Chapter 15

Angel! Lena thought, not wanting to upset their driver or lose the threads of the thoughts. You're being set up. Two of the old manager's toadies have set some sort of a trap. They think it will discredit you and Andy, and maybe, somehow, bring back the way things were. Especially the old policies about morfs.

Any details?

Not much, yet. I'll keep trying.

Do they think you're coming? Angel wondered whether their thoughts could be a deliberate ruse.

No. They know my part's finished, and are insultingly glad that I won't be there.

Angel understood, and let Lena get on with her "listening."

Angel had her father drop them off toward the back of the parking lot. She explained that she didn't want to block the parents who were dropping off carloads of customers in front of the box office. He didn't really buy it, but did as she asked. After reminding her to call when she wanted him to come get her, he drove away.

Angel called Andy. "Hey, Andy. Have you been keeping an eye on Pete and Repeat?" While the second guy was actually named Reinhardt, Angel, Lena, and Andy had taken to calling them that due to their similarity of unpleasant views and their tendency to stick together.

"As much as I can. Why?"

"They're up to something. Lena caught a stray thought about some sort of a trap, designed to discredit you and me. Any ideas what it might be?"

"A few. Is Radar coming in with you?"

"She's here. Why?"

"It might work out better if she monitors from outside for a little. If they see you come in alone, they might get careless. Especially when you start to approach whatever they've set up."

"You're devious. I like that in a man ... ager." Angel grinned. "I'll be right in."

Lena had caught the conversation, and remained out of sight for the moment.

Angel went in as usual, and thumbed in. On the way, she started thinking about what she hadn't checked and wouldn't be likely to check. They knew that she would see any contamination in the concessions area, storage areas, and theaters. And anything she found would be cleaned and disinfected right away.

Cleaned and disinfected. The cleaning supplies.

Bingo! Lena confirmed. The spray bottle Sally is about to use. Stop her - she doesn't know!

Get Andy!

On his way, up to speed.

"Sally! Put that down, and come over here, please." Sally seemed to hesitate, and Angel tapped her gold badge. That reminder that Angel was a full manager in her own right, outranking even Andy, was enough to make up her mind.

Angel looked at Sally's hands. There were areas of contamination there, from handling the bottle. The contamination was an unnatural combination of e coli and salmonella.

She pretended to be dissatisfied with some part of the confused girl's uniform, and sent her off to the break room. She turned to the conspirators. Their hands and clothes showed signs of the same contamination. She approached them, timing her steps so that she would arrive at the same time that Andy came up behind them. En route, she called Lena in.

"Your hands and clothes are unsanitary," she said without preamble. "Not at all up to company standards." They started to turn, when hands fell on their shoulders.

"Gentlemen. We need to talk. In my office. Now!" Andy was quiet but forceful.

Pete tried to brazen it out. "What did we do?" He was about to say more, when he turned his head to follow Angel's gaze. He recognized Lena as the telepath from the earlier interviews. He got a calculating look in his eyes, but said nothing more.

As they allowed Andy to lead them off to his office, followed by Lena, Angel quickly checked the hands of the other two girls in concessions. Thankfully, they were "clean", although one could use a good session with a nail brush. With an apologetic tone, she instructed them to "hold the fort", then dashed off to the break room.

"No time to explain right now." she told the frightened girl, "You are not in trouble, but you are in a little danger. That spray cleaner was contaminated." Angel gestured toward the sink, indicating that the girl should wash her hands.

In the meantime, she was using her other hand to speed dial Mandy with her eCom. When she got an answer, she quickly said that there was another situation, and Andy could use some backup. Yesterday.

Angel turned back to Sally. Her hands were red from scrubbing under hot water, but were not completely free of contamination. Angel took her hands reassuringly, then ran a hand over each, eliminating the remaining taint. With an apology, she sent the still distraught girl out to help with concessions.

She called Mandy again, to fill her in. Mandy told her that Andy was on another line to the office, getting witnesses to - and a recording of - his interview with the two conspirators. Mandy herself was en route to the theater. And a police car would be arriving shortly.

From what Mandy told her, Angel almost wished she had gone up with Andy and Lena. But the next comment from Mandy made her glad she hadn't.

"Have you secured all the contaminated cleaning supplies?"

"Damn it!" escaped before Angel could stop herself. "No. I'll do that now." She was angry with herself. How could she have forgotten something that important?

She grabbed a couple of fresh trash bags and went to work. Carefully using the bag as both glove and container, she removed the contaminated products and cloths from under the counter. She went to the supply closet, and found one other. She slipped that into another bag. Then she went to the locker room and checked the lockers. The lockers were clean, but there was a patch of contamination on a nearby bench.

On the general theory that safety was more important than evidence, she sterilized the patch.

