Chapter 29: Ambushes and Abandonments

Clifford Sutton had been dead for over four days now, and he was not enjoying it. He had died at the hands of a man and woman in an airport restroom in Baltimore, Maryland. Since then he had been given some simple instructions and a cell phone, flown all the way across the country, left the airport while his luggage endlessly rode the carousel, and was now walking along the city streets of Los Angeles, California in the early hours of Monday morning, waiting for the call to end his existence.

He clutched the cell phone in his dead hand, holding it in an unbreakable grip. No one had been able to take it from him. He had been mugged twice for it. He had been punched, beaten, stabbed, and even shot, but in both cases he didn't fight back. He simply took the abuse and held onto the phone, and when the young men who attacked him grew weary or afraid when they realized they simply could not hurt him or kill him, they left him alone, and he just continued walking.

After four days of walking his shoes had ripped open from the constant wear, and the bent soles flapped against his dead feet. And for most of the time, his mind was simply empty, void of independent thought or desire. But there were moments when his mind would connect to form a thought on its own and ask a question. When? Why? How? But not often. Not often enough.

It was early Monday morning, still in the dark before dawn when the cell phone chirped in his hand. Clifford raised the screen to his dry eyes, saw the message, and touched the send key. His life's purpose now fulfilled, a sense of relief blossomed in the remains of his mind. He turned towards the street, waited for a large enough truck, and stepped into its path.

Three time zones away, back in Washington D.C., Adamantine watched an apartment building through binoculars. She waited. She didn't have to wait long.

First there was the burst of green light, and then the shower of snow, and she watched Snow Angel launch from her apartment. The superhero rocketed into the sky, heading west, her icy trail shimmering in the early morning sunshine.

The supervillain smiled to herself as she watched the sorceress disappear across the horizon. She pulled out her cell phone, dialed, and waited.

"She's taken the bait," she reported.

"Excellent," replied Tombspawn in an icy voice. "Rendezvous with us for the second stage."

Early Monday morning in the main hallway of the Myer's Institute was like any other, filled with chatter and laughing and bustling students. Jeff and Lynne emerged from the dorm stairwell, scanned the hallway, spotted Joey at his locker, still in his light jacket, and Lynne made a beeline straight towards him. Students casually stepped out of the way for her, unconsciously making a path for the determined girl as she telekinetically nudged them aside. She reached Joey, grabbed him, and planted her mouth on his to a chorus of whoops.

Simon, standing next to Joey, watched them for a moment. "So! Have a good weekend?"

Joey struggled against his over-affectionate girlfriend, trying to catch his breath, balance, and composure, and he mumbled, trying to answer, his mouth muffled by hers. She just clawed and oozed into him, mashing her sexy body into his.

"Catch the game yesterday? Yankees beat the Twins four to one."

"Mmmph-mmr-mmmr-mmph."

"Rodriguez and Posada scored homers in the 7th, and the Twins couldn't catch up. It was awesome. You should have seen it."

Joey managed to pull his mouth off of Lynne's and answer. "Missed it. Had my hands full," he answered with his hands on her ass.

"I'll say," said Lynne happily. "He was busy scoring against the twins too, ' she said, grinning at Joey and pressing her boobs into his chest. "Morning stud," she growled at her boyfriend.

"Good morning, Hurricane Lynne."

Lynne moaned cutely. "Oh, you're not going to let me live that down, are you?"

Simon raised an eyebrow. "What did you do, Lynne?"

"Nothing," she said, obviously lying, and snuggling her face into Joey's neck.

"She destroyed my room," Joey clarified. "TK and excitement, not a good mix."

Lynne sensuously stretched and rubbed her body over Joey, luxuriating in his touch. "It's not my fault," she whined. "All those things to play with. All those socks and ties and underwear and clothes. And all those sharp, pointy pencils!" She moaned and licked his neck.

Sarah by this time had wandered closer, attracted by the commotion. She was standing next to Jeff, just waiting for him to recognize her existence. He hadn't. But Joey had noticed her watching Lynne and himself in their public display of affection, and he could see the desire reflected in Jeff's eyes, and the forlorn expression in Sarah's.

"What are you looking so goofy for?" Sarah finally asked Jeff.

