Ben and Stacey shared a look as Jennifer came closer. When she almost reached her, Stacey stepped forward.
'Jennifer,' she said in the friendliest tone she could manage, trying to get her away from Ben, 'Please don't do this, we are friends, after all, aren't we?'
For a brief moment, Jennifer stood still then started to laugh, 'Friends, friends?' she roared, 'Why would I want to be friends with you after what you've done to me, bitch?'
Stacey stepped a few paces back from her as she spoke, feeling herself getting upset and angry, but Jennifer continued to mock her. 'You stole everything from me, you green-skinned bitch, but now I have even more power than you and I'm now more attractive than you.'
As she continued talking, she didn't notice Stacey sprint towards her with her fist outstretched. Stacey hit her, sending Jennifer flying into the water feature near the entrance to the house. Hitting it hard, it smashed into a million pieces, leaving nothing but dust and rubble. Stacey ran over to where the water feature had been and found Jennifer lying on the ground, covered in small cuts and bruises. Her jeans and tank top were now ripped to shreds. As she leaned over her, Jennifer raised her hand and grabbed her by the neck.
'You stupid, green bitch,' she mocked. 'Look what you've done.'
As she raised her hand to hit her, Stacey used her right hand and clenched it into a fist, hitting her former friend in the stomach, winding her. Instantly, Jennifer let go of her holding her stomach in pain and crying out. Once free, Stacey began to use her nails as weapons. She came slowly up to Jen and slashed her across her face. Green blood poured from the cuts as Jennifer tried to hold Stacey back. Stumbling, she tripped over some of the rubble. Stacey held back as she saw her foe falling to the ground. With a sickening crack, Jennifer's head hit a loose stone and struck the marble floor. Stacey didn't go to her this time but she noticed that Ben did. Ben put his hand on her head and began to read her mind.
'Stacey,' he said when he had finished, 'I have some bad news for you.'
Stacey looked at him, her head bowed, feeling awful that she had turned on her former friend that way.
'What's the news, babe?' She asked him as she slowly backed away from Jennifer's body.
'Jennifer wasn't under any sort of mind control. That's my gift, she was acting out because she was jealous.'
Stacey looked at him and started laughing, 'Jealous? Get real, Ben,' she said as she saw that Ben looked worried, 'What had that bitch got to be jealous about?'
Ben looked at her and took a deep breath, 'Everything, Stacey, you were far more intelligent than her, far more attractive, and far more popular than she could ever wish to be.'
For a moment, Stacey said nothing, then started crying, 'Yes, I think you're right and she was too.' She ran up to Ben and into his arms as she cried on his shoulder, 'I took a lot of things from her, Ben, and now I've taken her life.'
Ben gently made her feel better as he said, 'Stacey, she attacked you. It was either you or her, you can't blame yourself for Jennifer's death.'
As he spoke, he started gently rubbing her back with his hand. He could feel how smooth her green skin was and with his other hand he held the back of her head.
'Come on, Stacey,' he said sweetly. 'Dry those beautiful, dark green eyes of yours and come upstairs with me, I've got something a want to share with you.'
Ben disappeared upstairs and left Stacey looking at Jennifer's body. As Stacey looked at her she noticed something odd, all her cuts and bruises hadn't healed, which she thought they would because of her super powers. Was this what Ben wanted to talk to her about or was it something else perhaps about her past?
As she was waiting there was a blue mist that seemed to settle next to her. Suddenly, there was a bright blue flash. Stacey covered and closed her eyes, and when she opened them again she was surprised to see that it was Mist standing next to her. Mist had teal blue skin and dark brown hair, she was wearing a pair of leather trousers and a black leather bra, on her hands she had a pair of black leather gloves. Unlike Stacey, who had super speed, super healing and strength, Mist had the power to teleport long distances
'What's up, Green Girl? You and the boss been busy?' She asked, with an Australian accent. She looked over at Jennifer whose body was still lying there, 'Who is that and are you responsible?' She asked,
'It was an accident, Mist, Ben can explain what happened.'
Mist gently put her gloved hands on Stacey's shoulder. 'I can see from the look in your face, GG, you're telling me the truth. Don't worry, I'll get Powerhouse to shift the body.'
