The Ticklish Fugitive
Susan Baker slipped into the ladies room at the south end of the mall; Carol was already there. "Your message said it was urgent," Carol said, getting right down to business. Carol was never one to get bogged down in the pleasantries, but it didn't matter. Susan didn't come all this way, go to these lengths, for a "Hi how are ya?" "How urgent are we talking?"
"Lock the door," Susan said, which said all that was needed on the urgency. Carol pulled out a key and locked the bathroom door. It was easy enough to acquire them with a CIA ID, though hopefully Carol had used some discretion, as this wasn't exactly an above the boards kind of meeting.
Carol crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, looking neutrally at Susan. "Okay, we're alone. Now what?"
Susan took a deep breath. This was the moment when it could all come crashing down. If she'd made a mistake, if she'd judged Carol wrong, then this whole thing ended at this moment. But eventually she'd have to get someone involved, and no one back in MI-6 could be trusted not to turn her in. "I came into some money," she said finally.
"I take it you mean 'embezzled," Carol said, but there was no accusation in her tone.
"In a manner of speaking. MI-6 secured a large number of private accounts that were supporting some less than desirable forces. One of those accounts went missing." She didn’t have to say how.
"How much?" Carol asked, still with a poker face.
"Ten million," Susan lied. It was actually over thirty, but you don't let your potential accomplice know how much you have to work with, or else they might demand more than they deserve. After all, it was Susan that had put her neck on the line here, Susan that MI-6 was either now or soon going to be trying to hunt down.
"Ten million's not much to run away with, Carol said flatly.
"It is when you're living in a two-room flat working sixty hour weeks," Susan said.
Carol's expression was still neutral. "You need to disappear, is that it?"
Susan nodded. "MI-6 is going to want that money, and they'll likely worry I'll compromise them. I need to cease to exist."
Carol nodded a little. "I can make that happen," she said, and it was the truth. In a joint venture the two had worked a bit together and Susan knew that Carol had devised treatments that could completely alter a person head to toe. Fingerprints, retinal patterns, hair, eye color, DNA, dental work, all of it. Carol could turn Susan into someone else entirely, someone MI-6 would never be able to find. "But it's aiding and abetting a fugitive."
"I'm not technically a fugitive yet," Susan pointed out.
"So I would be an accessory after the fact," Carol said without missing a beat. That was the problem; she was far too smart sometimes. "How much are you offering?"
"Two million?"
"It's been fun talking with you," Carol said, heading for the door.
“Three million."
"That was quick." Carol turned around and crossed her arms again, waiting.
"Four."
"Six," Carol said.
"That's more than ha-"
"Please, you had to take at least twenty to make running worth it."
Carol breathed deeply through her nose. "Okay, six million."
"How much do you really have?" Carol asked.
"Ten."
"We're done."
"Wait! Thirty-two, okay?"
Carol stared hard at her, and Susan had to resist the urge to sweat under her gaze. "It's not about the money," Carol said. "You lied to me, and this is a situation where I need to know all the facts to cover my own ass. If I can't trust you, then your money's worthless." She turned back to the door. "I'll consider it; you'll have my answer tomorrow." She unlocked the door and left. Susan waited, then left heading another way. She hoped she hadn't just made a big mistake. Actually, she hoped she hadn't just made several.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The following day was spent waiting in the drab motel room Susan had acquired, but it was something that had often come with her job, and if she could do it for the British government, she could certainly do it for herself. .
Carol had finally called her back in the early afternoon. "It's a go," she said simply. "Ten million, and you need to come up with one now to cover expenses."
Susan nodded a little to herself. There would no doubt be a few people that would need to be bribed into not paying attention, and to replace whatever resources the process consumed. "When can we do this?"
"Tonight we'll get you started," Carol said. "But this is not an outpatient kind of thing, Susan. We are going to need to give you several treatments over the course of a month."
"I can be found if I stand still that long, Susan said.
"With the first treatment you'll undergo the full change," Carol said. "But without further treatments it won't stick; you'll turn back to your old self, and believe me, that is a very painful experience."
"I see," Susan said.
"There's more. To help you acclimate we'll be using flash imprinting to give you instant knowledge of your cover story. It'll help you avoid making mistakes, and add some small touches."
"Such as?"
"We can change your accent from Welsh to Irish," Carol said. "Or Scottish, or Cockney, I suppose. Some place from the isles without staying the same. It'll help cement your story together, because you'll be more familiar with information from that region."
"You think of everything," Susan said.
"That's my job. I'll need to keep you under observation during that time to see if anything starts to go wrong. Fortunately my brother is available to help us with that."
Susan went a little pale. "What did you tell him?"
"Everything," Carol said without concern. "He's in; he has a nice condo with a spare room, and he's a doctor so he can keep an eye on you medically, spot things and let me know if something goes wrong."
Suddenly Susan wasn't so sure about this. "Are you sure all of this is going to work?"
"If you listen to me, yes. But it's not going to be simple and it's not going to be cheap. But if you follow me through on this, then you will disappear from the face of the Earth."
Susan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to do this; it was the safest way to stay underground for good. "All right, what time?"
"I'll have a cab pick you up at eight; be checked out." The phone hung up and Susan looked at it, then hung up her end. Ten million was a lot of money... but if it worked she'd be in the clear with over twenty all to herself. She could still live a very comfortable life on that. She gathered up her few things and quietly waited for the time on her old life to run out.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The facility where Carol worked wasn't in Langley, but on the outskirts of Baltimore. Still, that didn't make the facility any less secure; Susan knew this was the most dangerous part of the process - even if they bribed their way in, there was security footage that would be harder to deal with without being caught. Fortunately, Carol had taken care of everything, although it wasn't in the most ideal way for Susan. She arrived with a collection of medical cadavers that were routinely used for ballistic studies and medical experiments. Still, these deliveries always took place in the evenings to avoid offending delicate sensibilities, and Carol routinely oversaw the deliveries since she worked with many of them. Susan had to admit, it was a good plan.
"Welcome to my world," Carol said without any drama, though it certainly would have been fitting. The entire area was filled with various apparatus that Susan couldn't even begin to identify, along with an array of medical equipment and some very impressive computers.
"Who else knows about this?" Susan asked, getting to the point. "You need assistants?"
"No. It will take a little longer, but I can handle this by myself. Anyone else is a potential leak, and while they may be scientifically gifted, they are rather stupid in other ways. They'd deposit any bribe into their accounts without the slightest thought that it would raise some red flags. No, it's safer if we do this with just the three of us."
