Christmas Day, 03:35. Outside the Robertson’s estate

John’s emotions were still simmering from the airport. Despite checking in as late as he had, his bag still somehow managed to be delivered last. The cab ride to the Robertson’s was tenser than it had too. John felt bad for the cabby who was just trying to do their job, so he gave him five hundred credits and told him to keep the change.

John was busy working on his tablet. He had spent the last fifteen minutes trying to find a backdoor into the Robertson’s security system. There weren’t as many into this system as he had hoped. That however was a sign of a good system. But all computer systems have something that lets people in. But finding the one here was going to be difficult.

Just a few moments before he got frustrated, he found it. There it was, staring at him the whole time. John managed to update his registered guest record from Thanksgiving. Since he was already in the system, he was able to adjust the acceptable date range. The gate then slowly opened.

“Don’t mind if I do.” John strolled in and headed towards Alice’s house.

Well, it was a mansion technically, but it felt like a house compared to the main building. John shook his head at that distinction. Twenty-five minutes later he was standing in front of the front doors to Alice’s home. He wanted to get into the house and surprise her.

John’s decision to surprise her was actually pretty stupid but he was going to run with it anyways. He picked the main doors lock and entered the house. He closed the doors very quietly and walked up the stairs and slowly opened the doors to the master bedroom. Alice was sound asleep. John took off his shoes, socks, pants and shirt and then crawled into bed. His last thought before falling asleep was he had hoped Alice wasn’t going to kill or maim him in the morning.

07:30 Alice’s bedroom

John was sound asleep. Alice had rolled in her sleep onto her other side and was facing John when she woke up. She noticed the outline of another person in her bed, let out a scream and punched and kicked the person in her bed. Her vision hadn’t come into focus yet.

“Owwww. What the hell. I’m sleeping.” John was still half asleep but was annoyed at being awoken in that manner.

Alice stopped the attack as her vision was in focus now and she recognized the voice. She was flooded with emotions but the feelings at the forefront had her confused, excited, annoyed, surprised and angry. She poked him his face to see if he was real.

“Why’d you hit me? Stop poking me.” John said as he was rubbing his eyes.

Alice shook her head and punched his chest. “What the hell are you doing here? You scared the hell out of me asshole.” She leaned in and kissed him.

“Merry Christmas!”

“I’m still mad at you right now, why the hell didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Alice was sitting on her knees on the bed with her arms crossed.

“Well, I quit Intelligence last night. Then took a red eye flight and came here. Figured I’d come surprise you.” John laughed. “Mission accomplished.”

Alice punched him again, then hugged him. “That’s not funny you jackass but thank you.”

“Well, now that you have me awake, have any ideas on what to do?

Alice kissed him and whispered, “Yup.” John was getting excited. “You get to make me breakfast for scaring me.”

“Not the answer I was expected, but fair.” John kissed her again and got out of bed. He grabbed his clothes that were on the floor and put them on. “Well then, mademoiselle, what would you like for breakfast?”

“Chef’s choice sounds good.” She went into her closet to get some sweats and a t-shirt, then followed behind John to the kitchen.

John made himself at home in the kitchen. He put some bacon in the oven. Cracked several eggs and scrambled them. He also whipped up some pancake batter. Cheese omelet, pancake and bacon. He wanted to make hash browns but there was a limit to how many things he could make at once.

“So, you really quit intelligence, like actually quit for good? They won’t call you out again?”

“Quit yes, will I ever be fully separated from them? Doubt it. But if they want me back, they need to go through official channels. Not this backdoor bullshit that’s been allowed up to this point.”

“They going to ask for those suits back?”

“LeCroix didn’t mention anything about them, but I hadn’t seen any requests to requisition them back to intelligence. The old man kind of gave them to me as a consolation prize of sorts.”

“Are you ok with that though? I know you that was a big part of you are.”

John turned around and set two plates in front of Alice. He turned around and got the other two plates for himself and then walked over to the table.

“Who I was. My life now is much more stable and normal. More realistic.”

Alice grabbed a piece of bacon and was munching on it. “Like kill a bunch of robbers assaulting a hotel. Or take out a bad guy from a massacre. Normal and stable right? Want me to continue?”