'Thank you, but I think Ben wants to keep it. Speaking of Ben, he wants to see me. I better not keep him waiting,'
Stacey walked away from the main reception and up the stairs. What Ben wanted, she would soon find out.
It was late at the army base as John Watts made his way towards Dr Young' office. He had recently been informed of his squad's failed mission and Jennifer's death at the hands of Stacey. As he passed thought the door to Sarah's office he noticed something strange. Her office door was open.
'That's funny,' John mumbled to himself as he approached the open door to look inside, 'Dr Young usually keeps this door closed, I wonder if everything's okay.'
As he peered inside, he noticed the doctor wasn't at her desk, which was very odd. Since Dr Young arrived at the base she rarely left her office door open. Lt Watts decided to investigate further. As he was entering the office he heard a familiar voice coming from behind him.
'Excuse me, Lieutenant,' someone said sharply. 'But what do you think you are doing walking into my office uninvited?'
John turned his head around and came face to face with Dr Young.
'Doctor,' he said, alarmed, 'I'm sorry for the intrusion, but when I saw that the door was open I thought something was wrong.'
Dr Young wasn't listening as she went past him and into her office, once she was in she announced, 'You can come in now, Lieutenant, I want to have words with you.'
Slowly, Lt Watts walked into the open office where Dr Young was now sat at her desk, typing on her Apple Mac laptop. Behind her was a large, open window that looked out over the base's airfield. John sat down on a spare chair and waited until she had finished before saying anything. Once she had finished typing, she shut the laptop down and closed it. Lt. Watts could tell from the look on her face that she was cross about something and he bet he knew what it was.
'Lt John Watts,' she said angrily, 'The reason why I wanted a word with you is because I have heard from command that during the attack on Fox's house some of your men deserted. Is this true?'
John's face dropped and he looked down, as if he were still a young child,
'It's true, Doctor,' he said as he began to pull himself together.
Dr Young that slammed her hand down in a fist onto the table making the lieutenant nearly jump out of his skin.
'I have also heard that we lost Jennifer to that freak, Stacey. I hope you can explain that to command.'
The lieutenant didn't say anything, he just looked at her with his head down as if he had buried it in a sand pit. Dr Young stood up and went over to a large fish tank at the side of the room. The lieutenant stayed still and waited. When she sat back down, she began to chuckle.
'What's so funny, Sarah?' He asked, puzzled.
'John, I should have known that Jennifer couldn't have taken on Stacey, after all, she was only a model with no real combat experience.'
Watts' face dropped at her change of personality, but he kept quiet as he didn't want her to blame him for anything else that might have gone wrong. She slowly took her glasses off and gently put them down on her desk.
'John,' she said, sounding calm and friendly, 'Command and I think that to get back at Fox and Roberts we need to use someone who has a lot of combat experience, someone who knows the battlefield, someone like our own people. What do you think?'
John looked at her and smiled, 'Are you saying that we need to experiment on our own solders?'
Dr Young smiled at him as she stood up again, only this time she walked to where he was sitting.
'Yes, John,' she said as she kissed him lightly on his cheek. John backed away as he hated being so close to her, 'But the serum you gave that girl, Jennifer, was ineffective. How can you be sure that it won't be the same with our own people?'
Sarah sat herself down on his lap and smiled as she began to undo the buttons on his uniform. 'The serum I gave that hot-headed bitch was a prototype. That's why she lost the fight and ended up losing her life.'
John turned his head towards her, 'So, Stacey got the full works when she was injected?'
Sarah nodded as she tossed his shirt over her desk.
'That's what makes Stacey so special, John,' she said as she stared at the lieutenant's bare chest, covered in scars both old and new. John gazed at her as she slipped her arm around his waist.
'I take it that you have more of the serum you used on Roberts?'
She softly laughed, 'Of course, I do, John! What a silly question.'
John didn't say anything until she stood up, went back over to her desk and turned her laptop on.
John sat and waited patiently, hearing the printer at the far side of the room come to life. 'Do you have an idea which of our men to use for your experiment?'
As he spoke, Sarah stood up and went over to the printer. Picking up a sheet of paper, she came over and handed it to him. Watts had a look at it. On the front was a headshot of a young, female soldier with tanned skin. Underneath the photo was the young woman's name, age and profile. Sarah sat back down at her desk and looked over at John, smiling.
