A Matter of Honor
New Friends
Author/pseudonym: Nightshade
Author websites: http://www.angelfire.com/anime/makosmusings
Characters: Adam, Jesse
Rating: The ratings vary from chapter to chapter, but it’s intended to be NC-17
Pairing: Non-shipper, non-slash, involves original characters
Status: incomplete
Series/Sequel: series
Spoilers: As of yet, no spoilers
Disclaimers: All Mutant X characters are copyright to their respective owners. Honor and Claudia are my original characters and should not be taken or used without my permission.
Summary:A New Mutant’s powers start to evolve out of control and it’s up to Adam and the team to help put them back under control. An old friend of Adam’s returns to haunt him.
Send all comments to nightshade@catlover.com
Episode 09: New friends
Jesse, Brennan, Shalimar, and Emma sat on the couches in the living room. They were too tired from all the fighting and sneaking around they’d done earlier in the day. None of them felt up for doing anything more than lounging about. It had been a rough fight. One of Ashlocke’s minions had scored a lucky kick to Shalimar’s ribs and had broken one. Jesse had misjudged the aim of the fist heading towards him and consequently had wound up with a black eye. Emma was the least injured, having stayed on the edges to knock people out with psionic blasts. Kat had kept people from getting to her. After Shalimar’s injury, Honor had stuck close to watch her back. As for Brennan, he had quite a few cuts and bruises and was so exhausted he could hardly move, let along make much of a spark
Jesse leaned his head back on the couch. He wondered how things were going with Claudia, if she was going to be ok. Emma had just finished saying that she was getting some strange hits off Honor. It was almost as if she wasn’t entirely stable. This worried him. Before this had all happened, when she’d been staying in Sanctuary, there’d been no signs of anything like this.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could sleep for a week,” Shalimar groaned. “Claudia had better be worth it.”
“Having her back is doing good things for both Adam and Honor, even though they’re both worried sick about her current state of unconsciousness,” Emma told her.
“Let me guess,” Brennan said. “Adam has no idea what’s wrong with her?”
“No clue.”
“This sounds familiar,” he replied.
“Be nice Brennan,” Honor said as she walked towards them. She looked worn out and worried. “He’s doing what he can. I trust him to help her.”
“For all you know, she could be dying. This could be her mutation going all crazy.”
“He thought of that and did some tests. All is well on that score.” Honor gave him a scathing look. “You don’t seem to have much confidence in him for all that you’re a part of Mutant X. “
“Brennan and Adam are a lot more alike than either of them really cares to admit,” Shalimar told her. “I wouldn’t worry about it to much. This happens a fair amount. We trust him. It’s just that every so often these little bits of Adam’s past shows up and he gets all secretive about it.”
“I see.” She turned to Jesse. “Hey, Jesse, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”
“As much as I really don’t want to move, I suppose so. Mind if we talk in my room so I can flop?”
“That’s ok with me.” They walked together into Jesse’s room, where he promptly flopped down onto his side, resting his head on a pillow. Honor sat down beside him, staring down at her feet for a few minutes.
“Well? You wanted to talk to me, didn’t you?” he asked gently.
She nodded and swallowed nervously. “Before I say anything, I just want you to know that I’m only following Adam’s advice.”
He propped himself up an elbow. “Oh?”
“He said that I should ask you for a backrub,” said softly. “I shouldn’t even be bringing this up. You look as hurt and exhausted as I am. I should just let you rest instead of bothering you with this.”
“Adam sent you here?” She nodded. He sat up and moved over to sit behind her. “I’m not as tired as you think I am.” She flinched the instant his hands touched her shirt. “Is something wrong?”
She pulled away. “I’m just not so sure that this is even a good idea,” she said, wrapping her arms about herself in a protective manner.
He frowned, puzzled. “Why? What’s so wrong about an innocent massage? Is it because of what happened last time?”
She shook her head. “It’s not that.” She looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. “It’s just that a lot has happened since then.”
“Did Ashlocke or one of his followers do anything to you?” Seeing her flinch, he nodded glumly. “That’s it isn’t it?”
“Again, I don’t know. I think so, but Claudia once told me that some telempathics have the ability to alter memories and emotions. What I think happened might not have happened at all.”
“There really isn’t any way of knowing for sure unless you have another one take a good look at you. It would be more than a little humiliating to ask Emma about it. I’m sure you’d rather ask Claudia when she wakes up.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “For right now, I’m here. I promise I won’t hurt you. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. Adam sent you here for a backrub and that’s what you’re going to get if you’ll let me.”
“You promise?”
“I promise. You’re my friend, Honor.”