Susan nodded; Carol had a lot more to lose if this went south, because she didn't have the money to run with. She could trust Carol to be careful out of self-preservation. "What's going to happen?" she asked. "Do you... .I don't know, have a catalogue or something?"
"Susan, this isn't Star Trek; the purpose of this procedure was to find ways of putting our people undercover, not to open a beauty shop. I can give you a choice of ethnicity, some basics, but this is still a new science. Did you give any thought to your background?"
"Irish," Susan said, "raised in London, so I can have some use for those facts."
"Fair enough, I can set your accent accordingly later on." Carol sat down at the terminal and logged in, then began looking at information that made no sense to Susan. "You need a new name as well, and it would be a good idea if you started thinking of yourself with that name."
"Alex O'Connell," she said.
"That's fine. Give me a little while and I'll have you ready. Go get undressed and lie down on the table; there's a sheet you can use for the moment."
Alex -as she now thought of herself to help the process along - laid there on the table, sheet pulled over herself, listening to the clacking of Carol's keyboard. She'd thought that she'd already passed the point of no return; the moment when she diverted the funds and covered her tracks she knew it would be impossible to ever return to her old life. She had a sister in Ives she spoke with at Christmas and on their birthdays; that was no real loss. Other than that, there was really nothing that summed up her life but things, and they weren't the kind of stuff she'd become that attached to. They were all things she could leave behind, and perhaps that had made that easier. There was no going back to that dull and empty life... so what? But now, there was going to be no going back from this. This wasn't going to be like a bad tattoo that she could have removed, she'd stop being herself forever. Before she'd thought it was the best part of the plan; a forty-year old spinster wasn't the most glamorous life, and getting to trade it all in for another throw of the dice had seemed perfect. But now, lying there with the sound of Carol making the person that she would remain for the rest of her life left her shivering in quiet terror. But she'd come too far; she'd taken the leap and had no choice in hitting the ground, it would either be easy or hard but it would come.
Carol stood over her; she hadn't even noticed the typing had stopped. "I'm going to put you under now," she explained, fitting a mask to Alex's face. "You won't feel a thing. Now breath deep."
Alex did as she was told, and consciousness and all her worries faded away into fluffy clouds.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex's eyes slowly opened, and everything was slightly blurred; it didn't go away. "What's going on?" she asked, and was a little surprised at the sound of her own voice. "Carol?"
"It's all right," Carol said. "All part of the procedure. You're slightly near-sighted; it'll help maintain your cover. There are some glasses on the tray to your right." Alex fumbled until she felt them and began to put them on. "The procedure was a complete success; as soon as you're ready we can start the flash implanting."
"Do you have a mirror?" Alex interrupted before things got too far.
Carol appeared and nodded. “It's on the wall over there. I'll step out to give you a little privacy; let me know when you're ready. Oh, there's a robe here for the moment." Carol stepped out and closed the door.
Alex hesitated, then sat up and turned to look. A stranger was staring back. Gone was her graying brown hair, replaced with an almost fire red set of locks. Her eyes were green now, and her face dusted lightly with freckles. She looked like she'd lost fifteen years as she took in her smooth skin. She got off the table, then finally removed her sheet to take herself in. She was shocked beyond words. She looked like she belonged on a magazine cover with a body like this.
A short while later she emerged from the room in her robe; Carol was waiting. "Well?"
"Is this some kind of joke?" Alex asked.
"You don't like it?"
"Carol, I'm trying to blend in, and you gave me a gigantic pair of knockers and a bum that will stop traffic!"
"You wanted a disguise, this is a disguise," Carol said simply. "No one is going to suspect you."
"Yes, no one's going to say 'There's someone trying to blend in.' Change it."
"It's not a dress that I can take in," Carol said, "it's your body. Look, there is no physical similarity between you and the person you were, everything's changed. I've even taken away your scars and straightened your teeth. The only way anyone is going to put you and Susan together is through records, which is why we'll have to be careful."
"This is unacceptable," Alex said. "I want you to change me back."
"I can't change you back; the most I can do is not give you your treatments and let you return naturally."
"Fine."
"Alex, that's not very pleasant."
"I don't care."
Carol took a deep breath through her nose. "Imagine for a moment that you are experiencing a muscle cramp throughout your entire body. Then imagine that at the same time, your skin is covered in painful boils. Then imagine that you’re running a fever of a hundred five all the time. It's like that, only worse... and it lasts for the next four weeks."
Alex glowered for a moment, but only for a moment. Okay, she thought, this wasn't what you expected, but it's not bad, is it? Things could have been a lot worse. Just give it a little time and you'll get used to all of this. "Fine, it stays. Now what?"
"As I said, now we'll flash implant the information you need, and get started on your accent. Oh, I should probably introduce you to your new boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?!" Alex said with frustration. "What-"
"Relax, please," Carol said. "It's a cover for the time being. You and my brother came today to see what I do here; he's trying to impress you, or so people will think. And with you staying at his place, it explains everything."
Alex had to admit, it all made sense, and if she were on top of her game, she would have thought of it herself. "What's his name?"
"Dr. Jack Yates," Carol said. "His wife left him eight months ago, so this is him being a typical male trying to overcompensate."
"You don't expect me to be doing things with him."
"I think dinner once a week for appearance-"
"I mean... you don't expect me to sleep with him, right?"
"Alex, my brother is being well-compensated for his part in this; we're all professionals here."
"Of course, of course," Alex said. "Sorry... head must still be a little foggy."
"That happens," Carol said, "but it does make the flash implanting easier, so we really should get you in there now, so come on." Alex nodded and followed Carol. She had to get her head together; a screw-up now, and MI-6 might find her, and this was not the kind of body you wanted to bring into prison.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The whole "flash" process involved Alex sticking her face up to a rectangular box and peering inside like Mr. Spock used to on the old Star Trek shows she'd watch on lonely weekend afternoons. However, instead of seeing something "fascinating,” all Alex saw was pulsing light. After a few seconds it was kind of nauseating, but she seemed to be unable to close her eyes -Carol later explained that it was part of the procedure that she couldn't stop looking at the programming for her own good. It wasn't fun, but it actually didn't take all that long, and when she was finished she noticed that she did already sound different.
