This time my dream was different. Like Caelo’s dream, it felt very real. I was wrapped up in a big black cocoon with Akiko, softness, and warmth surrounding us as I kissed and nibbled her lips. She was both a fox and a woman, two large, fluffy tails wrapping us in more warmth as I teased her nude body.

Her breasts were small but deliciously shaped, and while her mouth tasted like mint and tea, her skin tasted like the most delicate of salted vanilla. Not strong, but as I nuzzled one of her nipples and then took it between my lips, I tasted that delicate sweetness for a moment as it grew between my lips and under my flickering tongue-tip.

Her breath was loud and heavy, and she was slightly smaller than I remembered, but that didn’t matter very much. I wouldn’t hurt her, she was mine after all. She was beside me inside the softness, and I slid my hands down her hips, almost able to enclose her waist with only my hands. While I lavished attention on her delightful nipples, my right hand drifted down her hip to cup her bottom and press her tiny body against mine.

“Please,” She whispered, in that delightful lilting accent I remembered so well, and so I slid my hand down to her knee, tugging her leg up and over my hip so that her delicately-furred sex was rubbing against my hip. I slipped my hand again to her bottom, pressing her against me as my hard shaft rubbed against her inner thigh, and she curled her calf around my waist, her foot digging into my bottom as she started to slide back and forth, warm moisture against my hip as she rubbed.

“Please what?” I whispered, enjoying the hell out of this dream. I noticed she had a sort of bandage wrapped around her waist, but beneath it, her flesh was smooth and undamaged, so I gently brushed it aside, until there was nothing but utterly naked Akiko rubbing herself against me and stroking my shaft with the motions of her smooth inner thigh that made me even harder.

She didn’t seem to be easily answering, and I held her bottom even more firmly against me, feeling her folds against my hip open up until I could feel the little nubbin deep inside pressing and rubbing against my hip. I started licking my way along her ribs, now that I could get to them, each flick of my tongue drawing a new gasp as my right leg wriggled under her thigh, swiveling me slightly so that she could feel my hard length pressing up against the delightful warmth between her legs.

As wet dreams went, this was one of the best I’d ever had that hadn’t involved Caelo using her powers. My left arm was underneath her, so I slid it up slightly until my elbow was tucked under her arm and buried my hand in her long, soft hair. I lowered her slightly, wiggling a little so the head of my cock was pressing right against that invisible wetness, and then started slowly easing my way inside of her body, using my hand in her hair to tug her head back slightly so that I could start nibbling and licking at her throat.

There was no visual stimulus, which was unusual for a dream, but I could easily imagine her head tilted back as I nuzzled the underside of her chin, taking little bites with only my lips along the curve of her jawbone and flicking my tongue over the soft hollow at the base of her throat.

I finally slid her downwards yet again, slowly easing myself more deeply into her as she gasped, “Louis.” I rolled backward a little, a weird pressure just below my shoulder blades as I rolled her on top of me, but the moment her right hip was freed she started grinding back and forth on top of me, the softness surrounding us shifting with each motion. Weirdly, a very realistic point intruded into the dream, as when she slid down just a bit more than halfway something seemed to bump inside of her and she gasped, getting goosebumps and then rubbing harder and more shallowly.

Was I so large that I was bottoming out inside of her? I didn’t know, but I was caressing her legs, thighs, and bottom with my hands. Oddly, I couldn’t really sit up, something, maybe Akiko’s deliciously slender legs kneeling on either side was keeping me pinned down unless I exerted myself, and I didn’t want to exert myself.

I slid my hands up to her lower back and was really enjoying this dream. Dream-Akiko had a pair of thick, furry, almost squirrel-like tails, and as I wrapped my fingers around them and started tickling my way under and then between them, she gasped even harder, driving herself down until I felt another bump against the head of my cock.

I licked between her nipples again, tracing a line of moisture with my tongue between her breasts and then lightly blowing across it to cause a trail of coolness along her skin, and then blew on each moist nipple before capturing it with my lips and suckling, nibbling, and teasing them.

