NaNo2013: Speedster's Secret: Part 20

“But...” Luna trailed off as Angela looked at her.

“What am I missing?” She asked, glancing over her patient.

“We can’t take her to a hospital.” Luna told her, “Not at the moment, we’re being chased by the...”

“Actually you’re not.” Mr. Rhodes corrected her, “That was what the Government agent that visited earlier was here about.”

“But they said...”

“They used to belong to a section of the Government,” He explained, “But they were disbanded because of cost cutting years ago. They’re not actually affiliated with the Government in anyway, but they like to pretend they are. After your kidnapping and the fight at the Chunnel, the Government finally realised they were still active and are now trying to do something about it.”

“Bout bloody time.” Juliet grouched.

“So is it safe to take Juliet to a hospital?” Angela asked, worried.

“Dun wanna go.” Juliet shook her head, “Dun wanna be kidnapped again.”

“Sweetheart,” Jacob sighed, “You need to see a doctor. And they don’t make house calls anymore...” He trailed off, “Actually, the on call Doctor does.”

“That could work.” Angela acknowledged, “I think it’s Bob on duty too. He’ll help. His daughter’s a superhero fan and she’s going nuts over Speedster. He might keep it quiet in exchange for an autograph.” She teased, pleased to see that, for the first time, she actually got Juliet to chuckle. “Give me a minute.” She stepped out of the room, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

Within twenty minutes she stepped back into the bedroom, accompanied by a rather tired, but excitable looking elderly man, who went over all of the normal checks, did a few tests, prescribed bed rest and a course of penicillin and went on his way with an autograph from Speedster.

Angela shot out to get the medicine in question while Jacob helped Luna transfer a few things to the guest house and get a hold of her parents. They understood her reluctance to go home. They too had had a visit from a government official, who had told them the truth about the group chasing their children and that they were probably being watched.

It was agreed that it would be safer for Luna and Michael to stay away from the family home until this was all settled, but they would have everything sent up to the university halls when term started again so they could have all the stuff they had taken home.

Not that Juliet was aware of any of this for a few days. It was three days before she did anything but sleep, manage a few bites so she could take her pills and drink some dioralyte to help her body avoid dehydration, and then sleep some more.

Luna was curled up on the sofa, working on something on her laptop, the news going quietly in the background when Juliet finally emerged from the bedroom, almost a week later.

“Oh thank god.” Luna almost dropped her laptop in her haste to get to her feet, putting it down less than carefully before darting over and hugging her friend.

“Hey.” Juliet hugged her back, “Sorry I worried you.” She paused as Luna pulled away, “Shouldn’t you be back at uni by now?”

“Two days.” Luna shook her head, “And the Government want a meeting with the pair of us before I go back. Your uncle phoned your boss by the way. You have to get a sick note for the last couple of weeks, but they hope you get better soon.”

“I just want this all to be over.” Juliet complained, slumping onto the sofa, where Luna scooped up her laptop before slumping down onto the couch next to her, leaning into her friend as she got back to work, “How’s Michael?”

“He’s already back at uni.” Luna shrugged, “Spike took him back yesterday, he doesn’t seem too worried. Something about Gaming every fool that tried to attack him until either they ran out of goons or they got chased off.”

“Or you took out their leader.” Juliet mumbled, both pleased and annoyed to hear of no signs of Sawyer in the news.

“The Other Me took out their leader, not me.” Luna pointed out, adjusting something on screen before glancing up at the screen. “I can change it to a radio station if you like.”

“I don’t really mind what you have on Lune.” Juliet waved it off, “Have you heard much more from these Government guys?”

“Not really, just that they’re trying to track down the group that kidnapped us and they want to talk to us.” Luna replied, frowning as she readjusted the text and fiddled with something on a list of numbers. “The Other Me thinks it’s a trap.”

“Oh?” Juliet asked, curious, shifting slightly so Luna could get more comfortable.

“Yeah,” Luna nodded as she adjusted herself so she was much more comfortable without digging a bony shoulder into her friend’s torso and yet still sprawled across the sofa, “Mum and Dad kick up a fuss because I got kidnapped by the Government for being friends with ‘Speedster.’ And then suddenly they’re not government affiliated? Screams either trappish or ‘whoops, we got caught.’”

“Trappish isn’t a word, but I get your point.” Juliet considered, “When’s this meeting?”

“When we tell them you’re up to it, they want one as soon as possible.” Luna replied, sighing and deleting two entire paragraphs and starting again. “Dunno why.”

“Guess all we can do is wait and see.” Juliet sighed, closing her eyes and resting her head against the back of the sofa. When she woke again, Luna had left her laptop open on the sofa and was just coming back with a pile of sandwiches.

“Here.” Luna grinned at her, “You might want some of these.”

She put the plate on the table next to them and moved back as Juliet, who hadn’t eaten properly in over a week, dove into the food and started devouring it. Two plates of food later, a hot shower and a warm drink later, Juliet felt more human and more able to take on whatever the government was up to.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take them very long to get to the guest house once Luna phoned the number she had been given to tell them Juliet was awake and aware. The new group was there within minutes, Mr. Rhodes in the lead, refusing to let them talk to his niece without him present after the state he had found her in.

There were four men who showed up and two women, the younger of whom seemed to be in charge as the men waited outside, ranged around the property and guarding the car, and the two women entered after introducing themselves as Rowena Brown and Laura Hall.

Brown waited until the girls were settled, seeming amused by the hulking bear of an uncle hovering in the background and the way Juliet never seemed to get truly comfortable, was constantly twitchy and tried to keep both herself and her aide in her sight at all times.

“Hall, I think Miss Rhodes might be more comfortable if we disarm.” She said with a small, amused smile, placing her gun on the table in front of Juliet. It was with more than a little surprise that they watched Hall drop not just one gun, but four, two knives and a garrotte wire onto the glass topped surface. “Hall is my bodyguard.” Brown explained, “So she’s always well armed. Not all of us have super powers after all.”

“Excuse me, Ms Brown,” Juliet frowned, “But I have a question.”

“Go on, Miss Rhodes...”

“Juliet.” The girl in question interrupted, “Or Speedster, I answer to both.”

“Call me Rowena.” The agent replied, “What’s the question?”

“Who were those guys?” Juliet asked, “And what did they really want with us?”