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Tuck As Directed -*- Copyright 2002 by Ellen Hayes.

Any resemblance between the writings in this work, and any actual
persons or places, living or dead, are purely coincidental, except when
used for satirical purposes.

This work contains adult situations, adult language, adult concepts, and
possibly sex.  If you are legally not allowed to read materials
containing such things, then you will be breaking the law by reading
this.  I am not responsible.
Continuing to read this document, or storing it or reproducing it
in any format means that you explicitly affirm that you are legally
allowed to possess and read such materials in your city, county/parish,
state, and country.

All rights reserved.  See the bottom for distribution rights.


Tuck As Directed


***
13:26 11 Sep

     "Yeah," Dana said apologetically, "I have to go eat something, and
I don't get much of a lunch break."
     I said, "Shoulda gone into programming," at the same time Dad said,
"Shoulda gone into engineering."
     "I don't think so," Dana smiled back at us.
     "And DON'T, please," Dad begged her, "don't forget to show up at
our house both Friday and Saturday."
     "Aw, she doesn't need to do that," I said.
     "With bells on," she said to Dad with a grin.

***
14:02 11 Sep

     There was a pause after the waiter took our order and left.  I knew
I was being bribed with sushi, to hang on, but at least if I didn't
object I'd get sushi out of it.
     On the other hand, my leg hurt where they'd taken a chunk out.
     "Dad, what the hell am I gonna do," I sighed deeply.
     "We still have to keep looking into it," he reminded me.  "Followup
Thursday after next, and we'll all get together to talk about it that
Saturday."
     "Do we HAVE to?"
     "Look, kid, you scared the crap out of us last time," he said,
staring at me intently.  I had to look down.  "This time, we're going to
be together and find out what the hell is going on, and what we can do,
and what you want to do and when."
     "What if they can't do anything?"
     He was quiet for a minute, then said, "You can always do something,
Eugene.  We'll work it out."
     I did not think it was going to be that easy.

***
15:19 11 Sep

     "Dad?  I think a nap is in order."
     "Good idea!" he agreed, which made me suspicious.  "And keep the
noise down while you're doing chores so you don't wake me up."

***
17:24 11 Sep

     I had been cooking too much lately, if sitting around watching Mom
cook was making me antsy.
     "It IS good to have you home for once, on a weeknight," Mom said.
     "Okay, I can-"
     "Not drop out of school," she smiled grimly at me.
     "Urrrrrgh," I commented, and rubbed some more sleep out of my eyes.
Napping with Dad had kept the nightmares at bay, but I still hadn't
gotten enough sleep.  "Can I go to college instead?"
     "We'll think about it," she said.  "How are your grades doing?"
     "Straight A's," I lied with a straight face.
     "Liar."
     "Mom!"

***
17:38 11 Sep

     I hadn't been able to stand it any more, so I was shredding green
stuff for a salad when Dad came in and announced, "We have a bit of a
problem."
     That definitely got our attention, and I immediately thought Brian
had gotten hurt at soccer practice and my next thought was, *What is he
doing here if Brian's been hurt?*
     Then Brian came in, under his own power but he was limping a bit
and had some swelling and stuff that said he'd been in a fight, but he
was very intent upon whatever he was cradling in both hands as Dad held
the door open for him.  It was small, and-
     Furry.
     "What is that?" Mom asked before I could.
     "It's an ostrich, Mom," Brian smarted off.
     Dad interrupted Mom's retort by explaining, "Brian ran into some
kids that thought it was funny to be throwing this kitten around like a
football.  And kicking at it-"
     "What the hell?" Mom demanded.
     "They might not do that again," Brian grinned, and I could see now
he had some blood on his lip too.  "I'm fine, Mom," he said as Mom moved
in on him.
     "He's alright," Dad confirmed.  "Just bruised up a bit."
     "Did you kick some ass?" I confirmed.
     "OOHHH yeah," Brian grinned.  "And we took it to the vet, and the
vet said it's okay..."
     "Oh no," I sighed.

***
18:21 11 Sep

     "I'm suspended from soccer, though," Brian mentioned as he dug in.
     "For fighting?" Mom confirmed, and Brian nodded.  "Well..."
     Poor Mom.  She couldn't even begin to lecture about it, or we'd all
jump on her ass and we'd be right and she knew it.
     I resolved that I would be very very quiet tonight, in the hopes
that the built-up lecturation would fall upon Dad instead of me.
     Dad asked, "What about the rest of the team?"
     "Nah," Brian answered, then made us all wait until he got done
inhaling some food.  "S'said that it wasn't right for me to start it,
but the other guys did good coming over and helping out.  I was doing
okay, but the jerks ran off when they saw the team yelling and running
at 'em."
     "How l-"
     "Just until next Monday," Brian grinned at Mom.  "Little over a
week.  An' you know what?  I don't care."
     "But you shouldn't be-"
     "Mom, I did start it," Brian admitted.
     "Why?"
     "Because there were six of them and one of me, so I didn't feel
like discussing it first," he said seriously.  "Besides, I wasn't real
sure it was going to live that long if I didn't stop it right then.  It
was screaming, Mom."
     Said It was in a cardboard box sitting by Brian's seat.  Since it
wasn't screaming now, I guess it was happier here than it had been.
     "Sarah, he did good," Dad prompted.
     "I just don't like the fighting, Bill," Mom said in a voice of
defeat.  "But I'm glad you kept it from getting hurt further," she said
decisively to Brian.
     "Yeah, me too," he nodded.  "Hey, why is it that guys who care
about animals get called fags?"
     "Brian," Dad warned.
     "That's what they called me," he said defensively.
     "Because," Mom explained, "men aren't supposed to really have any
of the non-aggressive emotions; it's culturally- well, not forbidden,
but definitely discouraged."
     "What?"
     "Men are supposed to be assholes," Dad translated.
     "Bill!"
     "Oh cool," Brian said, and snapped his fingers a couple of times.
"Get me a refill!  Auuugh," he complained as he leaned over and grabbed
his kicked leg.
     "This family has different standards," Mom mentioned.
     "And severely bruised shins," I added.

