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Going Super Chapter 8

Written by happiest_in_shadows :: [Thursday, 15 September 2005 12:26] Last updated by ::

Going Super Chapter 8

 

By: Happiest in Shadows

 


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. Mkay? 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.


 

 

Kate sat leaned forward so that her head rested on her arms. She was feeling better these days but still felt rather sick once in a while. She imagined it was her body letting her know that it didn’t like having to go through such hard fought battles. Despite this she was quite glad that she had done it. Looking up for a moment Kate extended her hand and took hold of a pitcher of ice water. She didn’t bother with the cups but proceeded to move the entire container to her mouth and tipped it. The water was refreshing though she didn’t really care if it was ice cold border line freezing or boiling hot.

 

Kate didn’t bother breathing until the entire container had been emptied. Setting the pitcher down she looked back towards the door and wondered just what was taking everyone so long to arrive. It had been a few weeks since Kate’s fight with Doomsday. She still felt somewhat weak but had largely recovered and now was back on active duty. Today she was to officially meet the other agents that had joined the organization while she was down. They where also going to be talking about her new position since she actually had some people to work with now.

 

Kate was actually somewhat nervous about the meeting. She had been working solo for so long that she didn’t know how well she would function with other people in the field. Of course it didn’t help that she was the most powerful operative they currently had. She felt the others presence may do more to hinder her then help if she spent too much time worrying about their safety. Kate pushed these thoughts aside and put on a smile as the door began to slide open. She expected to see her fellow team mates but instead a young woman walked in pushing a cart with another pitcher of water. “We saw that you were out.”

 

“Oh thank you. You wouldn’t happen to know what is taking the others do you?”

 

“No one told you? A few of them forgot what time the meeting was and had been in the lab helping with a few experiments in regards to their equipment. We only found them a few minutes ago and now it is taking a while to get them out of testing. Elaine apparently wants to try and finish the experiment rather then start them over.”

 

“Well isn’t that just wonderful?” The woman just smiled and set down the pitcher of water.

 

“You look kind of tired. Are you all right?”

 

“Yeah, I am fine. Thanks for asking though. I just haven’t been feeling too hot lately.”

 

“After fighting that monster I imagine you wouldn’t. Still it is just amazing that you were able to go toe to toe with that thing and come out the winner.”

 

“Mmm I don’t know if I could say that I was the winner. Seems to me we had more of a tie unless I managed to kill it. Have you heard anything about what happened to Doomsday after I passed out?”

 

“Sorry I can’t say that I have.”

 

Kate let out a sigh and decided to try and find something to talk about before the woman left. “So what do you do around her usually?”

 

“I just take care of the paper work. Nothing special.”

 

Kate couldn’t help but grin, “Have you ever seen any interesting paper work.”

 

A smirk appeared on the woman’s face answering the question far better then words could. “I hear and have read a few things in my time here.”

 

“Anything you care to talk about?”

 

The woman chuckled for a moment. “Sorry but no. I have a contract to work here as well after all.”

 

“Well rats. So I guess you’re not just a civilian hired to work here and given a uniform?”

 

“No, but I can set and gossip a little while you wait. I have some things I have been wanting to ask you.”

 

“Shoot then?”

 

“Oh if only I had a gun with me. It would be so neat to actually see someone catch a bullet.” Kate had to be careful not to let the woman’s praise get to her head. “Anyway, I hope this isn’t going too far, but I was wondering. Don’t you ever worry about Mr. Hunter spending so much time in a lab with so many woman employees?”

 

“Have there been any rumors?”

 

“Well yes but they are rumors about quite a few things. Especially when dealing with restricted areas.”

 

Kate gave a nod. It wasn’t surprising when people got bored they speculate and when that happened some falls assumptions could be made. “I don’t worry about Jack cheating on me but if he did I would know.

My senses have increased with the rest of me though not as sharply as my strength. I bet I could smell another woman on him if he had gotten that far.” Kate proceeded to flex one of her arms. “Anyway, I am fairly sure he prefers women with a build more along the lines of mine. You know I just realized I haven’t even asked your name yet.”

 

“My name is Milly. Pleased to meet you.” Kate grinned when Milly extended her hand for a shake. Kate was careful as she took hold of Milly’s hand considering that she wasn’t feeling one hundred percent recovered yet she worried about using a little too much strength at times and tearing someone’s limb off or braking a bone.

 

“Nice to meet you to.” Kate was about to ask a question when the door to the room slid open and Mathews walked in. Milly didn’t seem surprised or nervous but simply proceeded to gather up her things and leave the room. Kate had hoped to speak with her a bit longer now that she had her interested in what was going on along the lines of rumors but realized it was probably time for the meeting to start. Kate was a bit surprised when Debra walked in a few moments later. “Debra, what happened to you? You look terrible.”

 

Debra grinned and made her way over to the table. Taking a seat near the center she placed a hand against her forehead. “I feel it.”

 

Kate didn’t bother paying attention to the three other people that entered into the room. “What happened? Was there an accident in the lab?”

 

Debra felt Kate’s hand against her back before she could answer. “No.

Not really an accident at least. Elaine was running some test on me in preparation to upgrade the nanobots inside of my body. It isn’t going to be a pleasant experience it seems.”

 

“How come?”

 

“Well I knew it was going to happen since Elaine told me about it before. These nanobots in my system aren’t programmed to simply come out that is they had to vaporize the previous owner to acquire them. They are having to use the new nanobots to remove the older ones slowly and well. It really has to be done slowly. I think I am going to vomit.” Debra groaned and laid her head on the table.

 

Kate gave Mathews a concerned look who decided to explain the most likely cause of Debra feeling ill. “Right now there is a mixture of new and old nanobots in her system. It isn’t dangerous but it is causing the strength in certain parts of her body to fluctuate. The rapid changes in strength seem to be the cause.”

 

Debra gave Kate’s hand a pat. “Don’t worry I will just have to adapt to it for now.”

 

Kate gave a nod but was still fairly concerned as she took her seat.

 

Kate finally seemed to acknowledge the presence of those that had entered after Debra. Mathews decided to introduce the new team to Kate. “Kate, this is Joe Canden, Tina Carrington and Wally Linster they are newest agents in our growing organization.”

 

Tina stood up and walked over to Kate. “Pleased to meet you.”

 

Kate took Tina’s preferred hand and gave it a slight shake. “Nice to meet you to. So just what abilities do you three have?”

 

Tina grinned and looked back at the group. “Well we don’t have any real abilities to note of our own. Those two are going to be using the equipment you recovered while I am going to be making use of the mech since Debra doesn’t have any use of it any longer.”

 

Kate gave a nod, but had to express her concern. “Don’t you think it may be a little dangerous having three of five team members using equipment that we recovered from an enemy? Especially since we don’t know who actually made it.”

 

Mathews nodded his agreement. “It did occur to me, that is why I am so glad we are already able to replace the nanobots inside of Debra’s body. Just in case there was something we over looked.”

 

Kate gave a nod. “Sorry to bring up an old topic. I remember what all you did to insure her safety earlier.” Kate turned to Debra. “Just seeing you so rough looking made me worry all over again.”

 

Debra looked up long enough to smile. “Don’t worry it is nice to know someone cares. Oh lord. I want to bury my head in a bucket of ice.”

 

Kate continued to look at Debra for a few moments then giggled. “I suppose, you must feel similar to how I feel after I have had a particularly tough battle.”

 

Willy had been listening for some time but finally decided to speak up. “So. I suppose Kate here is the official leader of our little group.”

 

Mathews nodded his head. “Yes as the most senior operative she is the qualified to lead, not to mention she is the most powerful. However, they are certain things I felt we needed to discuss as far as the groups operations. Mind you I am a bit new to this type of conversations as normally the military is far more structured. It is just when a fighting force is so small it is easier to communicate with everyone.”

 

Willy gave a nod. “Just what extent of authority does she have?”

 

Mathews gave Willy a surprisingly annoyed look. “She has the same level of authority as any superior officer does.”

 

Kate couldn’t help but give a grin it seemed that despite the fact Willy had only had his powers for a short while he was already getting over confident. She chose not to mention anything though as she didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot. “So are we going to be working together often?”

 

Mathews turned to Kate. “Actually. I would prefer, if they worked together and you worked separately unless the task calls for such cooperation. You see Kate your sort of in a league of your own at the moment and I worry they would do little more then slow you down. Even after Debra gets all of her new nanobots put in and her old ones removed. She still wouldn’t be able to keep up with you.”

 

Debra pulled her head up for a moment. “So how are we going to operate then?”

 

Mathews stood up and proceeded to pace around for a moment as if thinking. “What I hope to do is set up a system rating the danger level on a scale from 1 to 10. A rating of one means that a group of two made of any combination of Willy, Tina or Joe can go into the field. With level ten being the most dangerous, Kate should be left to handle those alone. As I doubt, any of you would be of any help in a battle with a threat as dangerous as Doomsday.”

 

Tina poured herself a glass of water and took a sip before speaking. “Yeah. I guess if they can give you a challenge we would just be flattened.” Tina smiled at Kate. “What about the other rankings though? I mean that sets level one and ten but they are quite a few in between.”

 

Mathews gave a nod. “That is one of the reasons I wanted to speak with you all. Each one of you knows what you are capable of doing. So I felt we would need to plan a rough outline for each ranking.”

 

Willy tapped his fingers against the table as he spoke. “With level one being the lowest ranking. Why are two of us required?”

 

Mathews set back down. “Just in case something unforeseen happens. It would be better if they were two of you there when dealing with the weaker operatives.” Willy didn’t like being referred to as one of the weaker operatives but couldn’t say anything about it.

 

Kate listened for a moment before speaking up. “Would it be better if level 9 was something I had to do on my own? While level 10 could be used for a situation that not only involves a threat that is too dangerous for the others but also involves bystanders? I might not need them in a fight but someone would need to help the people get out.”

 

Mathews looked at Kate as she spoke. “Mm good point. All right lets say level 9 is for Kate to handle alone while 10 involves a threat not just to Kate but to others as well.”

 

Debra pulled her head up for a moment. “Well you have the upper ranges started but just what would be considered level one danger? Oh lord.” Debra seemed to take another sick spell and leaned forward again.

 

Mathews didn’t respond right away but proceeded to take out a note pad. “How about we keep level one to a threat that has higher then military grade technology or better then human abilities, but aren’t more then 5-10 times what a human can achieve?”

 

“Actually” Kate, Mathews, Tina and Wally all focused their attention Joe who had been largely quiet until now. “How about we take the human factor up in a scale of sixes? That way the 8th will be right around Debra’s strength range depending on what we encounter.”

 

Mathews closed his eyes and seemed to do some math in his head. His fingers twitching from time to time. “Yeah that will work nicely especially once Debra’s most recent upgrades are finished. Of course the list will have to change as you improve your abilities.”

 

Debra had been listening and didn’t really feel like speaking much, but felt she should point out some things. “Well that handles one person, but what about those that don’t use physical strength or if there is more then one threat?”

 

Mathews grinned. “We can just keep the rating according to the most powerful opponent. Since we are taking it by six, we will just move the rating up one for every six that are present. As for those that depend on other abilities. How about we set it by a standard? Starting the base as being six SWAT officers?” Mathews gave the others to nob or mumble their agreement. “As for dealing with a situation were they’re bystanders. That is the reason for sending at least two. For securities sake. Level 1-4 can be dealt with by two operatives 5-6 requires either Debra alone or all three of you. Seven through 8 can be handled by four and we already settled on 9-10?”

 

Kate stretched for a moment. “Oh sure give me the least to do and make me look lazy.” Kate giggled. “It founds fine but what about threats we don’t have any information on?”

 

“We could just give those a rating of 5 automatically and adapt depending on information that is sent back.” Tina took a drink of the glass of water she had recently poured herself.

 

Mathews nodded his head. “Okay, well I am going to go and speak with information. Why don’t you five take some time and get to know each other? Discuss any changes you would like to bring up.” Mathews didn’t give anyone the time needed to answer. Instead he quickly slept out the door.

 

The moment Mathews was gone Debra looked up “you know he just did that so we could have something to talk about.”

 

Kate chuckled for a moment. “Yeah I know. I bet he already had a plan for this. So what do you think of the method of deciding who gets sent out?”

 

Wally was the first to chime in. “I don’t see why we have to work with anyone on a job that has such a low danger ranking. I mean, with our equipment it should only require one of us.” Wally grew silent for a moment. “Also I don’t see why Debra gets to function alone. Our weapons are roughly the same level.”

 

Debra didn’t bother laughing. “Because I am in the middle of being upgraded. Also my enhancements were already more powerful then the ones you are using. You know Wally you need to relax a little. Be glad you have a partner along.” Wally didn’t bother commenting. He was also fairly upset thanks to Kate’s position considering what he had been before joining up. He didn’t expect that his previous rank would mean so little.

 

Tina who had kept quiet through most of the conversation finally joined in. “I wonder what kind of training exercises they have planned.”

 

Kate was thankful for the cheerful woman’s presence. “Most likely something to help us learn to work together more effectively.”

 

Tina leaned forward on the table. “Well that is an awfully vague answer. Of course I hope they don’t begin to soon I am still adapting to piloting that powered armor.” Tina grew silent for a moment. “You know four of us are actually using technology from a source we can’t really trust. That powered armor may have been redesigned a bit and now use materials developed from you but the base is still the same.”

 

Kate blinked for a moment as she tried to remember where the armor had actually came from. A looking of recognition crossed her face a few moments later. “Yeah. That is true.”

 

Tina turned her head to the side a bit. “At least a few components are going to be being changed soon thanks to the study of the energy weapon you recovered. I haven’t been able to practice with the armor much. As it seems, they are going to be doing quite a few upgrades soon enough.”

 

Debra laughed for a moment “I hope for your sake that put something in there to decrease the effect of g-forces. Just in case you end up being thrown around like I was.”

 

Tina nodded her agreement. Joe decided to chip in on the conversation. “Hey why are the two women getting all the new technology?”

 

Unlike Wally Joe’s tone was light and carefree. Kate felt it was fairly obvious that he was joking around but decided to answer just to keep the conversation going. “Well you two are using some of the technology that is rather hard to study. In truth what Tina will be getting is most likely the less advanced stuff I saw before. It is just larger. Larger then you would want to try and carry I imagine.”

 

Joe crossed his arms and stuck his nose up in the air. “Yeah right. I will tell you the reason we are getting the less advanced weapons. Two of the main researchers at this place are women and that Mathews clearly favors the females.”

 

Kate chuckled at the accusations being made. “Well at least you don’t have to worry about having to fight the most dangerous opponents we encounter on your own. If I get in trouble, I have to get myself out.”

 

Tina shivered. “That isn’t a very pleasant thought. It makes me glad my armor can fly. That way if you get in trouble I can make a strategic retreat.”

 

Even if she was feeling sick Debra couldn’t keep out of this conversation. “At least you can run at super human speed. I can either jump and wait for gravity to bring me back down to the earth or I have to run at normal speeds.”

 

A rather large grin formed on Joe’s face. “Oh don’t worry about that. If we ever have to retreat the first thing I will do is blast you with a fully charged shot. That should knock you well out of the battle field. How is that for a plan of retreat?”

 

Debra chuckled. “Well I use to shoot at Kate so I suppose it is to be expected.”

 

“So you two have been working together for a while?” Tina glanced over at Debra then Kate.

 

Kate took the question. “We have known each other ever since I joined SWAT and she first saw me on the firing range. Debra’s first thoughts of me were as a target.”

 

Tina let out a delighted squeal that seemed to surprise everyone “and now I am going to get to shoot at both of you.”

 

There was a look of utter shock and amazement on Debra and Kate’s face. Slowly the shock faded and large grins formed on the women’s faces. Grins that turned into all out laughter a few moments later.

 

Between giggles Kate managed to speak. “All right, now I am worried about how much fire power they are going to give you.”

 

Joe slowly nodded his head in agreement while Wally was almost in shock.

 

When Wally finally found his voice, he had to say something. “Are you sure you can be trusted in that armor?”

 

Tina giggled. “Well they have trusted me with all sorts of aircraft in the past. I think I can keep myself under control. I just love getting to make use of a new weapon and this is one of the best.”

 

Kate glanced at Debra. “She reminds me of you and your guns.”

 

Debra looked up an odd smile on her face. “You know come to think of it since I have gotten this strength I haven’t really given my babies any attention. Maybe I should go down to the firing range for a while and see if I am still any good at shooting.”

 

Tina clapped her hands together. “While you are there can I shoot at you?” Tina was partly pretending as she had been when she reacted so strongly to the fact that she would get to use the armor to shoot at Kate and Debra. However, considering how everyone had responded at the table, she simply decided to play along.

 

Debra wouldn’t have minded normally however at the moment. “Give me some time to start feeling better first then you can use me as a target. I just need something to help me feel better now and maybe holding some cold steel and falling into my old habits will help me.”

 

Tina pouted a little then turned to Kate. “How about you.”

 

Kate just gave a shrug. “Sure but not today. I want to spend some time with Jack.”

 

Tina nodded quite content with the answer. “Kate, do you mind that the rest of us are going to be keeping who we really are secrets? I mean you took the risk of openly announcing who you are.”

 

Kate gave a quick shake of her head. “I don’t mind. After all you three don’t have your abilities’ active 24/7 like I do. Also, I can understand wanting to protect your families. I just didn’t feel like hiding behind anything and that I should openly announce who I am.

Though I hope that with the teams membership growing. You can help me insure my family is kept safe as well.”

 

“Well you can count on us to help with that. We wouldn’t want our most powerful team mate being black mailed after all.” Joe leaned back in his seat seeming to grow increasingly relaxed the more they spoke. “Maybe, once the team has grown large enough or the number of threats has decreased enough. We can all openly come out and mention who we are. I have to say though. I sort of envy the fact that you and Debra’s abilities are always active.”

 

Debra couldn’t help herself. “It is nice, but at least you won’t have to make any adaptations. It was a real pain learning to interact with the normal world when my strength was increased. Now I am going to have to adapt again once I have been upgraded. That and you don’t have to worry about someone taking control of your weapon and using it to kill you. I don’t think so at least.”

 

Joe decided to follow up on that line of conversation. “Do you worry that someone may find a way to take control of the nanobots?”

 

Debra shook her head. “I don’t worry about it a great deal but I have to admit it is possible. It makes me eager to get this upgrade over with despite how sick I feel.”

 

Joe gave a nod. “Do you think we are going to get to make any public appearance? Maybe we could work on a few commercials.”

 

Tina let out a sigh. “Well maybe some of you can but I doubt I could simply take off in the armor to show up at a few commercials. People won’t even be able to tell that I am a woman. Unless I wonder if I could talk Elaine into redesigning the mech.”

 

Kate took hold of the pitcher of water that had been brought in earlier. Pouring a glass, she pushed it over to Debra before speaking. “I don’t think it is very likely, but it wouldn’t hurt anything to talk to them about it.”

 

Tina nodded her agreement. “How about you Kate? Debra mentioned how she had to adapt to her strength. How do you keep from braking things? After all you are even stronger then what she is.”

 

Kate couldn’t help but be a flattered by the praise. “My body adapts for me actually. I never had to deal with braking things as my body improves at such a steady pace as does all my senses.”

 

Debra snorted. “Why you lazy-thing not going through the trouble to adapt to your powers on your own. No you depend on your body to handle all the changes for your mind.”

