Cherish Me 9 (Patreon)

The knife burned in my side, even after it was pulled out. Wildly, I lashed out with a back hand in the direction of whoever stabbed me. I felt nothing but air, but it put some space between us as I desperately looked for that shimmer I’d seen earlier. Placing a hand against the wound in my back, I did my best to keep pressure applied to it as I searched.

“Got him!” Cherie shouted, just as the figure of a man slightly shorter than me in all black stumbled into view. Not taking a chance, I raced forwards and drove my fist into his gut, sending him flying back and rolling across the pavement.

Easily turning the roll into a stand, he raised his knife in a guard position and eyed the two of us behind his ski mask, one arm limp, “Two targets that can break my veil and down an arm. Until next time, vermin.”

He faded from sight, and the next I was able to perceive was the squealing of tires as the car parked next to mine backed up and drove away. Making my way back to the car, I pulled out the first aid kit, again, and handed it to Cherie.

“I need you to bandage me up. Think you can handle the sight of a little blood?” I quipped as I turned around and pulled my shirt up.

“Stop talking,” Cherie said as she started treating the still burning wound. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a Brute?”

“Thanks,” I said with a grunt, before her question registered. “How’d you think I was able to keep going that night with Missy and Dinah?”

“Not that you idiot! I mean the thing with your skin.”

I blinked in confusion before looking at her over my shoulder, “What thing with my skin?”

Cherie looked up to meet my gaze, surprised, “You didn’t notice? When you killed Jacques and when you fought that Stranger, your hands turned gray and looked like they were made out of concrete.”

“That’s not…” I trailed off, remembering the hick that had tried to kill me. Had I somehow duplicated his power? If so, how? Looking down at my plain, normal hand, I thought back to how I’d been feeling during the last fifteen minutes or so. There’d been a pulling sensation…

Sure enough, my skin turned gray and coarse like concrete, but there was more to it than that. Making a fist, I threw a punch, and I could feel that it was faster than I’d been capable of. I’d have to do more testing, once the stab had healed, but I had a hunch my strength had gotten a boost as well.

“It’s odd you didn’t know about that,” Cherie said as she finished putting a bandage on my back. “Usually people have an instinctive knowledge of their powers.”

“I don’t think I had it until after you were grabbed,” I said, turning to glare at the bodies. “They sent a hick to kill me. He had a power that turned his arms into these big rocky blobs, kinda like a bigger version of what happened with them. Plus, that invisible asshole called me a Trump.”

Cherie looked at me with wide eyes as I looked at the blood on my shirt, trying to decide whether or not to put it back on. I decided against it, as a thought popped into my head, “Hey Cherie, how’d your siblings find us?”

My question made her blink, before turning to look back at her siblings’ bodies, “Search them, they’ll have cameras, recorders, the works on them. ‘Daddy Dearest’ makes his kids wear surveillance gear everywhere because on top of being a control freak he’s a paranoid fuck.”

Nodding in understanding, I made my way over and started to check everything. Sure enough, I found what had to be half a dozen listening devices on them, from your standard recorder to what looked like tinkertech bugs. That’s not including the cameras I found. Let’s not mention where some of them were.

As I stuffed the gear into the back of the car, I couldn’t help but feel some serious regret. I’d had my powers for more than two years at this point, and what had I done to cultivate them? Nothing. I’d been coasting on the remnants of my parents' money and the body that the vial gave me without having to work for it.

I hadn’t had to really work for anything in years, it made me complacent, and as a result I almost lost Cherie and died twice in the same day. I couldn’t let that continue. As soon as we got back to Brockton Bay, I was going to find out what was on that gear and make whoever it was pay. I was going to figure out what the real limits of my power are, and then do everything I can to leverage those limits to my advantage.

My new goal settled, I had one last thing I needed to do before I drove us back. Walking around the car, I reached into the still open passengers’ side and pulled Cherie into a hug.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” I whispered into her ear.

