KISS is of course property of KISS.  Valiant/Wildcat Ventures is
registered copyright to the author.  For fan entertainment only.  One
hardcopy for personal use is allowed. - JJ  

MAGIC TOUCH

Part 1

Melissa Starfire yawned and wondered how difficult it was going to be to get a taxi and how long a ride it was to the hotel. She wanted to get checked in and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow night… She checked her watch and smiled. Correction, tonight was going to be something.

She had traded time off, raided her savings to pay for the ticket and plane fare and hotel room. But it was worth it. She had a floor seat, she had found the perfect outfit, and she was so ready for the Reunion Tour. The pictures that had been released so far were awesome. She would have tried to get a ticket anyway, but it would have been to a show closer to home. But with the recent changes she was not going to let little things like money or distance stop her. Pittsburgh was the first show she could get a really good seat so Pittsburgh was where she was going, even if it meant turning her work schedule upside down.

She glanced out the window beside her as the front seats slowly disembarked. It always took forever for people to get their stuff, especially on these late night flights where everyone was groggy with sleep or exhaustion. Movement did not at first register. Her brain finally processed what it was receiving and she blinked. She had to be hallucinating. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. It was still there when she looked again.

The plane was like none she had ever seen before, not even in specials on television. But the plane design was not what caught her attention. It had no airline logo. The company logo on the plane was the familiar wire globe with Wyldcat crouched on top, clawed hand scratching across the oval below. Only this oval was not featureless like the Wildcat Ventures logo usually was. This one had a guitar and movie camera on each side of the parallel scratches left by Wyldcat. She had seen that new logo and knew it belonged to the subsidiary Wildcat Productions, the music/movie/television division. And a name was emblazoned right behind that logo.

KISS.

She felt her heart beat faster. It was them. It had to be. They had just finished two shows in Cleveland, had two shows to do here in Pittsburgh. They must have flown straight from their last show to here, delaying sleep until they checked in here so they could sleep in until the last possible minute rather than go through the bother of a move in the morning.

She belatedly realized her own plane was emptied for several seats behind her own. She quickly grabbed her small bag under her seat, very thankful she had packed as little as she did. She had known she would be arriving late in Pittsburgh and did not like the idea of waiting around the luggage area at this hour of the night, so she made sure she kept her luggage down to what she could carry onto the plane and not have to check any through. She was so glad of that now.

She quickly gathered up her luggage, afraid they might get off their plane and disappear before she had a chance to catch a glimpse. This was unbelievable luck. She had seen the pictures of them with their makeup on, but would they still have it on? Or would she be able to see what they really looked like now? They had become Gifted, and there were hints of physical changes. They sure looked better than they had for years. Would she even recognize them?

She stepped out into the quiet hush of a late-night airport. Most of the passengers were walking down the causeway, although some were being greeted by waiting family and/or friends. One enthusiastic young boy hugged a man in a suit, excitedly telling him about a local baseball game. Melissa smiled at the domestic scene as she quickly turned and went to the window, watching outside.

The plane was being positioned to meet an extendable tube from the terminal, so they would be coming through right here where she was! She had thought the most she would see was them walking out to their limousines. She checked to make sure what gate they would be using and found a seat where she would see everyone that came off the plane. The man was opening his suitcase to get some item, the boy waiting with bouncing patience. A few sat down, waiting for connecting flights. She ignored the various cleaning staff and milling passengers in the area, clutching her luggage close and waiting in anticipation.

“ Do us all a favor and skip Pennsylvania next time,” Boris Deweese asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

Gene Simmons yawned. “ Now what?”

“ They’re being assholes. Again.” Boris sighed. “ Two days of Cleveland, and now two of this bunch. You guys decided to put two pains back-to-back.” He let his wheelchair coast back slightly, letting one of the crew through. Pointing over his shoulder, he said, “ Now they’re saying we can’t bring the limos onto the tarmac. We’ve got to go through the terminal. And no teleporting so Ace can’t take you direct.”

Paul finished putting his book back in his carry-on bag and slung it over his shoulder. “ No biggee. A walk will help clear my head.”

“ The problem is they won’t let us do a sweep,” Boris growled. “ We can’t clear the terminal AND we’re not allowed to have our guns. All weapons have to be locked up and carried out in cases.”

Gene frowned. “ You’re worried someone may try to hit us.”

“ That’s why I changed our schedule unexpectedly,” Boris admitted. “ Hopefully anyone trying for you won’t know what time or gate you’re coming in. But we’ve been hearing some rumors I don’t like.”

Ace Frehley floated over his seat. “ This is where Shandi came from, isn’t it? Pittsburgh.”

“ And now you see why we moved her as fast as we could to Cincy.” Boris rolled back to let Raven step into the aisle. “ Pennsylvania has this attitude Gifts are weapons and any Gifted should ‘turn them off’ as soon as they cross the state border.” He looked at the lead guitarist. “ Ace! Remember, you stay grounded except in our rooms and at the arena. They’ll fine you for flying, even if it’s just three foot off the ground.”

Ace sighed and reluctantly settled in his seat.

Peter Criss stood for a long stretch and leaned on the back of the seat in front of his. “ So what’s the plan?”

Boris explained, “ I’ve got all the actual couriers with us except for the drivers and three I left with the trucks. I send two out to check to make sure the limousines are waiting, they come back and we do a fast walk out, and no one stops for anything. So if you need to hit the bathroom you do it here or wait until we reach the hotel. You don’t wait for luggage and you don’t stop for autographs.” He gave Gene a look. “ Or anything.”

“ I’ll pass on dessert tonight,” Gene agreed.

Boris nodded at Wade Wellman. Wade and Carlos Bearclaw headed out the door.