“Well, I mean, it is mostly normal. It’s just when someone pokes the bull, they get the horns.”

Alice laughed. “So, your normal, until you’re not. How on earth did I fall for you?”

John snorted, “It’s probably my really hot ass.”

Alice rolled her eyes and started laughing. “You are way worse than Andern. Way worse.”

The couple laughed and continued with their breakfast. Alice was genuinely happy that he was there. After they were done eating the two cleaned dishes then headed over to the gym to get a workout in. They went on a run after hitting the weights. They took a small break at a gazebo that overlooked a small pond.

“I’m still having a hard time believing you’re here.”

“Beats Miami. Sucks that your family had to bail on you during Christmas of all times.”

“Business is business. Got pretty used to it growing up.”

“Military was the out for most of your siblings?”

“Yup. Mom and dad will likely make sure we have comfortable lives after service, but we all wanted to choose our own path.”

“Going to use your dad’s connections for favorable deployments?”

“He offered to my brothers. They all made it abundantly clear that if he were to do that there’d be big problems. And before you ask, he’s already well aware I don’t want his help or influence either.” She placed her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his torso.

“I’m gonna have to learn how to be a political critter for command. Not sure I’ll be able to play that game well enough.”

“Your young and your smart as hell. You’ll learn if the game is worth it to you.”

“I do the bull in a China store really well though.” John laughed.

The couple stayed there for a while and enjoyed the morning sun. Eventually they got moving again and finished their run. They ended up at the backdoor to Alice’s mansion and entered it. Alice asked if John wanted to take a shower with her. He didn’t hesitate to agree.

10:30 Alice’s living room

Alice’s living room was easily twice the size of the lounge their group was known to frequent. John couldn’t help but be amazed at the size and opulence of this home and it was only an “off-building” on the estate. It was the fourth largest building on the estate too.

A call came in for Alice, she sent it to the projector. “Honey, we are so sorry, but it looks like…” Kate was talking. “John, now this is a pleasant surprise. It is nice to see you. Well, now I am feeling even worse giving both of you this news. We likely won’t be home until after the two of you leave for your vacation in the Bahamas.”

Alice expected this conversation to happen but was still upset. “I understand, business waits for no one right?”

“We are all sorry dear. I am glad that at least John is there to keep you company. I hope both of you try to have a merry Christmas.” The call was cut short.

“Well, that’s a kick in the nuts.” John said. He put a hand on Alice’s shoulder. “You, ok?”

“No, but this always happens. I’ll get over it.” Alice looked crushed.

Some tears began to form. Her family dynamic made no sense to John, but one thing he did understand was just wanting family to be there during certain days.

“This always happens. I think the last time everyone was home around Christmas was five or six years ago.”

“Well, time to call an audible. Know of anyone that would be willing to take in an awkward feeling couple on Christmas day?”

“Are you ok with that?” Alice turned around. She was wiping the tears off her cheeks.

“Honey, I’d be happy to spend the day here with you if that’s what you want. But I get the feeling you want to be around more people.”

She tried to put a smile on her face. “Let me ask a couple friends.”

They borrowed one of Paul’s cars and drove about thirty minutes to her friend’s home. The mood was festive and cheerful. A far cry from the quiet empty feeling they had left. They spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at this house. John was talking to the men telling stories of the idiotic crap he had to deal with in Intelligence. Alice was happy being with her old friends, and secretly showing off her boyfriend to them as well.

At about 20:00 they decided to head home as they were both exhausted. They also didn’t want to overstay their welcome. The warm and happy feeling they felt was gone when they got back to Alice’s home, but it was nice to experience that feeling together.

“You know it’s interesting. Your friend’s house is what, a third the size of this building and yet this one feels like there’s no life here.”

“Are you trying to suggest that money doesn’t buy happiness.” Alice spun around and cocked her head.

“Well, we both know that to be true. But this isn’t a home in as much as it’s a simple residence. There’s no soul here. But you already knew that didn’t you? That’s why you went into the Navy.”

“Yes and no. This house isn’t why I went in, my parents are the reason why. I could have lived a life of luxury. Likely be married off to a suitor connected to some business my father and brother would like to take over. But nothing would ever be my choice. Going into the military gave me that out to do my own thing.”

