What if Turnabout WAS Fair Play?

Chapter 3: Skinny Dipping in the Hot Tub

Kate walked outside the bar, looking up at the blanket of stars stretching across the dark velvet sky. She sighed deeply, feeling the warmth of her half-drunk tumbler of amaretto coursing through her veins. Frowning at the thought, she grabbed a pocket-breathalyzer out of her motorcycle's kit and puffed on it. Still legal. Satisfied, she put it back.

Kate swung her leg over the bike and settled into the saddle as Slick joined her at the motorcycles.

Kate shrieked and nearly dropped her bike when a dark figure rose up with a loud noise. Her white helmet clattered to the ground as her hands spasmed in shock. She reached deep inside for the Lorelei, but suddenly recognized the man's rugged face and the just-off military cut of his brown hair in the harsh neon light of the bar.

"Garth?" she gasped. Eradicator shot her a cheeky grin. Her heart pounded and she could hear the rushing of her blood in her ears. Shakily she eased the motorcycle back down on its kickstand and bent over to pick up her helmet. She dusted it off and set it in front of her to steady her hands.

Feeling the quivering of her limbs, her flight response rapidly turned to fight. She let loose a string of curses involving the ex-SAS soldier, his less-than-intelligent prank, his spurious parentage, and his questionable manhood. She did not repeat any word twice.

Garth's eyes widened at the scathing torrent. Slick howled with laughter as Kate wound down and Garth gave them a sheepish grin. He pulled the keys to his Land Rover from his pocket, dangling them in front of the girls and asked, "Room for one more on this little fun run?"

"Only if you can keep up," Kate said haughtily.

She stabbed the start button with her thumb. She saw Garth running for his Land Rover as she shot out of the parking lot, Slick following close behind.

She mentally ticked "lose temper" and "show off" off her list of things to do.

The black road was racing ahead of her, looping across the hills. Slick soon caught her up, and Kate could see the twin headlights in her mirrors approaching slowly as Garth put the pedal to the metal in the Land Rover. The adrenaline of their land-locked flight mingled with the lingering heat of her blood to create a most potent elixir. Kate hadn't felt so alive in a decade.

The trio drove farther away from Paragon City, the moon almost directly overhead. Another couple of hours and they’d have to turn back home if any of them were going to get a drop of sleep. Oddly enough, there was always something that required their attention back at headquarters, whether it was paperwork or making sure they got in the required weekly hours in the various workout rooms or keeping up to date on the numerous “bad guys” the team was expected to thwart time and again. So it was a safe bet that one or two, if not all three, were going to have to make an appearance in the morning at work.

The three teammates took turns passing each other in an easy game of “catch me if you can,” always dropping back to the slow drive of people enjoying the countryside. Spotting a sign for a beach up ahead, Slick honked briefly to catch their attention and pointed out the sign. They pulled off the highway and onto the parking lot of a public beach.

Slick pulled off her helmet and slipped it over one handlebar, glancing at the dock stretching out into the water. “So, either of you up for swimming or ice skating”? she asked, grinning broadly.

“No skates," Kate said with an answering grin as she pulled off her helmet and hung it from the handlebar. "And I'm not going to let you freeze ice around my feet to make them, either!"

She shot Garth an amused glance where he sat in the idling Land Rover. "Guess he's about to be a lucky man," she said with a broadening smile. "Think he'll promise not to look?"

As Slick and Kate began to talk about swimming, Garth found himself in a very uncomfortable position.

"I'll just be over here..." Garth said as he slowly backed off behind his Land Rover. He turned away, with his back against the chassis, he allowed his body to slide to the ground, "Don't worry, I ain't peeking!"

Kate giggled, then blinked in surprise at the sound. She was thirty-seven years old, for crying out loud. She was a millionaire and a superhero. She had angst. She should have outgrown giggling a long time ago.

She bent over to check under the Land Rover. Sure enough, a masculine jean-clad bottom was sitting on the ground behind the SUV.

"Guess that answers that," she said to Slick, already pulling at the fastenings of her white leather jacket. Moments later Garth heard feminine laughter and the sound of someone running down the dock, followed by a splash.

"That's cold!" Kate gasped as she surfaced, pushing hair off her face. She hadn't been swimming in the Atlantic in a long time, but the Lorelei usually kept her from noticing any chill. Kate decided it was a trade-off she could live with for the night. Her skin wasn't even turning blue for a change.

"Coming, Garth?" she called out, her voice carrying well over the water. Swimming easily back toward the shore she found that she was rapidly adjusting to the temperature.

