As soon as she saw the lights of Alsterase, her heart began to lighten, and she was filled with a happy, giddy sort of feeling. They were finally home.
She abandoned David and Alexi and went bounding up the stairs of the hotel. She burst into the room without knocking, and clicked on the lights. "I'm home!" she announced.
Whitey's first reaction was to grab his gun. But the second his eyes adjusted to the light and he saw who had interrupted his sleep, he forgot all about the weapon.
It took him a second to find his voice. "My God! I thought I'd never see you again."
To his surprise and delight, she landed on the bed beside him. She gave him a big smile and started to say something flippant, but then she saw the look in his eyes, felt his feelings, and decided to face what she'd been running from.
"Would it have been that bad if I'd never come back?" she asked quietly.
"I would have missed you." He took her in his arms and kissed her.
She liked the way his love felt. Warm, comfortable and familiar, like an old coat. She responded eagerly to his kisses.
Mickey rubbed his eyes, took in the strange scene, and smiled. The legend had returned.
Levits' response was to roll over on his cot and try to go back to sleep.
When David and Alexi reached the room, Whitey and RJ were still lip-locked in the middle of the bed. If Alexi was shocked to see RJ in the arms of a stranger, he was even more surprised by David's lack of concern.
"You might have helped us with the boxes, RJ," David complained dropping his.
RJ finally pried herself away from Whitey. "I see Levits decided to join us."
"I don't know what good you think he'll do us," Whitey said. "He's a lazy coward."
"We all have our little faults." RJ shrugged and got up from the bed.
She walked over and embraced Mickey. "You're looking well."
"Been getting some sun. Good to see you."
"So, Levits," she shook him till she got his reluctant attention. He finally turned to face her. "Why the change of heart?" she asked with a wry smile.
"Many things, really. Hunger, getting rained on, getting the crap beaten out of me twice weekly." Levits, for all his faults, was truthful.
"That's what we need in our soldiers, David. Men with heartfelt conviction," she said with a lilt to her voice.
David had never seen her like this. In a way it was funny. He smiled broadly back at her, to let her know that he approved of her temporary lapse of restraint. She probably would have babbled on happily making no sense for hours, but Alexi opened his mouth.
"This place is a dump."
Considering how glad RJ was to be home, this was probably the worst thing he could have said.
"Since it distresses you so much, you can clean it up." RJ said in a growl.
"I'm not a fucking house maid." Alexi took an ominous step towards RJ, and found his face in the middle of Whitey Baldor's rather large chest. He looked up at the giant, and swallowed hard. He heard RJ's voice, cool and superior, and wished more than ever that he could slap that smug smile off her face.
"You'll find that you won't get as much leeway here, Alexi. I suggest that you learn to accept that I run things. If I say clean it up, you will put on an apron and ask whether I want the windows done or not. Do you understand?"
Alexi was silent.
Whitey's huge hand went around his throat. "She asked you a question, Jack," Whitey said coolly, and Alexi realized that the man could snap his neck with no trouble and with even less remorse.
"I understand," Alexi choked out. He understood that if he wanted to run things, he was going to have to get rid of RJ. Or at least discredit her.
Jessica sat in her quarters at Capitol looking at the knife in her hand. She sighed, then steeled herself. She had to know. She sat between the two mirrors and pinned her hair up. She knew the spot. She took the knife and began to dig the device from the back of her neck. It was a painful process, but when she cleaned the device off, it was worth any amount of pain. It was broken, and had been for some time. Moreover, it had been more than a vital signs monitor. The old man didn't just know that RJ was alive, he knew where she was.
Poley saw the lights of Alsterase off in the distance. Soon he would be reunited with RJ. Soon he would be himself—Poley, a component of RJ.
Jessica stormed into Stewart's lab.
He looked up and smiled. "I've been expecting you, J-6."
She held out the device for him to see.
"Been digging in your neck, I see. That couldn't have been pleasant."
"Can the crap, old man. Where is RJ?" Jessica demanded.
"I really have no idea. At the moment, she might be anywhere." He smiled sweetly.
Damn it all, he wasn't lying. Jessica realized instantly what that meant.
"Where is the metal man?" She looked around in a panic.
