A-Cup Angst Ch. 07

He forced himself to turn his attention back to the subject of his education. Since he was going to probably fail half his finals, he was going to need to get two more credits next semester. He had no idea how he was going to do that if he couldn't banish those dead eyes from his mind. Even the new car he had bought for himself didn't exorcise them. Jamie grinned as the Pagani Huayra came into view. Sitting in the driver's seat of that car was just like a childhood dream come true, for the first few minutes. Then his head was filled with wondering what the dreams of those girls had been, and the transparent gearshift casing suddenly lost its appeal. The expensive toy became just a warded car with panels that tilted to make downforce at speed.

Jamie's musings were cut short when his Jedi senses told him of imminent danger. It had come on very suddenly, and he realized he had stepped into an enchanted bubble of space. A strong stunning charm battered at the barriers of his mind at the very same instant. Four of Jamie's stored spirits dissipated the potent stunning spell, and four more went off to remove the illusion charm that covered the space bubble. Fifteen Section casters stood around him, shocked into inaction. In half a heartbeat, he had dispelled their meticulous preparations and not only shrugged off the unbeatable stunning spell, but also exposed them to the throngs of students that were shuffling around them.

He sensed their confusion and rising fear. His stored spirits had cut the rug out from under them. His lips curved into a lopsided grin. The casters looked to one another, utterly unsure of how to proceed, but each standing on guard. Their gazes settled on a very large, middle aged man. He ran his fingers over the bare skin on the top of his head. Jamie recognized it as a sort of nervous tick. His tongue darted out of his gray beard to wet his lips. "Mr. Jacobs," he said, his voice very deep, "we are Section operatives, here to place you under arrest. Come with us quietly." His eyes involuntarily darted at the hundreds of students that were glancing their way.

If there was any magic cast there and then, all those students would see it and record it on their cell phones. Even if Section could pull all that footage offline and wipe everyone's short term memory, they'd still be stuck with coming up with a good explanation as to why a few hundred healthy young people suddenly couldn't remember the last two days of their lives. Which would be especially suspicious as it was during finals.

He had two stored power spirits and his own power. He counted fifteen casters surrounding him. If they made a move, they had him dead to rights. Jamie smirked. He could sense their reluctance and nearly laughed out loud at it. All they had to do was recast their stunning charm and off to dreamland he would go. But they didn't know that. If he played his position strong, he could intimidate them into scurrying off, he felt certain of it. "How's about you guys fuck off," he said. "Quietly."

The bald man got over his shock and glared at Jamie. "You are under arrest for multiple counts of murder," he hissed. "You're coming with us, one way or another."

Jamie folded his arms across his chest and threw his head back. "Let's go with the other."

"If you don't come with us, right now, and stand trial, then we are authorized to use lethal force against you!"

Jamie sensed the tension seeping out of the casters. They weren't going to fight or cast any more today, and they all relaxed. That didn't make much sense to Jamie, as he had just been threatened with a summary execution. He threw his magical senses wide open.

"Last chance," said the bald man.

Then Jamie felt it. Five sharpshooters on surrounding rooftops were aiming at him. Their rifles had enchanted rounds, no doubt. Big plants nearby had gravel covering the dirt in their pots. Jamie sent a stored spirit into the closest heap. He glanced at the casters surrounding him. "Screw you guys," he said, "I'm going home!"

"So be it," said the bald man, darkly. Pebbles went flying from the pot and intercepted the bullets in mid-air, striking them with enough speed and power to make them change direction and miss Jamie. One of them struck the ground right next to a girl that was reading on a bench. She had headphones on her ears and did not notice how close to death she came. The bald man gave a signal and the shooting stopped. Students were noticing the sparks and dust clouds hovering in the air where the bullets collided with the pebbles. A series of muted gunshots rang out in the air above the quad, causing more than a few heads to turn upwards and wonder what that sound was.

