(continued from Night at the Blackburn)

The car pulled into the motel parking lot. A neon sign proclaimed VACANCY in a near-pleading tone. The motel itself was dull brown, with the paint peeling off and with cobwebs stuffed into the corners. From the check-in counter, the voice of television drifted.

He opened the car, and looked around. There was a CCTV camera that he remembered quite well, since it took no small amount of effort to reroute the video feed and display looped footage. The feed was still going out, but only to the Directive's local IntCells. There were novas who could listen in on data transmission, after all, which is why they had to do this in person.

There were novas with super-keen ears, of course, and retrocognitive abilities, and telepathy. They had some defenses but not all of them.

That was the worst part. When the enemy could do anything, you had to be ready for anything.

He nodded, and took out his keys. "Number four over there," he said to the car's occupant.

Kara stirred slowly, relunctant to leave now that the car was warm. She hoped that the agent - I can't believe I can't remember his name - Joseph? No, that was my co-star in Climax of the Stars - had warmed up the room first, because God sure hadn't turned up the outer temp yet.

She hurried to the door, then had to wait for the agent to open it. She slipped in past him, unaware of what effect that brushing against him may have had. Kara was so cold that she didn't think about that; it was still not on her mind as she sat down on the bed and began to rub her arms to warm her body. Thankfully, the room was warm

The agent followed her in and shut the door and Kara took her first good look at him. He was still decently built, with the same exact haircut he'd had all those months ago. But his stance was stronger; there was more confidence in the eyes that settled on her.

"This is embarrassing," Kara said, "but it's been months and I really didn't think we'd met again. I'm afraid that I've forgotten your name. I'm Kara, Kara B'nath." She chuckled to herself, remembering that was exactly how he'd introduced himself last time: Nathan, Nathan Dayes. "Ah ha! Nathan. I knew I'd get it in time."

She glanced around the room. "Do you want me to write this down, or will you? How do we do the debriefing?" She crossed her legs and leaned forward, looking eager. This is what she wanted to do, and she was eager to get to it.

Nathan pulls out a small cellphone and sets it on the table. He presses a switch and a small red projection of a keyboard is displayed on the desk from an emitter in the phone. "I love these. Type anywhere there's a flat surface. You just push your finger down wherever the key is and it'll type that letter int he document."

"Either of us can write it down, but only one of us can leave with a copy and that'll have to be me, so we'll have to get it right before we part ways. You can dictate it to me or write it down yourself - either way I'll check the report and ask some questions. Also..."

He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small disk. "I have no idea what's on here. I was told it's need to know. I was also told that you wanted it, so: you got it."

He hands the disk to Caramel.

Kara was slow to take the disk; her fingers curled around it with obvious relunctance. Nathan was wrong; she didn't want the disk. Because taking the disk was the start. Until this point, she had been the victim, ignorant of her enemy and able to blame any failures on that. But now, armed with the knowledge on this disk, she was going to become responsible for her own safety. It was her job to stay safe, so that Colin would focus on finding Ramm and the telepath. And now, she was going to actually have to do it.

Kara had never been good at accepting responsibility. There'd always been ways to wiggle out of things before, right up until Ramm had put her on the cross. And now, she could escape nothing.

"Thanks," she said unconvincingly, but her smile was sincere. She was quiet for a moment, then her normal smile spread across her face and her eyes began to twinkle. "Say, suga- sir, do you still have that copy of my power?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I don't, no. It fades - how long it takes varies but never more than a couple of hours." He scratches the back of his head. "If it stuck around forever, I'd be at that party right now, shaking everyone's hand."

He sits down and props open the computer. "'Course, nothing stopping me from copying it again... unless I can't copy the same power more than twice. Never tried, really. Why, did you want me to do that again?"

"Not that," Kara said with a shrug that made her dress shift and alter and wiggle things inside a bit. "I was both curious about whether you still could, and about whether you had ever tried out my favorite shape."

Nathan looked intrigued. "What's your favorite form?"

Kara grinned. "Wanna know or wanna be shown?"