***
18:37 11 Sep

     "So how did the doctor thing go?" Brian asked.
     "Oh, gods," I moaned.
     "That good, huh?" Brian said.  "Can you leave me all your
girlfriends in your will?  I gotta a game next week an' it'd be cool to
have my own cheerleaders."
     "Brian!" Mom protested.
     I chuckled instead.  "You'll have to learn to cook..."

***
18:47 11 Sep

     "Why do _I_ have to go?" Brian demanded angrily.
     "To make sure you don't have the same problem," I shot back before
Mom could yell at him.
     He glared at me, and behind the anger I saw fear.  Or terror.

***
20:04 11 Sep

     "That endo appointment-"
     "Endocrinologist," Sabrina smirked.
     "Whatever.  That and a geneticist," I sighed.
     "Why?"
     "There's some...  Ah, hell, I dunno.  The endo called-"
     "Endocrinologist?  Say it!"
     "Shut the fuck up!" I demanded.  "Jeez, I'm sorry," I said when I
realized I'd shocked her.  "It's just..."  I took a deep breath and let
it out.  "The endo called the genetics guy in - same office - they took
even more samples, and they're running ever more expensive tests on
pieces of my body, and we get to find out even more details about my
fucking mutated biology than I already know.  And they looked real
interested when they went over me.  I had to strip and stuff, they did a
physical exam in there..."  I shook my head.  "They cut out a chunk of
skin, for a test; they had to put in stitches..."
     She put an arm over my shoulder and then pulled me into a hug.
"We'll get through it," she said into my ear.  "What is that?"
     "Oh no," I sighed as she let go of me and moved towards Brian.

***
20:07 11 Sep

     "They were what?" Sabrina demanded.
     "Torturing it," Brian repeated as we all watched the little monster
try and walk around the living room.  It didn't look well, staggering a
little bit.  Maybe it was still young.  "Kicking it and throwing it
around and stuff.  It's so little it can't run real fast yet, and-"
     "Wh-  Those assholes!  Did you call the police?"
     Brian just showed her the bloody clot on his lip.
     "We do not often call the police," I answered verbally as I resumed
folding laundry.  "We move faster."
     "Plus, this is immensely satisfying," Brian grinned with his teeth.

***
20:33 11 Sep

     The Benadryl was really starting to drag me down, so I gave Mom a
hug goodnight, slapped hands with Brian - which startled the kitten
under the couch - then apologized, and went into the dining room.
     Dad and I slapped hands, and Sabrina stood up and gave me a hug and
a kiss on the cheek.  "G'night, kids," I said.
     "G'night Dad!" Dad whined.
     "Sweet dreams," Sabrina said, and gave me another kiss.
     I had to fight off the sudden urge to ask her to come to bed with
me when she got done.

***
04:18 12 Sep

     "Oy," I sighed.  I could have done without the cat, and I could
have also done without the story of how the cat ended up at our house,
because I really didn't need to be kicked around and thrown like a
football either.
     Nor was I very happy with a litterbox in the bathroom, because I'd
almost stepped in it twice already.

***
06:58 12 Sep

     "Do we turn in our Field Day stuff today or later?" someone asked.
     "If you have homeroom here today, then turn them in; if you have
homeroom elsewhere this morning, save it until then," Mrs. Singley
answered.  I'd gotten liability waivers for everything - surprise
surprise, Mom and Dad thought it was okay for me to be playing Quake and
the other events I'd signed up for, once Dad had called the school and
confirmed that Quake was a real event - and so I'd be allowed to
participate, whoo hah.
     Better than last year, anyway.  I hadn't even bothered, and neither
had the rest of us, so we'd just sat way up in the bleachers and ignored
everything going on until we could go home.

***
07:51 12 Sep

     "My sister's having a party tonight," Kim smiled nastily, "and Mike
and I were thinking about crashing it.  My parents WILL be home, because
THEY know better-"
     "I DO have a chaperone," I reminded her.
     She waved her hand, like that wasn't going to make a difference; I
got a chill.  "Anyway, so they can't get rid of us, because I live there
and my parents wouldn't let 'em."
     "Just keep your ear open about my car?" I asked.
     "Of course!" she smiled.
     "Maybe you could pick me up after work?" Jill asked Kim, sounding a
little desperate.

***
07:58 12 Sep

     "You look stoned," Mike mentioned as I staggered in.
     "I am stoned."  That got their attention.  "Brian was at soccer
practice last night..."

***
12:16 12 Sep

     "Oh, uh," Kim said as she looked at me.  "Mmmm, V-"
     She seemed to be having difficulty.  "Yeah?"
     "You can sit today, right?"
     "No, I have-  You mean at the Parkers, right?"
     "Yeah."
     "Yeah, I was planning to, why?"
     "Ricky's home sick today, you ought to call," she told me.
     "When did he get sick?  He was fine Wednesday..."
     "Well, duh," she said, rather gently.  "Between Wednesday and
today?"

***
14:04 12 Sep

     I had made it out of the parking lot - there was a great deal to be
said for being temporally shifted - and to a pay phone before attempting
to call Miz Parker.  Better safe than sorry, I thought.
     She picked up halfway through the fourth ring.  "Hello?"
     "Miz Parker?"  Quick scan.  "It's Valerie."
     "Oh, Valerie," she said in a tone of relief.
     Well, that answered that question.

***
14:46 12 Sep

     "I got here as soon as I could," I told her as I came in.  "How's
he doing?"
     "Just a cold, the doctor thinks," she said.
     "I've been waiting to get my school colds for a while," I told her.
"Hey, sport," I said directly to Ricky.
     "Hey," he graveled.

***
14:52 12 Sep

     "If you give Stella any jelly crackers," I warned Miz Parker, "I am
not cleaning her up OR the floor.  Or the upholstery either."
     "Can _I_ have some?" she asked me with a smile.
     "Mmmmm," I said like I was thinking about it.

***
14:55 12 Sep

     "Whatcha want for supper, sport?" I asked as I sat down on the
floor next to the couch.
     "Huh?" he gargled.  I had to fight an urge to clear my own throat.

