Going Super Chapter 9

Written by happiest_in_shadows :: [Thursday, 10 November 2005 09:00] Last updated by ::

Going Super Chapter 9

 

By: Happiest in Shadows

 

Novel concluded and the next generation is arriving

 


Author's Disclaimer: This story contains scenes of violence, sex and general naughtiness. If you are a minor either beat it or lie about your age. Either way don’t get me sued. Okay? I make no claim to any of the DC characters or trademarks used in this story as I don’t want sued by them either. This story was done with input from Animike and Anterion.

 

Author's Note: I had planned to write another novel dealing with Kate however I have decided not to. The story has a flaw at its core which I can’t over look. It was a mistake on my part to base the story in the DC universe, a mistake that I won’t be making again. So here ends Going Super.


 

 

“Are you sure your okay?” Debra looked at Joe who had kept silent for most of the flight. The two of them were currently on-board a special transport jet that had been given to their unit. The aircraft flew by remote control. This was to avoid harming the pilot as the jet was capable of exceeding mock 7 a joke when compared to Kate’s top speed but more then what a human could handle accelerated to so quickly.

 

“Yeah I am fine. My shield is keeping me safe.”

 

Debra nodded her head. “I am a little curious how a energy shield is keeping you safe from the effects of such rapid acceleration.”

 

Joe chuckled. “You would have to ask one of the lab workers about that.” A groan issued from Joe lips as he reached up and placed his hands on the sides of his head.

 

Debra quickly stood up and made her way over to Joe. Placing her right hand on his shoulder. “I thought you said you were okay.”

 

“I just feel a little sick is all. Anyway we need to get there quickly. We could go even faster if I could handle more g-forces. I will just need a few moments to adjust when we land is all.”

 

“I am going to tell the computer to slow down.”

 

Joe quickly took hold of Debra’s arm. “No we need to get there quickly. I have been using my equipment to monitor myself I am fine. It is just making me a little sick is all.”

 

Debra grew silent for just a few seconds. “Let me see the readings.”

 

Joe let out a sight though it came out as more of a groan. He couldn’t fault Debra for worrying about him after all she was his partner and indeed she had become more then that to him. Still he did want to get their in time. Holding up his arm, he gave the machine a mental signal to reveal a manual flip-up-panel.

The panel was normally concealed under the armor on his hands and was there for emergencies should the link with his nervous system glitched up.

 

Debra looked at the numbers for a few moments. Joe had been being honest with her at least mostly. The readings didn’t put him in any dire danger but his body was being pushed to endure the kind of strain he was currently under. “You keep that display up and I better never learn that you modified the numbers before letting me see them.”

 

Joe gave a slight laugh and lowered his hand back to his legs. He could still tell Debra wanted to have the jet slow down to an easier to handle speed but he wanted to arrive on the seen as quickly as possible. “We need to get there and get things taken care of before anyone else shows up.”

 

“Once we get over the sight I plan on just jumping down. You stay with the jet until it has landed. Like you said, you are going to need a few moments to recover. At the very least.” Joe didn’t bother arguing with her, at least Debra hadn’t slowed the jet down. A moment later he let his eyes drift shut and tried to just relax.

 

“Do you think we can actually handle this?”

 

Debra nodded her head. “Yeah I am sure we can handle this. She didn’t get a very high rating after all.”

 

“Not high enough for Kate. Still, I am worried I mean my weapon is mechanical. Even your weapon is a machine well machines even if it doesn’t like to be.”

 

“You’re worried that she might be able to shut them down?”

 

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little concerned.”

 

“Don’t worry she hasn’t ever managed to affect something that is as high of a technological level as what we are doing. I am sure that we are both insulated well enough.” Debra looked down at her biceps for a moment. “Of course I wonder if my weapon even runs off the flow of electrons.”

 

“You don’t know what their energy source is?”

 

Debra shook her head. “Nope. Well no. I take that back I have an idea. Apparently the nanobots in my system help a great deal with digesting what I eat. It converts a lot more of the food into energy then what my system normally does. At least that is what I have been told. I imagine they get their energy from what I eat then.”

 

“I wonder how complete the conversion is.”

 

“Now I don’t know that.” A playful appeared on Debra’s face as she realized that during their entire conversation Joe hadn’t opened his eyes. Reaching out Debra held a hand near his crotch wondering if he would notice.”

 

“I can’t claim that I know the finer details of how my weapon works either though I imagine I know a little more then you. Since my weapon isn’t self repairing if it gets damaged I may have to make some emergency repairs. Elaine taught me a few things about it in case that should happen.”

 

“What can you do?”

 

“Well I can limit the different types of energy it can produce for one thing. The shield generator is one of the most complex parts in the system. I can shut that off in case it goes out of control. Since a malfunctioning shielding unit could kill me.”

 

“Sounds like a mixed blessing. I can’t shut down my nanobots even if I want to.”

 

Debra withdrew her hand as she realized how focused on keeping relaxed Joe was at the time. A few seconds later she heard a slight beep as the ships mechanical voice turned on. “We will soon be arriving at our destination. Please proceed to your exit.” Debra knew whom the machine was actually speaking to and made her way out of the little area Joe and her, had been setting in. Opening a rather hefty looking door she settled into the little compartment and waited for the drop.

 

Joe heard a slight release of air signaling to him that Debra was on her way down towards the surface at considerable speeds. He couldn’t think of this much though as he felt the aircraft rapidly slowing the changing in speeds making him feel all the sicker and even convincing him to watch the little monitor that showed his vital signs.

 

Gravity might have helped her in her trip to the surface but it only had a very small part to play in it. The launch tube had been designed for super humans like herself and Kate to endure. Thus, it had shot Debra towards the ground at nightmarish speed. She didn’t even have time to think to bind her knees in order to attempt to absorb the impact. Instead she had simply slammed into the ground at nearly five hundred miles per hour. The impact didn’t sting her in the least.

 

It took Debra a few moments to realize she had reached the ground but the moment she did she began to scan the area. She needed to find her target and deal with her as quickly as possible. The electricity manipulating bitch could be quite a problem other wise Debra wouldn’t have been sent to deal with her.

 

“Well who are you? I thought super man had showed up for a moment. Oh wait I remember you. You’re part of that new unit meant to deal with. What was the word now?”

 

Debra wasn’t about to answer the question. Quickly spinning in the direction of the voice, she didn’t even attempt to give some warning before launching in it. While Debra couldn’t run at super speed in the normal since of the term, her horrifically strong legs could easily send her moving through the air at several hundreds of miles per hour. While she didn’t have the ability to really control what happened after she began moving she was just trying to get rid of her target as quickly as possible.

 

Debra felt her body meet something that seemed all too delicate her nanobots strengthened form easily pushing through the object and she was sent bursting through. Looking up she tried to access if she had hit her target. It took her a few moments to find out. “Well that was unexpected. You people are really trying to kill us aren’t you?”

 

Debra blinked her eyes. She had hoped the soft squishy thing she had hit was live wire. Instead she found that she had connected with a wall. It was rather disappointed but between her strength and the speed which she had been moving at Debra hadn’t been able to tell flesh from the concrete. Fuck, was the dominant thought in Debra’s mind as she remembered something that she had learned about live wire. She was able to speak through electrical equipment which included speakers. “You’re awfully confident for someone who is in her first life or death fight.”

 

“I have fought Superman and you are no Superman.” Live Wire quickly formed herself jumping out of the electric wiring behind Debra and holding up her hands. While she wasn’t sure of abilities Debra had she had a fairly good idea that super strength was one of them but flight wasn’t considering how poorly she had landed. She quickly issued forth a burst of electrical energy the electrons, super heating the air and resulting in a rather noticeable roar.

 

Debra felt the heat as the electric current slammed into her. The force of the rapidly expanding air was enough to lift her off the ground despite her weight. As Debra was sent flying backwards, she was only able to take her situation in when she found herself pinned against the wall the electrical energy running through her. The current was great but not unbearable at least that is what Debra found for the moment. Pinned against the solid concrete wall the electrical energy was made all the more viscous .

 

The concrete served as an insulator, resulting the electrical energy remaining in Debra all the longer. Debra felt nothing but gratitude for the upgrade that she had received earlier. As despite the amount of energy flowing into her there was no real pain. The only problem Debra had at the moment was a lack of leverage. It seemed that the nanobots had improved Debra’s endure as much as it had improved her strength. Even a million volts of electricity would have seemed like a single volt.

 

Joe had heard a loud impact and figured that Debra was already going at it with live wire. As his weapon didn’t allow him to endure the same extremes that Debra could he had been forced to going on foot. The aircraft had dropped him off but it had needed to be much more gentle with him and he had indeed taken a few moments to recover from his sickness. The first thing he had done upon standing up was nearly fall back down.

 

While Debra could endure the energy currently flowing into her body, she didn’t know how long. Instead of charging again she decided to make use of what Live wire and sent her against. Turning around Debra quickly sunk her fingers into the concrete behind her. It took a moment but she actually managed to take hold of one of the steel columns that reinforced the wall. Explosions seemed to shake the area as Debra removed the slab of concrete. She didn’t bother aiming much but sent the mass flying towards Live wire.

 

Live wire had her powers for a while and had learned when she could destroy something before it reached her and when it was best to dodge. At this time she decided it was best to dodge. Converting herself back down to an electrical state she re-entered the buildings wiring. As Live wire moved through the wires she took the time to recharge some of the energy she used against Debra and resolved to taunt her a bit more. “Well that was disappointing you didn’t scream at all. I am going to have to use more juice.”

 

Debra wasn’t happy about this trick. Aside from letting Live wire dodge it also meant that she could retreat from the fight whenever she desired and there wasn’t much Debra could do about it. She had no idea just what live wires range was. Debra wasn’t about to show her frustration though or how much she desired an opponent that couldn’t convert to an energy state. She didn’t quite like this situation though, she had actually felt Live wires attack began to affect her before she had managed to throw the wall at her.

 

As Joe ran into the building he took the time to adjust his weapons. He knew that electric attacks wouldn’t help in this fight. So he took the time to program his gauntlets not to even allow the setting. He didn’t want to risk accidentally switching to the wrong thing. At the moment he resolved that a heat weapon would do the situation as some good. He was able to make it to the where Debra and Live wire were fighting quite easily thanks to a massive whole that had been created by a slab of concrete.

 

Debra didn’t like the idea of waiting until Live wire took another shot at her but her options in the situation were limited. Without super speed she didn’t think that she would be able to keep up with her. That didn’t mean she had to stay idle. Bending down she quickly grabbed up a few chunks of concrete.

She didn’t have to get her hands on her after all. “You know it is fairly useful that I don’t have to restrict myself to less then lethal force. One tap from me and you are dead.”

 

Joe kept quiet as he realized that Debra and hopefully Live wire hadn’t noticed him enter into the room. In truth he was surprising to hear that Live wire was still alive.

 

Debra waited for a response but when none came she decided to keep talking.

 

The noise generated by Live wire shift from electrical energy to physical form was loud enough that Debra doubted she could do it without her notice if she just paid attention. “I swear I hate Superman for making me go through this.”

 

“Well blue boy did have a hand in my creation.” Live wire chose to respond but didn’t make any chance to reform herself.

 

“No, I mean for not killing you. You have had entirely too much practice dealing with super strong beings.”

 

Joe kept to the shadows as he listened. He didn’t figure that Debra had asked Live wire to surrender it would have been a waste of breath. Holding his hands together he wondered if there was a way for him to help without revealing himself just yet. Using each gauntlet to counter the other he began to emit a heat beam between the two of them. He wondered how well life wire would handle it when she went from being electrical too physical and found the air in the room had been super heated.

 

An electrical buss and the sound of a slight thunderclap and a flash of light.

 

Debra turned in the direction of the noise and let one of the bits of concrete fly. The projectile had enough force behind it to make its way through a wall that was five feet thick. Far more then enough to make its way through a person. Debra heard the stone impact something solid and knew that she had missed her mark. Live wire hadn’t materialized she had just jumped from place to place.

 

Live wire was quite pleased with herself. Her little trick had not only gotten Debra to waste some of her ammo but it had distracted her. Moving to make the most of the opening Live wire quickly shifted forms from energy to physical. The temperature increase in the room was noticeable the moment she did so. The air was harder to breath then what it had been previously and she felt like she had stepped into an oven.

 

Debra hadn’t really noticed the change in temperature but she did see that Live wire was detracted now. Letting the scraps of rock fly the stones didn’t have quite the accuracy that bullets had and many of them would miss their mark. Not all of them though.

 

Live wires eyes opened wide as heat ceased to be the main thing on her mind. She didn’t feel as the stone entered into the upper part of her shoulder but she felt it as it left. Mind numbing pain racked her entire body as the force of the impact sent her flying backwards. Clutching her arm Live wire would have been enraged if she could think about anything other then the searing pain in her arm.

 

Debra was surprised to see that she had hit her mark. Looking around she wondered what could have distracted Live wire and finally noticed the heat. She imagined that Joe had a hand in that. Still now she was unsure of just what she was supposed to do. Up until this point anyone they have encountered had been killed. However, Live wire had a server enough injury to immobilize her it seemed. Well she was still conscious but Debra could take care of that without killing her.

 

As Live wire clutched her arm she was barely able to look up and see what was about to happen. She would later regret even looking as she saw a hand swoop down and strike her in the chin. The force of the impact was enough to not only knock her unconscious but shatter her jaw bone.

 

Joe stepped out from his hiding spot. “Well that was easier then I had thought.”

 

“Yeah being able to use lethal force makes these things much easier. What do we do with her now?”

 

“You mean you didn’t kill her when you just smacked her?”

 

“Nope she is still alive.”

 

Joe rubbed the back of his head. “Well then I guess we should get her back to the jet and I will treat her injuries a bit. We can take her back to the facility to be confined. I am shocked that you didn’t just kill her though.”

 

“Well we are supposed to capture them. If they can still fight, I don’t mind killing them but killing them when they can’t move disagrees with me.”

 

“So if they manage to last long enough with you to take a serious injury but not die you can’t bring yourself to finish them off?”

 

“Well you could reduce her to ashes.”

 

Joe shook his head. “No. I suppose we should take her back. Perhaps they can research her and try to find something out.”

 

Debra gave a nod proceeded to lift Live wire’s body from the ground. “Then I guess we should get moving. I hope they have something prepared to hold her.” Debra paused for a moment. “I don’t know what all the new laws allow them to do to someone that is. Well no longer human genetically but I think she may wish we had killed her.”

 

“Yeah. Anyway, get moving or she is going to bleed to death.”

 

Debra gave a nod and began to run towards the jet. Joe was following close behind or at least as close as his slower running speed would allow him.

 

Mathews found it hard to believe what he was seeing. “Well this is. This is something else. I thought if anyone Joe, Mark or Tina would be the most likely to bring someone back alive.” Turning to Debra. “You seemed as sure in your resolve that these people should die as Kate did.”

 

Debra smiled. “I think I am. I just don’t get into it as much as Kate does and I am sure Elaine can make her wish that she was dead.” Debra glanced over at Live wire who was still conscious though this time it wasn’t due to the pat that Debra had given her. Rather it was due to a rather power drug that Elaine had injected her with. To further insure that she couldn’t escape she had been confined to a specially prepared room. “I was kind of worried you wouldn’t have a room design to contain such beings.”

 

“We have rooms built to contain just about every super human being on record and some that aren’t. The materials we have developed from studying Kate have actually helped a lot in those efforts. As well as the technology Kate recovered.”

 

“Do you think anything can be developed from studying her?” Debra once again indicated Live wire.”

 

Mathews gave a nod. “I have no doubt that it can be. Elaine already took a blood and tissue sample from her to research.”

 

“I take it you no longer have to ask permission.”

 

“In order to better protect the law-abiding public we must develop technologies, cable of countering such beings’ abilities. In order to accomplish this goal. We must be able to study them. No we don’t have to ask for their permission.”

 

Debra leaned against the protective shielding that separated Live wire from the world around here. “Oh yeah she is going to wish I had killed her.”

 

Mathews rolled his eyes. “Well it isn’t like they are going to intentionally torture her. Of course I have to admit I am a little worried about having her here.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

“Well that room may be insulated from outside electrical charges but if she were to get out. I think you know or at least have an idea of how much energy Kate’s gym use to require.”

 

“I can imagine. Well like I said to Joe. We could just kill her now.”

 

“It would be the safest way to go but I think she is too valuable for our research especially considering her talents. To be able to control electricity so easily is quite the ability.”

 

Debra just shrugged. “Well if she does get out. Kate can kill her in under a second.”

 

“Very true. I am glad standard drugs’ work on her”

 

Debra couldn’t help but give a chuckle. “Yeah it is kind of hard for her to even think about escaping while she is unconscious. Though that means we will have to wait until she wakes up to see if the room is as secure as everyone believes.”

 

“Thanks for bringing her in. Now why don’t you go and look in on Joe?”

 

“You’re welcome and yeah I should make sure he is okay.”

 

“What were you thinking?” Elaine couldn’t take her eyes off the medical chart in front of her. While Joe hadn’t done anything life threatening, he had been far rougher on his body then need be and that was just the flight over.

 

“I kept myself within the proper safety levels.”

 

Elaine glared at Joe signifying she knew better. “You kept yourself within the proper safety levels for an emergency escape. It is true you haven’t done any permanent damage but it is going to take a while to heal. How did you even convince Debra to go along with this?”

 

Joe rubbed his forehead. “Well it seems she mistook the readings.”

 

“How?”

 

“She seemed to have forgotten that while the level I was at was within the safety range. It was what the limit of what the guidelines allowed for.” Elaine shook her head. “Now why did you do that again?”

 

“Well it isn’t like the injuries were that bad. I mean, in a week I am going to be just fine. I also wanted to insure that we arrived in time.”

 

“Is that a fact?” Debra looked at Joe who apparently didn’t notice her entering the room. Your body is exhausted and here you are saying that you are just fine.”

 

Joe felt like he had shoved his foot strait into his mouth as he saw the angry glare coming from Debra. He knew there wasn’t really any excuse that could get him out of his current situation. Best to just take the tongue lashing and be grateful that he was to injured for Debra to make it worse. “Sorry about not being entirely honest with you Debra, but I really wanted to get there in time.”

 

Debra let out a long sigh. “I am going to have to memorize the safety regulations that have been set up for each of us. That or after you have recovered I could put you back in here for not being entirely honest with me. I wonder which would insure you didn’t do that again.”