John sat down in a chair and placed his feet on the coffee table. “I kind of understand why you avoid talking about all of this. No one could understand the shear amount of affluence your family has, let alone the family dynamic that it also brings too.”

Alice laid down on the couch and was looking at John. “Mhmm. I never denied it, but it’s just something that’s so futile to talk about. How many of our friends are having a wonderful Christmas? Honestly if you weren’t here, I’d probably have cried all day and eaten a lot of cookies.”

The couple continued to talk, and Alice was able to vent many of her annoyances with her affluent upbringing. John was himself a multi-millionaire several times over. That was due mostly because of smart bets on stocks along with his penchant to steal from a specific type of individual. Money wasn’t ever going to be an issue for him, unless he did something stupid that would involve the IRS. They both were in a unique situation that money allowed them to have or do nearly anything, but individually they could be left with nothing at the same time.

They decided to put on some classic Christmas movies on the TV and eventually cuddled up on the couch.

“What was your initial opinion of me John?”

“It was on the bus when I met you, I thought you were a frosty bitch.”

She grabbed a pillow and hit him in the face. “So rude.”

“Well, you asked and you were. That is until you weren’t. So, what did Patrice’s clique do to turn you off from them?”

“Patrice insisted that we be a couple because of our high borne stature and that he could help my career. Then he used me as a human shield in the second game and grabbed my ass afterwards.”

“So that explains the black eye now.” John laughed as he recalled the black eye, he had in boot camp. “I mean you do have a very grabbable ass. Though the fatigues we were wearing back then didn’t really accentuate your curves.”

Alice rolled her eyes at him. “Ugh, really? You really went there, you ass.”

“Well, grabbing your ass was out of line then. I didn’t do that until you gave me the green light to do so.”

She blushed then remembered their first encounter. “Do you regret it? What we did in that janitor’s closet.”

“Nope, wouldn’t be here if we didn’t. Can’t say that was expected or even normal for a first encounter behavior but it is what it is.” John gave her a hug.

She squeezed him tight. “I’ll be honest and say that I would’ve preferred a proper start like dating and stuff. But it’s been working out so far.” A thought then crossed her mind. “What about that agent you were with before boot?”

“Jess? We never dated. Physical sure but I never looked at her like the way I look at you. That arrangement of convenience was over and done with when I went to boot.”

Alice was happy. She knew John wasn’t going to cheat on her. But him confirming how serious he is about them was reassuring.

“Well, I am tired and would like to go to bed. Only two more days until we can relax on the beach.”

“I’m with you there. I’m exhausted. Trip cannot start soon enough.”

With that the couple retreated to the master bedroom. John tossed his shirt and sweats on the floor and picked up some shorts that were on the floor. Jess changed into a tank top and shorts and the couple crawled into bed. They drifted off to the realm of dreams shortly after getting comfortable in the bed.

06:00 Destination Unknown, Back of a Van

‘Alice, you’re about to wake up. Don’t move. Your hands are bound behind your back. We’re in a van driving somewhere, I believe downtown Mobile.’ John sent a telepathic message to Alice.

John was seething with rage. People were going to pay for this. He was beyond angry with himself for not sensing the attack. Strong telepaths could fall asleep and still keep a part of their mind active to reach out to others or stay on guard. It was a difficult skill to learn, much less master but it was one that John had spent much time perfecting over the years. John got too comfortable and let his guard down, he didn’t think anyone would attack them at the Robertson estate. The two had been drugged, though John’s immune system went into overdrive to remove it from his system, and were currently bound and blindfolded.

‘Vehicles stopping, you’re going to be woken up in 5, 4, 3…’

“Get up both of you, fight and you die.”

John couldn’t fight back yet. Too many variables to account for to prevent Alice from getting hurt. They were taken into an elevator and brought up to the forty-fifth floor, the elevator was kind enough to announce that to them. The couple were brought into the same room and set down on chairs. Their legs and arms were bound to their respective chairs. John could tell there was only a single guard that was left in the room with them. The security on that floor was relatively light. In total only about twenty people were there. Most were regular staffers, and they likely wouldn’t have been aware about Alice and John’s predicament. There were at least six guards, maybe seven but no more.

