulled back and glanced at Dickerson. The older man nodded his
approval and opened his door.
The dj vu Parker experienced as he guided the drunken Tomboy to room
number six was the kind he never wanted to feel again. Memories he'd tried to
suppress washed up over him. He had no idea how he was going to get through
the next half hour or so. As Dickerson opened their door for them, Parker
glanced back over Tomboy's shoulder, trying to spy the voyeur he knew would
be joining the captain in the next room over. He saw the vehicle waiting in the
parking lot behind Sundhill's craft, but he couldn't make out who was in it.
"Get in there," Dickerson muttered.
Parker entered the room with Tomboy.
"'bout time," the redhead moaned as he clapped both hands to Parker's ass and
pulled them chest to chest. "You're so beautiful. I love your hair."
"Maybe we'll use it as a rope," Parker suggested without much enthusiasm. He
guided Tomboy to kiss his neck while he looked around the room.
Everything appeared the same as when he'd last been there with Black. He still
couldn't make out where the cameras or peepholes were which allowed
Dickerson and his mysterious friends to watch the action and he couldn't hear
sounds of movement, although he was sure the walls were paper thin.
The clock was ticking. Even though he'd hardly tried to pick up anyone at the
club he'd still managed to nab Tomboy's attention. Turning the redhead away
hadn't been an option when Parker didn't know who in the club was watching
and what they could overhear. Now that they were moments away from
performing the experiment he had no idea how he could manipulate the situation
so Tomboy wasn't hurt and he wasn't forced to prostitute himself.
He heard the muffled thud as the door to the neighboring room was pushed shut.
His stomach dropped. Action time.
Tomboy was busy dragging his tongue back and forth across Parker's
collarbones while he humped the prescient's thigh. Parker grabbed the other
man's red hair and forced his head up.
Tomboy pouted. "Why'd you make me stop?"
"What kind of psypath are you?"
Scrunching his face up, Tomboy muttered, "Why's it matter?"
Parker sighed with disappointment. When psypaths were reticent about
revealing their abilities it was almost always because their powers were weak.
Still, he pressed, "Just tell me. I get off on knowing."
Uncertain, Tomboy mumbled, "Empath. But I'm not -- I don't use it that much."
Parker's optimism plummeted further. Tomboy could probably barely sense
anything.
Conscious of the eyes watching them, Parker backed up to the bed, taking
Tomboy with him. The redhead's expression brightened as Parker sat on the edge
of the mattress and worked on the fastenings of the other man's jeans.
"If you can, I want you to feel me," Parker told him in a low voice as he kept his
attention fixed firmly on what he was doing. He wasn't sure how much
Dickerson could hear.
Tomboy stroked his hair and curled his fingers around Parker's braid. "Don't
worry. I'm gonna feel you all over."
"That's not what I meant." He glanced up, hoping his face was shielded by
Tomboy's body and Dickerson wouldn't be able to read his lips. "I want you to
feel me with your empathy." When Tomboy's expression grew nervous again, he
quickly added, "Try as hard as you can, Tomboy. It's extremely important."
When Tomboy nodded uncertainly, Parker concentrated as hard as he could on
his own fear and anger at the situation, focusing mostly on the fear because that
was what Tomboy would most likely react to in a way that might save his life.
Parker watched his face, waiting for a response.
After a moment, the redhead blushed. "Sorry. My senses aren't so great. They
get really bad when I'm drunk. I'm pretty drunk now."
Parker despaired. He'd hoped Tomboy would realize the danger and run out of
the room. Parker could say truthfully then that he hadn't said a word to tip the
other man off which would hopefully keep Jake safe.
But Tomboy was a dud, practically a normal. He had no idea what lay in store
for him. Resigned to their fates, Parker finished undoing the other man's belt and
pulled out the rigid cock trapped behind the denim. Tomboy's excited moan only
made Parker ill.
"I'm sorry for this," he whispered before he bent forward and kissed the head of
the other man's cock. "You don't deserve this."
"Don't apologize," Tomboy panted as he cupped the back of Parker's head.
"You're great. This is perfect."
Parker shut his eyes and took Tomboy into his mouth. Now that their course was
inevitable he didn't feel guilty for wanting to give the redhead the best
experience he could. For all Parker knew, Tomboy only had a few more minutes
to live.
He flattened his tongue and slid it over and around Tomboy's shaft while his
throat worked on the head. Above him, Tomboy groaned and tightened his
fingers around Parker's head. When he began to thrust jerkily, as if he couldn't
help himself, Parker relaxed and let him.
He let his mind drift because it was better than focusing on how he was setting
Tomboy up for potential death. Inevitably he imagined Black in his place and
how difficult it must have been for him. Genesis had been a badly abused child.
Black's vehement attempt to sever all ties to that teenager was something Parker
could understand. To be forced to participate in these drives -- Parker wondered
how Black had been able to survive them. In Parker's mind it was the Starwood
situation all over again, a powerful man forcing others to perform sexually for
an audience. For Black, it must have been like shrugging on an uncomfortable
but familiar coat. Parker was sure his friend must have panicked more than once,
fearful the coat wouldn't come off. The fact that Black had done these drives on
his own many times, with no one to share his pain with afterwards, was nothing
less than a crime in Parker's view.
He opened his eyes. Tomboy was grunting rhythmically as he fucked down
Parker's throat. He wasn't rough, only desperate. Parker tried to guess how long
Dickerson would wait. How much more did the captain and his guest want to
see? While Parker had penetrated Black with his fingers while Black sucked off
their third, he didn't think it ever went much further than that. He hoped not.
Blowing a stranger was one thing; Jake would angrily accept it. But if Parker
fucked or allowed himself to be fucked... Please don't let it come to that. Genesis
was enough.
To his relief the door opened. Tomboy was so deep into his pleasure that he
didn't notice. Parker pulled back enough that he wouldn't be choked when the
other man collapsed. He kept sucking shallowly, waiting for the axe to fall.
Tomboy suddenly let out a sharp cry and his fingers spasmed against Parker's
skull. Parker immediately released him from his mouth and flattened his palms
against Tomboy's chest to ease his fall as the redhead collapsed forward.
Tomboy was out; only the whites of his eyes showed. Parker eased him to the
bed.
He shifted quickly to the side of the mattress and wiped his mouth with the back
of his hand. He watched as Captain Dickerson withdrew the end of the strange
silver gun from the back of Tomboy's skull. He replaced the apparatus in the
silver case from which it had come.