“ Makeup or no makeup?” Paul considered.

“ I’d prefer none,” Boris said. “ If someone’s after you guys, maybe they won’t recognize you without it. They’ll know someone important is going through since we’re going to be doing our Big Nasty Guards Who Eat Only Raw Meat routine but maybe they won’t realize who it is we’re guarding.” He looked up at Raven. “ And I’d appreciate it if you’d switch from the hair and tattoo.”

Raven cast a fast spell. Her white hair became its natural black color. The white spread-wing tattoo around her eyes disappeared. She could not directly do anything about the shimmering white of her eyes, so she slipped a pair of tinted glasses on.

“ I like you better like this anyway, Mouse.” Peter donned a set of glasses to hide his own cat eyes. He leaned close and whispered, “ My own personal Cherokee princess.”

Raven gave him a teasing look. “ I really should start charging you,” she whispered back. ‘Cherokee princess’ had become a personal joke between them since she explained that the term was actually an old Western frontier slang term for prostitute.

Peter grinned and winked. “ Do you accept credit cards?”

Anne Kurtz disconnected from the power outlet. “ I’m back to full charge. What’s the locals’ take on cyborgs?”

“ They’ve never addressed the idea in the state laws,” Boris warned. “ Try not to use your generators. They may classify those as concealed weapons.”

“ Heaven only knows what they’ll consider lightning spells then,” Raven noted.

Melissa saw two men come off the plane and walk through the terminal, carefully watching everyone and everything. They wore jackets with the Wildcat Productions logo and were obviously security men. She watched them disappear out of sight.

She pushed her eyeglasses back up her nose and turned back to watch the gate. Maybe this was just the crew. But surely they only had one airplane and only KISS itself would travel on it. But what was keeping them?

One of the men returned and went back onto the plane.

A few minutes later, the man stepped from the gate, keenly watching everything. A group of people followed.

Melissa caught her breath. They did not have the makeup on but hours of looking at their recent photos let her still identify them. Even in everyday clothes and sunglasses, she knew Paul by his hair and build. Gene was also easy to spot. Peter’s beard hid his identity but the beautiful raven-haired beauty he was holding hands with gave it away. That had to be his fiancée Raven but how did she go from snow-white hair to midnight black? Ace had to be the man was his nose buried in a magazine, blindly following the guidance of another man holding his arm. The delicate Oriental woman was in Raven’s band from what she remembered. She was unsure about the brunette woman. Personal guard for Raven perhaps? And who was the man in a wheelchair?

She sat, watching as they walked by her, the first man well ahead of the group while the rest followed in a tight grouping. A guard walked before the group, two on each side, and two followed a short distance behind. It was obvious no one was getting close to the people within the protective circle. She hungrily feasted her eyes on Paul and Gene, watched Peter joking with the man with Ace. (Had he called him Tommy?) She could not believe her luck. She wished she had a camera.

She saw some of people in the waiting area did have cameras. Several people were turning in their seats, bringing up large lensed cameras. The boy ran to the edge of the seats to watch as the man closed his suitcase and talked to the woman who had been waiting for his arrival home. The work crew was pausing to watch the procession, leaning on their small carts. A small motorized cart with four uniformed people on it zipped forward, forcing the procession to slow and step to one side.

Buttons were pushed.

“ DOWN!” Boris screamed as lasers criss-crossed the group.

Peter rolled, trying to cover Raven as they hit the ground. His head went up, eyes wide in surprise as two laser bolts cut through his chest. Raven grabbed him, not feeling the beam that passed through him to hit her shoulder. Her attention was focused on Peter as he collapsed beside her. She felt the critical wounds, reached for the tau, and released healing energies into his body.

Tina Nakagawa was caught before she could even begin her shift to smaller fox form. She fell, unconscious and bleeding.

Tommy Thayer caught Ace as he went down, two lasers having bored smoking holes through him.

Paul went down as he dove for cover.

The second barrage hit a split second later.

Peter opened his eyes in time to see the beam go through the middle of Raven's chest. Peter caught her. "NNNNOOOOOooooo!"

Anne deliberately stepped in front of the laser meant for Peter. “ You just pissed me off!” she screamed.

Guards went down as they protected the injured, placing themselves in the line of fire as they activated force harnesses and tried to uncase their weapons.

Boris, encased in a shimmering field, blocked several lasers. The non-restricted knife he threw with deadly accuracy went through the eye of the cart driver, killing the assassin instantly. The cart crashed into a row of seats, spilling the three other occupants across the floor.

Gene screamed and charged the cart’s former occupants, the lasers burning through his clothing and scorching his skin. He picked up the cart and slammed it into them, removing people and laser equipment in one crash.

Peter became a silent blur, leaping over the seats and attacking the ‘camera’ wielders. One went out the window, the other two slammed into the wall and were still.

Anne charged a ‘cleaning cart’, blocking the laser fire with her cyborg body. She grabbed the man and broke the arm holding the disguised weapon.

Boris downed the last assassin with a second knife as he tried to flee.

The whole attack took less than a minute.

Melissa never thought about what she was doing. She knew that legally she was supposed to obtain permission before using her Gift but people were hurt. She dropped her bags and ran for the still bodies on the floor. She would be damned if she sat by and did nothing. She ignored the screams of panicking travelers and knelt beside the first person she reached.

“ Bobby!” A woman held the small boy; tears cutting tracks through carefully applied makeup. “ Someone help us! Bobby!”

Melissa touched the still boy and blinked on tears. She gently closed the innocent blue eyes. “ I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”

“ Bobby,” the woman sobbed.

Melissa walked across the floor, rage burning inside. She touched Ace, made sure he was in no danger of dying in the next few minutes, and then forced herself to move to the next one. The triage training she had received ran through her mind. Those that could wait must wait. Find and treat the critical.