Everything after that became a kind of blur. Alex was given clothes to put on - tasteful, fortunately - and introduced to Jack Yates. Jack was pleasant enough, a little short with dark hair and a kind of nervousness about him. Hopefully he wouldn't wind up getting cold feet during this operation, but it did seem that despite first appearances he was on top of things. He led her out of the building without in any way acting uncomfortable around the guards, smiling a seemingly genuine smile at her the whole time, which helped keep up appearances. Very good, she thought, and it was a nice touch when he got the door for her. He had a rather nice sports car - a glance at the odometer revealed that it was obviously either very new or he never drove it. For a moment she worried that he'd just bought it, which would attract attention from MI-6 if they started looking in Carol's direction, but a quick glance around showed a discarded chip bag on the foot of her side, along with an umbrella and a couple crushed bits of paper. Odds were good that he'd had the car a couple months.
He pulled into an underground parking garage, let her out, and popped the trunk. They'd picked up her luggage the night before - it wouldn't have done to bring it into the security building. Always the gentleman, Jack grabbed her bags and led the way to the elevator and up to his apartment. It was quite lovely; three bedrooms, all with their own private bath, a spacious kitchen and living area, and a vaulted ceiling. It wasn't opulence, but it was very nice.
"There's a room in here that's all ready for you," he said, leading the way through a door. A tastefully done bedroom with a Queen size bed and plenty of space was waiting. This was nicer than her entire flat had been. Jack set the bags on the bed. "I don't know much about what Carol's process does, but if you like there's some clothes in the drawers and the closet. Help yourself if you want them, or just put them aside if they're in the way."
"Thank you," Alex said neutrally.
"The bathroom's through here - I've stocked it with a few things, but I wasn't sure what you'd need. If we need to run out-"
"This will be fine," Alex said. She'd brought whatever she usually used when she left her apartment, although Jack seemed to go it one better. Shampoos and conditioners and scents and oils and things Alex couldn't begin to identify.
Jack cleared his throat. "Look, we're going to be spending a lot of time together, and I know we just met. Let's not worry too much about tiptoeing around, or we'll both explode, all right? Help yourself to anything you need, don't be afraid to do something you would do at home, short of rearranging my living room, of course."
Alex smiled a little. Well, he was trying, even if he was a bit of a doofus in some ways. "Thank you. I'll try not to get underfoot anyway." She cleared her throat. "I don't know if Carol thought to mention this or not, but... if our story's going to hold up, then you can't be involved with anyone during this time..." She left the implication there.
"No problem," Jack said. "I'm used to it. Dinner will be ready in about an hour if you want to... I don't know, whatever you normally do."
"This is a new me, I don't know what that is yet either."
Jack nodded laughed good-naturedly and left, closing the door behind him. Alex took a look at some of the clothes; someone certainly had a wide range of tastes, from glamorous to gauche. She looked at one or two items, then put them back and sat on the bed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw herself in the mirror, and turned and looked at her. A number of complex emotions passed through her as she did.
"Today's the first day of the rest of your life," she said, and for once that trite sentence actually seemed fitting.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Jack was called in for an emergency procedure, so Alex had the place to herself. She took a long bath, allowing herself to really relax for the first time since she'd made the decision to go on the run. When she was finished, wrapped in the fluffy robe, she returned to her room and pulled out her nightgown.
Alex held it there, looking at it like it was an old high school yearbook pulled out of the attic. It was funny, but somehow it just didn't feel like her any more, but like this was some silly phase she'd outgrown. The idea of putting it on made her smirk a little to herself. This belongs to a Susan... Alex would go starkers.
Alex opened her robe and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. After a full day of being this person she already felt completely at home. What's more, it had come to grow on her, so that by now she was actually happy with how it all turned out. She felt invigorated and sexy and excited - she was a beautiful young woman with a wad of cash. The reflection seemed to approve, smiling back at her as if she already knew all the fun things they were going to get up to before too long.
Alex climbed into bed and laid there in the darkness. Sleep wasn't coming yet; her mind was too busy. She'd noticed it for several hours now, in fact, but had assumed it would go away. She was feeling really turned on and just couldn't ignore it any more. She rolled onto her back with a sigh and looked at the ceiling. It must have been a side-effect of the procedure; normally she'd go a year or even longer without feeling any kind of sexual urges, but now it was like all that pent up emotion had finally shown up and demanded recognition.
Alex sighed again; she wasn't going to get any sleep unless she did something about this. Of course, there was the rather embarrassing fact that she had no real experience; it wasn't exactly something they taught at the school back home in the late seventies. But she had the vague memory of one of her friends in college swearing by a small makeup brush for its many virtues and ease of use, not to mention being discrete and innocuous. Feeling a little silly and excited at the same time, she hunted around in the dark until she found it; it was small with less than a centimeter-wide head, but it would probably suffice.
Alex crawled back into bed, laid back and took a steadying breath as she reached down and gently applied the brush to her clitoris-
Her hand jerked away in an instant, and she laid there with a feeling of shock as she slowly tried to put everything together. The most prominent thought was that it tickled, not an itch or tease, but a genuine ticklish sensation. That was puzzling, but even more so was the fact that despite the tickling -in fact, maybe because of it- it had felt really nice.
Alex hesitated, but then carefully applied the brush to her feminine center, and there it was again. It stirred up her tummy, making her want to shiver under its influence. She applied it again, and she couldn't help but giggle at the tickling touch. But she adored it, and she kept at it, until she was quietly chuckling to herself, her hips twisting about under the ticklish influence. But it was pure ecstasy for her, and she was soon deftly stroking over her ticklish flesh while giggles and moans slipped from her mouth, and she was grateful that Jack wasn't here because she knew she couldn't contain herself, not with all this hitting her mind at once. She continued even as she felt the glow growing in her belly until finally it exploded through her and she was left giggling and gasping in its wake. She stayed like that for some time, just breathing and reflecting on how wonderful this had just felt, until she finally put the little makeup brush on the nightstand.
That was practically worth the ten million right there.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex awoke to the smell of frying, an altogether alien experience for her. She got up, looked at her clothes, and promptly gave up; all that stuff was hopeless now. She started going through the clothing that was available in the closets and drawers and managed to put something together at least approaching good taste, and exited. Jack was in a robe making breakfast and drinking coffee simultaneously. "Take a seat, he said with a gesture of the mug on his way back to the counter. "Be five minutes."
"I didn't think a doctor would know his way around a kitchen," Alex said with a smirk as she took the proffered seat.
"Heh, earned my way through medical school working as a short order cook," he said. "Carol tapped out the family savings getting her degree - there's an advantage to being the first born."