John used his telekinesis and loosened his bindings. He wanted to be ready when the guard in their room was close enough for him to knock out. John didn’t need to wait long; the guard was walking back towards them.

“God, why do I have to guard your sorry lot. This sucks.”

John leapt out of the chair when the guard turned his back to him. He had caught the guard completely by surprise, disarmed him, and put him into a sleeper chokehold. He squeezed just hard enough and held on long enough to cause the guard to lose consciousness. John dragged him back to the chair he was sitting on and had the cover put over his head and bound the guard using the bindings he loosened. He put his hand on the guard’s head and forced him into a deep sleep, it’d be several hours before he would wake up.

John walked over to the door and opened one of the doors, so he peeked outside. He could hear a guard down the hall heading this way. He slowly closed the door and moved next to the wall, ready to ambush the guard when they entered the room. It wouldn’t be long.

“Mother fucker, if he ran off again to hit on that accountant, I’m going to kick his ass.” The guard walked into the room. “The hell…”

John slammed the door shut and punched the guard in the face. He dropped him to the floor then put him into a triangle choke hold. John held it until the guard was knocked out. He hurried over to Alice and got her out of her restraints. She hugged him tightly. They then got the other guard and placed him in the chair and restraints that Alice was sitting in.

“Let’s focus. Here’s one of their guns.” John pulled back the slide and noticed the non-lethal rounds that was chambered. “They have stun rounds in them. No worry about death, just avoid the face or genitals and no maiming will happen. Got it?” John said.

“No aiming at the face, roger.” Alice nodded.

John thought he was pissed but he had nothing on Alice. She was radiating hatred into the ether. That made him grin. In a situation like this it helped to channel the anger. Alice was seething right now after being kidnapped. Now to find out where they were, subdue the other guards then get the hell out of there.

“You know where we are?” John asked.

“Yes. Turielle Industries. I’ve been here before with my father. They’ve been at odds with my father’s corporation since the marriage interview. Several years ago, Luca Ricci, the CEO and Chairman of the corporation suggested his eldest son Marco and I get married.” There was a look of pure revulsion on Alice’s face. “Despite the fact that Marco is a fat pig of a man and a decade older than I am.”

“I presume your dad told him to get bent?”

“Dad said it in a much more diplomatic way than you or I would have done. They’ve been in a corporate cold war since.”

“Ok, let’s be quiet, follow me.” John reached out with his mind to find out where the guards were. It looks like two were in a break room. He turned around and whispered to Alice. “Down the hall to the right, first door on our left. Let’s go.”

“Your kind of cheating you know.”

He turned around with a big grin on his face. “Good thing you’re on my side then.”

Alice smiled and pressed on. His abilities made it difficult to get a drop on him. And when someone did, he typically had other means to end the fight. They kept quiet walking down the hall, they stopped at the end and John peaked out.

“Clear, go to the door.” They were on opposite sides of the door. “Two of them are on the far side of the room. I’ll open the door quietly; you close it behind you. I’ll get the guy on the right, you left. Will countdown three-two-one on my left hand, when one shows shoot. Clear?”

Alice nodded in the affirmative. The two entered the room quietly and unnoticed. The guards had headphones on playing a video game. The crept up to about five feet behind them and took a step toward the closest wall to each. John made the motions on his left hand three-two-one. Triggers were pulled, a slight amount of recoil and quiet puff was made. Both guards were struck with stun rounds and dropped.

John jumped over the couch and grabbed the guard he shot and pulled him hard to the ground. He grabbed their stun gun and tossed it away and grabbed some restraints off their waist and cuffed him behind his back.

“Shoot her again.” John noticed the other guard was recovering from the first shot.

Alice complied as John found some tape on a shelf to his right and put some tape over the guard’s mouth to muzzle them. Alice had attempted to restrain her guard but then the guard flipped herself over and was about to yell. Alice put the gun in her face.

“Say a single fucking word and I pull the fucking trigger. Don’t fucking push me bitch.”

John tore off another bit of tape and muzzled her too.

