Immortal Cascade 01 Immortal Companion Page 20
"Hey! I'm all for a little lip lock, but don't you think that's going a little far?" he protested jokingly.
"Just trying to keep your interest," she said, running both hands down his back, pressing his hips against her. She kissed him hard enough to take his breath away, then released him. "Come on, let's see if this army is ready to move out. It's pretty late." Taking his hand, she led him back inside.
They ended up closing the place down at Joe's and decided to spend the night at MacLeod's spare apartment. Sleeping arrangements were a little cramped, but they managed, Dee and Dana in one bedroom, Jim in the other, and Mulder and Blair on the two sofas.
Dee lay on her side of the double bed, listening to the steady even breathing of the other four people in the loft. They had fallen asleep almost immediately, and she was still awake, her mind and soul restless. Finally, she got up, and taking a blanket from the linen closet, she tiptoed through the living room, and headed for the roof. Spreading the blanket out, she lay down on her back and regarded the stars. She felt them calling to her, and, closing her eyes and concentrating on her breathing, she slipped easily into a meditative state.
Opening her eyes, she found herself in a familiar forest, dressed in the garb of an Amazon warrior. It was night, but the moon and stars lit the well traveled path, and she started walking, her long strides taking her quickly to her destination, the Temple of Artemis. Entering the empty temple, she crossed the marble floor to the altar, kneeling in front of the statue of the patron goddess of the Amazons. "Artemis," she prayed, "my Goddess, my Teacher, please show me the way I must go. Please give me a sign, let me know that this is the path you have chosen for me, to once again wear the mantle of Champion."
She remained on her knees for a long time, waiting patiently, listening to the sound of her breathing echoing through the vast chamber. Finally the flapping of great wings from behind her broke the silence, but Diandra did not lift her head, nor turn, afraid she would find her hopes dashed if she did. Soft footsteps sounded on the cold tile, but still she did not move.
"Diandra," came the gentle voice, its quiet authority still present after nearly three thousand years. "My heart, my soul, please look at me."
Slowly, slowly, she turned, her eyes already filling with tears. "Lydia... " she whispered, and then the Amazon Queen was kneeling beside her, her arms going around the warrior's shaking shoulders.
She held her for a long time, until the Immortal's sobs turned to sniffles, and she raised her tear-streaked face to hers. Lydia's small fingers brushed her cheeks, wiping away the last of her tears. "My love," she said, "it has been so long, and yet I never stopped believing you would find me again."
Diandra straightened in the other woman's arms. "After all this time, why now, why now? I've been here many times before, and you were never here."
"You had no need of your Companion then," she replied. "Now that you have once again accepted your role as Champion, I am here for you, but only in the spirit world."
Dee drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her folded hands. "Then I am still alone in the real world. How can I be a Champion, when you are here, and I am there?"
"A Champion is always a Champion, if she chooses to be. You have chosen." Lydia clasped her consort's hand. "You will find a Companion of your own."
"You know about Blair," Dee said.
The red haired queen nodded. "Yes, it was I who sent him to you. You needed him to find yourself again, and he needed you to complete his training as a Companion. But that time has passed, Diandra. It is time for you to move on, to seek out your soulmate."
"You are my soulmate," she breathed, feeling tears burning her eyes again.
Lydia hugged the other woman, leaning her cheek against her dark hair. "Ah, my heart, do not grieve for me. I will always be with you. You carry me with you, wherever you go, in here," she said, laying her hand on Diandra's heart. "But you have been blessed by the Goddess, been given the chance to use your strength and your courage to change the world, to help others, and so you have done. But you were not meant to do it alone. When the time is right, for both you and your companion, they will appear to you." With those words, she made a sweeping gesture with her hand, and Dee caught a glimpse of snowy mountain peaks and the feeling of the wind rushing past the wings of a great bird, larger and darker than her companion's spirit guide, the red falcon. As quickly as it came, the impression was gone. "When you need them, they will be there." Lydia rose to her feet, and turned as if to go.
"Wait!" Dee cried, scrambling up. "What about Blair? I know he can't be my guide, but I love him."
Reaching up, the smaller woman took the warrior's face in her hands, blue eyes meeting blue eyes in a steady gaze. "As he loves you, Diandra. But sometimes love is not enough; sometimes duty must come first." With those words, Lydia stood on tiptoe, and kissed her Champion. Diandra's arms went around her, lifting her off the floor, holding her close, drinking in all that was her Companion. When they finally parted, Lydia stepped back, and with a quick shimmer, the red falcon took to the air, circling Diandra once before winging into the starlit sky.
Dee opened her eyes to another sky, lit by the man-made stars of street lamps. She felt the sob rising in her chest, and she let it go, tears flowing as freely in this world as they had in the other. Strong arms tightened around her, and she leaned her head on a warm shoulder, a familiar heartbeat thumping just below her ear. "It's okay," he said, "it's okay. Just let it out. I'm here, I'll take care of you." Blair pressed his lips against her hair, and rocked the distraught Immortal until she fell into a restless sleep.
