Exposed (7 page)

Ultimate Warriors
He was sort of right.

In two days she'd be at 45 Bleecker at Bowery, ears open, ready for some insight on just what the hell Skyler, his father, and God only knew who else were into. For that matter, if she really put her mind to it, she could even manage to squeeze in a long-overdue heart-to-heart with Jake before Skyler came home.

And if she was really efficient and really, really careful, she could do some classic ransacking.

She had every indication that Skyler was working against her. She was banking on the fact that she'd seen him hit the subway toward Forty-second Street, where she knew he wanted to catch the train to Queens. She knew he would be out for a while longer running his messed-up
le homme
Nikita head games. So she'd come back to his place to check out his roommate's room again more thoroughly. There was something hidden in that room, she knew.

She entered the room and slid open one of the lower desk drawers. Out popped a file cabinet, manila folders crammed tightly in place. Gaia crouched down to read their labels. GENE SPLICING, one read.
Um, okay
. Safe to say that at the very least, Skyler was using his roommate's cabinets to store his own files. EFFECTS OF, read
the folder just behind it. Barely daring to hold her breath, Gaia had reached her fingers in to pry the folder out when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.

MILITARY USE.

Military use? Military use of what? Military use of fear? Military use of lack of fear?

Gaia's throat felt tight and dosed, and her breath came more sharply now. Her uncle, Oliver/Loki, had once harbored designs of replicating Gaia's fear-suppressed DNA to create an army of ultimate warriors…. That hadn't really worked out for him. His fear serum had yielded tragic side effects, from shaking, to blindness, to-in some cases, when left unchecked-death. So Gaia had just assumed that once Loki had been foiled, the idea of removing fear from soldiers in combat had finally been dismissed.

She knew, now, never to assume again.

GAIA BREATHLESSLY PUSHED OPEN the door to the Starbucks on Sixth Avenue, doing a quick scan of the room to see if Jake had arrived yet. It was four-fifteen, which was exactly the time they had agreed to meet. Gaia had never been one for punctuality. But with all of the secrecy, distrust, and miscommunication between her and Jake lately, she figured it really couldn't hurt to be on time.

Exhibit A

Clearly, though, Jake didn't share her opinion.

Not that he was technically late yet, of course. And he probably wasn't expecting her to be shockingly prompt. Little did he know that she was supercharged from the findings of her recent recon mission. Supercharged? Scratch that—she was ready to burst out of her skin.

The coffee shop was humming with a quiet level of energy, about half filled, mainly with spillover NYU students either on their way to or just coming from class. Gaia ordered herself a cup of coffee, milk and sugar—no four-dollar designer drink for her, thank you very much—and collapsed at one of the unoccupied tables toward the front of the coffee shop, near the door.

She was nervous for Jake to arrive, nervous as to what they were going to say to each other. She wasn't ready for their relationship to be over—it hardly seemed like it had even had time to get off the ground—but it certainly looked like things were headed that way. And that sucked. There were so few people in her life that Gaia felt she could depend on, she really wanted to be right about Jake.

“Sorry I'm late,” she heard from a voice above her,
just as someone leaned in close and kissed her on the cheek. “Were you waiting long?”

And there he was. Gaia couldn't help but take a moment to check him out. He looked great: fresh from a shower and clean smelling, with his thick hair tumbling down over one eye. He pulled out the chair opposite Gaia and sat down to face her.

“No, I just got here,” she replied quietly, feeling suddenly shy. “It's good to see you.”

“It's good to see you, too,” Jake said warmly. Dimples erupted in either cheek, and Gaia felt a fresh wave of embarrassment that she had ever blown him off in favor of the seriously disturbed Skyler.

“So how come you weren't in school today?” Jake asked.

“Wait,” Gaia interrupted. “It's nothing, I promise—but—did you hear from any schools yet?” Like most seniors at the Village School, Jake was waiting on his college acceptances. No matter what else was going on, Gaia did have some basic understanding of normal high school priorities. She wanted to know how he was doing.