It was hard though when she reached Paul. One laser had burned through his chest, his lungs filling with his own blood. Another had left half his face a scorched ruin. He was unconscious and critical, but he would not die in the next few minutes. Someone here might.

One guard she touched and passed with a shudder. There was nothing she could do for him.

As soon as she touched Raven she knew she could not move on. The laser bolt through the singer’s chest had nicked a major artery. Two others cut critical paths near vital organs. Only the fact it was a laser and had partially cauterized the wounds had kept her alive this long. The beat of her heart was tearing holes in the thinned wall of the blood vessel and it could give anytime despite the faint healing energies that were fighting to repair the damage. Raven would bleed to death in seconds when that vessel gave. Melissa concentrated, releasing her healing energies to heal the worst of the damage. She felt the warmth pass through her hands and enter into the wounded woman. Tau energies merged with Raven’s own inherent healing and re-wove the damaged tissues, closed wounds.

Melissa forced herself to stop before all the damage was healed. Raven was no longer critical. There were others to check.

The Oriental girl. Two more guards. Another guard she could do nothing for. A passenger from her own flight caught in the crossfire, a stewardess.

Then she moved to check those she would rather just let die but that would lower her to THEIR level. She knelt by a woman bleeding profusely from a compound leg fracture. “ I’m a healer. I can…”

The woman spat at her, her saliva stained with blood. “ Get away from me, Freak.”

Melissa sat back. “ Your choice.”

“ I’ll die before I let something like you touch me,” the woman snarled, clutching her abdomen. “ Touch me and I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”

Knowing what she was dealing with, she turned her back on the attackers and returned to those attacked. Melissa remembered who had what injuries and quickly started from worst to best. She healed Paul, carefully clearing his lungs, closing the wounds, repairing the damaged organs, healing his face of the worst of the burns. Tears flowed from her eyes as she felt him grow stronger. The Oriental girl was next, repairing a damaged liver, bleeding leg wound. Ace was next, knitting back muscles bored through, a vertebra drilled brittle, and thankfully the laser had missed the spinal cord so close. A guard whose lung had been pierced. The stewardess.

Finished with the critical wounds, she returned to Raven.

Peter sat on the floor, Raven cradled in his arm. He sensed someone approaching behind him and growled a warning.

“ I’m a healer,” Melissa said softly.

Peter looked up at her. “ Sorry. You helped her earlier. I smell your touch on her. Thank you.”

Melissa touched Raven’s arm and completed the healing of the wounds. Raven’s own healing could have easily handled it now, but this way the singer would not be worn out from repairing herself. She still left the delicate job of the body’s adjustments and repairs of incidental damage to Raven’s own Gift. It was always difficult to break away when injuries yet remained, but she only had a limited amount of energy. And she was fast reaching her limit.

Melissa heard angry voices as she moved back to Paul.

“ I want to know how nine people with laser weapons got through your security! Over half of them were wearing YOUR uniforms. I’ve got two friends dead, DEAD! There are innocent bystanders hurt, one DEAD! And you’re telling me you’re taking over this situation?! Like HELL you are! Our weapons are out and they’re staying out and if you say one more word I’m jamming mine up your ass and firing it because it’s obvious that’s where your brains are!”

Melissa finished healing Paul; pleased to feel his body mend under her hands. She gently touched the smooth perfection of his face. It always amazed her, this Gift of hers. She had no knowledge of medicine, had taught herself a little about anatomy, had completed the Red Cross healing training; but her Gift could let her feel where damage existed and instinctively knew what to do to heal it.

She knelt by Ace, her hands shaking slightly. The bone needed strengthening. Bone chips had to be dissolved before they worked through the muscle and caused damage, possibly to the spinal cord dangerously close. She released the energies and felt them find the problems and handle them. The voices came and went around her.

“ Yes I put a guy through the window,” Peter growled. “ They were trying to kill us. It’s known as self-defense. And you try to touch Raven I’m going to put YOU through the nearest window. Go away.”

Melissa had to pause to catch her breath. Her blood sugar must be ridiculously low by now. She started to crawl to the Oriental girl.

“ Easy,” a deep voice said beside her. Strong arms steadied her. “ You need to rest.”

Melissa looked up and everything was blurry. She shakily removed her glasses and tried to clean the fog and sweat off them. Her vision was still blurry when she re-donned them. “ I haven’t finished everyone.”

Gene picked her up. “ You’ve healed everyone who was in any kind of danger. Me and Pete will heal ourselves. Anne does her own repairs. Boris is handling the walking wounded. No one has any injuries worth driving yourself to collapse.” He set her in a chair to the side. “ You stay put.” He walked away.

Melissa felt a familiar cold chill pass through her. She had really been pushing it. How many had she healed? She could not remember. She looked around the room.

Wildcat security was firmly in charge, weapons drawn and faces grim. Airport security was huddled to one side, nervously watching the armed guards and carefully staying out of the way. The woman Melissa was unsure of (She heard someone call her Anne) was carefully spreading a sheet over one of the dead Wildcat personnel, the other already covered. The man in a wheelchair was directing the various passengers, helping them take care of themselves and the wounded. The man she had seen earlier held the sobbing woman, the boy’s body carefully out of their sight.

Gene was helping Paul to a seat. Paul looked pale and held his ribs. He glanced up at something Gene softly said, then looked straight across at Melissa. He gave her a faint smile. The Oriental girl was sitting next to him, eyes closed and muttering something to herself. Peter stood behind them with Raven cradled in his arms, watching everything that moved and growling at anyone that came near them. Raven appeared to still be unconscious.