"Excellent work, Agent Parker," Captain Dickerson said with a smirk as he
pulled out the electrodes. "I'd forgotten what a professional whore you can be
when properly motivated."
"Fuck you," Parker replied. "I'm never doing this for you again."
Dickerson's face darkened and he opened his mouth to speak when the door
opened a second time, this time beneath a forceful kick from a boot. Parker
gasped and sprang off the bed in alarm but it was only Sundhill, his gun drawn
and sweeping the room.
"Lieutenant! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dickerson rushed to shut
the silver case but Parker knew that Sundhill had already seen its contents. "I
told you to wait in the vehicle for us! I gave you an order!"
Sundhill took in the scene with wide eyes. "Sir, I saw you rushing in here. I
thought there was an emergency with Agent Parker. I didn't -- it was a mistake,
sir."
"A mistake that may get you demoted!" Dickerson snarled. A vein pulsed in his
temple. "God damnit, you're an idiot!"
Sundhill flushed. His lips turned white as he visibly fought to restrain himself
from responding angrily. "Yes, sir," he bit out. "I apologize, sir. Clearly I was too
hasty in my assessment of the situation."
Parker watched Dickerson, curious to see what he'd do now that someone
outside their circle had witnessed part of the experiment. Sundhill was the
Golden Wonder. Dickerson couldn't kill him. It would lead to too many
questions and who would lead JC1? Sundhill was the perfect soldier, one who
never disobeyed.
Dickerson seemed to come to the same conclusion. "Get out," he snapped,
pointing at Sundhill. "Wait in the car like I told you to, Lieutenant. You will
forget everything you've seen here, understand? If you make a peep you'll be on
street patrol so fast that dumb blonde head of yours will spin. Now get out!"
Sundhill fumed, but after a quick glance at Parker, he muttered, "Yes, sir," and
yanked the door shut behind him.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Dickerson growled as he opened the case again. "Your
lieutenant is fucking up my entire department," he snarled at Parker. "If I had
Black here right now I'd strangle him to death with my bare hands. All of this is
his fault. All of it!"
Parker remained silent. Dickerson was on the edge, panicked by Sundhill's
appearance. Parker knew better than to prod the man when he was ready to
burst.
"When I get a hold of Black he's going to wish I'd left him in Hangway."
Dickerson jerked out the electrodes again and slapped them against Tomboy's
temples. "Rotting in jail and being passed around like a cum sock will be
preferable to what I have planned for him."
Horrified, Parker didn't dare say a word. He watched as Dickerson tested
Tomboy with the equipment. Parker couldn't see the results on the captain's
mysterious machine, but Dickerson's face said it all. The look he gave Parker
caused an icy hand to grip his heart.
"He failed," Dickerson said. "That means the experiments continue and so do
you, you little slut. If you refuse me I'll have Sergeant Cole shot in every limb of
his body and dumped in the bay."
Nausea swept through Parker. A scream balanced on his tongue. But he
swallowed it down and said only, "Leave him alone. I'll do what you want."
~~~~~
When Black opened his eyes, Starr was gone. He knew it instinctually; checking
the bathroom for the empath was merely a formality. Biting back his anger, his
eyes settled on the opened Bible sitting atop the television. Written on its inside
cover was a note for him.

Darkness --
I'm taking care of business so you won't have to. This is a trap. I won't let you
walk into it. Stay loose and buy more lube. I'm fucking you when I get back.
Calyx

Black slammed the book shut and paced the room. While he was aware Starr
could be reckless at times, this was plain stupidity. He paused in the middle of
the room and closed his eyes. It might be too late, but he had to try.
He lowered his telepathic shields and allowed input to flow over them. At first
he could hear only the thoughts of the motel guests on either side of his room.
Then he could hear the motel manager six doors down. Then the cacophony of
the diners in the all-night restaurant across the street flooded in. Thoughts rushed
through his head, some quick and loud in their passion; some dark and secretive,
too foul to be spoken aloud; others random, the mere nonsense that cluttered up
the average normal's mind.
Black staggered. His knee hit the corner of the bed and he stumbled and fell to
the carpeted floor. Thoughts bombarded him, like a hundred people yelling at
him in foreign tongues. The noise was deafening. He struggled to sort through
them, individualize them, but the effort was futile. He could no longer
differentiate between the voices and his own thoughts, and that's when his skin
broke out in a cold sweat of fear. He slammed his shields up again and found
himself on all fours, panting, his head hanging between his shoulders. His head
throbbed. His heart beat against his rib cage. For all that effort, he hadn't heard
Starr.
He could call for the empath, send out a general telepathic shout. But by doing
so he risked alerting Genesis and Black didn't want to face the other telepath
while he had no idea where Starr was. Only when his loved ones were safe
would Black dare that confrontation.
Pulling himself to his feet, he wiped the sweat from his face and then looked
around for his stolen PRU. It was nowhere to be found. Either Starr had taken it
with him after he received the call from the Silent Sentinels while Black was
passed out, or the empath wanted to make sure Black wasn't able to make
contact with them. Black was livid.
He checked the time. It was nearing midnight. Something was going down soon
or it wouldn't happen until the daylight hours. He crossed his fingers for the
latter. He gathered their limited gear and strode to the door. Before he could
open it someone knocked on it from the other side. He peered through the
peephole before flinging the door open.
"Where's Starr?" he demanded.
Junxion stared at him, nonplussed. "You're assuming we know. We don't."
Black grabbed the blue-haired psypath by the arm and dragged him inside. Jax
followed without being told.
"If you've taken Starr to the Silent City you'll regret it," Black warned them.
Junxion only shook his head. "If you've driven him off that's your own fault. We
and the City had nothing to do with it. Kidnapping him would only ensure that
you resisted us."
Black cursed beneath his breath. "Then he's gone out to get himself killed."
"Where would he go without you?" Jax asked.
"To meet with the Silent Sentinels."
Junxion grabbed Black by the arm. "What are you saying? Why would he do
such a thing? They'll use him against you!"
Black glared and jerked his arm free. "He knows that. The Sentinels promised a
meeting for me with Genesis and his savior. Starr's convinced it's a trap and he's
gotten it into his head that he needs to prove it to me."
"They haven't set up this meeting," Junxion said grimly.