Now Jamie felt pure panic emanating from the casters. Each was trying to discreetly buff their own protective wards. He sensed their intentions. They waited for someone to cast against him and turn themselves into a target, so they could make a run for it. He shook his head to himself. Section operatives were craven cowards. Having already sensed their moods, Jamie found putting himself into their shoes easy. They were afraid of him. He had stormed into The Suit's house and took out their best in a heartbeat. He had defeated a warlock that was sending their whole organization into a blind panic. He had enslaved a fresh vampire and now he had just walked blindly into their trap, only for it to vanish. "Hell," thought Jamie, "If I was them, I'd shit myself, too."

He sighed and said, "Ok, guys, pack your shit, leave the campus and no one gets hurt. And you better be quick about it, cause when my girlfriends hear what you've tried to do here, today..." Jamie shook his head. "I wouldn't want to be you. They can be somewhat protective of me. Violently so. Bye now!" He turned away and resumed walking to his car. Only their blank, scared stares followed him.

He drove off without a problem. As soon as he turned the corner, he turned his cell phone back on and called Nova's number. The gynoid instantly answered and he said, "Nova, the girls are in danger. Start running security protocol and go to the campus to guard them. From now on, stay patched into our cellphones' microphones at all times. We are dealing with five or more shooters, with enchanted bullets, and at least fifteen casters on campus."

"Yes, Jamie," said the gynoid, "understood!"

Jamie drove a few circles around town, to make utterly sure he wasn't followed, and then steered the car to Bastion. He came in and sat down heavily on the sofa. He double checked his surveillance of their families back home. All were accounted for. He sat back and wondered what was going through The Suit's mind and why did it come after him. The "multiple counts of murder" must mean the scum at the collection clinic that he had eradicated. He regretted not having sent the info of their organization to The Suit by anonymous means, but he had felt at the time that attaching his name to the tip off would give it credibility. He had expected Section to deal with the Nassau bad guys. Why didn't they? Jurisdiction issues? And why did The Suit send people to arrest or execute him? He had only given them the information. Were they really so trigger happy as to kill every informant that turned to them?

Jamie closed his eyes and groaned as he remembered drinking water at the clinic, while he was interrogating the tiny, scared, evil woman. He had left his fingerprints and DNA at the crime scene. No fucking wonder The Suit sent people after him. Still, Jamie felt it was being very hypocritical. He had only done what The Suit and Section would have certainly done as well. He gave himself a slap on the face as he resolved to only pass information to Section anonymously in the future. Unless there was a sizable bounty involved. The Suit already thought of Jamie as public enemy number one, apparently, and a few tip offs aren't going to change that.

"What am I going to do about you," Jamie said to himself, out loud, as he gazed at The Suit's email address.

Mara grunted as she hauled her large, wheeled suitcase up the stairs of her dormitory. She had no intention of using magic to lighten her load, as students were crowding the staircase, running up and down. Finals were here and everyone had studying to catch up on. Mara shook her head at seeing the near panicky expressions on the faces whooshing past her. She had just spent the holidays with her mom and she did her studying there, while her mom had been at work. The homey atmosphere allowed her to completely immerse herself in the subject matter. She had her first final later today and she was more than ready for it.

When she finally got off the staircase and away from the pushing of her fellow students, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her relief was short lived, however, as the otter started to appear in brief flashes, in the corners of her vision. She rolled her eyes and proceeded down the hall to her room. Jamie and his girls had saved her life and taken her to their secret house, somewhere in the city. They fucked her brains out that night and more so the following morning. Then they drove her back to the campus, leaving her with only a vague notion in which direction their secret base was, and told her to stay away from them. She insisted that she had to stay with them, but they gave her the cold shoulder, telling her it was for her own good. The first magic wielders she had ever met in her life and they seemingly wanted nothing to do with her.

The otter then revealed a truly remarkable talent for passive aggressive behavior as it snarked and snipped at Mara's inability to get into position to one day repay her life debt. Mara kept hounding the gang each day at classes, but they'd give her the slip once they got in their fancy cars. Then came Christmas and they vanished until finals, just as they had said they would. Mara was left with no way to find or follow them, so she went back to her mom. She did a consecration ritual that pinned the otter's attentions to her dorm room in the hopes that it would leave her alone until after she had had a nice Christmas vacation with her mom. She had missed her so. They sang carols, baked cookies and danced to cheesy music while decorating the tree. Her mother was ecstatic when Mara decided to extend her stay until today. The otter kept flashing in Mara's vision, and she closed her eyes. The otter called her name urgently and Mara blinked in surprise. It had never before been able to reach her while she was awake.

