Myka Bering, a statuesque woman at 6 feet tall (5 foot 9 inches with 3 inch heels) with shoulder length wavy black hair, strode into the Bed and Breakfast that the Secret Service ran. She had just retrieved a special artifact from another Warehouse to transfer to the place she now worked, Warehouse 13. It was a secret government project to retrieve and keep safe, the magical artifacts that existed all over the world.

In her utter stupidity, Myka placed the artifact on a table in the parlour where anyone could touch it. She was distracted when the woman that ran the B&B, a young black woman named Leena, told her that a woman named Amanda was there to see Pete Lattimer, Myka's partner.

Ignoring the impropriety, Myka immediately went to where the tall blonde woman was, to confront her while she tried to figure out what Amanda's relationship to Pete was. She didn't like it when prettier women showed up randomly and enticed her partner and distracted him, not realizing the irony of that thought because it was her that was distracted.

Luckily, Leena had already called Pete and he rushed back there to head off the confrontation. He interrupted the two before Myka could get very far into the interrogation and he quickly shuffled Amanda into the parlour.

Once they were alone, Amanda asked Pete why he was in South Dakota and she didn't believe him when he claimed that it was a promotion from his real Secret Service job. Amanda, a little frustrated at Pete lying to her again, gave him a large envelope with a rare comic that he had left behind at her place. She huffed at him before she walked towards the parlour door.

Pete, undaunted by her attitude, stopped her with a hand on her arm and asked her why she was really there. Amanda finally admitted that she was getting remarried. After a moment of silence, Pete sincerely congratulated her, because he really was happy for her. The wedding was the next day and Amanda had come there with the comic to bribe him to return her grandfather's ring.

Disappointed that she wasn't there to invite him to the wedding, Pete left Amanda in the parlour to go upstairs and retrieve the ring he secretly treasured. While she waited for him to return, Amanda picked up the artifact that looked like a beehive and inadvertently activated it, as fate and Myka's idiocy had dictated.

Myka's and Pete's boss, Arthur Neilson, or Artie as his friends called him, entered the parlour through the large patio doors without so much as a hello. He was a short man with glasses and short curly black hair. He was surprised to find someone he didn't know in the parlour. Before he could ask her who she was and before Myka could force her way inside the room from the hallway, Pete returned with the ring.

Frustrated at his partner and his boss butting into his personal life, he ushered them both out and went back inside to see Amanda, unaware that the beehive had released a small metal bee. Pete reluctantly handed over the ring and informed Amanda that she had missed out on the amends part of his life when he had recovered from being a hopeless drunk and a loser, then he offered his sincere apology to her.

Amanda sighed at the familiar story and told him that it all worked out for the best anyway, because they had both moved on and were now better people because of it. When Pete asked about her new husband, she started to gush about being treated like a princess after years as a Major in the Marines.

Pete felt a surge of his old feelings for her well up inside of himself, while Amanda talked passionately, and he kept inching closer to her. As he did, Amanda didn't try to stop him or pushed him away, her own eyes full of old desire, despite knowing it was a mistake if they kissed. She just wanted to know if that old spark was still there between them.

*KRAKOOOOM!*

The sound of thunder smashed into the room as the patio doors shattered and something was flung through them, slammed into the couch, then crushed said couch into debris and wedged itself into the solid brick of the fireplace. Both Pete and Amanda screamed like little girls as Myka, Artie, and Leena ran into the room to see the devastation.

“What happened in here?” Leena asked as she stared at the pretty much destroyed room.

“I don't know.” Pete said and shivered. If either he or Amanda had been a few inches closer, they could have been seriously hurt by whatever that was. Or worse. They could have been killed.

“By the scattered pieces of couch and the turned over table, I'd say something came through the patio doors.” Artie said and pushed his glasses up into his nose as he walked over to the center of the room. He gasped when he saw something that shouldn't be there.