“I’d listen to her. You lot really put her into a mood. And you’re lucky y’all had these.” He flashed the gun in front of her. “Normally I’d just go on a homicidal kill spree.”

He smiled then grabbed her and dragged her over to the table and taped her legs together at the knees and ankles.

“Alice, tape the dumbass over there to the couch’s armrest.”

They were back on the move. The only other guards on this floor John believed were in the main room with who he presumed was the idiot that green lit the operation to capture them. They were outside the main doors and were about to enter when John pulled Alice down the hallway.

“Other way in, can recon first, then we go into the main office.”

They took a right at the end of the hallway and quickly entered the side room. They were in an empty waiting room for the CEO’s office. They walked to the door at the opposite side of the room. They could vaguely hear a conversation in the other room. John cracked the door open slightly.

“My dear Aaron. I am not going to make your daughter do anything she doesn’t want to do.” John rolled his eyes at this, Alice was squeezing his left arm a little too tight.

“Control yourself.” He whispered. Alice looked like she was ready to charge into the room.

“She will marry Marco. When the two get a chance to sit down and talk she will come to her senses and make this decision. Now until that happens, you’re not to make a move on us or do anything that would suggest to me any attempts to bring her back.” Luca’s tone of voice was irritating to the couple.

“Yes, father is right. It is my birthright to marry her. You should be honored that she’ll bear my children.” John thought Marco needed to get shot in the face.

“I’ve met my daughter’s current suitor and boyfriend. My wife and I both approve of that young man, but you, I’d never willingly allow you near her.” Aaron was hardly containing his anger.

They shut the door quietly.

“Well. On the plus side pops approves of me now so there’s that.” John smirked.

Alice punched him in the chest. “Not the time asshole. Not the time.”

John pointed at the terminal at the office. “Send your dad a message, tell him we’re going to be going in the front door. Don’t react when the doors behind the two chuckleheads open. I’ll take care of the guards. Got it?”

Alice turned around and walked over to the desk with the terminal on it. It had a guest login with email access. She sent a message to her father. There was an instant reply. “Understood.”

They walked out of the room then back down the hallway until they got back to the main doors. They quietly slipped in. There were two guards on either side of the room. John reached out with his mind as they walked closer to Marco and Luca and attacked both guards at once, forcing them to sleep in a very unpleasant way. He turned and grinned to Alice. His eyes gave off a very faint and short-lasting blue glow. She shook her head and poked his side.

“Excuse me assholes. Sorry to interrupt your idiotic conversations. Apologies Aaron, excepting you of course.”

“Who the hell are you, guards!” Marco commanded.

“They aren’t going to be much use to you. They’re asleep.” John leveled the gun and fired a single round at Marco which dropped him. “Not talking to you fatass. Just stay on the ground.”

“Nice work John. I owe you one.” Aaron smiled in the video.

“Ah hell, this one’s on me. I had to get myself out of this shithole too.” John was pointing around the room he was in. “What a gaudy room this is.” He walked over and saw the terminal with an email that was sent to the Daniels family. “Well, that’s very interesting Luca, looks like you tried to sell me to the Daniels’ family. Such a naughty boy. I’ll have to have a word with those idiots sooner or later.”

Marco looked like he was ready to stand up. John kicked him in the stomach. Then fired another stun round into the corpulent asshole.

“Say Aaron, what kind of under the rug penalty would good ol’ Luca here have to pay your corporation to level the scales?”

“That’s an interesting question.”

“Both of you quiet, this is my…” Luca tried to interject himself into the conversation.

John pointed the stun gun in Luca’s face. “If you are half as smart as you think you are, you’re going to shut your fucking mouth and agree to everything Aaron here demands. I told one of your other guards that we took out that if they were using normal guns there’d be eight dead bodies on this floor right now. Don’t fucking push me, I’m not above throwing your fat ass through the window over there to see if you can fly.”

Luca had never been talked to this way. He was also feeling a level of fear he had never felt before.

“Apologies Aaron, so what kind of penalty does dumbass here have to pay to sweep this under the rug?” John looked back at the viewscreen and said a little too cheerfully.