 

Kate stuck her tongue out at Debra. “You are just jealous that you don’t get to be as strong as I am.”

 

Debra chuckled and looked up “You know Kate. You are going to have a lot more free time now. Do you have any plan for it?”

 

Kate tapped her chin for a moment. “I actually have a few ideas of what I would like to do with it. I am going to have to talk it over with Jack and Mathews though. Since I began working here, I haven’t really gotten a vacation. Since it seems that the four of you are going to be able to handle the majority of things on your own maybe I can take some time off.”

 

Wally grinned. “Yeah we can handle things.”

 

Tina chuckled. “We think that we are going to be able to handle most threats. We don’t know at the moment. Who knows? We may still need to depend on you. After all we are all quite new at this.”

 

Kate groaned a bit. “I hope not even I need a brake once in a while. Anyway, I will have to talk it over with Mathews see if I can get some vacation time approved. Though I may have to wait until they are finished with Debra.”

 

Debra grinned at her friend. “You had best hope not. This upgrade isn’t going to be done in a week and from what Elaine told me it isn’t going to be done in a month.”

 

Kate couldn’t hide her surprise. “It is going to take that long to replace the old nanobots with the new?”

 

Debra didn’t bother nodding her head. “Yeah. They are quite a few inside of me. I am not looking forward to how I am going to feel whenever I hit the 50/50 point.”

 

Tina glanced at Debra. “Why don’t they just keep you in the lab?”

 

Debra let out an exhausted sigh. “Because, once so many nanobots have been removed from my system those remaining must be given time to adapt.

Thank goodness, they aren’t able to rebuild themselves or I would be in real trouble.”

 

Joe looked over at Wally. “Well that is one thing about having weapons that are easily removed. We don’t have to go through the trouble of being upgraded like that.” Wally felt it was a small price to pay in all truth but nodded his head in agreement anyway.

 



 

Kate bent down, extending one of her hands underneath the sofa. Feeling around for a moment, she soon found one of the main beams in the sofa’s frame. Taking a moment to adjust her grip. Kate quickly but steadily lifted the sofa from the ground and held it aloft. Her arm fully extended above her head. Jack peeked over the side of the chair as he listened to the sound of the vacuum cleaner running. “I swear I think the only reason you clean is to give yourself an excuse to pick up the furniture.”

 

Kate smiled up at Jack as she held the sofa over her head. Her arm not showing the least bit of strain. “Do you mind?”

 

“Not at all. So how did the meeting with your other teem mates go?”

 

“I got along with Tina and Joe. Wally seems a little hostile as if he was upset by his position in the team and Debra is feeling quite ill. It went well though.” Kate regretted that it didn’t take her longer to clean under the sofa then it did. As a few quick sweeps with the vacuum and the job was done. She rather liked holding back up especially when the extra weight of the sofa was added to let her show off more.

 

“So do you think you are going to be getting more free time now?”

 

“Yeah it seems pretty likely which is nice. I was thinking that you and I could actually take a vacation now.” Kate began to lower the sofa back to the ground. As she did so she had to be careful. Oddly it was easier to pick up furniture then it was to put it down. As she had to be careful when she released or risk giving her passenger a jarring experience.

 

Jack stood up once the sofa was back on the ground. “I will help you with the cleaning.”

 

Kate’s hand reached out and took hold of the back of Jack’s shirt, quickly she pulled him back into the sofa. “No need I don’t mind. I have plenty of free time. Hmm besides.” Jack knew Kate had an idea in mind as she began to look around the room then down to the vacuum cleaner. “You know I bet I could actually clean faster with a few manual items.”

 

“Hm going by that look on your face. I imagine I am going to need to get a broom with a steel handle and specially made bristles.” Kate simply grinned and began to use more of her speed. Working roughly four times faster then what a human could to speed up things though she had to be quite careful not to brake the vacuum.

 

“That would help.” Jack watched as Kate would occasionally slow down in order to lift up a bit of heavy furniture. Insuring that he could watch her as she worked.

 

“Well if you are going to clean then I will just go cook.”

 

“Ah but I want you to watch me. I don’t guess it is as much fun as watching me lift tanks but, maybe this will help.” Kate took hold of the white t-shirt she had been wearing. A bit of a puff of smoke irrupted from the fabric as Kate’s fingers pinched down so firmly some of the material ignited. Jack instantly felt his mouth go dry and wished he had some water. As Kate removed her hands he noticed to scorch marks and some exposed skin through the tiny wholes. Kate hand then moved upward and she pinched down on the fabric having the same effect once again.

 

“My goddess, she can pinch down so hard on the material that it ignites or is she pinching down that fast? Maybe both.” Ran throughout Jack’s mind though his mouth was to dry to actually speak at the moment. Kate didn’t actually need Jack to speak as the look on his face told her everything that she needed to know. Kate’s fingers continued to travel upward each time pinching down on the fabric, when she would remove her fingers there would be a whole with scorch marks along the side. Kate fingers traveled up the interior of her shirt cutting out a few inches of the center.

 

As her fingers progressed upward to her shoulders, Kate turned her back to Jack in order to allow him to watch her fingers traveling down her back. This proved more difficult then her front but was worth it just to keep his attention so very focused. Jack had seen Kate stand in the middle of a roaring inferno yet he hadn’t found that as excited as he did Kate’s current show. It wasn’t the size of the flames in this case rather she was generating them simply by pinching down on the material of her shirt.

 

At last Kate reached the bottom of her shirt and turned to face Jack once again. Taking hold of the now severed material Kate pulled it up over her head exposing the inner sections of her breast and the soft red bra she wore underneath. Jack didn’t mind the bra’s presence in fact it seemed to enhance her appeal. As the material playfully teased him with the hints of Kate’s flesh. “I..I think I am going to stay seated.” Kate couldn’t help but let out a giggle as she looked at Jack. From the look in his eyes she imaged that if he did try to set up Jack would fall over.

 

Kate thought about tearing away the remains of her shirt but decided to leave it on as she once again resumed her cleaning. Making sure to put a little extra bob into each one of her steps to make her breast bounce invitingly. Jack would have loved to caress and massage those wonderful mounds of flesh. However, at the moment his legs simply felt to weak. Kate’s little demonstration had only taken a few moments but it still seemed to over whelm him. This was exactly what Kate had in mind. “You know Jack, I love it when you look at me like that. It makes me feel like a goddess.”

 

“At this moment. I think I am looking at one.” Escaped from Jack’s mouth. A smile appeared on Kate’s face followed by a blush a few moments later. He loved admiring her and she loved being admired. Jack noted a moment later when he saw Kate’s side profile just how easily her nipples pushed out the material of her bra. Of course it pushed out the material of her bra easily. He knew Kate’s nipples could put whole in the strongest armor they had, with exception to perhaps those materials developed from studying her.

 

“So Jack, I have been thinking. If I can get some vacation time. Where would you like to go to?”

 

Jack didn’t respond right away as it took a few moments for the fact that he was being spoken to, to register with his mind. “The bedroom.”

 

Kate let out an amused giggle. “Well that does sound nice. That said, I don’t want to spend all my time in the bed. After all you tend to recover more slowly then I do.”

 

Jack gave a nod and tried to put some serious thought into where he would like to take a trip to. “Somewhere, that you can go around nude the vast majority of the time and don’t have to worry about harming anyone. That way you can show off a lot.”

 

“Mm that leaves quite a few options then. How about we take a trip to a nice little island? It would be fun to have some beach to play around on.”

 

“I don’t know. I can’t think of to many things for you to use to flaunt your strength.”

 

“Trust me. I can find more then you may think. Remember I love showing what these wonderful muscles of mine can do.”

 

Jack took a moment to think about possible locations though he didn’t dare close his eyes. He wasn’t going to deprive himself of a moment of watching Kate’s wonderful body in motion. This served to delay the cleaning process as Kate insisted on putting on something of a show, though her enhanced speed more then made up for the time loss. “Do you have any particular beaches in mind? It may be kind of tough to find one. I don’t know many people that would respond well to the kind of damage you are able to do while flaunting your strength.”

 

“That is true but I am sure we can find one. So long as the area hasn’t actually been developed. Kate glanced down at her hands for a moment and clinched the fist of her free hand. “Oh I just thought of something that I am going to have to do.”

 

“What is that?” Jack leaned forward eagerly waiting for the answer.

 

“Not telling. You are just going to have to wait until we are on the beach then you can see first hand.”

 

Jack set up surprisingly quick. “Well then. I guess I should start seeing if I can find a suitable spot. The sooner we have things planned the sooner we get to leave.”

 

Kate let out an amused giggle, thanks to Jack’s sudden enthusiasm. “Well hold on there. I still have to speak with Mathews about the time off. Anyway, I thought you wanted to watch me clean up.”

 

Jack looked at the computer for a moment then back to Kate. “Well yeah I do, but the idea of you flaunting your strength on the beach.

I don’t know what you have in mind but I bet it is going to be quite nice.” Kate couldn’t help but let out a delighted giggle. She really did love the attention Jack showed her.

 

“Well just set back down and enjoy the show. I will let you know when you need to start planning.”

 



 

“Vacation time?” Mathews looked up from his desk.

 

Kate found herself in Mathews’s office for the first time in a long time and she had to admit it was a strange experience. Normally he came to visit her. Currently he was looking over a budget report to see how their money was. Kate gave a nod of her head. “With the new team members I was wondering if I could take some vacation time.”

 

Mathews chuckled for a moment. “Well the new team members don’t really have anything to do with it but yes you can take some vacation time. How much do you want?”

 

Kate was going to answer the question about how long she wanted to vacation however Mathews response made her wonder. “What do you mean the team doesn’t have anything to do with it?”

 

“Kate, while I don’t remember how fast you can run I do remember you can run over 50 times the speed of sound. Now if there was a real problem and we needed your help would you mind if we gave you a call even while you were on vacation?”

 

Kate didn’t have to think about her answer. “Only if it was in the middle of sex, then I would have to hurt you after dealing with the threat.”

 

Mathews blinked for a moment somewhat shocked by Kate’s answer. Then a grin formed on his face. “Well then I will have to try and avoid that. Still, you are so fast that it doesn’t make much of a difference where you happen to be at the moment. As long as we can get in touch with you. Hmm well I take back what I said earlier the team will help. Since they can handle the smaller problems now. It means we are less likely to need to call you back and less likely I will get hurt.”

 

Kate grinned quite pleased with the news. “Mmm now how much vacation time do I actually want to take. Would three weeks be asking too much?”

 

Mathews shook his head. “No. Three weeks would be fine. When would you like to take them?”

 

Kate smiled happily. “I am not really sure Jack and I need to actually plan it out. Oh, I forgot I suppose Jack needs to turn in a request for time off to.”

 

Mathews gave a quick shake of his head. “No I already know when you ask for a vacation. You are asking for the two of you.” Kate just grinned and proceeded to make her way out of the room. Now all she and Jack needed to do was decide just where they would like to take a vacation. The conversation with Mathews had actually helped on that as well.

 



 

Kate’s legs easily carried her over the water’s surface as she shot along. Currently she was running at mach140 her inhumanly powerful legs easily maintaining the speed as she looked around her surroundings. She needed to find a suitable place for Jack and her to spend their time vacationing and then locate exactly where that was. Finding a location wouldn’t be so hard considering how quickly she was moving however knowing where that location was, was a different matter. In order to locate just where she was Kate actually carried a specially made G.P.S. Unit on her back.

 

She would use it once she found a suitable area. It also helped that she had a rough idea just where a location could be found. They wanted a nice spot well away from people and Kate wanted to be near the sea. This meant she wouldn’t need to go inland anyway and since most of the ocean was open water. She didn’t think it would be too hard to find a suitable destination. Kate also knew it would be a good idea to try and avoid leaving US waters or at the very least avoid passing into another nation’s waters.

 

Kate took a moment to remind herself what Elaine had told her about the G.P.S. Unit currently on her back. While the machine had been built very well Kate still couldn’t simply come to a dead stop or take off in a dead run. It would end up tearing the various components apart.

 

What she actually needed to do was to slowly accelerate gaining no more then a few hundred miles per hour every 5 seconds and slow down in roughly the same way. Kate wasn’t actually looking forward to the slowing down part as it meant she was going to sink into the water once she quit running so quickly.

 

Kate found how fragile the world around her seemed both intoxicating and annoying all at the same time. While she did enjoy her strength at times she felt it was simply too easy to destroy things and she didn’t like having to be so careful. Of course her thoughts would often turn to Jack and any feelings of annoyance would quickly pass away.

 

She simply loved how much he adored her strength and she loved showing off for him. She couldn’t be annoyed with his being human no matter how much it inconvenienced her. She simply loved the attention too much. Kate’s began to increase speed as she grew more eager to find their vacation spot and she had to remember to accelerate slowly.

 

A huge jet of water irrupted wherever Kate’s legs would strike against the water. As the speed and power of the impact would generate great deals of heat causing the bit of water, it touched to instantly vaporize as well as some of the surrounding water. A torrent of steam raising up behind her as she moved forward. The sudden opening being quickly filled by the surrounding water, which upon impacting would send up a small jet of water. Kate glanced over her shoulder for a moment to admire the sight. She had seen it enough times that it didn’t inspire as much amazement as it had the first few times however it was still fun to watch.

 

Jack looked at the computer screen as it gave a read out of Kate’s current location. The little dot on the screen was moving around at truly insane speeds giving the tracking system a real test. “That is with her unit sending information back to us so we can keep track of her. I would hate to have to depend on pure radar to see where she was.”

 

Jack glanced at Mathews. “I imagine if it was pure radar, by the time the signal returned she would be long gone. Possibly outside of the radar’s range.”

 

Kate had been searching for roughly four ours by now and covered a great deal of ocean. She was beginning to become somewhat tired with the search and thought about picking it up tomorrow when she saw another hopeful strip of land. A slight giggle escaped her lips as she suddenly wondered if the land could actually be described as hopeful. Considering how much she could tear things up she imagined it was hopeful that she would just run on by.

 

“Did something happen to the computer system?” Jack looked at the screen noting how the blip that represented Kate had suddenly stopped moving. He couldn’t imagine anything happening to Kate so the only logical possibility was something had happened to the computer system.

 

Mathews grinned. “You haven’t been watching this for very long have you? It isn’t that Kate is actually standing still. I think she may have found a place she feels is suitable and is checking it out.”

 

Kate kept to the water as she looked over the beach front. At the moment she felt she was moving too quickly to risk running around the beach.

Kate had already made a few strips around the bit of land and found that it was an island. As she decided, it was time to check the interior of the island she began to make several circles around it each time decreasing her speed in order to help insure her cargo survived the trip.

 

The blip on the screen began to move once again. “I guess not.” Jack mused out loud, figuring that Kate had decided to find another spot.

However, when the dot began to circle the area he quickly changed his mind. “It hasn’t been following her movements accurately has it?”

 

“Well Kate was moving faster then what we are used to tracking. When she seemed to be staying still, it was actually caused by her moving so quickly I imagine. She must be slowing down letting us better track her movements.”

 

Kate knew she wouldn’t like actually having to slow down. As she felt herself moving more slowly gravity seemed to be having more and more of an effect upon her until she could actually feel her feet sinking into the water. She didn’t care for the fact that as she sunk into the water it seemed to be slowing her down even faster as it meant she had to compensate for the extra friction in order to keep her slow down steady.

 

“So whose method do you think has been faster?”

 

Jack looked over at Mathews. “I suppose hers was. Though to be honest it surprised me how long she took to find a spot. Of course her search may not be over. After all that little bit of land might be owned by someone.”

 

Mathews nodded his agreement.

 

As Kate walked up to the beach, she reached up for her hair. Rapping her fingers around the fiery red strands of hair, she proceeded to squeeze the water out of them. Kate’s crimson locks may as well have been flames as she bared down on them. The horrific pressure proceeding to actually convert the salt water that had soaked in into steam. Kate noted this and knew she would have to show Jack later on.

Working her hands downward she watched as each burst of steam grew smaller then the last until she had dried her hair out. As Kate finished up, she removed the tracking unit from her back and proceeded to turn the little machine on.

 

She knew that Mathews and the others probably knew where she was at the moment. However, this would insure that they did and let her know if she needed to move on or not. As Kate waited for the little machine to tell her if she found a suitable location she began to pace around.

 

“I think she went to find the vacation spot herself just so she could show off how quickly she can search.” Jack glanced over at Mathews.

 

Mathews grinned and nodded his head in agreement. He was handed a report a few moments later. “It seems Kate has went a little far.

Whatever sliver of land she has happened upon isn’t actually without US waters or anyone else’s for that matter.”

 

Jack chuckled. “Then it should suit her. She won’t be officially destroying anyone’s property.”

 

Kate was quite nervous as she turned to look at the computer monitor.

She had heard the beep indicating the information was back. Kate was actually worried that she would have to move on. However, upon seeing that the spot was okay for her eyes seemed to light up. Leaning forward Kate carefully read the information multiple times. Kate didn’t like the idea of having to explain why she had torn up someone’s piece of real-estate after all.

 

Jack gave a slight jump when the blip suddenly went out. As he realized what most likely happened he couldn’t help but be amused. “I guess Kate was pretty happy with the news.” Kate had forgotten to accelerate slowly and had simply strapped the device to her back and accelerated to near her full speed in order to get back to the facility more quickly.

 



 

Jack took his time packing wanting to be sure he brought everything he needed. After all unlike Kate he couldn’t simply dash back to the main land if he wanted something and having her carry him was out of the question. The speeds she had to run at while on the water’s surface were simply too great for him to withstand. The wind friction would have ended up tearing him to shreds. As he stuffed a few items into his suitcase, he glanced over at Kate’s belongings. Kate had proven quite excited and had actually used her enhanced speed to prepare more quickly then normal.

 

She had also finished long before him since she would be taking less then he was. Kate had no need of sun block, sun glasses, sandals and a fair amount of items humans needed for comfort. Actually it seemed she planned on bringing as little clothing as possible. Jack gave his head a quick shake. No, as little clothing as possible didn’t accurately describe what Kate had done. She had several outfits, they where just all so very tiny. Of course that didn’t mean Kate had any intention of wearing them no matter how many outfits she brought. Jack couldn’t help but reach into Kate’s suitcase and pulled out one of the bikini top Kate was taking.

 

The tiny garment didn’t seem to have enough material to pass for a tissue. Jack placed the tiny garment back into Kate’s suitcase and resumed gathering up the items he was going to need. “Kate, are you sure we won’t need a tint?”

 

Kate seemed to materialize beside Jack a second later. “Of course I am sure. You just leave all of that stuff to me.” Kate glanced at the various items Jack was bringing with him. As she ran her eyes over them, she took note of the sun block. Kate took a moment to lift the sun block from Jack’s suitcase. “It has been such a long time since I have needed this. I wonder if I am even able to tan any longer.”

 

Jack just smiled and took the sun block back. Placing it in his suit case he snapped it shut and was about to pick it up when Kate suddenly lifted it up. “You can carry the lighter items I will get the heavier.” Jack chuckled as he realized how much of a hurry Kate truly was in.

 

“You know rushing up stairs isn’t going to help anything. I bet the helicopter isn’t even ready yet.”