“Artie? What is it?” Myka asked and slowly crept over to look for herself. “Oh, my.”

Embedded in the bricks was the most handsome man she had ever met. He was also covered in blood and looked seriously hurt.

“We... we have to do something!” Myka exclaimed and pointed to the man, then realized what she was doing and shook her head at her stupidity for assuming someone else was going to do it. She took a step forward and Artie caught her arm.

“You might not want to touch him.” Artie said and Myka caught her breath.

“You don't think... what kind of artifact could do this?” Myka asked and looked worried.

“I don't know.” Artie replied. “You've seen some of the weird powers they have.”

“Artifact? Weird powers? What are you talking about?” Amanda asked.

“Dammit, it's supposed to be a secret.” Pete said and sighed.

Myka, Artie, and Leena turned to look at him with surprise on their faces. They had completely forgotten that someone was there that didn't know anything about Warehouse 13 and their secret jobs.

*

“Uhhh.” I groaned and thought I heard several people moving around. I tried calling up the Force and it was very plentiful here, so I felt out through the area to 'see' where I was. I gained images for several people and things, then gasped. “No! No no no...” I let my voice trail off because of the image I had just gained. It was for a 'Marine Major' and she looked identical to Seven of Nine.

“Hey, are you all right?” A slightly husky voice asked me.

“No.” I spat and tried to move. I felt the bricks dig into me and sighed.

Whatever had grabbed me had drained a lot of my magic and my build-up Chi energy. I cast a diagnostic spell on myself and sighed again. Decades of my body hardening technique had been undone and I had a split skull again. I also had four giant finger impressions across my chest and a thumb impression was across my back, with the severe bone breaks to go with them. My arms were broken in several places, too.

“Don't move! You're wedged into the fireplace and...” The husky voice tried to say.

“Great. Just great.” I interrupted and gathered Chi as I cast a very small expansion charm on the space around me. I fell forward and tried to catch myself, only my arms were broken and flopped around, so I had to use the flying technique to stop my face from slamming into the floor.

“Oh, my god.” Someone whispered and I couldn't tell who it was.

“Just wait. It gets better.” I said and carefully floated up from the floor to stand up. My eyes were blocked with blood, so I cast a cleaning spell on myself and several people gasped. “That was just a cleaning spell. I meant this.” I said and formed two dozen needles around myself and used the Force to lift them and inject myself all over my chest, my back, and my skull.

“Oh, god!” A woman gasped and I recognized her voice.

I opened my eyes and there she was, clinging to some strange guy like a lifeline. She had her long blonde hair done up in her normal hairstyle that I had seen thousands of times and she wore a casual military uniform, which was something Seven hated. She also didn't have the ocular implant above her eye or her altered hand to allow her instant interactions with computer systems.

“Now I know for sure that someone is messing with me.” I said as I used the Force to push my bones out to where they were supposed to be and let the bacta and my Prismatic Regeneration handle the rest.

“Why do you say that?” A short man with curly black hair asked me.

“This is the second time I've travelled, been hurt when I shouldn't be, and met someone that I was deeply in love with.” I said, not taking my eyes off of Seven.

“Excuse me? Do I know you?” The woman asked.

“No, and that's the problem.” I said and she looked confused, as did a couple of the other people. “You're not the woman I love, despite being her identical doppleganger.”

“Hold on.” The man beside her said and I looked at him. “Are you saying you've met Amanda before?”

“No, I've met who she was and not who she is now.” I corrected and he looked even more confused. I looked at the three women in the room. “I apologize for my language.”

“You haven't said anything like that.” The husky voiced woman said.

I barked a laugh. “How fucking cruel is it to keep going places and meeting the women I love, only to find out that they are in relationships with someone else and I don't stand a chance to be with them?”

“How did you know I'm getting married?” Amanda asked me.

“I didn't. I just assumed with the ring and how you're hugging that guy, that you're taken.”