"Maybe not yet, but --"
"No, Black. It won't happen. Not even the Silent City will give them up. Jax and
I conveyed your message. They refused to give up Genesis and his savior in
exchange for your joining our side. Psypath loyalty runs deep."
Black had expected as much, and he also suspected the decision had little to do
with loyalty and more to do with basic math. The Silent City coveted telepaths.
They most likely believed that surrendering up two in exchange for a reluctant
Black was a poor bargain.
"Just because you failed to get me what I want doesn't mean the Sentinels will
fail too," he said. "They're not protecting anyone. It's in their best interests for
me and Genesis to meet. If we do and happen to kill each other, the Sentinels
win."
"But Calyx doesn't believe a meeting is possible, either, otherwise he would be
here right now," Junxion pointed out smugly. Black resisted the urge to punch
him.
"Starr is afraid for me."
"You should be afraid for you." Junxion studied him closely. "Or is this how you
intend to pay for your crimes? You tried suicide once and was saved. Maybe you
don't want to be as lucky a second time."
"I have a lot to atone for," Black muttered, turning away, "but letting Genesis
defeat me and take over this city isn't how I'm going to do it. I'm not suicidal. I
have Starr in my life. That gives me every reason to fight."
"You love him very much," Jax sighed. A growl rolled up the back of Black's
throat at the empath's wistful tone. "It's as I said in the tunnels. You feel very
passionately, whether you're planning a murder or planning your life with your
lover."
"I also feel passionately about losing your company," Black snapped. He hefted
his backpack again. "I'm leaving. You're not coming with me. If your Silent City
won't give me what I want then I have no use for them or for you."
"But we can help you find Calyx!"
Black paused at the door though he didn't turn around to face the twins. "You
don't know where he is."
"But Echo has contacts throughout the city and we possess the ultimate incentive
for those who wish to help us."
Black looked back over his shoulder at Junxion. The psypath smiled slyly at
him. "Calyx Starr is a very memorable man. If word hit the streets that Echo is
still alive and offering admission to the Silent City in exchange for information
leading to the location and protection of Calyx Starr, I think you would be
pleased with the outcome." Junxion walked up to Black and stood toe to toe with
him. "This city is full of rats and eyes, and most of them are psypaths. Calyx
isn't alone out there. Someone, somewhere, has seen him and knows exactly
where he is at this very moment. You could know it, too, if you side with us."
"Or I could rip the truth from your mind."
Junxion flinched, his cockiness fading. "You have the truth. I don't know where
he is. Neither does the Silent City. This situation is your doing. His. We had no
hand in it but that could change. We could save him for you."
Frustration boiled in Black's veins. He detested relying on someone else for
something so painfully important. But Starr had forced Black's back to the wall.
If the Silent Sentinels had indeed set a trap, Starr was walking into it. If
somehow the Sentinels had found Genesis and convinced him to meet, Starr was
walking into a different type of disaster.
It was the latter situation Black feared most of all. He trusted that Starr could
hold out against normals who would be forced to resort to physical torture to
lure Black to them. But Starr would be no match against Genesis. It would be
just like the scene in the church catacombs, only a thousand times worse because
Genesis would be gunning for revenge.
"Please, Black," Jax pleaded, coming to stand at his brother's side. "You need
our help. Calyx is out there all alone. He's in trouble."
Black's jaw ached from clenching his teeth. "Damn him."
"We'll find him," Junxion told him confidently. "Every psypath knows Echo and
what we can give them. Those who couldn't afford our services before will jump
on this chance to earn passage to the Silent City. Calyx will be found. Let us find
him, Black."
Black stared at the door for a long moment. Then he gave a curt nod. "Find
him." With those two words he knew he was placing himself in debt to the Silent
City. "Use whomever you have to. If you fail and he's hurt I'll make you both
regret you ever knew me."
He opened the door. Junxion caught it, frowning. "Where are you going?"
"To draw attention away from the hare." Black bared his teeth. "I'm going for
Genesis."
~~~~~
Calyx was, to put it lightly, majorly screwed.
His mistake was in trying to play the hero. Calyx Starr was not a hero. Calyx
Starr could have sex with the hero, he could tie the hero up and give him a good
ass spanking, but he could not be the hero. It went against the law of nature. Too
bad that as a psypath he had a natural tendency towards ignoring things like the
law.
It was a habit he promised himself to break if he survived this.
"Oh, you're awake now, are you? 'Bout fucking time."
Hazard sat on a chair beside the cot where Calyx was stretched out on his back.
His wrists were cuffed above his head to the frame of the cot and his ankles
were spread and tied with rope. He was completely unsurprised to find himself
naked. If he'd caught himself snooping around as he had, he'd tie himself up
naked, too. Only heroes got to keep their clothes.
"Hazard, you'd better find your boss because you've made a big mistake," Calyx
said cheerfully. He was nervous as hell and scared -- who wouldn't be when you
found yourself tied up in a concrete room with a smelly homeless guy leering at
you? -- but he tried to put on a good front. Hazard seemed like someone Calyx
might be able to fool if he threw around enough attitude.
"There's no mistake, whore." Hazard spat on the floor, which seemed to be made
of the same concrete as the walls and ceiling. A single bulb dangled overhead. It
looked like the sort of room Calyx expected the military to torture people in. He
hoped Hazard wasn't the military in this scenario.
"Where's your boyfriend?"
Calyx acted surprised. "You didn't see him come in? He was right behind me."
The screech of the chair's metal legs as they grated against the concrete made
Calyx cringe. The reaction was amplified when Hazard leaned over him, filling
Calyx's nose with his unwashed stench.
"Don't play funny with me, whore. I know you. You got a big, fat, tricky mouth
on you. It's only good for sucking on dicks. The rest of the time you just spout
lies."
"Sweetheart, where's all the animosity coming from? The last time you and I
hung out you were cool and sold me half a dozen tabs." Calyx batted his lashes.
"It's me. What'd I ever do to you? I'm harmless."
"You're a snitch," Hazard spat. "I hate whores who snitch. You know what's even
worse?"
"Your breath?"
Hazard's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Whore snitches who are psypaths."
Calyx sighed. "Well, that's me alright. I like to be a jack-of-all-trades."
"You're gonna die here, Calyx."
Not liking the anticipation in the other man's voice, Calyx decided to pretend he
hadn't heard. "So where's the big guy? Where's Mr. Wood? He's the one who
called me here in the first place."