 

“Yeah but you need to check through the foot we plan on bringing as well. Actually, you should go check on that right now. I can handle getting this stuff up stairs.” Jack gave a nod and watched as Kate left the room. She was only traveling 5 times faster then what he could run however, considering how little distance she had to cover that only took a few moments.

 

Kate really was eager to get into the sky and get on vacation. While all the time she spent at the facility didn’t bother her or at least she didn’t think it was. Now that she was getting to leave, she found her excitement building. Soon she and Jack would be far away from everyone with only a radio to attach them to the mainland should they need to leave early or if they needed Kate to come back. Kate doubted that they would need to come back early. After all nothing was going to happen to her and she would insure that nothing happened to Jack either.

 

Jack for his part was actually fairly surprised by just how excited Kate was to be leaving. He reasoned it was because his attachment to the lab that he wasn’t excited as Kate was. Still, he found himself quite eager to get away as well. He only worried that would result in them forgetting something. Jack felt a rush of air move past him and a wetness on his cheek. Stopping for a moment he reached up and realized what it had been. Kate had just passed him while running at her increased speed and stopped to give him a kiss. A grin formed on Jack’s face as he realized just how careful and what kind of control Kate must have had to insure that she didn’t push to hard considering how fast she was moving.

 

Jack didn’t bother checking for a bruise as he continued up the hall. He didn’t worry about Kate harming him even though with her moving at such an insane speed she could have taken his head off with just a kiss. Kate couldn’t help but give Jack a quick kiss as she had run by. She had already dropped off the first load of items in the helicopter. Jack had been right it wasn’t actually ready for takeoff yet and wouldn’t be for a while longer. She didn’t mind that it would be a bit longer before they could leave. Kate just wanted to get everything on their end prepared.

 

Jack looked over the various boxes that they where going to be taken along. As he examined the contents, he let out a bit of a sigh. They had considered taking more traditional camping equipment but Kate had pointed out how long they where going to be away. So they had actually settled on MREs. Jack wasn’t sure this was such a hot idea, as he didn’t know how they would taste. However, Kate had pointed out how much energy he was going to need and that armies had to depend on these for energy so he had agreed. Jack chuckled when the box he was looking at vanished.

 

Looking up he watched as a blur quickly moved throughout the room. He knew that it had to be Kate even without the red blot that he realized was Kate’s hair. “Yeah, we are going to need those. I don’t know of many other foods that could handle Kate loading them up.” Jack resumed checking over the various items, reading over the labels and insuring that didn’t contain anything he truly couldn’t stand to eat.

 

“I heard that.” Kate had heard Jack’s comment though only a few moments after he had made it. She was moving so quickly that it took the sound wave a few seconds to catch up to her.

 

“Well that is rare, you are moving slower then sound. Weren’t you loading up the suitcases?”

 

“Yes I did. Now I am getting these loaded.”

 

“Would you mind loading up the fresh water? I haven’t gotten to look through all the meals yet.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Jack couldn’t help but be fascinated by the delays between his questions and Kate’s responses. It wasn’t the delay itself that he found interesting but the simple fact that she was moving so quickly, it took longer for the sound waves to catch up with her. Yet, she could even move faster several hundred times faster then what she currently was moving at.

 

Tina wasn’t quite sure what was going on as she stepped into the hanger and noticed the red and black blur moving about. Looking around she caught sight of Jack and then realized what the blur was. Kate’s uniform was mostly black and red while her red was a fiery red. Looking towards the rapidly moving figure she let out a slight whistle and began to walk over to Jack. “You two are here a little early aren’t you?”

 

Jack had been so focused on watching Kate that Tina startled him a bit. Turning around it took him a moment to recognize her. “Yeah Kate decided to get things stored away early. You’re Tina, aren’t you? One of Kate’s new team mates.”

 

Tina gave a quick nod of her head and bent at her knees squatting down closer to Jack as he had been bent over looking through the boxes. “Yeah, I am going to be piloting the mech Debra use to pilot. Well later on, today I am going to be flying you to your little vacation spot. I decided to drop by and give the helicopter a look over.”

 

“Huh, I am kind of surprised they have you flying us around.”

 

“Don’t be. I actually requested to be the one to fly you two out there.

I thought it would be a good chance to speak with Kate and you for a while. Also I just like flying and I haven’t gotten too lately. Eep.” Tina gave a slight jump when a box next to her suddenly vanished. She then felt the gust of wind and looked toward Kate.

 

“That is nice. Is there anything particular you want to talk about?” Tina looked around for a moment trying to find in which direction the voice had came from. Thanks to Kate still moving at her accelerated state her voice seemed to come from several directions at once.

 

“You mean you can hear us talking while you are moving that fast?”

 

Tina had to wait a few seconds before Kate responded. “Yes I can, there is just a time delay between when you speak and I hear it.”

 

Tina chuckled. “Well that just isn’t fair. I would like to be able to move that fast. After all I am the pilot.”

 

Tina felt a chill run up her spine as she heard Kate laugh. “Sorry, I can’t help you with that.”

 

Tina glanced at Jack for a moment then back towards Kate’s general direction. “I swear listening to you is one of the most creepy things I have ever heard. Your voice seems to be coming from all sorts of directions and the sound waves seem a bit distorted. Have you ever noticed that?” Tina looked over at Jack who was by now looking through another box.

 

Kate appeared next to Tina a split second later a huge grin on her face. “Sorry about that. Well I have everything loaded up. At least everything Jack has looked over.” Kate glanced over at Jack and quickly picked up the container he had just closed. A moment later they both watched as a familiar blur moved across the room in order to load up the supplies.

 

Jack looked over to Tina. “I hadn’t really noticed the distortion her movement had on her voice. I was to busy admiring the time delay.

 

Tina gave a nod and clapped her hands together. “Well since you two are getting prepared early I am going to start my check on the helicopter.” Jack gave a nod and resumed checking through the various containers.

 



 

Jack glanced over at Kate and could hardly believe what he saw. As Kate road in the helicopter she kept her eyes closed just like she did while riding in a ground vehicle. Tina who hadn’t traveled with Kate before couldn’t help but be curious. “All right. Now why do you keep your eyes closed?”

 

“Because you are flying too slow.” Kate just gave a blunt answer.

 

Tina looked a little stunned as she checked their speed. Jack noticing the look on her face decided to clear things up. “Kate is so use to her running speed that whenever she travels in a moving vehicle she has to keep her eyes closed in order to avoid getting frustrated.”

 

Tina gave a nod. “Oh I see. Well then I will let you know when we are arriving.”

 

Kate kept quiet for a moment then chuckled. Opening her eyes, she chose to look at Jack and Tina instead of outside. “I just wish I could fly under my own power. I have to admit this feels quite unusual.”

 

Tina glanced over at Kate. “Now why does it feel unusual?”

 

Kate looked towards the controls and reached out. Following Kate’s hand Tina noticed she was holding a finger over one of the weapon’s controls. “The fact that I am currently setting in a military helicopter and being flown out to a vacation spot seems pretty unusual to me.”

 

Tina blinked for a moment then chuckled. Reaching out Tina pushed her hand against Kate’s finger at which time Kate moved it away from the firing control as if Tina had brushed it aside. “Well Kate, you aren’t exactly the average run of the mill soldier. It doesn’t really seem unusual to me that Mathews would try to accommodate your wants.”

 

Kate let out a sigh and nodded her head in agreement. “Still it feels odd.”

 

Tina rolled her eyes. “Oh don’t let it bother you and just enjoy the ride. It isn’t like we don’t all get special little benefits.”

 

“Huh, what benefits do you get?”

 

Tina chuckled. “Well my benefit is that nearly any time I want I get to hop into one of the fastest machines on the planet and fly around. Just like someone else could go down to the targeting range and practice. I don’t know of any other pilot that gets to do that Well in the air force.”

 

Kate nodded her head in agreement and settled back into her seat for a moment, only to set up a second later.

 

“Hey. Could you point this thing so it would be a strait shot to the vacation spot?”

 

Tina nodded. “Yeah, this is how we are already flying anyway. Why?”

 

“I am going to go and set up the landing stone for something to do.” Tina didn’t get a chance to ask just what Kate meant. As Kate stood up she gave Jack a quick kiss.

 

“See you there.” Kate made her way over to the door and hopped out.

 

Tina and Jack watched as Kate fell to the water below. Kate’s body impacted with the water a short while later with enough force to kill any normal human. Once she broke the water’s surface Kate gave a slight push with her arms. Each arm exerting over 100 tons of force she easily built up the speed needed to cause her body to start skipping across the water. As Kate got moving she managed to right herself so that her feet were impacting with the water and she was soon running over its surface.

 

Jack and Tina had both jumped when Kate first pushed against the water.

 

The speed and power with which she moved having generated a massive wave that seemed like it would have reached up to the helicopter if they had been further back. “Your lover is quite the show off.” Jack just nodded his head in agreement.

 

Kate poured on the speed now that she didn’t have anything on her she had to worry about braking. It meant she could come to a dead stop whenever she wanted and she did want to get to the island before Jack and Tina did. While there was more then enough beach and other bits of land Kate was curious if she could actually set up a landing pad for them. Soon she found herself trying to estimate just how large of a landing pad a helicopter would actually need.

 

The trees bent as if a hurricane and just blown in. The torrent of air signaling the arrival of one hyper sonic moving object. Kate took a moment to glance around the immediate region and then looked off towards the direction she had come from. Kate was quite amused that she could see and hear the helicopter despite the distance that she had traveled. Of course considering she could hear through the walls of a hardened military facility she wasn’t overly amazed. Anyway, she had a landing pad to set up now.

 

Kate kept her movement speed down to 20 times human or at least 20 times the speed of a very athletic and healthy human. As she dashed into the forested area and began to look around for a suitable spot. She considered simply clearing an area of its trees but felt that she could do better. She wanted to build something more sturdy then a simply dirt landing zone and was found herself looking for a suitably sized boulder. Kate didn’t even seem to notice and most assuredly wasn’t slowed down as her body tore through the various branches and even a few trees as she rushed to find what she needed.

 

Jack had taken Kate’s seat up front since she had jumped out of the helicopter. Looking over at Tina for a moment, he focused his attention outside the window. “So how often have you had passengers jump out of your aircraft?”

 

“Not very often, I was a test pilot before this so dropping soldiers off wasn’t exactly my job. How does it feel to have your lover jump out of a helicopter?”

 

Jack gave a shrug. “At first it shocked me but I have become so use to Kate pulling such stunts. It does more to interest me then worry me. When do you think we will be arriving?”

 

“It shouldn’t take much longer. Just try to relax and enjoy the ride.”

 

Kate ran her fingers along the boulder as she tried to assess just how large it was. A good deal of the massive rock was buried underneath the ground but it seemed likely it would be large enough. She just needed to find a spot that had a dense enough concentration of material for her to lift it without braking the massive stone in half. As Kate came around to back of the stone, she found a spot that seemed particularly thick and proceeded to dig her hands into the ground to try and grip the bottom. What she found delighted her.

 

Her arms couldn’t actually reach down to the bottom of the rock. Quickly Kate began to tear into the ground with her hands. The dirt seemed to be made of little more then water that just happened to stick together fairly well as Kate tore through it. Kate didn’t hold back as she dug down further. She could get clean just by running at her top speed for a few moments and allowing the wind friction to tear every bit of grime away from her form. At last when Kate had dug some seven feet down she found what she had been seeking.

 

The entire stone must have been 13 feet high at its tallest point.

 

Looking up Kate had trouble containing her excitement had to remind herself to be careful. If she didn’t, she would tear the rock to rumble just as easily as. Kate thought for a moment and then let out an excited giggle. In truth there was nothing a human could tear apart as easily as she could tear apart the stone. Parting air molecules seemed to take more effort on a human’s part then it required of Kate to tear apart the stone. Reaching down Kate carefully sunk her fingers into the massive rock and then began using her grounding ability to avoid sinking into the ground.

 

As she began to lift the boulder, she could hear the sound of tearing roots as the rock was lifted to the surface. A dull roar reached her ears which Kate realized was the sound of the dirt atop the rock being lifted off and rolling off. Several loud impacts where heard as various trees that had set atop its surface came crashing down. As Kate lifted more and more of the boulder she got a better idea of just how extensive it had been as she finally found the sky blocked out by the mass she held above her head. Yet her magnificent muscles didn’t show the least bit of strain even as Kate supported the massive weight.

 

Kate carefully made her way out of the opening she had formed by lifting the massive stone. She had to be careful not to relax her grounding ability or she knew the massive weight would easily drive her into the ground. Carefully she began to make her way back towards the beach front. Each time she would move forward she would hear the crunch of trees as they where either broken or pressed out of her way.

 

It took Kate longer to get back to the beach then it took her to get to the stone thanks to her having to move slowly. Lowering the stone to the ground, she was careful not to simply relax her grip. The massive rock settled deeply within the sand though not as deeply as it had been buried before. Kate didn’t bother letting the rock drop to the earth but simply let it set down atop her fingers and then pulled her hands out after she felt the rocks weight pressing them into the ground. Grinned she gave a slight hop and landed atop the boulder.

 

The surface was uneven but it was plenty large enough to serve as a landing pad. Kate more skipped then walked as she made her way across the stones surface until she came to the lowest point. Realizing that she would need to smooth out the surface Kate considered simply tearing up the large chunks of stone but figured it would make it quite hard to get the surface as smooth as she wanted. Instead she chose to entirely full into her accelerated state and made her way back atop the highest point. Setting on her knees, Kate pressed her knuckles against the rock’s rough surface and began to move them back and forth.

 

Kate was careful not to press to firmly as she used her knuckles to effectively sand the stone down. A cloud of dust particles forming into the air as Kate’s vigorous movement easily through the stone, fragments into the sky more quickly then gravity could pull them back down to earth. Kate wished Jack was there to see her at work, as she used her own knuckles to sand down a stone. She knew that if a human tried such a feat they where end up skinning their own knuckles instead of damaging the stone.

 

Scooting along Kate tried to keep from making any area too deep as she wanted to get the stone as smooth as possible. She had the time she needed to be careful after all. At least in her perception of reality she had the time she needed to be careful. In her accelerated state what seemed like only a minute to a normal human seemed like several hours to Kate unless she happened to be running. Of course even then her perception of time seemed to blur other wise she would not have had the patience.

 

A delighted giggle issues from Kate when she heard the sound of stone being sanded quite rapidly. It seemed to have taken several minutes for the sound waves to actually reach her ears from when she had started working.

 

Preparing the heavy stone’s surface didn’t take long at all as Kate managed to sand the entire stone down to a level surface at least up top. Looking at her handy work, Kate couldn’t help herself and quickly jumped off the side of the boulder. An annoyed expression appearing on her face at first as she forgot to exit her accelerated state which meant she didn’t seem to be falling at all. Kate relaxed her accelerated state for a moment so the fall only seemed to take a few moments instead of a few hours. Once on the ground though she quickly lapsed back into it and pressed her knuckles to the side of the stone in order to sand it down to a square or rectangle shape.

 

As Kate finished with the sides of the stone, she found herself checking under the massive rock. While the boulder seemed to be setting nicely on the ground she couldn’t be so sure of that. At least she had an easy way of fixing the problem though. Reaching down Kate once again took hold of the rocks bottom and lifted it into the air. Though this time she elevated it so that it was well above her head and even gave it a slight push. The massive rock moved slowly into the air at least to Kate’s eyes. As it reached the desired height Kate quickly began to rotate it before it could fall down. Making it so the side she had smoothed out was now facing the ground.

 

Carefully she then moved her arms under the side she had smoothed out and pushed up ever so slightly. She didn’t want to bring the stone’s fall to a sudden stop for fear she would snap it in half. As while it seemed to be moving at less then an inch per minute she knew that wasn’t the case. She was simply moving extremely fast. Kate could feel the stones weight increasing as gravity slowly began to bring it down on her arms. As it did Kate slowly settled down, making sure the rock feel slowly until it came to rest upon the ground. Quickly Kate hopped atop the former bottom of the stone which was still uneven and began to sand it down the way she had done the sides and original top.

 

At last Kate finished with the landing pad and returned to the ground. At least she thought she had until she realized there was no ramp.

 

Thanks to Kate sanding the stone down it was now a fair amount thinner however it was still too high up to let them unload their supplies easily or for Jack to even climb down easily. She needed to find something to serve as a ramp. Kate glanced in the direction of the helicopter for a moment and gave some time for the sound waves to reach her ears. She could hear the engine better now which meant she needed to hurry. Kate didn’t bother going out of her accelerated state as she ran back into the islands interior to find something to serve as a ramp.

 

Tina and Jack could hardly believe what they saw as they neared the island. It was fairly obvious were Kate had meant for them to island as they both found themselves looking at Kate’s makeshift landing pad.

 

A pile of trees set near it, having been lit aflame by some method, which Jack figured probably involved Kate simply generating a great deal of friction at hyper sonic speeds. The fire served to insure that they noticed the landing pad.

 

Kate had a huge smile on her face as she watched the helicopter come in for a landing. She was quite pleased to see she didn’t need to do more to get their attention as Tina was already landing on the pad. Kate had made use of a smaller stone to serve as the ramp and smoothed it down to a nice slowly sloping plain that she imagined would do even for someone on a wheelchair. After the helicopter landed Kate quickly dashed up the ramp in order to welcome Tina and Jack. Her desire to show Jack her handy work up close making her a little over eager. Four loud metallic pings and the feeling of four things braking against her head brought a blush to Kate’s face right away. “Whoops.”

 

Tina and Jack heard three loud screaming snaps. Looking over at Jack for a moment Tina closed her eyes and seemed to listen. When she opened her eyes, Tina wore a look of pure shock. “I think she just broke the blades of the helicopter’s front rotor with her head.”

 

Kate looked into the helicopter at the two passengers. “Um sorry about that I guess I was a little over eager.”

 

Tina glanced at Kate for a moment, as the shock turned to amusement she gave a slight shrug. “No problem I will just give HQ a call and have them send someone out here to either patch up the damage or at least pick me up.” Kate gave a nod still looking rather embarrassed.

 

Jack smirked and proceeded to stand up. As he made his way to the exit he remembered to duck while Kate stepped back to let him out.

 

Upon climbing out of the helicopter Jack bent down and pressed his hand against the stone’s surface. As he ran his fingers over the surface, he was amazed by how smooth it was. “So how did you do this?”

 

“With these.” Kate held her hand out for Jack to see, specifically showing him her knuckles. Jack took Kate’s hand in his own and proceeded to look over its surface.

 

“I guess it takes a lot more then a stone to wear down your hands.”

 

“You bet. I have to admit though I didn’t expect it to come out this well. I wonder if the heat I generated while moving my hands so quickly helped smooth out the surface.”

 

“I wouldn’t know.” Jack stood up and made his way over to and down the ramp. Soon he began to walk around the landing pad admiring what Kate had managed to do in the bit of time it had taken them to arrive. “I wonder what the next people to arrive here are going to think when they see such a uniquely made landing pad.”

 

Kate giggled slightly. “I hadn’t thought of that. It would be amusing to see though.” Kate turned her attention back in the direction of the helicopter itself as she heard some boots against the stone.

 

Tina had climbed out of the helicopter and was now making her way over to Kate. “Well they are sending some people to get me and help repair the helicopter. However, I am going to be stuck here for a while.”

 

“Sorry about that.” Kate had a sheepish look on her face as she apologized.