"Well, certainly smells like it was my gain," Alex commented as he deposited eggs and bacon on a plate for her, then for himself. It wasn't spectacular, but it was good. "Thanks for the clothes," she said. "I'm going to have to do some shopping today, of course, but this is a tremendous help."
"Take whatever you want," Jack said. "It's all fine with me."
"Thank you," Alex said. "So what's the story behind these? Do you have a secret hobby I've stumbled upon?" she asked with a smile.
"No," Jack said, but he didn't seem to pick up on the joke. "No, that used to be my ex-wife's room. We split up a few months back."
The breakfast suddenly took on a more funereal taint. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Thanks. It was inevitable. Separate bedrooms are usually a sign things aren't going to work out.” He picked at the eggs. "Never marry your high school sweetheart," he said with a dark grin. "That's what they say."
"You drifted apart?" Alex asked.
"In a matter of speaking. I became a doctor, she stayed the trailer trash she'd been. That just didn't mix well. I... knew she was cheating on me for close to a year before, but I thought maybe I could work it out. Heh, well, call it what it was: denial. It wasn't until she wasn't bothering to hide it any more that I had enough and sent her packing."
"Sounds like you did the right thing," Alex said.
Jack half-shrugged. "You know, when I worked the ER during my residency I'd get these women in who'd 'accidentally' walked into a door, fallen down stairs, you know." Alex nodded grimly. "I don't want to compare myself to that, but then I'd wonder how these women would keep telling the police that it was their fault, not his. I thought they were idiots... but the truth is, that there really is a kind of logic in it all. This is the person I love, how can they hurt me like this, and the mind wishes to impose order on this incomprehensible situation, and it's the only way out. Blame yourself, and it all makes sense. I made so many excuses for her for so long... there comes a point where you've got to wake up and realize that the rational truth is that you're married to a bad person." He suddenly sat up straight. "I'm sorry; that's-"
"It's all right," Alex said. A few months? This kind of thing had to sit right near the surface. “I haven't had a chance for a fairly normal conversation like this in a long time."
Jack tapped the table with his fork a couple times. "You need to go shopping? I'll take you."
"Don't you have to work?"
"I'm due some R&R, and frankly the idea of doing something 'normal' with another human being sounds like bliss. If you don't mind; I don't want to impose."
"No, that'd be fine. It'll help our cover story as well. But I have to warn you that I have lots to do today - you need to be ready for a long haul."
"So long as I don't have to pay for it for once," Jack said, "shop as much as you want."
Alex laughed despite herself. It was a pity his ex had treated him so badly. She hadn't known him long, but Jack seemed a decent man, educated and intelligent, but still human.
So they made a day of it, filling out Alex's wardrobe until Jack's trunk was near bursting. They took in lunch at a cafe and had a nice conversation, and that evening, when they’d finished getting her stuff squared away he showed her his take on Italian cuisine. It wasn't anything masterful, but he still had a good touch, and a glass of wine afterwards made her think it might have been the most perfect day she'd had in a while.
That night, when she went to bed, she had that same feeling, and had to again use the makeup brush. Still, aside of needing to stuff a pillow in her mouth to keep the giggles and moans from giving herself away, it seemed the best way to end the first full day of her new life.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Carol picked Alex up the following morning on the pretense of spending quality time with her brother's new girlfriend. In truth, it was so that she could bring her by the lab to do the first post-operative treatment to prevent her reversion to her old self. At this point it seemed like a century ago that she'd been Susan, but this was going to be just the first of several injections to keep her looking like that beautiful young girl looking back from the mirror.
"How are things?" Carol asked. "Is Jack behaving?"
"He's been a perfect gentleman," Alex said. "And very understanding. I owe you both a great deal for this."
"Yes, you do," Carol said. "Do remember that when it the time comes to pay the bill."
"I will," Alex said, though the remark seemed to suck the air out of the room. For a little while she'd actually deluded herself into thinking these people were her friends, when they were just her accomplices in an escape. Why was that?
Jack, she thought to herself. That's why. He was genuinely friendly, and didn't treat her like Carol did. The way he acted was so honest she got the impression that he'd honestly do this anyway even without the money, that he couldn't help but be kind to her because that's just what he was.
"Focus on the white dot," Carol said, putting Alex's face up to a viewport. There was a flash and then a harsh strobing effect, but Alex obeyed as information was downloaded into her brain via high-speed subliminal suggestion. Eventually it went dark, and she had to blink several times before her vision was well enough to even see anything."
"Recite a nursery rhyme," Carol said, and Alex complied. She could hear the Irish tone to her voice was coming through even more now. It was a very queer feeling.
"Good," Carol said. “Where are you from?"
"Potters, but I was raised in London," Alex said without thinking. "Papa died during an IRA attack and my mam and gran brought us away to be safe." She smiled a little. "Very nice," she said. "I didn't even have to think, it was just there."
"That's the idea. You know how liars can be spotted."
"Yes," Alex said; it was a part of her job, spotting liars. Well, it was a part of Susan’s job; Alex's job was to find ways of enjoying herself, finding a good time. That was much more appealing.
"Three days and you'll need another treatment," Carol said. "Try to maintain a fairly low profile and don't leave town."
"Understood," Alex said, but the idea of being cooped up didn't sound appealing. She was starting to feel a lot more alive and wanted to really enjoy it for once. But she managed to tone that down; just a few weeks and she'd have the chance to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. And then the world had better look out.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex climbed into bed, this time actually looking forward to this. Now that she'd gotten past the alien experience she found she really enjoyed it, anticipated it.
Alex began giggling a little as the little brush tickled her; she hoped she was quiet enough to not attract attention, but it was impossible to keep the laughter in with the tickling sensation. She soon found her other hand was on her tummy, trying vainly to properly run her nails over her skin. It was no good, of course; it was very hard to tickle yourself, and Alex was rather surprised at how much that fact disappointed her. Still, after a little while some creativity set in - she found that if she lightly scratched her nipples through the bed sheet that it would tickle rather well. She had to put a bit of the quilt in her mouth to stifle the chuckling and moans from all this, but there was no chance she would actually stop. She was having more fun than she'd had in a long time, and-
And the funny thing about it was that as she did it, she kept seeing Jack in her mind's eye. Part of her was putting him into the scenario, imaging that it was him tickling and touching her like this. And what was more amazing was how that mere thought made this even more intense, until she was sure other people were going to be able to hear her, but too wrapped up in the pleasure to care. And when the moment of triumph came she whispered his name. She would have reflected on it, but the truth was it had been so intense an experience she was left dazed, and soon fell asleep. But it turned out he was waiting there for her as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------
It was four days after the first treatment that the first real threat came, though it was from the least likely source. It was late Saturday morning and Alex and Jack were doing a little tidying up when there was a loud pounding on the door. No one friendly ever pounds on a door in that way, and it took all of Alex's self-control not to run on the spot. Jack quickly went to answer it, but rather than burly government agents it was one medium size woman in green stretch pants and a clip in her hair, half-smoken cigarette resting in between her lips. “We need to talk,” she said, pushing past him into the apartment before he could say anything. "The whore can go."