"No, he called your boyfriend here. He wants Genesis."
"My boyfriend's name is Black," Calyx said distinctly. "Genesis is a whacko and
I don't do crazy."
Hazard sneered. Greasy strands of his straggly gray hair caught on the chapped
skin of his lips. "You're gonna do whatever we say, whore. Mr. Wood isn't happy
about you tricking him."
Calyx smiled a little at the only thing he could be somewhat pleased about. He'd
tried to pass himself off as Black. It had been a bit of a half-assed attempt
considering he'd done nothing with his hair besides tuck it up under a cap, but
he'd stolen new clothes that resembled Black's outfit and he'd stalked around the
way Darkness did when he was on a mission.
The Sentienel's call, which had come in at eleven, had instructed Black to go to
a private airstrip in the city Calyx hadn't known existed until then. It had taken a
handjob to convince a taxi driver to take him there. Once at the airport, he'd
located the hangar where Genesis was supposed to be. Calyx had snuck up to a
small side window intending just to peek inside and verify that it was all a
fabrication. Too bad he hadn't been able to mimic Black's telepathy. He'd had no
idea Hazard had been watching him from the moment he'd stepped onto the
tarmac.
"So where is Mr. Wood?" he asked again, not that he was in any hurry to see
Starwood's brother again. Calyx was really regretting his parting cry comment at
the diner.
"He's coming. He's --" Hazard looked up sharply as footsteps echoed from
somewhere in the building. "Sounds like he's here."
Hazard stood up to greet his boss. Calyx had to settle with craning his neck to
look down over his cock and between his spread feet. A metal door set in the
wall swung inward and Robert Starwood entered. He was followed by a tall man
wearing a clown Halloween mask.
"That's not creepy as hell," Calyx said brightly. "Are we all getting masks?
Because I'd really like one that makes me look less like a psycho. You know, for
variety."
"Get out," Wood said to Hazard. "I'll call you when we need you."
Hazard grumbled beneath his breath and hesitated. Calyx tensed, fearing the
gross old guy would give him a quick grope. But eventually Hazard stood up
and marched to the door, his annoyance radiating from every pore. Wood and
Clown Face waited until the door shut behind him before they approached the
bed as a pair.
Calyx had faced a lot of delicate situations while naked in bed. Some he'd even
handled while tied up, albeit usually with padded leather or silk. His prior
experience did nothing to calm him as the Demented Duo, as he now called
them in his mind, stopped beside the cot and stared down at him.
"If you like what you see just wait until I'm in action."
"Shut the fuck up, Calyx Starr," Wood said pleasantly. "You are in a bad place
right now."
"No kidding," Calyx breathed. "I didn't come here alone, though. That'd be
stupid of me."
"It would," Wood agreed, smiling. "I hope for your sake you're not that stupid.
We want Black, not you."
"And you know what? My ego is a-okay with that. So let me loose and we'll all
go look for Black together."
Clown Face bent over Calyx. "How about we enjoy ourselves while we wait for
him to join us? I really do love how predictable he is. He always comes to the
rescue of the people who are important to him."
Calyx's eyes widened. He yanked furiously against his cuffs. "Fuck!"
Genesis pulled off the mask and grinned down at him. "Last time he took nearly
a week to find JC2 and save them. We could have a lot of fun in a week, Calyx
Starr."
He reached down and caressed Calyx's cheek. He smiled wider when Calyx
whimpered.
Never Cross a Telepath

Part 13

A face-off with Genesis to finally end the feud between them was all Black had
wanted for months now, but to finally get it, with Starr smack dab in the middle
of it, was closer to the nightmare Black frequently had. In the nightmare Starr
died a hundred gruesome ways at Genesis' hand. Black was resolved that that
wouldn't happen in this reality. If the situation was going south and Black saw
no way to salvage it he'd kill Starr himself. There was no way he'd leave the
empath to be tortured or made into Genesis' mindless plaything.
Weapons rode heavy on his body but Black knew the end would come by the
mind. He believed he was telepathically strong, but he'd not used his psypath
powers fully for years, resisting it despite Captain Dickerson's constant pressure
that he do so. It was only after the Consortium had kidnapped him and Starr that
he'd shattered that self-imposed barrier. His mind felt strong, it felt better than it
had when he was Genesis and drugged to the gills, but he wouldn't know if he
was stronger than the current Genesis until it was too late to turn back. Genesis
had seven years of rage and the thirst for revenge on his side. Black had fear and
love on his. His mouth turned south. He didn't like his odds when he put it that
way.
He was a block from the Chinese restaurant when he got the call. He studied his
second stolen PRU with surprise.
"What do you have?" he demanded.
"A taxi driver dropped him off at the Reynolds Airport. It's a private airstrip,"
Junxion told him. The PRU was set to No Video, but Black could hear the
smugness dripping from the other psypath's voice. "I told you we have eyes and
ears all over this city, Black."
"I'm impressed."
"You owe us."
Black clutched the PRU tighter. "Assuming I survive this."
"Don't you dare turn suicidal again!" Junxion ordered, panic sharpening his
voice.
Black smiled, pleased that he'd gotten the other man to lose his cockiness. "Don't
call me again on this connection." He hung up.
His stride quickened as he neared the restaurant that he had chosen out of a
directory. If Junxion's information proved correct Black would owe the Silent
City in a big way. Black had no intention of skipping hand-in-hand with Starr
into the psypath city, however. He would find another way of repaying the
psypaths that would get them off his back for good. Once Genesis and his savior
were gone, Black wanted to blaze a trail out of Juxtapose City which no one
would follow, ever. The only obligation he planned on taking with him was one
to Starr.
He saw them standing at the corner, heads bowed together. Both were wearing
hooded sweatshirts, hiding their hair, especially the deep red of Gelie Lark's.
"You said Calyx has gone off on his own?" Mneumonia demanded as soon as
Black joined him. "Behind that pretty face he must be nothing but an empty
skull."
"He was trying to protect me," Black snapped as he scanned the neighborhood
for suspicious activity. It was late and traffic was light. Satisfied that they
weren't being watched or had been followed he turned to the telekinetics. "You
have guns?"
Gelie Lark tugged up the edge of her dark sweatshirt, revealing the stock of a
gun tucked in her jeans. "We lifted them an hour ago."
"You'll need them," Black said bluntly. "Starr may be with Starwood's younger
brother and Genesis."