Honor sat there staring at him for a few long moments before nodding. “How do you want me to sit?”
“I know this is going to sound strange, but I need to you take off your shirt and lie down on your front.”
She recoiled. “What?”
“I can’t give you an effective massage through your shirt, now can I? The fabric gets in the way. I also warn you that I’m going to have to undo the back of your bra as that’ll get in the way, too, but no more than that, I assure you. I’ll even turn my back while you take it off.”
Showing that he was sincere, he stood up, keeping his back to her as he rummaged through his desk drawers and came up with a bottle of ointment. Behind him, he heard a rustle of cloth and the faint creak of his bed as Honor took her shirt off and got comfortable. When the creaking stopped, he turned around to see her lying on her stomach with her head perched on the far end of the mattress with her arms resting along the edge.
“Do you object to oil? It helps with the massage. Besides,” he said with a wry smile. “It’s only fair after what you did for my back.”
She nodded and he sat down, undoing the back strap of her bra and pulling the ends off to the sides before opening the bottle and pouring some out into his palm. After rubbing it between his hands to warm it a little, he placed his hands on her shoulders, feeling the tension lying beneath her skin. If he had been able to see her face, he would have seen the same tension there. He started slowly, smoothing the sweet smelling ointment over the skin of her back, giving her time to get used to his hands being on her back. The tactic worked as she slowly started to relax. When she was relaxed enough, Jesse started to massage her shoulders, slowly moving down her back.
As he rubbed, he grinned like a maniac. He made a mental note to thank Adam for this later. Even with Honor’s fear of anything happening outside of the massage itself, just to be near her, to touch her like this was more than he’d hoped. It was frustrating that it couldn’t go any further than this, but he could cope for now. He could happily concentrate on being her friend if it meant that he could talk to her, be near her, and especially if it meant that she’d let him do this for her. She was placing immense amount of trust in him. He vowed not to betray it.
Honor closed her eyes, forcing the images of Ashlocke and his followers out of her mind, focusing instead on Jesse’s gentle hands as they soothed away the tension in her back. As he did so, it relieved some of the tension in her mind as well, allowing her to truly relax. She let her mind wander. She felt warm instead and quite comfortable just lying there. Outside of her mind, there was a flicker of emotion. She turned and focused her attention on it.
Warmth. Tenderness. Friendship. Affection. Comfort. Barely suppressed rage. All of it wrapped up in a gentle glow. It felt familiar and very close. Focusing more on it, it dawned on her that she was reading Jesse. Again. The rage made no sense to her in context with the others. What was that about?
Jesse had stopped rubbing. She opened her eyes, startled to see him right in front of her.
He grinned. “You fell asleep.”
Honor rubbed her eyes. “It felt good. Thank you.”
Jesse tousled her hair affectionately. “Anytime,” he said cheerfully.
“Would you mind doing the back of my bra back up and turning back around so I can get dressed again?”
“No problem.” He got up and went back around, tugging the two ends back together and fastening them. “It’s safe now.”
She sat up and fished around on the floor for her shirt. Holding it up, she made a face. “Why didn’t anyone tell me how badly wrecked it is?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“The back is all torn up and there’s a nasty bunch of grass stains all over it.”
“Would you like to borrow a shirt? I have a couple that might fit.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all. There’s some wacky guy thing that likes to see girls wearing their clothing. Is it ok if I turn around and open my eyes? It’s kind of hard to find a shirt with my eyes shut.”
“Go ahead.”
When he turned around, he saw that Honor had her shirt held up to her chest to cover as much as she could. Trying not to look, he rummaged around in a drawer and held one up. “Are long sleeves ok?”
“That’s fine.”
He tossed the shirt onto the bed beside her and turned back around so that she could put it on. The shirt he’d picked out was one of his favorites, a dark green long sleeved flannel shirt. He wore it quite often when he just wanted to relax. He’d worn it so often that no amount of washing could ever remove his distinctive smell from it. He hoped she didn’t mind.
After a minute, he peeked over his shoulder and caught her sniffing the collar tentatively. “Is something wrong?” he asked.
She looked up sharply. “No, nothing’s wrong. It just smells nice. I have bath oils that smell just like this. You can come sit back down.”
“Thanks for the offer.” He flopped down on the bed beside her, trying not to sit too close.
“You’re very good at massages,” she told him, speaking in soft tones. “I can see why Adam sent me to you. I thought it was a set up at first. I feel a little embarrassed. I see now that he was only trying to help.” Jesse looked away, staring at the floor. “What? What is it?”
“I have something to tell you. I don’t know how you’re going to react to this, probably badly. I need to get this out or it’ll drive me crazy.”