Ace was sitting in the middle of the floor, leaning on Tommy’s shoulder. Melissa saw she had missed an injury because Tommy’s sleeve was slashed and a laser-cauterized furrow ran across his bicep.

Melissa rose to her feet and stumbled more than walked to them. She let her legs give out and dropped with jarring impact to her knees. “ You’re hurt.” She touched Tommy’s arm.

Tommy turned to speak.

Melissa let the last of her energy curl out and heal his injury, and then went unconscious.

Melissa woke with her head pillowed on Paul’s shoulder. “ What?” She blinked and fumbled in her pockets, trying to remember where her glasses were.

“ Here.” Paul handed them to her. “ You passed out on us.”

“ Did I get, is his name Tommy?, Tommy’s arm healed?” she asked, putting her glasses on and immediately taking them off to polish the lens on her shirt hem.

“ He’s fine,” Paul assured her.

She put her glasses on and realized she was sitting in the back of a limousine. Paul had his arm around her, bracing her against his side. Ace sat beside her, eyes closed and leaning against the outside window. Gene sat across from her, watching her carefully. A Wildcat employee sat on each side of him, guns held in their laps.

“ Where am I?” She looked out the window at the city passing by.

“ You were still out when the cops arrived and took over,” Paul explained. “ We told them you were with us so they didn’t object when we carried you to the limos.”

“ My suitcases!”

Gene smiled. “ Peter found them for you. Brown suitcase, garment bag, and overnight case, right? That’s all he found with your scent on them.”

She relaxed. “ My ticket’s in the overnight case.”

“ Ticket?” Paul asked.

“ To your show tonight.”

Gene laughed. “ Now we know why you dashed to our rescue. If we were hurt you’d miss the show.”

She was momentarily hurt by his comment until she saw the twinkle in his eyes and realized he was teasing her. “ You’ll notice I never bothered to do any healing of YOU, Mr. Simmons.”

“ Ouch.” Gene put his hand to his chest.

“ She got you,” Paul told him with a smile.

“ Who attacked you?” she asked. “ Or do you know?”

“ Oh, we know,” Gene growled. “ They were recording it all, broadcasting it live in fact. Ever hear of a group called Normals Enforcing Supers Supervision?”

“ NESS,” she said with extreme distaste. “ No wonder she refused to be healed.”

Paul nodded. “ Evidently they took exception to us donating a portion of our tour to the Gifted Scholarship. They figured on killing us and Raven and making an example of it to everyone. Lasers and tau detectors so they could be sure to target the Gifted, although their wild shots got a lot of innocent people. They had cameras set in the terminal and sent the whole attack live to all the major news services.”

“ Oh my…” Melissa paled and put her hand over her mouth. She had never really tried to hide her Gift but she did not want her face broadcast to the whole world. Now NESS would know she helped foil one of their missions.

Paul squeezed her shoulders. “ That’s why we kidnapped you. We don’t trust the local authorities.”

“ When an armed hit squad gets through what is supposed to be security?” Gene growled. “ I wouldn’t trust this crowd to take out the trash.”

Paul continued, “ But we weren’t about to leave you with them when you saved our lives.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “ Thanks. Tina traced what you did. She said if you hadn’t been there I’d have died. We definitely would have lost Raven and Ace may have ended up permanently crippled. You saved our lives.”

She blinked on tears, remembering the laughing boy. “ I couldn’t help some of you.”

“ No one could have.” Paul pulled her closer, urging her head down on his shoulder. “ Is there someone we should call for you?”

“ Is that broadcast going to be shown?” she asked. “ I probably ought to call home and let them know I’m okay. But there’s no one here in Pittsburgh. I can give you the name of my hotel.”

“ I can too,” Gene growled. “ You’re not leaving our protection.”

“ We can’t be sure those were the only NESS fanatics here,” Paul explained gently. “ One of the live feeds went somewhere we haven’t traced yet, so we figure some NESS group already knows their little attempt failed.”

“ And I’m right there on film.” Melissa shivered.

Gene leaned forward and patted her knee. “ You saved our butts, now we save yours. We won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“ You can room with Tina or Anne,” Paul said. “ We’ve got a buffet waiting for us at the hotel. Hungry?”

“ Starved!”

Gene laughed. “ You pushed yourself healing us.” He patted her knee again and winked at her. “ You just get something to eat, catch a good night’s sleep, and we’ll worry about NESS in the morning. Boris has told the local authorities what they can do with their ordinances, so Wildcat doesn’t have their hands tied anymore. And I feel for any authority around here if they try to tell Boris or Wildcat what to do after what’s happened.”

“ Boris already called Cincy,” Paul commented to Gene.

Gene’s grin was pure evil enjoyment. “ I bet Mark’s already sizzling some phone lines.”

“ No bet,” Paul said.

Giving Melissa Anne’s room and Anne moving in with Tina handled the room situation. Wildcat personnel carried Melissa’s suitcases up for her, gave her the room key, and promised to bring her a tray. They then left her to settle in, clean up some, and do whatever she felt like.

What she felt like was having a good cry. She sat on the bed, shaking with exhaustion and emotions. There was no time to be scared while it was happening, but now she could look back at all the horror. NESS had cold-heartedly gunned down innocent bystanders in another of their insane campaigns against Gifteds. Never mind that KISS was harming no one. KISS was Gifted and influential, so NESS felt that gave them the right to kill not just KISS but anyone that got in their way. Fanatics. Insane fanatics.

And she was on film. Her face where everyone could see her. Her Gift exposed to the world. Exposed to a world where madmen would gladly kill her because she could not sit by and let people die.