Stewart smiled and looked at his watch. "Well, by now, he's probably taking tea with RJ."
"Where's her base? You know where it is, tell me," she commanded.
"You have that tone in your voice, J-6. The sound of someone who's used to getting their way. I've always hated that."
"Tell me." She took one menacing step forward.
Stewart laughed, and she stopped in her tracks. Stewart's features went cold. "I'm not going to tell you, J-6. And I'm not going to give you the chance to beat it out of me or extract it with drugs, either. I'm an old man. RJ is my greatest creation. Her secret belongs to me, and it's the one thing I can take with me."
"No!" Too late, she saw the barrel of the pistol enter Stewart's mouth. She leapt forward, reaching him just as he pulled the trigger. Then watched in horror as his limp body collapsed to the ground, spasmed once, and lay still.
She had watched hundreds of men die. Hell, she'd killed most of them, but this was different. She knelt beside him and gently moved the strands of bloody gray hair out of his face.
"Why?" she asked the inert form. "Why her? Why not me? All I wanted was your help." She stood up and wiped a tear from her eye. "I was just another experiment. What made her different?"
She left without looking back. Yet another lead was lost forever. Still, Jessica would do her best. In spite of the fact that for the first time she doubted that her best would be good enough.
David wasted no time picking up where he'd left off. After all, there were still women in Alsterase he hadn't screwed. He didn't really like taking Alexi with him on his nightly excursions, but RJ more or less insisted. No doubt her way of punishing David for insisting that they take on Alexi, whom she hated.
David didn't understand what was happening. On the raids, he and RJ had been as close as ever. Maybe closer. But since they'd been home, he felt a distance growing between them. She seemed cool to him, at times even argumentative.
He didn't much care for the sleeping arrangements, either. He still slept in the bed, but RJ didn't always sleep with him. She would be in the bed when he came in most times, but as soon as he lay down, she would get up, grab a blanket, and find a piece of floor. This habit was all the more irritating because Whitey Baldor had a way of finding out where she was and moving so that he woke up in the morning with his head between RJ's tits. There was no doubt in David's mind that the giant was tragically in love with RJ. Tragically, because it was just as obvious that RJ was too focused on overthrowing the Reliance to even notice.
RJ, Whitey, Levits, and Mickey were discussing important business.
"So do we eat the lobsters or the crabs?"
There was much discussion, but they finally decided on the crabs. Whitey had his hand down RJ's shirt, and was sucking on her neck. This had become so commonplace that she barely noticed anymore.
"Keep an eye on Alexi, boys. I don't trust him. Not because he'd go to the Reliance, but because he wants to be me."
"He's quite a piece of work," Levits said, taking a drink from his glass. "Last night he informed me that I was sleeping on his piece of floor."
"He damn near got us all killed out there," RJ said making a face as she remembered the sight of David's leg.
"Why not just kill him and get it over with?" Mickey asked.
"Because he's useful for the time being," RJ said, taking a drag off her cigarette.
"If had told me what to do, would kick butt," Mickey said, in Levits' direction.
"Yeah, right," Levits said.
"Well, would if was your size."
"Hey, just because I'd rather move than get my face kicked in . . ."
"Don't get your panties in a knot, Levits. Cowardice I can tolerate, treachery I cannot." She took a long drink, then swallowed thoughtfully. Whitey's hand had found its way to her breast, his lips had moved to her earlobe, and Levits now found it impossible to concentrate on anything else.
"How can you talk when he's doing that?" Levits wanted to know. Whitey pulled away, as if giving up.
"I ask myself that at least a hundred and fifty times a day," he said with a sigh.
RJ smiled and shrugged. "What can I say? After awhile you get used to anything."
"I know what I'd like you to get used to," Whitey said slyly.
Levits laughed heartily. "I've got an embroidered picture of her talking all the way through it, and you being happy."
They all laughed, then ordered another round of drinks while they waited for their dinner. By the time dinner got there everyone but RJ was about half drunk.
David was having a rare night. He had put his hook out in several bars, and hadn't had so much as a nibble. They had worked their way back to the Golden Arches.
"Cheer up, David," Alexi said, rapping him in a friendly manner on the shoulder. "You always have RJ."
