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Charlie grabbed up the cb and clicked the button, one hand on the cooler on his lap as he brought the little black box to his lips. "Central - we're en-route with the heart. Repeat, we are en-rou..." The word was cut short by Micky's, Charlie's partner, sudden yanking of the steering wheel. The ambulance spun out. Careening into a lamp post. Just seconds ago as they had been rushing along, a man had darted into the road and just - stood there. There was no way around him. (As usual people did not want to move their cars out of the way of the emergency vehicle.) So all Micky could do was try and turn and stop at the same time. As the two men tried to shake the fog from their heads, their doors were ripped open. Each found themselves staring down the barrel of a gun.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The machines filled the room with their beeps and hissing. All wires and tubes leading to the frail little thing laying there so quietly, staring at the window. A shadow fell across the wall from her and the child seemed to perk up just a bit. She turned her head and smiled. "Jenny!" She "shouted" weakly. Jenny's heart lurched a bit as she walked towards Rachel. The orderly's cane thumped lightly on the floor. "Hey, honey. No cartoons today?" "No - I don't need them to make me smile today." Rachel's grin seemed to bring life to her pale face. "Jenny, they found me a heart!" The child didn't even give the woman a chance to express her joy. Instead she frowned and said, "Jenny, you're walking with your cane!" Blowing a strand of white-blond hair from her exceedingly pale green eyes, Jenny nodded. "It hurts today." The orderly plumped Rachel's pillow and straightened her all out. "I'm so glad about your heart, honey. But you need to sleep and rest for the operation." Rachel pouted, but closed her eyes as Jenny stroked her thin brown hair and sang her to sleep. Jenny then went about her duties and headed out into the hall. There stood the doctor, a dark look on his face. He barely glanced at her, instead staring into the room and the child inside. As Jenny walked away from him, she stopped the nurse and asked what was wrong. "You didn't hear? Rachel's heart was high-jacked. Third organ highjacking this year. Probably end up in the chest of some mobster." Shaking her head, the nurse walked away, never seeing how Jenny's eyes darkened - and yet - glowed.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There wouldn't be much time before the heart was no longer any good for transplant. Jenny knew this when she sat down at the computer. Her fingers moved like crazy. "Come on, come on -" she muttered to herself. It took a few minutes, minutes that Rachel didn't have. (It helped that this wasn't the first time she had done this - but that was another life ago.) Finally the files came up. It was always the same - a man would step out in the middle of the road. The transport would have to stop or ended up crashing - and then the organ would be stolen. Jenny knew there had to be someone on the inside - otherwise they wouldn't know about the organs. A search revealed this was happening in more places then one. The question was - where did the organs go? There were tons of people waiting for transplants and more then a few were rich enough to pay for them. But who was stupid enough to risk jail for that? Sometimes in life we get a lucky break. Today was one of those days. As Jenny was about to log out of the police records, the officer who's account she hacked into got e-mail. Female curiosity drove her to open it - It was an alert from Costa Rica. "Juan Domerico escaped from prison today. It is believed he's heading for California. Juan has a bad heart...." Jenny grinned. "Bingo." Swiftly, she marked the e-mail as unread and logged out before she was caught - again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A shadow fell across the sleeping girl. Fleeting. Leaving behind a single pink rose. Rachel stirred, muttering, "Jenny?" then she was back in the land of sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Moving across the city like a ghost, Jenny reached out with her mind. Feeling, testing. The cane was gripped in her hand, but she wasn't using it now. No reason to use a cane when you had no legs. It seemed so long ago now. Erik had come into her life like a thunder-clap. He swept her off her feet, convinced her to use her talent for hacking for him. Then he had made her sign that contract. She remember how her blood pooled in the palm of her hand. Then the feeling that rushed thru her. And how her leg twisted in pain. Powers followed. A trade off. She'd never be perfect ever again, but she'd have powers beyond the humans around her. Somehow it didn't work out the way Erik planned though. Jenny took one look at her leg and ran away. She used her hacking skills to change