***
15:38 12 Sep

     The pager said:

     TTTKIDTTT HI HO HI HO ITS OFF TO THE WOODS WE GO X BACK SUNDAY X
     HAVE DINNER READY 1800 X BE CAREFUL ETC X CONT X TSIXT

     I waited, and a while later part two came through.

     TTTCONTTTT X RADIO WATCH 2100 LOCAL TIME X LAST CALL WINDOW TEN
     MINS FROM NOW X WE LOVE YOU X TSIXT AND TFIVET END

     "Good luck," I said to the air, and went about my food
preparations.
     A couple of minutes later, though, I got a third page.

     TTTKIDTTT TFIVET SAYS CALL HOME NOW X SHRUG X TSIXT END

     I caught myself whining, "Moooommmmmm!"

***
15:43 12 Sep

     "And you're sure?"
     "Yes, Mom," I groaned.  "I'm sure.  I've got friends around, keys
to the house, all that.  I'll be fine, really.  You two go off and have
fun in the woods; just don't tell me about it when you get back."  I had
a scary feeling about what they did in their tent when we weren't
there...
     She chuckled, which didn't make me feel any better about it.  "And
you'll be on the radio at nine, right?"
     "Nine Saturday," I said.  "Brian's having his thing tonight, so I'm
gonna be elsewhere.  He should have my pager number on the emergency
list, right?"
     "Uh...   Right," Mom confirmed.
     "And I'll have where he is Saturday.  No problem, Mom," I reassured
her.  *Go away,* I beamed.  *Everything will be fine.*

***
16:31 12 Sep

     In a spare moment, I dumped the document to Mike's mail and then
called him.
     "Hey?"
     "Mike!"
     "'Sup?"
     "Go look at your mail, see if it's good."
     I waited as he did things at his end.
     "Oh hohohohoh," he chortled.  "This is PERFECT.  I'll do up a good
letterhead for it tonight."
     "Oooh, he is gonna be SO pissed," I chuckled.
     "Ain't that a shame," Mike howled in a vague approximation of some
old black dude.  I hung up on him.

***
16:33 12 Sep

     My phone rang, and I let it go twice to make sure Caller ID agreed
it was Mike before I picked it up and said, "No singing!" and hung up
again.
     Ten seconds later, it rang again.
     "Don't be such a bitch about it," Mike said when I picked it up.
     "You won't let ME do it."
     "I'm practicing for tonight at Linda's party," he chortled.

***
18:37 12 Sep

     "He's sick?" Travis asked, looking past me.
     "Yeah, poor kid.  It's just a cold, but he's miserable.  And I'm
wondering about his throat, too."
     "Should..."
     "Should what?"

***
18:39 12 Sep

     "Hey," Travis said to Ricky.  "Heard you weren't feeling well."
     "Hey," Ricky said back weakly, and waved and smiled.

***
19:10 12 Sep

     "What?" I asked Travis after we got done kissing, because he was
looking at me kind of funny.
     "Just..." he said, then shook his head.  "You, and Ricky."
     "What?"
     "You just look so...  Motherly?"
     "Oh, jeez," I sighed, and hugged him again.  When we let go a while
later, I finished, "He's a sick kid, and he needs some extra care when
that happens.  My dad used to do that for me."
     "Really?"
     "Yeah..."
     "Still, though," he argued.  "Have you ever thought about kids?  I
mean, like, having them?"
     "I can't," I sighed, sickened suddenly.  "Look, don't ask about it,
okay?  It's...  It's not something I want to talk about tonight."
     "Okay," he agreed, looking puzzled.
     "It's depressing."
     "Oh."
     Pause.
     He hugged me again, tightly, and I ended up crying shortly
thereafter.  I hated my body.

***
20:17 12 Sep

     I guess I'd set something off in him, sort of like he had in me but
completely different.  I mean, he was being very nice, and opening doors
and stuff for me, and making little jokes and talking and stuff, and
eventually I got cheered up some.  I felt kind of like I was being taken
care of, for a while, and I guess I really needed it at that point.
Well, I know I liked it, anyway.  I'd sort of wanted to go back to his
place and just cry on his bed for a couple of hours, but this was
better, or at least less tiring and soggy.
     "Like it?" he asked.
     "Hmmm?"  He pointed at my food.  "Oh, yeah, sorry...  I got lost
for a bit."
     "Feeling any better?" he asked cautiously.
     "Yeah, a little," I admitted, and smiled at him.  "So what else
happened?"
     He smiled back.  "Oh, man, I thought it was over," he continued his
story, "but that night..."

***
23:32 12 Sep

     I hadn't thought I was in the mood for sex, but he was - of course
he was, being all male - and I found out why guys do foreplay; it's to
get their partners interested in sex rather than whatever else was on
their minds.  After a couple of hours of rubbing, cuddling, caressing,
kissing, more rubbing, licking, nibbling, and other things, I'd actually
felt like lying on my back and letting him have a go.  After discharging
him first by mouth, of course, but that made subsequent events better
for both of us, I thought.
     He was sleepy again, but he was fighting it hard, and stroking me
too, which was what I really wanted.  Well, I really wanted to go to
sleep with him, and to hell with the rest of the world and everything,
but I couldn't quite do it.  Not yet, anyway.
     So I straddled him and we stroked each other with fingertips, which
kept him awake like he wanted, and I concentrated on watching him and
smelling him and hearing him and feeling him, so I wouldn't cry again.

***
00:18 13 Sep

     The lights were still on in my house, which was a bad sign; I'd
hoped everyone would be gone already.

***
00:22 13 Sep

     "Weren't you supposed to be home earlier?" Dana asked me.
     "Yeah, you KNOW your curfew is at nine o'clock," Brian said.
     Now Dana was looking at HIM skeptically, instead of me.
     "Brian," I sighed, "if you'd said 'eleven', she might have believed
you.  As it is, you blew it.  One on weekends," I told Dana, which was
the truth.  "And eleven on school nights, and Mom says it's my own darn
problem if I'm late to school 'cause I overslept."
     Dana nodded solemnly.