Nathan nodded, and double-checked the blinds. "Show away."

Kara slid to the floor, making sure she had enough room in front and behind her. In the smallish room, she barely had the space for this. For a moment, she crouched on her hands and knees, then she triggered that switch inside her.

Her body exploded outward into a mass of fur and muscle. Her resulting body was not much taller than a lion's, but it was far heavier. The shoulders held most of the mass, as the sloped high into the air before becoming smaller but still powerful feline hips. A very short tail waved in the air, but Nathan couldn't see it very well.

Instead, he was looking at the seven inch teeth in the powerful jaws that were distressingly close to his head. Golden, predatory eyes blinked at him with an intelligence this extinct animal had never known in life. "This," the cat said in a deep, powerful voice that was still somehow Kara's, "is my favorite form." As if to prove it was still her, the hot breath that washed over his skin smelled vaguely of rum and sugar.

"You're... big."

Nathan slapped himself mentally. "That's impressive. What big teeth you have. Er, why is it your favorite form?"

The question took Kara aback for a moment and she sat on her haunches. "I don't know," she admitted. "I think it's just because when I do, I know that I'm doing something wonderful, bringing back for a moment something long gone."

She arched her whiskers forward, which make her look pleased. "That, and I'm big in this form."

She was stalling. Kara sighed; this was kinda pathetic, looking for reasons to hang around just because it was the closest she would come to his job. The tiger grumbled as it climbed on the bed; the matress groaned but held up to the pressure. "We should probably get to business," she said, her deep voice rumbling with regret. Her body folded in on itself until Kara was lying on her stomach propped up on her elbows. She was all curves and woman like this, a tempting offering of flesh stretched on the hotel bed. "You gonna type or am I?"

"I'll type. I'm the one who has to deliver this thing tomorrow, after all, unless you really want to." He popped the word processor window open. "Oh - just a second - "

He gets up and goes to the window, peeking quietly through the curtains. Then he takes a small device out of his pocket and sticks it on the glass with a suction cup. "There. Counter-vibrational frequencies. Foils directional microphones as well as laser mikes. I didn't see anyone within range, but can't be too careful."

"Now, tell me what you observed in there. I type fast so don't go slow on my account."

"Ok, sug- sir," Kara said with a grin. Taking a deep breath, she started talking, including everything since her last report. The party was the primary focus of her report, but she added in whatever she thought was important. Maybe she was repeating herself; maybe not. She didn't have a perfect memory, so some things were sketchy. She still tried.

Finally, she slowed her litany, drawing to a stop. "There weren't many chances to socialize, but there's been a baseball game announced, and I think that will be better for learning more personal things."

Sometimes, she felt bad about this. People talked to her, and she didn't keep their confidence - well, not completely. There were things she didn't pass on, things that lacked importance. But she knew that she was helping to clear the suspicion from the good people, and helping to find the bad people. She was fighting the good fight, and she knew it. Sometimes, it was just so hard.

Listless, Kara grabbed the TV listing, scanning the contents of the porn channels. "Huh, they're playing Cat in the Cradle. That's a good one, if you want to watch something fun tonight." She glanced up at Nathan and smiled. "It's one of my personal favorites."

"I've never seen that one. What's it about?" he asked, perfectly innocent as he typed on the laptop.

And put in my recommendations... follow up on this one, he sounds like bad news.

"This is good stuff, Kara. Thanks for doing this. If you're heading to the baseball game we might be able to set you up with earrings with our phonographic bugs inside. All but undetectable and you could have someone else sift through this data..."

Misunderstandings can be funny, but usually not when they happen in real life. Cat in the Cradle was that rarest of porns: one that had a plot, threadbare as it was. So Kara answered it truthfully, blissfully unaware of Nathan's lack of knowledge about her profession. "It's about a gold-digging woman who marries a rich man and tries to screw him to death for his money. When his retainers find out about it, she seduces all of them to keep them quiet. It ends with her succeeding in killing him, only to find out that he knew all along and left all his money to charity.