"Huh?" David asked, never taking his eyes off a brunette at the bar.
"RJ. You know," Alexi made an obscene gesture which took both hands.
David shook his head decisively. "RJ and I have never . . ." He made the same gesture.
"Give me a break. I've seen you sleep with her," Alexi said. "Whose virtue are you trying to protect here, David? This is RJ. RJ, who fucks Whitey Baldor, of all people."
David didn't like RJ's name being said in the same sentence as "fucks."
"RJ doesn't screw me, and I don't think she does him, either," David said hotly.
"Ah, come on, David! Get your head out of your ass! RJ is half Argy. Those damned hybrid bitches could screw a mink to death. Literally. I knew a guy had his neck broke by one. They're really strong, and when they have orgasm, they just lose it. I had one myself once . . . ."
"An orgasm?" David said flippantly.
"No, an Argy. It was a trip, like nothing I've ever had before or since."
David didn't know why Alexi was making him so mad. Maybe because he had finally began to see what RJ had seen all along. For instance right now Alexi was trying to belittle RJ's importance by making her into an object for sex.
"Alexi," David hissed the name through clenched teeth. "If it comes to a choice between you and RJ, RJ always wins. You try to hurt her in any way, and I'll stop you myself."
Alexi laughed nervously. "Calm down, old man, I have no designs on our intrepid leader."
"Make sure you keep it that way," David spat.
Suddenly, the bar was deathly quiet. David turned to see who was fighting and why. In the doorway stood a tall, slender man with immaculate, short-cropped black hair and coal black eyes. He wore a two-piece black leather suit and spit-and-polish black boots. He had an air of importance about him, and while it was obvious that he was out of his element, it was just as obvious that he was not afraid.
He looked around the bar for several minutes, then turned and left.
Curious, David followed him with Alexi scrambling behind him. The man was stepping into—much to David's disbelief—a bright red air-car.
The man turned, looked at David and Alexi and smiled. "Ah, you look familiar."
"Kill him; he's Reliance," Alexi said urgently.
"What do you want here?" David asked in his most intimidating tone of voice.
"I am looking for my sister," he said simply. "You are not my sister, so good day to you." He started to get in his car.
"Perhaps we could help you," David said, grabbing the man's arm.
The man looked down at David's hand curiously, but was still unconcerned. There was only one explanation for this man and his attire. It wouldn't be the first time some well-to-do Reliance brat had run off to Alsterase to catch a glimpse of the other side. They usually had to be rescued by siblings or parents. After all, a well-to-do (and therefore military) Reliance family wouldn't want it known that their precious little darling had been consorting with the scum of Alsterase.
The problem was, it explained the man's presence all too well, and was a perfect cover for a Reliance spy.
"What does your sister look like?" David asked carefully.
"I remember, and I'll know her when I find her. Now, if you'll excuse me." He started to pull away, and Alexi started to hit him.
David grabbed Alexi's arm. "I'm going to ask you again. What does your sister look like?"
Suddenly, the man's face seemed to light up. He raised his arm and waved extravagantly. "That's what my sister looks like."
David turned and saw, to his amazement, RJ and her crew getting ready to enter the hotel.
David started to question the man, but he was gone.
He bounded over the car and ran towards the woman.
David went after him. He tackled the man just feet from RJ.
When she heard the commotion, RJ turned, laser in hand.
The man shook David off, and stood up in a single movement.
RJ looked at the man in disbelief. "Poley?"
"RJ!" He clapped his hands together. "I think I am excited."
RJ laughed, then moved forward to hug him. He didn't hug her back. "Poley, what on earth are you doing here?"
Before he could answer, David demanded. "Is this man really your brother?"
RJ looked at Poley and smiled broadly. She nodded her head. "Yes. Yes, he is." She saw the air car and made all the right assumptions.
"Levits, take that thing and park it on the roof."
"Well, that ought to make fatso really happy," Levits mumbled as he went to move the car.
RJ took Poley's hand. "Come on, let's go up to the room."
In the room, David silently fumed as he listened to RJ and her brother talk.