"You're kidding," Mneumonia breathed, eyes wide. "Robert?"
Black looked at her, suspicious. "You know him?"
She smirked darkly. "Let me put it this way, honey: Robert didn't go in for cute
boys who could be drugged into playing with each other." Her expression
darkened further. "What did you think Kennon Jones and I were up to while
Starwood was filming you, Phoenix, and Parker?"
Rage simmered in Black. His knuckles cracked as his fisted his hands. "I wish
I'd known that when I ran into him."
"Kennon hated it as much as I did, if that helps." Mneumonia looked away. "She
thought of you while I thought of Phoenix. It helped. Somewhat."
"For how long?" Black bit out.
"How long did Starwood molest you guys?" she countered.
Black had to turn away. His expression was murderous. "She never told me. She
could have told me."
"Why?" Mneumonia shot back. "What could you have done, Black? You
couldn't even take care of yourself. You were on Bliss every single day. Kennon
knew it'd only tear you up if you knew so she and I chose to keep it to ourselves.
Not that Phoenix would have cared, but ... back then I wanted to believe he
would have."
"He would have," Black muttered. "He wasn't always an asshole."
"I'd challenge that except I think you might have known him better than I did."
Black looked back at her. She looked tired and sad. "He wasn't worth knowing
back then," he told her.
She laughed harshly. "He's not much better now."
"We're killing him, right?" Gelie's eyes were narrowed. "We're not just rescuing
Starr; tell me we're ending this once and for all."
He held her eyes. "If he walks away from this I've failed."
Mneumonia nodded in agreement. "Where are they?"
"Reynolds Airport."
Gelie shot him a suspicious glare. "I've never heard of it."
"I know where it is. Starwood used to have a buddy who had a plane there."
Black frowned at Mneumonia. "You've been there?"
"No, but Starwood's brother used to brag about learning to fly someday. If that's
where he is, I'm going to assume he's fulfilled his dream."
"I hope he enjoyed it because he'll never fly again," Black stated. "Come on. I
don't know for certain that they have Starr but if they haven't, they will soon."
~~~~~
"Just say it, Calyx. It won't hurt. Tell me you love me."
Calyx laughed and kept his eyes tightly clenched. "You may be a masochist,
sweetheart, but I don't get off on torturing myself. I'll pass, thank you."
He shuddered as Genesis thumbed his nipple. The telepath's voice was warm and
wet against his ear. "This isn't torture. This is giving you what you want, what
you deserve. You're in love with my former lover, aren't you? You believe he
belongs to you. Don't you want his face to be the last you see before you die?"
Calyx hissed as the fingers on his nipple pinched it fiercely. "Before I kill you?"
Calyx bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself silent. The chord of madness in
Genesis' voice was freaky, to put it lightly.
"You came here to protect him, didn't you?" Genesis leaned more heavily
against him, draping his hips atop Calyx's. The telepath was hard whereas Calyx
was all but shriveled up inside his body. "You think he's yours don't you?"
Genesis growled.
"Um, I think it's safe to say Black doesn't allow anyone to own him. Not me and
not you."
"Wrong!"
Calyx grunted as Genesis thrust against him, driving the steel rod of his cock
against Calyx's hip.
"He belonged to me! He still does. He was mine before you or Starwood ever
laid eyes on him."
"That may be so," Calyx said even though he knew he should keep his mouth
shut, "but he's a different man now, and no one can own him. Not even me."
Genesis snarled something beneath his breath. Calyx braced himself for some
good old-fashioned mind raping but nothing touched his brain. Genesis
remained motionless above him, the heat of his naked body causing sweat to
gather on their skin. It might have been sexy under different circumstances. And
with a different telepath, Calyx thought.
He cracked open an eye and glanced beyond Genesis' shoulder. Robert Starwood
had chosen to remain in the room when Calyx's 'interrogation' began, but the
man had immediately busied himself with his PRU rather than watch. The one
time Calyx had caught the other man's eye Wood had quickly looked away,
distaste twisting his lips. At least that was one less guy Calyx had to worry about
assaulting him.
A bite to his shoulder drew his attention sharply back to the man atop him.
"Concentrate on me," Genesis hissed. "I'm the one who decides whether you live
or die, whore."
Resentment made Calyx's blood boil. Fisting his hands above the handcuffs that
bound them to the cot, he said, "Sorry if I believe Black will be making the
decision on whether you live or die, sweetheart. You should be trying to get on
my good side, not pissing me off like this."
Genesis stilled. Calyx guessed this wasn't a good thing but there wasn't much he
could do about it in his current position. He kept his face unreadable as Genesis
lifted himself onto his elbows and stared down at Calyx with a look that
promised death.
"Black killed me once; I won't give him a second chance," Genesis purred,
although his tone was anything but seductive. His pale blue eyes were icy. "This
time it's my turn to do the killing. It's my turn to walk away and leave him for
dead."
"Tit for tat is so childish," Calyx sighed.
"Nothing about this is childish," Genesis said with a cruel smile. He punctuated
his statement by forcing his leg between Calyx's already spread thighs and
thrusting against him. "How do you want him to find you, hmm? Resistant but
dead, or playing along and alive?"
Calyx pretended to debate the choices. "I'm not so sure I like my options. Throw
me a third one."
"I could take both choices away and rip your mind apart."
"Hmm, not such a great third option." Calyx wished Genesis would get off him.
The black-haired telepath was making his skin crawl. "Tell me again why we're
doing this?"
Genesis smiled, his black lipstick splitting. "Because he's coming here to save
you. That's what he's always done: come to the rescue of you or his team. He
couldn't save me or himself seven years ago so he's trying to make up for that
failure. It's touching." His eyes flashed. "It's also sickening. But I shouldn't be
the only one who wants to vomit. I want him to show up here, guns blazing,
only to find his favorite whore showing his true colors."
"You want me to have sex with you and pretend to enjoy it. Yeah, fat chance of
that happening, sweetheart. You may as well overdose me with Bliss, because
that's what it's going to take."
"Or I could play with your mind and make you see who you want to see."
Calyx didn't like his devious-looking smile. "Meaning what? What happens if I
choose to play along?"
"You get fucked by Black."
"By Black you mean you."
Genesis laughed softly. "Yes, Calyx Starr. I mean me."