***
00:39 13 Sep

     The crying had waited until I was in my room, at least.  There, I
could cry all I wanted, and nobody would bother me.

***
00:46 13 Sep

     I kind of felt like someone had pissed on me when the phone
flashed.  This was MY time, damnit!
     I struggled to get control of myself, which took a few more
flashes, and then I picked up the wimp phone by my bed.  "H'lo?"
     "V-Tuck, listen," Jill said into the phone, and so urgently it
pulled me further out of my misery.  "Something happened to Mike at the
party, he took off and I can't find him!"
     "Took off?"
     "I dunno, he's just GONE!"
     "What," I said calmly as everything came online at once,
"happened?"

***
00:50 13 Sep

     I pounded on Brian's door until he opened it.  "What the-"
     "Brian, I need you.  Something happened to Mike, he disappeared out
of the party he was at.  Jill doesn't know why or where he went.  I
gotta go get him before something happens to him."
     "Okay," he said, and slammed his door.
     "BASEMENT!" I screamed before I grabbed my bags and headed there
myself.  I didn't know what the hell was going on, or what I'd need, so
I was taking most of it with me.

***
00:52 13 Sep

     I was just signing everything out when Brian got downstairs.  "What
the hell are you do-"
     "Kim's sister is a cheerleader," I explained rapidly as I finished
and slammed the locker.  "Kim and Mike and Jill crashed a party at Kim's
house tonight.  It's a jock party.  He could have gotten dragged off and
beaten to death or something-"  I didn't want to think about it.
     "Fuck me," Brian stated, his eyes wide.
     "You in?"
     "I'm in, but I can't..."  He pointed.
     "Just back me up," I told him, and he nodded.

***
01:08 13 Sep

     "You shouldn't drive like that!" Brian gasped.
     "I don't."  Jill was at the corner where I'd told her to wait.
"There she is..."  And there Mike wasn't.  I pulled to a discreet stop
and bailed out, accidentally stalling the car as I forgot to put it in
neutral.  "Any sign of him?"
     "Uh, fuck?" Jill gasped.
     "Have you seen Mike?" I asked.
     "No?  What are-"
     "Where did you see him last, and when?"
     "But-"
     I had to slap her, but I did it lightly.  "Jill, answer the
questions."
     "Ow," she protested, holding a hand to her cheek.  As I raised my
hand for a second stimulus, she said rapidly, "Wait!  He was in Kim's
bedroom about midnight, but after that he just wasn't there and no one
remembered anything!"
     "They're lying," I said to Brian, who just nodded.  "Did you check
Kim's yard?"
     "Yes!  And all around it too!  I couldn't find him anywhere!" she
despaired.
     "We'll get 'im."  Brian pointed down the short end of the block,
and I nodded and said, "Backside."
     "Channel two, on VOX," he reminded me, and I rechecked my radio as
he took off running.
     "What-"
     "Jill," I said, facing her again.  "Go get Kim, and come back to
the car with her.  Don't let anyone mess with anything.  If you find
Mike, start honking the horn."  I pressed my keys into her hand.  "If
you need to, get in and lock the doors.  And don't listen to anyone but
me, Mike, or Brian.  Please, Jill."
     "O-okay," she breathed raggedly, and nodded.
     I nodded back, then took off jogging down the long end of the
block.  "Two."
     "Three."
     "RP at the other end of the block."
     "Roger."
     I started whistling.

***
01:10 13 Sep

     That streetlight in front of Kim's house had to go.  Coincidentally
(not) I had just the thing for it, strapped into a tactical holster on
my leg.
     I knelt down and took real careful aim, and fired.  The first
pellet missed.  The second one hit - I heard it, barely - but the light
stayed on.  The third one missed.  *Time to do some practicing,* I
sighed to myself.  The fourth one popped the light with a hiss.
     I listened for a while, but didn't hear anyone complaining about
the sudden darkness - I guess the party was over - or anything else, so
I got up and kept looking.

***
01:15 13 Sep

     "I found his pants, but not him," Brian said quietly.
     "His-  How do you know it's his pants?"
     "It's got his wallet in it?" he replied, and I just shook my head.
"I did check.  Back yards?" he suggested.
     "Too confining," I guessed.  "He'd want space to run, maneuver
room.  Did you check under the bushes and stuff?"
     "Not too well," he admitted.
     "Me either.  Hard search it this time, then hit the next block
over," I pointed away.  "I'll do this side."  He just nodded.  "And
remember, any house with a dog, he'd avoid."

***
01:22 13 Sep

     I whistled again, then stopped to wait.
     Nothing.
     I was pulling a canteen out to wet my mouth - this was starting to
dry my linings out - when I heard something that made me freeze.
     I delicately turned around, dropping to a crouch, and looked in the
rough direction I'd heard the noise.
     Eventually, a shape moved, and I ID'd it as a cat, wandering around
doing its feline business, and wary of me.
     *Shit.*

***
01:39 13 Sep

     Brian hadn't found anything, and I was getting close to suggesting
that we start searching the adjacent blocks, when I caught just a faint
whiff of something.  I practically squealed to a stop, then got my
canteen and rinsed out my mouth before sniffing carefully.
     "Mike?" I queried, as loudly as I dared.
     "Three-"  I blipped three times over Brian's voice with the tone
key, to shut him up.  'S' for 'shut up' and 'stand by'.
     The whimper of terror scared the crap out of me, but now I knew
roughly where he was.  "Mike, it's Tuck," I said gently, moving
carefully forward.
     "Ahhh-h-h-h..."
     All my hair was now standing up and I was sweating intensely.
"Mike, me and Brian were looking for you.  Jill got scared when she
couldn't find you," I explained slowly.  I still couldn't see him.
     "...Tuck?"  Just a faint whisper's worth.
     "Right here, mano."  He had to be right in front-
     A sheet of ivy twitched and vomited up Mike, almost at my feet.
     "Jesus, Mike!" I gasped as I staggered back.
     He wasn't wearing anything but his underwear; on the other hand, he
wasn't bleeding anywhere that I could see or smell, and I could see
almost everything.  "They were all gonna kill me!" he hissed desperately
as he grabbed me.  "They weren't human!"
     "Whattafuck?!"
     "You gotta help me!" Mike whispered.
     Something was horribly wrong here, and I didn't know what yet; but
the first thing to do was regroup, and the second thing was to get the
hell out of here.  "Three, Four recovered.  Three up, eighth house," I
told Brian over the radio.
     "Roger!" Brian snapped as Mike babbled, terrified, at me.
     "Yeah, come on, we gotta keep moving," I said to Mike.  "Two and
Four, going back, then in."  Back along the block, then across the short
ends of the three blocks I'd searched so far, and I should be back at
my car.
     "Got it," Brian transmitted.
     "Cover us," I pleaded.
     "On the way.  Three out."
     "Two out.  Mike, man, it's okay," I said soothingly, and pulled him
along. He had grappled on to me like Ricky did, and he wasn't letting
go.
     "...just, the webs and shit," he went on, sounding hysterical but
managing to keep his voice down.  "And then the house started melting,
and it was like an illusion, THEY had done it, it was a trap..."