 

“Don’t worry about it. So what do you want to do about the supplies now that there isn’t a rush to unload them?” Tina took a seat at the edge of Kate’s quickly made landing pad.

 

“Well I was hoping to set up mine and Jack’s shelter after we landed.” Kate grinned, as she silently noted to herself. “And have wild sex in it once I have gotten him all worked up.” She didn’t let this slip through her lips though.

 

Tina gave a nod of her head. “That could be interesting to see. Mind if I watch?”

 

“Nope I love showing off. The more people the merrier.” Kate glanced around as the landing pad. Jack had disappeared around the other side and she could hear him digging at something. “Give me a second to get Jack.” Walking around the landing pad, Kate found Jack on the other side running his hand underneath the pad after having dug some sound out from underneath it. “Careful that could crush your fingers to a paste.”

 

Kate’s voice seemed to snap Jack back to reality and he grinned up at her. Straitening up Jack walked over to Kate and gave her a kiss on the cheek “That was for on the helicopter.”

 

Kate chuckled and grabbed Jack by the shirt collar.” Come on. It is time I set up our shelter and I want you to watch to.” Jack didn’t need came pulling him to follow along as quickly as his legs could carry him. Kate brought Jack over to the ramp and had him set down next to Tina. “Okay now. Does anyone care to take a guess at what I am going to use for the building materials?”

 

Jack glanced at Tina, wondering if she had a guess. When none came, he looked down at the ramp and back to Kate. “Stone?”

 

“Nope. At least not the type you are thinking of I used that for the landing pad after all.”

 

Tina glanced into the forest. “Mmm they are plenty of trees and other plants to use.”

 

Kate gave a nod of her head. “True but nope.” Giving each one of them a chance to guess Kate proceeded to bend down and dipped her hand into the sand. Standing back up she closed her hands together and proceeded to squeeze the material together. When she relaxed her grip, she was holding a tiny ball of sand lacking much of the volume it had started with by a great many times more dense. Neither Jack nor Tina responded as Kate suddenly began a blur in order to speed up her work. Kate didn’t go all out though, rather she kept her speed down to roughly 40 times what a human could hold.

 

Jack and Tina soon caught on to just what Kate had in mind as she set the tiny bit of compacted sand down and began to build around it. Using one hand to press down on the top keeping it relatively level while the other was used to push more sand into it. Kate’s horrific strength easily compacted the grainy material into a very dense rock that would have rivaled if not surpassed concrete. As Kate worked Jack and Tina found themselves scooting up further on the walk way. Thanks to Kate’s tremendous strength compacting the sand she was also generating a great deal of heat. So much heat that they could feel it radiating from her work area.

 

Kate would glance over at her shoulder from time to time as she worked.

An amused grin adorning her face the entire time especially when she realized why Jack and Tina had backed up. She had realized that while smoothing out the landing pad and while working on her and Jack’s shelter she would be generating a fair amount of heat energy. However, the fact that it was enough to cause both of them to back away was quite exciting. Kate let her tongue play over her lips for a moment.

She hadn’t lied when she said she loved showing off and the more people there the better. Still, she hoped they wouldn’t be long in retrieving Tina.

 

Jack couldn’t help but wonder how complex a structure Kate was actually working on. At the moment she seemed to be setting up the foundation. While the procedure itself seemed quite simple the strength and speed required to actually perform it was remarkable.

 



 

Debra groaned as she set within the tank of nanobots. She tried not to think that currently the tiny machines where entering into her body and destroying the old ones. Removing the material and then replacing them. The thought that such a construction effort was going on inside her body made her feel even sicker then she already did. Debra’s discomforted was relieved slightly for a moment when she felt something cool rest on her forehead. As she looked to her side, she was amused to see a lab worker holding a pair of metal tongs. “And here I thought you had just laid a rag atop my head.”

 

The man chuckled for a moment. “Nope. I am just holding a block of dry ice. Sorry for not using my hands but this stuff could take my skin off. Does it help any?”

 

“Yeah. Thanks.”

 

The lab technician gave a nod and focused on his task at hand. Debra looked towards Elaine for a moment. “So how much longer is this all going to take?”

 

Elaine looked up from the computer screen. She was currently monitoring the progress of the nanobots inside of Debra’s body. “A few more days at least. It is a good thing we didn’t put as many nanobots inside of you as the original owner. It seemed they have him pretty near what could be safely put into the body.”

 

Debra let out a slight sigh. “Huh, I wouldn’t think there would be such a limit.”

 

Elaine felt the need to clarify what she meant. “Well even nanobots have mass and there are only so many that can be put inside a body safely. That is if the nanobots are going to be functioning inside of the body it is a different story if the body was in the nanobots.”

 

“I was wondering. Why are the old nanobots so hard to replace?”

 

Merry looked up and saw that Elaine was currently focusing on her computer screen so she decided to answer. “They were programmed to remain within your body no matter what it seems. They are actually trying to avoid the new nanobots so they are having to be removed slowly. Well they are being hunted down. We also have to move slowly to avoid damaging your natural cells. After all while the nanobots inside your body are being replaced, it is actually some what difficult to affect complex repairs.”

 

Debra let out a groan. Looking towards the lab tech that was currently holding the dry ice for her. She would have held it herself but she had to keep as much of her body in the nanobots mixture as possible. This meant only her head was allowed above the surface. “So how much stronger should I be after this is all finished?”

 

Merry chuckled for a moment. “Trying to justify the discomfort to yourself?”

 

“Yeah.” Debra closed her eyes and waited for the answer.

 

Merry grinned and took a moment to run a quick check before answering. “You should be 80% stronger then what you are currently.”

 

Debra’s eyes flashed open. “Is that all?”

 

Merry couldn’t help but let out a giggle at the woman’s response. “Well yes at the moment that is the best we are able to do. What? Don’t you think it justifies the upgrade? After all wouldn’t you use a new weapon if it offered 80% more range?”

 

Debra let out a long sigh. “Well yes, but I was hoping for more. I swear this is worse then having to stay in position for a week.”

 

Merry chuckled and decide to let Debra in on some more information. “That is one of the reasons it takes so long to upgrade you of course. The new nanobots are better then the old but they still can’t handle more then a 1:3 ratio and to be honest 1:2 is dangerous. So we can’t just go rushing them throughout your body. They are other benefits though other then your strength increase.”

 

Debra just couldn’t sound enthusiastic as she responded though she tried. “Please tell me what they are.”

 

Elaine couldn’t help but wear a grin on her face as she listens to Merry and Debra’s conversation. Somehow she doubted Debra wouldn’t be less excited about the other improvements then Merry was. Merry for her part had to be careful to remember to watch the computer screen while she spoke. “Well for one thing since this is a redesigned model making use of what we learned from the previous nanobots it is less likely the original maker could affect you through the nanobots. If they ever could at all. These are also easier to upgrade and remove thanks to a few extra features Elaine and I designed in”

 

Merry’s explanation actually did more to worry Debra then it served to relax. “Just how are they easier to remove? I mean they can’t be told to tear me apart from the inside out now. Can they?”

 

Merry clapped her hands together, realizing her choice of words had concerned Debra. “Oh no. Mathews gave us clear orders not to try to put anything like a self destruct option. However, they do have I guess you could call it a relaxed mode that can be activated. The nanobots won’t try to remain within your body but they won’t increase your strength as much. They also become much easier to remove from your body.”

 

Debra let out a long sigh. “Well that is a bit of a relief. Though I don’t like the idea of someone stripping me of my strength mid fight.”

 

Merry gave a nod of her head. “That is a legitimate concern. Would you happen to have any suggestions?”

 

Debra looked over at Merry for a moment. Closing her eyes for a moment, she considered the question for a bit. “Actually I do. How about in the next upgrade you include a form of time release? Once the command for the nanobots to decrease in their energy out put. They could take a few minutes or maybe even a few hours for my strength to begin to decrease. It would also be handy if I had some type of warning.”

 

Merry and Elaine glanced at each other for a moment. Elaine finally responded. “That is actually a very good suggestion.”

 

Debra chuckled for a moment. “Of course it was.”

 

Elaine rolled her eyes. “I swear. Super human strength must also give someone an ego increase.”

 

Debra let out an amused laugh. “No. It isn’t the super human strength. After all my strength has nothing to do with my intelligence. I am just a nearly endless well of great ideas.”

 

Elaine just rolled her eyes.

 



 

“Well. I will be seeing you two in a few weeks.”

 

Kate and Jack waved their hand as they watched the helicopter lift into the air. As Tina left Kate had to resist the urge not to give the helicopter a little puff in order to speed it alone. While she liked spending time with Tina she meant this vacation to just be Jack and herself and she was more then happy to see her leave. Of course Kate wasn’t the only one that felt this way. It was fairly obvious by the smile on Jack’s face that he wasn’t exactly sad to see her leave.

 

A long sigh escaped Jack’s lips. “Thank goodness you where able to help with the repairs.”

 

Kate let out a giggle and proceeded to scoop Jack up into her arms. “So I take it you are just as glad as I am to see her leave?”

 

“Well yeah.” Jack didn’t get to say more before Kate brought her lips against his.

 

“Mm now I have you all alone. You couldn’t possibly swim and I doubt even you could fasten a ship with what we have around here. You are trapped here.”

 

“You wouldn’t leave me would you?”

 

Kate giggled and gave Jack another kiss. “Of course not.”

 

“Then there is no other place I would rather be.”

 

“Hmm you know that boat comment may not be true for very long. I wonder if I could make a little boat with just my hands.”

 

Jack reached out and proceeded to run his fingers along the very edge of Kate’s uniform. He could feel Kate shudder. “Could that wait until later? Seeing what you done while we were traveling here and then seeing you set up our shelter has me a little stimulated.”

 

Kate gave Jack a sly grin. “It does me to.”

 

“Just one thing. Where am I going to lay? I mean, there isn’t anything that is actually comfortable for us normal people to lie on.”

 

“Whoops. I guess I didn’t think of everything. Then again, I have an idea.” Kate proceeded to carry Jack into the tiny building she had built while he and Tina watched. The little structure only had three rooms and was lacking in any windows. Kate had left the windows out not because she had to but because she felt it would be cooler that way. The lack of light this caused didn’t bother her and Jack didn’t seem to mind either.

 

Kate carried Jack into the back room where the least light reached them and proceeded to fall backwards. Jack didn’t cry out and wasn’t surprised when he felt them stop a few moments later. “I still wish I could fly, but I am glad my grounding ability at least lets me do this.”

 

“So are you going to let me sleep up here as well?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Won’t you get bored? After all you hardly even need an hour’s sleep now.”

 

Kate took a moment to re-adjust Jack so that he was laying across her length wise. “I don’t mind and if I do then I will just have to think of a way to prepare a bet for you.” Kate placed one of her hands behind Jack’s head and proceeded to push him forward so that her lips met.

 

As she once again locked lips with Jack Kate tongue extended outward and gently pressed against the front of Jack’s teeth.

 

Jack felt Kate’s tongue pressing again his teeth and quickly opened his mouth more to allow it entry. While he loved having Kate flaunt just how strong every last part of her was. He didn’t like the idea that she may accidentally knock a few of his teeth out with just her tongue.

 

As Kate slipped her tongue into Jack’s though he didn’t press his into hers but proceeded to bite down on her tongue as hard as he possibly could.

 

Kate felt Jack’s teeth bearing down on her tongue. She moved her tongue and easily forced his jaws back apart. Giving Jack’s tongue a slight push with her own the two muscles began to move against one another.

 

Kate’s tongue easily pushing Jack’s about, while his playfully struggled against hers. Jack was a bit surprised when Kate’s free hand came up and pinched down on his nose.

 

Kate gently exhaled as she pinched Jack’s nose. Jack’s first reaction was to panic for a moment. As he felt, his need to exhale building he finally tried breathing through his mouth. Jack felt the used air flow from his lunges and into Kate as this happened he could feel her gently breathing into his mouth forcing fresh air from her lunges and into his. Jack and Kate continued to practice this for some time. While he wasn’t sure exactly why Kate was doing it he knew that she must have a reason.

 

At last Jack and Kate’s lips separated. “All right I think that is enough practice.” Kate slowly relaxed her grounding ability allowing herself to slip back to the ground. Once down she gently rolled Jack off herself and stood up. “I would advise you to strip if you don’t want your clothes getting water logged.

 

Jack didn’t waste any time in getting off his clothing. “Like at the river.”

 

“Yeah. That was the first time I made you depend on me for air. Wasn’t it?”

 

Jack nodded his head, as while he couldn’t seek well at all in the darkness he knew that Kate could see perfectly. “One of these days we are going to have to test to find out what light spectrums you can see. After all I can’t imagine you are using visible light to see in here.”

 

“Mm well lets not worry about that for now and just enjoy our vacation.”

 

Jack felt a slight weight land on him which he soon realized was Kate’s uniform. Taking the material off he proceeded to reach out in the direction the clothing had came from. He was fairly glad Kate didn’t try to tease him so his hands came to rest on her shoulder. “So do you think you have our breathing exercises down well enough?”

 

“Well enough for what?”

 

“Why for some fun under the water of course?”

 

“I think so. After all I managed well enough at the river.”

 

Kate chuckled for a moment. “That is true, however I don’t think you have as strenuous of a time back then.” Jack didn’t bother commenting as he felt Kate’s arms move under him. Scooping Jack up Kate proceeded outside and towards the crystal clear water. As Kate began to walk into the waves, she lifted Jack a bit higher and brought her lips against his. Jack ceased breathing through his nose and began to depend entirely on Kate to supply him with the needed oxygen.

 

Jack closed his eyes as they began to slip under the water. Once they had gone far enough down so that they where both entirely under the waves. He felt them moving differently as Kate shifted him around so that she could swim .Kate continued out for a little while until they where under roughly ten feet of water. She had no desire to go further down. Just in case Kate forgot Jack would need to surface more slowly then she. While Kate had no chance of getting the binds Jack was an entirely different story.

 

Ten feet was deep enough to have the desired effect on Jack. As he had no real idea of just how deep they where since Kate was doing the swimming and he was laying atop her. It felt some what odd being atop Kate thanks to the difference in how she used her grounding ability. In the water she didn’t have to make use of it as strongly coupled with the motion of the water around them she seemed to move ever so slightly. This only seemed to make his lips locks onto hers all the more firmly as Kate was his only source of air.

 

Having Jack depend on her so completely only added to Kate’s stimulation. Though the fact that she had to maintain the kiss meant that their movements were limited. Kate was already to worked up to really care about such things.

 

After a few moments under the water Jack’s hands began to relax from around Kate and roam around her body. At least around they limited range he could comfortably reach. Starting at her shoulders, Jack proceeded to slight his right hand down Kate’s back. Feeling the powerful muscles under her skin he moved one finger along her spine. As he reached lower, his hand came to Kate’s firm rump and he gave it a slight squeeze. Jack felt a slight rush of oxygen a bit more he needed as Kate gave a slight jerk. Apparently she had liked what he had done though he needed Kate to be more careful.

 

Kate realized her need to be more careful as well. Running her hands up along Jack’s cheek she gently moved her fingers over his cheeks and throat. If she was to exhale to hardly she could make it difficult for Jack to exhale and smother him a different way. While Jack was depending so completely on her she needed to be more careful. Kate made a mental note of this and as she broke the kiss for the briefest of moments to deposit a quick kiss on Jack’s throat.

 

Jack worried as Kate pressed her lips back to his he would get a bit of salt water. This didn’t happen though as he felt some light suction.

 

Kate quickly drained the bit of water that had slipped between their lips. Jack knew that the strength advantage had always been Kate’s and since she had been enhanced it had slipped further and further in her favor. However, despite this being under the water and having to depend on her for air added an entirely different level to it.

 

That wasn’t the only cause of the extra stimulation though. While Jack could move his limbs in the water, it was far slower then in the open air. Kate on the other hand could move just as easily as she always could. This feeling was quite stimulating as it seemed to make the differences in their strength even more appreciable. As if he was in a world that was built for Kate instead of him.

 

Kate for her part, loved the extra attention this was causing Jack to lavish upon her. The feeling of his hands moving slowly over her skin sent shivers up her spine and she had to constantly remind herself to supply Jack with the needed air. It was a good thing Jack and Kate had spent time practicing this routine before they went under the far as their movements began to become more rapid.

 

Kate didn’t allow Jack to fondle her breast as usual. As she kept herself firmly pressed against him. The need to maintain and air tight lip lock didn’t allow her to back off very much. However, she easily made up for this lack of stimulating by moving her breast ever so slightly against Jack’s chest. Being careful not to squeeze to hard or her nipples would easily tear through Jack’s skin.

 

Jack felt it as Kate’s thighs began to slip around him. Locking him into a hold he felt her reach down with her hand and adjust his dick. A moment later he felt those magnificent legs pull him downward and he was thrust inside of her. The feeling sent a shockwave through both of them yet Kate managed to continue their breathing exercise.

 

Movement under the water was some what difficult for Jack as he pulled himself outward. The water made it more difficult to move as did the few things he could use for leverage.

 

Kate helped Jack to conserve energy by using her legs to pull him down into herself. This allowed Jack to save some energy though he worried it wouldn’t be enough. At least not enough to satisfy Kate’s desires.

He knew that he didn’t have the energy needed to out last her. Even if he was able to remain entirely still and let Kate do all the work there was no way he could out last her.

 

Kate adjusted the amount of fresh air she was supplying Jack as his movements became more rapid and his muscles demanded more oxygen. She didn’t want to risk him running out of strength any longer then was absolutely necessary. This was somewhat difficult for her as she also had to be careful just how quickly she pulled Jack back into herself and how firmly she pressed him to herself. She didn’t want to risk snapping him in half. The thought had an odd effect on Kate as it allowed her to control her passions while making them all the stronger.

 

Every time Jack would feel Kate’s legs pull him down into her his excitement would grow all the more. Not just because of the physical stimulation but because he could feel the tiniest bit of how strong those awe-inspiring legs were. The sensation of the water moving past him rapidly added even more to this. As he compared the slow motions of his withdraw vs. the quick motion of Kate forcing him back into herself.

 

At last Jack felt Kate’s body tense up and for a moment he worried she would brake off the kiss. Then he felt her shudder and he came as well. Kate never released the kiss though as her hand came up and insured that Jack couldn’t pull away from her.

 



 

Jack let out a sigh as he lay in the back room of the little hut Kate had made for the two of them. He didn’t much feel like moving after being with Kate. Even though she had been gentle with him he was entirely spent and the quick movements in the water had done more damage then either of them realized. A few light bruises had appeared around Jack’s body where Kate had circled him with her legs. They made him some what stiff but provided he didn’t move around a great deal they weren’t a real bother.

 

Jack didn’t have the energy to move around much anyway. Kate had done a wonderful job of draining his energy. After which she had done her best to insure that he was comfortable. Currently Jack found himself resting on a few large leaves that Kate had retrieved from the vegetation of the islands interior. The occasional breeze blowing into the building helped him relax as did the shelter from the sun.

 

Of course Jack knew the breeze wasn’t generated from any force of nature. Though it was generated from a force so powerful it might as well have been a force of nature. Kate would periodically look into the building to insure that he was all right. She would also give the building a rather quick look over to make sure no insects of animals had wondered in since she had left. Of course the odds of that happening were rather low in the first place. The only entrance was the front door and Kate had built a small fire.