 

“Would you really hurt me for making you angry?”

 

Debra got a large grin on her face. “Of course I wouldn’t harm you for making me angry. I am going to spank you for making me worried and endangering yourself needlessly.”

 

Joe resolved that he shouldn’t take this rout of conversation any further. He had been with Debra for a while and could, recognize when she was serious. Anyway, she was right. “Would a stern warning be enough perhaps?”

 

Elaine decided she should speak up. “Well I could refuse to give him pain killers. That would teach him to strain his body so much.”

 

Joe was quite concerned now though he was unsure if he would rather have the spanking or lose his pain killers. “Please don’t. I know I was wrong I just wasn’t thinking much at the time.”

 

The two women both laughed and Debra spoke up as she realized they actually had Joe worried. “All right but don’t do it again. You know what you did truly was a breach of regulations.”

 

Joe thought about arguing that it had been an emergency which means having the jet set to fly at emergency speeds was fine. However, considering his situation he decided this would be a very bad idea. “I know and I will be good from now on.”

 

Debra gave a nod and walked away from the entrance and over to Joe’s bed. Sitting down next to him. She looked him over for a few moments. “What I hate most about this is: I can’t even see how badly you were injured.”

 

Elaine noticed Debra looking at her clearly expecting an answer. “Well the injuries are internal. The sudden acceleration and stop near the end was what was really hard on his body. You simply don’t stop that quickly when moving that fast.”

 

Joe decided that it may be a good idea to change the subject. “So what are they doing with Live wire?”

 

“I really shouldn’t let you do that.” Debra glanced at Joe. “But there isn’t much more that we could say about your condition. So I guess we can talk about it. Live wire is going to be held here for a while. This seems to be the most secure place that she could be kept.”

 

“What about a trial?”

 

“Considering all the crimes she has already committed and been convicted for that isn’t really a big deal. We could hold her here for a hundred years and her time for previous crimes wouldn’t be up then. Hey Elaine, what test do you plan on performing on her first?”

 

“Just some blood tests well that and we are going to look at her genetic profile. We also want to take a skin sample and try and study her change from an energy state to a physical state. Actually they are quite a lot of tests that we would like to conduct on her. Of course first we are going to have to acquire some more lab workers. All our time was being taken up by the weapons before hand we need assistance if we are going to study her as well.”

 

Joe felt it was a little risky but he had to ask. “Would it be all right if I went back to my room? You said there was nothing life threatening.”

 

Elaine gave a nod. “Yes. I just had to check you for any internal bleeding. Fortunately you have none of that. Don’t push yourself though and don’t forget your pain killers.”

 

As Joe stood up Debra decided that she wouldn’t carry him but would allow him to walk back to his room under his own power. While she imagined he would appreciate being carried he was the one that had brought it upon himself. At least she thought that she could be able to make him walk under his own power.

 

Before they were out the door, Joe found himself lifted up and being carried by Debra. He no longer felt odd when she did this she had done it far to many times and people around the facility had quit noticing.

 

“So do you think it is safe to keep Live wire here?”

 

Debra nodded her head. “I simply wasn’t fast enough to cope with someone that used such a powerful ranged attack. If she tries to escape from here though she will just have to deal with Kate.”

 

“We need more operatives with super speed.”

 

“Well you could have burned her to ash you know. I doubt she would have been fast enough to dodge one of your energy shots.” Debra grew silent for a moment. “I have to say that letting her live isn’t settling with me as well as it seemed to be. If she escapes and causes any more destruction or death. I can’t help but think that would make me partly responsible since I didn’t do enough to insure that wouldn’t happen.”

 

Joe gave Debra a quick kiss. “I know but you did your job. We can handle things differently if she does decide to escape.”

 



 

One can save up quite a bit of money when they spend all their time working or at home with the woman they love. Especially one all of ones food bills, utilities and even vacations are being paid for by someone else. Jack had learned this when he had decided to check into his bank account and see how much he had managed to save up. The fact that he had been being paid a rather healthy paycheck didn’t hurt either.

 

Despite his savings though he found himself facing a serious problem. There was no way that he could give Kate a gold ring. It just wouldn’t last her especially if he expected her to wear it all the time. One burst of Kate’s true speed and most likely the metal would be warped or even reduced to a liquid state by the wind friction. Even if she didn’t use her speed while wearing it there was a fairly good chance she would destroy it with her strength. Of course for this reason platinum was out of the question as well.

 

He wasn’t willing to give her a silver ring as it would be far too cheap and it wouldn’t have held up any better. Even steel wouldn’t be able to endure being worn of Kate’s finger. To make matters even worse even Metallo wouldn’t be strong enough to endure being worn by Kate. It wouldn’t have made a very nice ring anyway.

 

This had Jack in a rather hard spot as he had begun to consider even more exotic options. Even more so then the super strong metal. There were the nanobots that Elaine and Merry were currently working on that held some hope. If he could convince them to make a specialized batch that could function as a ring for Kate. They could even upgrade it as the technology improved. A long sigh issued forth from Jack. Of course even if they did upgrade it there was no way that it could keep up with Kate’s level of strength increases. She was already so many times stronger then the metal.

 

Of course the ring wouldn’t need to be as strong as Kate. At least that was what Jack’s rational mind told him. The idea seemed even better when he considered that even if such a ring was bent out of shape the nanobots could simply repair themselves. Of course despite his savings he doubted that he could afford to actually pay for something that extravagant. A rather depressing thought when it was seeming more and more like his only option.

 

The only other thing that seemed reasonable possible would be for him to grow the ring much the same way as he had grown Kate’s latest uniforms and even some of her clothing. Of course the reason he could do that was because he wouldn’t have to pay for it. Jack shuddered a bit at the idea of how much growing such a ring would cost if he had to pay for it out of his own pocket.

 

Of course having Kate’s artificially grown skin sample take on a metallic look and perhaps even feel would take a considerable of effort if it could be done at all. Even the mech Tina made use of had a somewhat leathery look to its outer armor. Not that the feel would matter a great deal when it came to Kate. The resistance that any metal she would encounter put up to her was so insignificant that she didn’t seem to notice a difference in texture.

 

The greatest problem of course was that he would need to speak with Kate about either option to find out which she would prefer. He wanted to surprise her and asking the question flat out would surely ruin that. Then again there was no real reason that he needed to ask Kate. Feeling a bit relieved as he realized there was at least one way out of his situation Jack stood up. He would stop by Debra’s room and see if she was there and then check around in some other areas. Before he left Jack grabbed some pin and paper just in case Kate came back. He knew how good those Kate’s ears were.

 

One thing Debra loved about her room inside the facility was that when she heard the door bell she knew it wasn’t some minor annoyance like a salesman or someone hoping to convert her. She no longer had any trouble or hesitation going to answer the door to see who had come to visit her. “Now that just looks odd.”

 

Jack gave Debra a curious look. “What looks odd?”

 

“You outside the lab without Kate having to carry you out.”

 

Jack rolled his eyes and started to argue but realized the truth of the statement. “I like my lab.”

 

Debra gave an amused laugh, she was glad to see that Jack hadn’t taken any offense to her statement and stood aside to let him in. As Jack stepped past. “So what brings you other?”

 

Jack didn’t answer but proceeded to take out the pin and paper he had picked up before leaving. Walking over to one of the tables she bent over and began to write on the pad. A few moments later he held it up for Debra to read. “Would you mind asking Kate what type of ring she would prefer?”

 

A large grin formed on Debra’s face. “Yeah. Buying for someone that strong must present quite a challenge.” Debra took the pin and paper away from Jack and proceeded to write something down of her own. “Do you have any suggestions that I should run past her?”

 

Jack retrieved the pad and pin. “Perhaps one made from nanobots or one grown from one of her skin or hair samples. I have no idea what I am going to do for a diamond.”

 

Debra gave a nod. “I would be happy to look into it for you. You want to make it a surprise don’t you?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Mm the only problem I see with that is it is going to be kind of hard for me to ask her and not make her suspicious. I haven’t ever talked to Kate about such things.” Debra kept silent for a few moments. “I believe I may have a way that I can bring it up though.”

 

“What is that?”

 

“I can start talking about Joe and me then I can switch over to you and Kate. While I am not in quite the same situation as Kate, we are moderately similar.”

 

“So you and Joe are thinking of marriage?”

 

“Well we aren’t ready to go that far just yet but such concerns are beginning to show up. To be honest. For a long while I thought Kate was going to have to ask you.”

 

Jack shook his head. “This is something I feel I need to take the lead on.”

 

“Do you have anything else planned?”

 

“Well no. The ring was my main concern. I mean she has to accept before I can plan anything else.”

 

“That is true. Anyway, just leave asking Kate up to me.”

 



 

An explosion seemed to shake the area as Kate’s fist connected with Debra’s arm. The force of the impact was roughly one hundred thousand times that of a normal human punch. Kate was holding back the vast majority of her strength to insure that she didn’t harm her friend while Debra used all of hers. The two were currently working on sparring in order to make sure they didn’t lose anymore skill then they had to.

 

As the force of the impact sent Debra sliding backwards, she pushed off the ground instead of waiting the stop. The remarkable strength in her legs was able to overcome the force and send her forward once again. Swinging her fist downward she was able to deliver a solid blow to Kate’s cheek. Kate allowed the force of the punch to knock her down while she could have remained standing still just by using her grounding ability a bit more. She did this for two reasons. One was to avoid harming Debra and the other was to make the fight seem more like she was fighting someone with strength on par with her own.

 

“Joe mentioned something to be last night.” Debra decided that their sparring time was the best time to talk to Kate as it would be when she was the most distracted and thinking the least about the questions. “Have you ever considered wearing some jewelry?”

 

Kate glanced at Debra the question having hit her more quickly then any of her friend’s punches. Unfortunately a punch wasn’t far behind. The time delay allowed Debra to land a rather powerful right hook to Kate’s jaw. The powerful blow sending her sprawling on her side. “Well. Have you?”

 

Kate quickly recovered from the punch. The impact didn’t actually harm her in the least after all. “Not really. Why do you bring it up?” Kate was able to bring her leg up and deliver a quick kick to Debra’s stomach, who had continued to attack her after landing a successful punch.

 

Debra continued to speak as she returned to the ground. “I was just thinking what would happen if one of the men tried to get us a gift as far as jewelry.”

 

Kate considered this for a moment. “I can’t think of any metals that would survive either of us wearing it.” Kate blocked one of Debra’s thrust and managed to deliver a blow to her chin.

 

It took a few moments before Debra could again. First she had to relocated Kate. A fairly common occurrence considering how often the two of them knock one another around. “Nanobots or some grown from your skin samples is the only thing I can think of.”

 

“That sounds right. Which would you prefer?”

 

Debra had already reached the decision on which she would prefer while speaking with Jack. “I would go with the nanobots I think. Since well, my strength isn’t increasing like yours is.”

 

Kate considered this though she could afford to think to much. Debra was already back on the offense. She was able to fix this by delivering a swift kick to Debra’s stomach. The powerful strike gave Kate a few moments to think of an appropriate answer. “I think I would prefer one that had been grown from my skin or hair samples. Though I would be worried no matter what. I would hate to destroy one of Jack’s gifts.”

 

“Yeah. That really worries me when it comes to Joe getting me something. Since well, the way I control my strength is different from the way you control yours. Even if we both expected it. It would be awfully hard to have to tell him. Hey I crushed the gift you gave me as thin as a piece of paper.” Debra was a bit surprised when she found herself getting into the conversation. Apparently she was more interested in such jewelry then she realized. At least this better helped hide the reason she had started the conversation from Kate.

 

“I think that I would, prefer if it had been grown from my skin. I know the nanobots would be easier to repair but I wouldn’t have to worry about something grown from myself as well. Now I don’t know if a metallic gleam could be managed but then again I would also be happy with a solid red ring. It would look unique.”

 

Debra considered this for a few moments though she couldn’t think too heavily on it. The gap between her skill level and Kate’s had narrowed quite a bit over time and now she had to remain moderately focused on the fight to avoid being pummeled. “That would be nice if they could get it to look like a metallic form of your hair.” Debra managed to catch Kate by her wrist. Giving it a quick pull she brought Kate down towards the ground and brought her knee up to slam quite solidly into Kate’s face. The force of the impact threw Kate back up into the air.

 

Kate didn’t try to control her fall. After all had an enemy with strength on par with her own got such a solid hit, she wouldn’t have been able to control it. Kate knew that these exercises with Debra wouldn’t help that much in a fight. After all she most assuredly wouldn’t be bouncing up so quickly had Doomsday managed to deliver such a solid hit when they fought. Then again some help was better then none.

 



 

Debra strolled down the hallway headed towards the lab. Kate was currently away working so she knew that was were Jack would most likely be. If he didn’t then she would just check Jack and Kate’s apartment. As she came to the lab door, she had to remind herself not to knock on it. Instead she was to push the com button. Pressing the little talk switch, “Hello. Jack you there?” The door opened a few moments later.

 

“Hi Debra. Did you get the information that I needed?”

 

Debra pressed her hand against Jack’s chest and proceeded to push him back into the room. She allowed the door to slide shut before speaking. “Yeah. Kate seems to like the idea of her ring being grown from a skin sample the most. Though she wasn’t one hundred percent sure. She also seemed to feel that a red metallic look would work better if a decent gold shine couldn’t be done.”

 

Jack nodded his head. “I don’t know if either can be done but at least I know where to start now. Thanks, you’ve been a big help.”

 

“No problem. However, should Joe ever start asking about what type of ring I like. Be sure to tell him that I want one made from nanobots.”

 

“OH so it got you thinking as well?”

 

“The conversation with Kate did though I am not quite ready to take that step. You probably won’t have to deal with Joe as I will probably end up asking him.”

 

Jack nodded. “I thought that Kate would ask me for a while. I even began to think she might not be interested in me that way.”

 

Debra shook her head. “Considering how you have been living she probably hasn’t thought much about it. You are married now for nearly all intents and purposes.”

 

Jack thought about this for a second then nodded. “That is true. Still, I hope she will agree to make it official.”

 

Debra walked over to one of the tanks where Kate’s skin samples were kept. “So do you think you are going to be able to do what she wants?”

 

“I hope so I haven’t really tried before. The diamond is still going to be a major issue as well. I may not be able to get one for Kate.”

 

“Do you have any idea where you are going to begin?”

 

“I have a few ideas for starting my research but I don’t know how well they are going to turn out. I am glad that studying Kate is my only responsibility.”

 

“Well I guess I am going to let you get back to work. See you around.”

 

“Take care.” Once Debra had left the room Jack walked over to his computer station. Taking up his mouse he brought up a few documents detailing the experiments, that he hoped would yield the proper results or at least point him in the proper direction.

 



 

Kate knew that Jack had found something to research which he found very interesting. Something which he felt was very important. She would come into his lab after work and find him focusing very intently on whatever he was researching. For a few days he had even worked a few hours extra in the lab but that hadn’t lasted long. Kate had simply mentioned that she felt 8 hours in the lab was enough time.

 

Jack had then limited his work hours to just that 8 hours in the lab. During this time Kate would either stay in the lab with him though she couldn’t tell what he was doing he was happy to have someone to talk to. Or she would do some extra work around the facility. Kate finished up most of her work day while Jack was asleep. This was quite an easy task since Kate herself only needed 1 hour of sleep to function properly throughout the entire day.

 

Of course Kate had asked Jack what he was working on but he had told her that he planned on it being a surprise. At which time Kate had become very anxious for him to finish his work but hadn’t pushed to find out just what he was working on. She had even avoided asking anyone around the facility to find out early. It was important to Jack after all and he had meant it to be a surprise for her.

 

Jack was grateful that Kate thought enough of him to respect his wishes and not try to find out what he was working on. He appreciated her even more when he realized just how curious she had become.

 



 

Luster, Jack held the ring between his fingers. A metallic shine covered it. The bit of crimson material had been finished and shaped. Jack could feel both excitement welling up within him and a great lump of disappointment. He hadn’t been able to do it, he hadn’t been able to get the gold color that he had so sought after. Rolling the bit of material around in his fingers he was amazed how solid it felt. He couldn’t bend it in the least though he imagined Kate could easily tear it in half.

 

While he wasn’t sure, the material seemed to be similar to Kate’s fingernails with red pigmentation from her hair. The reason he couldn’t be certain was Jack did know how Kate’s body had changed between the time it took him to grow the material and shape it and how Kate’s body had evolved since he took the sample. He knew that he didn’t need to be careful but Jack still pocketed the ring as cautiously as he could.

 

It wasn’t exactly what he wanted but it seemed to be the best that he could possibly do. After all it was more then likely the only ring on the entire planet that could endure being warn by Kate. As he left the lab, Jack checked the time. The ring was now finished but he had other things that he would need to prepare. He could have waited a day or two in order to have an easier time preparing but he couldn’t bring himself to do that. He wanted to give Kate her gift now.

 

Locking the lab up Jack made his way back to Kate and his living space. He then began to prepare for Kate’s return. Now he wouldn’t have a second chance to surprise her. When she came back and realized that he wasn’t in the lab it would be quite obvious that he had finished her gift.

 



 

It was dark inside their room though Kate could still see perfectly well. Her eyes could pierce the darkness all too easily still she did enjoy the mood it set. Searching the area, it didn’t take her long to spot a green dress that had been laid out for her. As Kate lifted the garment, she realized that it had been grown from her skin sample. Was this what Jack had been working on all this time? At first Kate felt her excitement begin to build. A lovely new dress and a romantic dinner rather nice gifts in her opinion. Then Kate realized the truth.

 

There was no way the dress could have taken him so long. After all her uniform had green on it. He already knew how to prepare the material. Kate could feel her face threatening to split in two. While these gifts were nice, they were most likely the icing. She wondered just what the cake was going to be. Kate was grateful that the dress had been grown instead of being normal material which she found all too easy to tear. It allowed Kate to make use of her inhuman speed in order to prepare.

 

Jack could hear a slight roar for a moment which he assumed was Kate getting dressed. The sound of her removing her clothes at super human speed and then getting dressed had become fairly familiar to him. He was a bit surprised though when he didn’t feel the familiar rush of air that was often generated when Kate ran into a room at super speed. Instead he heard the sound of Kate’s feet gentle padding across the floor.