"You never answered me, Poley. What are you doing here?" Poley was more or less a component of Stewart. Till now, she had always assumed that Poley was pretty much dysfunctional without Stewart. Apparently, that wasn't true.
"Our father sent me," Poley answered.
David snorted angrily. Not just a brother, but her father was still living.
RJ ignored David. "Why, Poley? Why did Father send you here?"
"To help you." Poley watched David. He didn't understand the man's reaction, and he found it curious. "Because he doesn't like J-6."
RJ didn't like that term, and she decided the rest of their conversation should be conducted in private.
"What else have you lied about, RJ?" David demanded. He was ignored.
RJ grabbed Poley by the hand and started to pull him towards the bathroom.
"Hybrid bitch," David cursed.
This got RJ's attention. She swung around to face him. "What did you say?"
"He called you a hybrid bitch," Whitey said, helpfully.
"Thanks a lot," David mumbled.
"No problem," the giant said with a smile.
RJ pulled Poley into the bathroom and shut the door, which Whitey and Mickey had replaced in their absence.
David glared at the closed door. He was being shut out. He was slowly being replaced in RJ's life.
"OK, Poley, I'll bite. What's a J-6?" RJ asked.
"Who," he corrected. "J-6 is Senator of Zone 2-A, and she is from the same batch as yourself."
RJ sat down heavily on the toilet seat.
"That explains a lot."
Poley nodded.
"How many of us did Stewart make?" She had always assumed that she was part of a batch. This just confirmed it.
"Twelve. But, as far as we know, you and J-6 are the only ones still operational. However J-6's calling unit was damaged, so who knows? You may all still be operational. You are the strongest, brightest, et cetera."
RJ smiled. It had always been obvious that Poley had been based on Stewart.
Stewart had told her that for some reason, her defect—the jerking arm—was directly related to other, more favorable aspects of her physical makeup. Now it made sense that he had come to this judgment by assessing her against others.
She started to fill Poley in with all he needed to know to function in this new environment. The last thing she told him was. "I want you to monitor Alexi."
"May I know why?"
"Because I don't trust him. That's why."
Poley nodded.
"Now, tell me about J-6."
"What the hell are they doing in there?" David asked in frustration. He moved closer to the door.
"Get back," RJ warned from inside.
"What are they talking about for so long? And why is it such a big secret?" Alexi asked, trying to add to the paranoia. "I don't like it."
"And I don't like you," Whitey growled.
"And I need to use the john," Levits said, uncomfortably.
"Go out the window," David suggested, flopping down on the bed. He had more important things to worry about than Levits' toileting needs.
"I would if I only had to whizz," Levits said, jumping around in an odd way.
"There's probably a charge for shitting on the side walk," Whitey said lightly. "After all, this is a classy joint."
"Ha, ha," Levits said. "It's easy for you to make jokes. Your piles aren't backing up."
"I don't understand. Why wouldn't she come over? What is her tie to the Reliance?" RJ smiled crookedly. "Besides being a Senator I mean."
"Governor Bristol."
"Yes, I killed him. So?" She was growing impatient with him.
"He was J-6's lover . . ."
"Her what?" RJ shouted. She put her hand to her mouth. "He was her what?" she repeated, quietly.
"You have total recall." Poley didn't understand the necessity of repeating himself. Perhaps she had become partly dysfunctional.
"Humor me," RJ said acidly. She just couldn't have heard him correctly.
Poley shrugged. "She said he was her lover. I have no reason to believe that she lied." He went on, "She is very intent on killing you."
RJ was thoughtful. This could change a lot of things, or it could mean nothing at all.
"I have to say that both Stewart and I were very surprised. We had naturally assumed that in any kind of sexual relationship, considering your maternal parentage and your massive strength, that you would crush your mate to death during orgasm."
"Thank you very much, Poley," RJ said with a sigh.
"You're welcome." He smiled his very best synthetic smile. Sarcasm was more or less wasted on the robot.
As they emerged from the bathroom, Levits danced in. He came out some time later, a very relieved look on his face.
There were a lot of things she should have been mulling over, many things that should have been occupying her brain. Important things. Things that needed all her attention. But all she could think about was that J-6 had had a lover. She'd had sex with a human man, and he'd survived. Been quite healthy, actually, before RJ killed him.