She drove herself down on me again, with another bump, and a choking moan coming out as I felt her clench around my cock firmly, muscles spasming as I felt her come, which of course drove me to join her. She was not furry or anything, but the stroking of the underside of her tail along my sac was more than enough to make me come, hard, inside of her again. I was glad that in this dream she was able to join me, coming again and again as she rubbed her little clit against the front of my pelvis.

After a little while, she relaxed, and I curled her up in my arms, gently brushing my fingertips up and down her spine to her tails, and the back of her neck, gently kneading tense muscles along her back until she finally started the cutest snoring I’d ever heard.

I realized I was still deep inside of her when I finally lost the dream, returning to full sleep.

I woke up feeling… amazing. I held my hand up in front of my face, and the fingers had regrown while I slept. There were no signs of the wings, but unlike my freedoms, I knew that they could come back any time I willed them.

What the hell was I? I know some people would say angel, but I didn’t have any connections to the divine. Wings were only mentioned for Cherubims, which had four wings and four faces, and Seraphim, who had six wings, two covering their feet, two their faces, and two stretched up towards heaven.

In Islam, there were supposed to be winged angels, but I was about as Irish as you could get without being drunk under a chair. I don’t think I’d ever actually been in a desert, one of the reasons I found the idea of being Marid so hilarious.

Technically, I had given my bond. Sort of, under duress. I didn’t break it exactly, not until the Shuten-Doji had given word to attack Antonia. I thought about rationalizing it somehow, but then I realized I didn’t actually give a fuck. They ate human beings. I would give any word they wanted to get them into a vulnerable position, and gleefully slaughter them after swearing they would be allowed to live. I hadn’t the slightest twinge of guilt, cannibals were beneath contempt or honor, especially the ones who would murder and eat children. Fuck them.

I stretched on the bed I was in, and realized it was my bed. I had gotten a large California King, despite its cost, because I was tall enough that a normal queen or king-sized bed would leave me hanging off the bed or banging my head into the headrest. As usual, I had slept in the buff and remembered the dream fondly. If I had woken up with Akiko next to me I would have wondered if it was real, but with her nowhere to be found I was just happy that I had it.

The door opened and I looked around for my sheet just in case, but it was Lauren, and she was dressed in one of my shirts. “Good morning, Master.” She smiled at me, and I groaned a little bit.

“Let me guess, last night while I was asleep, I grabbed you again, and utterly broke the no-sex rule?” I sighed and started to sit up, ignoring the fact that, like it or not, seeing her in one of my shirts had made me ready for action. Something about a girl in your shirt is just an instant turn-on, and I wanted an answer before I just dragged her into the bed and banged her stupid. Or spanked her, and then probably banged her stupid.

She shook her head, “No sir,” and sighed, “I wish you had, but you wrapped up Kyokudai with those big black wing things, and I was barely able to pull you two through a portal to here. You probably did it to her, since I already cleaned up the armor and clothes I found around the base of the bed. Your armor is in bad shape, but Agent Gillcrest has been teaching me basic repairs and sewing for armor since he used to be a vigilante. The rents in the back are odd, but I guess those were for your wings, so we are just sealing the edges and making the back of the armor a snap-down.

She sighed. “I wasn’t able to find your coat, so I ordered another one online. This one is a lot bigger, but the specialty leather shop said they could do it, but it’s going to be expensive. Almost 600 dollars. I am sorry, but you seemed so proud of it.” Then she squeaked as I reached out and pulled her into my lap for a hug.

“Thank you, Lauren, for getting us out of there. Are Sif and Antonia alright?”

She looked nervous for a second, sitting in my lap, but then wiggled forward a little, ignoring what was poking her in the butt to cuddle up against my chest. “They seemed to be fine, although Antonia looked a little shell-shocked. I don’t think she has ever ended a life before, but she said that it was easier when the illusions broke.” She smiled shyly at me for a moment, and I noticed she was wearing little silken panties under my shirt. That was good, or she might not have been safe.

“I wish I could have helped, but I probably would have gotten killed. Sif called to tell me you were injured, but after you wrapped up Kyokudai no one could get to either one of you. It took a lot of ports, but with their help, I was able to get you back here. You were not any heavier than usual, but you seemed a lot bigger and it was hard getting a grip on you.” She pointed at several shreds on the sheets and then held up a shredded bedspread. “The big black feathers on the outside were really sharp, and we had to be careful that we didn’t grab the wrong place and risk losing a finger.”

