Josh was still thinking out loud, “… which means he thinks you're dangerous. Dangerous enough to expend a weapon like Ko to kill – or damage, or render harmless… whatever.” He looked at Ron in a new light. “You already impress me every day, Ron. You don't need to worry about that. I don't know how else to say it… But… why would he think you're so… such a danger?”
“I may have a idea about that” Shego said from the far corner of the bed.
Sheaghen spoke up before anyone else could say anything, “Shouldn't we be keeping an eye on Ko, people?”
They had left her in the living room alone. They all looked at each other, and got up to go back to their previous positions there, but Ron caught hold of Josh's arm as he passed. He wanted a short private word, first.
After they were all gone, Ron closed the door behind them. “Josh… did you mean it when you said that I impressed you every day?”
Josh put his hands on Ron's hips, “Yes, I did. You do. I mean it. I… please don't ask me how, I can't explain it. It's not just the way you can see into people – your ‘super-power’ or whatever…” He touched his forehead to his boyfriend's, “I don't know what it is, Ace. It's those things and… other stuff… the way you make me feel…”
Ron said softly, “Remember that time I was showing you those charts and stuff I made up and -”
“… and I said you sucked at it. Yeah, I remember.” Josh closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He had no idea it had hurt him that much… that was months ago! “I made a joke at your expense and it was cruel of me. I really didn't mean it like that, Ace. I thought we made up on that…”
“We did. Just checking.”
“Just checking?” Josh backed up and looked into Ron's newly-hazel eyes, “Just checking? Oh, you!”
Ron turned to open the bedroom door, smiling to himself. He'd gotten what he'd needed.
Ko was right where they'd left her, except her head was between her knees. Sheaghen brought her a glass of Shego's wine, while Ron kneeled next to her.
“Ko?” he said, “I'm sorry I did that to you… made the Pain come. I won't do it again. Promise.”
Through puffy eyes Ko looked up at him questioningly. Here was another new thing: someone who could hurt her, but wasn't requiring her to do anything so they wouldn't.It took her awhile to comprehend. Finally she sat up straight, and tried to put on the Stone face again, but it wouldn't come… it just wouldn't come, and so she just let her face be whatever it would be. They already knew she was in there anyway. And they didn't seem to hold anything against her. She didn't understand, couldn't understand, but there was no use acting anymore.
Ron got up and found a chair.
Shego started. She told the story of Crazy Ron, the clumsiness of his attack, combined with his inexplicable power and speed. Then the sword.
Through it all, Ron just looked out the window at the slum-lights of Caracas on the hillsides. Josh watched him, and Kim handed him a box of tissues to wipe his eyes.
“… and that's what I saw. What I think I saw. Ron?” Shego finished.
“I'd rather not talk about it” he said without looking.
Everyone exchanged glances in silence.
Finally Ron did talk about it.
“It's… Okay, I don't know how the sword got there. I don't know how I did that… it was just there, and do not ask me about it. The sword is… private.” He shot Shego a glance, not knowing how much she knew from their union. “It's a painful memory… Okay?”
They all nodded.
“That's all I have: pieces of memories. Back before – before Shego zapped me – I didn't have them, but I had feelings from them. I don't know how else to explain it. And I didn't know where they were coming from, or even what they were. But I learned to listen to them, with the help of a Tibetan monk who ran a Zen temple in Middleton. He… he taught me a lot. It was him who showed me how to make my own bad dreams go away, when Kim was… was in the hospital.”
“And that's what you did to me?” Shego asked.
“Yeah. Well, sort of. It was just a trick, Shego. There was nothing ‘super-natural’ about it. All the ceremony, the water, exposing your, uh, breasts like that, all just a trick – to take your mind off… other things. The only part that really made the dreams go away was sleeping with Kim that night. That was what you needed.” He paused to check reactions from her and Kim – they didn't seem angry at being “tricked”.
“I'm sorry I played a trick on you, but I'm glad it worked. Are we okay?”
“Yeah.” “We're okay, Ron” the girls said quietly.
“So anyway, after she zapped me, I had… I had a lot of really clear dreams. I mean, dreams without anything dream-like in them. A lot of them, where I would be different men and women in different places at different times, and -”
“Uhm, women?” Kim cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, men and women. Straight and gay and in between, as well. All different races, too. Once I was an Australian aborigine, I think – you know how incredibly black they are – and several times Asian, black-African, American – I think- Indian… I was a lesbian woman that time, by the way, Kim… you wanted to know how long I'd been a lesbian. All different races. All different kinds of people. I dunno how many… maybe… a hundred? Maybe a couple hundred? I really have no idea.”
“And you remember all these lives?” Josh asked.
“No, that's just it, I don't. I get snippets, from time to time. It's not like I can sit down and think ‘now, whatever happened after I went on that tiger-hunt that time…’ I can only remember bits and pieces, and they only come when they want to, not when I try to think about them. It's like deja-vu, except I can remember – since I was zapped – exactly why I feel it.
Shego took a chance, “So, you do know where the sword came from, then…”
He looked steadily at her, “No. I don't.”
She blinked slowly. “You can't lie to me, Comrade.”
Ron took a deep breath. “Okay, yes, I do, and I WILL NOTtalk about it! Check?”
“Check” Shego replied.
Ron went on, “So, why am I like this? What's it all mean? Is it part of… of all this? I don't know. I don't know any more about it than I know… how my liver works. It just does. Maybe it'll be useful to me somehow, sometime – it has been useful before, but I can't count on it. Maybe not.” He looked back out the window waiting for the storm of questions. It was actually a little amusing that Kim would be shocked that he'd been a woman before. Did she really think souls – or spirits, or whatever – had gender?