'Well. What do you think of her, John?' She asked, eager to hear what he had to say.
John looked at the photo again, 'Her name is Trisha Morgan, it says here that she served in the army since she was twenty-one,' he stopped for a moment, 'Are you sure about this, Sarah? Using someone of great value like this young woman in your experiments?'
'John,' she stood up again and made her way towards him, 'This order came from command, not me.'
She paused as she looked at Trisha's photo, 'If command has given the order, they must be running out of options.'
She turned to face John, 'Please continue, I'm interested to learn more about this girl.'
John picked up where he left off, 'In 2007 she served in both the U.S. and British forces in Iraq. During the war she was taken prisoner but later rescued by a joint unit of Navy SEALs and British Special Forces, and she's only thirty-two.'
Sarah looked at John, eager to hear his thoughts, 'Well?' she asked impatiently, 'What do you think of her?'
'I haven't had the honour of working with her, but I'm sure with her combat experience those freaks won't stand a chance.'
Sarah turned away from John and sat back down at her desk,
'Good, it's settled, I'll give command a call and they can arrange for Morgan to come here for a medical. Afterwards, I'll inject her with the serum and we can have our very own loyal super soldier.' John got up to leave when Sarah stood, threw her arms around him and started kissing him. John didn't really know what to do but play along.
It was late in the afternoon as Stacey made her way up the stairs to Ben. Since the attack, the whole house had be put on red alert. Powerhouse had removed Jennifer's body, and Mist had taken the soldier that Ben had stunned to be questioned. Stacey could hear Ben shouting at someone, she couldn't tell what he was saying, but he sounded angry. Just as she reached the landing she saw something strange. An odd looking man came out from behind a door. He was about five foot eight, had short, black hair, and brown eyes with bags underneath them. He passed Stacey and went into the office, but as he did, Stacey thought that she saw him shift forms into someone else. Entering the office, she saw Ben and Frostbite, looking as if they were having a heated argument with one another. Stacey drew closer and listened.
'Ben, when are you going to open your eyes to the truth? That girlfriend of yours brought those hunters here.' Frostbite coldly said in his Russian accent.
Ben began to fume, 'Don't forget, Sergei, I'm the leader of this organisation, not you, I hold the cards around here.'
Frostbite started laughing, 'You might be our leader, Ben, but you are losing control right now. Under your very nose, your so-called followers are leaving.'
Before Ben could say anything else to Frostbite, he noticed the odd man coming forward, he turned back to Sergei.
'We will talk more, Sergei, in the meantime, I've got other business to sort out.'
Frostbite left the office in a huff and didn't say another word to him. Once Frostbite had left, Ben turned to face his new guest.
'Welcome, Shifter, I trust that you have news for me?'
The man morphed back into the form Stacey had seen on the landing, 'I do indeed, Ben,' he quipped, his Irish accent extremely evident, 'It looks like those pigs who attacked this place are on to you and that girlfriend of yours.'
Ben gave him his full attention, 'Do you have an idea whom we are dealing with, Shamus?' He asked, sounding worried.
Shamus put a hand inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a cigar, 'It'll be either the military or those other pigs, the Outcasts.'
Ben seemed pleased with what he heard, 'So, Shamus, if the military is involved that means our old friend, John Watts, could be behind this attack.'
Shamus nodded, 'Normally, I wouldn't agree with anything that Frostbite said, but don't you think that you're putting yourself in danger with that girl?'
Ben looked furious as he went over to the window and stared out at the city.
'What would you have me do, Shamus?' He asked as he clenched his hands into a fist, 'Turn her over to the military to be used in their sick experiments?'
Shamus came up to Ben and put a hand on his shoulder. 'What about you and her taking a little holiday? You have that penthouse in New York City, what about going there?'
Ben smiled at him, 'What an excellent idea, Shifter. I'll make preparations right away, thank you.'
Shamus nodded and left the office, as he was about to leave he heard Ben shouting behind him, 'Tell Stacey that I'm ready to see her right away.'
Shamus nodded. As he was passing through the door he noticed Stacey on the other side.
'Well, hello there, miss. You must be Stacey, Ben's girlfriend.'
Stacey smiled, 'I am, but I call myself Green Girl now.' Shamus smiled at her and chuckled, making her laugh too, 'I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.'