“Not by him.” Amanda said and let the man go. “That was a long time ago. I'm marrying Michael tomorrow.”

“Fuck!” I exclaimed and resisted the urge to stomp around like a child, even though I felt like doing just that.

The women in the room glared at me.

“Hey, I apologized already.” I said and they lost the glare. “Look at it from my point of view. I'm stuck here, wherever the hell here is, and I get to see the doppleganger of the woman I love and felt die, get married to some other lucky son of a bitch instead of me.”

The three women gasped and the two men looked shocked.

“Yeah, shove that through your head and mull it over for a while. It's not a good feeling, is it?” I asked and felt my bones start to knit together. “Oh, it's happening quicker here than where I was.”

“What is?” The short man asked.

“My bones healing.” I said and felt for my magic as I ignored their startled sounds. I had quite a bit of magic still available and had to close my eyes to try and feel for all the connections I had.

It took me several moments before I found out why I felt so much weaker now. More than half of my established connections to lands in other universes, that I had been relying on a lot, had been severed. I opened my eyes and tried to not curse again, because I was pissed off.

I needed to go out into the universe again and rebuild what I had before and make tens of thousands of new connections to replace the old ones. I was not happy about having to do that at all.

The people there must have seen something on my face, because they all backed away from me.

I sighed and my anger fled at their worried and scared looks. “I'm sorry. I just felt around in my head and I suffered a lot more damage than my physical body shows.”

“Is... is that where the blood came from?” The husky voiced woman asked.

“Probably.” I said and took in a sharp breath as I felt energy flow through me. My regeneration was complete.

“Wow.” She whispered as I flexed my arms and my hands to make sure everything worked well.

I smiled at her and saw that Amanda had a similar appraising look. I couldn't resist teasing them, so I quickly pulled the damaged super suit off of my chest and my arms. The dark haired woman's mouth dropped open and Amanda looked a lot more interested.

“Can you please refrain from undressing in the parlour?” The young black woman asked.

“Why? It's not like I have anywhere else to get changed.” I said and reached to pull the suit down from my hips.

“STOP!” The short man, the other man, and the young black woman yelled at the same time. Amanda and the other woman looked disappointed.

“You knew I didn't have underwear on, didn't you?” I asked.

The young black woman looked embarrassed and the other two women looked really disappointed.

“You're not wearing anything on under that?” Amanda asked, quite boldly.

“Just my skin.” I said.

“I can lend you some clothing to wear.” The other man said. “You're about my height, so they should fit.”

“No, thanks. I can find clothing on my own.” I said and walked over to where the little device had fallen to the floor. I used the Force to pick up the bee and slid it back inside the beehive and turned the base to close it up. I picked it up with my hands and walked over to the short man and passed it to him. “I believe you need to put this somewhere safe.”

The short man looked really surprised for a moment, then he pulled out a metallic bag and dropped the artifact into it and it sparked. He blinked his eyes several times and then looked at me with confusion on his face.

“You're still here.” The husky voiced woman said.

“I'm going to be here for quite a while to recover my strength.” I said and she looked quite happy about that.

“Despite all of this excitement, I need to go.” Amanda said.

“Wait!” The short man, the husky voiced woman, and the man she had previously held onto, said at the same time.

I ignored them and walked over to Amanda. “I never did get the chance to say goodbye properly.” I said and took her into a tender hug as I stepped close.

Amanda seemed to instinctively form herself to my body and she felt me all the way from my knee to my chest. She looked into my eyes as I grew hard for her and her own eyes were filled with desire.

“My intelligent and beautiful Seven of Nine.” I whispered with all the sincerity and love that I could muster. “I love you with all my heart.”

“Oh, god.” Amanda whispered back and shivered slightly.

“Goodbye, my love.” I said and started to kiss her softly.