Slick quickly stripped to her underwear. Timing her steps, she hit the end of the pier and leaped far out into the lake, knifing smoothly through the water. She surfaced right next to Kate, flipping her hair back over her head and grinning wickedly.

“I’m safely covered now, Garth! You can come join us! I even promise to keep my back turned until you get in!” She couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up out of her as she waited for his reply.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Come on, Garth," she called out. "You can wear your underwear, like Slick, and it's not like you've got anything we haven't seen before!" She cocked her head. "Do you?"

*****

"Good, but if you hold your finger there, the sound will be much more rich and clear. Like this." At this Rex demonstrated the proper position of the left hand for playing the chord. Long red hair hung over the rocker’s face, partially obscuring his features and tiny soul patch. Alec followed suit, at first with a dull response, but with a slight change the blonde-haired movie star was able to get the position down. Damion lounged oe coe couch, watching the muted television and listening with a finely tuned ear, wincing occasionally. The young black man rubbed a hand over his bald head and yawned.

Having forgone a night of clubbing to work on songs and then moving on to guitar lessons at the base of the atrium of Super Acres, the superhero condominium, Alec could tell both Rex and Dam were getting a little edgy. When the night receptionist interrupted them he was all smiles.

"Excuse me, but Mr. Garth hasn't been answering his pager and we've got an inspection in the morning that we just found out about. It's very important that he be there. I checked with the pager company and they say he's out on Highway 69 north of town. Do you think any of the tenants would have time to deliver the message?"

Alec looked at Rex and Damion, who seemed equally as ready to call the lesson quits. "Ok, we'll take care of it." He pulled out a pad and jotted down his number. "Have the company call this number if he changes highways."

"Ready?" Rex nodded and moments later they were headed north of town, flying over the rooftops. Alec created a force construct of an old Harley with a sidecar, adding on a bug shield for Rex as he didn't want to risk a bad helmet design that might cut off Rex's airflow. Damion slalomed behind them on a boogie board. Alec scanned ahead, making up time by avoiding the twists and turns.

Rex gave in to temptation and started singing.

On a dark desert highway,
Cool wind in my hair,
Warm smell of colitas,
Rising up through the air.

”Hey Alec, five bucks if you can tell me what colitas are.”

About an hour out he spotted a Land Rover looking like Garth's pulled over to the side of the road and 2 motorcycles. Closer inspection revealed Garth hunched over resting against the vehicle. Alec took them down in a steep dive and pulled up at the last moment to bring them coasting to a stop in front of Garth. He de-rezzed the bike, dropping Rex gently to the ground.

"Mr. Landlord, are you alright? You have an urgent page you have been ignoring. ...Rex, isn't that Slick's cycle?"

Rex looked over to see Alec was right. “I'll be dinged, it is. I'd recognize that thing anywhere. Hmm... Wonder where she got it and if I could get one?”

Garth appeared to be stammering for words.

"Hmm, this is not good.” Alec did a quick scan of Garth's car to search for the pager, which he found in a crack between the front seats, its power button accidentally jammed into a seat belt anchor. Telekinetically pulling it out of the crack, he turned it on and handed it to Garth who was still stammering.

"He looks like he has seen a ghost," Rex pointed out.

Alec grinned. "Better than that, he probably saw Slick naked. I'd bet you $20 those clothes are hers on that monster of a bike. I wonder where she is."

Damion laughed. "I'm not taking that bet. When have you ever known her to wear clothes? Had that been Kate then I'd be surprised."

In the water, Slick shook her wet hair out of her eyes and looked back towards the cars with a frown. “I guess we should get out and get dressed. I never really thought Garth would be so uptight about seeing two women without their clothes on. Do you think maybe he’s gay?” she asked with a grin and a wink. Ducking back under the water, she pushed off the ground and shot upwards, grabbing the edge of the dock with both hands and pulling herself up. Standing on the dock, she noticed three figures standing by Garth’s car.

“Kate, someone’s at the car,” she whispered softly, eyes narrowed as she tried to make out who the intruders were in the moonlight. Sheathing herself in “solid” ice, she waited for the other woman, then slowly crept closer to the Land Rover. She hoped the reason Garth hadn’t joined them swimming wasn’t because he’d been attacked.

Kate reached deep for the Lorelei, but the siren barely stirred from her sullen withdrawal. Kate's eyes narrowed. This was becoming inconvenient. Fine.

Kate pulled herself up on the dock and eased herself out of the water, following the younger woman. She might not be super-powered at the moment, but a second pair of eyes couldn't hurt.

Alec formed a platform below the men and lifted them over the car so they could scan the area. It didn't take long to spot the ice-sheathed model crawling towards the rover.

