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Sara shook her head at Jacinta's comment, smiling triumphantly. "Well, can't blame you. But I don't think he'll be bothering us anymore tonight."
"Good," Jacinta said. "Because if he does it again, I really will punch him out."
"Relax," Sara replied. "No need to be violent."
"You two just broke two of his fingers," Magdalena interjected. "That's not violent?"
"Um, well, it’s more of a friendly reminder to keep his hands to himself," Sara explained. "They’ll heal."
Jacinta laughed evilly, hiding her poisonous delight behind her hand, and ignoring her mother's stern glare.
"Hey," CyberSix said, changing the subject and pointing to the silver ring on Jacinta's finger. "What's that?"
She abruptly stopped laughing, whisking her left hand behind her back and out of the view of the others. "Nothing,"she said quickly.
"Let me see it," her aunt insisted, reaching for her arm. "That's not what I think it is, is it?"
Jacinta, feeling exposed under the curious looks of the other women, promptly started to drag CyberSix to a more secluded corner of the room.
"Hey, what's going on?" CyberSix asked suspiciously.
"I don't want the others to know. Especially not my mother," Jacinta whispered. "Not yet, anyway. But since you pointed it out, I might as well tell you."
"Is that a promise ring?" CyberSix asked, holding her niece's hand up to her face. "Are you seeing someone?"
*You don't know the half of it.* Jacinta thought sarcastically, but wisely didn't put words to it. "Yes," she said, blushing slightly. "But don't tell the others. Please! I want to tell them when I'm ready."
CyberSix nodded, already beginning to guess why Jacinta didn't want anyone to know and just who it was that gave her the ring. "All right," she said. "It'll be our secret."
"Thanks, Aunt Si-Cyb," Jacinta said, giving her aunt a grateful hug. "I keep forgetting that I can't call you the other name in public."
"It's all right," CyberSix said with a chuckle. "I'll just have to do something about that, won't I?" She jerked her head back to their group. "Come on. Let's get back before they get too suspicious."
_______________________
"So, what do you consider violent anyhow?" Magdalena, feeling curious, had decided to probe Sara for some information, which Sara was actually feeling slightly inclined to answer.
"The usual. Castration, compound fractures, internal injuries, being tied into a pretzel by your legs, and so on." Sara recited the short list almost by memory, ticking off each point, and causing a few nearby party-goers to gasp in horror.
Reba, smiling, reached up and poked Sara's right arm. "Don't forget about being shot, knocked around by concussion grenades, or otherwise pummelled into the ground."
Sara grimaced, rubbing her right shoulder. "Don't remind me. By the way, shouldn't you be practising your Hippocratic oath and heal Myron? After all, I bet his bloodstream is about ninety proof by now."
Reba smiled maliciously. "Naaahhh. It's easier to let him come into the ER in the morning, just so I can humiliate him even more than you have tonight."
Sara, Reba and Magdalena all chuckled, and Sara nodded. "Touché. By the way, what are those two doing over there? It looks like those two are talking about that ring on Jacinta's finger, but I don't know for sure."
Magdalena looked over at her daughter, who had just given Six a hug. "Hmm. I think I'll have a little talk with her, but after the party. By the way, what happened to Lucas and Dr. Zack? They seemed to have disappeared."
Sara smiled, pointing over at the buffet tables set up along one wall. "Lucas and Tony, by now, are over at the buffet, wondering why each portion of food is about one sixth their normal size." Sara chuckled. "One of the other drawbacks of being in a party like this."
Just as Sara finished speaking, Jacinta and Six rejoined the group. As Sara turned to look outside at the night-shrouded skyline, Jacinta caught a brief flash of silver running down Sara's left arm, passing underneath the dark purple armband and disappearing into Sara's long glove. "So, what's that? I thought you don't wear much jewellery, other than that pendant."
Sara shook her head. "It's not. I'm sorry, but I'm not telling what it's from. However, you can interrogate Cyb until she cracks, as she knows what they're all about."
Jacinta turned to Cyb, who instantly looked away, whistling to herself. Sara, used to her friend's idiosyncrasies, neatly jabbed her elbow into Six's ribs, causing the Cyber to exhale from the impact, and wince from the force of the blow, which would have sent any normal person to their knees. "Kids, stop it. You're embarrassing Magdalena, not to mention myself."