***
01:48 13 Sep

     "Whattafuck?" Brian asked when he saw Mike.
     "I dunno," I said truthfully.  Turning back, I said, "Mike, it's
Brian, mano.  Come on, we gotta get back to the car."
     "Yeah..." Brian breathed.  "Uh, y'know, you don't usually go around
without clothes, dude."
     "I, uh, they were on fire, or someth..."  Mike trailed off.  "I had
to get rid of them."
     Brian looked at me.  "He's on something; it sounds like one of
Mom's college stories," I told him.
     "Oh, crap."
     "Yeah."  That was Very Bad.
     "We got your pants," Brian said to Mike.  "I didn't see your shirt.
Or your shoes."
     Mike shook his head.
     I said, "S'okay, man, we'll- me and Brian, we'll find 'em
tomorrow."
     "Okay...  Be careful," he said.  "I don't know why I took 'em off
but there was something really wrong with 'em.  I don't remember..."
     "Dude, you are FUCKED UP," Brian stated the obvious.
     "Are you sure it's me?" Mike asked, sounding sort of desperate.
     "Uh," I said, startled by the question.  "No...  Not entirely.  Are
you seeing things?  Halos, auras, things like that?"
     "Yeah...  I think?" he agreed hesitantly, as he shuddered.
     "I think someone slipped you a mickey."
     "Really?"
     He sounded so desperate to believe me...
     "You really think someone slipped me something?" Mike pushed.
     "Oh yeah," Brian nodded.
     "Yeah, guaranteed," I agreed.
     Mike took a deep breath, and relaxed a little.  "Shit...  You'll
protect me, right?  I mean, if, if you're wrong and I'm right, or
something, they..."
     When I was sure he'd stopped, I said, "Yeah, Mike, that's why I'm
loaded up.  Brian too, kind of."
     He looked at us both, carefully.  "Yeah, okay," he said as he
slowly nodded.  "Okay."
     "Back to the car," Brian suggested to Mike, and after a bit, Mike
nodded.  "Point."
     "Rearpoint," I agreed.
     "No," Mike said.  "Uh, Tuck...  I, if I can see Tuck, it helps.
You're not wearing a wig, are you?"
     "Me?" I asked, astonished.
     "Yeah?"
     "No!"  I was wearing a lot of things, but not a wig.
     "Okay," he nodded again, and blinked a few times.  "I didn't think
you would be...  I don't like this," he enunciated clearly.
     "Me neither, mano."
     He held up his hands, and I slammed mine into lock with them.

***
01:56 13 Sep

     I'd thought the party was over, but there was a car stopped next to
mine, in the middle of the street, and the sound of angry voices.
"Crap.  Mike, drop and freeze, drop and FREEZE!" I insisted.  He dropped
and froze.  "Stay there until we get you, okay?"
     He mumbled an acknowledgement through the grass, so I signaled to
Brian to cover me, and I scrambled closer, staying as low as possible.
I had parked in a bad place, too - though maybe 'parked' sounded too
deliberate for what I had done - almost under a streetlight.
     It sounded like a few of the jocks were verbally hassling Jill and
Kim, and they were fighting back.  But I really didn't like this; it was
definitely my car, which fact they had apparently noticed, and there
were unfriendly people around it, and Mike was not well and we needed to
get him back to friendly territory ASAP.
     I really wanted to ask Mike what to do, but I couldn't.
     As I listened, though, it sounded more and more like it was Jill
and Kim hassling the jocks.  As in, "I mean, did you think we wouldn't
fucking NOTICE or something?!" coming out of Kim's mouth, and a set of
mumbled replies from the jocks.  "What are you, stupid?"
     "Like you should talk, fatso!" some other female shot back.
     "Ashley, go puke or something," Jill snarled nastily.
     "You shut the fuck up or I'll kick your ass," apparently-Ashley
threatened as she got out of the jock car.
     I did not have time for this.
     "Engaging light source, fox two-A," I mumbled, just loud enough for
the throat mike to pick up, and pulled out the pellet pistol.
     "Ohboy," Brian breathed.
     I had a second thought, and rolled to the side just enough I could
fish out my sunglasses, then slid them on.  "Three, I'm blind," I
warned.  "Cover me tight."
     "Roger."
     I braced, and carefully adjusted my aim...  Thought a bit about
trajectories, and aimed a little bit higher, took a breath, let half of
it out, and began to squeeze...
     Pop! went the light, and it was suddenly dark as hell, and as I got
up I pulled my sunglasses off, shoved the pellet pistol back into the
holster with one hand as I restowed the sunglasses with the other, and
crouched down and ran after Brian, who was heading for the back of my
car, I thought.  And now it wasn't so dark.  For us.
     I was wrong, though; he was heading for the nearest lawn, and
dropped into the landscaping and almost disappeared.  I did the same
thing a couple of meters away.
     Judging by what I could separate out of the multiplexed bitching,
no one had seen us, but removing the light had had the added incentive
of spooking some of the jocks, who were now trying to calm things down
and disengage.  I was all for that; I didn't have anything except the
pellet pistol and my boots for light engagements, and the rest of it was
lethal.  "Ready, fox four, and hold," I whispered.
     "Ready," Brian whispered back.  The radios were sort of overkill at
this range, but I hadn't planned on getting this close to this many
people.