Everyone else went to bed long before RJ did. When she finally did, she crawled into bed with David. This time he got up and moved to the floor. Damn, this was just what she needed. He was mad at her. Probably because she hadn't told him about her family. But how could she?
She looked to where he tossed and turned on the floor and smiled. Good, he couldn't sleep either. It wasn't much of a consolation. She didn't want him to be mad at her. He had called her a hybrid bitch! The nerve, the gall of the man! If he was mad, that was his own fault. Piss on him! Three minutes later, she joined him on the floor. She put her hand on his shoulder.
"David, I'm sorry."
He harrumphed.
"Oh, come on, David, quit acting like a baby."
"You lied to me!" he said in disbelief. "You looked me right in the eye and told me a bold-faced lie."
"Ah, come on, David," she said, with equal disbelief. "At worst it was a little white lie."
"A little white lie?" David nearly yelled. RJ put a finger over his lips, and he lowered his voice. "You told me you had no family. You told me you were raised Elite."
"You called me a hybrid bitch." RJ countered.
"Don't change the subject," David said hotly. "You lied to me."
"You called me a hybrid bitch." Suddenly, she didn't want to make up with him anymore. She started to get up, and he grabbed her arm. For a moment she froze. She looked at where his hand touched her arm. Then she did something that shocked her at least as much as it did him.
She kissed him.
Because it was a reflex action, he kissed her back without thinking. He found her mouth a warm, wonderful, and wildly erotic place to be. He felt her hands running recklessly over his body. He could actually hear her heart pounding. His hands began their own exploration, almost without direction from his mind. She had an amazingly fascinating body, smooth but not soft. She had great breasts. Suddenly, her kisses became more demanding, he felt her hand at his waist undoing his pants. It came to him all at once. It was RJ's breast in his hand, RJ's tongue climbing down his throat, RJ's hips moving seductively against his.
He couldn't do this. Not with RJ. It would be like doing his sister. He tried to push her away, but RJ didn't want to be pushed.
"RJ," David said, pulling his lips away from her. She still wasn't responding. "RJ, for God's sake."
RJ was confused. Why was he doing this? Had she hurt him? She let him go. She looked at him. He wasn't in pain. He was fine. So, what was the problem?
David could see the confusion on her face. Knowing that hybrids were at least somewhat empathic, he rushed to explain.
"RJ . . ." How to word this? He ran a gentle hand over her hair. "You are beautiful, and by far the most exciting woman I've ever known. I would make love to you in a minute if you were any other woman in the world, but you're not. You're my best friend. I love you in a way that I have never loved anyone else, but I don't love you that way. And I can't just have sex with you because . . . well, I wouldn't feel right if I did."
She felt like a fool. She felt raw and exposed. What should she say? What could she say? "I'm sorry," she finally ground out.
"Me, too," David said with a shy smile.
"Good night." RJ got to her feet. Damn! She had never felt like this in her life. Well, maybe just that once when she'd been showering with a lot of men on . . . No, she'd never felt like this. There lay Whitey. Whitey loved her. He would hold her. He would comfort her, and she felt a great need to be comforted.
Besides, J-6 had had sex. Now RJ wanted it. Now that she knew it was possible. Right now. Whitey would be only too happy to oblige her.
She lay down at his back, put her arm around him, and kissed his neck. She ran her hand over his bare back. "Whitey . . ."
"No, RJ," Whitey's voice was cool, and she could feel his pain even if she didn't understand it.
"Why not?" RJ said in disbelief. "Come on, Whitey." She kissed his back.
"No, RJ! And you know why," he said firmly.
RJ got up and stormed out of the apartment, stopping only long enough to grab her chain.
Whitey went into the bathroom and stepped—with his pants still on—into the shower.
David went into the bathroom. "Was that really necessary?" David demanded. He didn't know why he was so angry at Whitey. Perhaps because he thought RJ should have what she wanted, and he couldn't give it to her. "Excuse me if I sound stupid. But haven't you been trying to get in that woman's pants ever since you met her?"
Whitey turned the water off. He turned to face David, trying very hard to hate him. He couldn't really. After all, it wasn't David's fault. In fact, David was telling him to do something that he wanted to do. "You're a fool, David."