"You've tried this before, remember? Parker and I didn't do so great of a job of
convincing him we'd betrayed him. This is that same scene minus our favorite
prescient. You're not very creative when it comes to trying to get under Black's
skin, are you? Tsk, tsk. I expected more of a super villain. He'll see this for what
it is. He knows I love him and he knows that you're whacked in the brain."
"You use the logic of the brain damaged." Genesis looked like he amused
himself, which Calyx figured he did. "Black doesn't want his precious empath to
be touched. It doesn't matter how many times I do it, or if you cooperate or not.
He'll still hate it. That's what I want from him. I want him to hate. I want him to
know the fury of having someone he loves taken away from him. I want him to
suffer when I reveal the secrets that will destroy his carefully planned life. I'll
take everything from him."
Calyx stared into his maniacal eyes and said very clearly, "Sorry to rain on your
psycho parade, but there's nothing to take from him, sweetheart. I already know
the truth. I know he's the real Genesis."
He was pretty sure he'd remember Genesis' shocked expression for a long time
to come. It'd be like a little treat he'd pull out whenever Black was acting
churlish and withholding Bliss or sex. Just a little pick-me-up.
"I know everything," Calyx went on, twisting the knife. "The orgies for
Starwood, the Bliss addiction, the night he went berserk" He winked at
Genesis. "I even know about the night he kicked your ass and then gave you a
bad dye job and a makeover."
He hadn't thought it was possible for Genesis to become pale when he was
already wearing white pancake makeup but the telepath looked ghostly.
Normally Calyx would feel bad for someone like Genesis who in truth had been
the victim of someone else's betrayal. But there were many other factors
involved which dulled his sympathy for the telepath. Phoenix had made his bed
by trying to manipulate Genesis-Black while the teen was high on Bliss.
Phoenix had pushed Genesis-Black to the breaking point..
"Black's no longer hiding anything," Calyx said. "He doesn't have any secrets
that you can exploit or expose. Now that he's walked away from JC2 he's got
nothing to lose. It's over, sweetheart. You've got nothing on him. And guess
what? I still want to have his babies. Hopefully twins."
Genesis rolled off of him and staggered onto his feet. Wood watched, confused,
as the telepath pulled on his clothes. Calyx breathed a secret sigh of relief.
"What are you doing?" Wood demanded. "I thought you were going to --"
"Shut up while I think," Genesis growled. He paced the small, cold room, his
bare feet slapping angrily against the concrete.
"What's there to think about?" Wood stepped into the other man's path. "You and
I had an agreement. I don't care if your little scenario isn't going to play out as
planned. This isn't about you and your fantasies of revenge."
"What is it about?" Genesis asked in a tone of voice that made Calyx nervous
where he lay.
Intimidated by the telepath, Wood glanced anxiously back to the cot as if for
backup. Calyx sent him a mental 'fuck you'.
Licking his lips nervously, Wood said, "Our agreement was that I would hand
Black to you and you would kill him and fake your own death. We agreed that
the most important thing that needed to happen for both of us is that the
members of the Silent Sentinels believe you're both dead so they no longer
consider you a threat."
"I'm becoming less interested in sticking to those terms," Genesis muttered. "I
couldn't care less about your aspirations of power, Wood. This city should burn
in hell."
"And you're free to leave it," Wood shot back in a shaky voice. Calyx wondered
if the man had finally realized he was dealing with a psychopath. "Go to the
Silent City for all I care. Just kill Black before you go. I upheld my end of the
deal. Now it's your turn."
"You're a piece of work," Calyx called out to Wood. "I hope Black kicks your
ass before he deep-fries your brain."
"You're lucky we haven't already killed you," Wood shot back, glaring at Calyx.
"Right," Calyx taunted him, hoping to buy time. "You haven't killed me because
you're afraid to. That's why you're trying to set up Crazy Clownface here to do
the dirty deed for you. You know what'll happen if you touch me. Black's the
scariest thing this city's ever faced. Genesis here is as crazy as a polka-dotted
thong but he's nowhere near as dangerous as Black. If anyone touches me,
they're facing a death worse than the one your brother received."
Wood's eyes bulged but Calyx also saw the anxiety growing on his face. Calyx
grabbed hold of it and tugged.
"Why are you stupid enough to go into partnership with someone who hates
your guts?" Calyx asked Genesis. "This little twerp can't stand telepaths. His
brother used to fuck you over and charge people to watch. You're letting him run
you out of the city just because he's supposedly served Black to you on a silver
platter? What platter? Black's not even here."
"He's coming," Wood argued as he shot Genesis a fretful look. "The trap was
meant for him but Starr's just as good. He's bait Black can't resist."
"His brother raped you when you were a child," Calyx reminded Genesis. He
watched fire flare in the telepath's normally cool eyes. "He was a pedophile who
fed you Bliss to keep you under control and then screwed you every way he
could think of. Black may be an asshole but he's your asshole. He's not
Starwood's or his brother's. For you to help out Wood like this -- it's like you're
helping Starwood. He must have whipped your ass good to make you this loyal
to him even after he's dead."
"No! Don't listen to him!" Wood grabbed Genesis' arm only to have the telepath
fling him off.
"Don't touch me, Starwood," Genesis ground out. "I endured your filthy
brother's hands for years. You're not taking his place."
"It's Wood, damnit. I'm not my brother!"
"Sure you aren't," Calyx sneered from his cot. "Rather than fuck telepaths you'd
rather kill them. That's so much better, sweetheart."
Wood whirled and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You can just shut the hell
up, you freak. I know what you're trying to do and it won't work, you hear me?
If Genesis doesn't have the balls to kill you and Black I'll do it myself. I'm not
letting you freaks betray me like you betrayed my brother."
"Freaks?" Calyx repeated. He'd heard worse, hell, even Cole had insulted him
worse, but he played up the outrage for Genesis' benefit. "Fuck you, Wood.
Psypaths aren't freaks. We're going to take over this city and eventually the
world, sweetheart."
Horror spread across Wood's face. "The hell you are. The Sentinels will wipe
you out before that can happen. Telepaths are only the first --" He paled and shot
a panicked look at Genesis.
The telepath's eyes narrowed. His black lips drew into a tight, angry line. "The
first what, Wood? The first in your wave of genocide?"
Calyx held his breath. He hadn't thought his little ploy would work but Genesis
apparently harbored a healthy amount of paranoia in addition to his crazy. Then
again, it made sense. Psypaths these days were under constant attack by normals.