She unlocked the door, opened it, and immediately fell asleep. Her body remained standing. "Do we call The Suit and tell it we've got her," asked one of the younger Section operatives.

"No," said the bald, bearded man. "We stay quiet until we deliver her there, in person. Come on! Get her luggage as well!"

A gentle hand roused Jamie from his sleep. He made a questioning noise in the back of his throat. Nova whispered in his ear, "The Suit has just sent you an email saying that his operatives have arrested Mara-" Jamie jumped out of bed, alert and alarmed. Nova continued saying, "for illegal use of a paralyzing charm and that she is to be tried as our accomplice in the attack on the clinic. It wants you to come alone and surrender peacefully in return for a reduced sentence for Mara."

Jamie got dressed and ran a hand through his hair. "Send him this reply," he said. "Ms. O'Donnell will be free by the time dawn breaks. This will be done with your cooperation, or despite your resistance. Yours, angrily, Jamie Jacobs. No, change it to homicidally furious." Nova nodded and sent the email.

He glanced at his two rings. He had only one spirit attached to each of them. Plus, he was still exhausted from storing the second one, just hours ago. "Well," he said, "I guess we'll see just how dangerous you really are. Pack our weapons, gear and all the ammo we've got. But do it quietly. Let's leave the girls asleep. Send them a message saying where we've gone and why."

"Jamie," the gynoid said, "tactically, it makes more sense to bring the girls with us to D.C. Sonya is an expert markswoman and Rose and Sandra are both superior combat casters. Even Helena can be of use, laying down lines of suppressive fire."

"No," Jamie said, after a brief consideration, "I don't want them to see me like this." Nova nodded and gathered their weapons and ammunition. It loaded up the Subaru and Jamie sat in the Pagani. They tore down the interstate, passing sleepy trucks and speed limits, and came to D.C. before dawn. Jamie parked down the street from The Suit's house. He held his phone to his ear. "What do you see?"

"Four pairs of casters," it said through his phone. "One pair is on the roof, another is across the street, one is in each of the houses next to The Suit's." Jamie's eyes followed Nova's verbal guidance, but saw no one in any of the locations it described. They must be hidden under some very heavy wards and illusions. He only felt their presence once Nova had said they were there. Nova, having cameras that are immune to magic, saw through every illusion and ward like it wasn't even there in the first place.

"Saiga, water rounds," Jamie ordered.

Nova exited the Subaru and loaded a box magazine of enchanted water rounds into the Saiga. A Kalash was strapped across its back and it was bristling with spare mags. It worked the action to chamber a round and then ran down the street with superhuman speed. Eight shots rang softly out in the night, followed by eight casters doubling over in agony. In the few seconds it took the gynoid to come to the front door, a caster had managed to get back to his feet. Nova gave him another shot to the chest and he collapsed. Two more casters came running from around the back of the townhouse and were met by a water round to the chest each. The shock of getting shot, despite their magical shielding and invisibility, rendered them unconscious.

Jamie got out of his car and ran crouched towards the townhouse. He could sense no immediate danger, but he was still on guard. Nova changed magazines at the front door, and used the pause to let its echolocation sonar paint a picture of the inside of the house. It determined that six people were standing inside of the front hallway, but it could not "see" beyond that with the front door closed shut. It kicked in the door, donkey style, from behind the jamb. Enchanted rounds peppered the doorway, along with magical spells that threatened to bring down the entire structure. Nova stuck the barrel of the Saiga through the door and shot each of the six defenders with a water round to the head.

Jamie reached the doorway and sensed a whole host of perverse enchantments and traps covering it. They were designed to catch and incapacitate anyone stupid enough to try to gain entry. Nova went in and all the magics scrambled as a physical object moved through their field of effect. The spells reverted to their backup mode and coalesced into a terrible ray of destruction that targeted the intruder in order to annihilate it. Nova's skin shrugged it off, like any other magic. Jamie marveled at his creation and at the horrendously cunning wards. There had been no way anyone could have entered the house without express permission from The Suit. They'd be either incapacitated or disintegrated.