 

“I bet she just likes jumping over the flames.” Jack mused out loud to himself at least he thought it was to himself.

 

“Actually I run through them every time.” There was a quick burst of air and the voice was gone.

 

Jack gave a slight laugh and reached out into the darkness. Taking hold of the water bottle, he proceeded to take a few swallows. Kate hadn’t drunk anything since their fun in the ocean and it was quite likely that she wouldn’t be drinking anything. As unlike Jack if she became thirsty, she could just make a quick trip back to the mainland.

 



 

“Crap.” There was more then a little sadness in Debra’s voice as she looked down at the pulped food in her hand. That had been the fifth thing she had tried to eat after she had recovered enough from her most recent upgrade to be hungry. She would have normally been quite angry at her situation however, at the moment she still felt to sickly and too hungry to be angry at anything.

 

“Knock knock. May I come in?”

 

Debra looked up some what surprised to hear the voice. “Sure.” As Debra spoke she was more then a little surprised by the weakness in her voice. “Be in there in a minute.”

 

“No need I will just come into here.” Joe smiled as he looked in on Debra. Quickly he noted the former food items on the floor. “I guess you are having trouble getting use to your new strength.”

 

Debra groaned and looked down at the counter. Noting that where she had let her fingers rest they were now imprints. “A little but I will get the hang of it soon. Anyway, I am not really adapting to the strength just yet. I just feel sick after the upgrading process. It makes it difficult to keep my strength under control.”

 

“The upgrading process has been going on for a while now. I bet you haven’t been able to eat well lately.” Debra didn’t bother commenting which got a laugh from Joe.

 

Debra looked up a few moments later when she heard the sound of a knife cutting through something. As she looked up, she found Joe cutting an apple into a few slices. A moment later Joe walked over to Debra and held and an apple slice between his fingers. “Now open up.” When Debra didn’t open her, mouth right away he decided to provide some encouragement. “You know you probably won’t be able to eat for some time now. Why don’t you eat this to tide you over while I fix something?”

 

Debra didn’t care for needing to be feed. However, when her angered stomach growled at her, she opened her mouth and let Joe pop the apple into her mouth. Debra made sure to keep her mouth shut to insure that not even a bit of the juice squirted out as she chewed the apple slice. She didn’t bother speaking either until she had eaten the entire thing. “So did Mathews send you down here?”

 

“No. He didn’t but I was thinking. Joe, those meetings were meant for you to bond with your team mates. Now you have a team mate right now that is probably having some problems. Why don’t you go down there and bond?”

 

Debra blinked her eyes then gave an amused chuckle. “Well I am glad you did. What do you have in mind for cooking?”

 

“I am going to make some pasta and garlic bread. Since well I don’t want to have to feed you with a fork.”

 

“As I would probably end up biting the top of the fork off each time or do you plan on feeding me.”

 

“Of course. I figure I can stop by about three times a day until you quit feeling so sick. Though I imagine, those feelings are going to return periodically throughout the upgrading process.”

 

Debra nodded her head in agreement. “That is what Elaine has been telling me. I don’t know if I have all the things to make pasta.”

 

Joe gave a nod of his head. “Well if you don’t then I will just go and retrieve them from the kitchen. You just set down and leave all the cooking to me. Err just as soon as I clean up your efforts to feed yourself.” Joe took a few moments to find the paper towels. “I have to ask though, why didn’t you ask Elaine to send someone down to help you?”

 

Debra chuckled for a moment. “I suppose I was about ready to. I just didn’t want to admit that I needed help feeding myself again.”

 

“Now ego is an awfully poor reason to starve yourself. Especially given your situation.”

 

“I know, but my ego doesn’t tend to listen to that reasoning.” Joe just chuckled and began to clean up.

 

The clean up took longer then expected and it was some two hours later that the food was already ready. Debra attempted to keep her composure but as she smelt the pasta and garlic bread baking she had trouble not tearing the oven door off to get at the bread. She really hadn’t eaten anything decent in a few days and something that was nice and hot was out of the question. Every time she would attempt to pick up a pot or handle she would brake the handle off. This was something Joe actually had trouble coping with until he had borrowed a few of the pots from the kitchen.

 

Joe took out roughly eight loafs of garlic bread and a rather healthy or unhealthy amount of pasta depending on how much you worried about carbohydrates. At this moment he didn’t think Debra cared about those and would have eaten a wheat field if it tasted good and was sterile. Sitting down next to Debra he dipped one of the loafs into the pasta scooped up a decent amount. Debra blushed a bit as she opened her mouth and allowed Joe to slip the bread inside. Once all the paste she was in she bit down.

 

The bread was a little burned but there was no tearing to it. Debra’s inhumanly strong jaw crushed through the material far too easily. Joe dipped the loaf back into the pasta but didn’t bother bringing it out as he waited for Debra to chew.

 

Debra carefully chewed every bit of the bread and garlic she didn’t want to rush through the meal. Rather she wanted to give it time to feel her up and insure she got every last calorie out of it. As Debra chewed her food, a grin appeared on Joe’s face. One which Debra didn’t entirely like as she wondered what he was thinking. “I bet using the bathroom has been quite a bit of trouble for you.”

 

The look on Debra’s face a moment later told Joe she would have slapped him if she didn’t have to worry about snapping off his head for the moment. Joe couldn’t help but chuckle, “I am sorry that was inappropriate of me. Especially while you are eating.”

 

“I can use the bathroom just fine. Thank you very much.” Debra didn’t bother telling him that she had accidentally torn the door handle off.

 

Mathews had been kind enough to provide a sink that turned on the moment she moved her hands under it. Joe grinned as he gave Debra another mouthful of pasta and garlic bread. After a few mouthfuls the food had done a lot to make Debra less upset and she was ready to talk again. “So where are Tina and Wally?”

 

“They are currently handling a press conference. Tina has been complaining lately that she never gets to be on tv thanks too always having to hide inside that armor.”

 

“At least it guarantees, that no one will even know her physical profile.”

 

Joe nodded in agreement. “Would you like to be out there with them?”

 

“Not really. Especially right now. I would most likely end up injuring someone accidentally. How about you? What made you stay back?”

 

“Oh that is simple. Mathews didn’t send me. He felt that Tina and Wally would be enough. Of course Tina was also sent as she has a communication link with the facility always open inside her armor. She can easily converse with Mathews and anyone else here and no one is the wiser.”

 

“Oh in case Wally says something stupid. She can find the best way to deal with the damage.”

 

“Now that is an awfully mean thing to say. Even if it is true.”

 

Debra gave a nod of her head. “Wally seems a little unhappy with his power level now that he has met everyone.”

 

Joe nodded his head in agreement. “Well Wally and I are sort of the weakest of the five of us. It doesn’t bother me but he is the one that actually has some natural power.”

 

Debra finished chewing before she spoke. “Joe, he can move a pin and that is about it. I can claim to be more powerful if I have a shotgun with me.”

 

Joe pushed the last bit of the garlic loath into Debra’s mouth and quickly withdrew his fingers. As if worried she might bite them off. Well she was biting down awfully quickly. Picking up another loaf, he began to move it about in the pasta. “All well, I am sure a little time in the spot light will make him feel better.”

 



 

Jack could tell Kate wasn’t using her grounding ability in the least as she fetched the fire wood. Carrying a massive tree on each shoulder he could hear the impacts of Kate’s feet even on the soft sand. Half limping he walked to the hut door and looked out towards the smiling beauty. He wasn’t at all surprised to see she wasn’t wearing her top any longer. A huge grin formed on Kate’s face when she saw that Jack had come out to watch her gathering up the trees. “Want to see something neat?”

 

Jack looked down at the burning embers which had once been a fire in front of their hut. “I would love to, just as long as it doesn’t involve me performing. I am still a little sore.”

 

Kate set one of the trees down and proceeded to hold the other in both hands. Taking a few moments to find where the weight was most balanced. She proceeded to arch her chest upward and set the massive tree on top of her breast. Kate’s chest didn’t begin to sag in the least and Jack felt a bit of pain a moment later as his hard on attempted to return. A large grin formed on Kate’s face. “It is too bad the body isn’t able, as the spirit seems plenty willing now.”

 

“Believe me the spirit is very willing.” Kate gave and amused laugh and proceeded to carefully make her way towards the hut. Balancing the tree on top of her breast the entire time. Only when she was within a yard of the hut did she lift it from her chest and lay it down length wise. Setting down in the door way Kate intentionally set her feet down in the red embers. She then took hold of the tree at its very top and proceeded to tear it into more manageable bits.

 

Jack set down a little ways behind Kate and listened to the sound of the braking wood. The pops of the tree braking came quicker then the sound of any axe men cutting through the tough timber. “You know generally speaking people like to get wood that has had time to dry out.”

 

Kate looked back at Jack. “I bet I can get it burning without letting the wood dry out and without any tools.”

 

“Mm sorry I don’t have anything to bet at the moment.”

 

Kate gave a slight giggle and the rate of pops began to speed up. As Kate started to work more quickly.” So what do you feel up for today?”

 

Jack let out a long sigh. “Well I am still a little sore to move around.” Scooting up he reached his arms around Kate and took hold of the front of her breast. Squeezing them as hard as he could, he was glad to hear a sigh from Kate. “Mind if I fondle your breast while you work?”

 

“Mm not at all but be careful how far you go. I know you are injured but you shouldn’t get me to worked up. Though that still doesn’t solve our problem or would you just like to lie around for the day?”

 

Jack gave Kate a few kisses on the back of her neck before finally releasing and moving back a bit. “I really don’t feel like moving around a great deal to be honest. Would you mind if we just took it easy today?”

 

“That is fine with me. After all it is my fault you are in the condition you are.”

 

“A small price to pay for the pleasure you allowed me to enjoy.”

 

“Sweet talker.” Kate finally finished braking the tree up and proceeded to brake one of the smaller parts in half. Pressing them together she began to rub the bits of wood together vigorously. The pressure and speed working together to generate enough heat for the food to ignite. Kate moved her feet and set the two burning bits of wood in the embers. She then moved the others near the fire in order to allow them to dry out. “I will be right back, I am going to go wash my feet.”

 

As Kate stood up Jack watched as she intentionally set her feet down on the burning blocks of wood. The flames that engulfed them were not able to harm her flesh even in the least. Actually he knew that the flames couldn’t even warm up Kate’s flesh. She then proceeded to make her way over to the water and cleaned up the black residue from when she stood in the embers.

 

Jack lay on top of Kate her incredibly strong arms wrapped around him while his head was pressed to her wonderful breast. She was asleep at the moment though he knew that it was a very light sleep and would be ending soon. Kate didn’t even need two hours of rest in order to operate at full strength any longer. Seventy two minutes was actually equivalent to 8 hours as far as Kate’s body was concerned which meant it was very rare that Jack had a waking moment that Kate wasn’t awake as well.

 

It was an odd time for Jack. As while he enjoyed watching Kate sleep and watching over her. As if he could actually guard her, he much preferred the time they spend with them both awake. So he wanted them to end as quickly as possible. Of course it wasn’t just the thought that Kate was asleep and he was watching her that he enjoyed. It was the thought of how little sleep, she actually needed. How long would it be before she quit needing sleep all together?

 

Jack gave a slight jerk when Kate began to rub her breast against him.

 

For a moment he wondered what was going on then he heard a sigh from her lips. At one time he would have worried that Kate would harm him in her sleep. However, despite all the time they had spent with her arms around him. She had never injured him in the least. The sound of rock cracking took his mind from this and he looked towards Kate’s leg. His eyes had adapted enough to the darkness in the back room of their hut to make out what had happened.

 

In her sleep Kate must have began using her grounding ability and pushed her leg into the hard rock of the hut. Jack gave his head a quick shake and reminded himself that it wasn’t actually rock. Rather it was sand that Kate had compressed together. Of course that knowledge made little difference in the long run. When he ran his hands along the floor, it most assuredly felt like stone. He seemed to be safe from injury while in Kate’s arms the surrounding environment was an entirely different story.

 

Jack leaned his head back down and closed his eyes. He could at least take a nap while Kate slept. He couldn’t have made the grin that he wore on his face leave if he had wanted to. As it was brought on by the knowledge that Kate could very well wake up from sleeping before he would wake up from napping.

 



 

Debra let out a sigh as she opened up one of the kitchen drawers. Taking out a fork she made her way over to a basket of apples. She didn’t dare try to pick one of the apples up especially since when she had lifted the fork she had heard it bend a bit. Carefully she began to push the utensil into the fruit. She didn’t dare go by what she felt rather she went by what she saw. Lifting the fork and apple Debra held her hand out fingers extended and deposited it on her palm. “That seems like an awful lot of work to go through for an apple.”

 

Debra glanced over her shoulder at Joe who was busy frying some eggs and biscuits. “It is but it is how I have to eat for now. Messy as well.” Debra took a bight of the apple, the odd method of holding it causing her to get a fair amount of liquid from the juicy fruit onto her fingers.

 

“Are you sure you can’t wait until I am finished cooking? It is less messy.”

 

“Heck no. Especially with me being able to smell the eggs.” Debra was silent for a moment. “Thanks for helping me out. I really didn’t want to ask Mathews to send someone down.”

 

“No problem. This is a good bonding exercise. Though I imagine, you could get a better cook then I am. If you asked.”

 

Debra chuckled and took a few bites of the fruit, not even noticing as her teeth sunk through the core and some of the fork. “Crap.”

 

“Huh. My cooking doesn’t taste that bad. Does it?”

 

“No. I just bit into the fork and swallowed.”

 

“Do I need to take you down to the medic?”

 

Debra shook her head. “No even if I can’t digest the metal, it will come out safely. It would come out safely even if it was as sharp as a scalpel.

 

Joe gave a slight laugh. “You have a real cast iron stomach don’t you?”

 

Debra grinned. “No. I think it is stronger then that.” Walking over to the sink Debra slowly pushed the apple of the fork and let it fall into the disposal. Before she could turn on the disposal though Joe turned down the heat on the pans and flipped it on for her as well as the water. Debra didn’t bother commenting until Joe started to turn the water off. “One moment let me wash my hands.”

 

“Do you need some soap?”

 

Debra shook her head. “No, but watch this.” Slipping her hands under the sink Debra got them both get and soaked. She then proceeded to squeeze down on her right hand with about half her total strength. Pulling them out from the water, Debra began to move her hands along each other. Thanks to the pressure a great deal of friction was created and heat. Joe watched as steam began to lift up from Debra’s hands as she moved them over each other.

 

“Well that is one thing to make sure you don’t have any germs on your hands.”

 

“I think so as well. It is more neat then using soap as well and it gets my hands nice and dry.” On an impulse Debra reached up and turned off the sink. While she realized, she risked tearing them off in her current state she felt the need to at least try. After all she needed to learn to cope with feeling sickly and still control her strength if she was going to be able to take care of herself.

 



 

Kate wore a large grin on her face as she walked through the forest.

 

She and Jack had been on vacation for a little over two weeks by now and she had been running out of things to do. Until she remembered one of her earlier plans. Now she was busy looking for suitable building material. So far she had found some healthy trees but not quite robust enough. However, she felt confident that at least one would suit her as she made her way further into the island’s interior.

 

Jack didn’t travel with Kate on these trips thanks mostly to the insects that lived in the interior. The bug-spray he had brought didn’t seem strong enough to keep the little creatures at bay. Kate didn’t wear any bug-spray for her part, however the insects simply couldn’t get through their skin. At first Kate had found their presence to be annoying but by now Kate just ignored the little bugs that landed on her form and attempted to suck her blood or whatever they were trying at the moment. At least provided they didn’t remain on her for very long, if they did a quick flick from Kate’s finger sent them. Well she had no idea where it sent them most likely it splattered then against a tree or something else.

 

At last Kate found what she had been looking for. Walking over to the rather large tree Kate pressed her right hand against it and gave it a light push. Looking up she watched as the tree lightly swayed. It seemed healthy enough. Bending down Kate proceeded to sink her hands and arms into the ground in an attempt to get a hold of the tree’s roots. She finally realized this wasn’t going to happen without some digging when her chest began to press into the earth. Giving a light shrug, Kate proceeded to straiten up.

 

As Kate lifted the tree, she heard the sound of roots both snapping and braking through the ground. A few of the roots that were closer to Kate actually impacted with her legs as if protesting their removal. However, the impacts had no effect on the female power house as she claimed her prize. Once Kate felt the tree she began to make her way back towards the hut. Paying no mind to the various items that fell from the tree to land atop her head. Kate chose to carry the tree in an upward position in order to direct as much weight down to her legs as possible.

 

She didn’t make any use of her ground ability either as she enjoyed the feeling of the weight causing her feet to sink more deeply into the ground and hearing the sound of the impacts. Something about using her grounding ability to prevent herself from sinking while carrying large objects always seemed to take away from the experience. As Kate couldn’t feel the effects that packing the extra load had on the earth. While the extra weight was entirely negligible by her standards. The only thing that made the trip cumbersome was the trees awkward size. “Too bad the ground isn’t more solid.”

 

Kate glanced down at her feet and found herself disliking the way the soft earth dampened the sound of the impacts. She knew that the beach would do an even better job of dampening them. Kate finally resigned herself to the fact that was one of the things she couldn’t change at the moment. As while she could stomp she would most likely end up driving her legs too deeply into the ground and losing her balance.

 

Kate didn’t have to worry to much about the sound being dampened as each step she took was still fairly noticeable. Especially considering the relative lack of life on the island particularly of larger species. Jack could hear the sound of her approach all too easily and looked up from his laying position on the beach. He expected Kate to be carrying several trees do to the extra force of her steps.

He wasn’t surprised to find her carrying one though. She was just carrying it in the best way to illustrate just how strong she was. “Now just what are you going to do with that?”

 

“I am going to make us a little boat. At least I am going to give it a try.” Kate looked around the tree for a moment in order to see where Jack was. Adjusting her position a bit she let the tree settle down so that she could set near Jack while working.

 

“Do you think you are going to need any tools?”

 

“Maybe, I mean I don’t know how I am going to handle the precise cuts.

Still I want to give it a try just using my hands for the moment. I don’t plan on going for anything to elaborate after all. Anyway, we don’t really have anything I would consider tools.”

 

“That is true. Still, you could always run back to the facility and pick up a few items. Though I hope, they have a few axes or shovels that are all metal. I doubt a wooden handle would survive you bringing it back.”

 

“Most likely not. Well if I ran across the water. Then again I don’t know of many metals that could handle that much friction and not degrade as well. Let me just try my hands first.” Jack gave a nod and heard a crack a few moments later.

 

Kate stood up and walked down to the very end of the tree. Pressing her fingers against the hard wood. The tree had withstood hurricane force winds but it couldn’t withstand a moment of Kate’s fingers pressing into it. The crack Jack had heard was the sound of Kate’s fingers pressing through the bark of the tree and into the tree itself. Kate sank her hands in more deeply until she had a good grip and then easily broke the root away from the tree. Grinning she gave the not separated tree trunk a slight toss and sent it bounding over the ocean waves.

 

Jack moved away from Kate’s work zone to avoid any splinters getting him. Of course he kept close enough to insure that he could watch Kate working. Kate ran her hand along the tree for a moment before deciding on her next course of action. Kate took a few steps judging the length she wanted the boat to be then sunk her fingers in once again. She tried to make the tear as clean as possible but using her hands that wasn’t going to happen.