War was on the horizon, why couldn't it start with Robert Wood and the Silent
Sentinels?
"I only want the telepaths out of the city," Wood insisted in a calmer tone. "You
knew that coming in to this, Genesis. You also knew I was prepared to pardon
you."
"Pardon me?" Calyx nearly giggled with glee at Genesis' expression. "I don't
need a normal to give me permission to live, Wood. The most powerful person
in this room is me, not you. And I'm this close to giving the Silent Sentinels a
reason to find a new president."
Wood drew his shoulders back, trying to appear larger. "If you touch me they'll
hunt you down no matter where you go, Genesis. The Sentinels will crush you if
you stand against us."
"Then maybe I should crush you and them first."
Calyx tensed, braced for Genesis' mental tsunami. Wood yelled and reached for
a gun tucked inside his jacket.
(Forget him, Genesis. It's me you want.)
"Shit," Calyx breathed at the 'sound' of Black's telepathic voice. "Darkness is
here."
Genesis' fury gave way to wild-eyed anticipation. He spun, ignoring Wood.
"Where are you?"
(In the hangar. Don't keep me waiting.)
"Genesis --" Wood began angrily, but the black-haired telepath didn't spare him a
glance. He ran to the door, flung it open, and was gone.
Wood stared at the empty doorway. "Goddamnit!"
Calyx snorted. "You could have shot him in the back, sweetheart. You're no good
at playing the bad guy."
Wood whirled, holding his gun pointed at Calyx. "Then it's time I proved you
wrong. I may not get to do this to your boyfriend but at least I'll have the
satisfaction of knowing I cleaned this city of at least one cockroach."
It was too late to regret his big mouth. Calyx heard himself release an
undignified squeak as Wood cocked the hammer. He couldn't look away from
the barrel of the gun. Holy shit, I'm going to see the bullet that kills me.
The gun jerked upwards, firing into the ceiling. Calyx cried out in shock. His
surprise was nothing compared to Wood's, who stared at his gun in disbelief. He
tried to jerk it down without success. Calyx finally realized something had
control over Wood's gun, keeping it aimed at the ceiling.
"You're a real bad shot," Gelie Lark muttered as she swept in through the open
door.
Mneumonia was one step behind her, saying, "Wood, you suck," before she fired
her own gun at Wood's back.
The man staggered two steps and then fell, twisting, to the floor. He landed on
his back. The smell of gunpowder was acrid in the air. Calyx watched through
the smoke as the two telekinetics approached and stood over his fallen captor.
"Do you remember me?" Mneumonia asked him. She smiled coldly at Wood. "I
was younger when you knew me. Just a kid."
On the floor, Wood gurgled a reply.
"I've wanted to do this for years," Mneumonia went on. Her face hardened.
"This one's for Kennon Jones, my sister."
She aimed her gun and fired. Wood began screaming. Calyx nearly threw up
when he realized where she had shot Wood. He looked away. Another shot rang
out and Wood fell silent.
"That was really gross," Calyx commented, dizzy with what he'd seen and how
close he'd been to being raped and then shot. "Remind me never to cross a
telekinetic."
"It's a telepath you don't want to cross," Mneumonia remarked. "They'll drive
you insane and make you think it was your idea."
"Why do you have to be naked?" Gelie Lark complained with a disgusted frown
as she and Mneumonia bent over the cuffs binding Starr to the bed.
"I'd ask Wood that but you girls have permanently shut his mouth. Do me a
favor and let me out so I can go help Darkness."
He felt the metal bending around his wrists as the telekinetics went to work.
"Black doesn't need your help," Gelie bit out.
"It doesn't matter what he --"
"No," Mneumonia said sharply. "Not this time. This time it's between him and
Genesis. This is the way it's supposed to be."
Realizing the women weren't going to release him until he agreed, Calyx
mumbled, "And people wonder why I went gay."
Mneumonia snorted. "No one wonders that. You were gay the day you were
born."
~~~~~
Black waited in the darkness. He didn't need light to know when Genesis
approached. The subtle displacement of energy in the hanger was all the warning
he needed.
"You're dead for taking Starr," he said to the darkness.
He sensed Genesis stop several yards to his left.
"The whore's a liability. You should know better than to hook up with him. He's
a dime a dozen."
"Then why are you jealous of him?" Black's gun rested heavily against his spine
but he made no move to draw it. The gun was for normals, not for Genesis.
"Because he has what should have been mine."
Black hardened himself against feeling anything positive for the other telepath.
It was easy to feel sorry for Genesis. Black had set him up to take the fall for all
of his crimes.
But all Black had to remember was how Genesis -- then Phoenix -- had tried to
isolate and control him. Phoenix had always been jealous. When they were teens
Phoenix had been jealous of Kennon Jones and Parker. Given the chance, Black
had no doubt that Phoenix would have done his best to remove them from the
picture in order to have Black all to himself.
In a twisted way he knew some people would have seen Phoenix's jealousy as a
sign of his extreme love. Black understood the truth, however: Phoenix had been
obsessed with him. Phoenix had seen Black as an opportunity. To exert control
over Black was a way to exert control over a life that had up to that point been
completely controlled by Starwood. Love had only marginally motivated
Phoenix. Power and control had always been Phoenix's first loves.
"I was never yours," Black said to the dark figure he could now make out amidst
the gloom of the hangar. "Back then I was in love with Kennon Jones."
"You were with me!"
"I was forced to be with you because of Starwood. I'd never touched another
male until he made you and I get together."
"Kennon Jones was a whore, too," Genesis spat. "You saw her with Starwood --"
"She was a victim like we were. She was only trying to survive." Black felt a
vein throb in his temple. "And she would have, if you hadn't tricked me into
killing her."
(You pulled the trigger.)
"I was high and you took advantage of that."
(You left me for dead.)
"I wish you had died," Black said flatly.
He watched Genesis take another step closer.
"Don't do this," Genesis murmured. The tone of his voice was different, nearly
entreating. "You and I stood against the world. We promised to save each other. I
was high just like you. I made mistakes. I never meant to hurt you."
Black closed his eyes. Genesis was beginning to sound like Phoenix, cajoling
him to forgive his cruelties and align himself with the other telepath against
everyone who sought to abuse them.
But Black had heard the apologies too often, could only forgive for so long.