"What's this about having a late night beach party and not inviting us?" Alec demanded.

Rex blinked twice and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. “I'm going to apologize in advance for any inappropriate amount of staring that I do,” he said. “I also will acknowledge right now that if I get slapped anytime tonight, I probably will deserve it. There. Conscience clean.”

Although she was covered in ice, Damion could still appreciate the view of Slick approaching the truck from the water. His mouth hung open in surprise, though, to see who slid out of the water behind her.

Kate decided to accept the situation with grace rather than indignity. She was thirty-seven years old, and a mature woman. It had been her decision to go swimming, and nobody had forced her to dress in her leathers this evening without appropriate underthings. Hadn't she even been contemplating getting nude with a man earlier? Albeit, this wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind.

She shrugged off the thoughts and rose to her full height, all sixty-three inches of it. Wet hair streamed down her back and her face was serene as she walked the length of the dock toward the group.

"I don't suppose any of you gentlemen happened to bring a towel?" she asked, arching one brow.

The question snapped Damion out of his open mouth stare. Ever the gentleman he reached into his back pocket for a wet nap. Quickly ripping the package open he gave the napkin a quick flick to open it. His grin threatened to rip his face in half.

Kate gave the proffered wet nap a look of mild disgust. "That, dear boy," she said in a cool voice, "is a towelette, not a towel. And dare I ask why you are carrying such in your back pocket?"

Damion couldn’t resist. "Well.... there's not much room in my front pocket," he said with a straight face.

With no actual towels around Damion began to remove his shirt. He paused when Kate gave him a look and explained, “I don't have an actual towel. Besides I may want to go swimming." He offered her the shirt.

"Thank you," Kate said, accepting Damion's shirt. Her lips quirked slightly when she found herself admiring his smooth muscular chest. Turnabout was fair play, she decided. She quickly put the warm shirt on without drying off, deciding that a modicum of modesty was called for, given what had happened on her last mission with Sonic Avenger.

"Feel free to take a dip," she said to the others, waving one hand back toward the surf. "The water's fine." And she'd use the opportunity to dry herself properly and get dressed. She looked over at her bike to be sure her leathers were still folded across the seat. Rex and Alec shot into the water, yelling something about the last one in having to move band equipment.

Having no trunks and not really wanting to get his uniform wet Damion stripped down to nothing for his run down to the water. He took care to hold on with both hands to keep the swinging under control. From previous experience he knew that running naked was just a tad uncomfortable.

"Bah I thought you said this water was fine!! It's freezing!" He yelled, having only managed to get knee deep in the water. His desire to keep his privates from chilling prompted he go no further. He hastened back to shore.

Slick shrugged slightly at Kate, then glanced over at their bikes. “So, do we go swimming again or do we ditch them and see what’s a little further down the road before we have to head back?” she asked softly, a mischievous grin on her face, contemplating tricks two “water witches” could do to the boys or their dismay at finding the naked and almost naked women gone.

Alec noticed that the women had not abandoned their egress from the beach area. Creating a force field megaphone he attempted to get their attention. "What's the matter, ladies? You only swim nekkid when there's no one around?"

Kate raised her eyebrows at the young man's challenge. "I don't see any of you getting 'nekkid'!" she called back. "And maybe it was 'girl' thing!" she added. She shot a wicked grin at Slick. "Let them contemplate that one for a moment," she chuckled.

"Swim with a bunch of semi-nude men, or the call of the open road?" she mused.

Seeing as his last response had not had its desired effect, Alec contemplated levitating his boxer briefs over to them, but he figured Slick would just put an ice shell around it that he'd have to spend an hour thawing.

"So does that mean that you are averse to some quality time with quality guys in a jacuzzi?" At this he formed a force construct into a 6 person jacuzzi and began scooping water into it. "Come on, a little Barry White music with a lot of bass provided by Damion."

Well then," Kate said, raising a brow at Slick. "We can always head out later if one of us decides the bikes are calling," she said with a wry grin. "A jacuzzi sounds good right about now."

She turned back to the water. "Is it warm? It musn't be too warm, though, or Slick will be uncomfortable." The young man seemed to concentrate for a moment, then steam began to rise in the cool air.

Kate went behind the Land Rover and pulled Garth to his feet. "So," she said in a no-nonsense voice, "do you wish to undress yourself or shall I do it for you?" The ex-SAS fighting machine turned white and quickly shed his clothing except for his regulation briefs.

"Good boy," she said, resisting the urge to pat his behind and send him on his way. She walked back to Slick and watched in satisfaction as Garth hurried down the dock and scrambled into the jacuzzi.