 

Kate tore roughly a third of the tree away from the rest. Picking up the segment, she intended to work with for the moment. Kate chose what had once been the base as it had the greatest width. Kate gave the rest of the tree a slight push with her foot. The heavy bit of lumber rolled some 9 yards before stopping just because of Kate’s little tap.

Setting the work segment back down Kate estimated about a foot from the back end and sank her fingers into it. Withdrawing her hand she performed the same procedure on the opposite side.

 

Jack watched as Kate began to walk around the tree using her fingers to punch several holes in a rough outline which he imagined was the area Kate planned to hollow out. The cut was a bit higher then what it would have been normally most likely in an attempt to compensate for the extra material Kate was going to remove when she tore it away instead of cut it away. “What does the sap feel like?”

 

Kate glanced down at her hand for a moment. “Hm I didn’t notice it. I guess it feels like water that is staying on my hand. I can’t say it feels sticky since well it doesn’t. My fingers don’t feel the least bit hindered.” Kate gave a slight shrug and resumed her grin only after looking back to see a goofy grin on Jack’s face.

 

Kate used the impression she had made earlier to estimate when she needed to begin to curve. While a foot of material on each end seemed a bit, much Kate had an idea for making the little boat seem more canoe like before she was finished which would most likely do a good job of wearing down that material. After Kate had made the first revolutions around the tree, she began to make another. This time only using her pinky finger to remove the wood between the finger imprints already made.

 

It was quite the site to see as even though the pinky is the weakest finger. Kate’s didn’t even begin to bind in the least. Jack tried to define just how Kate’s finger pressed into the wood. Most of the time one could say there was a moment of resistance but with Kate there wasn’t. It was as if she was pushing her finger into the thinnest of air. Kate soon completed another circle around the free and finally began to work her hands more deeply into it. “I can only begin to guess how many splinters anyone else would have by now.”

 

Kate grinned and looked up from her work for a moment. A few minutes later there was a loud crunch and Kate tore the top part of the tree off. Reaching it she then began to tear out large chunks of the inside. Grateful that at least for the moment she didn’t have to worry about going too far. At least she didn’t have to worry as much.

 

Jack set away off from Kate now that she had finished hollowing out the tree. She was once again using her knuckles as sanders to great effect as well. So far she had rounded out either end quite nicely and now she was working on the inside. “I wish I knew how they treated these things after they where made. I mean I don’t imagine you want to get stuck to the boat every time you set down.”

 

“I can’t say that I do. Do you think you could use some salt water to wash it out?”

 

“Mm I could give it a try. After this though I am going to get cleaned up.”

 

“How?”

 

“Oh I figured I would just run over 100 times the speed of sound and let the wind friction tear everything off of me. You know, so I don’t have to get wet.”

 

“One of these days you need to let me set up a camera so I can record you while you do that. Well that is if I can find a camera that would operate quick enough.”

 

Kate stood up her body covered in sap and saw dust. The sap causing the dust to stick to her. “Well at least you can see this.” Kate seemed to vanish a moment later as she accelerated to 400mphs. She could accelerate far more quickly and they both knew it, but if she chose to move faster as close as she was to Jack. The sonic boom may very well hurt his ears. Once she was a few miles away though Kate quickly accelerated to several hundred times the speed of sound. Saw dust and sap seeming to vaporize as she broke the sound barrier several times over

 

A gust of wind shot through the area so powerful that it threatened to knock Jack over. Reaching out to stabilize himself a huge grin formed on his face when he looked up to see Kate standing next to him. “I assume you slowed down before coming so close.”

 

“Of course. If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t be setting.” Kate bent at the knees bringing her face about level with Jack’s and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Jack returned the kiss the moment he could though he planted his firmly on Kate’s lips. Kate gave a delighted squeal when she felt Jack’s arms reach under her and he stood up. Though it did get a grunt of effort from him.

 

“You know the body is healed and the spirit is very willing.” Jack didn’t need Kate to tell him her answer. The grin on her face told him everything. This time he carried Kate into the hut.

 



 

“So what are you going to do with them?” Joe stood in front of a rather large tank. The waters inside looked perfectly clear however, he had been told a greater number of nanobots were currently inside.

 

Merry walked over to Joe. “We plan on destroying them now that we have learned all we can. At least we think we have. They are a bit of a liability.”

 

“Hey. Shouldn’t you be worried about me?” Debra glanced over at the two from the tank. Joe had come along to watch the upgrading process for himself. After seeing how little actually seemed to be going on he had spent his time looking around at the various machines.

 

“My mistake.” Merry blushed a bit and quickly made her way back over to her computer console.

 

Debra gave a slight laugh. “It is fine. Still, how far along am I?”

 

Merry took a second to check the readings. “You are currently 76.534% finished and counting. I imagine you have been feeling better as of late.”

 

Debra nodded her head. “Yeah quite a bit actually. I can finally feed myself.”

 

Merry looked up a bit surprised. “Feed yourself? You didn’t mention that you were having trouble eating.”

 

Debra let out a sigh and blushed a bit. “Whoops. Well yeah, I have been having trouble controlling my strength so eating has been difficult.”

 

Elaine looked over at Debra. “Why didn’t you tell us this? I mean how have you been eating.”

 

Debra groaned. “I was a little embarrassed okay. Joe has been coming by for the past few weeks and cooking for me.”

 

Joe looked away from the tank towards Elaine then Debra. “Considering that she ate my cooking instead of simply informing you two that she was having trouble eating shows you just how embarrassing she found it to be.”

 

Elaine, Merry and Debra laughed a bit but Elaine sobered up quite quickly. “Now Debra that was quite dangerous of you. Just how long would you have gone without eating before you informed us?”

 

Debra grumbled a bit. “I could eat some.”

 

Elaine didn’t let Debra finish. “You just couldn’t eat anything decent. Debra that is dangerous. Now just how long did you intend on waiting before you told us? If Joe here hadn’t helped you out.”

 

Debra bit down on her lip for a moment. “I was fairly close to informing you just before he showed up.” Debra silently cursed herself for allowing her tongue to slip and mentioning that she could just now feed herself.

 

Elaine tapped her computer screen for a moment. “Well you are an adult.

Just keep in mind that you may be immune to bullets but you are not immune to starving.” Debra simply nodded her head in agreement. How she hated the way Elaine could make someone feel like a little kid even when she was calling them an adult.

 

Debra and Joe walked away from the lab. They were fairly silent until the door was out of sight then Joe, spoke up. “I am glad that you didn’t tell anyone you were having trouble eating. Other wise I wouldn’t have got to spend so much time with you.”

 

A smile formed on Debra’s face. “I am glad to hear it. It was nice spending time with you as well. Maybe you can continue to drop by and I could try cooking for you. Though I have to warn you I am a few weeks out of practice now.”

 

Joe nodded his head. “That would be nice and don’t worry if it tastes bad. I can just say I am not hungry and fix myself something later.”

 

Debra gave a slight laugh. “Oh so you would leave me to eat all of it?”

 

“Well you are the one with the iron stomach here. Not me. It won’t be much longer until the upgrades are finished will it?”

 

“Nope. I just have a little longer. The more of the new nanobots I have in my system the easier it is to get the old ones out.”

 

Joe gave a nod. “I wonder why they didn’t just have the new nanobots tear apart the old and use them to make more of themselves.”

 

“Because that would mean they have the potential to tear me apart from the inside out and that wouldn’t be a good thing. If any of the nanobots inside of my body are destroyed, they aren’t designed to make more of themselves. I will just get weaker proportional to the amount destroyed as the remaining nanobots have to spread throughout my body more. It does mean I could lose my strength but to be honest if the nanobots are getting destroyed I am probably in pretty big trouble anyway.”

 

“Yeah and I guess the peace of mind is worth it. You don’t have to worry about them malfunctioning as much.”

 

“You bet.”

 

Joe gave a slight yelped a few moments later when he felt Debra’s arm move behind his back. Wrapping around him she easily lifted him off the ground so that she was now carrying him under one arm. “You know I just realized we have never even shaken hands.” Debra had a large grin on her face as she looked down at Joe.

 

“I think we may have when we first met. Before you began under going this upgrading process. I can’t remember for sure though.”

 

“All well” Debra made no move to put Joe down even as she carried him past some workers.

 

“So are you going to be cooking for me today?”

 

“Yes I am. Though you can forget that comment about you being full. After all. You aren’t wearing your equipment right now.” Joe pretended to start struggling against Debra though he refrained from trying as hard as he could. He was confident that she couldn’t brake free of her grip however, he didn’t want to risk tearing her clothes off. Joe gave his head a quick shake realizing his mistake. He didn’t want to risk the consequences of tearing her clothes off, he would very happily shred every last bit of fabric Debra had on.

 

Debra half considered tearing her door out of its place when she arrived at her room but decided against it. While she could probably get away with saying that she lost control of her strength for a moment. She didn’t like the idea of what would happen later. Once in the kitchen Debra set Joe down on one of the seats and began to remember some of the tricks Kate had mentioned to her in order to show off her strength. While Debra didn’t know if Joe liked strength as much as Jack did. She felt confident that he liked something about her. Especially considering how lengthy some of his visits had been.

 



 

“May I have some?” Tina stood next to Mathews as they looked at the nanobots that had been removed from Debra’s body.

 

“Some what?”

 

Tina grinned. “Some of the nanobots of course. I wouldn’t need the same amount as Debra though just enough to let me endure some even higher g-forces.”

 

Mathews gave a slight laugh and shook his head in the negative. “No. We took a bit of risk using these on Debra. It was just decided that it was worth the risk at the time. Now that we have most of them out and no longer need them. I don’t want to take that risk again.”

 

“Well blast it.”

 

“I swear, do all of you women want super human strength?” Mathews looked at Tina.

 

Tina gave a slight laugh. “No. Not all of us. I was just wondering if you had something that would help me handle more g-forces.”

 

Mathews let out a sigh. “We thought about using them. I mean the nanobots Debra was upgraded to. However, the problem lies in production. We don’t have the budget to handle mass producing enough nanobots for more then 1 or 2 people and to be honest one person is plenty costly.”

 

Tina nodded her head. “Well maybe you will think of another use later on.”

 

“Oh we have some other uses planned. We just need to developed the nanobots a little further. While mass producing the little ones is a bit beyond our ability. We have some plans for larger less advanced versions.”

 

Tina just gave a quick nod of her head and looked back to the tank.

 



 

As Kate reached a hand into the bond fire, the flames seemed too more lick her fingers then anything else. Of course that was all they could do to her. Taking a moment to flip the bits of fish they had cooking Kate smiled at Jack. “You love watching me do that. Don’t you?”

 

“You know I do.”

 

Kate grinned and proceeded to hold her hand in the flames. Allowing the fire to lick at her fingers. As Jack watched, it seemed the flames grew all the hotter as if attempting to devour Kate’s flesh. He knew that wasn’t going to happen though. Even the sun’s flames didn’t have the required amount of heat to do anything more then lick and taste Kate’s flesh. Kate finally withdrew her hand once a coating of black suit had formed on it. Holding it up and away from the fire, Jack could still feel the rush of air and issued forth from Kate’s lips. The suit was cleaned off in a moment. “So have you enjoyed our little vacation?”

 

“It has been nice though I have to admit. I do miss the lab and my computer. If it hadn’t been for you though, I would have considered this trip a huge waste of time.”

 

Jack felt Kate’s warm lips press against the side of his cheek. As she deposited a gentle kiss on his face Kate gave a slight suck for a moment. The suction wasn’t enough to harm Jack but he most assuredly noticed it. “So if you had to choose between all your modern conveniences and me. Which would you choose?”

 

“You of course.” Jack didn’t even need to think of his response. As much as he enjoyed working with technology. He enjoyed spending time with Kate by far.

 

“Mm I am glad to here it.”

 

“So if you had to choose between your strength and me which would it be?”

 

“You. After all if I didn’t have you around so I could show off. I wouldn’t really have a great deal of purpose to have so much strength.”

 

Jack looked into the fire for a moment. “Are you sure that type of fish is edible?”

 

Kate gave a slight laugh. “Yeah I am sure. Though if you are that worried you can eat another mre. After all. Even if it was toxic, I doubt that it would bother me.” Kate wasn’t sure if she regretted or comment or not as she noted a look of relief on Jack’s face.

 

“Thanks. I think I am going to stick what I know is safe.” Kate just chose to laugh. She could understand why Jack was worried. She wasn’t sure she would be willing to try some tropical fish freshly caught from the ocean if she was still human either. “It has been a while since you have eaten. Hasn’t it?”

 

“A few weeks. I guess I don’t need to eat as often as I thought.”

 

“Well that or your body is very good at storing material from when you use to over eat.”

 

Kate nodded her head in agreement then looked at the fish. “Now you have me worried that it is going to taste bad.”

 

“Hmm you know. I realize hot food wouldn’t have any effect on you no matter how hot it was. However, how does spicy food affect you?”

 

Kate thought about the question for a moment. “Come to think of it I really don’t know. I imagine it wouldn’t affect me anymore then anything else though. After all none of the chemical agents that have been tested on me have been able to affect me. Even if they were just meant to irritate me.”

 

“Oh really. I remember there was something that affected you.”

 

“What?”

 

“The skunk sent.”

 

Jack had to keep himself from laughing as a sickened look appeared on Kate’s face. “Well I do still have a since of smell. However, that wasn’t just a skunk sent as far as I could tell. I have smelt skunks before and while they do stink. Whatever you used on me smelt a lot stronger.”

 

“I was just glad that it wasn’t over powering to you.”

 

“Mmm yeah. That would be pretty embarrassing all of this strength and speed and a scent taking me down. Of course. I don’t have to worry about that, no matter how bad the order is.”

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“Because I either don’t need to breath or I can hold my breath for a very long time. I just wish we knew which one.”

 

Jack gave himself a quick smack to the forehead. “Yeah. I guess that is pretty obvious.”

 

Kate reached out and took hold of the hand Jack had used to hit his forehead. Pulling him forward a bit she reached a hand behind his head and forced it down a bit. She then proceeded to give his head a kiss where his hand had smacked. “Well some things are going to slip even your mind. That is no reason to go hitting yourself.”

 

As Kate held Jack close, he took the opportunity to lean forward and gave her a kiss just above her breast. Before he could respond though he felt his head pulled down and into Kate’s cleavage. “Now if you are going to get that close. Why not just give them a kiss?” Jack didn’t hesitate in the lean and proceeded to give each of Kate’s breast not one but several kisses. As he was kissing Kate’s flesh though he couldn’t help but notice an odd smell.

 

“Uhh Kate is something burning.”

 

Kate wasn’t very concerned as she looked up. She had been enjoying the feeling of Jack’s kisses on her breast. However, as she did so she realized it had been to long since she put the fish over the fire. “Well poop you made me burn my fish. What are you going to do to make it up to me?”

 

Jack could have argued that it wasn’t his fault she had become distracted but he wasn’t nearly foolish enough to do that. Instead he plunged strait into making amends, kissing and massage Kate’s breast. “Mm that will work quite nicely.” Kate leaned backwards deciding to let Jack take the lead. Except she resolved since he was making up for burning her fish. That she would never allow his head to reach above her breast. While this meant occasionally pushing his head back down Jack never seemed to notice.

 



 

Debra smiled as she looked at herself within the reflective metal. Her body had always been toned as her job required her to stay fit. However, the nanobots had added a fair amount of mass to her build, which she found herself actually liking quite a bit. “So you finally have all of the old nanobots out of my system?”

 

“Yes. At least according to Elaine and Merry. However, there is a slight possibility that we missed a few of them. Now we just have a few tests to run.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“We want to gage just how strong you truly are at the moment and see a few other things.”

 

“So what lab should I head down to?”

 

“Weapons testing. Of course I am heading there now, so why don’t we just walk down together?” Debra gave a nod and proceeded to follow Mathews out of the room.

 

It wasn’t a long walk at all and Debra found herself looking around the lab. Various areas were set up both for shield testing and for offensive weapons testing. She also took note of the TK chamber that Elaine and Merry had build based on Wally’s gloves. Walking over to the chamber she touched the outside. “So how is your research of the gloves coming?”

 

“It is going well enough, before to long we hope we can make it so Tina’s armor generates a barrier and maybe some weapons based on the technology.” Elaine walked into the room carrying a small hand-held computer.

 

“I assume, since you said it would be for Tina. That it will be a while still before you have something a normal human can handle.”

 

“Well yes, but we have a different weapon to test for the time being.”

 

Debra smiled and flexed her right arms. The nanobots infused muscle raising up even larger then it had previously.” You mean these?”

 

Elaine gave a slight laugh. “Yes I do. Now I think for starters we would like to weigh you. See how much the nanobots added to your weight.”

 

Debra gave a nod and allowed Elaine to lead her over to a scale. What she didn’t notice was Mathews covering his ears as Elaine helped her onto the rather sturdy looking machine. Elaine proceeded to punch in a few buttons and then the reading came out. “WHAT? HOW CAN I WEIGHT THAT MUCH?” Elaine covered her ears quickly after Debra began to speak, each word that came out of the woman’s mouth seemed to generate a shockwave that she could feel in her ribs. Debra glanced around the room when no answer came. Realizing what she had done she covered her mouth feeling more then a little embarrassed.

 

Elaine waited for her ears to stop ringing before responding. “Mm 700lbs yeah that is about the amount of additional mass we expected the nanobots to add to you.”

 

Debra didn’t know what to say at first as she continued to look at the reading. It actually took her a good five minutes to find her voice. “Okay so I am really heavy. I guess the additional strength off set it so much I didn’t notice. Now just why am I so much heavier? I thought the nanobots weighed the same.”

 

Elaine gave a slight chuckle. “Oh heavens no. The new nanobots are much heavier then the old thanks to the material we used. It is also why they are so much stronger even though you have the same amount as you used to.”

 

Debra let out a long groan. She wasn’t exactly happy with the weight increase considering the task that it would make more difficult. However, she was extremely happy with the increase so the upside out weighed the down sides in her mind. It just took some away from it. “Well it is still a good trade off. I can handle, being a few times heavier then most humans to be far stronger then any normal human.”

 

Mathews gave Debra a few pats on the shoulder. “Now just don’t scream again.”

 

Debra gave a slight laugh. “Yeah. Sorry about that it just surprised me. I guess it was a good thing you never replaced my steel frame bed. Though, I have no idea what I am going to do about driving or when I go to visit my family members. I don’t know if their homes were designed to have someone as heavy as I am walking around.”

 

Elaine smiled. “Well if you want we could remove the nanobots, though once they were taken out that would be it. We would need to find someone that can keep them in all the time.”

 

“Don’t you even think about trying it.” Debra had a huge grin on her face. “Believe me the weight increase is just a slight draw back when compared to the strength increase. Can I still swim?”

 

Elaine gave a quick nod. “Yes you are still capable of swimming. You just have to be sure to position your arms correctly and exert enough downward force. Though come to think of it we probably should let you practice some just in case you ever get knocked into the water. After all, a few tons of downward force is more then enough to counter act your weight.”

 

“That sounds right. Of course finding the right balance is going to be a pain.”

 

Mathews took a few steps back. “Well it seems like you two can handle the testing. Elaine, I want a report later on.”