"ME? I don't want to ball her," David said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You know RJ. Do you actually think she's going to give you a second chance?"
Whitey grabbed a towel and started to dry his head. "I don't expect you to understand this, David." He threw the towel on the floor, and looked into David's eyes. "I know RJ and I will be together someday. But when she comes to me, I don't want it to be because you wouldn't ball her first. Call me a romantic, but I don't want her in my bed simply because you didn't want her in yours."
"All well and good, Whitey, but while you're sitting here nursing your wounded pride, do you know what she's doing?"
"She's walking off some steam," Whitey said, without blinking an eye.
"Wishful thinking," David said. "She's out looking for a stud."
"Well, that's her business." Whitey knew better. He took off his wet pants and went and lay down on the bed. He stared at the ceiling. He was hurt. He had fantasized that when she was ready she would come to him. But she hadn't. She'd gone to David. He had been trying to convince himself that RJ didn't love David, but now it was pretty obvious that she did. But David didn't love her. In fact, Whitey wasn't sure David was capable of loving anyone but himself.
Whitey smiled. As long as David stayed out of the running, he could make RJ love him. It was all a matter of time. He decided to sleep. He was going to need his strength.
RJ walked through the dark streets of Alsterase. Most places were still open, and she stopped many times for a drink. The night air was cool, but even shoeless RJ was not uncomfortable. The only weapon she had with her was her chain. It was wrapped around her right shoulder and rested on her left hip. It now had a small fortune in coins wrapped around its links, and she looked at them as she walked along.
She had never been so confused in all her life. She didn't even try to bring reason to her random thoughts. She just let them bounce around in her head. Occasionally, they ran headlong into each other, and caused even more chaos.
This seemed like a good thing to do. The last thing she wanted to do was think real, solid thoughts about sex, J-6, kissing David, or trying to screw Whitey. She surely didn't want to give any thought to having been turned down by not one, but two men in one night! She didn't want to think about how wonderful it had felt to be held, or how awful it was to be pushed away. Life sucks, she thought, and kicked a can so hard it went out of sight.
David had pushed her away. That had hurt worse than any injury she had ever suffered. She'd never known defeat. People said it was a humbling feeling, but it just pissed RJ off.
She was horny. She admitted this. So what? Why shouldn't she be? She was a sixty-four-year-old virgin. She shuddered at the thought.
Still, it was probably a good thing that they had both turned her down. After all, just because J-6 had done it, didn't mean that she could.
She saw a man who caught her eye and started to follow him. He was a total stranger. She could sleep with him. If she crushed him to death as Poley had so eloquently put it, who cared? But only seconds after she'd started to follow him, her pace slowed. It just didn't sound like much fun, doing it with a perfect stranger. Especially if there was a good chance that he might also say no. She'd had enough rejection for one night.
She would have gone home then, if it weren't for the fact that she'd made such a total ass of herself. She walked around till about ten o'clock the next morning. Then, realizing that she had to go home sometime, she started back. Maybe they'd all be out.
They weren't. Whitey was still there. For a moment, she thought about turning around and leaving.
"Your brother said you'd come back here, then took off with the others to go look for you." Whitey smiled. "I figured your brother would know you best." He knew damn good and well there was no way that Poley was her brother, but he would play along.
"I'm sorry about last night," she said sheepishly. Then her frustration reared its ugly head, and she screamed. "And drop dead!"
Whitey smiled. "I love you, too, RJ."
She threw herself down face first on the bed. "God, my head feels like jelly."
She rolled over and looked at him. She felt the love radiating from him, and she wanted it. Without a word, he lay down beside her.
She didn't really know who started it. If she kissed him, or he her. But she was in his arms, and it felt good. It felt right.
Whitey had never wanted anything the way he wanted her. It had never been so personal. He had never loved anyone else. They exchanged caresses and kisses. Clothes were discarded like old rags. He wanted her; he needed her. She was everything he had dreamed that she would be, and in a few minutes she would be his. Then she hurt him. Nothing terrible, and he tried to ignore it, till it reached the point that he couldn't. He'd hoped that she'd realize what she was doing and stop, but she wasn't.