She wiped the tears from her face and blew her nose. She was safe for now. She needed a shower, some food, and sleep. She could not think straight tonight. Tomorrow she would face the consequences of her actions but she knew that, given the chance, she would not hesitate to do the same thing again if her healing was needed.

NC18

MAGIC TOUCH

Part 2

Melissa answered the door, hair wrapped in a towel, wearing only her old robe. As she opened the door, she said, “ Just set it…Oh!”

Gene grinned, balancing two stacks of trays in his hands. “ Would you mind some company?”

“ Come on in before you drop them and mess up the carpet.” Melissa stepped back, surprised at his appearance at her door.

Gene carefully stepped by her. “ Grab the cooler.”

Melissa grabbed the small cooler sitting just outside the door. “ I thought they’d just leave a tray outside my door.”

Gene chuckled. “ One measly tray? You’re dealing with KISS. We have our own special gourmet chef. We eat better than a four star restaurant.” He paused by the table, unsure how to set things down without having a disaster. “ Hmm.”

Melissa chuckled and started moving trays from Gene’s hands to the table. “How did you get all that to balance in the first place?”

“ You were the next to last stop,” Gene revealed. “ I helped Carlos distribute the trays. The only ones hitting the buffet are the crew. Everyone else is staying in their rooms and getting trays.”

“ I should get dressed and check on everyone,” she worried.

“ You try it and I’ll tie you on that bed,” Gene threatened. “ Tina’s got healing spells and she checked everyone out. Unfortunately both our healers got taken down in the attack or you wouldn’t have had to drive yourself like you did. As soon as Raven’s back on her feet she’s going to make a couple of healing talismans just in case. She already made a couple for the crew but they’re with the trucks in case there’s an accident.”

“ I noticed Paul and Ace have a little healing,” she said, opening the cooler and setting it on the floor under the table. She grabbed a chilled can and opened it.

“ Only works on them,” Gene explained. “ Me and Peter have the same.” He began uncovering plates. “ Help yourself. I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I had them put a bit of everything in.”

Melissa looked over the offerings and smiled. “ I’m going to put on five pounds.”

“ You probably lost ten pushing yourself like you did.” Gene grabbed an empty plate and started helping himself. “ Dive in.”

“ How is everyone?” she asked, filling her own plate.

“ Boris made sure someone is staying the night with each of the injured,” Gene answered. “ That was part of why Anne got moved in with Tina. Raven came to in the shower and Peter is getting some food in her right now. Paul and Ace are tired but should be fine by this afternoon. All our crowd are doing okay and Boris called the cops for an update on the others.”

“ Any sign of NESS?”

Gene kept his gaze on his plate. “ They found a local hotel where that bunch were staying. Someone abruptly checked out of two more of the rooms there about ten minutes after the airport hit.”

Melissa felt a cold lump form in her chest. “ How many people?”

“ No way to tell,” he admitted. “ Probably at least half a dozen. Boris figures a second team at least, with support personnel.”

“ Will they try again?”

“ Who knows? They may try here. They may try at the shows. They may back off and try in some other city. Or they may decide we’re too tough and leave us alone.” Gene angrily stabbed a strip of meat and sliced at it. “ They should be happy. They’re lead story on all the news services right now.”

“ That’ll just encourage them.”

“ Mark’s got his spin doctors on it,” Gene assured her. “ They’re focusing on the terrorist angle, innocents hurt, painting the attackers as extremists. Humans First have already denounced their actions, as has the Assembly of Mankind.”

Melissa set her glass down slowly. “ Those are both anti-Gifted groups.”

“ Humans First definitely,” Gene agreed. “ But it seems only Gifted find the Assembly suspicious. Most people seem to think it’s as harmless as any other odd religion.”

“ They aren’t listening to what they preach. Nietzsche was just another philosopher, but his ideas were used by the Nazis to justify their atrocities. Anyone who says words can’t do any real harm is ignoring history.”

“ I’m not arguing. The closer I look at the Assembly, the more nervous I get.” Gene put a spoonful of one dish on her plate. “ Try this.”

She complied. “ Not bad. What is it?”

“ We call it Fairy Casserole Number Four. Cook has over a dozen of these and we’re not exactly sure what he puts in them. He’s careful to let Peter know what ones have meat: He numbered them so all casseroles divisible by three are meatless so it’s easy to keep track. This one is some kind of fowl.” Gene helped himself to a large helping.

“ Are you still doing the shows?”

Gene nodded. “ We’re not letting the bastards win. Wildcat upped the security. Everyone’s getting scanned as they come through the doors. Boris is having his crew do a thorough security check of the arena before our stuff is unloaded. We may run a little later first show because it’s going to take time, but we’re on the air on local radio stations assuring everyone we’re still going on.”

“ They could try for you with an arena full of fans,” she worried, remembering the innocents caught in the crossfire.

“ They could do that at any show. I’d rather they do it here, when we’re ready. They caught us by surprise.”

Melissa poked at her salad. “ How do you handle being targets?”

“ We stay alert and have very good friends to watch our backs.” He reached across the table and gently cradled her chin in his hand. “ We won’t let them near you.”

“ I can’t hide the rest of my life,” she said softly. “ Or do I get a new identity and lose my whole life because someone thinks they have the right to kill me just because I can heal?”

“ Neither,” he assured her. “ No one has your name or identification but us. Boris made sure of that. We let the locals think you’re one of our crew, flying in on a separate flight under an alias.” He smiled. “ By the way, your last name is unique.”

Melissa sighed. “ Gift of a set of parents who decided to change their last name during the Sixties.”

“ Either of them Gifted?” Gene wanted to learn as much as possible about the young lady.