Jacinta smiled, and Six laughed, both turning towards Sara. Six spoke first. "So, my dear friend, care to tell us..."
Jacinta picked up the thread of the conversation as Six trailed off, smiling like that damn Cheshire cat. "...About that little line on your arm?"
Sara frowned for the first time that night, and her voice dropped to such a chill tone that it could have made liquid nitrogen seem warm by comparison. "No. Now drop it. As I said, talk to Cyb about it. Now, pardon me."
Annoyed with herself, Sara turned and moved towards the drinks table, which was virtually hopping with business. However, the crowd parted neatly for Sara, and she smiled tightly. "Whiskey sour, double strength."
_______________________
Jacinta gave her aunt a shady glance from the corner of her eyes. "Soooo," she said slyly. "What's her armband for?"
CyberSix wasn't about to be tricked. "I don't think so."
"Awww, c'mon, Aunt Cyb," Jacinta pleaded, wrapping her arms around CyberSix's waist in a hug that clearly indicated she wasn't about to let her aunt get away. "Please tell me. Please. Please," she continued her plea with the annoying insistence of a whining lap dog.
CyberSix rolled her eyes. "No!"
"I'll just keep doing it until you do," Jacinta said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Pleasepleaseplease--"
"No, no, no!" CyberSix groaned, wriggling free. "I made a promise that I wouldn't tell." She threw the last few words sharply at Jacinta, whose eyes went wide with sudden understanding.
"Right," she said hastily. "Um, I was just kidding. Heheh."
"Sure," CyberSix said sarcastically, but smiled in spite of the blunder. "All joking aside, though. Sara really wouldn't like it if I told you."
"Okay. Subject dropped," Jacinta said, pressing her mouth into a thin line and finding something else to look at aside from her mother's penetrating stare. She knew that stare. It was the look all mothers give their children when they suspect that something is being kept from them. CyberSix watched with interest at the silent conversation between the two women, amazed that they could read each other's body language that clearly. She sensed the tension and decided to give them some space.
"Wow, I'm hungry," she said in an obviously strained voice. "C'mon, Reba, let's get something to eat."
"But, I'm not--hey!" Reba's protest was cut off as the much stronger Cyber grabbed her wrist and steered her towards the buffet.
A knowing, humourless smirk tilted the corner of Magdalena's mouth as she spoke words made famous by one Desi Arnez: "You've got some explaining to do."
_______________________
Sara, having had three whiskey sours in less than ten minutes, was feeling slightly light-headed, which was her body’s way of saying ‘that’s it?’. However, as her unique internals proceeded to work madly to remove the effects of alcohol from her system, Sara found herself surrounded by a half dozen men, all of whom were leering at her. One dislocated finger later, the group went back to harassing their respective dates, though one of the six was wincing and rubbing his hand from where Sara had relocated his finger back into a normal position.
Moving over to the buffet, Sara neatly selected some light items from the array of rare and expensive foodstuffs, then noticed Six and Reba raiding the caviar and crackers. Walking over to the two, Sara smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about my outburst earlier. I just needed to cool off."
Six nodded, nibbling at a cracker. Reba smiled and patted Sara's hand, absently noting that the scar on Sara's shoulder was shimmering brightly due to the lights catching the slightly reflective tissue. "Don't worry about it. We all blow up sometime, and considering the crap you've gone through since you arrived in the city, I'm surprised you haven't exploded before now."
Sara smiled, chuckling ruefully. "That wasn't an explosion. That was my fuse fizzling a little bit. Anyhow, it looks like Jacinta's getting a strip torn out of her by her mother, so I should wait to apologize for snapping at her."
Just as Sara finished off one of the entrees, she heard an incredulous "WHAT???" coming from Magdalena's direction.
Sara instantly rolled her eyes, glancing over at Six and Reba. All three nodded, saying the same thing. "Damage control."
_______________________
Jacinta bit her lip, unsure of how to start. She really didn't want to tell her mother here, with all of these people around, but Magdalena had already caught her, so she had no choice.