“I’m listening,” she said cautiously.
Taking a deep breath, Jesse carefully outlined how he’d felt when they first met, when she’d helped him and about what happened as a result of that help. The words flowed out his mouth, telling her the real reason why he’d gone to her house that day, about his conversation with Adam about her. As he talked, he watched the expression on her face. He’d expected to see something along the line of a very negative reaction there. Instead, her face remained expressionless. He could have been taking to a stone for all the reaction he was getting.
When he finished, Honor turned away from him, staring at the door. He cursed silently. Now you’ve done it, he scolded himself. You’ve said exactly the wrong thing. It was all true, but considering how she was acting earlier, it was the last thing that she needed to hear.
He was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost didn’t notice when she reached over and placed her tiny hand on top of his. Startled, he looked over at her. She wasn’t looking at him, but there was a faint red tinge to her cheek. Was she blushing? She turned to meet his eyes and the color deepened.
“Thank you for being honest with me,” she whispered. “It can’t have been easy, doing what you did.”
“That’s an understatement. I’m relieved that you aren’t upset.”
“I was upset. You should have told me you felt that way about me. You seem to forget what this new mutation of mine does. I got a reading off you that first time and again today. I admit that it’s not very strong and not all that reliable, but I did get something.” She turned away again. “I had no idea you felt so strongly.”
He moved all the way over to sit right beside her, lacing his fingers with hers. “I should have told you sooner. I can’t apologize enough.” Using his other hand, he cupped her chin and turned her head to face him. He leaned forward and kissed her tentatively.
She pulled back. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that you were lying to me about your powers.”
He blinked in confusion. “What?”
“It’s just that when you kiss me, I feel this almost electrical shock go through me. It makes me feel very dizzy.”
Not sure what to say in response, he turned his entire body towards her and brought his other hand up to her face, kissing her again with everything he had. This time it was he who got the surprise when she kissed him back with just as much emotion. He stopped, resting his forehead on hers.
“Are you sure?”
She smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. That was good enough for him. He pulled her into his arms, crushing her against his chest as he kissed her. When he paused for breath, her scent hit him, replenishing his energy. His ran his left hand through her long, silky red hair as she nibbled on his earlobe. It almost tickled, but in a pleasant way. When he was starting to adjust to that sensation, she moved, kissing the length of his neck, moving around to his throat. He leaned his head back to let her move around more easily.
When she started to move to the other side of his neck, he moved his head down to meet her lips. He moved his hands downward, one resting on the side of her neck while the other gently ran over her chest, causing her to shiver. He stopped cold, afraid that he’d gone too far. Tentatively, her hand came up and covered his, squeezing it encouragingly. He opened his eyes and looked at her. She smiled and nodded, running her other hand across his chest.
Jesse pulled back to get a better look at her. “Damn you’re sexy,” he breathed.
“Oh come on. Shalimar and Kat are much more attractive.”
He shook his head, touching her cheek. “Be that as it may, you’re the one I’m pretty sure I’m in love with.”
“Pretty sure?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I haven’t known you long enough to know for sure.”
“Fair enough.” Honor’s eyes twinkled in the light as she reached over and tried to pull his shirt off. He helped her out, lifting his arms up to allow her to pull it over his head. She dropped it carelessly on the floor beside the bed before kissing him again. “Fair is fair,” she whispered.
“If that’s the case, then why do you still have a top on? If we’re being fair, that is?”
“If I’m still in my current state of dress, that would be your fault, now wouldn’t it?”
“My fault?”
“You haven’t taken it off yet,” she pointed out, slowly running a finger down from his nose over his lips and chin, down the middle of his chest to the button on his jeans. “You have some catching up to do.”
“Well, if my lady insists, I have nothing to do but obey,” he teased, slipping the shirt off her shoulders.
She pulled her arms back to let it slide off while he unfastened her bra with a deft twist of his hand. He brought his hands back to her chest to push the lacy cups up off her breasts, fingering her nipples with gentle hands. Jesse lowered her down to the mattress, looking down at her briefly before lowering his head to her belly button and kissing the skin lightly. He moved up her torso, kissing every inch of skin within easy reach of his lips until he reached her recently bared chest. While he’d been kissing her stomach, she’d pulled her bra the rest of the way off, leaving her skin completely exposed. Wasting no time at all, he twisted his body into a more comfortable position where he was half leaning on his side and half leaning over her. He lowered his head and kissed the top part of her left breast, mouthing it gently as he worked his way around to all of its sides before taking the small but hard nipple into his mouth and alternately nibbling gently and sucking.