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Blair had been asleep on the couch, when something woke him. He gazed around the room, his eyes adjusting to the gray light coming through the windows, picking out Mulder's sleeping form on the sofa opposite him. Something didn't feel right, and he rose quietly, padding first to Jim's room, finding him snoring softly, sprawled across the bed. Crossing to the other bedroom, he peered inside the half open door, discovering only one small person in the bed, when there should have been two. "Dee," he thought, "where are you?"
As soon as the words formed in his mind, he felt the champion's pull, and he followed it out the door of the loft, into the hallway, and up the stairs at the end. Opening the door at the top of the stairs, he found himself on the roof. Stepping out of the stairwell, he saw Diandra stretched out on her back on a quilt, her eyes closed, her hands folded across her stomach. He approached quietly, a little alarmed when she took no notice of his presence, but then he recognized the trance, and knew she was walking the spirit world. Confident that she would come back when she was ready, yet concerned she was vulnerable in that state, he sat down on the blanket beside her, keeping her company.
He must have sat there an hour or more, his leg starting to go to sleep, when her eyes opened, and she gave a heart-wrenching sob. Leaning over her, he pulled her into an embrace, murmuring reassurances to her, rocking her as she cried. He laid down with her on the blanket, pillowing her head on his shoulder, stroking her back, feeling her sobs turn to hiccups, and then finally to the slow, even breaths of sleep.
Blair relaxed then, finally taking a moment to stare up at the stars overhead, watching the clouds roll in, wondering what she had seen that had upset her so. Whatever it was, he would get it out of her, get her to talk about it. He knew from experience that not sharing disturbing visions was asking for trouble. Tucking the end of the blanket around her, he closed his own eyes, slipping into a light doze.
It wasn't long before he felt her awaken. "Lobo?" she asked, "what are you doing here?" Raising up on one elbow, she looked down at him.
"Um, I got lonely?" he replied with a grin. "Seriously, I woke up, and you were gone. I followed your...I don't know what to call it... your essence... up here. You were meditating, so I just waited, and when you came out of it, you were upset."
At
his words, he saw a wave of sadness wash over her face. "I saw Lydia," she said softly. She didn't know how to explain what the Companion had told her, so she didn't try.
"That must have been hard," Blair said. "I know from what you've said, that you've missed her very much."
"It was," Dee said, lying down next to him again. "She said some things I'm still trying to make sense of."
Blair pulled her a little closer. "I never told you this, but I think I met her in a dream. She looks like Dana, doesn't she?"
Dee nodded, her chin rubbing his chest. "Yes, Lydia told me she'd sent you to me. And she does look a lot like Dana. Imagine how I felt when I met Dana. For a while, I thought Lydia had come back to me, but I was wrong. The resemblance is only skin deep."
Blair shivered at that, pondering meeting a Jim who wasn't really Jim, not where it counted. Changing the subject, he said lightly, "So, we gonna stay up here all night?"
Dee kissed his jaw softly. "It's almost morning, Lobo. Not much point in going to bed. And much as I like Dana, she is not my preferred bed partner."
"Is that a hint?" he asked, rolling them both over, so she was on her back with him leaning over her. Dipping his head down, he captured her lips with his own, feeling her respond to the kiss, her hands going around his back, sliding under his T-shirt, her fingers tracing his spine. Planting kisses across her cheek and down her neck, he pushed her tank top up, his hands stroking her sides as he nibbled and kissed his way down her chest and stomach. She yanked his shirt over his head, needing the sensation of skin on skin. With a low moan, she curled her fingers around the back of his neck, guiding him to the places desperately in need of kisses. A gentle tug on his hair moved him back over her, her blue eyes burning into his own.
"I think," she said, her hands working at removing the rest of his clothes, "that it's my turn to be on top." With that, she tumbled him onto his back, her mouth and hands working in tandem to set him on fire. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware of the skies opening, and warm, fat raindrops kissing his skin, but all he could feel, all he could see, was the dark beauty over him, water glistening on her skin, her hands gripping his as she danced to an inner music, taking him with her on her heavenward flight.
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Jim lay on his back on the unfamiliar bed, the storm having woken him. Instinctively, he reached out for his partner's heartbeat to anchor him in this strange place. To his surprise, he found it several floors away instead of in the next room, its pounding rhythm nearly sending the sentinel after him, until he realized it was accompanied by low moans of pleasure, and the sweet nothings shared between two lovers. Rolling over onto his good side, he pulled the spare pillow over his head, trying without success to block out the sounds of what his heart felt was his guide's treason.
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When Dee and Blair finally made it back inside, they were both soaking wet. Not wanting to wake the others, as it was still an hour or so before dawn, they made their way to the dojo's laundry room, using the dryer to dry their clothes and the blanket, while they waited wrapped in towels. Once their things were dry, they went quietly back upstairs, and Blair settled back down on the sofa to get a couple hours rest. He was quickly joined by Dee, who whispered that Dana was taking her side of the bed out of the middle. Rolling onto his side, he made room for her, spooning up behind her and covering them both with the blanket. They were soon fast asleep.