"RJ," he swallowed hard. "RJ, you're hurting me."
She recoiled from him like he was hot.
He reached out and moved the strands of hair away from her face. "Don't stop," he kissed her gently on the lips. "Just be more careful."
She looked at him with wide eyes. He knew. Damn him, he knew what she was. She sat up.
He got up on one elbow and looked up at her, unafraid.
"How long have you known?" she asked gently. She was having trouble grasping the fact that he knew what she was, and yet he still loved her. Still wanted to show his love this way.
"I had my suspicions from the first." He ran his fingertip over her lips. "I'd never had any one whip me, not even a hybrid. Then when David tried to take the Pronuses for a headache . . ." He shrugged.
"And you don't care?" she asked in disbelief.
He shrugged and smiled. "I don't care." He moved to kiss her on the lips, and she jumped up and went to the window. She stared down at the streets below. He moved up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her.
"I can't . . ."
"You can, RJ. If you just will," Whitey said. "Damn it, RJ, I don't want anyone else. There hasn't been anyone else since the night you gave me the laser."
RJ was only a little surprised by his announcement. "Whitey, if you know what I am, you must realize that there is a very good chance that you might not live through our mating. I thought I could contain myself, but obviously I can't."
"I'm willing to take the risk." He kissed the back of her neck.
"Well, I'm not." She moved away from him, and started to get dressed. "I'm not willing to risk killing you so that I can get my rocks off."
"Damn you, RJ." He put his pants back on, feeling far too vulnerable without them. "I know you won't hurt me."
"I already have," she said sadly, looking at the bruise already welling up on his arm. She walked over to him and took his hand gently. She looked up into his eyes. "You know that I know how you feel about me, and you know that I don't feel that same way about you. I wish I did, but I don't, and for us to lie to each other would be pretty pointless. But I do care about you, Whitey. I can twist a two-inch piece of steel in half with my bare hands. If I lose control, even for a moment . . ."
Whitey swallowed hard. "You will love me, RJ."
"I'm sorry." And she was.
He took her in his arms, and they held each other.
"Just don't say no, RJ," Whitey whispered. "Don't say we'll never be together, because I can't live believing that's true. Don't shut me out, because, whether you admit it or not, you need me as much as I need you." He laughed nervously. "Would you listen to me? I sound like some love struck third class farm worker." All traces of humor left his voice. "But I mean it, RJ. All of it."
She knew he did.
What did he mean, she needed him? Needed him for what? Then she realized how good it felt to be held by him. To know he loved her. The unselfish thing would have been to wish that he didn't love her. Instead, she was glad he did. She pushed away from him, knowing that her convictions would wane if she didn't put some distance between them.
Just then, David and the others returned. "Thank God, you're all right!" David exclaimed.
"Why wouldn't I be?" RJ said coolly, and started trolling the room for food. She found half of a peanut butter sandwich under a dirty shirt and started to eat it. "Poley, go get me something to eat. I'm starving to death."
Poley nodded and left.
"So, RJ. Find what you were looking for?" Alexi asked sarcastically.
"Cool it, Alexi," David warned.
RJ took a final bite of the sandwich, and threw the crust—which was hard enough to do damage to normal teeth—out the window.
"Alexi, is my . . . for lack of a better word . . . sex life any of your concern?"
"No," Alexi said with a smug grin. "It's mostly David's."
RJ hid her embarrassment by starting to search the room for food again. She pretended not to have heard Alexi's answer.
Alexi wasn't pleased at all. "Actually, now that I think about it, I guess it's everyone's concern."
RJ knew what he meant, and she still chose to ignore him. She knew that he was trying to get a rise out of her, and she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction . . . At least not until he made her mad enough so that she could feel good about killing him. Not that she would feel bad now.
Whitey didn't feel the same way about it, however. His wound was too new and too deep. "Shut the fuck up." He spat at Alexi across the room.
"Oh, that's right," Alexi laughed. "She tried to screw you, too."