Jeff startled at her presence, and Joey felt Lynne react as well. The truth was, Jeff was looking pretty goofy, matching Lynne's pleasure. Joey could feel Lynne's body shift in energy as JeffLynne focused elsewhere. Joey continued to hold and caress his girlfriend as Jeff fumbled dealing with Sarah.

"Umm, well ... I guess I'm just happy to see my sister so happy."

"Good for them," she huffed icily. "Nice to see you're feeling better."

"Oh, yeah," he managed.

Sarah waited for anything else from him, and when nothing came, she simply shrugged and walked off with with a simple "Later," over her shoulder. Joey could see the disappointment in her eyes as she took one final glance at him and Lynne. Her violet eyes locked on his for a moment, betraying a deep pain.

"Oh, get a room, you two," she muttered as she strode off.

Lynne's focus returned to Joey. She sighed and squeezed her arms around his neck and swayed her body against his. "You know, it would really be nice if we didn't have to go to class today. It IS Columbus day, you know." She nuzzled into his neck again. "Stupid private school rules..." she mumbled.

But even with Lynne hanging on his neck and rubbing against him, Joey couldn't help but watch Sarah. He could see how hurt and jealous she was, and he made up his mind.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," he said to Lynne.

"What's not a bad idea? she asked.

Joey extracted himself from her grasp, picked up his backpack, and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" he said loud enough for everyone else to hear. "We're getting a room."

Lynne balked as he pulled her down the hallway. "Joey? What are you doing?" she asked with a subdued measure of panic.

"Simon?" Joey yelled out. "Can you tell Mr. Larson that Lynne and I are going to be late for class?"

"Where are you going?" Simon called back, not really needing to ask.

"Joey! Please!" Lynne whispered to him, pulling back a bit.

But Joey was undeterred. He kept pulling Lynne through the hall, past various students who all watched them gleefully. A couple slapped him on the back, encouraging him. He reached Jeff and looked him in the eye as he answered Simon. "Tell him I'm taking my woman to a privacy room, and I'm not coming out for ten whole minutes!"

Everyone in the hallway erupted in laughter, and Joey poked Jeff in the chest. "You're on your own now," he whispered, and he pulled Lynne into the nearest privacy room and closed the door behind them.

The privacy room was a small windowless room with everything one would need to get through a casual afternoon liaison. There was a sink and a cot, paper towels and wet wipes, a drawer full of prophylactics, a diaper pail to handle the worst of soiled refuse, and air fresheners. Lots of air fresheners. The room stank of Hawaiian tropical citrus, mountain pines, and ocean breezes despite the fact that the room was nowhere near any of those things. Lynne cringed as Joey flipped the "Occupied" sign in the door.

"Joey! Don't separate me!" she hissed at him. "You know I can't do this."

Joey pushed her down to sit on the cot. He got serious, held her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"Talk to her."

Lynne blinked at him. "What?"

"Talk to Sarah," Joey explained. "Didn't you see her out there? She's miserable. She's jealous and angry, and hurt. She needs some attention. So talk to her."

"But I can't just ... Not with you in here with me."

Joey pulled a book out of his backpack and sat on the cot next to her. "Yes you can. Cause I'm not doing anything in here with you." He opened his book and started reading.

Lynne watched him for a moment, and finally relented. She gave him a smile. "Thanks," she said. And JeffLynne closed Lynne's eyes and sat quietly, diverting all attention to Jeff somewhere outside in the halls.

They had gathered in an empty office in a tall building overlooking H Street. Tombspawn stood at the window and watched the morning traffic in a quiet contemplation. Adamantine loaded her rifle with tranquilizer darts, and Armory did some last minute adjustments on his weapons.

"The armored truck approaches," Tombspawn announced.

"About time." Adamantine cocked her rifle and slung it on her back. "How much do you think is in it?"

"Who cares?" Armory spat. He flexed his metal fingers, extending and retracting his claws. "Time for some action."

Tombspawn stepped from the window. "Remember what all has to be done for this to work."

"Hey! I'll do all three," Armory growled with a grin. "No extra charge."

"Stick to the plan!" Adamantine barked. "I want Bullwhip alive."

The cyborg glared at the indestructible woman. "No guarantees. If you miss him, I'm taking him out."