 

“You didn’t set out any dress shoes.” Kate had a warm smile on her soft pink lips as she entered the room. She had been so excited that she hadn’t noticed the dinner that had been prepared. A nice stake set on her plate. “You know it has been a few months now since I have eaten anything.”

 

Jack gave a nod. “I hope you will enjoy it even if you aren’t hungry.” Jack stood up walked to the other side of the table and pulled Kate’s seat out for her.

 

Kate settled down and realized that Jack was going to wait to give her the actually gift he had been preparing that would be okay though. She resolved to be polite and not eat her entire steak in under a second. Jack clearly had meant this to be special and she was going to enjoy it.

 

“Sorry that I didn’t cook the steak myself but I wanted it to actually taste good.” Jack didn’t bother mentioning that he didn’t have the time.

 

Kate gave an amused giggled. “It is fine. Most don’t cook when they want the dinner to be special.” Kate didn’t mind especially since she knew Jack had something for her that he had spent weeks working on. A slight ping of guilt hit her as she realized that she hadn’t got him any special gifts as of late. She would have to fix that.

 

“That is true.” Jack scooted Kate’s seat under her and made his way back over to his side of the table. Picking up his fork and knife he cut into the steak and was delighted to see how well it had been prepared. It seemed the cooks at the facility could prepare quite a nice meal when they weren’t having to cook for such a large number of people.

 

“Did you get this from the mess hall?”

 

Jack gave a nod which got a giggle from Kate. “What is funny?”

 

“I bet Mathews is missing some steaks.”

 

Jack smirked. “Well I doubt they would mind and even if they did I would deal with them. I wanted this to be special.”

 

“Oh no you would not. If anyone gave you trouble for having this nice dinner prepared, they would have to deal with me.”

 

“Then I am sure that no one will say anything.”

 

It took Kate a few moments longer to pick up her fork and knife and began eating. It had been so long that she had done so it seemed that she was forgetting the routine.

 

This wasn’t lost on Jack who couldn’t help but watch. He had expected that Kate would eat slowly in order to not finish before him. However, it seemed she was actually having to think about her actions. “You really have gone a long while without eating.”

 

Kate didn’t respond right away but proceeded to chew her food carefully. She didn’t want to bite down with anywhere near the full strength of her jaw. She wanted to enjoy her food. It took a while but at last Kate swallowed and responded. “Yeah. Of course I doubt I would ever forget entirely. I don’t even have to resist the urge to snack when I am bored any longer.”

 

Jack gave her a nod. “I am sure they are a lot of people who wish they could say the same.”

 

Kate nodded and continued to eat her food. She didn’t know what to say at the moment. As of late actually for nearly a year she had been using physical action to tell Jack how she was feeling. Showing off her strength for him. Now she was just enjoying a quiet meal and for some reason didn’t feel flaunting her strength was truly appropriate at the moment. It was an odd moment that she never felt would happen but someone told her that she should let Jack lead.

 

Jack for his part was having trouble thinking when was just the right moment to ask the question? He was also kicking himself for not being able to think of something more suitable to talk about but he had little experience with such situations. “It has been around a year now since we lost the ability to judge just how strong you have become as well.”

 

“Yet I continue to get stronger.”

 

Jack gave a nod. “Of course the only way we can see that now is by comparing your current strength to that of samples we have taken from you previously. I wonder how far you have truly gone.”

 

“Which do you prefer?”

 

“Which what?”

 

“Do you prefer to be able to measure my strength or do you like things the way they are now?”

 

Jack grew silent for a moment and considered the question. “For safeties sake I would like to know just what your strength limits are. That said, emotionally I just love the thought that we can measure your strength.”

 

Kate grinned. “Well if you had to pick which one would you choose?”

 

Jack grew silent for a few moments. Kate had asked him another tough question. “I wish I could say measurable to insure you safety but I simply love guessing at the upper limits to much.”

 

Kate couldn’t hide her amusement and felt it would be obvious even to Jack if the room had been pitch black. “I am glad that you like it that way. I love that it makes you happy. I love being the woman, you desire.”

 

“You’re the only woman I desire.” Jack didn’t know where the words had came from but they seemed to flow from his lips. Carrying nothing but total honesty. He felt his mouth go dry though the moment the words had left his lips. Would Kate return the sentiment?

 

Kate felt as if she was glowing. Of course considering what her blood did and that she was fairly certain she was blushing. She may have been. “Thank you. I was worried I would have to kill someone if I caught them catching your eye. As you’re the only one for me and well I don’t think I could ever let you go.”

Jack didn’t really have to think about it as his body seemed to take control. Standing up he made his way over to Kate and reached into his pocket. Bending down he brought out the tiny box which he had stored the ring in. He had nearly forgotten to get a container for it. He had been far to excited. “Kate, we have been together for a long time I love you like I have never loved anyone before. Will you marry me?”

 

Kate didn’t give Jack the chance to open the box. At first she had wondered what was in it but the moment the words had left his lips she had sprung up from her seat lifted him up, pinned him against the far wall and proceeded to cover his face in kisses.

 

Jack wasn’t entirely sure of where he was. Kate had acted so swiftly that he took a few moments to realize what was going on. At first all he knew was that to very soft and warm objects were pressed against him and some even hotter, softer yet smaller objects were touching his face. He soon realized what he felt pressing into his chest was Kate’s breast and what he felt against his face were Kate’s lips.

 

“I take that is a yes.” Jack hadn’t expected Kate to respond so eagerly.

 

Kate had been together with Jack a long time and even though she loved him. When he asked her to marry him it was like something had been released and she felt an even stronger surge of emotion then she did in his presence. They had been married in spirit for so long now. Soon they would be wed in the physical as well. “Of course I will marry you.”

 

Jack was more composed in his response. That or perhaps it was being pinned to the wall by Kate’s rather healthy chest that allowed him to keep better control his mental faculties. “Would you like to see your ring?”

 

“My ring?” Kate looked back behind herself and noted the box. She had surprised Jack so that he had ended up jumping it. She felt herself blush a bit suddenly feeling very silly and took a step back so that Jack was no longer pinned against the wall. Still, she made no move to pick up the box.

 

Jack stepped around Kate and made his way over to the little container. Bending down Jack once again lifted the box into the air. As he did so Kate moved to stand in front of him. He opened the container and revealed the metallic crimson ring that rested inside. The ring had diamonds imbedded around it though none where above the surface level of the material lest they be broken. They also had a very thin covering which would hopefully protect them. The thought was funny that the diamonds needed protected.

 

Kate took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger. “Jack, it is lovely. What is it made from?” Kate had a very good idea but felt the need to ask.

 

“I grew it from one of your samples. I tried to get a gold look but I could never get it to look right. The best I could get was yellow that was entirely lacking in luster. I might have been able to if I had spent more time.”

 

“I am glad you didn’t I was beginning to get a little tired of waiting.” Kate reached down and took hold of Jack’s waste band. Lifting him up with one arm she settled him back down. “How recent was the sample?”

 

“The most recent I could get. I think it was just a few weeks old. I didn’t want to risk making the ring too fragile.” Jack felt his excitement build as Kate set him back down.

 

“Well I love it. A girl like me does need a special ring after all. Gold is just far too soft. I like it this way far more then a gold ring it is more unique. And anyone who thinks it is any cheaper clearly isn’t stopping to think what it must be made from.”

 

Jack nodded his agreement. “I am just glad I have unlimited access to the lab and materials.”

 

“We have a lot of planning to do.” Kate had calmed down now or at least she spoke calmly. The feeling of happiness she had though, hadn’t diminished in the least.

 

Jack was actually grateful that it didn’t take Kate long to compose herself after her initial burst of excitement. He hadn’t even shown her the ring beforehand after all. “Yeah who do you want to inform first and where would you like to have the wedding?”

 

Kate proceeded to wrap her arms around Jack and pull him back into herself. Placing her lips against his, she gave him a deep kiss. “Let us talk about that later on.”

 

Jack felt Kate’s hand slide down his back until it came to a stop at his rear. A moment later he was lifted back into the air and carried towards their bedroom. He hadn’t gotten to finish eating but he wasn’t going to complain.

 



 

Jack was asleep now. Kate smiled as she glanced over at his sleeping form then at the ring on her finger. They had quite a bit of planning to do. She was certain that Jack would want to make her a wedding ring as well as an engagement. She would need to try and find a ring suitable for him as well. Of course the rings weren’t the only concern. Where would be a suitable spot to have a wedding and what kind of dress would she wear?

 

Would it be appropriate to dress as revealingly as she normally did or should she get a more traditional dress? Kate had also grown quite accustomed to flaunting her strength at any type of gathering but she didn’t know if a wedding especially her own wedding would be the right time. Whom should she invite?

 

Kate thought of the whom answer quite quickly. Her friends from the police force were a given she hadn’t seen them in such a long time. Her team mates, most likely Elaine, Merry and Mathews. Her parents would get invitations of course. Kate stopped right there feeling that the list was long enough for her. She then glanced at Jack was hit with a wave of curiosity. She knew nothing about Jack’s family.

 

The moment was perplexing and more then a little stunning. Jack had never spoken of his family or indicated that he missed them in the least. It was as if they didn’t exist. Reaching out Kate ran her fingers through hair as he slumbered. Well she wasn’t going to wake him up now. She would wait until he woke up in the morning and then find out. Just why had he never mentioned his family to her?

 

Climbing out of their bed Kate had to remind herself that her work day hadn’t begun yet. That she had only taken a fifteen minute nap. This wasn’t enough to fully rest herself but it was enough to make her lose track of time for a few moments. She had just come back from work after all and found Jack waiting for her. A giggle escaped Kate as she realized that Jack’s internal clock had been off for quite some time. He had spent so much time inside that he probably didn’t know if it was day time or night.

 

Of course she knew that she was partly to blame for this. She always wore him out so much during their love making that he often ended up being unconscious. That was fine with her though and he tried so hard to satisfy her. Well he didn’t try but succeeded in that right. At least he kept her sated. She wasn’t sure if anyone could tire her out thanks to her seemingly limitless stamina. Still, Jack always put her pleasure first and gave it his best effort.

 

Kate didn’t bother getting dressed as she walked out of the bed room. She didn’t bother turning on the lights either. She didn’t need them and in truth it was rather neat to walk around in total darkness. Making her way into the kitchen, she began to clean up the remains of her little meal. A bit of guilt hit her when she realized how little of his meal Jack had gotten to eat. She would just make it up to him and have a nice breakfast waiting.

 

As Kate cleaned the kitchen she couldn’t help but think of Jack’s family and why he might not mention them to her. Perhaps they had some type of falling out or had passed on? Jack was still quite young as was she but it wasn’t entirely impossible. Was it a really good idea to bring the subject up to him? If he hadn’t mentioned them to her then perhaps he didn’t want to talk about it. A long sigh escaped from Kate and she let her head fall to the side. What should she do? Pry into Jack’s private life, ask him openly or just let it slide. After all if he didn’t want to think about his parents, it was his choice.

 

Jack wasn’t sure if he should be moving around or if he even wanted to be awake as consciousness began to return to him. He was fairly sore though still quite happy. He resolved that he had best open his eyes though when he felt a presence standing next to him. “Hey Kate. What is wrong?”

 

“Jack there is something that I want to ask you about but I don’t know if you want to talk about it.”

 

Jack looked perplexed for a moment. “Well go ahead. Neither of us will ever know if you don’t ask.”

 

Kate gave a nod. “Jack what about your family? I was thinking about the guest list when I realized I knew nothing of your family.”

 

“OH is that all?”

 

Kate gave a nod. “Well yeah it had me concerned.”

 

Jack let out a sigh. “I don’t speak to my parents very often well actually I haven’t spoken to them since I left high school.”

 

“How come?”

 

“We had a falling out and I just have spoken to them since. It seemed simpler. I am not exactly proud of my family.”

 

Kate waited for more of a explanation but when none came decided to press for just a bit more information. “Would you care to explain?”

 

“I guess we all had different ideas of just what we wanted in our lives. I didn’t want to end up like them and they seemed to take offense to that.”

 

Kate placed her finger on Jack’s lips. “I see. All right, then lets just consider them off the guest list. Is there anyone that you do want to invite?”

 

Jack considered this for a few moments then shook his head. “I can’t say that there is.” A slight laugh escaped Jack. “No wonder I was so desperate to try and save you. I never really stopped to think how few people I truly know.”

 

Kate rapped her arms around Jack and gave him a rather healthy hug. “Well I am not going anywhere. I am going to have to be sure and have quite a few kids though. So you can have a family you are proud of.”

 

Jack gave a slight laugh. “Well it isn’t like it ever bothered me. I just chose not to have anything to do with them is all.”

 

“Okay. Well I hope you don’t mind if I invite some people to make up for the lack of invitations you plan on sending.”

 

“That is fine by me. I would like to say I made a few friends at my last job but we never really talked much. At least we didn’t have a conversation outside of what we were working on.”

 

“Where would you like to have the wedding?”

 

Jack thought about this for a few moments. “I can’t say that I have anywhere in particular in mind. Just please don’t pick any place that is exceptionally cold or hot. As for when, hopefully as soon as possible.”

 

“These things take time. Anyway, just leave the wedding details up to me.”

 

Jack tried to keep from showing just how happy the fact that Kate was going to handle the wedding details from showing. He didn’t mean to drop so much of the work on her but he truly didn’t like the idea of having to plan such a event. Especially since he would be worried about messing something up.

 



 

A few days had passed since Jack and proposed to her and Kate had already informed her parents of their plans. She had also made mention of the odd circumstances concerning Jack and his feelings towards his family. Her mother had seemed to want to locate them anyway but Kate and Nathan had managed to convince her other wise. Now she was trying to think of a suitable location for them to have the wedding at.

 

That was one thing she found very beneficial about the hours she spent running around. Her so called work hours. When one considers hyper sonic speeds to be slow, they can see a great deal of the country in a very short time frame. It allowed Kate to give spots she considered a quick once over though she didn’t actually stop to go into any of the buildings. Kate knew that Jack wasn’t a fan of the great out doors which left her to deal with a bit of a dilemma. She much preferred the idea of having the wedding outdoors instead of indoors.

 

Jack had also made a specific request for a spot that didn’t suffer from any temperature extremes. Of course that would mean she just had to wait for the proper season. Perhaps she should try something a bit more extravagant? The thought had occurred to her several times though she still didn’t know exactly what she should do. It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it. After all while Jack was paid well for his services Kate was. An amused laugh escaped from Kate. She was paid as if the military wished to insure that she didn’t have a reason to rob a bank.

 

Of course Kate also realized that her presence and activities ultimately saved the military money. She decreased the number of soldiers and police officers that were lost saving them money in training. She also decreased the amount of equipment lost. Kate got a guilty grin on her face. At least she hoped that she had decreased the amount of equipment lost. She had destroyed a fair amount of tanks and other machines.

 

Kate’s thoughts were taken away from her upcoming wedding and the expenses she saved and inflicted upon the military by a quick electrical shock. Glancing over at the little machine upon her shoulder. All Kate saw was a number designating the level of the threat that was awaiting her, the exact location and a little arrow. The arrow always pointed in the shortest rout.

 

Kate doubled her speed going from 25,000 miles per hour to 40,000 miles per hour. She could have gone somewhat faster however, she wanted to insure that she had some stamina left over for when she arrived. After all the reading she had received on the computer was a ten. There aren’t very many beings known of that could hold that rank. How many beings where there in the universe that deserved that title? Kate didn’t imagine there was a great deal of them.

 

Mathews rubbed his hands together as he paced back and forth. He could feel a not forming in his stomach something that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

 

“Sir what is wrong?”

 

Mathews glanced over at one of the technicians. “Just nervous.” Mathews didn’t bother saying why and the technician didn’t answer.

 

The technician imagined the reason Mathews was nervous was Kate was about to fight a very powerful foe. In truth he was only half right. Mathews was nervous because this was an opponent that she had faced off against before and won. However, he didn’t know how Kate was going to respond when she ended up fighting someone that she had already killed. How was he going to explain this to her?

 

Kate both passed through and leaped over entire towns as she ran towards her target. She could even leap over whole cities thanks to both the speed she was running at and how high she could jump. While this wasn’t as good as flying it was almost as good and it meant she didn’t have to slow down in the least.

She just hoped that she wasn’t leaving a path of destruction behind her, she didn’t have time to look back and see what happened as time began to show the effects of her passing.

 

At last Kate came to the spot where the computer had been guiding her. Slowing to a stop her jaw nearly hit the ground as she found herself looking upon a familiar face. She saw the chocky white skin, the granite seeming to grow from his massive form and the horrific power of Doomsday. Then he saw her and did indeed seem to remember their last encounter. As his jaw opened but unlike Kate’s sound issued forth. A blood curdling roar that seemed to shake the ground itself. He remembered her and he was pissed.

 

Kate didn’t move at first she was to stunned. She had killed him or at least Kate thought she had. How was he back? Kate could feel her skin beginning to burn as she began to seethe with anger. Then she felt it press against the side of her face. The hardened material that looked to be granite growing from Doomsday’s fist. She felt it collide with the side of her cheek. Having just been running Kate’s grounding ability was in full effect. She felt the substance touch her skin, she felt it bend and brake.

 

Kate’s eyes nearly doubled in size as she heard the monster scream. Looking down she could hardly believe what she saw. Doomsday had broken the material on the side of her face. Yet she didn’t feel a thing. Reaching up Kate pressed her fingers to the side of her cheek where he had hit her. There was no damage or pain. He hadn’t even been able to deliver a powerful enough punch to knock her back.

 

Doomsday’s intelligence was truly limited. He had always been an unstoppable juggernaut of rage and force. However, even he had the intelligence to realize what had just happened and to feel the pain that seemed to start where his weapons had been and move through his entire arm. He felt a new pain moments later.

 

Was this truly Doomsday that she was fighting? Kate couldn’t be sure as she drew back her arm and drove it into the creature’s chest. She could feel what she imagined to be his rib cage. Bend, fracture and even shatter in a few cases. There was some resistance there. Kate likened the feeling to punching or smacking whatever whenever she was human. This was far more resistance then what she normally felt but far less then what she had encountered in their first fight.

 

Kate’s lips twisted into a smile as Doomsday staggered backward from the force of the punch and she realized what was happening. Her strength had continued to increase since their last fight. While Doomsday’s may have increased as well, it didn’t seem to have increased as quickly as hers had. That is if Doomsday had even increased in power.