That was too much. Whitey had all this pent-up energy, and frustration. Killing Alexi was a perfect way of relieving himself of both. He ran at Alexi, and pounded him into the plasterboard wall with his shoulder. The old plasterboard broke, and clouds of dust filled the air. You could just barely make out Whitey pounding on Alexi's face. RJ continued to hunt for something to eat.
David tried to pull Whitey off, but soon realized he could accomplish nothing alone. Levits quietly snuck out the door, and Mickey scrambled up on the bed and started jumping up and down screaming encouragement at Whitey. Not that he needed any.
"RJ!" David screamed as he hung on Whitey's back. There was no response from RJ. She'd given up on her quest for food and was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. "RJ, for God's sake!" he screamed.
RJ walked from the bathroom, still brushing her teeth."What?" she asked, through a mouthful of toothpaste, as if she were really put out.
"What?" David screamed in disbelief. "He's killing Alexi! Do you think you might give me a hand?"
She clapped, and went back into the bathroom.
"That's not funny, RJ!" David screamed.
Whitey took a break from beating Alexi just long enough to throw David off his back. David landed at RJ's feet as she stepped out of the bathroom. "Would you help?" David begged.
David didn't care that Alexi had insulted her, and RJ certainly didn't care whether Whitey killed Alexi or not.
She looked at Alexi. The only thing that was holding him up were the blows which pounded continuously into his head. He'd be dead soon. If he wasn't already. David didn't want him dead. It was time to strike a deal.
"If I make him stop, do you promise never to mention what happened last night?"
David didn't have to think about that offer. It was what he wanted anyway. "No problem."
RJ walked over to Whitey, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Let him go," she whispered gently.
Whitey let go of Alexi, and he fell with a sick thump to the floor. Before Whitey could change his mind, David grabbed Alexi and pulled him into the bathroom. Mickey followed. He helped David put him into the tub. David started filling it with cold water. He took a damp rag, and started cleaning up what was left of Alexi's face.
Alexi coughed. He came to a bit, and immediately spit blood and two teeth from his mouth.
"Well, you've done it this time, Alexi. It wasn't enough that RJ hated your guts. You weren't happy till you made an enemy of Whitey Baldor," David said.
"I don't like you, either," Mickey said, and seeing that Alexi was going to live after all, stomped out of the room.
"You saved me," Alexi said, in a thankful, if somewhat battered voice.
"Actually, RJ did," David said.
"RJ?" Alexi couldn't fathom that. Even in his current state, he was aware that this sounded all wrong.
"It surprised the hell outta me, too." David cleaned Alexi's wounds. He hoped that the cold water would keep him coherent. Some of these wounds needed stitches, and he only knew one person who could do that. He went to get RJ, and found her with Baldor's tongue down her throat. Now would not be a good time to ask her to stitch up Alexi's head, if there really was a good time for that.
Mickey lay in the middle of the bed, watching the couple and obviously getting his jollies, David gave him a dirty look, and motioned with his head towards the door. Mickey just grinned and shook his head no.
David sighed; he was surrounded by animals.
The fat manager waddled into the apartment. "OK, where is it?" he demanded.
RJ pushed Whitey away. "What?" she demanded not bothering to straighten her clothes. "You could have knocked."
"The door was open," he said. "Don't try to change the subject. Where's the body?"
"There is no body," David assured him. The blood dripping from the rag he held in his hand didn't add credibility to his words.
"Mind if I look around?" the manager asked skeptically.
"Be my guest," RJ said with a shrug.
He waddled into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he waddled out. "That man's almost dead."
"Almost only counts in explosives," RJ said with a sweet smile.
"If he dies . . ."
"You'll be the first to know," RJ assured him.
"There's a charge for stiffs, you know."
"Really? I wasn't aware of that." RJ looked at Whitey. "You're going to have to take better care of your toys."
"There's a rule. You'll find it in your lease." He cleared his throat and recited. "All sex acts involving more than one person must be conducted with the door closed."
He looked at Mickey. "Want to get the door?" Then he looked expectantly at Whitey and RJ.
"Get the hell out of here, or there really will be a stiff in our room," Whitey spat.
He made a face and left.
Whitey watched as RJ moved swiftly away from him. But putting distance between them wasn't going to work forever; it was just a matter of time now, and time was the one thing Whitey had plenty of.