Chapter 45 – Disturbing to Some Viewers

  “I have often wondered if we are doing the right thing, especially after seeing the darker side of the Order. But at least I know we don’t do what those people did.” – Kevin when asked how he was holding up.

  “Cattle are cattle.” Crack.

  The command post was silent as they watched the cold-blooded execution. They had been shocked by the events of the night. Even the seer was surprised at the details she missed in her vision.

  “He can’t just…” One of the tech’s began but she was silenced as the comms operator handed her a receiver.

  “Here, you tell him what he can and can’t do to those people.” He said. When she didn’t respond, he snorted. “What, don’t want to back it up?” The tech just returned to staring mutely at the screen.

  Jay watched on with rapt attention and briefly noticed his aid returning after excusing himself to vomit into a trash can. Thankfully he returned chewing some minty gum to cover the smell and immediately returned to taking notes. The demon had seen far worse than this but understood the sentiments that would drive Kurt to do the things he did.

  The room then watched as the recovery team streamed into the chamber and began prepping everyone to be hauled out to teleport. They also saw the argument between the healer and Kurt that ended in an even more gruesome sight as he showed the halfling what was under the tarp.

  “His attitude is shit.” The tech specialist commented once again. “I still think he should answer for that and expin his reasoning for murdering them before we can extract information.”

  Then they startled as Kurt’s camera turned bck and they focused on the other two feeds they had. The half dozen people in the command center all watched as Kurt finally lost his cool and shifted into his werewolf form. He towered over everyone with his ears nearly scraping the high ceilings of the basement room.

  After he threatened the leader of the coven, which likely sent him into cardiac arrest, they saw him stalk off with Val and Kristi following after.

  “Still want to ask him questions?” Jay asked the uppity tech specialist. After seeing her shake her tiny head and her wings drooped, he dropped the subject. “Alright, drop shoulder cams and stick to monitoring coms and sat until recovery is RTB. We are calling this one.” He paused for a moment before standing and walking to the middle of the small room.

  “I don’t have to remind you that everything you have seen tonight is confidential and you will not speak of it to anyone except for myself. Not anyone higher in the order without my express permission. Not another project lead, not your friends and family. Noone. This should be a stark reminder of what we are working with on this project. This is only the first of hopefully many such teams.”

  “What do you want us to do with the ones he captured?” asked Kevin, his aid.

  “Normal bag and tag. Set them in the beds until interrogations can get to them. After that, see what the seers and necromancers can dredge up.” Jay said as he walked out of the room. He was aware that Kevin made a few notes and had some muted conversations with those in the room before rushing to catch up.

  “Do you want me to schedule a debrief with the team?” Kevin asked, once more holding pen to notepad.

  “No, just let me know when they get back. Send Penny a message. I want them to take a stand down till next week unless something big comes up.” Jay said. “I will personally meet with Kurt this week when he has time.”

  Kevin nodded and made a few notes before pulling out his tablet and sending a quick email to Penny. He would normally text her but didn’t want to disturb her while she was active in the field. It was also partly because he never wanted to piss off the massive werewolf who was the team lead.

  *****

  Kurt trudged through the motel lobby with the girls in tow, literally holding Kristi’s hand and guiding her. Val had cast an illusion, so it looked like they were in pin clothes and coming in from a te night at the local college. They went to their adjoining rooms and filed through the door.

  A soon as the door closed, Kurt stored all his remining equipment, leaving himself in only his pants, since his boxers had been shredded by his shift. He managed to pry Kristi’s hand open long enough to step into the bathroom to turn on the shower, letting it heat up while he went back out.

  Kristi was just standing where he left her, having barely shuffled to let Penny past. Val was holding her other hand now and trying to get the taller woman to look at her. He walked over and pced a hand on the dragoness’ cheek, tilting her head up to look at him.

  “Gear off. Either in the ring or on the floor.” He said to her and got a nod as she began to store things in her ring. “Val, can you help her through a shower?”