Angel took the bags out with her and stored them under a counter for the moment. Then she stepped out on the floor to become a visible managerial presence. She silently prayed that nothing would come up.

Of course, life is rarely that obliging. Luckily, everything that did come up was fairly routine. She had little training or guidance from the company for such things, but she had been going to theaters most of her life, and seen a lot of things. Mostly, it was situations which called for approval of standard actions. Even if she got it wrong, it was nothing earthshaking. She placated angry or upset customers, authorized refunds and replacements, and generally played manager.

Mandy arrived, with two men from headquarters. The men went upstairs, and Mandy went to Angel. She quietly watched Angel handle a couple of minor crises, before pulling her away for a quiet talk in the break room.

Angel learned what had been going on upstairs. When Andy took the conspirators upstairs, Lena used his phone to call the corporate office and establish a video link. That done, Andy asked them if they knew why he brought them upstairs. They tried to brazen it out, claiming it was an unjustified accusation of dirty hands.

When he brought up their connection with the contaminated cleaning supplies, they didn't blink. Pete, clearly the ringleader, arrogantly reminded Andy that he couldn't use anything he got from a telepath - especially from a telepath "reading" an unknowing or unwilling subject.

Andy reminded them there was a major exception. They didn't seem to get it, so he spelled it out.

Terrorism.

Their attempted use of biological weapons fell under the legal definition of terrorism. He could use Lena's testimony to establish Probable Cause, allowing the Federal authorities to search their homes, cars, etc. In fact, Angel's observations alone would be enough to do so.

After that, the two lost a lot of their arrogance. They denied any terrorist intentions, but finally understood that their denials carried no legal weight.

They were offered a similar deal to that of their former mentor. They would dictate and affirm a complete confession, which the theater chain would keep. They would immediately resign, and renounce any and all claims against the chain. They would never work for a theater again. For a period of five years, they would not say or do anything against the chain, its theaters, or anyone past, present, or future employed by the chain. They would also keep out of legal trouble.

If they violated any of those terms, the confessions and all of the evidence would be turned over to the authorities. If they kept to the terms, the theater chain would take no further action against them.

They knew they were beaten. They accepted the terms, and did what they had to. After dealing with the confessions and turning in their theater IDs, they were escorted off the premises.

Once Andy was done with them and came downstairs, Angel went back to her inspection. She found and neutralized the places that the girl had "cleaned" before the discovery. The rest of her inspection was routine, much to her relief.

Angel, Lena, and Andy wrote their reports. When Angel and Lena finished with theirs, they demonstrated their confidence by getting snacks from Concessions and then taking in a movie.

By the time Angel called her father, the police car and company van were gone. On the way home, they talked about the movie. When he asked about the inspection, she sadly realized that she could honestly say "same-same" and describe the lack of disasters.

She hated even the hint of deceiving him like that, but his look of relief made it worthwhile.

Soon she was relaxing by the pool, enjoying the company of her friends. For once, there were no plans, no dangers, nothing she had to deal with. She was just a teen, enjoying the pool with her friends.

Well, most of her friends. Robin was down with MORFS, but there was nothing any of them could do for her but wait it out. Then they could welcome her to the world in her new form.

But for now, she could just enjoy swimming, watching Sherry show off her dives and aquabatics, watching Star Dawn show off her light effects, and everyone having a good time. At one point, Lena was complaining about David's family trip. Apparently, she had him willing to use his wings to fan and shade her as she lounged poolside.

"Oh, my dear," Lena said, in a mock Eastern Old Money accent, "you just haven't lived until you've lounged poolside with those beautiful wings wafting a gentle zephyr over your body."

"Oh, my," Angel replied, with an equally bad Southern Belle accent, as she fanned herself with her hand. "You do paint a vivid image."

The four of them cracked up.

After a while, Penny joined them. She verified that Pat was diagnosed and dosed, and happily changing sex. Then she declared Cassandra off duty for the afternoon, and dove in the pool.

Miles away, someone was not enjoying the Saturday sun. The sign on the door said "S. Miller, Elementologist.", but just then Dr. Miller was not seeing a patient. She was in charge of the Elementals database, a filtered subset of the International MORFS Registry. And there had been a security breach of that database.

It was apparent that records had not been altered, but had merely been subject to unauthorized access.

Dr. Miller was not a happy camper.

She patched the security hole, and copied the affected records to another place for later examination.

Meanwhile, back at the pool, Angel decided it was time to get home. It would soon be dinner time, and she decided she should help. It wasn't really a girl thing. More like a family thing.

With all day to cook, her mother had outdone herself. By the time Angel was rinsed, changed, and in the kitchen, all that remained was chopping a few of the things for the salad.