***
02:05 13 Sep

     The jocks had taken off, finally.
     So, unfortunately, had Kim and Jill.  In my car.  First.  And
grinding the gears, too.
     On the plus side, I guess, my car, and Jill and Kim, were out of
the area, and it hadn't gotten physical, which meant that I didn't have
to worry about rescuing them too.  I was not in a restrained mood at
that point; I don't know what I would have done if it had turned into a
brawl.
     I waited long enough for the engine noises to completely fade into
the background noise of a large city, plus a long two hundred count,
before hand-signaling Brian that I was going to move ahead, which was
towards Mike.
     He rustled a bit, and when I looked at him he was nodding, so I
wormed my own way out of the vegitation and snuck out into the street.
     Nothing.
     And across the street.  Still nothing.
     And to where we'd left Mike.
     No Mike.
     *SHIT!*
     I went prone, just in case, and did some hard and fast thinking.
*Last time, he was under some ivy or something...  Maybe he's hiding
again?  He wouldn't dare move too much... and they were making a lot of
noise.  He didn't have time to creep that far either.  He has to be
close.*
     I looked around, carefully, using the sides of my eyes instead of
the focal point, and finally saw a discontinuity in a shadow, next to
the garage of the house.
     I started medium-crawling that way, and I saw the shadow move.
     "Mike, it's Tuck!" I whispered.
     Nothing.
     "Goddamnit you stupid gook, get out here!" I hissed.
     He partially unfolded from where he'd been hiding, and looked
around.  I stood up and put my hand up, palm toward him, wiggled it a
few times to get his attention, then brought the open hand to my chest.
     He stumbled out, and I moved to help him.
     "Fuck!" he whispered in my ear.  "It was like fucking Close
Encounters or something!"
     "Don't worry about it.  Three, rally here, now," I said, hopefully
into the radio.
     Mike said, "What?" as Brian said, "Roger."
     "Mike, I told you to freeze," I bitched, very quietly, as I put a
hand on his shoulder and forced him down, in the grass.
     "I...  Tuck, I had to..."
     "Three, in," Brian said over the radio, and appeared a few seconds
later.  I pointed at the ground and circled, and he came over and fell
down quietly, facing the other way.  "Car's gone," he mentioned, in case
I'd missed that.
     I ignored him for the moment as I thought, and kept a hand on Mike,
which seemed to have the effect of keeping him quiet.

***
02:10 13 Sep

     I hadn't figured out anything better than busting into a local NIC
and calling for a cab, which was actually a really bad idea, when we had
to freeze yet again as yet another car came up the street.  I'd
forgotten how much traffic there actually was at this ungodly hour of
the night; it had been too long since I'd been out in the field.
     However, this car happened to be mine, and it stopped and pulled up
where it had been originally, though a lot neater job of parking it.
And Jill and Kim got out of it, and stood around, looking.
     "Three, exfil's here.  Stay here until called."
     "Asswipe," Brian commented, which was not proper radio procedure.
     "Mike, STAY HERE," I emphasized.  "Stay with Brian."
     "'Kay," Mike whimpered a little.
     Brian reached around and slapped his leg a few times.  "Right here,
dude," Brian said, loud enough for Mike to catch.
     Mike finally nodded, and I went to go talk to Jill and Kim.

***
02:12 13 Sep

     I hadn't really considered the fact that I was thinking
urban-tactical, and Jill and Kim probably were not, until I stood up
next to the car and waved at them, and they both yelped so loudly I
almost dropped.
     "Chill out," I said, putting both hands up.  "Sorry.  We found
Mike, but he's on something, and real jittery."
     "Tuck?" Kim asked disbelievingly, and way too loud.
     "I told you he was in a bad mood!" Jill accused, also too loudly.
     "Shut UP!" I snarled, and thankfully, they did.
     It was quiet for a while, and I finally turned and waved a palm at
Brian, then pointed at the ground and made several circles.  'Rally
here', it meant, and several seconds later, that's what the two of them
did.
     They looked over at Mike and Brian as they rushed across the
street, and then Kim pointed.  "Why is he-"
     "He's not sure, but he did it himself," I explained.
     "I really do not like this at ALL," Mike said clearly as he got
close.
     "What's going on?" Kim asked in this very frightened, frightening
voice.
     "I..." Mike started.  Then he scared me almost to death because he
started to sob, stuttering out, "I don't KNOW!" in the middle of it.
     I grabbed his hands and pulled him close, and it was definitely
Mike, but he REALLY was not himself right now.
     "Someone dosed him with something at the party," I said to the
girls.  "He's having bad problems."
     "I had to get away," Mike explained.  "Some..."  He shook his head,
and would have fallen if I hadn't caught him.  "I think I want to sit
down."
     "Good thing I keep my car cleaner than yours," I joked lamely.
"You might actually fit into the back seat."
     "Fuck you, fish-eyed gaijin," Mike said, which cheered me up
immensely.
     When Mike had gingerly seated himself in the shotgun seat, Kim
asked, quietly, "Mike?  Did you take anything at the party?"
     "No.  Nothing except a couple of drinks, whiskey or something," he
said.  "And that, I mean, other people were drinking out of the same
bottles, or, or, I mean, having drinks in glasses."
     "So nobody dosed a whole bottle, just to get you," I finished for
him, and he nodded agreement.
     Kim sighed.  "I dunno...  There were a lot of people flying, there.
Remember, I said I wanted to go to my room?"
     "Y-yeah," Mike nodded.  "Because it was too loud, and you wanted to
hang out in there, with me."
     "Yeah," Kim nodded.  "And Jill, remember?"
     "Yeah.  We were talking," he said to us, "and..."
     "He got up, said he had to go to the bathroom," Jill continued,
"except he didn't come back for way too long, and Kim was drunk so I
went-"
     "I wasn't that drunk!" Kim protested.
     "You didn't want to move-"
     "That was because I didn't want to come back to find someone
fucking in my bed," Kim snarled.  "And don't say I'm being ridiculous,
it's happened."
     "WhatEVER," Jill hissed.  "Anyway, I went looking for Mike, and
nobody had seen him, and when I looked all over and couldn't find him,
that's when I called you."
     "Anyway," Kim said, "they might have spiked an entire bottle, but
maybe everyone else knew about it or something.  I mean, some of them
were flying HIGH," she emphasized with a hand.  "I dunno, though..."
     "With what?" I asked.
     Kim shook her head.  "I dunno...  Probably acid.  It's cheap, and
nobody throws expensive stuff like coke around at parties like this."
     "Remind me never to do acid," Mike told me.
     "Shit!" I said.  "Kim, do you have any idea who might..."  She was
already shaking her head.  "Shit!"
     "Bug Linda's room, bug her phone," Mike said simply.
     We all stood around for just a second with identical light bulbs
over all our heads.
     "Would you mind?" I asked Kim.
     "No, just, you know, if it's a call for me, um-"
     "I'll keep it sealed," I agreed.
     "Then, sure," Kim said.  "You can do that?" she asked.
     "Yeah."  I'd brought way too much stuff and kit, but one of the
things I had brought was some TELINT gear.
     "And call Dana," Brian suggested.
     "Good idea..."