 

Elaine nodded and turned her attention back to Debra. “I didn’t intend to find out how much force you needed to exert to swim. However, we can test that today as well.”

 

“All right. Well now that you have weighed me what is the next test going to be?”

 

“First we want to see how much you can endure outside of pure physical force.”

 

“So, you want to try and heat me up?”

 

“And cool you down.”

 

Debra gave an understanding nod. “So which one is first?”

 

“Well I am going to leave that up to you. Which would you prefer to do first? Be locked into what amounts to a fridge or see how much heat you can handle?”

 

Debra rolled her eyes. “What wonderful choices, I guess I will go with the fridge first.”

 

Elaine gave a nod. “All right that one should take the least amount of time anyway. We designed the nanobots to help your biological systems all around and theorize that you can handle any level of cold. At least any level of cold that you are likely to encounter while working.”

 

Debra shuddered a bit. “I don’t like the sound of that. Just how cold do you plan on making it?”

 

“Well the lowest temperature that we plan on taking you down to is 73 Kelvins. That is if you can endure going down that far. If you should say that you have had enough though we will end the experiment right there.”

 

“Do I want to know what that is in?”

 

Elaine didn’t let Debra finish. “No. I don’t think that you do. Anyway, that is the lowest we are prepared to take you down to.”

 

Debra nodded her head. “Have you tested Kate for that?”

 

Elaine rolled her eyes. “We tried to test Kate, however there was a problem with that.”

 

“Which was?”

 

“Kate’s body is exceptionally stubborn and the lower the temperature drops the more energy it puts out. We couldn’t even get the surface temperature of her skin to drop.”

 

“Hm and how should mine work?”

 

“The nanobots should start generating heat once they detect the temperature has dropped so far. From that point on it is going to be a competition between the machines and cooling unit.”

 

“All right. Well I have stalled you long enough. How about we begin?”

 

Elaine nodded her agreement and proceeded to lead Debra towards the back of the lab. Soon they came to a large steel chamber or it seemed to be steel. Debra thought the machine looked like an over sized refrigerator built into the wall. Elaine noted the look on Debra’s face but didn’t say anything. Instead she just grinned and opened the door. “Don’t worry. You are more then strong enough to tear this door off if I were to try to freeze you to death.”

 

Debra rolled her eyes and proceeded to step into the devices. “I take it I have a source of air.” Elaine nodded and shut the door. Sliding a few locks into place she walked over to a near by computer station and flipped the machine on. Debra heard a low hum a few moments later and leaned back against the wall. To wait for herself to begin to feel cold. Debra let her arms hang limp at her side despite her instincts telling her to wrap them around herself in an attempt to maintain her body heat. She wanted to see what the nanobots were capable of doing.

 

Elaine watched the numbers on the screen plummeting. At least the numbers that revealed the temperature of the air in the room. Debra’s body was another story as the nanobots seemed to be doing quite a good job of insulating her. Looking towards the cooling unit, Elaine wondered what Debra was currently doing. Standing within a refrigeration unit waiting to feel cold must be quite boring.

 

Debra drummed her fingers against the back of the machine waiting to feel cold. While she could tell the air temperature had indeed changed it didn’t feel cold to her. Then she moved a bit and could have sworn she felt her shirt brake a little. Looking down at herself Debra ran her fingers along her blouse and was amazed to find out unmoving it seemed. At least it didn’t seem to want to bend like cloth material any longer. Debra gave the material a light squeeze, a few bits of the stitching feel away as if broken off a moment later. Debra didn’t know how cold it was in the room but now she was quite confident that it was cold.

 

Elaine could hear Debra’s fingers tapping against the back side of the machine. She didn’t bother turning the device off as she knew the sound would be much louder of Debra was actually struggling and the machine would be in several parts by now. She imagined it was effectively Debra drumming her fingers against the insides of the cooling unit and not realizing how much force she was actually using.

 

When Debra stopped tapping her fingers, Elaine gave the readings a quick check to see how she was fairing.

 

“I liked this shirt.” Debra mused to herself as she looked down at the rest of her clothing. More then likely the cold had already ruined the clothing she had been wearing. Debra let out a resigned sight deciding that it would be best to simply go ahead and finish the experiment now that her outfit was most likely ruined anyway. At least she was beginning to feel a little cool now. Perhaps the experiment would be over soon.

 

Elaine watched as Debra’s surface skin temperature reading lowered the slightest. Not a great deal but at least it revealed that the nanobots were finally reaching their limits. Then again so was the machine. It was actually having difficulty getting the temperatures down to the planned ones as the heat Debra’s body and the nanobots generated kept warming the chamber back up slightly. Overall the test had the results that Elaine had been expecting. However, with so many machines working together Elaine and Merry had both felt it was a good idea to try a blunt test.

 

At last Debra heard the machine shut off and the door began to open. A warm breeze seemed to feel the room and Debra began to step out. As she did so several snaps reached her ears. Debra looked down to notice that her pants and shirt had several rather significant tears in them. “Whoops,” was Elaine’s response as she looked upon the torn clothes.

 

Debra looked up to find Elaine standing a fair distance away. The reason was fairly obvious as she doubted the woman would have enjoyed the massive burst of cold air that was released when the door had been opened. “Yeah. I didn’t stop to think what effect the cold would have on my clothes either. So are we going to do the heat test next?”

 

“Well yes, but I think you need to change into another outfit. As well what you are wearing now is all ready rather lacking and it wouldn’t survive the heat extremes you could endure previously. I mean the last time you could endure temperatures that would have melted steel and that is around 1,500 degrees Celsius.”

 

Debra gave a nod of her head. “So do you have any clothing in mind?”

 

Elaine gave a quick nod of her head and lead Debra to a locker. Opening up, the container held several of Kate’s uniforms. Some of which had become too delicate for Kate to use not that the uniforms had become weaker rather it was because Kate had become that much stronger and faster. A few of them also revealed themselves to be quite early models, thanks to the lack of coloring. Elaine proceeded to reach into the locker and pulled out a few of the solid black uniforms. “These should do just fine. They are older so your strength should be enough to stretch them comfortably.”

 

Debra gave a slight shrug and took the uniform. Elaine began to direct Debra to a changing station however the words weren’t out of her mouth before Debra had her shirt removed and was slipping out of her shorts. Elaine had to remind herself that Debra wasn’t exactly new to changing in front of coworkers.

 

Debra didn’t really think anything of Elaine’s presence as she slipped on the uniform. She was simply another female coworker after all. As she put on the uniform, she was a bit surprised. “Now I know mine and Kate’s builds are similar but this really fits well.”

 

Elaine gave a nod. “Well that isn’t because your builds are similar actually. Rather, that material simply stretches. If you weren’t strong enough to wear it then well it could be very uncomfortable to say the least. Also if someone else had put it on you then it might have crushed you. I know if you were to hold it open while I slipped it on it would brake every bone in my body.”

 

“Mm so I shouldn’t try to put on any of Kate’s newer sets of clothes and most assuredly shouldn’t let her put one on me.”

 

Elaine gave a quick nod of her head. “Yes that would be bad idea. Anyway, now that you are dressed. How about we test and see how much heat you can endure?”

 

Debra nodded her head. “I take it that unlike the last test you plan on finding a limit.”

 

“Well yes. Thanks in part to the weapons Kate recovered and the improvements we have made. I am fairly certain that simply turning them up to their max and seeing if you could endure them would be a bad idea. Most likely you wouldn’t be there.”

 

Debra gave a slight laugh. “Well. Where do I go?”

 

Elaine indicated a clear wall, which Debra realized was actually a corridor. “I want you to stand in the very back of that. Now the air molecules are going to get pretty thin once the heat begins to build. So if you feel as if you are having too much trouble breathing I need you to signal me. Lets say, one finger raised in the air means the oxygen is too hard for you to breath if things start to get too hot just raise two fingers.”

 

Debra gave a nod and proceeded to make her way over to the corridor. After finding the entrance she walked to the very back while Elaine made her way back to her computer. A moment later Debra watched as a rather large cannon moved into position. The weapon was clearly made for lab testing as its size was far too great even for Tina’s powered armor to use effectively.

 

“Ready?” Elaine called out.

 

Debra raised her hand in an okay sign and then heard a slight hum.

 

A moment later a red beam of light emitted from the cannon and struck Debra in the chest. There was no pushing except for a sudden rush thanks to the heat causing the air to quickly expand. However, there was a great deal of warm. As if Debra had just stepped out of a cold room into a bright summer day.

 

Elaine had started the weapon at a high setting though no where near what the nanobots could withstand on their own. She needed to find out how well the machines protected Debra’s organic body parts after all. 1,500 degrees Celsius seemed like a good starting point considering what Debra had endured earlier. She then entered a command for the machine to increase the temperature 5 degrees every second. While this seemed a bit extreme Elaine also realized that at her current endurance level any longer would have taken far too long if they were going to find Debra’s new limits.

 

As the heat began to increase Debra looked toward Elaine to insure the woman was watching her. Indeed she was, waiting to see if she held up any of her fingers. This helped reassure Debra and she resolved to tough it out until she truly began to feel hot. Not so much that her skin was burning but at least as if she had put to much hot water in the bath tub. Of course Debra felt it a little strange that they were even testing to see what her limitations were. After all if such an extreme threat arrived then she couldn’t very well back down. Of course it would let them decide what situations they could send her into without Kate’s help.

 

Debra couldn’t help but think that the information could do more harm then anything else. As it would allow someone to figure the best way to deal with her. Debra shifted her shoulders a bit as she felt as if she was sweating. Realizing what may be happening soon she raised two of her fingers and waited for Elaine to shut down the machine.

 

It only took Elaine a split second to send the machine the command to shut down. The tunnel didn’t open up right away but rather was filled with cool air from various vents. Once the temperature had dropped enough it finally opened.

 

Debra stretched a bit as she walked out. “Well did you get the data you wanted?”

 

“Yes I did. Your can handle …”

 

“No need to tell me.” Debra halted Elaine before she could finish the sentence. “I can just feel my way along.”

 

Elaine was a bit surprised but shrugged it off. “Well then that is your heat and cold test. Now how about we check into your toxin filters?”

 

Debra blinked for a moment. “Toxin filters?”

 

Elaine smiled and gave a quick nod. “Yes the nanobots are designed to protect the organic parts of your body. Part of this task is hunting down dangerous toxins when they enter into your system. It should also protect you from irritants such as tear gas.”

 

“Well I have already been chilled and baked. I guess gassing me isn’t going to harm anything. Just how do you plan on testing it though? I mean you can’t very well shut down a virus once it has gotten loose in my system.”

 

“I am going to introduce a small amount of toxins into your system at the time. Then we are going to see how long the nanobots take to respond to them. By doing this we can get an idea of what it would take to overwhelm your systems without actually putting you in any danger.”

 

Debra gave a nod. “Okay where do we do that?”

 

“Not here, this lab was designed to handle weapons of a mechanical nature. We need to go the biological research wing.”

 

“I was wondering. Do you have any other uses planned for these things?”

 

“Of course we do. Merry and I hope to make a great contribution to the field of medicine thanks to this technology. We just have to develop a model that is safe and easily produced. Though that isn’t easy to do.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

Elaine gave a slight shake of her head. “Well making nanobots is quite hard at least for us it is difficult. As we have to carefully monitor what they are doing at the time. Well producing them isn’t really the hard part. Insuring the ones that we produce aren’t defective is the hard part.”

 

Debra followed Elaine out of the weapons testing lab and down the hall towards the biological. “So what do you hope to do?”

 

“Well. The first nanobots we hope that can be used for medical use may not be considered nanobots really. Achieving a scale smaller then human cells, is quite the difficult task. So we hope to developed a machine that is only a few times larger and safer. We also have a few ideas for just how we should go about insuring the machines are safe to use.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“We want to limit their programing to a very narrow range of actions and make it so they can’t be reprogrammed unless they are being shut down and removed.”

 

Debra gave a nod. “So. No turn against your host and destroy them from the inside out?”

 

Elaine gave a slight laugh. “Exactly. Further more we need to find a way to easily destroy the machines should they prove difficult to control.”

 

Debra thought about this for a second. “Tell me. Is this one of the reason weapons developed with the nanobots and energy weapons are going faster then the TK weapons?”

 

“Well yes it is. The TK weapons are very interesting but the energy weapon Joe uses and your nanobots have a great deal more promise then Wally’s weapon. We have to have something marketable and ready to show the public before the next major political crises.”

 

“So that you have something pretty to cover up whatever ugliness may be found?”

 

“Exactly. Of course we also want to insure that any ugliness found here is quite minor if there is any at all. I suppose the means which we used to retrieve the nanobots could be considered ugliness.”

 

Debra gave a nod. “Yeah. Not to mention the head popping that Kate does. I am actually a little surprised that no one has called Kate down on that one.”

 

“Yes that wouldn’t look pretty at all in the papers. Of course it is nice that Kate is passionate about her work. I bet you are going to be as well.”

 

“Well those freaks do deserve a taste of their own medicine.” Elaine stopped as she came to a rather large set of doors. Quickly she entered a pass code and allowed her and Debra to enter.

 

Elaine stopped in front of Debra and looked to a side room. “Give me a second.” Elaine stepped into the room for a few moments. When she came out, she was wearing some goggles, a safety mask and some gloves.

 

“You seem a little under dressed. I thought you would be wearing a space suit.”

 

Elaine chuckled and waved her hand. “Not for what we are going to be testing on you. Actually I plan on starting the test with tear gas. I imagine you have experience with that.”

 

“Oh lord yes. Even before I got my powers. Some rookie tossed a grenade into the wind, suddenly we found ourselves caught in a cloud of teargas.”

 

Elaine gave a slight laugh and lead Debra into the first secured room of the biological wing.” Nothing in this room is particular dangerous. Really this stuff is just meant to immobilize a threat well most of it.”

 

Debra took her time looking around. “What? No anthrax?”

 

“No. This facility only has materials that we may actually use or need to study. A few things meant to render someone unconscious. And compounds meant, for studying unique genetic structures. We also have everything the medical wing has.” Elaine walked over to a few shelves and started to rummage through them. It didn’t take her long to find 4 spray cans. Please take a seat.”

 

Debra set where she was indicated and waited as Elaine came over.

 

Elaine set down next to Debra a few moments later. “Okay which one? Do you want to start with?”

 

Debra looked at each one of the spray cans. Each one contained a substance meant to immobilize a suspect. “I really don’t like the idea of starting with any of them but I guess since I don’t have a choice. We can go with standard pepper spray.”

 

“Okay.” Elaine picked up the can, turned the cap to on and gave Debra a quick spray in the face. Debra’s first response was to shut her eyes as if they had been stung but she opened them back up quickly. “Well how is that?”

 

Debra looked around for a moment. “Nothing. There isn’t any pain at all.” Debra proceeded to wipe the substance from her face. The moment she did Elaine sprayed her again though this time she held down the trigger for a much longer time. Debra simply remained still hoping that the nanobots didn’t suddenly decide to fell considering the amount of pepper spray she now had on her face. At last Elaine stopped.

 

“Anything?”

 

“I feel wet and I imagine I need to get this stuff off me before I walk down the hall but I am fine.”

 

“Yes that would probably be a good idea. Now lets go to something a little more potent.”

 



 

Kate busied herself, gathering up the various materials she and Jack had brought to the island. Though she planned on leaving the landing pad, hut and everything else, she had construction from materials found on the island. “I wonder what the next person to arrive here is going to think.”

 

Jack looked up from his suit case and towards the interior of the island. “I have no idea. I mean you didn’t cause too much damage, you just left very precise damage. When should Tina be here to pick us up?”

 

“It shouldn’t take her much longer. So have you enjoyed yourself?”

 

“It was an all right vacation. Not something that I would want to do very often though. I am a little more accustomed to the comforters of modern living after all.”

 

Kate gave a quick nod. “Yeah. I don’t think that I am really much less accustomed then you are. It is just. Things that bother you don’t bother me.”

 

“Like bug bights, the need of sun block and how hard the ground is?”

 

Kate gave a slight chuckle. “Well yeah. That and I can get cleaned up easier.” Kate hefted the heavy container and carried it over near the landing pad. She knew that Jack would want to leave whenever the helicopter arrived so she planned on getting things loaded quickly. “The next time we take a vacation. How about you plan the spot?”

 

Jack gave a nod. “I would appreciate that. Maybe a nice spot with lots of heavy equipment for you to show off with. I mean those boulders you played with was nice, but it isn’t anything like seeing you lift a tank.”

 

“Oh so you want somewhere that I can really flaunt my power?”

 

“I would love such a spot but I don’t know of any. I mean you have gone beyond our ability to test. At least any ability that I know of.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“For what?”

 

Kate gave Jack a huge grin. “For giving me that strength. After all you were the one that gave me the serum.”

 

Jack just nodded and began to carry the lighter items to the helicopter pad while Kate carried over the lighter. Once finished the two simply sat down and waited for the helicopter to arrive.

 



 

Mathews, Wally, Joe and Debra all set within the meeting room awaiting for Kate’s return from her vacation. Tina would be coming back with Kate and Jack wouldn’t actually be in on the meeting. Mathews preferred to keep him out of the light as much as possible even when dealing with other team members. Which Jack was actually quite grateful for. As he had no real desire to get involved in the more dangerous parts of the job. The door opened only five minutes after the four had gathered in the room.

 

Mathews grinned as he saw Kate. “So how did the vacation go?”

 

“It was quite a bit of fun. So you wanted to speak to us all?”

 

Mathews nodded. “Yes I did. While you were away Wally, Tina and Joe have been making some public appearances in order to drum up further support for our cause. Since you are finally back from your vacation I want to set down and talk to you all about just how you would like things to operate. As far as vacation time and other matters.”

 

Tina pulled up a seat and sat down. “That is a little strange. Wouldn’t you normally tell us what you want to do?”

 

Mathews gave a slight laugh. “Yes I would. If you were all regular soldiers. I would that is. However, thanks to your position you are getting some special treatment. That said you are also going to be taking some unique risk.”

 

Kate set down next to Tina. “All right. So lets talk. What type of vacation time do you want to give us? I assume you want to talk about work hours as well.”

 

Mathews nodded. “Yes I do. Kate since you only need 2 hours of sleep each day to function. I was hoping that I could have you on call constantly. Of course this means you will get extra days off. Does anyone have a problem with that logic?”

 

Kate didn’t give anyone time to protest. “Oh I don’t need extra days off. I am happy to go head to head with any threat.”

 

Mathews smiled. “Well I am glad to here that but I don’t mean days off from combat calls. I mean you will have to make fewer public appearances and deal with people less. Anyway, as the most powerful member of the team you really are something of the figure head.”

 

“Ohh do the less time I spend in public. The less likely they are going to find any flaws in me.”

 

“Correct” Was Mathews blunt response.

 

Kate blinked her eyes for a few moments some what stunned by Mathews answer. A few seconds later a large smile had formed on her face then she couldn’t hold in her laughter. At last when Kate was able to get a hold of herself. “Well okay. I am fine with that.”

 

Mathews gave a nod. “I am glad to here it. Tina, I would like to keep you active as far as handling press conferences.”

 

“Since you can feed me information?”

 

“Yes. Though you should feel free to express your own thoughts as well.”

 

Tina gave a slight laugh. “As long as it wouldn’t be too damning for the organization? I am fine with that. I don’t want to risk the funding going away after all and having to say good by to my armor.”

