Something to Tell You

Disclaimer: I don’t own W.I.T.C.H. I only have some merchandise and comics.

Chapter 2: So the evening begins

‘I never wanted to be a part of this to begin with,’ thought Alex as she watched her fellow servants of Kandrakar rush around the restaurant.

‘I don’t like lying to someone…except if I hate their guts and am blatantly trying to stick it to them. But lying to Will? Our leader, whom I have nothing but respect for? Not cool.’

The only reason she was helping was the final bribe (one dress shirt and waist coat, a work shirt with a baggie full of patches, a handful of photos of various cute girls from Heatherfield, and the promise that Irma would take her to buy a new jacket were too tempting to resist, especially with said older girl on her lap in a suggestive manner).

“I know what you’re thinking; sometimes being a lesbian sucks.”

Alex raised her eyebrow at Tommy, who had just brought over a pitcher of ice water and two glasses. “So how’d you get hooked into all this?”

“Irma talks to my boyfriend while my stylist is touching up the brown in my hair, then he makes with the cute singer thing, and I wind up here.”

“God Damn that Irma.”

“I agree. And watch it with God’s freaking name,” said Tommy as she handed the younger girl a glass.

Alex cocked an eyebrow. “You really are such a Catholic.”

Tommy replied with a swig of her drink. “And welcome to the Pot and Kettle Show.”

Meanwhile, Hay Lin was in the kitchen with her counterpart from the backup team.

“So let me get this straight: your dad has been raising you alone since you were a little over a week old, even though he is a Spec-op?”

“Yeah, that made for an interesting childhood as it was. Throw in the fact that he’s from a Samurai bloodline and trained me in how to use their weapons, being chosen to help you guys protect Earth by the age of seven, and then the Oracle allows me to summon some of those tools dad taught me to use, and we could say my life was atypical enough already.”

The two were quiet for the next few minutes as they continued to prepare the supplies for the dinner.

“Say, Hay Lin, what did you do with your ring?”

Francoise just shook her head as she dragged Cait to the rooftop dining area of the restaurant. “Cait, you are supposed to be on the lookout for trouble, be it Will or anything else. Meantime, do something worthwhile.”

She then tossed her a knife, knowing she’d catch it by the handle.

“Practice your Systema drills, work on knife handling and attacks, do a Moi Fah form a hundred times, I don’t care; just make better use of your time. Unlike you, I didn’t volunteer; this is a business deal for me and my family.”

Francoise just stormed back into the building, wondering ‘what the Hell was the Oracle thinking’ when he selected the members of her team.

Matt didn’t mind his role in Irma’s plan.

In fact, he really enjoyed getting to go with Will to a film marathon at a local movie house, getting to see some well made art house comedies, and being able to take her to dinner; all without diminishing his own funds.

As for Will, she was definitely having the time of her life. Even with a team being formed to assist the Guardians with protecting Earth, or any other world Kandrakar ordered them to defend, she still would get rather stressed out by her job as leader. Taranee and Sheila Jensen, her girlfriend and Will’s second roommate, were constantly contacting Matt, trying to help keep Will from having an anxiety attack, like Tara did when she came out to her family; about both her sexuality and the duties toward Kandrakar.

Matt didn’t mind working with the new girls on this plan, despite some of their quirks.

Alex was a real smartass at times and besides being abrasive at times, her unceasing flirting with cute girls and cheating random people at gambling tried everybody’s patience. Francoise, while thoughtful, could be pushy, self-righteous, and temperamental. Tommy had a similar personality to Francoise, except the empathetic side was more of a secondary trait, she’s less self-righteous, and tends to be unrelenting, at times uncompromising, and even ruthless, in the pursuit of her goals. As carefree and easy-going as Ren was, in spite of her logical and studious sides, she always tried to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. And despite evidence that Ren was able to keep herself stable mentally, Matt still felt Ren was too willing to risk it all if it meant defeating her opposition.

Cait was the easiest to cope with. While a reactionary goof-ball, skeptical, and sarcastic, being an under-dog taught her to rely on her wits, be flexible, and try to keep morale in her group up. Plus, she had no problem humbling herself when she needed to.

He’s worked with worse people before and he had worse evenings than this, so he decided that he’d put his arm around the adorable redhead next to him, pull her closer, and enjoy every moment that he could.

‘Maybe Irma’s right; this won’t be so bad.’

The preparations were made, Cornelia and Susan were on their way, and Matt was keeping Will distracted. Add the fact that all Taranee had to do was take the orders, bring them out, and the fact that she knew Cornelia would tip well and it looked like a smooth night.

“So, are you sure everything’s alright?”

“Don’t worry Sheila; I’ll be home before 1 o’clock.”

“Yeah, it probably won’t be as wild as you brother’s wedding.”

“How could I forget? Orube getting wasted for the first time, Hay Lin getting so sugar buzzed by her first slice of cake, my mother telling a joke so dirty she made a soldier choke on his drink, oh yeah; priceless.”

Sheila giggled as she adjusted her bathrobe. “And how that sister-in-law of yours doing?”

“Pretty good; she and Ren are in the kitchen. I’m so glad she and Peter clicked as well as they did.”

“I still remember when he and Cornelia finally broke things off. Poor guy was heartbroken.”

“Yeah, well, finding out your girlfriend is in love with your sister’s best friend’s mother can be hard on anybody. And then Hay Lin was devastated when she and Eric realized that they were heading into incompatible directions.”

Everybody was so glad when Cornelia first decided to help lead the now married couple into their relationship. And it all started with convincing Hay Lin to take a graphic artist job and ask Peter to be her personal trainer to deal with the job’s exhausting pace.

“Yeah, those were some rough months, especially before your mom got used to your ‘duties’. But, things are looking up now. Dinner with you folks tomorrow?”

“Sure. Peter and Hay Lin will be there, too, so call you dad in the morning and see if he can make it.”

“I just made a note. I’m gonna go to be now; it’s so lonely having the bed empty.”

“I know. I’ll try not to be too late or wake you. I love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

Yep, readers, it happened. I read some more of the comics, and I think I have a new favorite pairing for Taranee.

And sorry about all the delays, rewrites, accidental erasings, more rewrites and edits, but I am finally making progress and have the next chapter in the works, along with other stories, hopefully to be posted before Halloween.

If you don’t get Tommy’s “Pot and Kettle” line to Alex….search online. You’ll see what she means.