***
02:21 13 Sep

     "Hell-"
     "Dana Dana Dana, this is Eugene, we have a problem.  Are you
awake?"
     "I am now.  What is it?"
     "Mike got slipped something tonight, he's having a bad trip.  I got
my harness with me.  Can I give him anything?"
     "How bad?" she asked sharply.
     "He, he tossed off all his clothes, he was ranting about people
turning on him, turning into demons or something, and all sorts of
hallucinatory things, his pulse is up and he's breathing hard, but his
eyes seem okay, and he's with me and Brian now."
     "Is he alert?"
     "He knows me, and Brian, and a couple other people, yeah."
     "Anything else?  Symptoms, come on-"
     "Um, sweating, he's not twitching or anything, no seizures, he
seems to be conscious and stuff..."
     "Is he, the hallucinations, are they calming down?"
     "Yeah, some...  The bad ones are, anyway."
     "No idea what he got?"
     "Maybe LSD, but I'm not sure.  I don't even know what it was
supposed to be.  I'd have to torture a lot of people to find out."
     "Don't do that...  Okay," she said decisively.  "Talk to him, keep
him calm and quiet, and reduce, lower the stimulations he's experiencing
any way you can.  Get him someplace quiet, talk softly-  You have
sunglasses?  Put them on him," she said without waiting for an answer.
"And use two of the Valium tablets.  What hospital are you taking him-"
     "No hospital," I interrupted.  "They'd report it, at least to his
parents, and I KNOW this wasn't voluntary.  Not on his part."  Then I
wavered.  "What could they do for him at a hospital that we couldn't?"
     She sighed.  "IF it's LSD, not much, to be honest... but, Tuck, you
have to watch him, stay with him, until he comes down, every minute,
dealing with his hallucinations and anything else, and it could be as
much as twelve hours."
     "It's Mike," I shrugged.
     She sighed deeply.  "Okay...  Watch him, check his vitals every
hour, and call me if there's any major change, or if he loses
consciousness and it's not sleep.  If he wants to sleep, let him, but
NOT ALONE.  And I'll be there in the morning to look at him."
     "Okay, thanks," I breathed.
     "I mean it, Eugene," she warned.  "Some hallucinogens are bad news,
and if you don't take him to the hospital if it's clear he needs to go,
I'll skin you."
     "I got it.  I'm scared enough...  I'd have taken him to the ER
already except he calmed down once we got to him, and even more in the
car."
     "Alright..."  She sighed again.  "See you in the morning."
     "'Kay, bye."

***
02:24 13 Sep

     "Done," I said as we came back to the car, Kim, and Mike.  She'd
gotten Mike a scrub shirt out of the car kit, and he was now wearing
that and his own pants again too.
     Kim said, "Shit, that was quick!"
     "Infinity?" Mike asked me.
     "Yeah, and the zip-recorder we used at N-  Uh, the last time we did
this," I explained.
     "Good," he nodded.  "Oh, man, I wish this was over!"
     "I called Dana, she said-"
     "Dana?" Kim asked.
     "Yeah, my doc.  She said," I said to Mike, "just stay cool, stick
with your friends, try and remember it's a drug and not you, that you're
not going crazy or going to die just from the drug..."  I handed him my
sunglasses, and after he'd put those on, I dug out some earplugs from
the bag I was holding.  "To reduce the stimuli on your brain.  And a
couple of pills.  Can you swallow?"
     "Yeah...  Kind of thirsty, actually," he admitted.
     "Good..."  I unhooked my medical pack and dug out two Valium
eventually, and handed them carefully to Mike.  When he had those, I
unhooked a canteen and let him drink out of it.  He drank a lot.
"Earplugs," I reminded him when he finally stopped.
     "What did you give him?" Jill asked.
     "Two Valium, twenty milligrams," I answered.
     "Jeez," Kim said.  "Isn't that kind of, a lot?"
     "No," Mike said before I could answer.
     "Put the earplugs in, dumbass," I complained.
     He did so, grinning.  Until he stopped grinning and got a sick look
on his face.  "Shit," he breathed.  "I am so fucking scared..."
     "Get you home," I decided.

***
03:06 13 Sep

     I don't know how Kim and Jill ended up at my house instead of Kim's
house, after we dropped off a note at Mike's house - wouldn't someone
notice they were missing in the morning? - but they did, and so we ended
up in the living room.  Or they all did, as I went back to the basement
and logged everything back in and locked it up again.
     When I came back upstairs, Mike still had the washcloth over his
face that had replaced the sunglasses, and he was talking to Kim and
Jill about what he was seeing.  "Where's Brian?" I asked.
     "He went to bed," Jill said quietly, "and said to wake him up if
you needed to but don't need to," she grinned.
     I sighed, but I agreed with him.  If only I could do anything to
make sure I wouldn't need to...