I rubbed her back a little, and murmured, “The sex ban is off. Kyokudai is alive, and so am I, and you got us out of that place. If you want it, I may even let you sleep in my bed occasionally.” I tucked a finger inside the collar of the shirt, and gently stroked her collarbone lightly, almost tickling her. “If you are willing to pay the price in sweat. And I don’t just mean in the sheets.”

She nodded quickly and then curled her head a little, “Yes master. I understand you like your girls to have muscles as well as padding. I promise not to blow off exercise again. Baldwin told me that you talked about liking to lick the sweat off, and I thought it was weird but then I thought about it a little and realized I was okay with that too.”

I chuckled, “I hope so. Someday you may be forced to defend yourself or your boy, and that’s a lot easier to do if you are strong.” I leaned forward and nuzzled under her chin, and then slid my hand down and lightly slapped her butt through the shirt and the panties. “Plus you are mine, and I am a bit of a beast. If you aren’t strong enough to keep up with me in bed, I will be very unhappy.”

She lifted her head and smiled brightly at me, and then lowered her face again, blushing. Her reactions were.. odd, in comparison to other girls I’d been around, but the game was a rather interesting challenge. How to keep her happy was different from other girls, since she seemed to crave being dominated and yet needed so much real care as well. I could see how some, as Baldwin had mentioned, considered keeping a slave happy almost a full-time occupation. It would certainly not be boring.

“So they are here?” I asked curiously.

She shrugged a little, rubbing her cheek against my bare chest. “Kyokudai said she needed to return to her family for some reason and asked me to give you an envelope. Sif asked me to send her to Atlantic City, and she left her number and said she would call when we could get you awake. Your phone is still on your wrist, but we couldn’t get to it or anything while you were all wrapped up. Sif also dropped off a weird clay bottle of some green stuff she said you might want, she called it melted Oni.”

I tugged her back a little, petting her bottom and then tugging her to her feet as I prepared to stand. “Last question, then. Who the fuck is Gillcrest?”

Gillcrest, it turned out, was a new agent sent by the DMA. He was a very short, square man, a specialist with explosives. I don’t mean that he knew how to build them, he seemed to be nearly immune to them and was able to create balls of energy that would explode when a certain amount of time passed.

He had been a vigilante, going by the name of Explosive Joe, but after one of his ‘pacifying’ bombs went off and the shrapnel had done a lot more damage than he intended, he had surrendered and spent two years in prison, sort of like me except not naked. Afterward, he went to work for the DMA as both an ordnance expert and demolition specialist and was a one-man bomb squad.

I discovered this from Lauren as we slowly walked down the stairs, her quiet murmur soothing as she filled me in. I was kind of in the mood right now to fill her in as well, but that could come later, like her.

He was talking with Alison as I walked downstairs. I was dressed in a pair of loose-fitting shorts that were now a little shorter than they were before, and a tank top that now barely avoided exposing my midriff. My wings may have disappeared when I didn’t need them, but my height appeared to be the new normal, and my features had changed slightly, becoming a bit narrower with more of a chin. Lauren said she liked it, that it made me sexier, and it was almost unnoticeable unless you knew me well or were looking at your own reflection.

“Sir, I don’t understand. Your… freedoms? Before didn’t change you permanently, why did this one?” She asked.

I shrugged, “As far as I can tell this is going to be the new normal. I don’t particularly like being this tall, but my balance hasn’t suffered much, I seem to be stronger with more leverage, and my wings don’t require a sacrifice or a trigger as far as I can tell. This is not a freedom, it just seems to be a power.”

“Does that mean that you can fly?” She asked, looking excited by the thought.

I grinned at her, “I assume it might be possible, but I have no idea how it would work. I mean, I don’t have a tail for stabilizing myself like a bird, but when I was trapped I was able to exert a sort of short-range telekinesis, and I wonder if the two are related. I am not about to go trying to give anyone rides until I practice though.”

I chuckled a little and took her hand, guiding her fingers to the underside of my pecs. “I think I may have an extra set of serratus obliques under my pectorals, right around here, though. The primaries are as tough as hell, but I wasn’t strong enough to use them to block without using my arms to reinforce them. My wingspan is going to be something like fifty feet, which isn’t really enough for stable flight unless I go very fast, but I might be able to build up the muscles there to be stronger with practice.”