"What?" Alex said, her terror turning into subdued rage at this comment from someone off the cover of White Trash Monthly.
"Kate," Jack said, obviously trying to defuse the situation. "You can't just barge in here whenever you want."
"Oh sure I can," Kate said. "All this stuff's half mine."
"Wrong," Jack said. "You committed adultery; ipso facto, you get nothing of mine."
"Yeah, well, I got these here pictures that says otherwise," Kate said, hitting him in the chest with a file folder. He took them and flipped through the contents. "You were cheating on me too with this little missy right here; who’s the ipso fatso now?"
"Kate, she wasn't even in the country then-"
"I got a PI who'll swear he took those a month before we divorced," Kate said with a sickening smirk.
“You know that's a lie," Jack said. "These pictures were taken this week."
"Can you prove it?" Kate asked with that same look of hers. "Should we find out? I got nothing to lose."
"Jack," Alex said, beckoning him over.
"Not now, Alex," he said.
"Jack, now," she said, and she made it clear she wasn't going to be ignored. Jack came over and she led him off a ways. "I'll pay her off."
"Out of the question," Jack said firmly.
"Her snooping around is the last thing we need right now," Alex said.
"You don't know Katie," he said. "Give her an inch, she'll take a mile."
“We'll have a lawyer fill out the paperwork; she gets a one time payment in return for waiving any possible future claim. She can't touch you again.” She looked pleadingly into his eyes. "It's the safest way."
They talked it over a little more, and Jack soon came over to her way of thinking.
"A hundred thousand?" Kate said. "You expect me to settle for that chicken feed?"
"Kate, I'm doing this against my better judgment," Jack said. "Don't push your luck."
Kate sighed. "All right, all right, fine. You better not screw me, Jack," she warned, grabbing her folder and storming out, slamming the door behind her.
"Why bother, when everyone else has," Jack grumbled.
"Don't let her bother you," Alex said, though she couldn't really explain what made her think of that. Kate was a totally bothersome person - it seemed to be her sole purpose in existing. "Once she signs the contract you won't have to worry about her again; if she even tries to-"
"I know," Jack said sharply, then seemed to get more depressed, dropping onto a stool. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. I just feel so... helpless."
"About the money?"
"About... me." He closed his eyes and rubbed them, but it seemed it was mostly so he didn't have to look at her. "I still see the woman who said she'd be with me for life... stupid, but I can't shake it."
"Jack," Alex said softly, "you deserve something much better than a tramp like that. You are a good person."
"Thanks," he said. "I'm just... never mind." He got up and went back to the clean up. Alex watched him a moment, and then did the same, but it was hard not to keep thinking all the same.
--------------------------------------------------------------
That Monday Alex worked with Jack to get the money transferred into his account to pay off Kate. It took a while; not only was it necessary to avoid an easy-to-follow chain from her bank to his, but there had to be an explanation for why that money appeared in his account all of a sudden. Fortunately spending so much of her life dealing with money launderers had taught her many tricks. Hiding a few million was usually the smaller stuff - compared to that a hundred thousand was a walk in the park.
He'd gone off to work then and Carol had picked her up for the latest treatment. It was more of the usual, and had long stopped being uncomfortable - it was just one more thing that needed to be done. One nice thing, however, was that now her accent had fully shifted into its Irish-by-way-of-London mode that it would remain, and personally Alex liked it. After being dropped back off at Jack's place she'd taken some time talking to herself just to listen.
The funny thing was, she sat on the couch and felt a very odd sensation - loneliness. She had spent most of her life without, well, a life, so she hadn't expected that. Maybe it was after having Jack around all weekend that had gotten her used to having someone to talk to and do things with. In fact, when she got down to it, she really just wished Jack was there.
Alex didn't know what possessed her, but before she knew it she'd gone into his bedroom and laid on the bed. Something about it seemed to just fit, and she must have stayed there for at least a half an hour before boredom got to her. She started looking around a bit more, really looking. She hadn't much experience in a man's bedroom; she noticed that he wasn't the typical stereotype - his stuff was all put away, there were no clothes on the floor, the bed was made, so everything was rather tidy. There was an empty glass on the nightstand and a paperback with a bookmark in it. One of those cheesy technothrillers where half the book was detailed descriptions of weapons systems. Alex had never cared for them - they read too much like the mandatory reports that crossed her desk. Not thinking, she opened the drawer on the nightstand, regretting it even as she did. This was snooping, and after all he'd done, she-
Alex froze and blinked. She leaned over, then finally took the magazine out. Of course, single men often had adult material on hand, she knew that much. But what had surprised her was that it was exclusively devoted to tickling.
Alex stared at the cover for a while, and she noticed that her chest was thumping a bit and she was breathing a little heavier, as if she was suddenly excited and nervous at once. She opened it and began flipping through, looking at the crude pictures and reading the absurd story that went with them - a collection of scenarios that never existed beyond desperate fantasies. But what surprised her was that as she read and looked at the images, she felt a bit turned on herself. The truth was, the more she thought about it, the more she wished she could be in one of those predicaments. She thought about what it would be like to be chained up like this girl was, with someone running feathers over her skin while she was captured in a still moment of laughter. She thought of how much it made her feel good to supplement her pleasure with it. She looked at the pictures and she began to fantasize...
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex finished readying herself for bed; it had been a rather uncomfortable evening. She'd put the magazine back and left no sign she'd been in there, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd given herself away, that he knew that she'd taken advantage of his hospitality and was just trying to be polite. Dinner was silent, the evening passed without any real comment; he wound up getting the paperwork finalized for Kate.
Alex laid back. By now it was simply habit that she'd use the makeup brush, but even as she held it in her hands, a bit of melancholy came over her. She stared at it for a while, trying to figure out why.