"It was one of my favorites to do," Kara said with a fond smile. "All of my co-stars were wonderful people; so kind and considerate." She glanced further down the list. "They're playing another one of my movies at three, but it's one of my worst, and I'm not even going to tell you which one it is," she chuckled.

Putting the guide down, she rolled onto her side and unconsciously struck a seductive pose - though the honest truth is that it was hard for her not to look seductive. "What now?" she inquired, her thumb stroking the seam of the blandly patterned hotel blanket.

Nathan tugs at his collar a little as he fumbles with disks. "It's warm in here."

"That sounds like an interesting flick. You were in it? It must get weird seeing yourself on a TV screen, doing something and watching it from the outside. I know I felt that way when I had to review some security footage."

Well, Nathan, that might be because you're blowing a guy's head off in one, and in another you're getting shot while giving a psychotic nova a hug. Odds are she hasn't done those things.

"Well, if you want to, and if you're not weirded out by seeing yourself on TV then sure, I can check it out. I'd like to find out more about your body at work. But do you think you'll be missed back at the BB? From what you've told me, they don't sound like the forgiving type, and if you vanish you could wind up blowing your cover."

Kara grinned. "If I did vanish, everyone would assume that I found company for the night," she said, batting her eyelashes at him as if daring him to refute her statement. "I broke up with my last serious boyfriend in November, and kinda swore off men for a bit; most of the people who know me are surprised I've lasted this long. I know that my hairdresser assumed I'd be trolling for company tonight." And wouldn't it have been nice if it had been Gabe. It still could be, if you went back.

She'd never admit to being afraid of Gabe, of what he could do to her. He was too beautiful to deny; he might be able trap her with his magnificence, the kind of trap that never opened. But could she really be happy with just him?. She kinda wanted to be trapped by him, but another part of her was screaming in terror at the thought. People got tired of one another, became ugly after a while. Would be able to bear rolling over in the morning and seeing the most beautiful man in the world staining his pillow with drool every morning for the rest of her life?

"In other words," she said, bringing her mind back to the here and now, "I can cover my absence." She chuckled a little. "I'm kinda intrigued by this idea now. Not many guys are so casual about watching my movies, at least not with me in the room. Besides," she held up the disk he had given her, "I'll need to make some arrangements anyway. Can't go back to the party with a 'for your eyes only' file. Let me call my bodyguard and let him know that he's watching the wrong building."

Kara sat up and pulled up the edge of her dress, getting at the cell phone clipped to her thong. She'd paid a little extra to have the phone colored to match her skin for just this reason. It wasn't invisible, but it didn't stand out so starkly anymore.

"Hey, Rasha-" she started when he picked up, but he cut her off.

"Where are you?!" he screamed, and Kara could hear sirens and the sounds of chaos behind him.

"I'm with a friend, at his place," Kara said. "I stepped out to get some fresh air-"

"I told you not to leave without me," Rashard steamed.

"Sugar-"

"Don't 'sugar' me, Kara," Rashard barked. "All hell has broken loose down here. Are you safe where you are?"

"Yes."

"I mean safe-safe, not what you think is safe," he snapped back. "Safe by my standards, not yours."

"Clearly, I'm safer here than there," Kara growled. "What's going on?"

"Some damned fools started a fight," Rashard answered tersely. "Stay where you are, call me when you're ready to leave. But you need to give me a few hours to get a car, or you're going to have to call a taxi."

"What happened to my car?!" Kara asked, a note of dismay in her voice. That was her favorite SUV! "Oh, god, Dexter... is he...?"

"Some werewolf-nova put his fist through the hood. The car is probably totaled, Kara; the engine is toast and the frame is probably fucked," Rashard answered, his cursing betraying how agitated he was. "Dexter is fine; the airbags deployed. You stay put this time. I'm tired of not being able to protect you because I can't find you."

"Ok," Kara agreed meekly, but he had already hung up. Turning to Nathan, she said, "I think I left the party too early." She quickly passed on what Rashard had told her, closing with, "So if you want company, I've got a few hours to kill. If not, I can go back to my hotel." She grinned, her teeth flashing white in her dark face. "Your choice."