 

Even a wild beast knows when it is in a strange situation and Doomsday truly was in one. He had never encountered an opponent that could not only shrug off his attacks so easily but who could deal so much damage with a single punch. He didn’t know what the proper response was. So he responded in the only way he knew with utter rage. Using his one arm that still had his knuckle protrusions, he once again swung his fist at Kate’s head.

 

Kate had caught Doomsday’s punch with her left hand. Looking at the fist for a moment, she took the protrusions from his fist and broke them. Taking his arm in both her hands, Kate quickly followed up by snapping Doomsday’s arm. She didn’t bother trying to dodge his right arm. After all he had already broken his weapon her face. His exposed knuckle still carried enough force to flatten nearly anyone yet the impact bounce of Kate’s as lightly as an infant’s.

 

Doomsday had no idea how to respond as Kate broke one arm and then the other. He hadn’t ever had to retreat from a fight and at worse had been contained. At least that was the worse that he could remember. He couldn’t remember what had happened when he and Kate had first fought only that she had hurt him very badly and he wanted to make her pay. Now though she was hurting him even more and he didn’t seem able to hurt her.

 

As the astonishment from the situation began to wear off Kate began to take better stock of the situation. This wasn’t exactly someone that was going to give up. As despite his injuries’ Doomsday still seemed bent on fighting her. She couldn’t bring him back to the facility either. At least not like he was. She would just have to insure that he couldn’t threaten anyone.

 

Kate could feel as Doomsday’s flesh and bone gave way to her strength as she drove her fist into his chest just over where his heart should have been. At least she could feel some difference in resistance as the bones collapsed and when the muscle was pulverized. The power of the impact was more then Doomsday could stand and he was sent flying upward Kate having had to angle her fist up in order to strike the behemoth, thanks to his greater height.

 

As Kate watched Doomsday’s form rocket upward, she wondered if she had over estimated his ability to remain on the ground. Kate found herself hoping that she hadn’t knocked him into orbit. She considered attempting to catch up with Doomsday but already knew she couldn’t. She had waited to long and despite the speed which her legs could propel her upward it was fairly obvious that between Doomsday’s head start and the power she had put into the punch. Even Kate couldn’t move fast enough to catch up with him.

 

Fortunately gravity is still an effective force and wind resistance helped to slow Doomsday on his trip upward as well as his own resistance to being moved. Kate wasn’t entirely certain but she was perhaps the first person to ever be happy at seeing Doomsday coming back down towards earth. As Kate watched his falling form, she noted when Doomsday’s body seemed to have reached terminal velocity.

 

Lapsing into her accelerated state Kate jumped into the air. Now that Doomsday was actually headed back down to the earth it was easy to get herself level with him. The moment he was closed enough she drove her fist into his back. She felt his spine snap then he was moving towards the ground far more quickly then he had been.

 

Kate felt a ripple in the air as Doomsday’s body slammed into the ground below. The sound of the impact came a short while later and she looked down to see the effects. The ground churned upward as the ground Doomsday dispersed upon its impact was sent flying outward. The energy from the impact was so great that Kate could actually feel it in the air, had she not made use of her grounding ability she would have been carried upward once again.

 

As impressive as the impact had been though Kate knew that it wasn’t actually slamming into the ground that would have hurt him. Rather it was the power of the strike Kate had delivered to his back. As Kate came back to the ground she waited for Doomsday to return to come tearing his way up through the earth as he had done before but there was nothing. Focusing on her hearing Kate was able to hear some sound but she wasn’t sure if it was just the dirt settling back into place after being disturbed.

 

Kate had thought she would be able to locate Doomsday by finding the center of the impact however the destruction had been so great that wasn’t as easy as she expected. Instead she found herself searching any area that seemed a likely candidate for his point of impact especially when she heard a sound. As Kate was searching a particular area, she was surprised when she at last heard a rumble. A massive hand came reaching out for her. It was no where near touching her. Stepping aside Kate was fairly impressed when she saw Doomsday pull himself out from the ruble.

 

Resolving to see how effective the few blows she had delivered where. Kate moved away from her clearly disoriented opponent to see what happened next.

 

Doomsday took one step staggered and collapsed. Walking over to the body Kate tried to determine if he was still alive. There didn’t seem to be any live signs, but she didn’t want to leave his corpse behind either. Taking hold of Doomsday’s arm, Kate began to run back towards the facility. She would need to speak to Michael about this.

 

Jack, Merry and Elaine looked over Kate, all three of them seemed truly astonished at how she had returned. While they had expected her to return. They hadn’t expected it to be under her own power and even more impressive was that she didn’t have a scratch on her. Doomsday on the other hand seemed to be nothing more then a lump of flesh that had been dragged several hundreds of miles at hyper sonic speeds.

 

Kate would have normally enjoyed the attention however at the moment her mind was else where. “All right, explain to me why that thing was alive.”

 

Mathews had been nervous about how Kate would respond but to have her returning with no damage what so ever had made him even more nervous. “Kate. I know this looks bad since we didn’t tell you what we did with Doomsday but I assure you the armed services had nothing to do with his return.”

 

“Well then who did?”

 

Mathews rubbed his head. “Doomsday brought about his own return.”

 

“How is that possible he isn’t even capable of rational thought it seems?”

 

“Doomsday is a rather special construct. You see when something defeats Doomsday his body attempts to alter itself so that will no longer harm him. What works once isn’t supposed to work again.”

 

“You mean that thing is going to come back from the dead?”

 

“Stronger then what he was before. As he was stronger this time.”

 

Kate wasn’t happy about this news at all. “He was stronger then last time?”

 

“Well he should have been. I imagine he was strong enough that had your strength stayed what it was when you first fought. You would be dead. With as much as you increased in strength though we can’t be sure from your report. Since we can’t be certain of your strength and what it would take to make you feel as if you were pushing your fist through water.”

 

Kate didn’t say anything at first then a long sigh escaped her lips. “Well then I guess I can’t be mad at the army. If Doomsday recovers on his own. However, what do we do now while he is dead? If what you told me, is accurate if I keep killing him he will just keep getting stronger.”

 

Mathews gave a nod. “It should take some time for him to recover. Between then and now we need to find a way to restrain him so that he can be bound but won’t be injured. Unless you have an idea to permanently kill him.”

 

“Would squeezing him into a ball the size of a pea work?”

 

Mathews wasn’t certain what to say at first. “I suppose that would work. We haven’t ever been able to try it. It never seemed possible. Do you think you can do that?”

 

Kate shook her head. “Not at my current strength level. However, I am always getting stronger. Until then we need to find a way to bind him I imagine. What did you try last time?”

 

“Well I didn’t actually try anything. Containing him was assigned to someone else. I don’t actually know what materials they tried to use.”

 

“I suppose it doesn’t really matter. If they didn’t work the first time they won’t work when he recovers. Hey Jack do you think you could use some of the materials grown from me?”

 

Jack finally looked up to see Kate’s face. He had checked her body over several times still in a state of amazement. “Yeah I think I could. I mean we grew the armor for Tina’s mech.”

 

Kate gave a nod. “Okay then I am going to stop by the lab later on today and give you a fresh sample.”

 

Jack held up his hands. “Woe not right now. We are going to have to get a mold first. Once your skin samples have grown into a certain shape there is no way we can alter them. At least not much especially after they have been made solid like your ring.”

 

Kate glanced at Mathews who realized he needed to speak up. “I will have them start preparing the mold immediately.”

 

Kate half-expected Mathews to use this as a reason to leave the room and avoid any other questions. Instead he took up one of the phones in the base and proceeded to make a call. He wasn’t even going to waste the time walking down to give the orders directly. While Mathews was making his call Kate finally decided to speak with Elaine and Merry. “Well are you two satisfied that I am fine?”

 

Elaine and Merry finally backed away then Merry spoke up. “As hard as it is to believe. Yes we can’t find anything that would indicate you had been hurt in the least. Which makes it even harder to believe.”

 

Kate gave a nod. “I can understand that. I imagine a lot of people wouldn’t believe it if I told them.”

 

Jack placed his hand on Kate’s shoulder. “Well I am not quite convinced. I am going to have to give you a very careful once over later on.”

 

Kate couldn’t help but grin. “It had better be more then once.”

 

Mathews hung up the phone interrupting Kate and Jack’s flirting. Turning to Kate. “Is there anything else you would like to ask?”

 

“Where do you plan on keeping Doomsday now?”

 

“Since it doesn’t seem that we have anything ready to contain him at the moment we are going to lock him away in a vault in the middle of the desert. If he should brake out, we will know about it and can dispatch you to deal with him. It is the best I can come up with. After all concrete walls don’t even seem to slow him down and now he may be even stronger.”

 

Kate sighed. “I hope he doesn’t recover but from the way you have been talking that isn’t likely. Is it?”

 

Mathews shook his head. “We have hoped that so many times and it never has worked out. Still, with you we have some hope now.”

 

Kate stood up from the examination table. “Well Jack and I are going to head back to our room.”

 

Jack followed closely behind Kate until they had exited the room. He then proceeded to move to walk beside of her. “So what are we going to do?”

 

Kate glanced over at Jack. “Well just because we captured Doomsday again doesn’t mean anything has changed. I am not going to let the capture of someone as weak as that, interrupt my wedding.”

 

Jack couldn’t hide his amusement. He couldn’t think of anyone else in existence that could refer to Doomsday in such a way and mean it.

 



 

Thank goodness for her team mates. Kate currently stood in front of a full length mirror. Debra and her mother had decided to help her with the arrangements. While her mother wasn’t a surprise Debra’s volunteering to help had been quite the shocker. “I am glad the team took some of the credit for taking down Doomsday.”

 

Debra looked up. “Personally I think Wally was a little too eager to take credit and may have taken more then what he needed to.”

 

Kate gave an amused laugh. “Well if some power house comes seeking to fight someone that could rival Doomsday’s strength. He brought it upon himself with his bragging. Anyway, we are all a team.”

 

Marry gave her head a quick shake. “While it is nice that you are sharing credit with your friends. I just hope you don’t get them in any trouble.”

 

Kate smiled. “I might have helped them though. I mean, if people think they can rival Doomsday’s power then they are less likely to challenge them. Well unless they are seeking glory.”

 

Debra stood up after helping Kate straiten out her dress. “We will just have to get even more capable in preparations for such a day. After all depending on you all the time isn’t any better then depending on the League.”

 

Kate couldn’t help but be a little hurt by Debra’s comment. “Don’t you trust me?”

 

Debra didn’t seem to concerned though she did realize she needed to explain herself better. “Oh I trust you far more then the league. What I meant is it isn’t a good idea to depend on one person or weapon for your protection. After all we could always find one day that you have a weakness or you may not be there and then where would we be?”

 

Kate seemed to perk up a bit. “Okay. I was a bit worried there for a moment.”

 

Marry let out a long sigh and removed her hands from Kate’s hair. “Sweety, this just isn’t going to happen.”

 

“What is the matter mom?”

 

“Your hair is the problem. I just can’t work with it. It is too strong and seemed to want to stay the way it is.”

 

“That is fine. Free flowing should look good as well.” Kate turned away from her mother and her friend towards the mirror. As she looked at herself, she couldn’t resist flexing her biceps. As Kate flexed the material of her dress was drawn tight against her muscle.

 

Marry noticed what her daughter was doing and let out a frustrated sigh. “Now Kate I know you are proud of your build but you need to be more elegant.”

 

“But I like showing off my muscles. I wonder if there would be a way to get a dress that would be more form fitting.” Kate glanced at her mother and could tell right away that she didn’t approve of the idea. “Well I guess it is a little late now.”

 

“Yes it is. This dress will do you just fine. Have you seen the second ring Jack has made for you?”

 

Kate gave her head a shake. “I haven’t seen it yet. I told him to try and make it even sturdier though. If I am going to wear it, I need it to be more strong then pretty. Though I am sure, he will work on the looks as well.”

 

Debra stepped away from her friend. “Well that should do it. Now you need to get out of that dress so that we can go through the same process tomorrow.”

 

Kate let out a sigh. “Well one thing is certain. Super strength doesn’t help with standing around.”

 

Marry couldn’t help shaking her head at her daughter’s comment and proceeded to help her remove the dress.

 



 

“Hey I haven’t seen you in a while. Have you been taking care of Kate for us?”

 

Jack turned about as he heard a familiar voice. He soon found who it belonged to as Eddy approached him. Walking over to him the two men shook hands. “Well I tried for a year or so and then she went beyond my ability to help.” Eddy, gave a nod. “Yeah she can take care of herself. Listen, I heard about how the SCRU took down Doomsday. I just have to ask. That was all Kate’s doing wasn’t it?”

 

Jack nodded his head. “Yeah. She was the only one strong enough to fight him. The others would have just gotten in the way. So have you noticed any difference in the crime rate?”

 

“Well your standard criminal is pretty much the same now. A shame since Kate had it on a down turn when she was still at the station. Crimes by those criminals that aren’t quite human or with a special edge on the other hand. Have all dropped considerably.” Eddy kept quiet for a few moments. “I was a bit surprised when Kate got in touch with me asking to be your best man.”

 

Jack gave a nod. “Yeah I didn’t have much of a social life. Actually I still don’t other then Merry and Elaine. Well and Debra, Joe makes the occasional stop by.” Jack couldn’t help the funny look on his face. “Well I guess I know more people now then I realized.”

 

“Seems to be. It is a shame that Kate doesn’t get to help with standard criminals any longer. She would be a big help.”

 

Jack nodded his head. “But it would be like sending the military in.”

 

“That is true. It would be over kill.”

 

“So there he is the man that has already taken my little girl away from me and now wants to make it official.” Nathan had been wondering where Jack had been for a while now and had finally located him. “This place is a little big for so few people.”

 

Jack and Eddy turned to face Nathan. “Yeah. Kate wanted a big place, despite not having many people to invite. To be honest I thought she was going to invite more. Like half the police force.”

 

Nathan glanced at Eddy then back to Jack. “So what has Kate been up to? We haven’t seen each other in a while.”

 

Jack grinned. “You might have not seen her but she has seen you.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“When Kate goes out on her runs. She runs by your home and place of work to see if anything is wrong. It only takes her a fraction of a second, but believe she sees everything.”

 

Nathan let out a long sigh. “Oh that is a relief. I thought that since she no longer needed money from me she had quit checking up on us.”

 

Eddy, had kept quiet but decided to speak up. “Hey what about the police? Does she ever run by the station?”

 

Jack nodded. “She didn’t all the time at first but since she has begun running faster and faster. She has had to make her runs longer in order to take up the same amount of time. Also, it helps with her exercise. I don’t know all the places she stops by but I imagine she sees quite a bit of the nation on a daily basis. Hey Eddy didn’t something happen to your leg? I just remembered.”

 

“It took you that long to remember?” Eddy tapped the leg that had been injured.“It was hurt but I didn’t lose it. I can’t walk as good as I use to. I can’t run either but I have a desk job now. It will be nice telling the others to be on the look out for a speeding red head.”

 

Nathan gave a chuckle. “I am going to have to tell my daughter to stop by and talk to me once in a while. You have been monopolizing far too much of her attention.” A beeping got Nathan’s attention, looking down at his watch. “Well I suppose it is time to get into our places. Time for me to officially give away my daughter.”

 

Jack grinned though he did feel a little nervous about all of this. He hoped that he wouldn’t goof up and say something wrong. Of course Jack wasn’t the only one that felt this way. While super strength did remove a lot of weaknesses, it didn’t do a thing to help with a person’s speech.

 

Kate tried to keep from entering her accelerated state as she walked beside her father. A not seemed to have formed in her stomach. Why was she so nervous? She and Jack had been together for such a long time she had no reason to feel the way she did and it wasn’t like he was going to run out of her. It wasn’t like they were taking a very big step either. All she was doing was making official what had been obvious for so long. That they belonged to one another.

 

Looking up she saw that Jack was feeling similar as he twitched a bit. Perhaps they were both just worried about saying the wrong thing. Kate grew grateful that her father was a rather tall man and took rather healthy strides as they finally came to the podium were the priest was waiting. The priest began to read his familiar speech.

 

Jack didn’t have any super powers and he most assuredly didn’t have the ability to accelerate his thinking process so that the world seemed to move more slowly. However, as he listened to the priest speaking he felt like he did. The old man’s words seemed to take a minute a piece to leave the old man’s mouth, entire sentences seemed to take hours. He wanted him to speed up so that he could go ahead and get to their vows.

 

Kate felt as if she could since how nervous Jack was. It was nice to see that she wasn’t the only one that felt a little concerned. As the priest spoke Kate found herself seeking something to distract her thoughts to help her relax. A smile formed on her face when she glanced down at the flowers in her hand. Kate had to keep herself from giggling as an idea came to her.

 

Jack was so nervous that he nearly missed it when the priest said it was time to read his vows to Kate. “Kate, I promise to always love, and honor you, I will always do my best to aid you and see that you are safe. Even as you slip further from my ability to affect. No matter how powerful you become, I will always do my best for you. I will never fear your strength.” Jack knew the wedding vow was odd but he felt it was the most appropriate for the situation. After all how many men found themselves wed to a woman that was nearly a billion times stronger then human and was still getting stronger.

 

Kate would have liked to scoop Jack up in her arms and kissed him right then. She had to restrain herself for the moment though, she had some vows of her own. “Jack, I will always honor and love you, my strength will never harm you but only be used to protect you. I will do my best to see to your safety always and know that we are always equals no matter how strong my body may become. My strength is your strength and you should never hesitate to call upon its use whenever you need it.”

 

Jack had to admit to himself that he was glad to hear that last part to know that Kate considered him an equal despite the vast difference between their physical abilities. He had known that for some time, he had seen it in Kate’s actions but having her say it still meant a lot.

 

It took Eddy placing the ring in Jack’s finger to get him to notice. Looking down he held up the bit of specially grown material. This ring was crimson like the last one however its design was far more elegant then the previous ring. Various groves and complex designs ran throughout the band. The result of having the ring grown within a specially made mold. As Jack slipped the new ring on Kate’s finger, it interlocked with the old as if to protect it.

 

As the rings were exchanged the two didn’t seem to even hear the priest as they leaned into one another and their lips met.

 



 

“Now you are going to visit more?” Nathan stood talking to his daughter.

 

“Yes daddy, I will stop in and speak with you during my jogs.”