"I won't," she returned.

"Gather together," Tombspawn commanded, and the two other villains stepped forward. "Bow your heads." With a brief odd look at each other, Adamantine and Armory shrugged and dipped their heads down along with Tombspawn. And the dead man spoke solemnly.

"For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth ... Exodus, Chapter nine, verses fourteen through sixteen."

"Amen," Adamantine whispered.

Armory flexed his wing-arms with enthusiasm. "A-Fucking-Men!"

"Take your positions," ordered Tombspawn. "and commence when ready."

Adamantine immediately stepped out of the office and headed towards the stairwell. Meanwhile, Armory lumbered towards the window and looked out over the traffic and the pedestrians far below.

"So many little people living out their little lives. So few reach their potential." His eye gleamed with a green laser as he glanced at Tombspawn. "And even fewer exceed it."

Then he smashed straight through the window, jumped out, and screamed in laughter as he plummeted down towards the street. Arms, wings, and tail extended, controlling his descent, and he crashed onto the top of a cab, crumpling the hood. People screamed in shock and panic, and cars spun out of control. As he stood regally on top of the demolished car, he powered his wing cannons and roared to the startled people on the street.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Pull out your cameras, for this will make you famous!" And he aimed his two wing cannons at the approaching armored truck and fired.

BZAM! BZAM!

Twin torrents of electrified fire erupted from the cannons, digging into the street in front of the truck, and throwing up a cloud of debris.

The armored truck screeched to a halt, and the two guards inside leapt out, guns ready. "What the HELL is that?" one screamed. They took positions behind the truck doors and one got on his radio. "We need backup FAST! We're being ambushed!" The other started shooting at Armory with his shotgun.

Pellets and buckshot bounced off the cyborg's armor, and the mad metal man just laughed at them and took aim again, this time aiming for the door one of the guards hid behind. The eruption of fire and lightning hit the armored door, twisted the metal and blasted it off the hinges. The guard behind was slammed by the flying metal door and was thrown back violently.

"JERRY!" his partner yelled. Armory just cackled to himself and leapt high into the air. He landed on top of the armored truck with a heavy thud, snaked his tail down, and grabbed the other guard with the metal pincers. As he hoisted the man off the ground, his victim screamed and thrashed in terror. Armory swung his body and tail, throwing the poor man far down the street, where he landed in a bloody heap.

Armory watched the man as he rolled off a car. "Oh, is that it? How disappointing." And he cocked his head and listened. He could hear the sirens coming, and he smiled and waited for the police.

The sirens were blaring as the police cars arrived. Officers jumped from their cars and took cover behind their cars and doors, pointing guns at the supervillain. "Freeze!" a policeman yelled at him. "Drop your weapons and surrender!"

"Ah. This is more like it!" Armory crowed, and he powered up his cannons again. "But let's see if we can get the main act here!" And he fired again.

BZAM! BZAM!

The policemen barely had time to dodge out of the way before their car exploded. Fire, ripped metal, and shattered glass shrapnel tore in all directions, and a huge column of smoke raged into the sky. Pieces of glass and metal rained down around the several officers, and pedestrians on the street screamed in shock. Many were knocked down by the concussive force of the explosion. Some ran. Others stood by recording the events on their phones. Armory stood proudly and smiled at his work, and barely noticed the shadow cover his body before three hundred pounds of solid muscle in size fifteen boots slammed into him from above.

CRASH!

The cyborg flipped and tumbled from the shock, spun in mid-air, and landed on his feet on the street. He saw the huge form of Bullwhip standing on top of the armored truck. The superhero folded his cape back, and extracted his whips.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" the hero thundered.

Armory grinned. "That's one."

The twin wing cannons whined as they powered up, but Bullwhip lashed out with one whip, grabbing the two arms, yanking them together, and pulling them to the side. Armory braced himself, and pulled back, wrenching the hero from his perch on top of the armored car. Bullwhip let himself get pulled down, and he threw another whip around the cyborg's legs, landed on the ground, and pulled hard. The cyborg lifted off the ground and smashed into the truck.

Armory laughed and powered down his cannons, and extended the huge blades from the wing-arms. Smaller blades emerged from his fingers. He pulled and swiped, slashing through the whips. "You think those will stop..."