Alex put it down, got up, and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. Who is Alex O’Connell? she asked herself. Whoever she is, she's not Susan Baker, what happened to Susan doesn't matter, because they're two different people. So what do you do, Alex? What happens next?
--------------------------------------------------------------
The door offered only a slight squeak as she opened it, but Alex knew that at night such things are like alarm bells. Jack stirred a little. "Wa's?" he muttered, and then he seemed to finally really notice Alex, standing there, naked as the day she was born... and re-born.
“My room feels so.. so lonely," she said finally. "I don't know how Kate could stand it, but it feels so huge and cold that I just can't take it any more." She crawled onto the bed with him; his eyes were so firmly fixed on her she wasn't sure he could even blink.
"Your treatment must be-"
Alex put her hand over his mouth. "It's not hormonal, it's not some kind of delirium. This is just me knowing that I need you to make love to me. You- You're a loving person, Jack, and I want to feel that in every way possible. You're not taking advantage of me... you're just taking me."
Jack seemed hesitant, but then finally he kissed her, and it was exquisite. And soon she was under the covers with him, and they did exactly what she wanted. It wasn't a night of wild passions, it was controlled, savored, cherished. And afterwards, she laid there feeling his arms around her, and she didn't feel the loneliness or the melancholy any more.
Morning came, and as it did, the full measure of what she'd done came home to Alex. This was supposed to be a job; he was being paid to provide a service, and this wasn't the kind of servicing that contract called for.
But then Alex turned over and looked into the sleeping face of Jack, and she remembered why she'd done it.
She kissed him gently on the lips; she had no idea why, but it suddenly happened, and he woke up. "Sorry,” she said, a little embarrassed.
Jack shook his head to clear the cobwebs. "Nicest way I've ever been woken up," he commented. She smiled a little sheepishly at him, still not sure what had come over her. He got up and went into the adjoining bathroom. Alex waited, then she heard the shower running. She got a little bored, but didn't want to leave for some reason, and the next thing she knew she'd opened the drawer and taken out the magazine.
"Oh my God," Jack said. It wasn't an interjection, just a spontaneous reaction to the embarrassment of the situation as he saw Alex holding his magazine.
Alex opened and closed her mouth wordlessly; she had lost track of time and was equally embarrassed for having been caught reading through it. And then she realized that he was taking her reaction as being shock and condemnation of him. Boy these situations could get messy, she thought. "Wait, Jack-" He turned to retreat to the safety of the bathroom. "Please, don't be embarrassed."
"I can't believe this is happening," he said, finally coming back just to take the magazine away, as if he could make this not happen by removing it.
"Jack, it's all right."
"I know it probably seems weird-" Jack began.
"It doesn't," Alex insisted, getting up and coming over to him. "It's... I..." She swallowed. "Tickle me," she said in a voice just above a whisper."
Jack's train of thought jumped the rails. "What?"
Alex took the magazine from his hands and tossed it aside. "I fantasize about being tickled," she said, pulling him towards the bed. "And you... you like tickling, right?" Jack swallowed and nodded nervously. "Then it seems like we can both fulfill each other's fantasies," she said, pulling him onto the bed with her.
Jack still seemed unsure. "You're not playing around with me, are you?"
"Jack," she said with a smile, "less talking and more tickling, if you please."
Jack offered just the slightest grin, like a starving man who'd been offered the meal of his dreams yet feared it'd be taken away if he reached for it. He took Alex's right foot and placed it on his lap, then looked to her once more. She nodded, and he carefully drew a nail up the sole of her foot; Alex's breath froze. He repeated the gesture, and she giggled. He kept at it, and soon she found herself laying back, giggling madly as he ran his finger up and down her sole. She covered her face as she started to laugh a bit harder; she seemed to be even more ticklish than she'd imagined, although given that she was able to tickle herself to a degree, she shouldn't have been surprised.
After a little bit of stroking Jack seemed to finally get that Alex wasn't playing with him, and that he finally had a golden opportunity. He began scratching along her sole, up and down from ball to heel. She was laughing much harder now, and was trying to pull her foot out of his grip. It was purely involuntary, of course, because the more intense tickling brought that familiar sensation to her tummy, and she was so happy for this turn of events. He tickled all over her foot until she was pulling on her hair trying to resist fighting him.
Eventually, he abated, and she laid there gasping for breath. "Did you like that?" he asked.
Alex nodded, still trying to get her breath back. "More," she finally got out."
Jack laughed. "I never imagined that I'd find someone who would say that," he said, crawling towards where she lay. He reached down and began tickling her tummy, and Alex squealed and squirmed. His fingers dug around trying to get her, but she kept worming away from him. "For someone who asked for this, you're not cooperating very well," he said after a while.
"I can't help it," she said, still giggling. "I'm just too ticklish!" He continued tickle-chasing her around the bed, getting at whatever bare spot was available - tummy, flanks, thighs, butt, while she squealed and wormed around, laughing all the while. Finally she rolled right off the bed, and laid on the floor, laughing to herself. Jack peered over and did the same. "Having fun?" he asked.
"Yes," she said demurely, but then she reached over and grabbed the magazine from where it had fallen. "But I think it's time to raise the stakes." She flipped through it until she found the page, then revealed it to him, showing a girl hog-tied. "Do you think you can do that?"
Jack nodded with a lopsided grin. "I have a nice soft rope I can use," he said.
"Then quit jawing and go get it," she teased. Jack got up and disappeared for a minute or so, then returned. Slowly he began to tie her up on the bed, wrists to ankles just like it was in the picture. "Comfy?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, but before she could even finish she was laughing because he was scratching along the bottoms of her feet again. Like this her feet couldn't go anywhere, so he was quickly able to hit both at once, and she laughed hard at his touch. After a little while of this he reached underneath and began scratching on her butt cheeks, and she shrieked in response before a laughing fit hit her. He was really teasing her now, scratching and then just stopping to give her a little pinch that would make her jump, chuckling to himself while she laughed under the ticklish assault. He started to scratch up her back, sending little shivers all up her body as he went. He stopped when he got over her shoulders and began lightly scratching all over her neck and collarbones, and at that point Alex was fighting. "Stop it! Hahahahaha! Not there Jack!" But Jack wore a nasty grin and kept at it while she thrashed about, until she had wormed herself onto her side, and then he deftly shoved her over the rest of the way. Suddenly she realized she was trapped, and she panted for breath as he abated, seemingly looking for the next best target. "You're evil," she teased. He held up his hands and began pinching his thumb and index finger together. As he approached her breasts, she realized what he was up to, and started laughing a little in anticipation and enjoyment. Then he began lightly squeezing her nipples, and her eyes screwed shut, and a long staccato laugh came out. He seemed to be inside her head, because each little pinch just seemed to tickle her all the more than the last one had, until she was having trouble breathing. Soon, however, he stopped, and began lightly massaging her breasts; Alex let out a sigh of enjoyment. It didn't last, of course, he went back at it after a while and she was left shaking with laughter. Over and over the pattern would repeat, - first the tickle attack, then the wonderful fondling. All of it was starting to drive Alex crazy with desire.