"Anytime, Jacinta," her mother said. "I'm waiting."
"Um...well, remember about two months ago when..." she swallowed, her throat suddenly feeling dry. "...when I came back home and Aunt Cyb was with me, only I didn't know she was my aunt then?"
Magdalena's eyes narrowed at her daughter, eyebrows lifting skeptically. She had an inkling what road this was going down and feared that she wouldn't be liking the outcome. "Yes, I remember that quite well," she replied.
Jacinta drew in closer and lowered her voice almost to a whisper. "Do you remember who else was there?"
Magdalena felt her teeth grinding together as the face of Von Reichter's clone-child came floating unbidden into her mind to wave a horrible hello. "Yes," she hissed.
Jacinta's eyes darted around anxiously. "Mom, do we really have to talk about this here?"
Magdalena rubbed her forehead as it began to ache. "Just tell me." She sighed, switching to Spanish to avoid anyone being able to understand the rest of the conversation. Most of the uppercrusts here only spoke English or French, preferring them over their own native tongue for some narrow-minded reason.
"Well...he gave me this ring." Jacinta said, switching to Spanish herself, but not daring to raise her voice.
"He...WHAT?" Magdalena shrieked, shock momentarily causing a breach in the language barrier. Seeing that her outburst had caused a few head-turns, she dropped her voice back down and gave her daughter a glare that would have sent the devil himself fleeing in terror of her maternal wrath.
"Why are you doing this?" she demanded in a hushed, clipped tone. "I don't understand you, Jacinta! You know what he is and who--" she abruptly cut off and squeezed her eyes shut painfully. "We'll talk about this when we get home. I should have known this would happen. That explains why you were gone for so long."
"I--didn't want to tell you right away," Jacinta stuttered, feeling terrible about how awful this was going. "In fact, I almost didn't want to tell you at all. I knew you wouldn't...approve"
"You're damn right I don't." Magdalena shot back, catching Jacinta off guard. Her mother almost never swore!
"Just go--" she gesticulated wildly, "be with your aunt right now, okay? We'll talk about it later."
Jacinta bit her lip, wanting to say or do something to ease her mother's hurt, but Magdalena’s posture clearly stated that she didn't want any physical contact right now. Head bowed, Jacinta drifted over to the buffet.
_______________________
Sara noticed Jacinta walking over to the buffet, and, Six and Reba flanking her, she intercepted the distraught girl, gently escorting her out to the balcony. Thankfully, it was almost deserted, mainly because all the entertainment was going on inside. As soon as the four were at least partially hidden in the shadows, Jacinta turned, and, eyes overflowing, she looked at both Six and Sara. Six reacted first, pulling Jacinta into a hug right before she broke down, weeping openly. Sara remained silent, gently shooing away some overly curious people as Jacinta slowly regained control over herself.
Finally, Jacinta disengaged herself from Six's embrace, and, sniffling slightly, she tried to smile. Sara shook her head and gently touched Jacinta's arm. "You don't need to do that. I have a good idea why you're looking like that, and it's nothing to be ashamed of."
Jacinta then smiled as she heard Sara's genuinely sympathetic tone, and then, looking at her well-dressed ‘adversary’, she was startled when she saw the small knife that had appeared in Sara's hand. The knife, which Jacinta identified as a stiletto, disappeared almost as quickly as she had first seen it, seemingly tucked into Sara's left glove. "Yeah, I guess. you ever fight with your parents?"
Sara smiled, nodding. "Only all the time. At least, until I left home." Sara gently took Jacinta to the side, gesturing that she could take care of anything so Six wouldn't worry too much. In an undertone, Sara started speaking. "Look, I'll reiterate what I said a while ago. If you love him as much as he loves you, you'll stick by him, no matter what your family might say. I did it, though it didn't end well for me."
Jacinta, looking out at the statue of the guardian, glanced at Sara. "What happened?"
Sara sighed, looking glum. "He died. So did my daughter."
Jacinta literally went through a double-take, staring at Sara, and noticing the tears slowly trickling down Sara's face. "I'm sorry. I don't know what it is to lose someone."