“MMMM!” Amanda moaned loudly and her arms went around my neck and she kissed me back passionately. One of her legs lifted and wrapped around my thigh and she pushed herself into my erection. I kissed her back just as enthusiastically and shifted my hips slightly to help her feel as much of me as she could through her thin uniform pants.

It was deadly silent in the room as Amanda and I made out in front of them. Her panting moans turned me on so much that I was very tempted to strip her off right there and do her... then I remembered my resolve. I never did anything to ruin someone else's love and I slowed my hips and then I broke the kiss. The utter disappointment on her face made my heart rejoice and my mind sad.

“Thank you for letting me say goodbye, Amanda.” I said and reached up to cup the side of her face.

Amanda closed her eyes and leaned into it. “I'm... glad... to be of help.”

“You grab onto Michael and you hold on with all of your might. If he doesn't realize how lucky he is after the wedding, you make sure to tell him.” I said and let her face go. “I wish you luck in the future and I hope your life is as happy as it can ever be.”

“Th-thank you.” Amanda said and gave me a questioning look.

“My name is John Hansen. I'm a Kansas farm boy and a hopeless romantic.”

Amanda smiled. “I'm pretty sure I knew that last part.”

I chuckled. “I did only intend to kiss you goodbye.”

“To be fair, I did assault you with my tongue.” Amanda said.

“Quite well, too. I haven't kissed anyone like that in a while.” I said and she looked pleased. “If I may, can I offer you a wedding gift?”

Amanda looked down at my crotch, at my bare chest, at my lips, and then into my eyes. “That didn't count?”

I smiled warmly and reached into the flopping top of the super suit and pretended to pull out a diamond encrusted tiara. I removed all the effects, just because I didn't want it to be an artifact like the beehive was.

“Oh, my god.” Amanda whispered as I slid it into her hair.

“Look at that. It's a perfect fit.” I said and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Congratulations.”

Amanda reached up and pet it. “John, I... this is...”

“A small token of affection.” I said. “Goodbye, Amanda.”

“Goodbye.” Amanda said and started to turn away, then she turned back to look into my eyes again. “I think Seven needs to say goodbye, too.”

I beamed a smile at her for turning my excuse to kiss her around on me. I stepped close and we put our arms around each other and we both kissed each other softly and tenderly. It was sensual and sexually charged, full of potential, and made the both of us realize we couldn't keep going. We ended the kiss at the same time and looked at each other, nodded, and she walked away without saying another word.

“Wow.” The husky voiced woman whispered.

“Now that the unknowing witness is gone.” I started to say and my damaged super suit transformed into my Firefly outfit with armored clothing and my long brown leather duster coat. “That's much better.”

The four people stood there and stared at me, so I was glad that I hadn't formed my Haymaker, too.

“Like I told Amanda, my name is John Hansen. Who are you?” I asked them.

The first to recover was the husky voiced woman. “I'm Myka, that's my partner Pete, that's our boss Artie, and she's Leena and runs this Bed and Breakfast.”

“Partner?” I asked with a slight smile.

“Oh! Not like that!” Myka said and waved her hands. “Work partners!”

“Only fraternizing at work? That's a little backwards, isn't it?” I joked.

Myka blushed and Pete chuckled.

“Yes, I know what you meant.” I said and looked at Leena. “I'm sorry about the damage to the place. I'll fix it all and it won't cost you anything.”

“It's costing me the use of this room.” Leena said.

“Were inside and using it right now, aren't we?” I asked and she gave me a bit of a glare. “I'll have it straightened up in only a few minutes.”

Leena looked skeptical. “Go ahead and show me how you're going to fix all of this in only a few minutes.”

“I don't know if you can handle it, considering you couldn't handle seeing me naked.” I said and waved at the doorway to the inside of the house. “I'll need the room empty for this part.”

“You're kicking me out of my own room?” Leena asked, quite irritated.

I chuckled. “I just need you all to stand in the hallway and not on top of the broken glass and debris.”

The four of them looked down and realized I was right. They walked over to the hallway and crowded around the doorway to look back in.