She giggled a little, brushing her hand over my lower chest and the wife-beater I was wearing, “You didn’t gain any real weight when you got taller, but you certainly know how to exercise. Master, please, if you feel confident, is there a chance you could someday fly with me?”

I nodded, “Of course, but first I need to make sure that I can make them appear at will. Imagine how much it would suck to be flying along and suddenly my wings disappear. I am hoping the kinesis helps, especially since I have all the aerodynamic properties of a brick.”

I chuckled a little, “Even if I cannot actually fly, though, the wings are still amazing weapons and defenses. If they get stronger, Alison’s little predictions become a lot more likely. I am also quite a bit tougher. Several bullets got past my armor and I barely noticed them.”

“Are you an angel then?” She asked curiously, still running her fingers along my chest.

I shook my head, “I don’t think so. The Oni thought I was a Marid, but that was mostly because I was pushing the whole three wishes thing. I cannot grant wishes, though. But Angels don’t usually have wings, especially not black ones, at least in the traditions I grew up with. I don’t think I am a demon either, because I really don’t have any desire to drag anyone to hell, although sending the Shuten-Doji there was certainly rewarding enough.”

I sighed, “The only people that seem to really know anything about what I might be other than a metahuman are Sif and Kyokudai, both of whom seem to be conveniently missing right now.”

Lauren smiled up at me, “I don’t know what a Marid is, but I know you are good at granting wishes.” She said, blunt as usual. I chuckled in response and we entered the kitchen.

Gillcrest and I looked each other over. He was sitting on a barstool at the central island, leaning on one elbow as the stool turned to face me. He was compact, and almost looked a little fat, but it was clearly muscle, almost like a squat powerlifter. Definitely, a meta’s body type, concealed only partially by a fairly decent grey suit. His tie was undone, and the top button of his white shirt. He was not exactly an attractive man, but with the way he projected himself and his build, I imagined he would have no problems in the woman department. A simple gold band on his ring finger implied strongly that he was married.

“Gillcrest?” I asked curiously, “I guess Baldwin is gone?”

He nodded, “Temporarily reassigned. The flack at the office says that you are sort of hands-off, but that you might be cooperative if you are handled with understanding. That’s why I am here. The last agent sort of bailed after dealing with you, and they know I won’t bail and have the leverage to make sure that you get what you need if you decide to cooperate.”

I held out my hand, but he lifted both of his, palms out. “No offense, but I have heard you can read a great deal more about people than they might be willing to share with physical contact. When I said you are hands-off, I meant it. I don’t really mean anything by it, but for right now I am Agent Gillcrest, your DMA contact. Your… friend, let me in, but I have my own lodgings, I just wanted to touch base and make sure you have my contact info. I’d like to try to meet with you at least twice a week to keep the lines of communication open, but I am not your parole officer.”

He chuckled a little, “Mostly everyone, Max included, is trying to bury what happened as deep as possible. Right now you are technically on a team of your own, as a registered vigilante. Just try not to commit any felonies, and the DMA might ask you to handle a few things out here since Virginia doesn’t have its own team, just the capitol rangers. I’d like you to meet with them if you get the chance, and see if you can help them out as you did with the Great Lakes teams. You will be well compensated.”

He stood up, He was only about 5’8” but nearly as wide as me. “Last but not least, while you are here, Virginia doesn’t have any setup for vigilante teams. Metas are forbidden from joining the active-duty military via the Proteus act, but nothing stops you from being local. The Governor has stated that if you are willing to occasionally help law enforcement, and attend training so we can keep in touch, you will be paid and ranked as a warrant officer specialist 1 in the Virginia Defense Force. Technically it’s entirely volunteer, but they have the structure to pay out if you are called up.”

I nodded, “Information dump accomplished. I assume that I don’t count as a registered Vigilante if I don’t join the VDF?”

He nodded, “Bingo. Technically, since you aren’t doing anything on American soil, you are considered unregistered and inactive metahuman, which is not a crime in the US, but the accords still hold true if you are caught using your powers non-commercially, like if you defend yourself with them. Just something to bear in mind.”