'My name's Shamus, but everyone around here just calls me Shifter.' Stacey didn't admit to seeing him change.
'Why Shifter?' She asked looking puzzled.
'Allow me to demonstrate.' He said as he started twisting and turning his body around in odd directions.
His body began to take on a female shape. Stacey was amazed, right in front of her was Shamus, except he had morphed himself into her.
'Well. what do you think?' He asked, his voice identical to hers, 'pretty cool or what?'
Stacey grinned, as Shamus nodded.
'By the way, before I forget, Ben wants to talk with you.'
He then ran down the stairs leaving Stacey to face her boyfriend,
'I don't like this now,' she muttered to herself as she plucked up the courage to go into Ben's office and face him. 'What if he turns me over to the military? No, I'm not going anyway without a fight.'
Stacey stormed into the office where Ben stood by the window with his back to her, as she came in, he turned to face her.
'Stacey, thank you for coming.' Stacey looked at him and he could see that she was unhappy with him, 'Is everything okay?'
Clenching her hand into a fist, Stacey shouted, 'I heard everything Frostbite said, Ben, and it sounds like he doesn't trust me.'
Ben stepped closer and put his hand on her shoulder, 'Stacey, Frostbite has issues with trusting people.'
'But you trust me, don't you, babe?' She asked as she brushed her hand against his arm.
'If I didn't trust you, would I have invited you into my home and shared my bed with you?'
Stacey looked at him and lowered her head, 'I'm sorry, Ben. Going up against Jennifer has really affected me trusting or getting close to people.'
'That is the military plan, Stacey. Using our friends or even our families against us.'
Stacey looked at him and nodded. 'Thank you, babe.' She said as she reached out and kissed him on his cheek.
'I don't know what I would do without you.' Ben kissed her hand, 'I love you, Stacey. That's why I'm helping you, but what do you want me to do for you now?'
Stacey looked confused, 'I overheard you mention something about a penthouse somewhere in New York, is that right?'
Ben smiled at her, 'No one else knows about it, apart from Frostbite, Shifter and myself. And now you.'
'If it's possible, I would like to go there as long as it's safe.'
Ben put his arms around her and held her tight, 'Not many people are aware that the military doesn't bother with New York, so for the time being it's far safer than here.'
Stacey grew excited as she had never been to New York before, 'When can we go, Ben?' Ben let her go and went over to his chair, and she started jumping around the room like an excited child.
'I was thinking maybe tonight?' He said as he put his hand in a drawer and pulled out a cigar. Stacey's eyes lit up.
'Wonderful! I'll start packing a few things .' She said, rushing out of the office and into the corridor.
Ben smiled to himself as he lit the cigar and started leaning back in the chair. At the end of the day, all he wanted was to keep Stacey safe. When it came down to it, she was the one who could win the war, not him. As he sat back, he was aware that Mist had entered the room. She appeared in front of him and placed her gloved hand on his chest.
'Ben,' she said sweetly, 'Are you, all right, love?'
'I'm okay, Laura, just a bit worried.'
Mist slowly moved forwards and sat on his lap, 'Look, Ben, don't worry about leaving us behind, you should know that we'll take good care of this place when you and GG are gone.'
Ben smiled at her as they closed in for a kiss, before he pulled away, Mist looked at him, 'What's wrong? Why did you jerk away like that? Aren't I attractive enough?'
Ben gently pushed her off his lap and looked at her, 'I'm sorry, Laura, as attractive as you are, I can't cheat on Stacey.'
Mist gave him a hard look, 'Why, Ben? Is it because of my skin colour? Because if it is, I could always go green for you.'
'No, it's not that, Laura. The fact is, I love Stacey, not you. You're just a friend, nothing else.'
Hearing this, Mist stormed out of the office. As she reached the door, she turned towards him, 'You know what your problem is, Ben, you have allowed yourself to get too close to that girl, you are too focused on her and not enough on me or anyone else.'
She stamped off, leaving him alone, 'Maybe she's right.' Ben mused as he sat back in the chair, 'Maybe I am too focused on Stacey, but that's my business no one else's.'
He relaxed, closing his eyes and using his mind to guide the cigar into the ashtray that he kept in a desk drawer. When he and Stacey were in New York things would be better for them.