“ Dad’s a bit of a medium, sensitive to ghosts and such,” she admitted. “ Not something a real estate agent publicizes, although he has used it at times when he finds a haunted house. He’s steered a few people away from places that would have driven them up the walls, helped some restless spirits. Halloween’s a real trip because all of his old friends drop in to visit. Mom swears she reads emotions but it’s just she’s a really good judge of character. You don’t get away with anything around her.”

“ Sounds like a bit of a pain when you’re young,” Gene observed.

Melissa shrugged. “ She steered me away from some real troublemakers. They’re pretty cool as parents. Dad’s the one that helped when my Gift showed up.”

“ Healing. What training you got?”

Melissa nodded to her overnight case, where her various ID cards were. “ I earned my Red Cross card. First aid and injury healing. I keep up my certification. I considered going for a med degree but that’s such a long road and so expensive. I’m not a straight ‘A’ student, so I haven’t a chance at a scholarship. It would mean going deep in debt and there’s only a handful of med schools that incorporate healing in their curriculum anyway.”

“ You could name your price once you graduated if you went into cosmetic surgery,” Gene pointed out. “ There’s several cosmetic healers in Beverly Hills.”

Melissa snorted. “ I don’t want to get rich.” She pushed her glasses up and gave Gene a determined look. “ What I really wanted to get into they don’t have yet. I wanted ophthalmology.”

“ What?”

“ Eyes.” She tapped her glasses. “ Healing operates with the body when it corrects injuries. But eye problems are ‘normal’ for the body, so to correct bad eyesight you have to know exactly how the eye works, what the lens ‘feels’ like, what a miniscule change will do. Everyone focuses on trauma or cosmetics in healing. I want to try to do something with corrective healing. Eyes, or maybe birth defects. But no one out there is doing that.”

“ Yet,” Gene said quietly.

“ I’d have to get more than just a regular MD,” she explained. “ I’d have to get into research. And I’m an average student, my parents aren’t rich, and I’m female.”

“ Einstein wasn’t a straight ‘A’ student.”

“ Einstein didn’t have to compete with the rich brats AND fight the anti-Gifted.”

Gene nodded. “ True. Although I’ve often wondered if he wasn’t Gifted. Perhaps his Gift was the ability to increase his intellect when considering certain problems.”

“ If that’s true, every genius could be considered Gifted,” she pointed out.

Gene smiled. “ Exactly. A Gift that uses so little tau it’s undetectable.”

“ You’re serious,” she realized.

“ Completely.” Gene helped himself to some pastry. “ And what about people with high charisma? Extreme beauties? Maybe everyone is Gifted, it’s just not obvious. Everyone has at least some tau in their system, even those labeled Normal. Maybe Normals are just Gifted with subtle Gifts.”

“ NESS would freak if that was true.”

“ Hopefully they’d kill themselves,” Gene said viciously. “ The world can do without them.”

Melissa pushed her plate back and reached for an apple.

“ You need to eat more than that,” Gene chided.

“ I’m too tired to eat.”

Gene stood and walked around behind her chair. “ You depleted your tau.” He began massaging her shoulders.

“ That’s the energy I use to heal with, right?” Melissa closed her eyes. “ I remember a little of the Red Cross courses.”

Gene remembered more than a little and had the benefit of being instructed by a master mage. He gathered tau from his connection with Oliver and focused it through his hands. He slid his hands under the collar of her robe, needing bare skin contact. His hands glowed with his fire as some of the energy escaped, but some crossed into her, creating a tingling in her skin.

“ Oh.” Her eyes went wide.

“ Feel good?” he asked.

“ Very.”

He kept rubbing and focusing the energy. “ Food is helpful but tau itself is even better.”

She leaned back into his grip, feeling the warm glow spread through her whole body. “ This feels downright sinful.”

Gene smiled. “ Really?”

Melissa closed her eyes and nodded.

Gene looked down. The belt of her robe had come untied and the garment now hung loosely on her, exposing a gap of several inches all the way down. He had an excellent view of her cleavage and lower. He moved his hands around to the front, reaching down and massaging her breasts.

Melissa looked up to see his face over hers. He leaned down and kissed her.

A warm tingle coursed through her body. “ I’m not tired anymore.”

“ Good.” Gene moved around the chair and slid his arm under her legs. He effortlessly picked her up and carried her to the bed. “ You’ve had your shower, something to eat.”

“ How about dessert?” she asked softly, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him.

Gene smiled, laying her across the spread. “ What do you have in mind?”

“ Surprise me.”

Gene passed his glowing hands over her body, spreading the robe back so he could see her body.

“ No fair,” she protested, tugging at his shirt.

Gene chuckled. “ I don’t fight fair.” He ran his hands down her body, leaving a tingling trail on her skin. He stroked up the inside of her thighs and deftly explored her most sensitive area.

She could not lie still. Cool fire coursed inside her as his finger slid in. She arched her back, moaning softly.

Gene settled on the bed beside her, his hand still tantalizing her nether region. “ I can get even more unfair.”

“ You ARE a demon,” she moaned.

Gene chuckled and leaned down to kiss her. He felt her muscles tighten as her orgasm crashed through her.

“ One,” he chuckled, sliding down the bed. He spread her legs wide and replaced fingers with tongue.

Melissa moaned as the passion built again. The tau he had given her warmed the core of her being. The waves came faster and faster until they finally exploded through her in a second climax. Vaguely she heard him say, “ Two.”

Moments later she felt him settle over her, bare skin touching bare skin. She gasped as he slid inside her, her muscles tightening over him. Her world dwindled to the feel of him over her, in her, holding her, bringing her to another rush of passion, a mutual release.

He carefully kept his weight on his arms, panting from the last round. “ Three strikes.” He kissed her. “ I win.”

“ Mmm,” she said sleepily, even the transferred tau unable to keep her awake as she basked in the afterglow. “ I win.”