As soon as Kara's voice had started to rise, Nathan was on his feet. He frowned at the news.

Miles away from the base. I can't get an IntCell update on Titan-class threats over my phone - it's too unsecured. I could drive like a madman but I'd never get there in time, unless it's one of the longest nova fights on record - and with that many people it might be. Christ, this is a nightmare.

She's pretty. Is she...?

Stay focused.

I think she's coming on to me.

Stay focused, Nathan. What do I do? It's like the city all over again. Like Klein. I might be able to stop it...

That's not Directive procedure, though. Never fight them on their terms. Fight them on yours. I'll be just one more person punching people through cars if I rush in there. It's rotten. Jesus, it's rotten. But...

She's pretty. There's worse ways to spend a few hours.

"It'll look suspicious if you went to a hotel by yourself for a few hours, and I've already done some securing of this location. You can stay here, if you want. I, uh..." He scratches the back of his head. "I wouldn't mind if you stayed either."

Smooth. James Bond's dick just fell off out of jealousy.

Caramel leaned against the headboard, still smiling. "If you say so," she said, "you're the expert here." If she wasn't going back, she could at least change out of the dress. Sadly, it hadn't been allowed to live up to the hope that it would catch her some company for this evening.

The dress shimmered and the holes in the material closed. Kara choose a more comfortable outfit: a soft blue silk tank top with spagetti straps and men's pajamanas of a darker blue silk. Despite the casual look, this was Kara's favorite way to relax in an evening. Her shoes melted away into her pants, and Kara began to rub her feet, wincing at the nasty, overheated feel to her soles. As her fingers firmly rubbed the sore muscles, she asked, "Since we're here for a while, how about a pizza and some beer? Oh, and do you have any hand lotion?"

"Pizza! Yes. Give me a second. There's beer in the mini-fridge. How many pizzas do you take? I'll have about four." Nathan pulls out his cellular and begins thumbing the keypad.

"No lotion, sorry. There's a convenience store a few blocks down, so I can go get some."

"No need to do that," Kara said with a shrug. "The lotion would have been a bonus." She stood up and stretched, sighing happily as her body pulled the tension of the night loose. Sadly, it didn't get rid of that warm fire burning softly in her body; there was only one thing that would solve that.

"Pizza let's see... I could be a total girl and order less than you..." she chuckled a little before shaking her head. "But I'm hungry. Get me four, too, sug- sir. Anything but black olives." While he made the call, Kara washed her hands and splashed some water on her face. The pins holding her hair up came out and Kara let it fall into its usual style. I'm glad I just got it dyed again, she thought as she preened in the mirror for a moment.

Stepping back into the main room, she bent over the mini-fridge and dug out a beer. Without straightening up, she glanced at Nathan and asked, "Do you want one?"

"Hi, yes... I'll order a Hawaiian and a deep dish. And some Pepsi."

He repeats this information three separate times to four separate pizza places, pausing slightly as Kara bends over the mini-fridge. "No beer for me. Old habits - we didn't drink much, where I got my start in intel."

How I wish we did.

He sits down on the bed and thumbs the remote.

"Because a Bud will clearly make you totally drunk," Kara said wryly as she stood up and nudged the door shut with her foot. The edge of the fridge had clearly been used as a bottle opener before, so Kara continued that use, placing her cap against the edge and popping it off with a precise, practiced blow of her other hand.

Moving back to the bed, she sat down next to Nathan, stretching out on her side. Given that it was just a full bed, there wasn't much to her side. Still, she attempted not to crowd Nathan. Tipping back the beer, she took a deep swig and settled back to watch the television.

Nathan sat down next to her, and thumbed the TV on. The logo for The Cat and the Cradle appeared on screen.

Well, this is a first. Never watched a movie with the actress who was in it. Maybe she'll tell me how they shoot these things.

...

Fifteen Minutes Later

The world league of poker players would turn in their cards at the sight of Nathan's poker face, as Caramel Bath disrobed on screen and began rubbing herself eagerly.