It made sense. Metahuman rights activists were agitating that using powers counted as being armed under the second amendment, but Proteus wouldn’t back them up, since internationally they guarded their privileges zealously. Meanwhile, Humanity First had deep pockets, supported by the Unions and tied in with things like the minority support groups, even though metahumans were a definite minority, they claimed that oppression only applied to those without the power.

There was very little actual discrimination except in law enforcement though, since metas were generally capable of protecting themselves against hate crimes even without using powers. I didn’t personally care much, and as long as the supreme court stayed out of the fight I didn’t consider it my business. This was probably a bad attitude, and I knew it, but in my opinion, politics were pretty irrelevant compared to both heroes and villains slaughtering innocent people casually. As long as it was up to each state to decide how they stood with regards to the superpowers in their midst, I could move if things got too unpleasant.

According to my internal understanding of how power categories worked, I was technically on par with Rainbow Warrior now. I wasn’t actively hunting him at the moment, but sooner or later we would meet as contemporaries, and when that happened I was planning on making sure whatever was left would take a sponge to pick up. That would instantly put me on Proteus’ hit list, but so be it.

Virginia was not exactly friendly in general to supertypes, but this was definitely throwing me a bone. I decided I would contact the VDF and see what would be required in more depth. Having some sort of legal status could be useful in the future.

Gillcrest looked around and then nodded to Alison, “Hey, thanks for letting me come in and wait. I am pretty much done here.” He looked at me, “She has my cards and stuff. The Higher-ups said you are kind of particular about negotiating, so I figure we can get together for a beer or something once or twice a week if that’s enough for you to hear me out.”

I nodded, “That should be if you are buying. If I need something from the DMA, I’ll buy.”

He grinned, “That sounds fair enough. I will see myself out.”

I watched Alison closely as he slipped out of the front door. “So you just casually let a DMA meta wander into our house?” I asked her after he was, hopefully, out of earshot.

She nodded, “Yes, I calculated that…” I stopped her.

“No. The calculations don’t matter. The odds don’t matter. This is our place. If I catch some flack for keeping government lackeys out, so be it. This place is not for them. Baldwin was an exception because he was a friend, but in the future, neither badge nor powerset, political improvements, or odds adjustments lets someone invade our privacy. I like you a lot, but I need to know that everyone around me is someone I can trust. If you cannot hold to that, I cannot allow you to stay. Understand?”

She gulped and nodded, taking off her glasses and cleaning them. They weren’t dirty, but every time something caught her by surprise, she seemed to do it like she should have seen it coming. “Yes sir.” She said, unconsciously mimicking Lauren’s speech. Toby was in a little dangling chair that hung from an elastic cord, bouncing and cooing as he spun little colored wheels attached to it.

To be honest, I probably would have walked around naked occasionally just to drive home the point that no one that didn’t belong here was allowed to be here if it wasn’t for Toby. I wasn’t about to traumatize the poor kid, and I reached down and tugged him out of the chair to his evident delight, tucking an arm under his butt and bouncing him against my chest. “Good morning Toby!” I said lightly, and he cackled gleefully, waving one hand around and glancing at Lauren before stating, “Chibaba!”

I grinned and held him up by his sides as he looked around wide-eyed, and then turned to Alison, “I need you and Lauren to do your thing. I hate shopping, and none of my limited clothing options fit anymore.”

I spun Toby around, swooping him a bit before tucking him back into my chest, where he leaned back and started trying to reach for my face. “Meanwhile I will whip up some breakfast. Hey, is the chair really necessary? He’s a bit big for it.”

Lauren nodded, “I think that they kept him locked in a room, he’s not really walking yet, and it’s a bit small, but it keeps him on his feet for now until he starts walking. I’m just glad he’s starting to make word sounds. I figured we’d work on one thing at a time. He’s almost three, he should be running around by now and asking questions and telling us no constantly.”

I nodded and handed him to Lauren, and he reached out to grab her while we shifted grips. “I wish they were alive so I could beat them again for locking a kid his age up for so long. He’s really far behind, I just hope he can catch up quickly.”