Every time Phoenix beat Mneumonia black and blue he claimed he was
regretful, yet a week later Black would see her with fresh bruises. Disparaging
remarks about Parker were rescinded, yet days later Black would hear Phoenix
insult the prescient yet again. And he was sure that if the other telepath
apologized for kidnapping JC2 and forcing them to shoot up the city it would be
a mere matter of weeks before the man found a new reason to attack them.
Phoenix -- now Genesis -- thrived on conflict and having an enemy. He wasn't
alive unless he was engaged in combat.
"It's too late for second chances, Genesis. You're a threat to the people I care
about. You're a threat to the life I want to lead."
"You want to live a life of lies!" Genesis' voice was ugly with derision. "You
want to pretend you're someone you're not, someone who's good and clean.
We've never been that, you fool. We're monsters but we're strong monsters.
Starwood enslaved us but that's over now. Now we rule. Now we burn this city
down if it doesn't submit to us."
"You may be a monster," Black said, "but I refuse to be one. I don't want to rule
anyone. Being a telepath doesn't make us better, it makes us different."
"Your idealism makes you sound ignorant. Telepaths are more valuable. The
Silent City worships us. We could lead the psypath army to glory over the
normals."
"Why can't you simply live in peace?"
He heard a low rumbling sound and realized Genesis was laughing, deep and
low. "Peace? When have we known peace? Would you recognize it if you had it?
I wouldn't. Satisfaction is all we can hope for, and that will only come if we're
on top of the rest. If we lead. Forget the whore. Come with me to the Silent City.
I'll love you as no one's been loved before. The City will fall to its knees before
you. You will have everything you've ever wanted."
Black shook his head, knowing Genesis could see it. "Everything I want is back
in that room."
"I can't let him have you. I'll kill you before I allow someone else to have you!"
"In a moment you won't have any say in the matter," Black replied. He hesitated,
then added, "I didn't intend or expect you to survive what I did to you seven
years ago. Everything that's happened since -- it was an unfortunate mistake. But
it wasn't my mistake. The man who took you to the Silent City to recover
interfered when he shouldn't have. I want to confront him."
"You think you'll kill me that easily?"
"I think I'll kill you eventually."
He sensed Genesis disquieted reaction to that.
"Tell me his name," Black ordered. "This circle of revenge needs to end."
Genesis laughed quietly. "And you think I'll help you with that? You'll have to
scrape his name out of my cold, dead brains."
"So be it," Black said. He opened his mind.
"Hold it right there!"
A shot rang out in the dark. Black dropped to one knee and yanked his gun free.
Cursing, he searched the darkness for Genesis. When he couldn't find him, he
searched with his mind.
(Looks like the Golden Toy saved your ass,) Genesis taunted him. (We'll play
again another day.)
(Genesis!)
The telepath didn't respond. When a square of light winked in and out of
existence in the distance he realized Genesis had escaped from the hangar.
"Damnit," Black cursed. "Who's there?!" he yelled out angrily.
"Lieutenant Black!" Sundhill's confused voice cut through the dark. "Black, it's
Andrew Sundhill. Are you hurt?"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Black scooted across the cement until he
came to a corrugated wall. Holding his hand against the metal, he walked along
it until he came to a light switch. Gun aimed into the center of the hangar, he
flipped the switch.
Sundhill, dressed in riot gear, flinched in the sudden brightness before his eyes
fell on Black. He gave a relieved sigh. "You're uninjured."
"I asked what you're doing here," Black gritted out.
"My team's outside. We're here because of you. I warned you, Black. Dickerson
wants you."
Black couldn't believe JC1 had managed to track him to this place. "I thought
your orders were to shoot me on sight."
Sundhill gave him an annoyed look although he didn't lower his assault rifle.
"We have new orders. The Captain wants you for interrogation."
"Is that what he's calling it?" Fuming, Black looked hopelessly at the door
Genesis had escaped through. "Your timing couldn't have been worse, Sundhill."
"Seems like my timing is perfect if I caught you." Sundhill finally pointed his
weapon at the floor. "Don't put up a fight. As a friend and colleague I'm begging
you, Black. Don't make this ugly."
(Starr,) Black sent out, (take the girls out of here. Sundhill and JC1 are here.
Make a run for it.)
(Darkness, where's Genesis?!)
(Escaped.) Just thinking the word gave Black a pounding headache. (I'll find him
again. Don't worry.)
(I'm more worried about you.)
(Don't be.)
"Is Agent Starr here?"
Black looked at Sundhill blankly. "We went our opposite ways after we left the
mall. I have no idea where he is."
Sundhill clearly didn't believe him. He spoke into his helmet's headset. "Main
target is secure. Check for secondary."
Sundhill stared at Black, waiting. "Don't do it, Black."
Black loosened his hold on his gun and tossed it to the floor. He raised his
hands. "You still trust Dickerson?"
Sundhill picked up Black's discarded gun and tucked it into his belt. "I don't
know who to trust these days so I'm treating everyone as a criminal. That
includes you."
"I had Genesis here," Black told him as the other man cuffed his wrists behind
his back.
"My orders are to find you, not Genesis."
"I could have ended this. Once Genesis is gone I'll leave, too."
Sundhill hesitated, searching Black's eyes. "I believe you, but this is out of my
hands. As long as I work for the JCPD I follow Captain Dickerson's orders."
But Black sensed a crack in Sundhill's usually unflagging loyalty to the captain.
"Something's happened to you."
Sundhill evaded his gaze. "Earlier tonight I saw something I can't explain
involving Agent Parker. I suspect it has something to do with why you're on the
run."
Black wracked his brain, trying to figure out what Sundhill meant. Had Parker
had a vision in front of the lieutenant?
"It doesn't matter at this point," Sundhill went on. He turned his face away from
Black. "I have a duty and I'm fulfilling it. You're coming with me."
(Darkness?)
(Are you out?)
(We're out, sweetheart. What should we do about you?)
(Nothing. I can handle Captain Dickerson. Wait for me to contact you.)
As Black allowed Sundhill to lead him outside onto the tarmac where JC1 and a
heavy utility vehicle awaited him, Black searched the night for Genesis.
(I haven't given up on you,) he sent out to the telepath, not expecting Genesis to
be close enough to hear it.
But he heard, very faintly, a reply, (I haven't given up on you, either, lover. This
city is ours. It's just a matter of time until you and I rule it together.)

The End
To be continued in the next series

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