“You idiot,” she said as she returned the hug. “I’m the one who should be saying that. This is what I like about you, you’re brutal in protecting me but you’re such a softie after, when it’s safe.”

“And here I thought it was my dick you liked,” I joked as I broke the hug.

“It’s a very big bonus to the whole awesome package.”

“Let’s go home,” I said before getting into the driver’s seat and starting the car.

“Forgetting something?”

Turning to look at Cherie, I raised an eyebrow in confusion as I was about to put the car into reverse. She pointed past me, and I followed her finger to see… oh, right. The bodies.

“It’s been a long day,” I said in my defense as I got out and walked over. Testing something, I focused on the area around my injury, and pulled. The burning stopped, but there was a stiffness in that area instead, so I’d say the test was successful.

First was the girl’s. I felt a little guilty, but she’d tried to kill Cherie. Picking her body up by the hair, I quickly spun around and sent it flying off into the distance. Yeah, definitely got a lot stronger, no way I could have made an arc like that yesterday. Now for the guy who had a little off the top removed. Making sure none of the blood got on the car, I did the same to him.

Getting back into the car, I turned to Cherie and asked, “Anything else, m’lady?”

“I admit, that’s not what I had in mind,” she said with a deadpan expression. “Now I can’t stop thinking about you carrying the two cuties, our Pet, and myself at the same time.”

“Well, you’re not asking for much, are you?” I quipped as I put the car in reverse.

I wasn’t going to bother with taking Cherie back to her hotel, it was high time she saw my place. Plus I just wanted to go home and take a nap with my Canadian girlfriend in my arms.

[hr][/hr]

When I woke up, it was to an empty bed. Lifting my head up, I saw Cherie’s shirt hanging off a chair, and her bra dangling off one of the blades of my bedroom’s ceiling fan. Chuckling in amusement, I reached back and carefully pressed over where I’d been stabbed. A bit of tenderness, but no more burning so I’d count that as a win.

Getting out of bed, I carefully stretched before sliding on a pair of sweatpants and making my way into the main part of my apartment. Quickly spotting Cherie in the kitchen, I blinked when I saw what she was wearing, before facepalming. The one shirt from working in porn that found its way here with me.

Looking back up, I bit back my amusement as she was clearly struggling with my coffee machine. Quietly, I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her, making her jump and let out a surprised shriek.

“You asshole!” she shouted as I laughed, swatting at my chest with her hands.

“Sorry, sorry,” I apologized as I got my laughter under control.

“Apologize by getting this fucking coffee machine working!”

“Sure,” I said with the last of my chuckles.

It was a fancy model, something my dad had gotten and I think at the time it cost over eight hundred dollars. There were a bunch of confusing buttons, but once you got used to it it was easy. Getting the bean juice percolating, I walked over to the fridge, a much cheaper one I’d gotten from an estate sale for fifty bucks, and pulled out a carton of eggs.

“Cabinet, under the stove, there’ll be a heavy green pan. Can you set it on the stove?” I asked as Cherie stared at the coffee maker.

She did, after flipping me the bird. I admit, the main reason I asked was for the view as my shirt slid up her back, showing that my shirt was all she was wearing and her pussy was still leaking from our bout of “You said no sex until we’re back in Brockton Bay, we’re back in Brockton Bay and I’m so fucking glad to be alive” sex after we got back.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer, perv,” she mumbled as she set the pan on the stove.

“But then there’s a chance someone will find it, and I don’t want any other man to see that,” I said in response.

“Good answer,” Cherie grumbled as she pulled a stool in front of the coffee maker and sat down. With her butt sticking out over the edge.

Raising an eyebrow, I looked at her reflection in the window, and caught her eye staring at me. Giving her a smile, I set the carton of eggs next to the stove (still off) and walked up behind her, already feeling my dick starting to harden.

“Just a quickie,” I tell her as I pull out my now rock hard cock (mental note, test that new power during sex) and slip it into her folds. “We have some serious stuff to go over.”