I created a wand and pointed it at the glass and things on the floor and waved it at the hole where the patio doors used to be as I cast the repair spell. I ignored the four shocked sounds as the doors reformed and attached themselves to the hinges. I did the couch next and the floor and carpet, then did the same for the large brick fireplace.

I cast cleaning charms on everything and did minor repairs on the other things in the room, like the side table, the pictures, and the walls. When I was done, it looked newer than when it had been new.

“All done.” I said and slid the wand up my sleeve as I formed a holster for it. I turned to the doorway and three people had odd weapons pointed at me. I smiled at them and held my hands out towards them and then summoned the weapons.

The three of them gasped as I easily caught their guns.

“Hmm. Interesting and flawed design. It's too short ranged and there's not enough of a charge to incapacitate for more than twenty minutes, assuming you hit them with a full discharge.” I said and opened my hands as I used the Force to send the guns back to their waiting hands.

The three of them stood there with shock on their faces.

“Well, I know when I'm not wanted. Thanks for the hospitality.” I said and walked over to the patio doors.

“Wait!” The three of them exclaimed.

“Why?” I asked and opened the doors.

“You can't just smash your way in here and then walk away from me!” Myka nearly shouted and then blushed at what she said.

I winked at her. “Who said I was walking?” I asked and stepped out of the house.

I could hear a whispered conversation coming from inside and I debated making a broom. The rules for magic were a little odd here, if what I felt from that artifact and what I felt when casting repair spells was the basis for everything. It all had a good side and a bad side and was almost a complete balance. If it did good, you paid for it.

I had gotten by that by using the magic to fix what I had already broken with my travelling magic, so it evened out for the most part. It was going to severely limit what I could do here, though.

“Please, don't go.” Myka said from the patio doorway.

I turned and looked at her. “I'm not supposed to exist in this universe and I can feel how wrong it is for me to be here.”

“You said you're stuck here for a while.” Myka said.

“Yes, I am. I'm nervous about trying to leave, because of the fair play rules that magic seems to have.” I said and she wasn't surprised by me saying that. “I also have a lot of work to do to regain both my physical strength and my magical strength. Unfortunately, I can't do the latter without a lot of trial and error. I don't know what my abilities will do here if I used them like I have in the past.”

“Then don't use them.” Myka said and walked over to me.

“If I don't, I'm going to be deficient for however long I'm stuck here.”

“You're going to be deficient anyway if your abilities need to balance out.” Myka said, wisely.

I opened my mouth to counter her, then sighed. “Yes, if I make something that does a lot of good, I'm worried that something else will be created to cause a lot of bad.”

Myka nodded and her hand reached out and touched my shoulder, then she rubbed her hand over the leather coat. “This is a really nice coat.”

“It really is and it benefits me a lot... and I lost the lands I used to create it.” I said and she looked confused. “The lands I walk and claim can generate magic for me. I use that magic to create things I've touched before or created myself. I used up four lands of colorless magic to create the coat and then I lost the connection to those lands.”

Myka looked down at my other clothing. “You lost a lot of magic to do that, didn't you?”

“Yes.” I said and sighed as I looked up at the blue sky. “Things look so nice here and all I can see is that when I arrived here, I lost half of my land connections.”

Myka caught her breath. “No, you... you can't mean...”

“If I try to leave before I gain more lands, I'll lose the other half of my connections and I won't have any magic left.” I said. “The problem is, each land I gain here has both an advantage and a disadvantage, because of the balance thing.”

“The B&B.” Myka said in understanding.

“It gives me three magic of any color at the cost of sacrificing a land of any color.” I said and she gasped. “Yes, I get a quick temporary boost for a long term loss. It's great for desperation and horrible for normal use.”

Myka turned me to face her. “You can't just go off and try to find something to help. Stay here and we'll try to help you in any way we can.”

I raised my eyebrows at her.