She whimpered with pleasure at his attentions, running her fingers though his hair as he moved over to her other breast. She squirmed as his movements sent waves of an unfamiliar yet extremely pleasant sensation through her body, doing things to her that nothing else ever had. When she could stand it no longer, she pushed him off and back down onto his side, rolling over to press her body up against his. She ran her hand down his side and over to fondle his ass as her mouth met his in a hungry kiss.
Jesse pulled back to catch his breath and stared at her in amazement. “Deny it all you want, you are an amazing person. And no, that’s not just because you’re letting me fondle your breasts.”
Honor grinned, giving his ass a playful squeeze. “You make me feel things that I’ve never felt before. It’s you who deserves to be called amazing. No one has ever thought I was attractive or worth this sort of affection.”
“Lucky for me,” he said, kissing her again.
She pushed him back a little, bringing her hand back to the button of his jeans. With a little bit of work, she had it undone, sending a thrill through her. Unsure of what she was doing, she slowly lowered her hand down, feeling the fabric of his loose boxer shorts. Her heart pounding in her ears, she moved her hand even lower until she found a hard bulge where his cock was.
He threw his head back and gasped, turning his body a little to give her more freedom to move. Swallowing hard, she lightly ran her fingers over it. She met Jesse’s eyes. Her expression told him all that he needed to know. Gently, he grabbed her hand and moved it back up to the top of his shorts and slid her hand underneath them, his eyes reassuring her. He winced when she accidentally pulled some hairs; but that slight discomfort faded the instant her hand touched the bare skin of his most private part. The longer she kept her hand there, the more difficult it was for him to keep from going faster than he thought she could stand.
He went back onto his side and reached around to the back of her light cloth pants to find and lower the zipper. Her panties felt like the same kind of lace that her bra was made of. It was a simple matter to get her hands out of his shorts and roll her onto her back. He sat up and eased both pants and underwear off, discarding both. Fully naked now, she was quite the sight. He fingered the patch of hair before easing her thighs apart and running his finger along her pussy.
She gasped and arched her back, grasping for his hand. She’d heard her friends talk about this, but hadn’t believed them when they said that it felt really good. She almost cried when he moved his hand away and rolled onto his back, looking at her expectantly, mouthing the words, “Fair is fair”. Getting the hint, she sat up and pulled the rest of his clothes off. Shivering slightly, he maneuvered the blankets down low enough for them to squirm underneath and pull back up.
For some time, they reveled in each others skin, exploring with both fingers and lips. When he bit her shoulder a little too hard, she retaliated, flipping him onto his back and straddling his chest. Jesse’s fingers brushed a spot on Honor’s side, causing her to break out in hysterical giggles. This loosened the hold her thighs had on his chest, making it child’s play to flip her back over, pinning her arms above her head and holding her body down with his lower body.
He looked down at her, his lips parted. He was panting.
“Honor…” he gasped, unable to finish the question.
It was more than she was capable of doing. Unable to speak, she simply nodded and parted her legs. He let go of her arms and eased himself on top of her, trying not to rest too much on any one part of her body. With a little bit of effort, he slid himself into her.
She hissed with pain. At his enquiring glance, she shook her head. “It’s ok. It’ll pass.” She gasped as he moved in and out with gentle thrusts. She relaxed and moaned, her hands grabbing his shoulders. She moved her hips to match his motions, forcing a groan from Jesse. He moved faster and faster, both of them moaning and kissing urgently.
Suddenly, Honor arched her back and cried out as her vaginal muscles contracted over and over again, pulling Jesse back into the real world. He looked up at her. There was a look of utter shock on her face as her body went limp beneath him.
“Was that what I thought it was?” she gasped.
He didn’t get a chance to reply as there was a knock on the door. “Jess, Honor, Claudia’s conscious if you want to come see her,” Brennan’s voice intruded.
Cursing, Jesse told him that they’d be there in a minute. He glanced apologetically at Honor as he pulled out, getting another sharp gasp from her. “We’d better get dressed. Much as I adore how you look without clothes, I don’t think you want to be wandering around Sanctuary stark naked. I doubt that Claudia would look favorably on that either.”
She sat up and kissed him deeply before dressing. “Thank you,” she told him, tears in her eyes.
He got his pants on and stood, pulling her up into his arms. “You don’t mind the interruption?”
“Not really. If you’d like, we could, I don’t know, maybe, do this again?” she asked, looking up at him.
“I would love to.” He smiled. “You should get going. I’ll be along shortly.”
She nodded, kissing him quickly on the cheek before running out the door and towards the lab where Claudia was. He shook his head, smiling as he pulled his shirt on and heading out to join them