The other man on screen looked about thirty but was made up to look about seventy. He pulled his pants off and Nathan didn't even blink. He was the picture of composure. On the outside, at any rate.

Okay. She's a porn star.

"I love you to death, honey," said TV-Kara. "I'm gonna fuck you 'til tomorrow. I'll ride you all night long."

I'm not sure what the etiquette is here. Do I say 'good job on that shot?' What kind of compliments do you pay a porn star anyways?

... my pants are getting tight.

Oh God. I think she's looking at my pants.

6 times 9 is 54. 9 time 7 is 63. "This is my side of the bed, Russel." Uh... the human brain in 'Pi' is real. Lance Stryker's favorite type of drink is Scotch and his cigars are hand-rolled. Chuck Heston is wearing a wristwatch in one of his movies and I can't remember which one, just that he shouldn't have one on. Bill Hicks had more albums released posthumously than when he was alive. 'Fuck off' is spelt out in the background of one of the special effects shots in the original Battlestar Galactica. This isn't working.

Oh, she's enjoying this. Well, not that thing on screen, I'm pretty sure that hurts. She's enjoying watching me squirm. Well, I'm cold as ice. The picture of composure. I -

The doorbell rang. Nathan was airborne halfway through the "ding" and on his feet by the "dong." He went to the door.

Saved by the bell! Literally. Hah. I'll have to save that.

Kara was enjoying this. It wasn't often that she got to relax and watch her movies with a guy who didn't immediately try to reenact them with her. Of course, that usually meant that they were gay, and if Nathan was gay, that was fine. Kara loved having gay friends; they were fun to shop with and you never had any of that awkward sexual tension with them.

When the doorbell rang, and Kara snatched the remote, hitting pause as Nathan flew for the door. He must be hungry, Kara thought as she slid off the far side of the bed and hid on the floor. She wasn't embarrassed; instead, she didn't want the pizza man remembering that Caramel Bath had been in this hotel room. It was much better if he just thought that Nathan was a lonely, hungry traveler catching a porn in his New York hotel room.

While she waited, she finished off the beer and set the bottle against the wall. When Nathan had closed the door and turned back around, Kara was resting her head on her arm, looking unconsciously coquettish. "Now that the pizzas are coming, should I stay down here? Might save time."

Nathan sets the pizzas down on the table. "Well... I'm not sure how to say this, but you do look very remarkable." He smiled. "And memorable."

"But it's your choice. You could always hide beneath the covers, too." Nathan brushed the drapes aside, and nodded. "Off he goes."

"Bed or floor? Hard choice!" Kara giggled as she pulled back the covers and sat down, letting the blankets pool about her crossed legs. Leaning over, she snagged a box of pizza and opened it, loosening a piece from it's cheese and grease seal. "Mmmm... best part of eruption," she said as she chewed, then looked abashed. Swallowing, she said, "Sorry. So-"

The door rang with another knock, and Kara dropped the pizza box on the floor. She yanked the covers over her head and let herself fall back onto the bed with a thud. Nathan answer the door and exchanged money for pizza; when he shut the door and looked at her, Kara was sitting back up, grimacing and holding her head. "Ow," she muttered. "I cracked my head on the headboard." She gave him a weak, pained smile. "Graceful, huh?"

"Ouch. Watch the headboard, yes. I bet it hurt."

Not as much as what she's doing on the TV hurt, I'd wager..

A couple of doorbells later, Nathan sat back down on the bed and pried open a box. He took a bite.

"How's your head? There's bactine in the cabinet if it's - oh." Nathan watched as on screen, Kara put her hands on the breasts of a blushing maid and started rubbing them.

"... well. It looks like you're... er, enjoying that."

It was his first comment about the movie, and Kara gave her viewing companion another mental evaluation. She'd thought he was disinterested in women, but there had been nothing casual about that statement. "Well, sometimes, working with my female co-workers is nicer than working with the guys," Kara admitted. "They tend to be a little more understanding, or some of them do. Some of them are competative bitches. But I had worked with Mindy before, and she is nice. The film before this one had been guy heavy, and this one was all guys until Mindy. So it was a good change of pace."