her name, to get the job at the hospital. At first she just thought she could pretend that she was a good person. Then she met Rachel. The little girl had a heart defect - her heart was constantly breaking down - and her mother had just up and abandoned her. The doctors "adopted" her and set out to get her the heart she needed. Though it was against hospital policy. Rachel had given Jenny hope. Hope she could be redeemed. The first time her limpid brown eyes had rested on Jenny, the young woman had felt - good. Renewed somehow. No way was she going to let Rachel die now. Juan would just have to wait to see if he got a heart the legal way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Juan laid in the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Are you sure this is safe?" He asked, his voice weak. "Perfectly," Erik answered, reaching for the bed's controls. The head of the bed raised up until Juan could look him in the face. Erik smiled - actually, in reality, the right side of his face smiled. The left side was pulled permanently into a grimace so horrifying that even a harden criminal like Juan couldn't suppress the shudder. "We have the best equipment money can buy. Speaking of money, Mr. Domerico...." With a wave of a tube-and-needle-filled hand, Juan motioned to the briefcase laying on a nearby table. Erik moved over to it and opened it. The grin on the right side of his face couldn't be seen from Juan's point of view, but the twinkle in the left eye let him know it was what Erik wanted. The man then locked up the case and picked it up. "A pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Domerico. Enjoy your new heart - Not much longer until the surgery." Briefcase in hand, Erik left the room. "Really, Erik, must we waste our time on this?" The voice that spoke was male, smooth as honey and just as sweet. It was a voice that seduced the soul of anyone who heard it. A finger reached out of the darkness and traced the left side of Erik's lips. "We should be out there looking for new souls, Erik." Erik said nothing, he just stared forward for a few minutes. "Money is the root of all evil, Ben. The money we earn doing this will win us more souls then all the sweet promises you can make. Besides, I thought after Laura...." "Laura was a fool!" Ben snarled. "But she hasn't redeemed herself yet - She's still in our grasp...." Closing his eyes, Erik blew out a breath between his twisted lips. "Yes, yes - we just have to find her. But first we have an operation to over-see." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Something was blocking her. Time was going by - and soon it would be too late. Jenny couldn't believe the number of bad hearts just in this town alone. Most, thankfully, wouldn't need a transplant. So thankfully she was able to narrow it down. As Jenny reached out, poking into the minds of those few, she felt a touch on her mind - like slime and fire at the same time. She tried to pull back, but the touch held on. Clinging. "Laura...." the voice - an all too familiar voice - hissed. She felt that sweet tug like before. "Come to me, Laura." "No!" Jenny struggled to break free. Yet she was pulled along, helpless to resist. "Rachel," she whispered. That one name gave her the strength to yank free. The tendrils of her mind snapped back like a rubber band. Brushing briefly against something - another one of those lucky breaks that makes one wonder if sometimes a higher being isn't helping out. For what Jenny brushed against was the mind of Juan Domerico. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Laura," Erik whispered to himself, looking at the picture in front of him. Not a day went by that he didn't regret letting Ben talk him into corrupting her. She had been so beautiful, so vibrant. Her talents with computers was nothing less then god-like. There wasn't anything she couldn't hack into and not leave a trace of herself behind. But when he had her sign that contract she had gotten frighten and ran away. Now it was like she never existed. Erik was broken from his revery by the sound of gunfire. Jumping up from his desk, Erik ran to the door and pulled it open, grabbing one of the men running by. "What's going on?" "Some - woman or something - has broken in and is demanding the heart!" The man said, before running off the join the fray. "Woman...?" Erik murmured. Then it dawned on him. "Laura!