  “Yeah, I got it.” Val said. There was hurt and anger in her voice, but she wasn’t nearly catatonic like Kristi.

  “Thanks babe.” Kurt said and wrapped her in a quick hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “She needs us right now. Ok?”

  Val nodded again. “Yeah.” She looked to Kristi who was struggling with her belt buckle. “We got this. Come on Kristi, let me help.” She pulled her into the bathroom.

  Penny was standing in the middle of the bedroom area, not having gone to the attached room that she was supposed to share with Kristi. “What happened?”

  Shaking his head, Kurt let out an explosive sigh as he heard Kristi start crying. “It was bad. Not the worst I have seen but definitely up there.” He swiped his hands down his face. “I know this is rude but… Can I borrow your shower?”

  “Do I want to know?” Penny asked. “And yes, you can. I will go after you.”

  “No, you really don’t want to know. I will tell you if you insist but just try to move past it.” Kurt answered. He summoned a cold six pack of beer from his ring and pulled two off and walked over to the bathroom. He heard the shower running and the sound of wet feet, so he knocked on the door softly before opening it.

  “Hey Val, stick your hand out.” A wet, fuzzy hand poked out between the curtain and the wall, its height suggesting they were sitting on the tub floor. He passed the beer to her and backed out.

  Snap-hiss. “Here, take a long pull.” He heard Val whisper after she cracked the can.

  Walking back out he handed two to penny and took the st two with him. He started drinking his before the shower was even hot, wanting to get something to help with what he had seen. He couldn’t actually get drunk, but the secondary calming effects of a shower beer helped.

  He washed twice using the shitty hotel soap, not caring that it dried out his skin since that wasn’t really a problem for lycans. After cracking his second beer, he rinsed and just stood under the spray for a minute before shutting it off and grabbing the towel off the rack.

  Kurt dried off as best he could, wishing he had the rock and not Val. After throwing on a pair of athletic shorts, he strode back out into the room and Penny took his pce, the shower not even having turned off.

  He sat on his bed, staring at the floor as he waited for the girls to be done. He heard his phone beep a couple times and saw it was a message from Jay, another from Alec and a couple from his parents. He didn’t open them, instead silencing the device and setting it on the side table as he heard the shower turn off. A few moments ter, both Kristi and Val came out.

  Kristi was looking better but certainly not a hundred percent. It hurt him to realize that she probably would never live this down. He just opened his arms to her, and she practically fell into his hug. She wasn’t crying any more, but he heard a few sniffles.

  Val walked behind him and pulled back the covers. “Come on, into bed.” She said and Kurt scooped up Kristi and set her down in the middle.

  His girlfriend slid in behind her and wrapped an arm around her. Kurt wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go but just decided that behind Val was best. He chose wrong.

  “Other side.” Val said and gave him a look that said ‘don’t bother arguing’.

  Kurt held up his hands and went around to the other side and climbed in, so Kristi was facing him. He scooted up to her and she wrapped an arm around him. She also snaked her tail out and coiled it around his leg, squeezing it like a teddy bear.

  When Penny emerged a while ter, she found the trio in a cuddle pile, already asleep. She just pulled the bnket up over Kurt’s shoulder and turned out the lights before shutting the door and returning to her own room.

  She was exhausted and needed sleep. She idly thought that if she was so tired after doing nothing, the other three must be absolutely spent both physically and emotionally. She clicked on her phone and saw the few messages and the emails that were sent from Kevin, her repcement.

  After reading through and marking the ones that needed follow-up, she set the phone down and tried to go to sleep. It was hard, despite her being more than tired enough. She tossed and turned for several minutes while trying to clear her head of everything that had happened but couldn’t manage.

  Eventually she heard the door squeak slightly and she gnced up to see Val standing there. The kitsune held her hand out and made a ‘come here’ gesture. Penny rolled out of bed and walked over to her only to be taken by the hand and led over to the bed.

