Tension's Like a Fire

They all spun around in their seats to come to face someone completely foreign to them.

“Better me than anyone else.” She lightly continued.

“Who the hell are you?” Alex barked out while gripping Jazz protectively tighter.

She smiled politely, the smile traveled higher on the side of her face that wasn’t obviously forming a bruise. “I’m Amelia.”

He all but growled because that wasn’t what he really meant and he thought that was obvious. “Why the fuck are you here?”

“It was my only chance of escape.” Her face fell in fear. “The boss wouldn’t have let me go.”

They felt sympathetic and believed her knowing the man’s track record for having women kidnapped.

“So how’d you get out?” Jack asked curiously.

“I wasn’t bound like them. I was a prisoner in a much more passive way.”

“How do we know you’re not just going to be reporting our location and any possible weaknesses to him?” Zack asked showing the final bit of suspicion that remained in the car.

“He’s the one who caused this bruise,” She gestured to the left side of her face where the bruise was still swelling and darkening. “I’m doing him no favors. He’s already stolen my power, he’s gotten all the help from me he’s gonna get. Plus he already knows your location, just doesn‘t want to use it. He‘s trying to avoid you guys until he feels absolutely prepared because you all have outstanding powers.”

They left the last part alone because it terrified them.

“Stolen your power?” Rian asked looking at her through the rearview.

“That’s his power. He’s like the sponge of our people. He soaks in our powers. That’s why he collects us. I don’t know why he needs to keep us though because once he’s taken your power it doesn’t leave him. He just has to know what your power is and be within spitting distance... Not that he has to spit on you or vice versa it was just an expression.” She rambled.

Once she finally stopped Jazz asked the question that had been plaguing her since the beginning.

“So why’d he want me?”

The red haired woman looked up to Jazz in shock. “You don’t have a power?” Her eyebrow popped up in question.

Jazz shock her head. “No, I’m just your average wimp of a girl with no special tricks up her sleeve.”

Amelia’s eyebrows arched even higher. A little “huh” in a higher pitch than her usual came from her lips. “Then I don’t know.”

“So what is your power?” Alex asked cautiously.

“Sight. Seeing what’s to come, what has been, anything the universe wants me to see.” She spoke almost regally, her words almost weren’t appropriate for this time. It’s like she was zapped there from the past.

“Guys you might want to let the girls off your laps so we don’t get pulled over.” Rian spoke to Alex and Jack glancing back at them only long enough to see them.

Jack and Alex both nodded and released the girls’ waists so they could move to the back seat with Amelia.

Amelia slid over allowing them to join her on the seat.

“So how’d you find me?” Sally finally asked the guys. She glanced around at all of them taking in all of their changes.

“Jazz has a tracking device embedded in her butt.” Jack said bluntly even though Alex never told them exactly where the tracking device was.

Jazz’s head popped up and her face showed obvious shock. She didn’t think Alex would tell that much.

Alex’s head flew up too. “I-I never said where the device was.” He managed to stammer out.

Amelia giggled at his reaction. “Obviously you didn’t have to.”

Sally looked at Jazz, “You let them take you?”

Jazz’s face became awash with modesty. “Well of course. You’re my best friend.” She spoke softly.

Sally pulled her into a hug. “Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank your brother for thinking of it.” Jazz wanted the credit to go where it was due.

“You had a good idea?” Sally asked jokingly.

“You know I didn’t have to save you.” He said shooting her a fake glare.

Jack’s face lit up at this. “It already feels like old times.”

They got home, Zack returned the keys to Jenny, and settled in.

“So where are Amelia and Sally going to sleep?” Rian asked as they all sat scattered about the living room/kitchen exhausted from the nights earlier events.

Jack looked up at wishing he had the guts to shout out that Sally could sleep with him... Not in the sexual way of course. Although he would do the latter if she really wanted to.

“We could ride the couches.” Sally offered. “I’ll take the short one and Amelia can take the long one.”

Alex was sitting in one of the tall chairs around the island with Jazz leaning against him all but falling asleep on him with his hand placed securely on her hip to keep her steady.

He yawned. “Works for me. Goodnight.” He said before getting up and guiding Jazz back to their room.

“They’re sleeping in the same room?” Sally asked with surprise written clearly on her face.