Sara frowned. "Trust me. If you don't get a leash on your friend, you might just go through what I did." Then, moving slowly, Sara pulled out the knife from the hidden sheath in her glove, gently looking at the sharp weapon. "I want to show you something."
Jacinta looked over at Sara, who was pulling her left glove off. "What are you doing?"
Sara smiled indulgently. "You wanted to know about that line on my shoulder, correct? Well, here's a side effect." With that, she held her left hand over the edge of the railing and drove the knife through the palm of her hand.
Jacinta was about to scream, mainly from the shock of seeing Sara do something like that, just as Sara's hand neatly fountained a spurt of blood out into the night by a good six inches. "Shh. Just watch."
Sara pulled the knife free, flicking the residual blood off before sheathing it. As Sara turned the wound towards Jacinta, the blood was already being absorbed back into Sara's hand. In less than a minute, the small wound had sealed itself completely, and the only trace that it had even existed was a faint silver line in the middle of Sara's hand. "That's the secret. I'm no longer entirely human. I have artificial bones and nanotechnology out the gills, making me stronger, faster, and tougher than a normal person. However, I'm telling you all of this in trust. Please keep it a secret."
Jacinta nodded, and the two spent a few more minutes looking out at the sights of the city until Six and Reba rejoined them. "So, feeling better?"
Six looked at Jacinta, who was smiling slightly. "A bit. Sara told me something that put it into perspective."
Sara nodded, then silently moved back into the party, raiding the food table for a minute or two.
_______________________
"Do you need anything?" CyberSix asked gently. "Something to drink, maybe?"
Jacinta nodded. "Water would be nice, thanks." She rubbed her eyes, which still stung from her tears.
"I'll get it," Reba volunteered, leaving before CyberSix could protest.
"Oh, man," Jacinta sighed heavily. "What a night." She attempted a wan smile but didn't entirely succeed.
"What a night indeed," CyberSix said, placing a reassuring hand on her niece's shoulder. "I hope you can work things out with your mother."
"I don't think so," Jacinta said, any trace of a smile disappearing. "She doesn't understand everything I've gone through. Especially with..." she trailed off awkwardly.
"I mean, to her anything having to do with Von Reichter is evil. But that's not entirely true. Look at us. We're a part of what he's done, but we are not evil. I think my mother's forgotten that. She tries so hard to be normal, you know? And she wants that for me too." She shrugged and gazed up at the dark sky. Few, if any, stars were visible; most of them drowned out by the bright city lights. "But I don't think I can pretend to be anything other than what I am."
CyberSix digested this all silently and thoughtfully, hearing the truth in Jacinta's words, but also puzzled by them. "Are you trying to tell me that Jose isn't evil?" she asked incredulously.
"He isn't," Jacinta replied, staring her aunt right in the eyes. "I know you don't believe it, considering everything he's done to you. But you have to think. Everything he's ever done was mostly influenced by his father. He may have come from his father, but they're not the same person. Sure, he's unstable. Who wouldn't be if Von Reichter was your father? But he’s not evil. Not entirely, anyway."
Reba retured with the water, and Jacinta accepted it gratefully. "I don't expect anyone to understand the way I feel," Jacinta continued, noticing that the dark expression on her aunt's face. "But I don't think you'll have to worry about him anymore."
CyberSix's brows furrowed in newfound confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that he's got nothing against you now that his father's gone," Jacinta said. "The only reason he kept attacking you was because he wanted to prove himself. But he doesn't have to do that anymore. So you're safe now. Besides, he knows I'm your niece and he wouldn't dare try anything with me around."
"He told you all this?" CyberSix asked wonderingly.
"We've been talking a lot since then," Jacinta answered, sipping at her water. "We decided that if we were going to... well, you know, then we had to agree on some things."
CyberSix could only stare dumbfoundedly at the sudden maturity she saw in the young woman. She had it all planned, right down to how it was going to affect those closest to her. To CyberSix, it showed that she had their best interests at heart. Only Jacinta's mother remained to be convinced.
"It's thanks to Sara that I've been able to tell this to anyone," Jacinta said. "She told me her secret, so I told you mine."
"I'm glad you did," CyberSix said. "I really hope everything goes well for you."
"Thanks," Jacinta said, a sad smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I hope so too."