“I'm not saying we can do anything; but, it doesn't hurt to have Claudia go through the database of artifacts to see if there's anything that might be useful.”

I sighed and nodded. I didn't really have much choice in the matter, because I really didn't want to have to start over from scratch if I travelled too soon. There was no way to know if it would take half of whatever lands I had at the time I arrived or half of what I had remaining. Either way, I would be severely weakened.

Myka smiled and took me into a hug. Unlike with Amanda, she didn't quite fit in with my body. It wasn't until she took my hand and walked in front of me that I saw why. She was wearing high heels to make her equal to my height and not flat shoes like Amanda wore.

“We have a new resident!” Myka exclaimed and presented me to them.

Pete let out a curse, Artie slapped a hand over his face, and Leena looked annoyed.

*

Claudia and Steve came back from their mission with a successful retrieval of Ulysses S. Grant's whiskey flask and discovered the new resident of the B&B. To their surprise, Myka seemed to have claimed the man and she was doing everything she could to help him, almost desperately.

What they didn't know was that Myka was extremely horny for him and hadn't had a man in years. She was doing everything to try and keep his attention, even though the man seemed extremely ordinary. It wasn't until they heard the story of his arrival that they started to understand. Myka was over-compensating for Pete having an ex-wife that had made out with the new man that Myka liked.

Myka did her best to explain to Claudia about what she needed for her to search the artifacts database for and Claudia tried to tell her that was way too general of a description for anything to appear, let alone narrowing the tens of thousands of artifacts down into a list of something useful.

After pleading for her to try and promising several favors, Claudia eventually agreed to look and Myka hugged her tightly and thanked her profusely, then Myka ran off to give John the good news.

The sounds of Myka's pleasure echoed throughout the whole house that night.

*

A month later, I received yet another shock from this version of reality.

“You have got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed as Pete entered the B&B with another woman I recognized. Captain Katheryn Janeway. Neither time nor age had been kind to her.

“John, this is my mother, Jane Lattimer. She's a secret service agent and...”

“I don't care! She's another woman I knew from before and I'm not surprised that both she and Amanda are here! They were in the same reality then, too!” I nearly shouted.

“You were in love with my mother?” Pete asked with a sour face.

“Oh, hell no!” I spat. “She was a controlling bitch and had me confined for months and months, because she thought I was a danger to her people!”

“She sounds reasonable.” Jane said.

“No, she ensured that I had to help in secret and quite a few people suffered because of it, especially her first officer and Seven! I mean Amanda! Goddammit!” I exclaimed and actually did stomp around the room like a child as I threw a tantrum. “Whoever the hell did this to me, I wish they were dead and rotting in eternal damnation! It's bad enough meeting the people that loved me! Now I'm meeting the people that hated me, too!”

“MYYYYKA!” Pete yelled.

Myka ran into the room and Pete quickly filled her in on what just happened. She nodded and came over to me and took me into a hug. “John, it's all right. Just like Amanda, she's not the woman you knew. She doesn't hate you or wants to keep you away from her people.”

“Actually, he seems unstable. I don't want my Pete around someone like him.” Jane said.

I let out a curse and Myka kissed me to distract me. I had to admit that it was effective. She led me out of the room and took me upstairs.

“I'm sorry for causing you trouble.” I said and sat down on the bed.

Myka smiled at me and started to strip off. “I was just doing some research in the parlour and needed a break anyway.”

“A massage break?” I asked and started to undress, too.

“Please.” Myka said and lifted a long leg up to place it on my chest and pushed. I fell backwards onto the bed and she pulled my pants off, then she sucked on me a bit to get me hard. She climbed onto the bed and sat down on my erection and then rubbed her feet on my face.

I laughed and took one to give it a massage and I started to bounce my hips on the bed to make her bounce up and down on me. She doubly moaned as we had sex and she received a massage to her feet at the same time.