Angel was surprised to learn they were having furglox linguini. Not that she particularly objected, but that was the sort of dish she would have expected at one of the restaurants the Doctor took them to. Or at the spa. The meat was fairly expensive, outside of their usual budget.

"Getting a taste for the good life, Mom?" Angel smiled.

"I never knew how good it was, until that dinner with the Doctor. So when it went on sale, I decided to try my hand at it. Here ... taste." She held a spoon out with a little of the meat laced cream sauce, for Angel to taste.

Angel had to admit that it was nice. But she always had liked her mother's sauces.

"Besides," her mother continued, dropping the spoon in the sink, "This way we don't use all that much of it. And it's good for you."

Angel was a little puzzled by the way her mother said that last part, but let it slide. She noticed that her parents had wine glasses by their plates, which was also a little unusual. Obviously, there was going to be some kind of celebration.

Her mother was tight lipped when Angel hinted that she'd like to know what it was all about. Instead, she had Angel call her father down for dinner.

Angel was relieved to see her father dressed in the same casual clothes he had worn to drive her to and from the theater. Now that she thought about it, her mother was dressed for a casual Saturday as well.

They sat, said grace, and filled their plates. Her father poured some wine for her mother and himself, then asked whether Angel wanted some. After the experiment, it was one less thing for them to be worried about. Angel declined, opting for a glass of milk.

"Oh, I nearly forgot." her mother said, getting up and then returning almost immediately. She handed an envelope to Angel. "This came for you, in today's mail." Angel recognized it as her paycheck from the theater.

"Your first full paycheck." Her mother gushed. "Congratulations, Angel."

"We're proud of you." Her smiling father said, simply. Then he went back to eating.

Angel was able to enjoy the food, even though she spent the rest of dinner waiting for the other shoe to drop. Bit it didn't. The rest of their dinner conversation was just the usual family chatter.

After dinner, Angel cleared the table then relaxed in front of the tube for a bit. She noticed her parents cuddling on the couch as they watched, then studiously ignored it. It was nice that they were still close, after all those years, but they were her parents. She was feeling too good to deal with such conflicts.

She went upstairs to get ready for bed, and to play on her computer a bit. As she undressed, she wondered what Lena was up to. At the pool, she had said something about getting together with David if he got back from his visit in time.

Angel felt a pleasant warmth spread through her body, especially between her legs. She found herself thinking about what Lena and David might be doing, wondering what it would be like to be naked and wrapped in those strong arms and those soft wings. She could almost feel his hands stroking her back, his lips gently pressed to hers.

She was barely aware of stretching out on her bed, or running her hands over her body in unconscious imitation of his imagined hands. At first, they just ran down her sides and up her belly. When they reached her breasts, they got a little more active, gently kneading them and teasing her nipples. After a bit, they moved downward again. Down past her navel, past her mound, and down between her legs.

She steered clear of her clit for a while, playing along her lips instead. As the scene played out in her head, she gently spread her lips, using part of her palm to lightly stimulate the neglected hotspot. She could almost swear she felt herself being entered, slowly and lovingly. It seemed so right, so special. Her excitement climbed, as the phantom intruder started moving within her and she moved her hips and her hand. Finally, her building tension reached a peak, then released.

She settled back into her bed, in a pleasantly drowsy state. She seemed to be wrapped in a soft, feathery warmth, smelling slightly of boy sweat and passion. She barely noticed the footsteps moving past her door and down the hall as she drifted softly to sleep.

Sometime later, she roused herself enough to pull on an oversized shirt, and consider wishing her parents goodnight. As she stepped out into the hall to do so, she heard some muffled sounds through her parents' door. She just smiled, and went back to her room. And her nice, soft, bed.

She woke up early Sunday morning, from an intensely pleasant dream that she couldn't remember. Responding to a familiar feeling, she reached down to adjust her morning wood. Then she realized it wasn't there. But the familiar feeling was there, along with a vaguely unpleasant stickiness. She gave her now familiar anatomy a brief, friendly rub, then got up to go take care of her morning.

After her shower, she looked at her bedside clock. She couldn't believe she was this awake, and well rested, that early. Since she didn't want to go back to sleep, she went for the next priority in any teenager's life - food.

She went down to the kitchen, in her bathrobe and slippers, and set to work. Since it had been a few weeks since she had made them, she decided to go for her quick snack pancakes. As busy as she was going to be over the next few days, they seemed like a good idea. After a few stacks were done and keeping warm, she started some bacon frying. She decided she would save the eggs until people were ready to eat.

A glance at the clock showed that it had gone from obscenely early to a little later than she would normally get up for school. She decided to take a chance.

Oh, Lena! You awake?

No. I'm asleep and dreaming of my boyfriend. And a nosy neighbor.