***
03:24 13 Sep

     I'd had a lot to do, so I'd grabbed my laptop and connected to a
LAN port in the living room.  There was the cron'd job to dial up and
dump the recorder every couple of hours from Linda's phone, and then
when I had that going I had to write Dad a report, because he'd notice
I'd opened some of the lockers and want to know why.
     The girls were dropping off at random intervals, and Mike had been
quiet for a while before he said, "Tuck?  Let's go to bed, okay?  I
think I can sleep, maybe...  And they need to lie down."
     "Hey, can you both make it upstairs?" I asked them when they woke
up at the sound of voices.

***
03:29 13 Sep

     Kim was in Susan's room, Jill was on the top bunk in mine, and Mike
was lying on my bed next to me, where I could watch him.
     "I can see the chi," Mike said.  "The chi, connecting us."
     "You're hallucinating," I reminded him.
     "Yeah, but it is like so cool," he said admiringly, looking at me.
"I mean, it's like ribbons and interconnections, like, like this really
complex network between us, and it's glowing with life and love and
positive energy and stuff, and it's balanced between us, the yin and the
yang..."
     Since it wasn't spiders or demons or other bad stuff - he sounded
happy with it, anyway - I decided to let him rant.

***
03:41 13 Sep

     "I love you, Tuck," Mike said as he hugged me.
     "I love you too," I sighed.
     "You're...  You're a good, I mean, a decent-  That's the wrong
word...  An ADMIRABLE human being, in all ways.  A role model.  You
should be emperor among men."
     "Thanks."  I wished he would go to sleep.
     "You also smell nice."
     "Thank you."
     "Do you usually smell purple?"
     "You're having sensory crossover, Mike."  I'd also done some
reading up on LSD after we'd gotten home.
     "Yeah, I guess."  He chuckled.  "You don't usually smell purple."
     "Maybe Mom's using new laundry soap?"
     He laughed, and Jill groaned from the top bunk.  Mike froze.
     "That was Jill, upstairs," I pointed with a thumb.  "She would like
to go to sleep."
     "I thought it was-"
     "Don't tell me.  It was Jill."
     "Aroooooo!"
     Mike flinched, and I threatened, "Jill, stop it and go to sleep or
I'll throw you in bed with my little brother."
     "Like he'd know what to do?" she shot back.
     "He's read books, he can figure it out."
     As Jill tried to think of a comeback, Mike said, "You should get
married."
     "What?!" we both protested.  "Who?" Jill demanded.
     "Uh, never mind," Mike said.  "That was a weird one.  Tuck, do you
have anything red I could smell?"

***
09:00 13 Sep

     "Bedoop!"
     "Shut the fuck up," I snarled as the MacinClock played the intro.
     "Bedoop!" it replied optimistically a while later.
     "Oh God," I moaned.
     "Tuck?" Mike asked
     "Yeah?"
     "Why am I in your bed?"
     "Last night?"
     "Oh fuck, I thought I'd been dreaming!" he gasped as he shot up.
     "Bedoop!"
     "Shut UP!"

***
09:18 13 Sep

     "If you say 'bedoop' I'm going to hit you," I told Dana as I let
her inside.
     "If I say what?"

***
09:22 13 Sep

     "He seems okay..." Dana said skeptically.  "Did you figure out what
you got?"
     We shook our heads.  "We'll be looking into it, though," I
promised.
     "That was NOT at ALL fun," Mike stated with complete certainty.
     "You seemed to be enjoying it after you laid down," Jill griped.
     Mike looked at her, and nodded solemnly, but said, "Yeah, kind of,
but the two hours I spent running from demons was not, and I don't think
it was worth it.  I really thought I was gonna die..."
     Pause.
     "What about flashbacks?" I asked Dana.
     "Well," she answered, "contrary to street wisdom, LSD itself
doesn't remain in the body; it's metabolized quickly.  But you can have
flashbacks based on your own neurology, just like any psychological
trauma could cause," she told Mike.  "Try and take it easy, and if you
start having a panic attack, find someone you trust and try and ride it
out.  Call if one gets really bad, alright?"  Mike nodded.  "If you need
to, go to an ER and tell them you're having a panic attack or an LSD
flashback and you'd like some light sedation and a quiet place.  You all
got that?"  We all nodded.
     "You think I should be at the party tonight?" Mike asked.
     "Oh God," Dana moaned.  "I'd forgotten about that."
     "I mean," Mike said hurriedly, "I'd like to be here...  Tuck,
knowing he was around really helped a lot."
     Dana shook her head, but said, "Alright...  But if you start having
any, and I mean ANY sort of weird reactions, the stereo turns down and
Mike, you go up to a bedroom and stay there where it's quiet and dark
and not so active.  The more stimuli you get, the worse it'll be,
usually.  Understand?"  He nodded.  "The rest of you need to watch him
too, in case he misses something."
     "We will," I promised for all of us, and Jill nodded.
     "And don't you have therapy today?" Dana asked me.
     "Oh God," I said.

***
10:03 13 Sep

     "It's been a truly 'interesting' weekend so far," I told Sheila.
     "What's been happening?" she asked innocently, like I was going to
talk about a movie or a volleyball game or something.

***
10:18 13 Sep

     "It sounds like you handled it very well," she said.  "I'm proud of
you."
     "Oh, uh...  Okay."  I felt stupid for some reason.
     "Bad trips are hard to deal with; they're scary, and especially
when the person is close to you."
     "Yeah, I guess...  He said just me being there helped a lot,
though.  I don't think I did that much."
     "I think you did," she disagreed gently.  "You could have freaked
out yourself."
     "But Mike needed me, to be like calm and stuff."
     She nodded, like that was the point.

***


"Never piss off an engineer." - Sam Canfield


Distribution:
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+ ==[--------   Ellen Hayes   @>--,--'---      ellen@barkingduck.net +
PGP DH/DSS keyfing: 33D4 156A AE39 53E2 0313  6714 2878 56A8 61B0 9CDC
+ http://www.barkingduck.net/ehayes -=[1990]=- vicki .sig virus 11.4 +


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