WHAM! Bullwhip tackled the cyborg, throwing him into the truck. He pummeled the armored man with his fists and body, slamming him repeatedly into the truck. Armory caught one fist in his hand, twisted, and threw the hero across the street.

FFFF-T-T-T-T! A stream of bodies appeared, forming a small coordinated crowd where Bullwhip was landing. They caught the man, and most of them vanished as Bullwhip regained his balance.

"That's two," Armory said, noting the arrival of Multiplex.

"Are you okay?" Multiplex asked Bullwhip.

"Get them out of here!" Bullwhip growled, indicating the various people who were stupid enough to stand around and record the events. He sprinted back to the cyborg, roaring at him, keeping the attention on himself. Multiplex flitted off towards the various people to herd them out of the area.

As he saw the hero barreling towards him, Armory leapt into the air above him, twisting and reconfiguring his wing arms. Bullwhip jumped up after him, grabbing the cyborg in mid-air and the two tumbled and crashed into the ground, pummelling and wrestling each other. The streets echoed with the noise of their fighting; roaring and screaming, pounding metal and whining servos.

Multiplex meanwhile was grabbing civilians and pushing them down the street, inside buildings, and out of the way. "MOVE! MOVE! GET GOING!" he yelled at the crowd.

Bullwhip's assault landed Armory back into the armored car, and he pummeled the cyborg, smashing and battering the metal monster. "STAY DOWN!" he yelled at the supervillain.

Armory caught his fists and held him fast. "Where is she?" he hissed at the hero. Bullwhip just thrashed, trying to free himself from the cyborg's iron grip. "I went through a lot of trouble for this, and I'm not leaving until she shows up."

"You're not going anywhere," Bullwhip growled, glaring at the villain. "You're not getting anything." He pushed his strength, bending the metal arms back. He could hear the motors and hydraulics straining against the pressure.

Armory grunted, threw his tail behind the hero, and grabbed Bullwhip by the leg. He pulled, lifting the hero off the ground, and whipped the behemoth man, smashing him to the ground. Then he threw him into the air, releasing him into a tight spin. As Bullwhip twisted and flailed in the air, Armory slashed into him with the blades on his wings. There was a spiralling spray of blood.

Bullwhip landed on the pavement, grimacing in pain and holding his arm. Deep gashes had been sliced through his leather armor and into his arm. He yelled in agony and anger, and rolled on the street. His sleeve tightened against his arm, stopping the blood flow. Armory stalked the hero, slashed his stained blades together in pride over the fallen man, and turned towards the nearest Multiplex clone. "Man down!" he informed him.

Multiplex saw Bullwhip crawling on the street, and saw the injury. He immediately charged the cyborg, sending a stream of bodies flitting towards him. Armory found himself tackled by a dozen men in blue and purple jumpsuits. They pulled and pummeled, weighing him down and covering his head and limbs. Armory just laughed and activated a static generator. Lightning and electrical arcs poured out of the cyborg in all directions, and bodies vanished, leaving one struggling against the electrical bolts.

"The core!" Armory whirled on the lone man and snatched him with the tail claw. Multiplex struggled against the metal pinchers and the strong electrical field. Pseudo-images of bodies emitted from the core form, but couldn't materialize. With the hero subdued, Armory simply paid no attention to him, and returned to stalking Bullwhip. "Now. Where is..."

VVRRAAMM! CRAANG!

Armory crashed into the ground, and she stood before him. She had literally appeared out of nowhere with a very large sledge hammer and had smashed him on the head with it.

"Let him go," Quantum Knight ordered the cyborg. She dropped the sledge hammer and summoned a pair of nunchaku. "You're going to need all of your weapons if you want to take me on."

Armory slowly planted his hands on the ground. "And that's three," he said to himself, grinning.

He launched himself at the woman, slicing in her direction and missing her as his targeting systems failed to track her. Quantum Knight easily sidestepped the blades and swung the nunchaku in both hands, tangling one around a wing arm, throwing him off balance, and hitting him in the body with the other. As he swiped violently at her with razor claws, she teleported above him, hitting him multiple times, looking for a weak spot that would release Multiplex. Sparks flew as metal hit metal, and the air was filled with the loud clanging and crashing with each hit. Armory spun and thrashed, knocking the hero off his back, and laughed as saw the red and white blur appear in front of him.