The gynoid's sonar told it of two persons hiding behind the corner of the landing and another in the back hallway. The gynoid changed magazine on the Saiga and fired a fireball round to just opposite those corners. The people crouching in wait stumbled out in the open, stunned by the blasts. Nova changed the magazine again and shot them with water rounds, bringing them down.

Nova walked around the downstairs. Then it ran up the stairs and took two left turns. Jamie followed, noting they weren't going to The Suit's office. Nova kicked open a door, donkey style. It poked the barrel of the shotgun inside and fired. Jamie heard a pained yelp from inside and a thump. He followed Nova into the room and saw Mara tied to a chair. She was gagged and he noted, in the light of the bedside lamp, tears streaking down her cheeks. The Suit stood by the bed, its arms folded across its chest. A woman lay softly yelping on the floor behind the chair.

"Mr. Jacobs," spoke The Suit in a weary voice, "what an unpleasant surprise."

"Didn't you get my email," Jamie asked with a smirk. Nova freed Mara from the chair and the brunette ripped the gag from her mouth and jumped into Jamie's embrace.

"You are interfering with the course of justice," The Suit said.

"Fuck you and whatever passes for justice in your sick, fucking head, you piece of aborted mulch," Jamie hissed with venom. He took a long look at Mara's wet, blue eyes. His senses told him the girl was unhurt and uncursed. She was just frightened from the kidnapping. He hugged her tight again and addressed The Suit. "If you had hurt Mara, I would have crippled all of your operatives. I told you once that I'd drown you in their blood. That offer still stands. Fuck with me and mine some more and you will see just how out of your motherfucking league you are." The Suit said nothing. "I don't care who you send after me and what pets they bring along with them. I snuffed Eric Johansson and I'll snuff everyone and everything that you send after us. Do I make myself clear? Do you need another demonstration, you retarded asshat?"

"No," said The Suit.

Jamie hugged Mara tighter and led her out of the house. "Remember," he said over his shoulder, "touch our families and you all die weeping." They left the house, Nova staring down any caster that was strong enough to stand. They were all beyond stunned that they had made it into the house, so they just watched them leave, nursing their growing bruises.

"That's my luggage," said Mara, pointing at the large, wheeled case in the parlor. Nova picked it up and carried it to the boot of the Subaru.

Jamie got in his Pagani and Mara sat next to him. She was too tired to admire the impressive vehicle. She yawned. "I haven't slept since I left my mom's place."

"Did you have a nice visit," Jamie asked.

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded. "Just like old times." The tension of the long night in the chair had left her and the strumming of the engine relaxed her as Jamie drove them out of D.C., Nova following in the Subaru. "I missed my final today," she mumbled before falling asleep.

Half an hour out of D.C., Jamie parked at a service station. Mara was asleep and he waved Nova over. "Did you see The Suit? Its face?" Nova nodded. He suppressed his exclamation of glee and gestured to his cellphone. "Show me!" Nova transmitted the footage of the older man, wearing pajamas and standing by the bed. Jamie looked long and hard at the man's face before he started cackling. He led Nova away from the cars, lest he wake up Mara. He was so excited. Probably nobody had ever seen the face of a person serving as The Suit before, and now he knew that The Suit was actually...

Jamie's brow bunched up. Nova had just showed him who The Suit was, but he forgot. He looked down at his phone and saw the old man. His hair was more gray than brown. His nose was slightly crooked and his chin was cleft. He had jowls. Jamie shook his head. "This fucking grandpa is running the show," he thought to himself. He looked to the gynoid and said, "Nova, can you ID this..." He again realized he forgot who The Suit was. He looked down and saw his face again. "...This man?"

"Yes, Jamie, I already have," the gynoid said.

Jamie found that he could remember the man's face only as long as he was staring at it. As soon as he looked up at Nova, he only remembered that he had seen The Suit's face, but he had no idea what it looked like. He kept staring at the face of his nemesis. He counted the wrinkles around his eyes and employed mnemonic devices to memorize the man's face. Without looking away, he told Nova, "Tell me who he is!"