But Jack wasn't done. He suddenly and without warning dropped all ten fingers into her arched tummy, and Alex was laughing her head off instantly. He wriggled his fingers all over, and in no time she was laughing so hard she had the hiccups. He worked the center, right around the belly button area, then out to the sides until he was squeezing her flanks. In no time he was back in the center again, and Alex was sure she was going to pass out from laughter, he was getting her so hard. And then even while she laughed, she felt him kiss her. The tickling abated slowly and the kiss grew more passionate, until she felt him lift her up and onto him. The kiss never stopped as he reached back and undid the ropes by feel, and gradually Alex wrapped herself around him, and they made love far more passionately than the night before, but no less savored. The tickling had gotten both of them charged up, and Alex was certain that all the sexual experience of Susan couldn't hold a candle to this one shared moment with Jack. And after she'd found release several times, he held her, and she felt warm and safe, as if he was a magic cocoon to hold the universe at bay. She nuzzled into him, and glowed with happiness.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Jack and Alex had no problem with maintaining their cover story after that; the two went out together, did things together, and spent their evenings engaged in more of their mutual passion for tickling. Things seemed perfect, so she should have known it wouldn’t last.
It was four days after Alex had first climbed into his bed that the CIA showed up at their door; there were two MI-6 agents with them. "Dr. Yates," the stern man with his ID already out said, "we need a few minutes of your time.
Alex was very nervous, but Jack seemed perfectly fine - all he projected was confusion. "What's this about?" he asked, leading the way to the living area. He took a seat beside Alex while the four agents took various positions opposite them.
"Who is this?" the agent asked. Apparently everyone else was there just to look intimidating. They were very good at it.
"This is Alex," Jack said. "Alex O’Connell. What's this about?"
The agent didn't answer, he just stared at Alex for a while. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, but then, this was an uncomfortable situation. "Does the name Susan Baker mean anything to you?"
"No," Jack said with a bit of confusion. "Was she a patient?"
"She's an ex-agent of MI-6, we're trying to track her down. You've never heard of her?"
"No, why would I; I don't even know what MI-6 is besides what I see in James Bond movies."
"We believe she contacted your sister last month."
"Then why are you talking to me?" Jack asked. "My sister should be easy enough to reach."
"She says the woman in question had contacted her, and then moved on. We're just verifying her story."
Jack looked confused. "How would I know that?"
"Doctor," the agent said, folding his hands and leaning forward in a mildly intimidating manner, "you did make a very substantial payment to your ex-wife recently, yes? Where'd the money come from?"
"A few secure holdings I had," Jack said, naming a couple of the covers Alex had used to launder the money. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"The money wasn't on the list of assets listed in your divorce proceeding."
"My wife didn't know about them," Jack said. "I didn’t think she needed it brought to her attention."
"That's against the law," the agent observed.
"Look," Jack said, and now he sounded very upset, "my wife was a tramp with the moral center of a scorpion. I only shunted that money away because it didn't seem right that my hard-earned money should pay for her exotic trips to fuck other men, all right? Yeah, it wasn't exactly legal, but how many husbands do it, huh? You going to turn us all in? And I still don't see what that has to do with this person you're looking for."
"If you feel that way about you ex-wife," the agent said, "then why pay her that money?"
"She had a detective following us around," Jack said dismissively. "I knew she was trying to find the money. I figured it'd be better to give it to her and shut her up than have her drag me back into court to suck the life out of me and then take it."
The agent had an unreadable face, but there did seem to be the faintest hint of a smirk there. "What's your relationship with her?" he nodded towards Alex.
"Look," Jack said, "I know you're just doing your job, but you still haven't told me what any of this has to do with me. You can't just go digging into my private life like this." The man just stared at him. "We're romantically involved," Jack finally said. "All right?"
"For how long?"
"This is ridiculous," Jack said in frustration. "I want you to leave."
"How long," the man repeated firmly.
"What does this have to do with me?" Jack demanded. And, of course, they couldn't tell him without breaching security.
"Your friend here has made a couple of visits to where your sister works," the agent said.
"Yes," Jack said. "Our relationship's fairly serious, I want her to get to know my family."
"How serious?" the agent asked.
"That's none of your business," Jack said sternly.
"Doctor," the man said, "we can take you into custody if we have to. And before you threaten to get your attorney, I should warn you that if you do we will take you in. So you can answer my questions and have us on our way, or we can spend the rest of the day going over your life with a fine-tooth comb."
Jack gave him a menacing glare. "Very serious," he finally said.
"So you two have engaged in sexual relations," the man said.
Jack opened his mouth to reply with indignation, but then stopped. "Yes," he said through his teeth.
"I don't suppose you can prove that. Some details of each other's anatomy we could verify-"
"Oh for God's sake," Jack said. "Is this really necessary?" He saw the agent’s look. "Check the bathroom trash can in there." An agent detached from his post of looking intimidating and went where he was told he came back, wearing rubber gloves and holding the can in one hand and in the other- "Condoms," the man said. "Lots of them."
The agent’s eyes never left Jack. "Used?"
"Looks that way," the agent said.
"Satisfied?" Jack said sarcastically. "Would you like us to go at it right now in front of you? Is that what's next?"
"Jack," Alex said, taking his hand, "please, get ahold of yourself."
Jack calmed down. "Sorry." He turned back to the agent. "Are we done?"
"Interesting accent," the MI-6 agent on the right asked. "Where are you from?"
"London," Alex said. "But my family moved there when I was little, I was raised in Ireland." The MI-6 agent asked her a few more questions; the answers came naturally. After a little while he seemed satisfied and nodded to the others.
"Thank you for your cooperation," the main agent said. "I apologize for any embarrassment"
"Just leave, please," Jack said, and the four were led out. The door closed behind them, and they waited until they were sure they were away. "You all right?" he asked.