“I... love... multitasking!” Myka shouted and then came. “OHHHH!”

I heard the front door slam closed after Pete and his mother retreated, so I kissed and licked Myka's feet to thank her for saving me before I did something stupid to Janeway's doppleganger. She came again and then did the splits as she flipped over to face me and kissed me soundly.

Myka didn't get back to her research until the next day.

*

Because I wasn't sanctioned by the government and I wasn't a secret service agent, all I could do was sit at the B&B and wait for Myka to come home. That meant I got to spend an inordinate amount of time alone with Leena, who didn't like having me there at all. The funny thing was, I had more of a personal relationship with her than I did with Myka.

“You're unnatural.” Leena said nearly every time she saw me.

“It's my perfectly muscled body and being able to fly around on my own power that bugs you, right?” I always asked back and she would huff and either leave the room or she would sit and stare at me.

During the times she sat and stared, I would slowly and casually caress my muscles to make her stare at them instead of at my face. Once I even reached between my legs and she didn't stop staring, so I shrugged mentally and kept rubbing myself. When I was close, I pulled myself out of my pants and her eyes widened as I grabbed a tissue to catch my fairly energetic shot.

Time seemed to creep by and Leena would still comment about me not being natural and I would say the same joke. She never huffed or stomped off anymore and would sit in the same chair every time and would wait expectantly as I did my little caressing ritual before I jerked off for her. Or to her. She was a very attractive woman and I was lonely. Myka would disappear for weeks at a time and she would never tell me what happened during her missions.

One day, Leena walked into the parlour and gave me the same disgusting look. “You're unnatural.”

“It's my perfectly muscled body.” I said and didn't finish the joke.

Leena sat down on her chair anyway and gave me an expectant look, like always.

I was tired of the game and walked over to her as I undid my pants in front of her. I stroked myself until I was hard and then gave her the same expectant look.

Lenna looked up at my face without any expression for about thirty seconds, then she wrapped her lips around my erection and sucked on me like I was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. I moaned for her and she sped up her movements, added in a few tongue flicks and moans of her own, then she felt me twitch and she pushed her face all the way to my belly and held me there.

I took the obvious cue and blew my load right down her throat. She didn't even taste it until I was done and slid backwards out of her mouth. She licked and sucked on the tip to get it all.

Leena looked up at my face and licked off her lips. “You taste unnatural, too.”

“I know.” I said and kissed her.

Leena leaned back in her chair and lifted the hem of her dress, showed me that she wasn't wearing any panties, and then she spread her legs and hiked them up onto the chair's arms. Once again, I took the obvious cue and knelt to eat her out. She moaned pretty loudly as I did so, then I stood and her face was no longer blank. It was full of desire and need unlike any I had seen before.

I slid my erection right inside of her and kissed her passionately. She wrapped her arms and legs around me and we made love right there in the parlour. It wasn't fast, or desperate, or even frantic. We felt like we had been together for months and this was just us confirming that we were.

Leena let me go and pulled off her dress over her head and then pulled my head down to her breasts. I grabbed onto them and suckled and licked them to make her moan, then hugged her close and picked her up. She moaned as she settled even deeper onto me than she had been and I walked with her out of the parlour and took her to her room.

I laid her down on the bed, still inside of her, and kept making love to her for the rest of the day. And that night. And the next day. I only stopped to feed us meals and then I would take her again and again. Leena let me do whatever I wanted to her and I returned the favor and let her do whatever she wanted to me as well.

Neither of us spoke about having a relationship, running away with each other, or anything like that. What we had wasn't the kind of thing that words could describe and we didn't try. We also didn't tell anyone else, since it wasn't any of their business.

A week later, Myka came home and took me to the parlour before she confessed that she had met an old flame and they spent several nights together after their passion had been rekindled during an investigation. The fact she was so dry in her delivery and she wasn't showing any remorse, told me exactly how I had been fitting into her life and how she regarded me. I wasn't sure how to react to that.