Jake grinned again. “Yeah. Got into Northwestern and BU. My dad's crazy overexcited about it, like I just got married or something. But I'm still waiting to hear from some others.” Jake knew better than to throw the question back at Gaia. To say she was private—and
unconventional—was the understatement of the century. He wouldn't have been surprised if Gaia were to go into paramilitary training after graduating from the Village School. “Now answer my question.”

Gaia couldn't possibly tell him that she had spent the day with Skyler. He wouldn't understand why Skyler had suddenly become her best friend, and she could now finally see why he thought it was weird. Frankly, she couldn't believe it had taken her so long. Sure, in a perfect world, her boyfriend would trust that her friendship with another male was purely platonic, but … Then again, when it came to her bizarre relationship with Skyler, she couldn't blame him. She obviously didn't trust it herself. “Um, I had a headache when I woke up and just decided to blow off school.”

“Like you ever need an excuse,” Jake said, laughing.

“Yeah, true. But this time I had one. Then later on, when I was feeling better, I decided to go shopping for a prom dress.” Gaia gave a sideways glance at Jake to see how he reacted to the words
prom dress
. Jake knew that Skyler had offered to go to the prom with Gaia. And he also knew that Gaia had accepted the invitation. Which was, effectively, exhibit A in the evidence of their ruined relationship.

“Did you find anything?” Jake asked, frank curiosity etched across his handsome features. If he was sad
about the fact that they weren't going to prom together, he wasn't showing it. Gaia was going to have to pry it out of him.

“No, I didn't. Which really sucks. You know me—I hate to shop. I
so
do not want to have to go back again later on, but I guess I do.”

“Well, yeah, I guess you do,” Jake agreed. “Unless you want to go to the prom naked, which—hey, no arguments here.”

Gaia couldn't help but laugh. “Pervert.”

“What?” Jake protested. “If I can't go as your date, you leave me with no options. Cheap thrills are all I'll have left. Don't rob me of those, Gaia.”

Still laughing, Gaia decided to go for broke.
What have I got to lose?
she wondered. “Well, I won't go naked,” she said solemnly. “But maybe I can cut you a deal.”

“What sort of a deal?” Jake teased, trying to keep things lighthearted. “Careful—my virgin ears can't take anything more risqué than a PG-13 rating.”

“Don't be gross,” Gaia said, more earnestly now. “I'm trying to talk to you seriously.”

“Okay,” Jake said. He seemed to get that she wanted to have a real conversation. He sat up straighter in his chair. “I am all about your deal. Deal me, Gaia. Hit me.”

Gaia sighed. “Jake, I have no idea how things got so messed up between us. I mean, wasn't it just like last
week that we were having another conversation, saying that we were going to try to be boyfriend and girlfriend?”

Jake nodded. “Yeah, it was. That meant something to me. And I thought it meant something to you, too. Gaia, I don't get what you're playing at. Going to the prom with Skyler, hiding out from me, skipping school without any warning or any notice, calling me every five minutes and then refusing to return any of my calls … What's up with that?”

Gaia shook her head sadly. “I know, Jake. I've been weird and bipolar lately. I wish I had a good excuse for it, but I don't.”

“Is it because I wouldn't side with you against Oliver?” Jake asked softly.

Gaia stirred her coffee aimlessly with a soggy wooden stirrer. She wasn't sure how to answer that question. Yes, it irritated her endlessly that Jake wouldn't take her word for it that Oliver was evil. But then again, why should he? There were some things that people just had to learn for themselves. “Well, I mean, yeah, that bugged me. Just because I know him better than you do, and I know what he's capable of,” she added hastily. “I mean, I do wish you could just take me at my word, but I get that you need to have your own relationship with him. I guess it's cool that you can form your own opinion of him. And you know, with any luck, you won't ever
have to see the side of him that I saw. So no, that's not a big deal.”

“I am sorry that you think I've been behaving suspiciously,” Jake said. “I know it creeped you out when you found me in your bedroom at the boardinghouse. The only reason I was camping out was because I really wanted to talk to you and I hadn't been able to get in touch with you. I was
worried
about you. But I didn't mean to invade your privacy, and I certainly won't do anything like that again.”

