Noelle - Day 165 (Marathon 4)

Just some RMS Marathon today.
I know, I'm so boring.  I'll do my best to be a good blogger next week, ok?  No?  Not ok?

The Survivors (Part 13)

That night, Jess gave Danny a ride home.  Nova had long since disappeared - something about video games and west coast time - and Astra insisted she needed to get some sleep (although Jess whispered later that she was just fed up with people).  At any rate, the laughing group had split up, and Jess was coasting through the streets without a care in the world.

“Go slower this time!”  Danny hollered in her ear as she revved her bike’s engine to its limits.

“How many times are you going to ask me this?”  Jess said back, grinning from ear to ear.

He ignored her question and snapped, “Please, Jess?”

“JACKIE doesn’t do slow,” She laughed and released the brake.

JACKIE was her motorcycle - specifically, Jess’s Awesome Cool Kick-butt Incredible bike with an Engine.  It went faster than any sports car would be allowed to go, skidded around tight corners without skipping a beat, and best of all?  Could ride on any surface, any angle.  You could go on the underside of a bridge and only the cops would care.

They skimmed along the side of a skyscraper, their reflection darting across the glass, and skidded to a halt in front of Jess’s apartment.

“I still don’t understand why you don’t live in Avengers Tower instead of here,” Danny commented for the hundredth time as she fiddled with the lock on the stubborn front door.

“I need my sanity,” She snapped sarcastically, “And it's against regulation.  ‘Fraternizing with family members may lead to less-than-heroic intentions,’ or something like that.”

Jess bumped the door open with her hip and dumped her backpack in the corner.  Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.  “Take off you shoes and find a pair of socks,” she said, excited.

Danny had heard a lot of strange things in his day, but that was one of the strangest yet.  He tossed his tennis shoes in the corner and wandered over to where Jess was perched on the kitchen counter.  Ignoring his questioning eyebrow, she de-laced her super suit’s black boots, peeled off her socks, and dropped them in a messy pile on top of his shoes.

Jess grabbed his hand and pulled him into the middle of the apartment.  “I used to do this all the time with Mirage and Astra, back before the regulations,” She said, her eyes sparkling.  “Have you ever been ice skating?”

Confused, Danny shook his head, and she led him over to a wall.  “Hold onto this then,” she said happily.

She walked off and stood in the center of the room, stock-still and motionless.  After a moment, the floor...smoothed out.  Of course, the concrete had always been perfectly flat, but this was different.  It shone, it was alive...it moved.  Danny felt his feet drifting away, as if he was balanced on ice, and he pulled himself back up against the wall, only to find that it was just a pillar.  The wall in between Jess’s bedroom and the rest of the apartment had vanished.

The black-haired girl’s eyes were twinkling, brighter and happier than Danny had ever seen them.  Jess pressed her bare foot down on the ground, and just like that, she was off, gliding around him and twisting in tight little circles like a figure skater.

“C’mon,” she giggled as she balanced on one foot, “Don’t just sit there in the corner.”

“Technically, I’m standing,” Danny whispered, distrustful of this new floor.  Jess had told the whole team how unstable and uncontrollable her powers were - how dangerous she could become if she lost control.

As if she had read his mind, Jessie pressed her lips together and stubbornly, but gently, pulled him away from the pillar.  Danny’s feet felt disconnected and he found them drifting even more.

“Push off, like this,” Jess said, demonstrating by kicking out one foot and sliding along gracefully.  “Try it!”

He did and immediately fell on his face.  Embarrassed, he struggled to his feet and attempted to glide again, like Jess had, but slipped.

Jess smiled and helped him to his feet, guiding his footsteps.  It wasn’t easy to skate across the stone, but slowly, Danny got the hang of it.  He laughed - this was fun, easy!

Suddenly, he realized that Jess wasn’t sliding on top of the stone anymore, but rather, gliding along in it.  Her ankles had disappeared into the grey slab, her shins were grey, and Jess didn’t seem to care.  She laughed and slipped past him, doing a flawless spin that brought her straight out of the rock, which splashed like a grey puddle and quickly swallowed her feet whole when she came down.

“Jess-” Danny whispered warningly.

“It’s fine,” She said, but her smile became a little forced as she said it.

“You said your powers were unstable.”

“I’m in control,” She growled, turning so that her back was facing him.  She regained her composure and added, “What I said was the usual S.H.I.E.L.D. propaganda that I’ve been trapped in for years - it doesn’t matter.”  Her words were forceful, strong, but her voice wavered as she said them.

He stopped gliding and stood, motionless, in the middle of the room.  “It’s for your own good.”

“Don’t try to sell me that crap,” She snapped, suddenly angry.  “It’s not for anybody’s good and you know it.”

“Jess!”

“It’s true!”

There was silence, and although they still slid around, there was no joy in Jess’s smile when she passed him.

“Hey,” Danny said awkwardly.  “I’m sorry - I know what S.H.I.E.L.D. would do to you if they found you doing this.  I heard what Mr. Stark said the day you passed out - that their idea of ‘fixing’ would kill you.  And none of us want that...I don’t think I could take any part in something so vile.”

“Only you would use a word like vile,” Jess said, her voice melancholy, and flopped down in front of the window.

The ground became suddenly hard and cold again.  Danny tripped, having nothing to slide on, and fell in a clumsy heap next to her.  She smiled sadly down at him and ruffled his hair before turning her gaze back to the window.

“I’m gonna miss it,” She whispered.

“Huh?”

“New York - starless, stupid, home-of-the-helicarrier New York.”

“Why do you have to miss it?”

Jess stared at him as if he was a hopeless case and shook her head, a tiny movement that said everything for her - if he hadn’t figured it out already, she wasn’t saying.

“I’m going to miss you...if you go,” He murmured, not sure what he was saying.

“I know you would.  I would miss you like all heck.”

Then, suddenly, it seemed like the conversation was over, cut short by some invisible knife.  Jess pulled herself up and when Danny finally turned around, the wall was there like nothing had happened.  The light was growing dimmer, the streetlights outside going out.

“Good night, Daniel,” Jess said, and before he could say anything else, he felt an electric zing that warped his whole body as she pressed her warm lips against his cheek.

Jess brushed away after what seemed like an eternity.  Her black hair swished behind her as she disappeared into her room, and he, an idiotic smile plastered across his face, collapsed onto the fold-out couch, perfectly content with the fact that Jessie Willow had kissed him.