"Let him GO!" Quantum Knight ordered the cyborg, and she smashed him in the face with a couple swipes of the nunchaku.

Armory just giggled. He reconfigured a weapon in one arm, opened a palm, and fired. A fine spray of yellow mist shot from his hand, enveloping the hero. Yellow paint covered her face and goggles, obscuring her vision. In defence, she superpositioned, dodging in a score of directions simultaneously as Armory slashed into the crowd of ghost images. Several ghosts were impaled or sliced, but one path managed to pull the goggles off and dodge the wing blades, teleport around him, and wrap a nunchaku around his arm. She collapsed the superposition to this path and pulled on the arm, spraying the paint into his own face. He choked, coughed, and shut off the spray.

The cyborg whipped his tail back, slapping one hero into the other. Quantum Knight tumbled uncontrollably into his grasp. Blades sliced into her costume and cut her flesh, and she shrieked in pain. "I have you now!" he said gleefully, and swung for another slice.

CCRRAANNGGG!!! Armory flew backwards as Bullwhip hit him with a massive uppercut with the sledge hammer, knocking Quantum Knight from his grasp. He collided into the side of the armored truck, which rocked back in recoil.

"You okay?" Bullwhip asked.

Quantum Knight was breathing heavily and she quickly checked her wounds. "Yeah. He just scratched me." She rolled to her feet, summoned a metal net, and whipped a nunchaku around. "Let's dismantle this pile of junk!"

She charged and teleported, whipping the metal net about her. As she flung it, the net spread out and tangled into the many appendages as Armory managed to stand up again. He stepped on one section of the net and stumbled and struggled, the metal cables now tangled around the wing arms. Quantum Knight appeared above him and buffeted him with multiple shots from the nunchaku, denting and cracking portions of the weapons and armor. Bullwhip came in again, sledge hammer in hand, and with a deafening crash he walloped the cyborg, pummelling him into the ground.

The sledge hammer's handle was bent from that attack.

Armory lay still, and rolled to his side. Quantum Knight kicked him onto his back, and stood on his chest. She summoned a katana, and pointed it through the tangle of metal cables into his neck, touching the soft tissue. "It's over," she informed him in heavy breaths. "Give up, while you still can." The cyborg just lay there and blinked in a dazed surrender as he looked into Quantum Knight's eyes.

"You have beautiful eyes," he said to her.

"I don't care. Surrender."

He smiled. "It's a pity my ugly mug will be the last thing those beautiful eyes will ever see."

A panel flipped around on his chest, revealing a silver finished reflector.

FLASH!

The blinding light tore through Quantum Knight's eyes like daggers, and she screamed in an intense agony. She fell back, clutching her eyes and stumbled onto the ground. Bullwhip also flinched back in pain, and fumbled blindly as Armory twisted and fought against the metal cables tangled about his body.

CRACK!

Bullwhip never saw the tranquilizer dart, even after he felt it sting into his neck. He reached up, pulled the dart from his neck, and collapsed in the street as the nerve toxin took effect. Six stories above him, Adamantine shouldered her rifle and headed back for the stairwell.

Armory managed to stand up. With Quantum Knight shrieking and rolling on the ground in torment, Bullwhip unconscious, and Multiplex still trapped in his tail claw, he sliced through the metal cables, and pulled the net off. Then he extended one large blade from his wing arm and stalked the writhing woman.

He turned to Multiplex. "You ever wonder what's inside her? What makes her tick?"

Multiplex struggled against the metal claws. He shook and strained. Pseudo-images of his form would half-appear around him and vanish, unable to form in the intense electrical field. "Leave her alone!" he screamed at the cyborg.

Armory dismissed the hero. He turned his attention back to the fallen Quantum Knight. "Yeah. Me too," he said, answering his own question. He raised one blade high in the air, and primed to strike.

"NO!" Multiplex screamed, and he strained and pushed his power. Images flickered and vanished around his body, reaching and stretching further and further out, beyond the intense center of the field. And as Armory plunged the blade down towards her, Multiplex succeeded. Bodies appeared and vanished. The one inside the claw disappeared, while a new one crouched in the path of the blade.