 

“Don’t forget us at the police station either.” Eddy came up behind Kate a wide grin on his face.

 

Kate smiled at him and gave a nod. “Sure. As long as I won’t be interfering with you work.”

 

“No need to worry about that. I hardly do anything. Ever since I got my desk job.”

 

Kate chuckled a bit. “Well if you two will excuse me. I am going to go and get my husband. We have a honeymoon to get started.”

 

“Don’t forget the bouquet.” Kate turned to see Debra grinning, as Kate did so she realized just how many women she had actually invited.

 

“Okay ladies. Catch.” The smile on Kate’s face told every woman there that they weren’t going to be catching anything. Thus they were all a little surprised when instead of tossing the bunch of flowers into orbit Kate gave them a very light toss only sending them fifty feet into the air. This was fixed a second later though when a gust of wind slammed into the flowers. The powerful jet of air irrupting from the puckered lips of Kate easily carried the bouquet from view.

 

“Well that was mean of you.” Jack had a large smile as he came to where Kate was standing.

 

Kate’s response was to scoop Jack up in her arms. “Well be seeing you. I wonder who is going to end up catching those flowers.”

 



 

Jack had always felt somewhat strange when vacationing with Kate. The places she chose simply took him out of his element. Now he couldn’t help but think that he was a little too far in his element. “Kate, when did you have time to set all of this up?”

 

“Do you like it?”

 

“Yeah, but when and how did you get it set up?”

 

“Mathews was a lot of help in getting things prepared. Other then that it seems the military really wants to keep me happy.”

 

Jack looked around the area for a moment longer. The area he currently found himself in was a nice secluded bit of property. Several pieces of machinery provided the answer for just why it had been made a restricted area. “Kate, where did those tanks come from?”

 

“The united states military of course. We also have some battle drones on hand.”

 

“Why are they here?”

 

“Now I thought that would be obvious. Mother nature provides some neat opportunities for me to flaunt my strength. However, to make it truly effective I felt the weapons of man would prove more effective.”

 

Jack couldn’t have hidden the smile on his face with a jet black hood. “You even have some drones?”

 

“Yes and not just ordinary ones. They are linked to a central control station in the man building. You can control them directly. Mathews explained that the sim interface is a little to easy to interrupt to be used effectively in combat at least for the moment. The research Elaine and Merry are conducting on Joe and Wally’s weapons are providing a great deal of useful information though.”

 

“So we can have a more intense wrestling match?”

 

“Yes but I would like it if we waited. I don’t want to start braking everything right now.”

 

Jack gave a nod. “It is hard to believe they just let you have all of this stuff to brake though.”

 

Kate gave a slight giggle. “They appreciated me dealing with Doomsday. Twice.”

 

Jack was a little suspicious of this reason as he imagined the military had a way of monitoring what was going on but he wasn’t going to worry about that. “Well then how about we forget about work and enjoy our honey moon.”

 

“Sounds wonderful to me. Let me get out of this dress first.”

 

“Yeah I want to get out this tux as well. It isn’t exactly what I consider comfortable.”

 

“Oh, well you go and do that first then I want you to watch me get undressed. I think I have a fun way to do it.”

 

“In that case. How about you get undressed then you can undress me?”

 

“Mm that sounds good to me. Though, we should go inside first.” It was hardly a second after Kate had spoken before she scooped Jack up in her arms and made her way towards the building they would be living in for the next little while. The structure had been made quite sturdy for use by beings such as Kate.

 

As Jack was carried inside, he couldn’t help but note the building. The structure looked fairly normal except that it clearly had more then a few rooms. However, on closer examination he found that it seemed strange for other reasons. “Kate, that buildings a little more sturdy then I expected.”

 

“Once the army found out they may be able to produce more nanobots like those in Debra. It was decided it would be a good idea to set up a little place for them to learn from people who have had super strength for longer time periods.”

 

“So they don’t plan on putting them through the same crash course as what Debra went through?”

 

Kate gave her head a shake. “No. Not since they can afford to wait now, but you are talking about work. I thought you were going to quit that.”

 

“Whoops sorry. I will hush up about work right now.”

 

“Good. I like my wedding ring, I am glad I waited to look at it.”

 

“I am glad to here it. I just wish I could have made it look like gold.”

 

“The crimson color is fine.” Kate relaxed her grin on Jack a bit forcing him to use his arms to support some of his weight while she opened the door. As Jack noted the door’s build, he wondered how much effort it would require for him to open it.

 

Kate noticed the look on Jack’s face and had to fill him in on the details. “I asked Mathews if he knew of a place where I could really flaunt my power. He recommended I take you here, up until then I didn’t even know they were building such a place. The door is roughly three inches thick with hardened steel on the inside. The wood covering you see is actually less then one fourth of an inch thick and meant only to give it a more natural look.”

 

“I imagine everything in this place is quite sturdy.”

 

“I am fairly certain that it is.” Kate needed to pack in her and Jack’s luggage but resolved to wait. Instead she gave the door a slight nudge with her foot.

 

Jack could have sworn he felt his bones shake as he heard the door slam shut. Quickly glancing towards the close portal he half expected to see that Kate had kicked it so hard that it was out of the frame. Looking down he was a bit surprised to find that the door remained intact except there was a very healthy dent in it. “Are you sure the military is going to appreciate you denting their doors?”

 

“Whoops I guess I wasn’t as careful as I should have been. Well this place is meant to take damage after all. I was just testing it for them.”

 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Kate, I doubt this place was built to handle someone of your strength level. Actually I am sure it wasn’t designed to handle such punishment.”

 

“Oh hush up I will handle it if anyone wants to complain about me denting their door.” Jack gave a nod and kept quiet as Kate proceeded to carry him throughout the building and into one of the bedrooms. The whole time he kept looking around, taking note of how various common house hold items had been built to handle being held by someone with super human strength. At least been built to handle it to a certain extreme. There wasn’t a single thing in the entire building that Kate couldn’t destroy with her pinky.

 

Once Kate made it into the bedroom she gave Jack a light toss sending him flying to the bed. Unlike the door Kate had controlled her strength perfectly and the impact was far more fun then painful. The moment Jack’s body touched down he quickly straitened himself up.

 

Kate gave a giggle as Jack’s enthusiasm seemed all too obvious. Flicking her shoes off Kate ran her toes along the floor. “You might have not noticed but the floor in this place is concrete. There wasn’t much need of carpet so you will probably want to wear your house shoes around. It is a good thing it is made of concrete though. It can’t catch fire.”

 

Jack scooted closer to the side of the bed at this declaration.

 

“Which would you prefer a show of strength or speed?”

 

As much as Jack loved Kate’s speed, it had always been the icing so the choice was simple. “Strength.”

 

“Mm okay. I know you have seen this before but I will try and make it nice.” Jack nodded though he wasn’t sure what Kate was talking about. His mind was so filled with thoughts of the moment. That he couldn’t remember the little show that she had put on for him in her exercise room. Reaching up Kate pinched the material of her dress just over her nipples insuring that she got her nipples as well. She then began to add pressure.

 

“No tighter then this.”

 

“Huh?” Jack gave Kate a curious look as if unsure of what she was talking about.

 

“My fingers aren’t going to squeeze any harder then this. It is up to you to make my nipples grow. You are not to tear off any of my clothing.”

 

It took a few moments but Jack’s mind finally registered what Kate meant for him to do. After which he couldn’t scramble off of the bed quickly enough. Despite all the times that he had been with Kate they were always exciting events and now that Kate had begun a game to make it even more interesting he could hardly restrain himself. Once he had gotten off the bed though he found himself facing quite the dilemma. Just where should he start?

 

Kate couldn’t help but find Jack’s excitement both exciting and intoxicating. She had to keep herself from getting to aroused to quickly or he would reach his goal before he even had to try. Despite this she felt that she should give Jack some encouragement. “Come now Cuddly. You know what I like.”

 

Jack found his senses returning as he listened to Kate. Looking he over he remembered that he wasn’t allowed to tear her clothing and most likely she wouldn’t want him removing her clothing. After all the heat was what was suppose to undress her. This limited his options in some senses but it wasn’t a serious hindrance. He would have liked to give her some muscles attention however he couldn’t admire her biceps at the moment.

 

Of course Kate had a great deal more muscles. Walking over to Kate, Jack got down on his knees and proceeded to take hold of the fabric of Kate’s dress.

 

“Now I said no tearing my clothing.”

 

“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to.” Jack proceeded to pull the material though he was careful to keep his word and not tear the delicate fabric of Kate’s dress. Pushing the taught material against Kate’s stomach her abdominal muscles became quite pronounced. As the outline of Kate’s well-defined stomach became easy to see Jack proceeded to lean forward and press his lips against the material covering Kate’s abdominal muscles.

 

When Kate realized what, Jack was doing she had to resist to urges. One was to reach down and press his head against her stomach. The other was to pinch her nipples more tightly then she already was. Keeping the pressure which she was applying with her fingers constant was actually the easier of these to.

 

“You like my nice toned tummy don’t you?”

 

“I just like your nice taught tummy, almost as much as I love here.” Jack brought his hand up and proceeded to press his fingers to the outsides of Kate’s pussy lips.

 

“Mm try to push deeper.”

 

Jack couldn’t remember ever having trouble penetrating Kate but then again he couldn’t remember her ever deciding to deny his access. As he pressed his fingers against her lips, he found out just how tightly she could close them. At first Jack only applied a bit of pressure, much the same as he would have with a normal woman. What he found was this was entirely lacking to the task at hand and he began to press harder.

 

Kate could feel Jack’s feather light touch against her lips as she had many of the times before. She had always chosen to relax her muscles and allow him entrance now she had decided not to. He had started out with a light touch clearly not taking into consideration how strong her body was. This quickly changed and he began to press as hard as he could. Though the increased pressure was so little in comparison to her strength that it was purely superficial. It was enough to increase her excitement.

 

Pressing wasn’t going to work, that had become far too obvious far too quickly. As Jack relaxed his touch, he didn’t remove his fingers from Kate’s lips. He couldn’t physically force Kate or her body to do anything. Instead he needed to try and persuade Kate and her body, which required gentle sweet words and actions. He no longer pressed as hard but began to move his fingers slowly up and down the length of Kate fabric which covered Kate’s lips.

 

A shudder ran up Kate’s spin as she felt Jack reach back with his left hand and grasp the back of her leg. Slowly he began to move his hand up her leg, towards her rear. His left hand gently massaging the front of her pussy lips through the fabric of her dress and panties, was quite exciting. Kate could feel her nipples expanding, the material of her dress being pressed more firmly between her engorging nipples and her fingers. As her nipples grew the heat grew as well and she wondered how long it would be before it was great enough to ignite the material.

 

Jack heard a sigh escape Kate’s lips and looked up towards the underside of her bust. He could tell that he was making progress as Kate seemed to have to work harder to maintain her focus. While continuing to caress the back of Kate’s thighs and her lips. He leaned forward and once again began to press his lips against her stomach. Placing kisses along each one of her abdominal muscles. The occasional kiss was off its target but Kate’s muscles were so well formed and Jack and admired them so many times that only a few kisses didn’t fall in the center of one of Kate’s abdominal muscles.

 

Kate shifted slightly as she felt herself growing wet. Her fingers twitched slightly and she had to remind herself not to squeeze or rub her nipples. At the current point just a little more pressure would more then likely ignite the material and the friction of rubbing them would most assuredly do so. She wanted to make this as difficult for Jack as she possibly could.

 

Jack broke off his kisses for a moment as he noticed something. “Well someone is getting wet.”

 

Kate didn’t look down to see the knowing grin on Jack’s face she could hear it in his voice. He knew that he was close to his goal. It was an odd moment for Kate she was normally so in control of the situation to find herself losing it was a truly odd experience yet it helped to excite her even more. She was the one that had issued the challenge after all.

 

Jack could have sworn he smelt smoke as he looked up towards Kate’s breast. A glint of red flame got his attention and he knew that he had reached his goal though Kate didn’t know it yet. While he didn’t want to, Jack had no desired to get burned so he resolved to move back now.

 

Kate didn’t notice that something had changed until Jack moved back. Only until he had stopped his stimulation did Kate notice the warmth that was beginning to cover her breast. Looking down towards her breast then Jack. “Well congratulations.”

 

“Thank you madam.”

 

Kate took a few steps away from Jack. She didn’t want to risk burning him. “Mm so should I help the flames out?”

 

“I think I would rather watch as they slowly tried to consume your clothing and you.”

 

“Mm prolong our game a little longer?”

 

Jack nodded his head. He wasn’t about to mention to Kate that he also wanted to take the time to calm down. As while the sight of the flames licking at Kate’s flesh while her clothing was consumed was quite exciting. The feeling of her firm legs, abs and lips had him far more excited. He needed a few moments to relax in order to keep from giving out too soon. “I will be a little surprised if that little fire can burn away your panties.”

 

“I am awfully wet. You did a very good job.” The flames had by now consumed the material covering Kate’s breast and was working their way further down as well as upward. Jack took the time to admire the nipples that had helped ignite the flames. They where still quite excited and had it not been for the flames surrounding them Jack would have most assuredly been giving them the attention they so deserved.

 

As Kate felt the flames licking her flesh, she found the experience to be oddly lacking. The fire should have caused more stimulation then Jack’s gentle touches. However, while the flames were technically more intense then Jack’s hands they didn’t have the same mental appeal. They where simply consuming her dress after all, Jack’s hands seemed to truly worship her curves, muscles and very being.

 

Kate wasn’t the only one that wanted the fire to spread more quickly. Jack found it hard to contain himself. He wanted the fire to speed up to finish undressing Kate. He knew that her skin would still be a delight to touch despite the fire. It would take a great deal more heat then what such weak flames were able to generate in order to warm Kate’s flesh. At the moment he didn’t think a nuclear explosion would be hot enough to warm Kate’s flesh.

 

Looking down at the flames Kate gently blew upon the flames trying to encourage their progress. This proved to be more difficult then Kate preferred since she found herself restrained by her strength. If she blew too hard and the flames would go out. If she didn’t use enough air though the flames wouldn’t really be encouraged.

 

“Now you stop that.”

 

Kate was a bit surprised and quickly turned her attention from the fire to Jack. “How come?”

 

“The anticipation is one of the most important parts.”

 

“Mm but I want to feel your hands against my skin now. These flames just aren’t enough.”

 

“Well I was able to excite you enough. I think I have a right to savor the show.”

 

Kate gave a slight pout. “Fine then. Does that mean you enjoy watching more then touching?”

 

“Believe me Kate touching is the most enjoyable part. However, I like to take the time to appreciate watching as well.”

 

“Okay, you did earn the right after all.” Kate gave a sigh and proceeded to hold her arms around herself, intentionally pushing up on the underside of her breast as if unknowingly presenting them for display.

 

Jack had no idea why he had stopped Kate from increasing the rate which the flames consumed her clothing. He wanted to begin as badly as she did, didn’t he? It only took a moment to take stock of his feelings and he was certain that he wanted to begin as quickly as Kate did if not sooner but at the same time he wanted to see how helpless the flames were to even sear Kate’s seemingly flawless skin. It was a very good thing that the building had been designed as a training ground for those with strength beyond what is natural. As it was built to endure, the possible miss haps, such beings could cause. Other wise there was a chance it would have been burnt down.

 

As the flames consumed more of Kate’s clothing, Jack believed that he would be able to reach her upper body safely. Reaching over the flames he proceeded to take Kate’s right nipple between his fingers and squeeze as hard as he could.

 

Kate stood patiently as Jack reached over the flames, his fingers carefully taking hold of her nipple as he moved carefully to avoid being burned. She then felt the pressure increased and let out a sigh. Now she wanted to tear the remains of her dress off and not even give the flames a chance to remove them for her. Kate’s excitement seemed to triple when she felt Jack’s other hand take hold of her upper biceps and give the muscle a squeeze.

 

Jack knew how much Kate loved having her body praised especially her muscles. At least he thought he knew how much Kate enjoyed such things. Jack felt a rush of air though and a sudden cooling in the general area.

 

Kate had managed to keep hold of herself until she felt Jack’s hand rest on her biceps. She had held out as long as she could or at least as long as she was willing to she wasn’t sure which it was at the moment. It had only taken her a fraction of a second to tear the remains of her clothing off. Reaching down, Kate quickly scooped Jack up in her arms.

 

Jack was about to comment when he realized what had happened however he didn’t get to. He felt Kate’s lips cover his own and he couldn’t speak. He didn’t want to speak either. As soon as Kate’s lips had touched his own. Any thoughts of protest or complain had evaporated from his mind. At first he began to let his hands move randomly then he remembered whom he was dealing with. There was no way that he could take care of Kate if he simply gave into lust and didn’t use his head.

 

There was no way that he was going to hold out especially while Kate was in complete control. If he was going to last Jack needed to regain some control of course whit his lips currently locked against, Kate’s he knew that he couldn’t rely on speaking. Reaching down Jack pressed his fingers to the outsides of Kate’s pussy lips. He would have normally traced his hands along her body in order to let her know where he was going however at the moment he was hoping for something of a shock factor to allow him to regain some control.

 

It worked. A sharp gasp issued forth from Kate allowing Jack to brake off the kiss for a few moments. “Well aren’t we wet. Mind if I help clean you off?”

 

“Mm I don’t think you could ever clean me up while I feel the way I do now.” Kate brought her lips down to Jack’s neck and proceeded to place several kisses upon it. “You are welcome to try though.” Kate was a bit surprised at the speed which Jack wiggled out of her arms once she had relaxed her grip. She didn’t even have a chance to set him down. These concerns quickly passed a few moments later.

 

While a kiss from Kate was always a delight. It hadn’t been the kiss alone that had got Jack so worked up that he felt the need to make a hasty retreat.

Rather it was the passion and excitement that he had felt in the moment and while he felt the same passion. He had learned from previous experience that his body couldn’t match Kate’s and given the chance she would quickly sap him of all his energy.

 

“Mm Jack watch.” Kate gave Jack a few moments to look up from his current task. Pressing her hands against her breast she proceeded to compress the flesh until she felt the slightest bit of pain.

 

Jack could tell that Kate was causing herself a little pain but he knew why. Those hands where the only things he knew of that could compress Kate’s breast to such a point. “It seems hard to believe but I bet even Superman couldn’t do that.”

 

Kate gave an amused giggle. “He would be missing his hands if he even tried.”