 

Mathews gave a nod. “Now. Joe, Wally, Debra. Just where do you stand in all of this?”

 

Debra let out a sigh. “I would prefer to be kept out of the public eye.”

 

Wally grinned. “Well I don’t mind speaking with the press.”

 

Joe gave his hands a quick clap. “Well then I guess that is settled then. Wally and Tina can continue handling the public appearances as they were.”

 

Mathews just gave a quick shrug. “Now keep in mind this is just policy. Kate, you are going to have to make public appearance as are all of you. Tina and Wally will just handle the majority.”

 



 

Kate rubbed her head as she walked through the hallway. Debra and Joe following close behind. “Well that was awfully boring. So Debra. What have I missed while I was away?”

 

Debra grinned. “Well.” She then proceeded to take Joe’s hand so that Kate could see.

 

It took Kate a moment to catch on but once the fog had lifted from her mind do to the meeting a large grin was on her face. “That is just wonderful, I am glad you found someone. I didn’t know you were looking.”

 

Debra gave a slight chuckle. “I wasn’t looking. It just happened when I was being upgraded.”

 

Joe gave a slight laugh. “She might have not been looking but I was.”

 

Kate gave a slight smirk. “Well just be careful you don’t get upset with one another. It would make it rather hard to work together.”

 

Debra waved her hand. “Don’t worry we are both professionals. I could work with something I disliked quite a bit. Provided they did their job of course.”

 

Kate gave a nod. “All right then. So what lead to you seeing each other?”

 

Debra patted Joe on the shoulder. “He took advantage of me during a time of weakness thanks to lack of food. I couldn’t control my strength for a while and was having one heck of a time feeding myself. He came by one day and started helping out.”

 

Kate couldn’t hide the amusement in her voice. “It seems that is a good way for them to work. After all, Jack moved in on me while I was sick.” Kate looked at Joe. “What lead you to the decision to stop by Debra’s room?”

 

“I noticed how sick she looked in the meeting room and figured it might not all be from her upgrades. So I figured I would check up on one of my team mates. Once she began to look less sickly I also noticed how attractive she was.”

 

Debra gave Jack a slight nudge. “What? So I didn’t look attractive when you saw me at the meeting?”

 

Jack turned his head to the side a bit. “I would rather not answer that if you want honest.”

 

Kate giggled a bit. “Debra, you looked like you were about to either pass out or throw up. Maybe even both.”

 

Debra let out a sigh. “Honesty can be so mean.”

 

“So has anything else changed while I was away?”

 

Debra nodded her head again. “I put on a bet of weight while you were away. Tina’s armor has some upgrades and Mathews already told you about the press conference and appearances that Wally and Tina did.”

 

Kate turned and got a good look at Debra “Well you do look a little bigger. How much weight have you put on?”

 

Debra groaned. “I weigh around 700 pounds.”

 

Kate’s eyes seemed to double in size. “What? Seven hundred pounds how did that happen?”

 

Debra gave a slight laugh. “The nanobots inside of me. Apparently they weight a lot more then the volume they add would indicate. Of course the strength I gained easily offsets the weight gain.”

 

Kate gave a nod. “I imagine you had to have a special bed made.”

 

“Yeah the frame is quite sturdy and the mattress is, well I don’t know what it is made out of.”

 

Joe rubbed the back of his neck. “She may be okay with it but it is a little solid for my taste.”

 

Debra gave Joe a quick nudge which got a grin from Kate. “Well I will be seeing to you two around. I am going to see how Jack is doing. Maybe he hasn’t finished bathing yet since he was going to unpack first.”

 

Once Kate had made it down the hall Debra turned to Joe. “What do you mean to solid? You spend most of your time laying on me.”

 

“You’re not exactly the softest thing to lie on. Though I love to do it.”

 

“Mmm and I couldn’t very well lay on top of you.”

 

Kate found Jack setting on the couch when she entered the room. A large grin formed on her face as she realized he had yet to take a bath “Were you waiting for me?”

 

Jack gave a grin. “Well yeah.”

 

“I am glad you did. Come on lets go and take a bath.” Kate proceeded to walk over to Jack and lift him from the chair.

 

“Did the meeting go well?”

 

“It went quite well though it wasn’t quite what I expected. It seems Debra and Joe are together. Perhaps we can go on a few double dates now.” Jack just gave a slight nod and looked forward to take a nice indoor shower with Kate.

 



 

“Hello, how are you doing?” Kate set on the sofa as she talked on the phone. She has just called Debra after a 20 minute nap.

 

“I am doing fine. What is up?”

 

“I was wondering if you would like to get a little exercise with me.

Perhaps let the men watch.”

 

“Doing what?”

 

“I thought we would spar some.”

 

Debra gave a slight laugh. “Kate, I might have had an upgrade but I don’t think I could challenge you.”

 

“Well I plan on holding back. Really I need to work on my fighting style. It has been so long that I have even forgotten most of the lessons I learned in the police force. I figure I can hold back and not use my speed. That way I can relearn my moves and you can get some exercise.”

 

“That sounds like a good idea. Is Jack already up?”

 

“No. I don’t imagine Joe is either.”

 

Debra gave an amused laugh. “No. He isn’t awake just yet. So when do you think it would be a good time to begin and where?”

 

“Give the men two more hours to sleep. Then meet me on the firing range. I don’t want you to hold back so I will use my grounding force to avoid being knocked too far away.”

 

“See you then.” Debra had a fairly large smile on her face as she hung up the phone. As long as Kate held back they could put on quite a show for the boys.

 

Jack and Joe each set on the bottom row of the stands. They where usually reserved for officers while watching a demonstration. Their purpose for the day was quite different as these two would be getting a personnel show. Debra and Kate stood away off each one wearing one of Kate’s uniforms though Debra wore an older one.

 

Debra smiled at Kate. “So do you want to work on defense or offense?”

 

“I am going for defense at the moment.”

 

Debra gave a slight laugh. “Yeah I imagine you didn’t appreciate Doomsday knocking you around so much.”

 

Kate stuck out her tongue. “I am doing it for your benefit you know. After all even, if I am holding back your punches can’t harm me. This way you can work on your offense a lot more while I work on my defense.”

 

Debra didn’t respond. At least not verbally. Kate was a bit surprised when Debra lunged forward and delivered a quick punch to the side of her face. A crack of thunder seemed to resound throughout the area as her fist connected. A look of pain appearing on Debra’s face. “Ouch. That stung.”

 

It took Kate a few moments to respond. “Oops sorry about that. I will relax my grounding ability a bit more.” Debra nodded and waited a few moments for her hand to stop hurting. “Okay that should be enough.”

 

Debra looked at Kate for a moment as if checking to be sure she had done what she said she would. Unfortunately Debra had no way of knowing except to land another punch. At last Debra charged Kate again though her actions were slowed by the fear that she would end up harming her hand again. She didn’t need too though as Kate managed to avoid her second punch. Moving within Debra’s defenses, she gave her a slight tap. The force of the blow was largely absorbed by the muscles in Debra’s stomach. However, thanks to her light weight, compared to the force of the impact she was sent sliding backwards.

 

Joe and Jack could hear the sound of rock being torn up as Debra slammed her right hand into the ground trying to slow down her rate of movement. Her heavy weight helped to keep her grounded as did her grip on the ground but she still had slid 10 feet back leaving three long rifts in the ground. One from each foot and one from her hand. “Mm if you hold back like that we can both be quite active.” Debra stood up revealing that Kate hadn’t even injured her with the punch. Of course Kate had only meant to drive her backwards.

 

Kate was so use to controlling her speed that she could easily adapt to each situation. Training with Debra at slow speed was just as good as training with someone just as fast as herself. Debra had held back a little and that has resulted in her getting hit the first time. Her third attack was far more professional. Debra quickly closed the gap between herself and Kate by more jumping them running towards her. The force of her legs pushing off the ground generated two small creators. This allowed her to close the gap between herself and Kate far more quickly.

 

Kate felt it as Debra’s fist slammed into the side of her face however the blow was given even more power when her elbow finished the move and impacted roughly the same spot. There was no pain to the attack but do to her relaxed grounding Kate was sent flying backwards. Debra was fairly glad she had managed to land a solid hit on Kate though she knew it was only because Kate had allowed her.

 

“She likes holding herself solid while flying through the air. Doesn’t she?”

 

Jack looked over at Joe. “Yeah. It is her way of showing. Yeah you knocked me into the air but it didn’t do any real damage.”

 

The fact that Kate wasn’t harmed was made even more obvious by the rate at which she regained her footing and moved towards her friend. Attempting to repay the punch that Debra had just landed on her. She couldn’t help but grin, as Debra avoided her punch and took hold of her rest.

 

Kate felt herself quickly lifted into the air as Debra raised her arm and Kate above her head. Pulling down Debra gave a grunt as she brought Kate towards the ground with as much force as she possibly could. A blast of sound resounded throughout the area and a shockwave ran through the ground as Kate’s body impacted with it. The compact ground splintered and came up in a spray of tiny shards as Kate’s body sunk into it. Those bits of earth that couldn’t reach upward were sent deeper into the ground. Those shards that sunk more deeply began forcing it to expand outward as Kate’s body collapsed the earth downward.

 

The collapsing ground and that moving upward unsettled Debra causing her to lose her grip on Kate’s hand. Sending Debra upward though not nearly as far as she had sent Kate under. Joe and Jack could both feel the ground trimmer from their seated position and watched as the ground sunk in where Kate’s body had been driven into the ground yet reached upward all around her.

 

Kate felt like she had been thrown into water as she felt the chunks of dirt and rock moving up around her. The force of Debra’s throw had sent Kate into the ground with 32 thousand tons of force. Yet Kate was entirely unharmed except it did manage to mess up her hair. Debra landed a short distance away from the opening in the ground. Looking on she felt the shockwave before she saw Kate come out of the opening. Kate had intended on letting Debra be the offensive fighter but she simply couldn’t take being buried like that.

 

Joe and Jack could have sworn they heard the women laughing as if they were having the most playful of pillow fights. Kate was currently regretting playing offensively as Debra blocked her incoming attack.

 

The sound of Kate’s fist on Debra’s arm sounded as if a two-ton beam had fallen from a building yet Debra wasn’t harmed in the least. Debra dug her feet into the ground to avoid being driven to far back and quickly retaliated with a swift kick to Kate’s stomach. The upward motion prevented Kate from getting any real grip on the ground.

 

Debra could have followed up on this as she knew Kate would need to relax her grounding ability to return to the earth but she didn’t. “My, you really are out of practice.”

 

Kate stood up a wide smile on her face. “I know. I have just been depending on my strength so much lately I guess I just forgot skill.”

 

Debra waited for Kate to attack her again however the attack didn’t come. Instead Kate took on a basic defensive stance. While her form was rough, at least she still remembered a few details. Debra quickly moved towards Kate and then gave a slight hop. Kate looked up as Debra flew over her. As Debra landed behind Kate, she dug her hands and feet into the ground to stop herself more quickly. Pushing off the ground with her arms and legs Debra slammed her shoulder blade into Kate’s back.

 

Kate had prepared herself for a frontal attack so Debra had caught her entirely off guard. The force of the impact sent Kate’s form plowing through the air. The sound of tearing earth filling the air as her body tumbled forward. Kate set up a moment later gagging and shaking her spit. Spitting a few times Jack and Joe realized what had happened as Debra had sent take face first into the dirt.

 

Kate took in a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. The force of the wind easily stripping all the dirt from her mouth though the horrible tasted remained. Debra took a few steps forward. “You know we are going to have to do this fairly often. Other wise my skills may degrade as bad as yours have.”

 

Kate gave a slight laugh. “Well I haven’t had to seriously work on fighting for a year or so now. I mean I have had two fights that really tested me. Still I have been needing this. I guess your skills haven’t degraded as far as mine.”

 

“Nope bu they have degraded. All well at least the men are enjoying the show.” Debra glanced over her shoulder towards Jack and Joe. While she didn’t have Kate’s eyes sight to see exactly what was going on.

She felt quite certain they were watching.

 

“True. Well that is enough talking. Come on and try to hit me.”

 

A huge grin formed on Debra’s face. She knew that the power advantage was really Kate’s but much as at the firing range. She was going to take advantage of the time she had to make use of her weapon.

 

“It is amazing that they aren’t actually hurting each other.” Joe finally spoke. After seeing what Kate and Debra had put each other through. He found it hard to imagine that neither of them had actually been hurt.

 

“I know. Even though I have an idea what Kate’s body can take. Watching Debra slamming her into the ground like that did more to bring it home then numbers ever could. Of course being able to feel the shockwave helped a lot to.”

 

“Yeah. It looks like a war zone out there.”

 

As Debra and Kate continued their match Kate began to regain some of the skills that had degraded. Debra had expected this though as she figured Kate hadn’t actually lost her combative skill it had simply grown duel with time. However, Kate still had a long way to go before she would be at Debra’s skill level. Even if Kate was still at her peek skill Debra actually out classed her thanks to the difference in their training.

 

Kate had to be careful to not depend on the fact that Debra’s punches could actually harm her and to depend on skill. She had thought about simply holding onto Debra’s fist several times but she knew with an opponent that was actually as strong and fast as her this wouldn’t work nearly as well. So she refrained from this course of action and continued trying to evade Debra’s attacks. Of course this was getting fairly annoying as she constantly found Debra’s fist hitting their marks or seeming to.

 

Debra broke off the attack for a moment. “Why don’t you be a little offensive as well? I mean you are holding back enough not to harm me, just enough to nock me around a bit. It would probably be best if we both attacked.” Kate gave a nod and proceeded to go on the offensive.

 

As Debra and Kate practice, Joe and Jack, were far from the only viewers. The firing range had been set up to observe weapons test and currently that was what was going on. Several technicians watched the monitors had did Mathews who had been called in after the fight had started. At first they feared the two were actually fighting but as it became clear what was going on everyone settled down. Now they just looked on as the two power houses playfully tested practiced with one another.

 

Mathews had decided to record their little display and talk to the two of them later about actually releasing it. While both of the women should have known there are security cameras on the firing ground.

He didn’t want to risk offending them.

 

Kate was taking fewer hits now that she was on the offense and Debra couldn’t just attack. Of course that wasn’t the only reason Kate was taking fewer hits. While Kate had nearly endless energy, Debra was a different story. While Kate’s punches didn’t harm her, throwing punch after punch and constantly moving was beginning to wear down her stamina. Though it wasn’t draining int away as fast as it would have a normal human. Debra’s movements did take some energy but her body felt so light the amount was fairly insignificant. Constantly throwing punches was the main energy drain as she did have to put a good deal of power into them.

 

Kate currently had Debra holding a defensive pose as she threw several punches into her arms. The impacts were light enough that they didn’t knock Debra off her feet however it did continually drive her back.

Debra was about to make a move when Kate alternated her attack plan and drove her legs into Debra’s side. The force of the impact sent Debra tumbling over the ground. “Yeah, got you.”

 

Kate celebration was short lived though as a massive stone slammed into her. Debra had quickly recovered from the attack and managed to take hold of a particularly large stone. Half of it had broken off when she quickly jerked it from the ground but she managed to get enough of the rock and enough force behind it to knock Kate down. At least the stone had seemed to slam into Kate initially. As they looked on though shatter would have been a better word. It did knock Kate off her feet but in doing that it had been broken into several hundred bits.

 

“You know I think those two are holding back. I mean even more then what they would if they weren’t just having a friendly training session.”

 

Joe nodded his agreement. “Most likely to avoid harming us. At least I imagine that is the reason.”

 

“Yeah. That and most likely they don’t want to risk driving each other into the facility below. I wonder what effect that body slam Debra gave Kate had on the structure below.”

 

Debra seemed a bit startled as she charged Kate and suddenly had her hand caught. “Uhh Debra. Jack just made an interesting point.”

 

“Huh. What is it?”

 

“What about the facility below us?”

 

Debra blinked a few times then looked around at the area. “Oh rats, I guess this wasn’t the best spot for us to practice. Do you think we should go and see if we caused any damage?”

 

Kate nodded her head. “Anyway, you seem about tapped out all ready.”

 

Debra was about to argue but let out a sigh. “Yeah I am getting kind of tired. So how often do you want to do this?”

 

“I would like to do it daily for a while and then perhaps once every other day or every three days just to keep our skills sharp and maybe make some improvements.”

 

“Okay. Now would you let go of my hand.”

 

“Whoops. Sorry.” Kate quickly released Debra’s had while Debra gave a slight laugh.

 

“It isn’t a big deal. Lets go and get the men then go take a look at what damage we might have done.”

 

Debra, Kate, Jack and Joe all looked up to where Debra had thrown Kate into the ground. Mathews stood next to them. “Don’t worry it isn’t all that bad. I mean repairing the damage under all that stone is going to take some doing but we expected such incidents to happen in a facility like this. At least you two practiced outside instead of inside.”

 

Kate still blushed a bit. “Sorry about that one. I wasn’t really thinking when we went above ground.”

 

“It isn’t a problem. Anyway, that area should have been able to withstand the impacts. After all it is a weapon’s testing range up there. We will just have this area reinforced for later. Though until that is done we would appreciate it you two would practice else where.”

 

Debra took her eyes off the spot and looked at Mathews. “Do you have any place in particular in mind?”

 

Mathews gave a nod. “Yeah. If you don’t mind. Kate would you care to take Debra out to some of the more isolated testing ranges? With your speed it would just be a short jog and Debra and withstand the g-forces easily.”

 

Kate patted her friend’s shoulder. “Sure. I would be glad to.” Kate looked at Jack and Joe. “Though I wish, I could bring you two along to watch.”

 

Jack tapped his chin for a moment. “Well how about we just watch you two through some recording devices? I admit I will miss feeling the shockwaves run throughout the ground however it is just a temporary arrangement.”

 

Kate turned to Mathews who gave a nod. “Sure we are use to recording such video feeds. Though I would like to talk to you about the recordings.”

 

Debra walked over to Joe and leaned against him being careful not to let her true weight rest against him. “What is that?”

 

“I was wondering if you would mind us sharing the recordings with the media and other agencies.”

 

Kate turned her attention away from the dint entirely. “How come?”

 

“I feel that it would do some good to let people see you two in action. However, I would like to wait a little while so that the information would be out of date when we shared it.”

 

Kate gave a slight laugh. “You are heavily into sending out false information or at least leading people to false assumptions aren’t you?”

 

“I feel that it is the best way to insure our safety. If they believe, you are weaker then what you are the more likely you may catch them off guard. “

 

Debra gave a shrug. “Well it is fine with me if you share the recordings.”

 

Mathews turned to Debra. “Would you like us to cover up your face?”

 

Debra shook her head no. “My ability makes it a little easy to find out who I am. I mean, if I even walk down the city street it becomes fairly obvious just who I am.”

 

Mathews gave a nod and walked over to Debra. “We will try to insure the safety of all your friends and family members.”

 

Kate giggled a bit. “I don’t mind either after all everyone already knows who I am and if anyone goes after any of our friends or relatives. I will just have to insure that they never get a second chance.”

 

Debra gave a smirk. “Yeah at least we don’t have to worry about any of the people you have dealt with trying for revenge.”

 

Kate proceeded to flex her arm. “Well that is a given.”

 

 

End Chapter 8.

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