Lauren gave me a funny smiling look as she took him, and nodded, “He should be able to. A couple of days ago he was just totally quiet all the time and refused to even crawl. I thought of maybe asking if you wanted to take him to a pediatrician, but I was worried about what kind of questions it would raise.”

I nodded, “I think that maybe age is a limiting factor on what I can get. I haven’t tried scanning him yet, but I kind of don’t want to overdo the powers thing. Still, if he doesn’t at least try to start walking in a week, I agree we will take him to a pediatrician. He comes up as healthy, but they might have some ideas I have missed. If they start getting antsy, I will trade favors with the DMA to get them to back off.”

I grinned, “In a month I expect him to be learning how to play catch. He’s a big, healthy boy, and I am hoping to have him running around and terrorizing the place soon enough. Three years from now, we probably won’t even know he was a hostage.”

Lauren’s expression was very hard to understand. I wasn’t sure what I said, but she was looking at me like I’d just carried stone tablets down from a mountain or something. “What?” I asked her. “I like the kid. He had a rough start.” I wasn’t sure what was going on in her head, but I figured she’d tell me if there was a problem. “You have permission to speak, girl.”

She smiled a little, “I was just surprised. I mean, you don’t know him or his mother, my sister.”

I chuckled, “Look, my delightful little slave, I may be a monster, but I am not that kind of monster. Unlike you, he hasn’t done anything to deserve being treated badly. You are his mom now, and you are my property, but kids deserve the best possible start they can get. The sins of the parents don’t belong on the heads of the kids.”

She shook her head, “I didn’t mean… I mean, okay. Thank you, master.”

I nodded and noticed that Alison was handing me an envelope. Inside there was a J-Cred hard card, a way of transferring crypto, in this case, a hard card with both the payment number and control number attached. I assumed that it was my fee for helping the treasonous dipshit survive, and I would accept it because we could use the money. I was still planning on beating him within an inch of his life if I saw him again, though. I handed the card to Alison, and said, “While you are at it, see if you can find out what this is worth. They promised a certain amount, but I suspect strongly that they ripped me off, it’s kind of what they are best at.”

There was a note inside of the envelope, hand-written, with what looked like a calligraphy pen.

Alchemyst,

My sincere apologies for the deception. Akiko didn’t know what we had in mind when she asked for your assistance.

One of our many gifts is a facility with premonitions. The Oni of Kyoto have been destroying our clan for decades, killing us casually and stripping us of every possible resource. We have been little better than their slaves, and as you have no doubt noticed, they treat their slaves badly.

My sister determined that sending you to the Oni would ensure their downfall, but that you would not willingly participate in ridding Akiko’s clan of this plague. Please do not hold my son responsible for this deception, he was truly poisoned and dying but argued firmly against forcing your involvement and taking advantage of your good nature in this plan.

The responsibility, and blame, is entirely mine, and I accept that. If you choose to seek vengeance, please punish only me, and not my family. Akiko has told me that you are a good man, and I hope that her perception was correct.

I have enclosed a gift to attempt to redress any grievances between us. This is not payment. The fox clans have certain traditions when it comes to debt that I would not wish to add to your ire. Please accept this gift in the spirit in which it was given, and perhaps with the hope that our interactions in the future will be more pleasant and mutually rewarding.

Now, please forgive me, but my daughter is currently attempting to beat me to death, with most sincere regards, if I survive her anger.

- Shinasami Noboru

I hated to admit it, but he might have been right. I wouldn’t have wanted to interfere in what felt like a private political matter, and after I found out what the clan of the Fox was, I might not have believed their stories about the Oni. Kitsune were legendary for their deceit, which I found out first hand.

And then I saw, first hand, what the Oni were doing to humans. If I could have, I would have dropped the entire mountain on their heads. I was getting tired of getting handled, but I could see his point, at a distance.

“Louis?” Alison’s voice, from the other room, cut through my thoughts. She sounded surprised, and a little worried. I wandered into the living den and saw what she was looking at, as a whole lot of numbers were on the screen.

“Louis, the current value of this crypto is almost 1.5 billion yen.”

I nodded, having no idea of the exchange rate, “What’s that mean in bad English?” I asked her.

She shrugged a little, “It’s over ten million dollars.”

What the fuck was I supposed to do with ten million dollars?