“John, I'm sorry.” Myka said. “We had fun and... it was a lot of fun.”

“Apparently.” I said.

“Please, don't be angry with me.” Myka said.

“That's the thing. I'm not angry. I'm glad that you finally figured out how you really felt about me.”

Myka blinked her eyes at me for several moments. “That's... that's good. I'm glad we had this talk.”

I tilted my head to the side slightly as if confused. “Myka, we never talk. Either I have a bad day or you need some relaxing from a mission and we have sex. We've never actually talked about anything at all, not since your vehement refusal to tell me anything about the goings on at the warehouse.”

Myka sighed. “John, I can't tell you about anything.”

“How is the search going for something to help me?” I asked and she opened her mouth to speak, then she closed it. “I see. Thank you for telling me it's been going so well the last few months.”

Myka looked sad. “We've all been so busy that...”

“I know. It's always the same excuse.” I said and walked over to the door of the parlour. “At least I can stop hoping now.”

“John, I...”

“Thanks for trying.” I said and left the room and went to the kitchen where Leena was. I walked right over to her and she turned to look at me. I leaned in and gave her a tender kiss. “Thank you for saving me.”

“You're welcome.” Leena said and smiled at me for the first time in a long time. “You can return the favor later.”

I chuckled. “Your room or mine tonight?”

“Mine. I have the oils laid out already.”

I smiled crookedly and nodded. “Understood, my lady.”

Leena gave me a quick kiss and then pushed me away. “I'll have supper ready in half an hour.”

“I'll let everyone know.” I said and stopped, sacrificed a dozen lands, and walked back over to her. “You've never said anything inconsequential.” I whispered and held up a beautifully styled bracelet. “Always wear this, even in the shower.”

Leena caught her breath as I slipped it onto her wrist and it resized to fit her. “John! I never expected...”

“It's worth it.” I said and gave her another kiss. “I hope that you never need it and also hope it works when you do.”

“It will.” Leena said and hugged her arm to her chest. “It really will.”

I smiled warmly and walked out of the kitchen.

*

Six months later, Leena's words came true.

Artie had used an artifact on himself to save the Warehouse and it split his personality into good and evil halves, with the evil one taking over. As he was trying to ransack the warehouse for useful artifacts, Leena confronted him and he shot her with a pistol.

The bracelet's shield activated and deflected the bullet back to Artie, hitting him in the side... only, that was where the artifact was. The bullet shattered the thing and Artie's evil personality screamed in pain as he was crushed and dissolved away by the artifact's magic. There was always a price to pay when using magic in this reality.

Leena, very grateful for the life-saving shield device that saved both her and Artie, openly confessed her love for me at supper that night with everyone there. They were all shocked, because everyone thought she hated me.

“I want to ask you to marry me.” Leena said to me and pulled out a ring.

“I... Leena, I... wow.” I said and walked over to her.

“You know it's usually the guy that's supposed to ask.” Pete said.

I chuckled and knelt on the floor beside Leena's chair and looked into her eyes. “I love you, too.” I said and held my hand out for her. “I accept, with all my heart.”

Leena beamed a smile at me and kissed me soundly, then she slipped the ring onto my finger. There was a small spark of lightning from the ring to my skin, then the ring glowed brightly as my hand formed into a fist.

“Thor's legendary Ring of Storms.” Leena said and pushed me away from the table as the wind swirled around me and everything in the room rattled.

“NO!” I yelled as I stumbled backwards and felt energy fill me. I was once again covered in a layer of my magic and knew I was going to travel again.

“I will always love you, John!” Leena shouted. “Don't be afraid! Things will work out! I promise!”

“I wanted to stay! I really wanted to stay!” I shouted back as the sound of thunder cracked through the room, then the window of the dining room blew in and a thick bolt of lightning slammed into me and shoved me through the wall... then my power flared and I disappeared from existence.