SCRUNCH!

Multiplex saw the huge bloodied blade push out of the front of his chest, and he could feel it completely inside him. He had one last breath in his lungs, and he looked down at her. Quantum Knight, Sandra, lay on the ground enfeebled with pain, and this last motion of his managed to divert the blade enough for it to miss her.

He touched her carefully. "Go ... Now," he managed to say with his last breath. She strained and vanished with her signature strumming sound, and Multiplex watched his own blood drip down the length of the blade and drop down to the pavement where she lay a moment ago.

Armory growled and yelled in anger. He extracted the blade out of the hero's body and smacked him. Multiplex fell to the ground, dead. As Armory screamed in frustration, Tombspawn casually walked to him from a nearby building. "Enough," he said to the villain.

"I almost had her!" the cyborg bellowed.

"She will appear in a hospital," Tombspawn said. "Her injuries are unique. You will find her." He knelt down to Multiplex and extended his hand. "But for now, this is the one we need."

He released an oozing of sickly green energy, and bathed the fallen hero with it. Multiplex stirred. "Rise," Tombspawn commanded. The dead hero shifted, pushed himself to his feet, and stood up. He slumped and stared at Tombspawn with dead eyes, and swayed slightly. Blood dripped down his chest and onto the street.

"Tell me," Tombspawn said. "I have always suspected this. You are the center of communications for EarthGuard?"

"Yes," Multiplex answered.

"And other heroes have been alerted to this situation? They are coming?"

"Yes."

"Tell them it is over. Tell them you won, and no hero was injured."

"Yes," he answered, and as he did, in the New York EarthGuard Embassy a Multiplex clone at a terminal sent a message.

"Will this be enough?" Tombspawn asked his charge.

"There will be ... discrepancies with the police reports," Multiplex answered.

"Do what you can for them."

"Yes." In the D.C. Police office building, a uniformed dispatch officer sent a stand-down message and false report.

Tombspawn scanned the streets. "People are uploading their videos of this to the Internet. Remove them."

"Yes." Somewhere in Silicon Valley, a nameless employee at a computer watched the incoming stream of uploaded videos. A couple clicks and key presses later, and many were removed from the queue and storage systems.

Adamantine by this time emerged from the nearest building and stopped to admire Bullwhip's fallen form. Tombspawn casually turned to Armory. "Take these two back to the warehouse, and return for stage three." He then turned to Adamantine. "Shall we?" She nodded. They walked off together as the cyborg picked up the two heroes. Adamantine smiled with pride at their accomplishment, and Tombspawn pulled out a cell phone and dialed.

"Cloud his judgements, and release him," he said into the phone.

And across the city, Lady Zamora nodded as she listened to her phone. "As you wish." She hung up and returned to her reading room. The sigils on the table flickered and pulsed with a frantic energy, struggling to make connections. She untied the ribbon from the cell phone, and watched as the final connections were made. The entire glowing design burned red as the relieved symbols shifted and spun to the new arrangement. A line cracked, breaking a sacred bond.

Joey did his best trying to keep himself from paying any attention to Lynne, but it was difficult. Watching Lynne hold a conversation with someone else through Jeff was like watching someone talk on the phone, but without the phone or any of the words. Lynne would smile and shift. She would take deep breaths and cock her head. She chuckled and twisted her fingers together, and whispered words to herself too quiet for Joey to hear.

She would notice him, and he would quickly return to his book and try to put all of his attentions back on it. And then Lynne would return to her gesticulations and muttering. She pushed her hair out of her eyes, and rubbed her hands down her thighs. She became very quiet, and sighed heavily.

Her eyes opened wide in shock. "Oh no," she gasped.

"What?"

Lynne gave Joey a panicked expression. "She's ... Quick! Kiss me!" And she violently grabbed him and pulled him down on top of her on the cot. She started frantically kissing him and clawing his shirt.

Joey struggled against her. "Wait! What are you..." was as far as he could get, but she muffled him with a strong kiss, and grabbed his hand and slapped it right on her breast. He could feel the waves of telekinetic pressure over his body pulling him down to her, and invisible manipulations on the buttons of his shirt. She was grabbing and pulling his jacket and shirt, and slid her hand inside.