  “No one is alone tonight.” Val said and pushed her to slide in behind Kurt. “Get in, snuggle, sleep.” She insisted before folding the covers back over her and returning to her own spot.

  Penny did as she was told and slid up behind Kurt, hesitantly wrapping her arm around his waist. He turned and gnced over his shoulder briefly before ying his head back down. With everyone in the bed, they each drifted off to sleep at their own pace.

  *****

  When Kurt woke up the next morning, he cracked an eye open to near complete darkness. He couldn’t see anything except bckness. Slowly he turned his head and found that at some point he had slid downward in the bed. He could feel the bottom edge of the mattress with his feet and knew that he had sunk at least a foot and was under the covers.

  His right arm was pinned under…someone, but his left was free enough and he withdrew it from whoever he was wrapped around. When he reached up and pulled the covers down, he noticed he was staring, point bnk, at Kristi’s chest.

  The shirt she had worn to bed had twisted and ridden up at some point in the night and he was treated to the sight of her very modest breasts. The tan skin was topped with a dark nipple that was not much bigger than a nickel in diameter. He then noticed that his right arm was trapped under her toned and muscur stomach. He realized that he had likely been cuddling with his forehead resting against her chest and face in her abs while pulling her into him.

  For her part, Kristi had reciprocated and cuddled him to her with one arm around his upper back and neck. Her tail also now wrapped around his upper thigh, having shifted up from his knee and pulled his hips toward her thighs.

  Kurt then very carefully, pulled her shirt back down and wiggled out of her grasp. He was slightly startled when his wiggling bumped him into Penny on his other side. He had forgotten that she had crawled in behind him, but she had turned over to have her back toward him rather than still having her arms around his waist.

  After carefully extracting himself, he saw that the sun hadn’t quite risen, but it was close. He also saw that Val was gone, her spot on the other side of Kristi vacant. He quickly checked the bathroom and when he didn’t find her, he went to his phone, finding a note atop it.

  The note read that she had woken early and gone to get them breakfast. She had put the time on it, and it was almost fifteen minutes prior to when he read it. So, confirming she was fine, he sent a text letting her know he was awake then went to use the bathroom.

  He emerged to find Kristi sitting up and looking around. He went over and sat beside her. “Hey, Val went to get some food and should be back soon.” He whispered, not wanting to disturb Penny.

  “Oh, ok.” She said, relieved that she wasn’t alone. “Umm. About st night…”

  Kurt held up his hand and motioned for her to come with him to the other room. They left the door open so they could hear if Val returned but wanted to let their handler sleep a little more. They sat on the two beds, facing each other to talk.

  Kristi took in a breath and let it out in a rush. “Thanks. For everything.” She said and pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms and tail around them. “I just… I didn’t expect…”

  “It’s ok. We don’t have to talk about it now.” He said, picking up as she stumbled over the words.

  “No, not that.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get over that.” She shivered slightly. “I meant thank you for supporting me. I don’t know if I could have slept if not for you and Val.”

  She thought back to the warmth and safety she felt while being cuddled by the two of them. She had come to expect some closeness from Val but having Kurt also reciprocate was more than she could have hoped for. She was even beginning to associate his smell with comfort and belonging. Being wrapped up with him all night had only reinforced that fact.

  “I am gd you are ok with that. Honestly, I was prepared to sleep in the other room, but Val had other pns.” He reached out and patted her hand. “I just want you to know we are here for you. I mean that, for anything, not just hollow talk either. If you need snuggles, we got that. If you need space, can do. If you want me to stuff you full of comfort food until you pass out, I am happy to oblige.”

  Kristi let out a little chuckle. “I will pass on the space for now, but the food sounds good.” She gave him a soft smile and gripped his hand back. “You really take good care of us. I see why Val fell for you.”

  As if she had been summoned, the door in their bedroom opened and Val crept in. She looked around, confused until she saw Kurt waving from the other room and came over. “Hey, how you feeling?” She set her tray of drinks down before she plopped down next to Kristi and gave her a hug.