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Jim was the first one up the next morning, and wasn't too surprised to walk out into the living room and discover Dee and Blair curled up together, given what he'd overheard the night before. Walking into the kitchen, he rummaged around in the cabinets and located the coffee. Once he'd started it brewing, he took another look at the sleeping pair. He had to admit they looked happy. Blair lay on his back, with Dee on her side next to him, her head on his shoulder and one arm draped over his chest. Blair's hand rested on her arm, and his cheek leaned against her hair, his expression relaxed. Dee's lips were curved in a tiny smile, and Jim again saw the sensual woman beneath the warrior's mask she had always presented to him. No wonder he and Blair had never seen eye to eye about her, if this is the way she was with Sandburg. It was almost as if they had been dealing with two different women. He watched as she snuggled closer to Blair, his arm tightening around her in reflex. Jim shook his head, and turned his attention back to the coffee maker. Deal with it, Ellison, he told himself. Put Blair's needs first for once in your life.
"Is that coffee I smell?" said a familiar voice from behind him. Turning, he found a disheveled Blair pushing his hair out of his eyes, a big grin on his face.
"Yeah, Chief, it is." Pouring a cup for his partner, Jim reflected that maybe if he tried really hard, he could learn to tolerate Diandra for Blair's sake. A woman that could get Sandburg out of bed at 6 am in the morning and have him smiling about it might not be such a bad thing.
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"Come on, Dana! Keep your guard up!" Dee chastised her student. The sharp sound of steel meeting steel filled the dojo. She lunged under the younger woman's defense, and found herself rewarded with a kick to the stomach.
"There's a reason my guard was down, Dee, and that was it," Scully said with a smile. "Mulder taught me that move."
"Uh huh," Dee said, rubbing her ribs, "let's see you capitalize on that." She brought her katana down in a powerful overhead stroke, and the two Immortals were off again, their deadly ballet using most of the gym's floor.
Jim sat on a bench to the side, watching with interest. He'd always thought of fencing as kind of a sissy sport, but the way Immortals fought, it was more like no holds barred street fighting. At times both elegant and ugly, the two women combined kick boxing, swordplay, and cat fighting. He was suddenly glad he was mortal; he wasn't sure how long he would last in a Game where the only rule appeared to be survive at any cost.
The door at the end of the dojo opened, and Mulder and Blair entered, having departed on some mysterious errand immediately after breakfast. Mulder carried a large binder under his right arm, but otherwise appeared no different than when he had left earlier. Blair must have tagged along just to keep him company, as he was empty handed. The two men, upon spying Jim, headed in his direction, taking a wide path around the sparring women.
With a final clash of swords, the dueling Immortals ended their bout, and walked over to join the three men. "Okay, Mulder, spill it," Scully said. "What vitally important, yet obscure thing have you dug up this time?" She gestured to the notebook.
"I have here, courtesy of Joe Dawson, my own personal copy of 'What Every Watcher Needs to Know'." He couldn't keep the grin from lighting up his face.
"Mulder, don't tell me you actually joined the Watchers!"
"Yep, got my own tattoo and everything." Holding out his left arm, he peeled back a gauze bandage, revealing a blue circle around a stylized "V". "Who better to document the exploits of Dana Scully, Immortal, than the person who spends the most time with her? Besides, this way I can selectively edit my reports, and we don't have to worry about some innocent Watcher stumbling over some of our government's best kept secrets."
Scully was speechless. "I... Mulder, I don't know what to say," she finally managed.
Dee elbowed her in the ribs. "Say 'thank you', Dana."
"Um, thanks, Mulder, I think. How detailed are these reports supposed to be anyway? I'd like to retain some privacy around you!"
"Okay, children, that's enough!" Dee said, clapping her hands. "You can all look at Mulder's tattoo later. Right now it's time for a little demonstration. Blair?" Turning her sword over to Dana, she grabbed two staffs, tossing one to Blair. "I think it's time Jim knew what we've been working on." Stepping out into the middle of the
floor, she moved to a ready position, the staff held in a relaxed grip.
With a glance over his shoulder at Jim, Blair followed her, hoping he wouldn't screw up and embarrass himself in front of his partner. He had a few awkward moments at first, then he had to stop thinking about Jim, and focus on Dee's fast and furious attack. His body fell into the familiar rhythm, and soon he was matching her blow for blow, their sparring quickly encompassing most of the room.
His heart in his throat, Jim watched the pair intently, certain each time Diandra brought the staff around she was going to seriously injure his guide. To his amazement, Blair met her parry for parry, lunge for lunge. In fact, if Jim didn't know better, he would say the anthropologist had the upper hand. Just as that thought passed through his mind, Blair caught the end of Dee's staff with his own, forcing it down. A snap kick to her already unbalanced pole sent it flying out of her hands. The look of surprise on her face was priceless, and Jim guessed that was the first time the Immortal had been relieved of her weapon in years. Recovering from her shock, a smile spread across her face, and she applauded. "Well done, Lobo! Well done!"