No questions were coming, though. He turned back around and looked at them. “Josh? You're big on Logic. What's it all mean?”
“Thank you for that glowing endorsement, Ron” Josh said, a little coarsely.
“Sorry… I just meant… you can usually put things together that just look like random doodles, to me. That's all. So… do you get anything from what I've said?”
“I dunno, Ace. Between you and Ko and Shego and Lee and Sheaghen, all the events from the news, the place we are… I can't think straight. I really need to just relax… I almost wish I had a cigarette…”
Shego nodded to Ron to get his attention. He looked at her with brows slightly knit: what? She looked intently into his eyes, and jerked her head towards Josh, then up, ever so slightly. Ron's eyebrows lifted: you mean… and Shego rolled her eyes towards the ceiling; doy!
Ron went over to Josh's chair and took his hand. “C'mon, Josh.”
“Huh?”
“C'mon.” He tugged at the hand.
Josh understood suddenly. “Uh… thanks, Ace, but I really don't think -”
“Oh, come on, Skeeter!” and Ron pulled the other boy to his feet. Josh followed him meekly to the other bedroom, blushing all the while.
“Uh, Sheaghen?” Kim said, “Maybe you'd better find something on the TV…”
Sheaghen smiled and looked at the TV, which immediately sprung to live, flipping through the channels by itself until it came to English-language news. All three girls were looking at her, though, not the TV.
“Takes one to know one” Sheaghen grinned mischeviously.
“But -” Shego began.
“Infra-red transceiver in my right eye. Cool huh? Bet you wish you could do that!”
Kim sighed and said, “You are so weird, Sheaghen…”
“Excuse me? Did you say ‘weird’ or ‘warm’? My hearing may need upgrading…” Sheaghen's grin became perceptibly wider.
Kim did her very best to ignore the question.
Thirty minutes later, Ron returned. All the girls – even Ko - looked at him wryly.
“What? Get your minds out of the gutter. All I did was give him a massage.” Ron hoped he wasn't blushing too much.
Shego pursed her lips to keep from giggling, for his sake. She knew a code-word when she heard it. After all, she'd been him, if only for a moment.
Josh never did think of anything useful. He was trying to assimilate the entire Big Picture, and it was too much, there were too many variables. He wasn't even sure anymore if they were in the right part of the world, or looking at the right industry! How could he, a mere mortal, be expected to second-guess Satan Himself!
They all decided to go to bed, which brought up the problem of what to do with Ko. No one want to just leave her alone in the living-room of the suite – that would be just way too stupid, but no one wanted to tie her up, either. Sheaghen had the obvious solution: she would stand watch over Ko all night long. As a synth, she didn't sleep, anyway, so no bother to her.
At four in the morning, Josh very suddenly sat straight up, throwing Ron – whose head was resting low on his chest – completely off the bed and onto the floor.
“HELICOPTERS!” Josh cried. He looked around. Where was Ron?
“Ron?” he called out, “Ace? You in the bath -”
“I'm down here, Josh” Ron groaned, “On the floor.” He muttered a few curses under his breath.
“What are you doing down there?” Josh asked innocently.
Ron grunted as he got to his feet. “Oh, nothing, Josh. Nothing at all” he frowned, “you said something about helicopters?”
“Yeah. Yeah! We need to take a look at whoever rents helicopters around here. Y'know, like they use to go around to all the platforms on the lake? Whatever Lee is planning to do, he'll need helicopters to do it. It's the standard way of moving things around out there. Especially if you're in a hurry, and you can afford it.”
Ron was rubbing the back of his head and tail bone at the same time. “So why would he have to rent one? He'd have his own, wouldn't he?”
Josh was pulling his clothes on frantically. “Probably, but I bet these oil companies are pretty careful who they let land on their platforms. And besides, renting transportation has always been the best way to keep a low profile, or do things you don't want people to know you're involved with. It all fits, Ron! Lee will be using helicopters, or at least a helicopter. There'll be records! If only we can figure out which one!”
Josh was having trouble with his zipper. “Call Wade, tell ‘im what I said. See if there's anything he can do.”
“It'll help if you get your shirt-tail out of there” Ron said, still standing naked, but smiling.
“Oh, yeah” -zip-, “I gotta go wake up the girls.” And with that, he was out of the room.
Ron sighed happily. It was great to see Josh so excited. About work, I mean,he thought.
He burst into their bedroom: “Kim! Sheg – uh, I mean Sara… I mean, Shego! Wake up! We've got work to do! It came to me in the middle of the night, see! The answer is… uh…” He stopped to stare.
Shego was twisted up in the sheets in a way only a cat could envy, a way that seemed, on the surface of it, humanly impossible. Kim lay entwined with her almost as apparently awkwardly, yet both had obviously been asleep. Asleep? In those positions? Arms and legs were everywhere, hair – red/orange and black - was everywhere, pillows were scattered about randomly. It looked like someone had but them both in a blender and then dumped them out onto the bed after a few seconds on the “chop” setting.
Josh quickly turned his back.
“Uh… sorry. I… uh…” he stammered.
“What… time is it?” Shego muttered sleepily.
Josh didn't dare turn around to look at the alarm clock next to the bed. He heard rustling and grunting, and Kim finally said, “Four fifteen”.
“Bloody fuckin’ hell” came the other girl's reply.
Swallowing, Josh said, “I'll… I'll meet you in the living room. It's… please hurry… and, uh, sorry about barging in like that…”
He heard Kim giggle as he closed the door. “At least he didn't say ‘Morning, Sunshine!'”