  “Better, thanks.” Kristi said and accepted the hug as Val sat next to her. “Kurt said you got food?”

  Without hesitation, Val walked over to the table in the corner and summoned several bags with the familiar golden arches on them. “Just what the doctor ordered.” Kurt said.

  “It’s greasy and likely bad for our health but something about those hashbrowns really hits the spot.” Val said and opened one of the bags to show them that its only contents were hashbrowns.

  Kurt ughed. “I’ll go wake Penny. You guys can get started.” He went to wake up their st member of the team and shortly after they had all sat down to dig in. They were all happy that the spatial storage had kept the food hot and fresh. The coffee had even cooled to a reasonable temperature too since Val didn’t put that in her ring. Nobody was quite sure what would happen with an unsealed liquid in the pocked dimension.

  After they finished eating, Penny had summoned her tablet and was poking around on it. “Anything we need to do up here still?” Kurt asked after she had a little while to read.

  “No, but there is an update.” She said. “Jay is having us stand down for the rest of the week unless an emergency comes up. He will likely want a debrief at some point, but I think he is going to let you settle before he asks outright.”

  “Ok, I can meet with him after we get back then.” Kurt said. “If we aren’t needed up here. Then let’s get rolling. I want to sleep at home tonight.”

  The girls all agreed and began to get dressed and pack their things. Val was sure to grab the rock on their way out the door. Kurt did take a few minutes to respond to his own messages, which thankfully didn’t need a lot of thought.

  Alec wanted to give him an update on the work he ordered. Jay had told him that he had done good work, and he would support them in every way, a sentiment that Kurt appreciated after his questionable actions. His parents just gave him an update, letting him know about their forecasted travel schedule and making sure they were still on for a visit.

  They had only just left after topping off on gas when Penny got a message. She was in the back seat with Kristi and Kurt saw the confusion in the mirror as she read the text. After a moment she looked up at him and asked her question.

  “Why is Jay saying that he will be giving you his full support regardless of the fallout?” She asked. “What happened st night?”

  “I killed a woman in front of her father and made him watch as she died slowly and painfully.” Kurt shrugged. He didn’t like that he had done it but also didn’t regret evening the score a little for what they had done to those people.

  “Why would there be fallout?” She pressed.

  Val piped up. “Probably because he did it as an execution and prevented the healer from saving her.” She turned to look at their now horrified handler. “Penny, Kurt was in the right here.”

  “How is executing a captive in front of her father ‘in the right’ when you were supposed to be capturing them for interrogation?” She sounded a little mad and a lot confused.

  “Remember what I said about it getting ugly?” Kurt pushed back.

  “Yes, but I don’t…” She was cut off by Kristi this time.

  “Children, Penny. They ritually sacrificed children.” She was growling, a deep rumbling sound that was way too loud for her slim frame. “I wish he had killed them all.” She finished as tears began to well in her eyes.

  Click. Val unbuckled and slid over the center consul to sit next to her. “Hey, hey. We got this.” She wrapped her arms around Kristi while almost sitting in her p.

  Kurt looked at Penny in the mirror. “If you want the details, I am sure Jay can provide the recordings. But I suggest you take my advice from st night and not look into it. Jay supports us and if that old demon is backing me then that’s all I need to know about it being the right thing to do.”

  Having gotten curious about his boss’ identity, Kurt had done some investigating. He looked back to some of the oldest known daemons, trying to snoop a bit. He found a couple that would fit but narrowed it down to just the one.

  Jay had originally understated his age, making it sound like he was much younger than he was. In truth, he was likely approaching his fourth millennia. He was one of the ancient entities that represented more than human emotions like his younger cousins. He was a daemon of the natural order, specifically one that represented bance.

  Kurt still didn’t know why he was the focus of the old being’s attention but wasn’t about to upset the apple cart, seeing as he had only benefited from the retionship. He once more looked to the back as Val climbed back into the passenger seat. It seemed that the ride home would be a rather sedate one, which suited him just fine.

  Kay_Ship