 

Jack felt a bit nervous when Kate reached down and took hold of his hands. He had hoped that he would manage to keep control of the situation for a while longer. Then he felt his hands being pressed against the flesh of Kate’s breast. Of course it didn’t make as much of an indentation as she had with her hands. If she tried to press Jack’s hands to her breast with the same force, it would have crushed his hands to a liquid state.

 

“Only you are allowed to touch them. Well you and me.”

 

“I am glad to know that.”

 

“You are worried about losing control of the situation aren’t you?”

 

Jack felt his mouth go dry for a moment and a blush forming on his face. “If I do, I worry I won’t be able to take care of you.”

 

Kate gave an amused giggle. “I know but you have lost control. Sorry but I can’t wait any longer.”

 

Jack didn’t quite know what to think when he felt Kate’s picking him up. She had never used such a direct method. “Kate, you know I can’t last as long as you.”

 

“It is fine Jack. You always work hard to take care of me. It is my turn to take care of you.” Kate flashed Jack a rather toothy grin. “You won’t even be able to stand up by the time I am done with you.” Kate carefully set Jack down on the bed. She then proceeded to undress him. Reaching down her impossibly strong hands began to tear away his clothing.

 



 

Jack was sore that was all there was to it. Laying on the couch, he could hardly move. Kate had kept her word that was certain though it left him wondering if he had really taken care of her. It was so hard to tell.

 

Kate for her part was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for lunch. Jack had slept a little longer then normal thanks to his previous night of exertion.

 

Jack hadn’t said anything to her about the night before but she could tell he was quite content the wide grin on his face despite his body being sore spoke volumes. “So what do you want to do today?”

 

“Recover would be nice.” Jack voice seemed to carry his contentment.

 

“How about I put on a show for you? We have all those wonderfully brake able toys outside after all.”

 

“I get to just watch. Right?”

 

Kate let out an amused giggle. “If you want to you may just watch. In fact you don’t even need to walk outside.”

 

Jack started to set up but before he could, Kate was standing next to him. Her arms slipped underneath him lifted him into the air a moment later.

 

“Of course you need to eat first so that you can recover your strength. I hope you have the strength left to pick up your fork.”

 

“Considering that this place was built with people whose strength far surpasses mine. I am a little worried that I won’t.”

 

“In that case I will just have to feed you. I wonder if it would be better if I let you eat in bed.”

 

Jack shook his head. “I have never been comfortable doing that.”

 

“How come?”

 

“I just never got use to it and I have always been a bit to tidy.”

 

Kate gave a slight shrug and proceeded to carry Jack into the kitchen. Setting him down in his seat. Kate couldn’t resist running a little test. “Would you mind trying to lift the fork?”

 

“Sure.” Jack was a bit surprised by how bulky the utensil looked when Kate set it down in front of him. Reaching down he placed his hand on the fork and lifted it from the table. Despite this, a slight grunt of effort showed that it wasn’t easy.

 

“I really don’t feel like working out while I am trying to eat.”

 

Kate smiled when Jack set the fork back down. “I bet it wouldn’t bother you if I hadn’t tired you out.”

 

“I appreciated the vote of confidence but even then it would be awfully inconvenient to eat with it.”

 

“That means, I get to feed you then.” Kate didn’t waste any time picking up Jack’s plate of food and a spoon. Setting them down in front of him she lifted Jack from his seat and proceeded to set down. After settling Jack down in her lap she picked up the fork between two of her fingers and began to get a bit of egg for him.

 

Jack felt a little silly as Kate feed him but he wasn’t going to complain. As while it made him feel a little odd it was still a rather enjoyable experience to find oneself setting in the lap of such a lovely lady. “I think the fork and spoon would be a little hard to use even if they were lighter.”

 

“I have to admit that they are rather cumbersome. Of course those that they are meant for most likely not have to worry about injuring themselves.”

 

“Just keep that in mind while feeding me.”

 

“Don’t worry I am. If I can control strength like mine, I am sure I can avoid poking you.”

 

“Yeah you are use to having to be very precise.”

 

Kate gave an amused laugh. “That is true. Of course controlling my strength in most situations is actually quite easy. Compared to when I have to work with my accelerated rate of thinking and moving.”

 

Jack didn’t respond right away as he had to take a moment to chew the mouthful Kate had just given him. “Yeah I suppose moving several thousands of times faster then normal would require very precise actions.”

 

“No joking. Especially when I am walking over to you. If I even nicked you while moving at those speeds.”

 

“Yeah I have thought of what it would be like if that happened.”

 

“And it never worried you?”

 

Jack shook his head. “Nope. I trust you after all and you said your strength would never harm me.”

 

“That is true. But I never said speed.”

 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Well I assumed the statement was all inclusive.”

 

Kate gave a slight giggle. “Don’t worry it was.”

 

“Good now feed me.”

 

“Mm now where did that come from?”

 

“You said that you would never harm me. So I can be bossy now.”

 

Kate couldn’t help but giggle. “Did I say harm, hurt or injure?”

 

“Harm.”

 

“You know I can cause pain without actually harming you.”

 

“Okay I will be good.”

 

“Good. Now open your mouth.”

 



 

Kate wasn’t sure just how she was going to handle this situation. How could she make this show the most appealing to Jack? The androids were so fragile that she could shatter then in a blink of an eye and with her speed she could end the battle in under a second. However, that wouldn’t make a very good show even if they recorded the entire event and watched it in slow motion. It would just look like she was punching a bunch of statues.

 

It would be best if she didn’t use her speed at all but relied upon her grounding ability and her raw strength. While using her speed would be more practical that wasn’t her current objective. Resolving how she was going to handle the situation, Kate began to walk down the path leading through the training area. She hoped that a few of the machines would be able to ambush her.

 

“What did you do with your wife on your honeymoon?” Jack smiled as he thought of the question. “Oh I watched as a small army of killer androids attacked her.”

 

Jack currently found himself watching Kate’s progress on 6 separate monitors. Five of the monitors actually showing what the androids saw at the moment. They had set the training run for the highest it could reach so the machines wouldn’t be holding anything back. They would also be smarter in a since of the word in that it wasn’t likely they would use a head on attack.

 

Kate had become use to holding back her strength but trying to block out sounds which told her where the enemies’ location was an entirely different matter. She couldn’t help but notice the sounds of the machines moving about. Of course perhaps the machines could be more stealthy if they realized how easily she could find their location. Kate started to move towards the direction of the ambush by changed her mind instead she tried to locate something large and heavy.

 

The area had plenty of large objects meant to provide cover and quite a few were made from very strong and heavy material to allow them to endure the types of damage the machine’s weapons and those training there could dish out. So it wasn’t a very hard task for Kate to find what she was looking for. A large wall would do just fine. Digging her fingers into the metal Kate effortlessly lifted the wall up and over her head. Only to find herself staring strait down the barrel of an energy cannon.

 

Kate had been caught off guard, she hadn’t expected that the machines would be silently waiting behind the wall. It seemed the first ambush was actually a distraction. Kate was bathed in energy moments later. The machines’ weapons didn’t harm Kate and the massive weight of the wall was enough so that she didn’t even have to use her grounding ability to stay put. At least Kate didn’t believe she did until the ground vanished from underneath her.

 

Jack shook with laughter as he tapped a few commands into the keyboard. He had been curious whether or not Kate was really using her grounding ability and now he knew she wasn’t. The moment the ground had been shot out from under her Kate had fallen backwards and the wall had landed atop her. Of course the machines’ victory was very short lived.

 

Kate easily lifted the wall off her though she didn’t simply flip it off. Instead she took hold of the material. The metal yielding to her strength and feeling as warm water around her fingers. It was just that this water held its shape unless she directly applied her strength. Raising up Kate swung the massive wall into the nearest group of machines.

 

For a moment several of the screens that Jack had been watching went black as those androids nearest Kate was destroyed. The computer only took a split second to switch to other machines and reactivate the screen. He could hear the sound of still cool metal being torn apart in an instant. He had heard the sound before while with Kate and even now he considered it to be quite odd. Jack was grateful that he was no where near the fight as he imagined how loud it must have truly been.

 

Kate grinned as bits of machinery flew about. Turning back towards her previous target, she gave the wall a light toss. The vast plain of metal only flew a short distance through the air but that was only because Kate hadn’t wanted it to go further. Several androids attempt to move away from the projectile each taking a different route of escape so they wouldn’t impede the progress of each other

 

A few of the machines were able to make it out from under the wall. Those that had ran to the side had managed to escape while those that had ran upward had been crushed flat. Kate had considered pressing her attack but instead she allowed the machines time to recover and fire on her once again. She felt the ground vaporize from under her once again but this time she didn’t wall.

 

Jack was supposed to simply allow the machines to fight Kate but as he sat at the computer he couldn’t resist the urge to tinker. After seeing that Kate had begun using her ground ability so their weapons couldn’t send her falling. He began to change their strategy.

 

Kate didn’t notice at first but soon she found the machines had developed a pattern at least those that were left. Each energy cannon could only be fired for so long. Now the androids were rotating their firing so that at all times she at least had a few of their weapons striking her. Without any great weight to keep her from being pushed back and not solid ground under her feet. Kate knew the moment that she relaxed her grounding ability she would be thrown backwards.

 

Kate couldn’t help but feel a little impressed by how the machines were fighting though she felt she already knew how to get rid of them. Opening her mouth, Kate went to take in a breath of air and felt her bubble bust. The heat generated by the machines’ weapons was heating the air up and making it so she couldn’t inhale. She had encountered this situation before and had entirely forgot what had happened. Of course she had a year to forget but it was still beginning to annoy her. Her lack of a ranged weapon seemed to cause her all sorts of difficulties especially since she couldn’t fly.

 

Jack couldn’t help but wonder how Kate was going to get out of her current situation. She had done it before of course. Kate had been forced to improvise during those times but she had indeed worked it out.

 

Why couldn’t she simply walk? The question had annoyed Kate for some time now. While standing she could activate her grounding ability and walk so long as her feet touched the dirt. However, if she stopped herself in the air her legs could only swing wildly. What was it about touching the dirt that made the difference?

 

Kate had managed to figure her way out of any situation she had been thus far. That or fight her way out. Despite this Jack had to wonder if she was being rational. Kate didn’t seem to be trying to get back to the ground but was struggling in the air as if trying to move. He realized what she was attempting to do and couldn’t help but cross his fingers and hope that she would succeed.

 

She wasn’t going to let herself touch the ground. She was going to find a way to run or move even whenever her feet weren’t on the dirt. Kate didn’t feel the least bit silly at the moment. Despite her rapidly moving legs and arms getting her no where. She was simply trying everything she could think of to get her body to moving. Trying to transfer her grounding force to her hand and pull herself along. As she struggled Kate also began to exert more and more energy. A rarely seen but somewhat familiar purple glow began to surround her.

 

Jack wasn’t certain if it was a good thing as he saw the field of energy beginning to surround Kate’s struggling form. He had seen it only a few times after she had pushed her body nears its limit. Now every muscle looked as if it was flexed and she was putting out as much energy as she possibly could.

 

Despite the intensity of the light emitting from her body Kate didn’t seem to notice it. Her fist formed into a ball as she swung her arms. Then she heard it the sound of tearing ground, the energy cannons quit firing and Kate looked towards where the machines had been. They had been flattened in a instant.

 

Jack’s mouth hung open. He could hardly believe what he had seen. The aura surrounding Kate it had seemed to stretch out and then the androids had been crushed. Only one camera remained functioning and that was because it wasn’t connected to any of the androids but had been the sixth one and was entirely independent.

 

Kate didn’t know what had happened. She had been struggling so hard that she hadn’t even noticed what had destroyed the machines. All she knew that there was a massive impact zone as if something had struck the area with a great deal of force. She did feel something though as if her body was trying to tell her something. Holding up her hand, Kate finally took note of the energy that had surrounded not only her hand and arm but her entire body.

 

Then she felt it a pool as if her arm was reaching out further then it normally could. A wave of the energy streamed out from Kate’s hand and impacted with the ground. The stream of energy easily tore through the ground leaving a rip in the ground that was easily four feet deep by 3 feet wide. Kate blinked her eyes clearly astonished by what had happened. Relaxing her grounding ability, she allowed herself to return to the ground.

 

Jack watched as Kate finally became aware of her situation and seemed to be examining her body. He watched as she held out her hand and left another rip in the ground and then another. Each one of varying depth and length. He had to contain himself to keep from rushing out to the testing site to see Kate for himself. After all she would most likely be finished testing by the time he got out there and even if she wasn’t it may be dangerous. Kate was testing a new ability after all.

 

Every time Kate would send the energy outward she would feel a little pull on herself. As if a limb was lengthening or growing entirely. When the waves of violet would strike, the ground Kate could feel the resistance. Oddly the resistance seemed greater then what it would have if she simply used her hands to tear it away. Was it because she was stretching the energy? Kate wasn’t sure but it didn’t truly matter at the moment. It seemed she had finally found a way to affect things from far away.

 

Taking a step forward to get a closer look at her handiwork Kate gave a slight jump when a rock near her exploded. She hadn’t been harmed it couldn’t have harmed her but it was still unexpected. At first she thought the training program was still running and the machines may still be active. She soon realized though that the machines wouldn’t be coming to her even if the program was still in operation. It had been the energy surrounding her.

 

More of the ground was torn apart when the energy struck it. This time Kate was able to see the effects. It seemed the glow that was surrounding her was no longer just a pretty glow. It was dangerous. Some concern crept into Kate and she decided to see if she could suppress this new ability. She had been struggling with all her might when it first manifested. Perhaps if she relaxed.

 

Jack watched as Kate steadied herself. Her chest heaved outward as if she was taking in a deep breath of air then the wall of energy around her began to flow towards Kate. The glow began to fade and the radius to which the wall of energy reached began to diminish. The power seemed to seep back into her body and then Kate did something unexpected she stumbled.

 

Kate placed her hand against her forehead as a sudden wave of dizziness had hit her. It seemed that her new ability was going to take some getting use to. She likened the feeling to working a muscle for the very first time and working it quite hard. It took Kate a moment but she straitened back up and walked over to the first of the rips she had created.

 

Kate couldn’t help but smile, as she looked at the torn ground. While she could have done a great deal more damage if she had simply used her fist and especially if she put her speed behind the strike. The fact that she now seemed to have a ranged ability was truly exciting though she would have to figure out how to control it better. She didn’t fancy struggling in the air every time she wanted to use the ability or more importantly needed to.

 

At least she had some practice in using the ability. Extending her hand again Kate began to try and focus on the same muscle as it was. That had generated the energy previously. Fortunately she was to excited about her discovery and learning to use it to feel silly about how she looked at the moment. The distraction would have proven a greater hindrance then she realized. It took three minutes but at last Kate seemed to happen upon the same muscle much the same way as she had learned to use her grounding ability.

 

Jack watched as Kate held her hand out and seemed to focus. The same violent energy as before emitted from her hand. As Jack watched he couldn’t hold his smile back and could barely contain his excitement as he smacked his hands against the table. Unlike the previous event this time the energy was focused though it also caused much less damage. It seemed that at the moment Kate couldn’t control her new trick at higher levels.

 

This time the tear in the ground was only three feet long and barely went down eight inches if it went down that far at all. It was as if she had dug her fist into the ground and pulled it along though not very far and not very deep.

 

Kate let out a sigh and had to admit to herself that she was grateful that it hadn’t done more damage. While she was glad that she had a new ability now until she learned to control it she didn’t like the idea of accidentally harming someone. She also couldn’t help but wonder how long she had been able to generate such energy. “Jack shut off the training program I want to come and speak with you some.”

 

Jack jumped a bit. He had forgotten that Kate knew of the camera watching her. He quickly entered the commands for the androids to stop their attacks. He was a bit startled when he felt a rush of wind and then a hand came down to rest on his shoulder.

 

“Well I suppose I didn’t really need you to shut down the androids.”

 

“Nope.” Jack looked down at the keyboard and realized he hadn’t even finished entering the shut down commands.

 

“Hey wait a minute. What is this?” Kate proceeded to reach over Jack and bring up a few other program windows. “Hey. You were the one that programmed the androids to shoot the ground out from under me. That wasn’t one of their basic tactics.”

 

Jack couldn’t help but give a smile a bit sheepishly. “Well it had good results in the end and you were never in any danger.”

 

“True. I guess I can forgive you since it had such nice benefits.”

 

Jack kept silent for a moment. “You are taking this quite well. I am glad.

” Well I have become some what accustomed to my body surprising me from time to time. Of course I do want to start practicing with my new talent.”

 

“So why did you stop.”

 

“Well it is a little tiring.”

 

Jack grew silent for a moment. “We aren’t going to end our honey early over this are we?”

 

Kate took a moment to respond. Jack’s question had caught her off guard. “ I never expected you to ask a question like that. I thought you would want to get me back to the lab as quick as possible and start studying the changes.” An amused giggle came from Kate. “Don’t worry I just wanted to come back and celebrate our finding. While I am happy about this discovery there is no way that our honey moon is ending early.”

 

Jack gave Kate a quick kiss. “I am glad to here it. It means you will have quite the surprise for the others when we get back and it will give you time to master your new ability.”

 

“Mmhmm.”

 

“But Kate. What kind of celebration did you have in mind?”

 

“OH you know. Drat I forgot.” Kate impulsively gave her forehead a quick smack. “You’re not exactly in any condition for such things.”

 

“Sorry still kind of sore.”

 

Kate let out a sigh and gave Jack a kiss. “Well we can still celebrate. Just nothing physical for today.”

 

Jack thought about reminding Kate to be easy with him as she scooped him up in her arms. He chose not too though, after all Kate was always gentle with him. “I would recommend we brake out a wine bottle but neither of us drink.”

 

“We can still have a nice dinner and I know you are in good enough condition to do some cuddling.”

 

“Shouldn’t I do the cooking?”

 

Kate shook her head. “Nope I am going to do it, you can just relax and recover your strength as quickly as possible.”

 



 

Jack couldn’t help but be nervous as he looked at the computer screen. Working with a substance that couldn’t be reformed with any precision once it had formed into a certain shape was a truly difficult task. At least the plan prior to having it growth was a difficult task. It was important to try and take in as many variables as possible and hope that you had managed to take them all into account. This was a particular nerve wrecking moment as Jack found himself doubting some of his figures.