Gene gently turned the covers back and settled her under them. “ Go to sleep. You’ve earned it.”

“ Are you staying here?” she asked drowsily.

“ If you want.”

“ I want,” she whispered.

He slid under the covers and pulled her against him. “ I’m here if you need anything.”

“ After that, what more could a girl want?” She let sleep claim her.

Gene stood on the balcony looking out into the night. Melissa was sound asleep in the room behind him but rest was still an elusive matter for him. He had finally dressed and stepped outside to think. NESS had seen to it he had a lot to think about.

“ Don’t bother jumping, they’ve got the field around us.”

Gene smiled, not really surprised to know Peter was awake. “ You can’t sleep either?”

Peter’s voice came from the balcony beside him. “ I needed a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately all I’ve got around here is this smog. Man, I’d love to bottle mountain air, be able to open a can and breath something other than exhaust fumes and smokestacks.”

“ Welcome to the Steel City. Raven okay?”

Pete answered from the darkness, “ Asleep. The pixies are here and will get me if she’s waking. She didn’t drown herself in the shower, mostly because I kept waking her up; and I got most of the tray in her before she went back out totally on me. They did a hell of a job on her.”

“ I checked on Paul and Ace when we delivered the meals. Boris has someone staying with them all night just in case. Anne’s with Tina.”

Peter asked, “ How’s our little healer doing over there?”

Gene smiled. “ Asleep. I got her to eat, passed some of the tau to her so she wasn’t so tired.”

“ And then made sure she had a good excuse to be tired,” Peter predicted.

Gene smiled and said nothing. The silence lingered for several minutes as each man pondered the night’s events.

“ I keep thinking about what happened,” Peter admitted. “ Mark made a point of calling me. Gave me a lecture on not expecting combat reflexes from myself and pointing out even Boris got surprised.”

“ I got the same from Death Goblin. It doesn’t help.” Gene clenched his fist. “ I was right beside Paul. I know I can take a lot more damage than the rest of you. Why didn’t I protect him? I left Tommy completely vulnerable. I should have drawn their fire away from the rest of you.”

“ Raven almost died because she was too busy healing me to go invisible,” Peter said quietly. “ If I hadn’t let myself get hit, she could have done something.”

Gene slapped his hand against the railing and the metal hummed.

“ I remember the one guard. Me and him talked baseball a couple of times,” Peter said quietly. “ The other guy just joined us after the Chicago fiasco. I don’t even remember his name. A guy dies protecting me and I don’t even know his name.”

“ Patrick,” Gene identified. “ He requested transfer from the Arizona branch.” He quickly added, “ I asked Boris, after everything settled down.”

Another long pause.

Peter said quietly, “ I killed a man tonight.”

Gene nodded. “ I killed two.”

Peter gazed out at the lights of the city. “ I didn’t mean to. All I wanted to do was stop him. I put him through a plate glass window out onto the field. I don’t know what killed him, the glass or the fall.”

“ I crushed a man with that cart,” Gene said quietly. “ And a woman, I’m not sure what she died from.”

“ I never saw my victim,” Peter said. “ The cops are writing it off as justified and not even recording who did it. Just ‘killed in the act of attempted murder ‘.”

“ I saw one of mine.” Gene shivered. He knew that sight would haunt him.

Peter leaned on the railing, looking down at the lights far below. “ I guess Boris or someone told Mark because he was the one who told me. We talked a bit about killing, death, the insanity in this world.”

“ I keep wondering what I could have done to prevent the killing,” Gene said.

“ They took Boris and our trained guards by surprise. What makes you think you should do better? Do you think you know everything?”

“ No, but I can’t help thinking I should be able to find some way to stop them, something other than killing them.”

“ Did they give you time? Or were you having to chose between innocent lives and the lives of killers?”

Gene thought about the question.

Peter quietly continued, “ They made the choice. If you had not stopped them, do you think me and Anne could have handled them by ourselves? Or do you think we should have held back, not been as aggressive? And how many more would have died? Don’t think about how many died; think about how many are still alive because you acted. They killed three. They would have killed all of us. They would have killed that healer sleeping peacefully behind you to prevent her from healing anyone. All the critically wounded would have died. How many did you save by stopping them?”

“ I don’t like killing.”

Peter nodded. “ No sane person does. But even the BIBLE admits there’s ‘a time to kill and a time to heal.’”

Gene laughed. “ You’re doing that mystic shtick again.”

Peter smiled. “ Fin and Fang said I was the soul of the Guardians.”

“ And I’m the body, so I guess I get to do the brunt of the protecting.” Gene sighed.

“ Protecting doesn’t always entail an axe. There are always preventive measures. What would make NESS stop harassing us?”

Gene got a thoughtful look.

“ Oh oh. I’ve got a pixy at the window. Raven’s restless. I better get back in before she wakes and panics because I’m not there.” Peter headed for the door.

“ Peter.” Gene paused. “ Thanks.”

“ For what?”

“ For getting me past the shock. I just needed someone to talk to. Someone that knows where I’m coming from.”

“ We both needed that. Thank you. Good night.”

MAGIC TOUCH

Part 3

“ Good morning, afternoon, whatever.” Paul walked in the room and headed for the buffet. “ How is everyone? And where are they?”

Gene had an untidy stack of papers, a dirty plate, and a cup of coffee on the table before him. “ Anne went with Boris to the arena to double-check security. No new info on NESS. The gunmen are staying silent. The crew’s up and working but everyone else is still asleep.”

“ Understandable.” Paul grabbed a plate of fresh fruit and one of Cook’s irresistible pastries. The hob knew exactly how to cater to one’s weaknesses. “ How is Melissa? Anyone check on her?”