She took Slick by the hand and led her down the dock at a more sedate pace. The blue-skinned model eased herself into the jacuzzi, but apparently found it not so hot as to be uncomfortable. Kate used Slick's entry as cover to slip off the shirt and place it neatly on the dock. She stepped into the wat water with a sigh, settling herself onto an invisible bench.

Damion trotted down the dock and reached into the hot tub to test the water. "Okay, it's warm."

"Come now, Damion, stop showing off and get in," Kate said with a wink.

"That’s not showing off,” he said. “This is showing off," he smirked, letting go and swinging figure eights. "Besides…” Splort. “…ahhhhh, snowballs!!" Damion jumped as he was accosted by Slick’s well-aimed snowball. In a desperate effort he jumped over the edge of the hot tub, dunking himself in the hot water. "That was NOT NICE!! Someone is going the right way for a smacked bottom!!"

Rex couldn't stop himself form bursting out laughing at that. “Shouldn't we be charging admission for that or something?” he teased. He paused a second. “I'm going to be in a huge amount of pain in a second aren't I?”

Kate snorted at the display, reminded of baboons showing off their colorful posteriors. She chuckled as Damion promised revenge and was hit by yet another icy snowball. Slick was flush with potential ammunition in this environment. Flush with targets, too, Kate decided. Boys.

She gasped as a snowball hit her square on the face. Sitting up she glared at Slick. "Whatever happened to feminine solidarity?" she demanded, and launched herself at the other woman. She pulled Slick off the bench and dunked her with a well-placed hand on top of her head.

Kate shrieked as the water froze around her in a thin film of very cold ice. She hopped back, breaking through the film as the other woman emerged from the water with a sputter. “It wasn’t me!” the model sputtered.

Rex sat back with that same half-grin. “Don't look at me. All my gadgets either blow things up or keep them from getting blown up.”

"It was headed at Alec!" Slick protested. “He must have diverted it.”

Damion laughed and decided it was time for some revenge.

"Let's see how you do with this." With an experienced touch Damion sent a series of vibrations at Slick. Aiming for her belly button and cascading outwards from the shoulders to the knees, the vibrations flooded over her in waves. If he had used more pressure this would have been a great massage. As it was the jumping vibrations were extremely ticklish.

To be on the safe side, female solidarity and all Damion decided he better hit Kate with a sustained burst as well.

Laughing, Damion teased a bit. "I can do this all night! Who's your daddy?"

Rex dropped his head back against the wall of the hot tub, laughing as Damion decided to even things on the guys’ side. “I'm going to stay out of this one. I suffered enough at the theme park.”

Kate was glad to see that Damion had obviously worked through any remaining issues about being exposed to an empath of her abilities. When he hit her with the tickles, though, she couldn't help but wish he were still avoiding her like the plague.

She writhed in the water, clutching at her ribs to try and stifle the vibrations there. Kicking water at Damion, she splashed his face in an attempt to distract him. She briefly considered trying to suggest that he stop, but her conscience rejected that idea as soon as it appeared in her head. Besides, she wasn't even sure she could bring up the Lorelei.

She laughed helplessly, choking and sputtering when she slid under water a moment. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd been tickled. Certainly nobody had even considered doing such a thing in the last twelve years. Warmth spread slowly through her body.

"Oh God, Damion," she cried with laughter, "How dare you? Stop it! This is no way to treat a lady! Slick, somebody, make him stop!"

Damion slid down and forward into the water. "You are very correct," he said in a lower voice, gently placing one hand on each woman's knee and gripping around the lower thigh. "This is more the way you treat a lady." With that the nature of his vibrations changed. From the water came a much deeper rumble as the vibrations took on a more penetrating feel, bouncing up one leg and down the other.

Caught off guard by the tickling and her defenses down, Kate was unprepared for the change in Damion’s approach. Her eyes widened in shock as she felt the warm water vibrating and nudging between her legs, massaging her exquisitely sensitive flesh. Her breath caught in her throat as pleasure stabbed through her loins, leaving a heavy and throbbing warmth. She knew he was only teasing, but she was paralyzed by her own sudden arousal. Her cheeks flushed deeply with both heat and embarrassment in the darkness.

Slick lounged back against the side of the hot tub and gave Damion an arch look. He laughed when she crossed her legs, pulling her thigh casually out from beneath his hand. He turned to Kate with a grin, obviously expecting the same nonchalant reaction.

What he saw on her face was anything but nonchalant. His eyebrows rose at the flush on her cheeks, and he could feel the slight tremble of her thigh beneath his hand. She stared sightlessly down at the water in front of her. His grin faded when he felt her shift in the water and he realized that her hips had just moved against his vibrations.