 

If he had put too much of the solution, the material may very well overgrow its confines and ruin the look while if he had to little it wouldn’t reach far enough. A wide grin formed on Jack’s face despite his nervousness as he considered that growing short wouldn’t be such a bad thing at least not in the current case.

 

Jack gave himself a light smack on the cheek and moved away from the screen. Simply watching wasn’t going to help anything but then again watching was all he could really do at the moment. At least as far as affecting the cell’s progress. He needed to get out of the lab during these stressful times and go and see what Kate was up to.

 

“Okay I am ready.” It had been a few weeks since Jack and her honeymoon and at the moment Kate was on the firing range trying to get the hang of her new ability. Currently a large violent aura emitted from her body while several cannons were pointed at her. Tina and her mech were also present to make the challenge more interesting. Kate wouldn’t be taking the shots directly rather she was attempting to stop them from going around her.

 

The area was filled with the roar of weapons fire so great that had Tina not been within her mech she would have been deafened. At the moment no energy weapons were being used. The weapons’ high penetration had managed to brake through Kata’s aura far too easily. While they couldn’t harm Kate herself. It seemed that Kate’s aura didn’t offer near the protection that her skin did.

 

Kate grunted a bit as she felt the bullets slamming into her energy wall. She could literally feel it as some of the bullets slipped through the exterior and moved into the interior. The shield energy slowed them so that they came falling back to the ground however unlike most things Kate couldn’t keep doing this for very long. She could feel it as the bullets made more and more progress. She knew they would eventually over whelm her, at the moment she was simply working on lasting as long as she could.

 

Tina knew that Kate was supposed to protect as wide of an area as possible however she couldn’t help but cut her friend a brake. She was intentionally keeping her weapon’s fire close to the interior of the field where it was the strongest and seemed to be least difficult for Kate to stop. Those who were operating the other cannons were a different matter entirely. They were doing a very good job of keeping their shots around the exterior. The only time they seemed to deviate was when an area of the interior seemed to be becoming particularly weak.

 

As Kate held the weapons fire, back she couldn’t help but wonder what she was truly doing. While she realized the obvious that she was holding back a massive amount of weapons’ fire with an energy barrier she was generating. That didn’t answer the question. Just what composed the energy she was currently emitting? They had done some testing on the energy and found out a few things. It didn’t generate any heat and would fill back in gaps once something had broken through. Kate could shape it within limited parameters.

 

Of course Kate also wondered just why her body had developed this ability. They knew her body was constantly changing, but just what had lead to this particular change and why couldn’t she have gained the ability to fly? Kate’s mind was taken away from such thoughts when she felt a round come particular close to braking through the effort. A grunt escaped her lips as she struggled to strengthen the field and hold back the tide of destruction.

 

“How is she doing?”

 

Mathews turned his head to see Jack approaching. “She has held out longer then previously. It seems that the more she uses her new talent the more capable it becomes.”

 

“Like developing a muscle.”

 

“Yeah. She has made that comparison as well. So you two believe that this is just like any other muscle for Kate?”

 

“That seems to be the case. Of course it is hard to tell what Kate’s muscles are composed of any longer. Even though we are growing the samples, we can’t be certain just what we are growing.”

 

“Have you been able to find anything out while growing skin samples from her?”

 

“Only that they do require nutrients while Kate does not.” Jack gave Mathews a curious look. “I thought you would be keeping closer tabs on such activities.”

 

“Well I am only human. With the material’s Kate has recovered and other research going on it is kind of tough to keep tabs on things.”

 

“Any new developments?”

 

“Elaine and Merry believe they can discover a better power storage system by studying live wire.”

 

“You captured Live wire?”

 

“Joe and Debra did. To be honest I was a bit surprised when they brought her back alive.”

 

“Yeah.” Jack grew silent as a buzzer sounded. Turning towards the alarm and then to Kate he wasn’t certain of what had happened until he looked behind her. There were several holes in the ground which she had been previously shielding. “They finally broke through?”

 

Mathews gave a nod. “Yeah she lasted quite a bit longer then when she first started.”

 

Kate let out a rather long sigh and allowed herself to relax. At least the exercise had some benefits. The primary being that to be helping her develop her control and strength of the energy itself. The secondary was that it seemed to encourage her entire body to improve. So she wasn’t just exercising one particular aspect of her being.

 

Jack glanced at the monitor and then at Mathews. “Would you mind letting her know to stop by the lab when she is finished? I have a few gifts for her.”

 

“Give me a moment and I will tell her now.” Mathews made his way over to a speaker and flipped it on. “Good job Kate that is enough for today. Jack says he has something he wants to show you.”

 

While Kate didn’t have the use of a speaker, she was easily able to raise her voice loud enough to be heard even within the fortified bunker. “Okay. I will be there waiting for him.” Kate seemed to simply vanished from the training area a moment later. The only proof that she had ran and not teleported being the damage her feet had done to the ground when she accelerated so quickly.

 

“Well I suppose I had better run.” Jack gave Mathews a wave and quickly dashed out of the room. He had hoped that Kate’s training wasn’t finished yet so he wouldn’t have to hurry. He couldn’t blame Mathews or Kate for that though. He should have told them that he wanted a few minutes to head back to the lab.

 

Once Jack was out of the room Mathews looked towards the monitor. “How many shots did Kate take before her field gave way?”

 

“All together she took 83.456 clips containing various calibers and amounts. Of course nearly all of them could have torn through a tank’s armor in just a few shots.”

 

“So unless she takes on a very well equipment army unit she would be able to shield a fair amount of people.”

 

“As long as she wasn’t trying to stop something of a higher technological level she could.”

 

“I would say that we are going to have to keep her working at it just in case.

However, I imagine Kate is going to do that on her own.”

 



 

Kate leaned against the cool metal wall as she waited. She hadn’t felt this way in quite some time. Working with her energy field was proving to be a more difficult activity then what she was used to and the cold metal felt nice against her skin. At least it felt nice for the few moments that it took Kate’s body to warm it up to the same temperature as her skin. She would then need to move onto another section.

 

“Sorry for the wait.”

 

Straitening up Kate turned to Jack. “It is fine. So what did you have to show me?”

 

“I am working on the last piece of it now. Come on into the lab.” Jack was about to enter the code for the door to open when he felt a rush of air. The ding of the computer accepting a proper code was heard and it slid open.

 

“What? I waited a whole 4 minutes for you to get here. I wasn’t going to wait for you to enter the code as well.”

 

Jack couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He decided to hurry into the room before Kate rushed in ahead of him. “You always become impatient when you are going to get a gift.”

 

Kate’s voice carried mock surprise. “What? That is so untrue. I have shown great patience in waiting for gifts. Look how patiently I waited for my ring.”

 

“True but don’t worry you won’t have to wait months for this.” Jack proceeded towards the back of the room where he took hold of a cart. He made sure to walk especially slowly as he made his way back to the front of the lab.

 

The fact that Jack was taking his time wasn’t lost on Kate. She couldn’t help but give a smile, as he teased her. Kate didn’t bother speeding Jack up though she did consider taking hold of the cart and pulling it and him along. Even Jack couldn’t drag out the short walk very far.

 

“Ready to see what I got for you?”

 

“You bet.”

 

Jack didn’t waste more time. He knew that it would take a few moments for Kate to realize just what it was so he wasn’t surprise at the contained response when he pulled the covering off. Exposing various garments.

 

“Ah you got me some spare clothing. Are they edible or something?”

 

“Or something.”

 

Kate looked at the clothing for a moment. She knew that if Jack gave them to her there was probably something about them she wasn’t seeing. “Hey that material looks a little strange.”

 

Jack didn’t bother responding to Kate’s comment but watched as she reached down and picked up a pair of red panties. The design was rather delicate and had been more difficult to develop then he liked.

 

As Kate felt of the material, she gave it a light pull to test it. “Oh I see.” Kate began to increase the amount of strength she was using as she pulled the material. First 50 tons of force, then 100, then 200, 400 and up. She finally stopped when she reached 1,000 tons of force pulling in both directions.

 

“I thought you could use some everyday clothing that could endure your strength.”

 

Kate didn’t respond but proceeded to glance through the clothing. What she found were several variations on her favorite outfits or in a few cases simply the clothing she wore most often. Turning towards Jack she took hold of his shirt collar and pulled him into herself.

 

Jack was a bit surprised when he felt Kate take hold of his shirt. He was about to comment when he felt Kate’s lips press against his own. For the next minute he was unable to say anything until Kate finally let him. “I take it that means you like them.”

 

“Yes it does. It will be nice to be able to walk around in something other then my uniform and not worry about tearing it to shreds.”

 

“Well be careful. My clothing is far easier to tear.”

 

Kate gave an amused giggle and took hold of one of the button’s in Jack’s shirt. She easily folded the metallic button in half. “I see.”

 

Jack looked at the button for a moment but didn’t say anything about it. “I have one more thing for you to wear. It isn’t quite done yet though.”

 

“That is fine. I don’t imagine you could resize these if they don’t fit.”

 

“I couldn’t but in a few weeks you could.”

 

“True very true. Well then let me see if they fit.” Kate glanced down at her training uniform. “Rats.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“I wish I had changed clothing before I came here. It would have been fun to tear it off.”

 

“Uh please don’t tear the uniform.”

 

Kate gave an amused laugh. “I know. I know. They are a little hard to make.”

 

“Well I wouldn’t say that they are difficult to make. It just takes time and the one you are wearing is one of the up to date uniforms if memory serves me.”

 

“Does that mean I can tear apart the old ones? If you are just worrying about the more recent ones?”

 

“I suppose it wouldn’t harm anything. Of course you would need to ask someone else for official permission.”

 

Kate gave a nod and proceeded to slip her uniform off. As she did, she noticed Jack started to turn away. “What are you doing?”

 

“I thought I would give you some privacy.”

 

“Now you are just being silly. I figured I would have changed in front of you enough that you would know to keep looking.”

 

“Whoops.” Jack turned to face Kate. “Is this better?”

 

“Much.” Kate didn’t show any hesitation as she finished slipping her uniform off. She didn’t bother wearing panties or a bra under it. The material wouldn’t have lasted being caught between her incredibly durable uniform and Kate’s own super strong body.

 

“Do you like the designs?”

 

“Of course. You picked the more elaborate ones didn’t you?”

 

“Yeah. I figured they would be the ones you would be most interested having made into a super strong form.”

 

Kate giggled a bit. “Somehow I doubt that you were only thinking of my feelings.”

 

“I can’t say that I was. I also felt they were the ones that would look the best on you. Are you going to try them all on now?”

 

“I might as well.” Jack felt a rush of air and a sudden wave of heat. “There is one.”

 

Jack blinked his eyes unsure of what had happened until he noticed a pair of panties and bra setting on one of the tables. “Hey now. No using super speed to try them on more quickly then I can see.”

 

“Okay I will try them on more slowly.”

 



 

Kate felt strange as she looked at the alarm clock. She had woken up earlier then normal but she had been use to that for several years now. Something else was going on yet she couldn’t put her finger on it. Carefully climbing out of bed Kate was grateful that her enhanced eye sight allowed her to see in the dark. She didn’t have to worry about stubbing her toes or have to turn on the light switch.

 

Kate had to keep herself from giggling as she realized that even if she couldn’t see. She didn’t have to worry about stubbing her toe. Instead she didn’t have to worry about kicking a wall down.

 

Moving into the bathroom Kate glanced at herself in the mirror trying to see if there was anything wrong. She didn’t even think of going to the medical center after all she didn’t feel sick and in truth the person that knew her body best was in bed in the next room. As Kate looked herself over, she began to run her hands over her body. Pressing down on her t-shirt as if trying to see if something was damaged. The shirt was one of the ones Jack had grown for her so she didn’t need to worry about destroying it. So Kate found herself pressing down with enough force to truly test her muscles.

 

As her hand made it down to her stomach Kate felt her eyes widen. Her stomach seemed more pronounced then what it had been. Lifting her shirt Kate could hardly believe what she saw. There was a slight bulge. Surely she hadn’t eaten that much. Kate gave her head a shake realizing that was entirely impossible. She hadn’t eaten anything in several months. She didn’t seem to need anymore.

 

Once again Kate pressed her fingers to her stomach and carefully tested the muscle. It was strong, inhumanly strong however it didn’t feel as strong as it had once been as if that part of her body was softening for some reason. Turning to her side Kate looked at her side profile and grew certain of what she thought. Her stomach had indeed put on some additional mass.

 

Kate was fairly stunned and unsure of what to think of the situation. While her body had been changing for quite some time now, it had never changed in appearance. Unsure of what to do Kate made her way back into the bedroom in order to get a second opinion.

 

Jack didn’t know what was going on at first as he felt himself being lightly shaken and a few warm kisses on his cheek. Unsure of what was going on Jack finally opened his eyes. He knew who was shaking him. “What is the matter Kate?”

 

“Jack, do I look like I put on some weight?”

 

Jack was about to say no and console Kate. An amused smile on his face as for the shortest moment he thought Kate was worried about her weight. However, as he became more awake. He realized that would be a mistake on his part. “I can’t really say. I can’t see.”

 

Kate blinked her eyes a few times as if wondering what Jack was thinking. “Ohh. I didn’t mean to do that. I guess I just forgot myself.”

 

“It is fine.” Jack reached his hands out in the dark searching for Kate. He realized that she had moved to the light switch only when he found himself squinting from the room suddenly being filled with light. “Okay give me a moment and I will look.”

 

“I hope you don’t mind being woke up.”

 

“It is fine.” Jack began to open his eyes more as they adjusted until he could finally see Kate. What he saw nearly made his jaw drop. “Well there does seem to be a slight bulge.”

 

“What do you think could be causing it?”

 

“I have no idea. But …” Jack began to climb out of bed.

 

“Perhaps we should head down to the lab.”

 

“Do you believe you can find out with blood work?”

 

Jack grew silent and then shook his head. “No. That wouldn’t work. I can’t even understand how your cells work now. I haven’t been able to for well over a year” Jack grew silent. “But your body does adapt to show how you are feeling. I mean you do cry when you’re sad. Perhaps this is your body telling you something.”

 

Kate gave a nod. “Well it had better not be telling me I have been eating too much.”

 

Jack let out an amused laugh. “I am glad to see that you’re not frightened.”

 

Kate gave a nod. “I have been trapped in a body that is constantly changing out of my control for several years now. I already prepared myself for this. Of course it isn’t worse then find out you have cancer.”

 

Jack kept silent for a few moments. “Well lets go and wake some of the others up. This really isn’t my area of expertise. Diagnosing what is going on by visual means that is.”

 

“You had better get dressed.”

 

“You should …” Jack let out a sigh as close seemed to materialize on Kate.

 

“Should do what?”

 

“You love being able to do that don’t you?”

 

“Having clothes that can endure my super speed does have its advantages. Now get ready.”

 

The nurse wasn’t exactly certain what she was supposed to do as she looked Kate over. It wasn’t like she had experience dealing with people whose body was built like Kate’s. No one had experience dealing with a body like Kate’s except Jack since her body was constantly changing.

 

“Don’t worry about being too precise I know this must be difficult. Just tell me what you think maybe going on.” Kate smiled at the woman trying to get her to relax.

 

“Well it doesn’t seem to be fat. Other wise the muscle would be being covered up not pushed outward.”

 

“But it feels softer then it use to.”

 

“It does?”

 

“Whoops. I should have told you that earlier. Yeah the muscle feels softer then it once did.”

 

The woman nodded her head. “I still don’t believe it is fat formation. Especially considering your body’s energy needs.” The nurse took a while longer to examine Kate but finally gave in.

 

“I suppose listening to my heart and breathing isn’t exactly helpful?”

 

The nurse shook her head. “Not really. Your body functions so differently from human. The best I can give you is my first impression.”

 

“What is that?”

 

“You’re in the early stages of pregnancy but I can’t be certain. I would suggest an ultra sound but I doubt the sound waves would make it through your muscle to provide a good image.”

 

Neither Kate nor Jack responded to the nurse’s announcement. While they had spoken of having a child after sleeping together for such a long time, the news seemed a little hard to believe. At last Jack managed to find his voice.

 

“You believe she looks like she is pregnant?”

 

“That would be my best guess and when I think about it. It actually seems like the most likely possibility.”

 

Jack gave a nod. “Fat does seem a rather unlikely happening and her body has never weakened itself for any reason.”

 

Kate took in a deep breath of air. While she didn’t need to breath the action helped relax her so that she could better assess the situation. “How long do I seem to be along?”

 

“Judging by appearances I would say two or three months. “The nurse bit her lower lip for a moment. “Of course since we don’t know how your body functions. It could have been considerably longer or shorter.”

 

Kate placed her hands over her stomach. “I am a little scared to get my hopes up.”

 

Jack placed his hand on Kate’s shoulder. “Hopes up about what?”

 

“That I am going to be having a baby.”

 

Jack gave a nod. “I hope you are.” Jack reached a hand down and placed it over Kate’s stomach as if feeling for a sign of life. “If there was only a way for us to get a reading.”

 

Kate let out a sigh and nodded her head. “One of the few things I don’t like about my body being so sturdy.”

 

“Of course even if we don’t know for sure. I believe we should start preparations.”

 

“In the morning.” Kate turned towards the nurse. “Thanks for the assistance.” Standing up Kate proceeded to lead Jack out of the room.

 

Mathews didn’t know how he should feel as he looked at Kate’s stomach. “Well this is unexpected. Though I suppose, it shouldn’t be too surprising.”

 

Kate gave a nod of her head. “My body is evolving after all. The loss of the ability to reproduce would be quite a step backwards.”

 

Mathews let out a sigh. “True that is very true. I guess I forgot that your primary ability isn’t actually super strength.” Mathews turned to Jack. “Is it?”

 

Jack shook his head. “Kate’s primary ability is self evolution at least as far as the treatments desired effect.”

 

Mathews nodded and turned back to Kate. “I will take you off the list of active team members until you give birth.”

 

A look of alarm appeared on Kate’s face at this announcement. “Now there is no reason to do that. I am still far too strong for anyone in the team to actually harm and with my new ability I am even more capable.”

 

Mathews rubbed his chin. “You are also forbidden to use your speed while you are working for us.”

 

Kate’s look of surprise only seemed to increase. “Huh, why?”

 

“We have no way of knowing how fragile the life is within you. Do we Jack?”