Oh. Too bad. I made my special pancakes, and some bacon, and I'm about to make some eggs. But I guess you're too deeply asleep to enjoy them. Such a pity. Whatever will I do with all these tasty leftovers.

Evil temptress! You're worse than my mother. Ok, I give. I'll be over shortly. Uh ... don't call your folks just yet.

Again? What's gotten into them?

Well, in your mother's case... Angel caught the overtones of a dirty joke.

Don't finish that thought! Eeew! They're my parents, for crying out loud!

They're people. People who love each other and still lust after each other after all that time. I think it's romantic. And I wish I could follow their example!

Lena's last comment triggered some memories, and a sneaking suspicion. Like you were yesterday? With David?

What?! How did you know about that?

I thought so! You leaked!

I what?

You leaked. Telepathically. At first, I thought it was some fantasy or something. But it wasn't like any I'd had before. I felt his kisses, his caresses...

You've had those feelings before.

But then I felt him enter me. Then pause. Then start stroking. It wasn't like being there, and having it really happen. It was more like the ghost of the feelings, like a vivid, recent tactile memory. And the emotional content was so unlike my normal responses to such images. And then, after the release, drifting down into the bed, wrapped in a warm, feathery embrace. Are you going to tell me that didn't happen?

Oh, it happened. And it was wonderful. But I didn't know it was possible to share it that way. At least, not without conscious effort.

They chatted some more, while Angel finished the bacon and the current batch of pancakes, then set the meat to drain and started another batch of pancakes.

Now come answer your door.

Angel's parents were drifting down the stairs, hand in hand, and smiling at each other as Angel opened the front door for Lena. Lena took in the sight of the happy couple, and of her good friend, and smiled as well.

Angel rushed back to the kitchen, asking people what kinds of eggs they wanted. Her parents chose fried, and Lena asked for scrambled, with a little of the bacon mixed in. Angel got to work as they drifted in. Lena helped Angel's parents set the table while Angel finished making breakfast.

Angel was amused that her parents had so little reaction to Lena showing up for breakfast. All in all, she hadn't done it very often. But she was simply accepted as a part of the extended family. Sort of an honorary sister to Angel.

And she acted the part, helping set and clear the table, fetching things when she was closest, etc ... generally acting like family rather than a guest. Angel liked that.

Angel invited Lena to come to the theater with her for another movie, but she declined the invitation. She had mysterious plans, which, Angel suspected, included David. She did offer to meet Angel at the pool in the afternoon, though.

Once again, Angel's father volunteered to drive. And Angel accepted. She offered to treat him to a movie, and this time he accepted. Angel suspected he was curious about her inspections, as well.

With all that settled, and the table cleared, Lena went home and the others went upstairs to take care of getting dressed. Angel would be inspecting a theater with a woman manager this time, so she wore the newer suit and was particularly careful with her hair and makeup.

At the theater, Angel noticed an early showing of a cybercrime thriller that her dad had expressed an interest in. She got him a ticket to a showing which would start in about half an hour - just long enough for him to see how boring her inspections generally were.

And for once, that was how it turned out. No hidden menaces, no fiendish plots, just looking at a lot of things and places that were pretty much the way they were supposed to be. The closest thing to interesting that day was the manager's request that Angel check the projection booths.

Angel had never really seen one before. She had some romantic notions about them from some old films she had seen, but they had virtually nothing to do with the modern reality. It was all meticulously clean, gleaming electronics and optics. Everything was automated, and efficient. There was still a technician on duty, to fix unexpected problems and handle the odd change of schedule, but one person could handle twelve shows easily.

For all the novelty of unexplored territory, her inspection turned up nothing worth reporting. One waste basket could stand to be cleaned a little better - some food residue had become active, producing a very slight smell - but that was it.

The worst part was writing the report. A part of her just wanted to say "I got here, it was all good, and I left." Somehow, she didn't think the office would find it amusing. Hour for hour, they were paying her a lot for those inspections. Most of it was like the projection technician - spotting and fixing things before they go badly wrong. But the reports themselves were apparently important, as well.

She was done with the report well before the end of her dad's movie. She knew where he was sitting, since she had spotted him when she checked that theater as part of her rounds. After talking with the manager and thumbing out, she went in and joined him. The theater was not very full, and there was nobody sitting between him and the aisle, so she had no qualms about scooting right in to sit beside him.

They enjoyed the rest of the movie, then left.

Later that day, she was sitting at the pool with her friends, talking about school and the like. She noticed something she wasn't too thrilled about. When talking about school, or about people in the context of school, she felt and seemed younger, somehow. So did the others. When she was working - at the theater or the spa - or dealing with a variety of her summer experiences, she had been treated like an adult. A young adult, to be sure, but an adult. And she had felt like one.