Kara pushed the empty pizza box aside and pulled another over. She flipped up the lid and dug out a piece, absently watching the screen. "I wasn't sure if this scene worked really well," she said suddenly, as Mindy laid back on the pool table, wearing only her stockings and high heels. Tv-Kara then proceeded to bend over the protrate actress-maid, and her minstrations had Mindy moaning. "The lip of the table... I've always thought it was a strange angle, and made things look weird. What do you think, Nathan?" Her golden eyes fixed on him curiously.

"I think that, uh..." Nathan paused to collect his thoughts. "I think that tightly focusing like that on your, er, vagina is a mistake, because it's a bit de-personifying. You just see a body part, with no emotional attachment. It's not... it is erotic, I guess, but it's not really attractive."

Nathan watched for a few more minutes. "You know, thinking about it, I suppose that porn stars have an unusual relationship with their bodies..."

He glanced at her after his statement to find Kara studying him intently, her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed. "Yes, we do," Kara said after a moment. "We take an act that most people believe to be intimate or perhaps sacred, and we make it into entertainment. Some people can't do it, but I think of it like I'm an athlete. I work using my body, and it can be tiring, physical work. Of course, it can also be easy, if I'm fulfilling more of an extra's role. But when I'm fucking, I try to do my best to be responsive and active."

She was still studying him with unnerving focus; what she was thinking was revealed when she said, "I can't figure you out. First I'm wondering if you don't like women, or maybe you're just super-casual about sex. Now you're seein' a distinction between erotic and attractive, which I don't hear from men, often, sugar. Soooo... you have me curious." Her smile was gentle enough, but there was a driven look on her face.

"Hmmm." Nathan thumbs the mute button on the remote and turns more fully towards Kara.

"If you're implying that I'm gay, I experimented with it a little in college but it wasn't my thing. However: with my schedule, I have very little time for any sort of relationship, so you could say I'm in a state of forced celibacy. Anyone outside the Big D would have to live with not knowing the full brunt of what I do, and anyone inside the Big D would be seen rarely due to our cell structure, and be at just as much risk as I am. So I'm not entirely sure how to react when an attractive woman who just happens to work in the same job I do decides that she wants to watch a porno with me. I can't recall a regulation on that." He smiles.

"Also, well... I think differently, post-eruption. I stay calm more easily, I analyze things more quickly and I notice things I wouldn't before. I still get, you know, aroused, but it doesn't blow away every single thought I have in my head. So if I seem to be behaving differently than you're used to that's probably why."

Nathan had a point. Kara hadn't dealt with nova men much, or perhaps it was more accurate to state that she hadn't dealt with men that thought differently. It was interesting, and a little scary. Did it change the way he related to others? Would she be able to interact with him? "Yeah," she agreed softly, looking unsure, "that's probably why." She was still looking at him when she hesitantly asked, "You still have the normal reactions, but you can... ignore them if you want? Is that how it works?" Leaning toward him a little, her expression was hesitant and curious, like a cat sniffing at something it didn't quite understand.

"That's basically it. Right now I can say with confidence that on tape or live you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, on the TV or right here. But it doesn't overwhelm me with "spring fever," so to speak. There's a part of me that doesn't quite shut off, and that's always analyzing a situation and trying to crack problems and storing memories. That comes out of eruption..."

He leans back, staring at the ceiling.

"When I erupted, it was because I was confronted with a nova I'd been keeping tabs on via the bugs we'd planted in his home. He saw our burst transmission, even though he shouldn't have because there was nothing in his profile saying he could. He followed it, and found us. Had his hands around my throat. I'd made a mistake and it was going to cost the lives of everyone in my intelligence cell. I wanted to be smarter, to spot that sort of thing sooner, and I wanted to take that force bolt that I'd seen him blast from low Earth orbit and turn people into spaghetti sauce, and throw it right back in his face."

"And I did."

Nathan was silent for a moment.

"First man I ever killed."