Gaia smiled. “I appreciate that. And I get why you did it, and I really don't hold that against you. Heck, I might have done the same thing if I were in your shoes. For my part, I didn't mean to go MIA. I really think there was something wrong with my phone or whatever. You're not the only one who told me they'd been trying to get in touch.”
Some
thing
wrong with my phone?
she wondered silently.
Or someone?
Would Skyler have tampered with her phone? It seemed unlikely, but at this point she knew better than to discount any possibilities.

“Hey, these things happen,” Jake said, letting her off the hook as she had done for him. “The question is, where do we stand now?”

“That's the question,” Gaia parroted, suddenly losing her nerve.

Jake reached across the table and tenderly took her hand. “Gaia, I was thrilled when you said that you
wanted us to be together. I know I pretended to give you a hard time, but the truth is that there was no doubt in my mind it was worth a shot. And I don't think we've given this a fair chance. I guess the question is, do you?”

“No,” Gaia said simply, meeting Jake's gaze head-on. “No, I don't.”

“Well, then, for chrissake,
why
are we behaving this way?” he demanded, grinning to take the sting out of his words.

“'Cause we're losers?” Gaia offered.

“Hey!” Jake exclaimed. “Speak for yourself.”

“Okay,
I'm
a loser,” Gaia clarified.

“Watch it,” Jake warned, caressing her cheek with his hand. “That's my girlfriend you're talking about.”

Gaia blushed. “I promise, Jake—no more games,” she said. “And I think we should go to the prom together. I don't know what alternate reality I was visiting when I told Skyler I would go with him, but I was obviously having a manic moment.”

Jake snapped his fingers in mock disappointment. “Damn,” he said.

“What?” Gaia asked warily.

“I guess I'll have to tell Tammie Deegan I can't go with her.” The twinkle in his eye belied any truth to his statement.

“You are
not
going to the prom with Tammie!” Gaia shrieked, knowing as she said it that of course it wasn't happening.

“True, I'm not” Jake said. He took her hand in his own again. “I'm going with my girlfriend,” he clarified. “That is, if she'll still have me.”

“I'll ask her,” Gaia assured him.

Jake let her comment go and leaned in for a quick kiss, sealing the deal. “No more games for me, either,” he said. “I promise.”

And in the moment, Gaia believed that he meant it. Almost.

Memo

From:
C

To:
L

Re:
J

Subject spotted with Genesis, having coffee. No further information is available at this time.

Memo

From:
L

To:
C

Re:
J

Please stop wasting my time.

Just
when, exactly, did I relinquish control of my own life, huh? Was it when I readily signed my free will over to Skyler Rodke? Earlier? When I allowed Dr. Rodke to instill fear in my sensory-deprived system? 'Cause I swear, it's been ages since I've been the boss of me.

Jake says that he's looking out for me, that he just wants what's best for me. He says he'll be wary of Loki, and I understand that some things just need to be learned the hard way. But still. What it comes down to is this: Jake doesn't trust me when it comes to Oliver. Jake thinks he has a better handle on the guy than I do. I can just sense it.

GAIA
But Jake is wrong. And that's a lesson he can't
afford
to learn the hard way. Not if his life depends on it. Which, in my personal experience, it just may.

Jake wants to be with me, to get back together with me and do all the WB-style teen-angst relationship
things with me. And the disturbing thing is that that's what I want, too. Despite all that I've encountered, I still haven't learned my lesson. I'm still holding out for that happy ending where I go to the prom with my boyfriend wearing the same stupid dress as my best friend. I want it so badly that I'm willing to overlook the obvious.

I think Jake might still be in bed with Loki.

(Not like that-get your mind out of the gutter. Big fat ewww.)

It's no secret that he really got off on the double-oh action of our Siberian rescue mission, and he rose to the occasion when I was trapped down in Florida. But the thing is that to Jake, this is all a game. Fun and games, and my dear uncle Oliver is the ringmaster. What he doesn't get is that Oliver is no ringmaster.