“Fiiine,” she groaned as I bottomed out in her. One of her arms reached back to grab my hand and pulled it up to her hair. “I want it rough, fucking take me.”

“With pleasure,” I said with a growl, tightly gripping her hair and pulling her head back. I increased the force of my thrusts and slapped her ass as I fucked her, simply enjoying her body in a way I hadn’t until now, not even during our more rough bouts of sex.

Deciding to try something, I let go of her hair and reached around to grab her neck. Squeezing, I carefully felt for anything unusual. There, there was something… pulling on it, Cherie gasped and came explosively around my dick, clamping down harder than I’d ever felt.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!” she cried out, her eyes rolling up into her head.

That was it for me, and I pushed her down onto my cock as I erupted into her. At the same time, I reversed that pulling I’d done, pushing back everything I’d taken into her. As we leaned over the counter to catch our breaths, there was a cheerful ‘DING’. Looking up, I let out a chuckle as the screen on the coffee maker helpfully said the coffee was done.

“How do you take your coffee?” I asked as I slid out of Cherie.

“Black normally, but today I think I’ll have a big shot of cream,” she joked.

About fifteen minutes later, we were sitting at my computer table going over the recordings from the surveillance gear we’d taken from her siblings. Cherie sat on my lap, holding our shared plate of scrambled eggs, as I did my best to figure out how they’d found us.

It was on the second camera that we hit something. Cherie’s siblings had met with someone I recognized from college. A guy I shared English Lit with. Don’t remember his name, but I think he was friendly towards the Empire.

“Got something?” Cherie asked as I stopped skimming.

“Yeah, maybe a lead. If I’m right…” I trailed off.

The guy flipping through some documents, an E88 logo watermarked on the top left corner. Him picking out a picture then turning it towards the person wearing the camera. My blood boiled as I saw the picture of Cherie and I walking, from the looks of it it was the day she helped me with Sabah. Putting on the headphones, I rewound the video a bit and hit play.

“The girl in this picture’s our target. Is the boy one of yours?”

“No, he’s a race traitor. We were considering approaching him, but then we saw him ask out a turban bitch. It’s a shame, he’s got the perfect Aryan look and physique, Kaiser might have even offered to arrange a marriage with Rune for him.”

“So no problems if he dies when we capture our lost lamb?”

“You’d be doing us a favor. By all means, go ahead.”

Stopping the video, with calmness I didn’t think I’d be feeling, I set the headphones on the table. So, the Empire pointed them at us, and were probably going to be going after Sabah as well.

“Trevor? I… I’m getting a really weird reading from you,” Cherie asked.

“To be honest, I thought I’d be angrier. I got confirmation that not only did the Empire point your siblings at us, they’ll probably be going after Sabah as well. That’s not including the possibility that they go after Missy and Dinah as well. But, perhaps I’m simply so absolutely furious that I’ve come full circle back to calm,” I said.

“Riiight. So what do you want to do? Go to the PRT?”

“Fuck that. The PRT can’t find their own asshole with a GPS and a navigator. I’m going to rip apart the Empire piece by piece.”

“Well then, we need a plan. Because while I’m right there with you in taking them down, it’s just the two of us.”

“True… the biggest problem isn’t going to be Hookwolf, Purity, or any of their main hitters, it’s going to be Victor and Othala. Victor’s a skill thief, so if the Empire kidnaps a few good detectives, he’ll figure us out in no time. And Othala’s got a host of powers she can give to others, including regen. So long as they keep her in reserve, it won’t matter how many fights we win, they’ll just get right back up.”

“So we need to take those two out and build up a force of our own to deal with the rank and file, plus more capes. That’s a pretty tall order.”

“Yeah,” I said, while thinking. I really didn’t want to, but… “I know some people I can probably call in a favor for. It’s not going to be pleasant, but it’ll probably be worth it.”

“Before all that, if we’re going to be villains, we both need a cape name and a costume.”

Me, becoming a villain. Mom and Dad would be disappointed, but life has a way of fucking you over.