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like the sun suddenly busting thru the clouds, Jenny had appeared. Now there was hardly anything to be seen of her except her face. The rest was a bright, swirling cloud that seemed to randomly form extra-long limbs here and there. Like if the rest of her body had been absorbed by this psychedelic vapor. "I want the heart!" She shouted again, even as the bullets tore thru the wildly-colored mist. There was no pain now, though she knew there would be pain later. A snarl crossed her face as a gaseous-arm whipped out and knocked the guns from several of the gun-men and women. Rolling like a storm front thru the building, Jenny allowed the others to shoot at her. It took a bit of work, but finally she figured out how to throw up a field that caused the bullets to bounce off of her and rain down on the shooters below. "Give me the heart!" She demanded. The gunfire ceased. Perhaps it was fear, or maybe guilt - but one by one - the people below began to point towards another room. Jenny started to rush towards it. Like a great vulture, another fog-bodied being blocked Jenny's path. This one's mist was dark grey and brown, like moldy mud. The contorted face was all too familiar to Jenny. "Get out of my way, Erik," she hissed, moving closer to him. There wasn't time for this - another four or five hours, give or take a hour or two, and the heart would no longer be any good. But if she got it now they'd have time to prep Rachel and put it in.... "No, Laura," Erik said, his voice actually - pleading. "Laura, come back to me, to us. We can rule this place together!" The snarl on her face actually managed to be more terrifying then Erik's permanent left-sided grimace. "I have no time for this, Erik - and Laura is dead. She doesn't exist anymore. Now get out of my way!" With that Jenny lashed out with all her power. Grappling with Erik both mentally and physically. It was like if Erik's heart had been ripped into a billion pieces. She didn't love him - maybe she never loved him. It was like he turned to ice inside. If Erik had ever had a chance to redeem himself, it died the instant Laura spurned him. They clashed together like two fronts of weather. Warm and cold colliding in a turmoil of power. Lighting flashed, crashing down upon the people and items below. Screams filled the room as people panicked, running for the exits. Jenny screamed out in rage and pain. Struggling to over- come Erik. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile below Ben watched and laughed. With a wave of his hand he produced a bowl of popcorn and began to munch. What a fun show. What a couple of freaks. Another wave of his hand and he produced a shaker of salt. He covered the corn with it and sat back to enjoy the clash of the idiots. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jenny was losing. The weakness from trying to find them, putting up the shield against the bullets - everything - it was over-coming her. It seemed like she wasn't going to win. Every lash of his vaporous limbs felt like she was being flayed open with rusty razor wire. She hurt. It seemed so much easier to just succumb to him..... Then an image filled her mind. Rachel, weakly asking why she hadn't gotten her heart yet. Where Jenny was. She wanted Jenny, she said, over and over. Jenny never lied to her.... "Rachel!" Jenny screamed. It was primal and yet it was a scream that told of a pure, uncorrupted love. It filled her with raw power and the colors swirled violently in her mists. Erik fell, struck dizzy by the blast of power. The fog solidified into his body even as it slammed into the floor below. Blackness taking over. Forgetting about Erik, Jenny rolled onward into the next room. An operating room of all things. Juan was just being put under. The storage unit with the heart was nearby. Jenny swooped down upon it - and when the doctors got over their confusion - the heart - was gone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A miracle had occurred. A very strange miracle. An orderly, Jenny, had shown up in the emergency room. Her body was full of bullet holes and in her hands - a container containing the missing heart. "Rachel...." was all she was able to get out before collapsing to the floor. Now Rachel had heard all about it. Thru the gossip on the hospital floor. The child looked and smiled at her sleeping roommate. It had been a night for miracles. Rachel had gotten her heart and was now doing well. It seemed her body was going to accept it. Jenny, despite all the bullet wounds, had lived. Though she hadn't woke up yet. "Jenny?" Rachel whispered. The child was rewarded with one of Jenny's eyes opening briefly. A twinge of a smile, then Jenny went back to sleep - and began to snore just a little bit. Rachel grinned. Jenny was going to be just fine. Just like her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Stay still," Ben muttered, changing the bandage on Erik's head. "Now you knew you this might happen -" "It doesn't mean I have to like it," Erik grumbled, letting Ben change the bandages. "Especially having to be nursed back to health by the likes of you." The grin on Ben's face was purely animalistic. It made one think of a hyena. "No one said you had to like it. Now, I've got a catalogue here - like it or not, you have to choose a wheelchair...."
~~The End~~
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