Kate flushed even more as she realized that her lack of response was drawing attention. She cleared her throat and pulled away slightly, but Damion’s hand stayed where it was and somehow the movement only served to open her legs more. She was self-aware enough to realize that she was still in the hot tub with her legs spread not due to accident, but because she did not want the pleasure to end.

Damion moved a bit closer, trying to read the expression in her down-turned eyes. “Kate?”

“What?” she replied, trying to make it sound as if she weren’t just dying to lie back against the side of the tub and let herself enjoy the pleasurable vibrations. Unfortunately, her voice broke at the end of the word.

Damion knew an aroused woman when he saw one. Her unexpected response turned him on, and he felt himself begin to harden. He held his breath, knowing that she could bolt at any moment.

Moving closer until he was just between her knees, he slowly slid his hand up her thigh, moving it to the outside so as not to push her too hard. He kneaded her hip, his thumb tracing the soft, smooth skin at the curve of her waist. He saw her face relax slightly as the vibrations from his hand stopped. No, he didn’t particularly want to give her a chance to recover her sensibilities. This was way too promising. He started the vibrations back up with his body between her knees.

He watched as she bit her lip, stifling a gasp at the renewed sensations. God, he wanted a kiss, but he knew the paradoxical intimacy of it would break whatever spell had Miss Prissypants letting him masturbate her in a hot tub full of people. That was all right. He was willing to work for the kiss.

He put his other hand on her, gently urging her leg farther to the side as he moved closer. He finally caught her gaze, and the naked need he saw there made him hard as an iron rod. His hand slid behind her back, sending another set of vibrations through her body.

He kept his eyes locked on hers, wildly aware of the fact that the others were looking at them in curiosity. He couldn’t believe that Katherine St. Claire was sitting in this hot tub with her legs spread for him, and was actually close to getting off while others watched. The knowledge that the others had to have at least some idea of what was going on only added to his arousal. God, how far was she going to go?

Kate couldn’t stop her hips from thrusting forward any more than she could have stopped the vibrations that were dancing across her skin. Her breasts were on fire, the nipples hard and aching to be touched. His hand on her lower back urged her closer, his other hand gently gripping her thigh and holding it against his flank. Her hips were pumping gently in the water, her breath coming faster and heavier.

She felt his hand slide up her back and then down to her hip again, cupping her flesh and encouraging her movements. She gave in to the urge to get closer, and allowed him to pull her off the bench and into the deeper water at the center. His hand slipped off her thigh, trailing up to slide around her back, pulling her against his chest. The ache in her breasts was momentarily relieved by the contact, but soon returned with a vengeance.

His thigh brushed hers and then slid between her legs. His hand slid back down her thigh, lifted her leg hookhooking it around his waist beneath the water. His acute hearing detected her faint moan as his cock brushed her soft inner thigh, and he bent down toward her for the kiss he really wanted now.

“I feel like I should be getting out my credit card or something for this.” Rex’s amused comment was like a splash of ice-cold water to Kate’s senses. She froze, suddenly absolutely and completely certain that she had just made a bigger fool of herself than she ever had in her entire life. What was she thinking? What was he thinking?

She shoved herself away from Damion, the unrelieved ache between her thighs tormenting her. She half-scrambled out of the tub to sit on the dock. She grabbed the shirt and covered herself haphazardly, staring at Damion. "What the hell was that?" She paused, flustered. "I apologized for the incident in the tunnel already! Turnabout is NOT fair play!"

"Slick, I ask that you freeze his nether regions on behalf of women everywhere," she said in her most imperious voice. "This man is a threat to the gene pool."

Rex was trying hard to keep his laughter under control at Damion’s expression. “Oh, Jesus, you two are merciless! And you thought I was a pain? Is there something I should be doing to keep myself from suffering the same fate as my cohort? Or am I doomed anyway, despite having done nothing?”

Kate swung her gaze to Rex, regarding him from above the arch of her nose.

"Keep your hands to yourself like a good boy and we shall let you keep the family jewels," she told him.

"As for you," she said, turning her attention back to Damion. She placed a delicate foot center on his chest and pushed. Hard. "Back off, buster. That hero ID does not give you license to thrill."

Damion backed off a laugh. "’License to thrill.’ That's good. I’ll have to write that down." He pantomimed writing on his hand as he slid back over to his side of the tub.

"Maybe it would be best to remove ourselves from such a heated environment," she said after a moment. She admitted to herself that she was afraid to get back in the water with Damion. "What do you say we hit the road again?"

(continued)