 

Jack thought about this for a second. While Mathews had posed the question, he turned his attention to Kate. “That is true. We don’t know if the child has strength like yours or not. It may be just as vulnerable as a normal human.”

 

Kate let out a sigh and placed her hand back on her stomach. “You had better be a child. If I am going to give up using my speed for you.”

 

Jack gave a slight laugh. “I just wish we knew how long it was going to take for you to give birth.”

 

“Mm it wouldn’t be very pleasant if it turns out that ever since we made love my body has been working on this. Considering how long that would mean my pregnancies last.” Kate grew silent for a moment. “Jack. What are we going to do about pain killers if I am pregnant?”

 

Jack grew silent for a moment as the question sunk in. “I don’t know of anything that would really help with that.”

 

Kate let out a long sigh. “And even if you did we don’t know how it would affect the child.” A long sigh escaped from Kate. “Well I hope my body has its own pain killers.”

 

Mathews couldn’t help but mention another problem. “Kate. If your child does have strength similar to yours what does you intend to do.”

 

A wide grin formed on Kate’s face. “I suppose regular daycare would be out of the question. I can’t really say now that is something I am going to have to talk over with the father.” Kate proceeded to reach out and pull Jack over to herself.

 

Mathews gave a slight chuckle. “That is understandable. I am sure whatever you two decide will be best for the child.”

 



 

Kate set on the couch while Jack lay. His head resting in her lap. Occasionally Jack would set up and press his ear against Kate’s stomach as if listening for something. “You know I don’t know how good of a idea this is.”

 

Kate smiled down at Jack “Why is that?”

 

“Lets say the baby does have some of your strength and it kicks. What might happen to me?”

 

Kate pressed her hands against Jack’s head moving it away from her stomach. “You make a good point. I think we should wait until it does to find out.”

 

Jack gave a laugh. “You know now that I think about it. If you are pregnant, I would have to think the child is going to have at least some of your strength. How else would it survive being born from you?”

 

Kate gave a nod. “That is true. “Kate didn’t bother thinking about what it would mean if the child didn’t have some of her strength. It would be crushed when she was trying to give birth. “You know we haven’t even began to think of names.”

 

“How about Sally?”

 

“Why Sally?”

 

Jack gave a shrug. “I like the name.”

 

“And if it is a boy?”

 

Jack grew silent for a moment. “Nothing is coming to mind. Do you have any suggestions?”

 

Kate gave a nod. “Michael maybe? Really why did you say Sally so quick? After all if I am pregnant, it is your child.”

 

“I just had a thing for the name. The only name I like the sound of better is Kate and that is already taken.”

 

“You bet it is.”

 

“So why did you say Michael?”

 

Kate stuck her tongue out at Jack. “It was the first name to come to mind. You suggested yours so quickly.”

 

“Do you like the name?”

 

Closing her eyes, Kate began to speak the name. “Sally, Sally, Sally. I think it has a nice sound to it.”

 

“Of course we have time to decide on the name. At least I believe we do.”

 

Kate rubbed her stomach for a moment. “Yeah. That is true.”

 

“Kate, what are we going to do if the child has your strength?”

 

“I suppose I will just be one very busy mother.”

 



 

She could hardly believe this. Why hadn’t they told her? Debra all but ran down the halls of the facility as she made her way towards Brian and Kate’s room. She had over heard the nurse and Mathews talking about Kate being pregnant and had rushed down there to see it for her own eyes. In her haste Debra didn’t even stop to think to enter her code.

 

Jack gave a slight jump when he heard the sound of bending metal. Spinning towards the door he saw that a pair of fingers had already torn through the metal and was quickly pushing the door open. “Hello Debra. What is the rush?”

 

Debra blinked her eyes as she looked at the door. Her face then lit up in a blush. “Whoops. Sorry I was in a hurry. Now what is this I hear about Kate being pregnant?”

“We aren’t sure yet.” Kate walked into the room her shirt held up to expose her stomach. “However it looks that way.”

 

Debra blinked her eyes a few times as if in shock. “I’ll say. Have you felt anything kicking yet?”

 

Kate shook her head. “I haven’t noticed anything yet. Care to feel?”

 

Debra seemed to once again forget about the door as she walked over to Kate. Carefully she placed her hand on Kate’s stomach. “I bet you are going to have a very limited selection of baby sitters.”

 

“I bet that you are right.”

 

Debra removed her hand from Kate’s stomach and looked toward Jack. “And what do you plan on doing if you have a daughter that could kill you with her pinky?”

 

“The same thing I do when having a wife that could kill me by breathing hard. Love her and trust her.”

 

Debra couldn’t help but grin. “What if you have to discipline her?”

 

Kate walked over to Jack and wrapped her arms around him. “He doesn’t have to worry about that.”

 

Debra gave a nod. “I take it you will teach her to listen to her father.”

 

“Of course.” Kate gave Jack a quick kiss. “Though, I doubt it will come to that.”

 

Debra grew silent for a few moments. “You’re going to have to let me babysit.”

 

Kate couldn’t help but grin. Though she trusted her friend, she was fairly doubtful of her ability to handle the child if it had her strength. “I don’t think you could really handle it. Especially if she got out of hand or are you talking about while she is still an infant.”

 

It took a moment for Debra to respond as she did some rough math in her hand. “I imagine even as an infant she could be stronger then me.”

 

Kate nodded her head. “That is why I think I will have to be watching her while she is still young.”

 

Jack couldn’t help but speak up. “I imagine I am going to need some sort of protection from sound waves.”

 

A slight giggle escaped Debra. “You are going to have a lot to worry about aren’t you Kate? Insuring that your child doesn’t level a city or worse.”

 

“You’re not joking. I guess it is going to be a bit more trouble then I expected. Oh and what if she hardly ever sleeps like me? She is going to need me to be constantly watching her.”

 

Jack took a moment to rub his head as if thinking. “I really worry that kind of treatment is going to spoil her.”

 

Kate nodded her head in agreement. “I guess when she gets past the infant stage. We are all going to have to be very careful what we teach her. Then again, maybe she will instinctively keep how loud her crying gets in check.”

 

“That is true but in case the child doesn’t.” Debra looked towards Kate’s stomach. “Do you think that perhaps Jack could line the room with some armor grown from you? Maybe an inch thick.”

 

Both Debra and Kate turned to Jack who gave a quick nod. “Well we did cover an entire mech. It will take a while but I can do it.”

 

Kate finally let her shirt fall back down covering her stomach. “Well there isn’t much of a reason to work on it now. Just begin during your regular work hours. I suppose that isn’t the only concern. I hope this isn’t going to be to painful since I can’t scream.”

 

“I swear you super women giving birth makes things very complicated.” Jack continued to smile despite the scolding look Kate gave him.

 

“It is going to be your child as well mister. You’re getting it easy since it seems that I am going to have to be the one to take care of her especially early on.”

 

Jack put on a fake hurt look. “What? I can’t help it if I am human.”

 

“Ah poor Jack. Is your ego as easy to hurt as your body?” Kate had been about to comfort Jack but decided to play out a little tough love.

 

“No. I can’t say that it actually is.” Jack kept silent for a moment. “I just hope I can help in raising her.”

 

As Jack took a more serious tone so did Kate. “I will do my best to insure that you have a hand in our child’s raising.”

 

No one in the room was going to mention that it may not be a child. None of them were willing to say it though they all knew it. Kate least of all. While she had kept her excitement contained, she was the one who desired a child most.

 



 

It had been quite some time but Debra was finally holding something in her hands that she not only didn’t have to worry about braking but couldn’t brake if she wanted to. As she currently held some of the armor plating that was being used to line Jack and Kate’s room. They were also going to use some of it in the delivery room just in case Kate screamed. Any doubt that Kate was going to have a child had quickly faded as her body had continued to show the signs of a pregnancy. “How are you doing?”

 

“I think I should feel heavy but really I just feel rounded. You know I can easily help you with that and not exert myself.”

 

“No thanks I am fine.”

 

Kate let out a long sigh. “You know lifting 100 tons wouldn’t be strenuous for me? I can’t help but think you people are being far too paranoid.”

 

“Now Kate, you are a mommy to be. You need to relax.”

 

“I am stronger then a billion people. Despite this you and everyone else once me to keep all my activities down.”

 

“We are just looking out for the baby’s and your health.”

 

“Debra when I feel my baby kick, I feel it more then one of your punches and your over 1 million times stronger then human.”

 

“How do you know the insides of your body just isn’t more sensitiva?”

 

Kate rolled her eyes. “I am so very bored.”

 

Debra let out an amused giggle. “I guess there some things you can’t do at super speed. Even when the only thing it involves is your body.”

 

“That is tr …” Kate grew silent for a moment. “I think I just felt a kick.”

 

Debra nearly dropped the plating, quickly setting the material down she nearly leaped over to her friend. “Do you mind if I feel?” Debra didn’t wait for an answer but proceeded to press her hand against her friend’s stomach. It took a few moments but she felt an impact despite the incredibly strong wall of muscle. “I felt it.”

 

“How hard do you think, she is kicking?”

 

“You think it is a girl?”

 

“Oh I don’t know. Now answer my question.”

 

Debra grinned. “It felt fairly weak but that is probably just because who her mother is. Actually I know it is.”

 

“Do you think Jack could feel it and be safe?”

 

“Yeah it wasn’t that hard. Well that much force didn’t make it through.” Debra let out a grunt as she felt herself suddenly lifted into the air.

 

“Oh Debra, it is true. I am going to be a mommy.” Kate realized she was squeezing Debra fairly tightly however she couldn’t hold her excitement back also Kate knew her friend could endure the amount of force she was using.

 

“I am happy for you.”

 

Kate set her friend back down. “I need to go and tell Jack.”

 

“Remember no super speed.”

 

“But you felt it kick. You know it can endure a little super speed.”

 

“Now Kate. You have been forbidden from using your speed.”

 

A long sigh escaped from Kate. “Fine. I will walk.”

 

“Kate?” Jack turned away from his computer screen a little surprise to see that Kate had come down to the lab.

 

Kate had to remember not to use her speed as she walked over to Jack. She didn’t bother answering his questioning tone with words but walked over to him and took hold of his hand. She then gently pressed his hand against her stomach and waited for him to feel.

 

Jack kept silent at first. He knew what Kate wanted to do so he focused all his attention on his hand. It took a few minutes but eventually he felt a slight impact. “I am going to have to be careful around our child.”

 

Kate chuckled and removed Jack’s hand. “Well don’t worry too much.”

 

“I won’t. Of course you are going to have to handle any disciplining.”

 

“Who says? You are going to be able to help to.”

 

“That is true. I just won’t be able to do anything long the lines of give a spanking.”

 

“Hopefully none of those are going to be needed.” Kate proceeded to pull a seat over and set down next to Jack. “So what are we going to do?’

 

Jack rubbed his head. “They are a lot of complications we are trying to address.”

 

“Do you think this will go over safely?”

“There are a lot of concerns. This isn’t going to be a normal birth after all. Of course most of our hope lies with your body.”

 

Kate gave a nod. “My body has done a good job of taking care of things.”

 

“All we can do is prepare and hope that it isn’t needed.”

 



 

Debra didn’t mind practicing however she hated what she was currently doing. As the only person with strength that more then human it had been decided to have her practice a nurse’s roll in child birth just in case things didn’t turn out right. The idea that the child’s crying may be able to kill a normal person had everyone concern so it was resolved she would be the only person in the room with Kate at first. Of course they also had to worry about what would happen if Kate screamed.

 

Elaine and a few doctors were in the room instructing Debra on what she should do in various situations. This wouldn’t be the case when Kate was actually giving birth though they had prepared some headphones so that they could still speak with her. The headphones worked so well that they could block out the sound of a jet engine entirely. “Okay. So if the child’s screams are down to human level you are going to come in here and take over. Right?”

 

“Sorry Debra but we only plan on helping if the child’s crying is below harmful levels and absolutely needed. We don’t know if it may suddenly decide to raise the volume.”

 

Debra couldn’t help but give a sigh. While she was happy to help her friend this wasn’t anywhere near what she wanted to do. “I have to admit this has me a little worried?”

 

“About being injured?”

 

Debra shook her head no. “It isn’t that I am worried about getting injured. I am worried about harming the child. I know it sounds silly but it is still going to be a baby and no one knows what a mistake may end up causing.”

 

Elaine shook her head and placed her hand on Debra’s shoulder. “We don’t even know if this training is necessary. Who knows how Kate’s body may behave? The only thing that is human about it is the owner and the appearance.”

 



 

A few months had noticed since the change in Kate’s body had been noticed and everything had been prepared. Actually things had been prepared for a month.

 

Now it was up to Kate’s body and the baby to decide when it was time. Kate currently set in the living room occasionally glancing in on Jack’s sleeping form. Despite her low work load her body had continued to evolve and thus she had been sleeping even less then normal. She now only required 48 minutes of sleep to fully recover this gave her a lot of time to think.

 

The current night would be different though as Kate couldn’t shake a feeling that something was happening. They had told her about the signs of pregnancy but admitted thanks to her redesigned body they couldn’t be certain whether or not she would show these signs. Shutting her eyes for a moment Kate knew then that she wouldn’t be having the same signs as a normal woman her body was just too different and it was telling her something.

 

Standing up Kate walked into the bedroom and calmly shook Jack awake. “It is time.”

 

Jack didn’t know what to think as he walked with Kate down the halls. She seemed so calm. “Kate shouldn’t we hurry Debra is already waiting?”

 

“It is okay we don’t have to rush.”

 

“Kate how do you know this?”

 

“I am listening to my body.”

 

Jack didn’t comment but shook his head. He could argue with Kate about this. “Is there any pain?”

 

Kate shook her head. “No. Just I can feel it.” Kate finally came to the delivery room door and opened it up. Jack started to walk in but felt Kate’s hand press to his chest. “I don’t know if it is safe or not.”

 

Jack stopped as if unsure of what Kate was talking about. Finally he nodded his head and began to step away from the opening. “Okay. I will just wait in the observation room.”

 

“Get ready to meet our child.” Kate smiled and walked into the insulated room. She soon realized she wasn’t the only person that was nervous. Debra was clearly on the edge about the entire ordeal despite all her practice.

 

“Are you ready?”

 

Kate gave a nod. “Well it doesn’t really matter if I am ready.”

 

Debra nodded before remembering her practice. “Well lay down.”

 

Jack looked at the monitor as Debra and Kate prepared. It was a bit odd he had imagined more screaming or groans of pain on Kate’s part however all the normal signs of a woman giving birth wasn’t there. Kate didn’t seem to be in the least bit of pain and she clearly wasn’t straining. Of course Debra didn’t look like a normal nurse considering the outfit she was wearing.

 

The equipment in the room looked more like instruments of torture then any tools of healing that he had ever seen. This was due to the fact that they had been made particularly sturdy though no one knew if they would be of any use or if they would be needed at all. Jack had a feeling that despite the dangerous air the instruments gave off they didn’t have a chance of harming the woman they were supposed to help or the child.

 

Jack was so in these thoughts that he gave a slight jump when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. “Would you believe they thought about having me and my mech in there?”

 

Jack turned his head to see Tina. “Well that is probably the only other thing that could take the amount of punishment that Debra can.”

 

Tina gave a nod. “That is true. I hope you and Kate don’t mind me being here.”

 

Jack gave a nod. “It is fine. Though you did surprise me. What made you decide to stop by?”

 

“Well I may not be in the delivery room but I am Kate’s friend to.”

 

“I am surprised Joe isn’t here since Debra is.”

 

Tina gave an amused giggle. “I think he wanted to be but Debra didn’t let him. She told him that she could never be able to live it down if he saw a child kill her.”

 

Jack felt a bit of alarm at this declaration as if Debra may be in some danger that he didn’t know of. “Killed?”

 

Tina realized her poor choice of words and moved to defuse Jack’s worries. “Whoops. I didn’t realize you were that worried. We were just joking around earlier about what would happen if the baby was too strong. There isn’t any real danger though.”

 

“At least no one believes that there is.” Jack couldn’t help but be a little negative about this.

 

“Come on now it is Kate. If she can control all of her strength. She can handle this.”

 

“Yeah. We just have to trust her.”

 

“How are you feeling?” Debra looked at Kate. The whole situation had her nervous.

 

“I am fine don’t worry. I can feel something happening inside of my body.”

 

“You do realize that your glowing?”

 

Kate giggled. “It is kind of hard not to notice it. I can see it even when I close my eyes.”

 

Debra nodded her head and let out a sigh. She would have instructed Kate on the techniques that they had told her however they didn’t seem appropriate for Kate’s situation. Her body seemed to be handling the little details. “Have you begun to feel any pain?”

 

Kate shook her head. “No but I can feel my body relaxing. As if it was softening itself up. Do you want to feel of my arm?”

 

Debra wasn’t certain she should leave her post but she couldn’t resist the urge to see. Reaching out Debra took hold of Kate’s biceps and began to squeeze.

A few moments later she let out a sigh. “I can’t tell a difference.”

 

“I guess you will just have to take my word for it.”

 

Debra nodded. “Do you think this anything that is about to happen?”

 

“Hold on something is changing.”

 

Jack nervously smacked his hands together as he watched the video monitor. He had been listening to every word over the speakers. Then Kate’s body had begun to glow more brightly. Her muscles look as if they were relaxing and her eyes drifted shut. He had watched how Kate’s aura behaved before and now it seemed to be focusing inward as if helping with something. Kate said something though it was to quiet for the speakers to pick up and Debra moved back into position.

 

Debra didn’t know what to expect as she held out her hands. Then much to her surprise something reached out and took hold of her finger a very tiny yet undeniably strong hand. Reaching out Debra began to try and help the little figure out but found this to be beyond her strength.

 

“Just catch her.”

 

Debra looked up at Kate who had a smile on her face. “Your aura, you’re using it to push.”

 

Kate gave a nod and seemed to relax again. Her body was telling her to stay relaxed and just let things happen so that was what she was doing to do.

 

Jack had to remember to stay out of the room as he watched the screen. He wanted to rush down to the delivery room and be in there with Kate but the doors wouldn’t open at this time. At least he could watch though as his child was coming into the world. Though he was fairly upset that he couldn’t adjust the camera angle.

 

It wasn’t long until Jack didn’t have to worry about this any longer. As the child finally slipped free. It only took a moment to confirm what Kate had said she had indeed given birth to a daughter.

 

 

End Chapter 9 and End Novel 1.