Gene smiled into his cup. “ She’s watching one of my tapes and talking to her family. We’ve been able to keep her name out of the reports and the broadcast was not clear enough to let them identify her, so she should be safe.”

“ They could check passenger lists,” Paul worried, sitting down.

“ We told the cops and it’s in the records that she was waiting here for us, part of our crew,” Gene answered smugly. “ They’re going to think she’s Wildcat.”

Paul relaxed. “ Good. I’d hate to see anything happen to her.”

A pixy zipped in the room, circled the ceiling, and hovered by the window. Peter and Raven walked in, three other pixies hovering around them.

“ I figured you’d sleep until we came in and drug you out of bed,” Gene commented.

“ Try sleeping with pixies in your room,” Peter suggested in annoyance.

The pixies hovered in place, obviously concerned.

Peter smiled for the tiny mystics. “ They have so much energy you just can’t stay still yourself.”

The pixies laughed and danced around the couple.

“ We’ll be fine now,” Raven assured the small beings. “ Go see if Cook needs help.”

Four pixies zoomed out of the room, laughing.

“ I was about ready to get a flyswatter,” Peter admitted with a rumble. “ And we have a whole colony of them at Haven? I think we better stay on tour.”

“ At Haven they help maintain the grounds and watch for intruders,” Raven said, picking up a tray. “ They just don’t have as much to do on tour and so they get into mischief.”

“ Wouldn’t leave the room and give us some privacy,” Peter grumbled. He frowned. “ You need more than that.” He took her plate away from her and added several items to it. “ You had to heal yourself. Tau only covers so much. You need real fuel.” He handed her the plate and returned to filling his own.

Raven gave him an exasperated look. “ I’m not that hungry.”

“ Tau euphoria,” Peter diagnosed. “ You’ll feel it if you don’t eat.” He handed her a bottle of fruit juice. “ Do I have to drag out the book and show you?”

“ I loaned you that book. I see I never should have let you near my library.” Raven walked over and sat down at the table.

“ What are you reading?” Gene asked, intrigued.

“ Sort of a ‘Care and feeding of mages’ handbook,” Peter answered, joining them with a heavily laden plate. “ Not any spells or anything. Essays on diet, rest, effects of pregnancy and exhaustion and all that. I figured I better learn all I can to make sure I keep mine in good shape.”

Raven sighed. “ He’s starting to quote my own books to me.”

“ Two of the essays are written by Raven,” Peter said with pride.

Paul was not really surprised. “ Can I borrow it after you’re done?”

“ I’ve got one you’d probably find more interesting,” Raven said. “ It deals more with psionics and their special problems. You are taking your vitamins, aren’t you?”

Paul sighed. “ Yes, I’m taking my vitamins.”

Gene laughed. “ I’m glad I don’t have any of that special stuff to worry about.”

“ No, you just have to make sure you eat enough,” Raven agreed. “ High strength just burns a lot of calories. It’s the rest of them that have strange electrolyte balances and dietary concerns.”

“ Gene got the best deal of us four,” Peter observed. “ Only one that can still drink, him and Ace don’t have any special diets or vitamin supplements.”

“ Like Ace could remember a special diet?” Gene asked.

Paul looked at the papers on the table. “ What are you working on?”

Gene shuffled the papers. “ A little idea I had. I need to talk to you about it in private once I get it…” He paused, glanced at Peter, and said, “ Oh hell.” He looked at Paul. “ I got thinking that we need to do something to make NESS leave us alone. They hit us to stop us from putting money in the Gifted Scholarship Fund. I thought we ought to announce that each time they hit us, we’re upping the percentage and that if they kill us half of the proceeds go into it plus half on any merchandise, album sales, so forth would keep going in. I was also looking at the merchandise figures.” He pulled out a piece of paper. “ I thought we could each month take the three items with the worst sales from the previous month and announce that all profits from sales on those items would go to the Fund. We don’t admit what the selection criteria is. It would boost sales on items that aren’t moving, give us something to publicize each month and get our name out there, and earn some more money for the Fund. But it’s going to cut into our cut. I’ve got the accountants doing some What-if analysis and they should have something back in a day or so. But I’d like to announce the plan this afterno! on.”

“ They tried to kill us because of contributions, so you’re increasing the contribution,” Paul said.

Gene nodded. “ And letting them know that each time they try, it’ll mean more money in and if they succeed it’ll mean a big windfall for the Fund.”

“ What about your kids? What about my portion and Evan?” Paul asked.

“ That’s what I’m having the accountants look over.” Gene sighed. “ Paul, it’s not going to do us any good if we’re dead. We can’t help our kids if we’re dead. We can do tax write-offs on this stuff, and I consider it an investment. We get more educated Gifted, we have a better chance of stopping groups like NESS. And I don’t want to spend eternity looking over my shoulder. We don’t have to worry about saving for our old age anymore.” He looked at Peter. “ This won’t affect you or Ace. Your contracts are already set.”

“ I like it,” Peter said. “ You figure up your percentage, I’ll put in the same from my paycheck. We can announce it that way.” He gave Raven a warm smile. “ I have no problem letting Raven support me if it comes to that. I can be a househusband, raise the kids, and be domestic while she works. Or cashes in her stashes.”

“ And we’ve got someone to sponsor for that scholarship,” Gene said. “ Melissa wants to get into medical research, find how to use healing to cure bad eyesight and birth defects. She doesn’t have the money, her family doesn’t, and she didn’t want to go into debt but her grades weren’t good enough for the regular scholarships.”

“ Mark could help with the government grants for the research,” Peter offered. “When she gets her degree she could easily get a job with him and do the research. Doesn’t Allied do some medical research?”