Jack looked over in the direction of Alex’s room then back to her trying not to awkwardly stare at her. “Yeah she has been since we met her.”

Those words sparked a new curiosity in her.

“How’d you guys meet her anyways?”

Sally was sitting on the smaller of the two couches -the one she‘d be sleeping on- with her legs tucked under her looking to the larger couch where Rian, Zack, and Jack had all plopped down after returning.

Amelia was standing off, gazing of into nowhere and leaning against the wall ignoring them focusing on other things. She wasn’t being rude just trying to be open for a vision if it were to come to her.

“You don’t need me to tell this I’m going to bed.” Zack said as he hoisted himself up from the couch and meandered off to his room just like Alex and Jazz had only moments before.

Jack decided to answer her question. “Some guy tried to kidnap her and we heard her scream and we came to her rescue.” He laughed to himself for a moment. “It was like we were straight out of a comic book.”

Sally laughed too imagining the comic in her head. “Yes the tight colorful spandex outfits, y’all would be The Gay Squad with Alex as your leader The Flaming Queer.”

Jack and Rian couldn’t restrain their laughter. That was truly like old times.

“Seems like you still have your brother‘s wit.” Rian said as soon as he could form words through his laughter.

“Which means you lack wit.” Jack said joking back with a smirk that was his trademark in her mind. A smirk she couldn’t forget for the life of her; a smirk she found undeniably sexy.

She did all she could to keep from jumping his bones right there.

“Oh yes Jack you who are the expert in wit. I’ve heard you tell more bad jokes than all of us combined and since meeting Jazz that’s saying a lot. That girl revels in bad jokes.” Sally quipped back.

Rian leaned farther back into the couch. “Just like old times.”

They all eventually found their ways into their beds or sprawled out on their couches.

The apartment was silent, you could hear the sounds of Jack’s snoring throughout the living room despite the fact his bedroom door was closed.

Jazz woke up hours later stiff, frightened by what she’d just seen in this dream. She had to get out of that bed ASAP.

She jumped out as quick as she could without waking Alex who seemed to sleep like a rock anyways and rushed out to the kitchen where Sally was sitting up eating ice cream.

“What’s wrong with you Jazz?” Sally asked as Jazz sat down at the table.

“I just had a nightmare about your brother.”

“Welcome to my world.” She said sarcastically.

“No you don’t understand. He was dressed up like the nurse on Enema of State.” She said with her eyes clamped shut cringing. “I mean white dress, red bra, nurses hat, blue gloves, the works.”

Sally couldn’t help but to laugh so hard she fell out of the chair. “You imagined my brother in drag!” She howled in laughter.

“I’ll never be able to look at him again.”

Sally’s howls of laughter continued and Jazz just dropped her head against the table.

Somehow all of this didn’t wake Amelia who was sleeping only a few short feet away.

As Sally's laughter slowly calmed Jazz looked up at Sally. “So what’re you doing up?”

Sally’s smile didn’t falter. “Eh, I’ve been tied to a table for days falling in and out of sleep. I’m not tired now.”

Jazz’s eyes turned to concern. “Did they do anything else to you while you were there?” She asked slowly, cautiously.

Part of her, a more self-centered part than she’d ever reveal was thinking that whatever Sally was going to describe could have happened to her. Would have happened to her if it wasn’t for the guys.

Sally’s eyes met Jazz’s and knew exactly why she asked that.

She waved her hand dismissively. “Oh nothing really. Those guys were all talk and no action.” She kindly did this so Jazz wouldn’t imagine the electricity running through her.

Jazz smiled feeling less afraid.

“God what am I going to do about this horrible image of your brother that seems burned into my brain?” Jazz asked as the image came dancing it’s way back into her head.

“Do the same thing I do, don’t look at him.” Sally continued in her jovial fashion.

Jazz’s voice dropped to a soft childlike whine. “But I want to look at him.”

The look on Sally’s face turned smug. “You so have the hots for my brother.”

Jazz’s face flushed instantly. “I never said that.” She dropped her head shyly.

“Baby, there are some things that can be left unsaid and still be obvious.” She said knowingly.

Jazz looked up guilty that she’d been caught and muttered “I hate you.” sarcastically.