“Stock options equaling ten percent of the outstanding shares as of today to be distributed to one of the mutual funds we manage, they will need to mature within twelve months. Removal of four bids that are competing with my companies. And a complete transition of all assets in your research center on Centauri Minor.”

“That is ludicrous. We would never do that.”

“Certainly, beats a criminal trial where you, fatass over there and whole bunch of random people end up going to jail. Aaron, what do you think would happen to the stock price if these two chuckleheads are convicted?”

Aaron punched in some numbers on his terminal and then responded with “Oh, I’d say about a thirty percent drop at a minimum.”

“Now I’d presume the loss of market capitalization would exceed what you’re asking for no?” John was more or less ignoring Luca at this point.

“We are asking for substantially less. Of course, that presumes the two of you leave that building unharmed.”

“I think good ol’ Luca here assumed that was part of the bargain. He wouldn’t do anything stupid like stopping the elevator when we are set to leave, or to reroute the elevator or any other such nonsense. I mean if he did that, I’d just have to do some really awful things to his extended family. And truth be told I’m going on vacation in a couple days, so I’m pretty pressed for time. But, you know, man on a mission and all.”

Alice’s anger had subsided somewhat, but she was stunned. John’s flippant and casual attitude towards this situation was stunning. There was a method to his madness though. It was absolutely driving Luca insane. The man was bright as a tomato and looked like he couldn’t tolerate such indignities anymore.

“So, Luca. You’ll have ten seconds to make a decision. First up is option A. Alice and I leave, you give Aaron what he wants, and no one here talks about kidnapping cub. Option 2. You say no, we leave anyways, then you go to jail, Aaron and I team up to destroy your company.”

Luca was about to say something.

“Oh, my bad forgot about Option III. I throw you out this fucking window and she castrates chucklehead over there. Btw Marco, don’t move. Clock’s ticking old man, what’s your decision?”

“Go and get out of here. I don’t ever want to see any of you ever again.”

“Pleasure doing business with you. Aaron, my finder’s fee for this wonderful deal is a bottle of thirty-year-old Papi Van Winkle. Oh, and Luca, if I see you or your boy anywhere near us, I will be eliminating your family tree. See to it that you steer well clear of us.” John was staring down the elderly Luca. There was no emotion in the words, his body language made it clear that he wasn’t messing around.

Marco was slowly moving towards Alice. He was standing about eight feet away from her. She pointed the stun gun.

“Fatass, let me make it abundantly clear. I never want to see your fat fucking face ever again.” She then aimed the stun gun at his crotch and pulled the trigger.

“Damn, you shot him in the dick.” John winced at that, while Marco did have that coming, as a man it didn’t feel right to see that done. “Alright honey, fun and games are done. Time to head home.”

The couple walked out the door as Marco lay screaming on the floor. Surgery was in his future. His penis likely was never going to function normally ever again. It was a rather harsh but justified romantic rejection that was years in the making. Alice was finally able to deliver the message loudly and clearly to the idiot CEO in waiting.

“I can’t believe you shot him in the dick. Jesus that’s cold.” John said half laughing and half wincing in pain as the doors closed behind them.

They walked to the express elevator, queued it and the doors opened immediately. They stepped in and pressed the lobby. Two minutes later they were about to walk into the atrium. John had veered over towards the guest counter.

“Honey, hand me that.” She handed over the stun gun to him.

John walked over to the guest services desk.

“The dumbasses up at the top floor dropped these. I bet they’d like them back.” The customer service agent was thoroughly confused at the request.

John dropped the magazines and racked the slides to clear the gun before tossing them unceremoniously on the counter. He turned and walked back to Alice. The two then walked toward the lobby’s main exit.

It had been a crazy week. John quit intelligence. Then hacked the Robertson’s security system and got attacked by Alice because of his Christmas morning surprise. The couple celebrated Christmas together with her friends. They got kidnapped and then blackmailed the kidnappers so her dad’s company would benefit. Lastly, John witnessed Alice shooting a man in the dick with a stun gun.

“Can’t wait for vacation.” John chuckled they walked through the lobby.

Alice laughed and grabbed his arm. The got to the main doors and left the building without resistance. They were greeted by a black car sent over by her father to take them back to the estate. It was nearly time to go on vacation and relax.