Alex nodded. "You were amazing," she commented. "I can't believe you were able to do all that. When I first saw you you seemed nervous as hell, but you were just..." She grabbed him and kissed him passionately.
Their lips parted. "Pity you didn't do that in front of them," he said slyly. "That certainly would have made the point clear."
Alex laughed a little. It was amazing; if she hadn't started sleeping with him, then there would have been a severe hole in their story. And Jack had had the good sense to think about the condoms. There was no doubt about it, he was the perfect cover. By the time they were finished no one would suspect a thing. She could...
That melancholy feeling came back again. She started to think about being away from him, and all there was was dread. And she looked at him and wished he could come with her. But he couldn't, of course. If he disappeared they'd know something was up, and they'd be able to track them down through him. No, that wasn't even a pipe dream, it was so foolhardy. When she left, she'd be going alone.
She forced a smile to her face. Then she'd better make good use of what time she did have, she thought, and kissed him even more passionately than she just had.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex put some drops in her eyes to keep them from drying out during the flash process. This was the final one; she'd stay for a few more days to make sure she didn't have some kind of reaction or problem, but this was essentially it.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you a head's up about the agency coming," Carol said. Alex, of course, knew why she couldn't. Any communication would have tipped them off to a possible connection; as it was they had just come for a routine follow-up (Alex had seen the more thorough follow-ups, and it was much more involved and unpleasant).
"No problem; Jack actually did very well. I think we're safely out of the woods."
"I agree," Carol said. "It was a fairly mild interrogation, I think they were just making sure all the i's were dotted and t's were crossed. Let's begin."
Alex put her eyes up to the opening and it all came again, for the last time. And when it was over, she was glad for that. By this time next week she'd be on a South Pacific island drinking cool drinks and watching the waves, with MI-6 far behind her.
And Jack, she thought, and a cloud hung over everything.
--------------------------------------------------------------
When Jack came home, Alex was waiting. She had the rope coiled up in one hand, and a long feather in the other. "I have been waiting hours for you," she said with a seductive smile. "I almost started without you."
Ten minutes later he was securing the last knot to the bedpost while Alex giggled in anticipation. She was so desperate for tickling that she really had almost tried using the feather on herself, but every time she headed towards her bedroom she'd stopped herself. It still felt, when all was said and done, lonely. It felt -and this was the truly depressing part- like her flat back in London where Susan Baker had passed the time waiting for the next event that was only slightly less dreary than what she was doing at that moment. No... what she craved wasn't just tickling, it was him tickling her.
He climbed on the bed and straddled her, and it was clear she would get it now whether she'd asked for it or not. "Any place you want me to start?" he asked
"Um-"
"Too bad," Jack said, and dropped his hands into her armpits. Alex immediately began laughing and despite herself she tried to pull her arms down. His fingers were astonishingly effective, wriggling about her smooth pits, leaving poor tickled flesh in their wake. Alex was letting out small shrieks of laughter within minutes, he was doing that good of a job. "Oh God! Oh God! Hahahaha! Jack! Not too much! Don't do too much!"
"Oh don't worry," Jack said, "I'm doing fine." Her laughter intensified, and then reached that point where she couldn't even talk, she just let laughter bubble out of her mouth. After fifteen solid minutes he finally stopped and allowed her some time to breathe. "That was torture," she said, but her smile said that despite the rebuke she'd loved it.
Jack slowly leaned down and kissed her. "You know... your accent has really... it's very sexy."
"Sexy?" Alex said, surprised anyone could ascribe that to her brogue. "I dinnae ken what'cha mean, Jack." She exploded with laughter as he dug his fingers into her ribcage. He wasn’t subtle about it either - he dropped his fingers on the poor ribs and just wriggled them right into her flesh until Alex was left screaming with laughter. He grinned evilly at her the whole time, never relenting while her eyes teared over. He worked up a little, darting back into her pits a moment before heading back down to her ribs again. Alex was completely helpless now; even if she hadn't been tied down, she lacked the strength to move. When he reached up and began delicately tickling the undersides of her breasts, she could only lay there and laugh. Of course, that was all she really wanted to do.
"Your pleas sound so sexy in that accent," Jack commented while she panted for breath. "I can do this all day."
"Oh no," Alex said with exhaustion. "Not all day Jack.”
"Oh come on, Alex," Jack said. "You can't talk like that and not expect me to tickle you, right? Right?"
Alex giggled, and really dropped into her Irish accent. "Okay, then, Jack; then do a girl a favor and tickle me blarney stone." She tried to keep a straight face but giggled and Jack laughed a bit himself. He slid off her and took up the feather she’d brought, then knelt carefully over her as she giggled in anticipation.
He hadn't actually tickled her there yet, so she wasn't sure what she'd be in for. But she knew one thing: if she could tickle herself there, then odds were good he could do an even better job. And as the feather's tip touched her womanhood, she knew without a doubt he could tickle her out of her skin. "Oh my God! OH MY GOD! HAHAHAHA!!!" Jack turned up to look at her face while he stroked, and she roared with laughter. He kept at it, and she was laughing even more than any of the tickling before. He drew the feather along her curves, wriggled it over her rises, dipped it into her depths, and all the while Alex laughed and laughed. "HAHAHAHA! OH JACK! HEHEHEHAHAHA! MORE! HAHAHA DON'T STOP!!!" She adored the tickling and under it she could also feel the rising sensation she'd felt many times under similar ministrations, except far more intense. The lack of control gave it a wicked edge that filled her with lust, and she was bucking her hips even as he continued tickling all over, until she felt the pleasure hit her like being dropped into icy water on a hot day, and she was left giggling and panting in the wake."
"How was that?" he asked as she panted for breath.
"A nice start," Alex said. "But you can do better. Back to it."
Jack laughed a little. "I thought you said I shouldn't do this all day."
"I lied," she said. "Now stop talking and get back to work." And she shrieked as the feather dipped into her navel, and Jack did exactly what she'd wanted.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The day before she was planning to leave, Alex went online to make the preparations. The money would need to be transferred again several times before it was given to Carol, and Alex would need to withdraw some for a ticket and carry around money. She flirted for the thousandth time about bringing Jack with her, but just like all the other times she knew that just wasn't possible. Tomorrow she'd get on that plane, alone, and that would be that. She reminded herself of everything she'd put herself through to make this happen, and it helped.
Then she blinked at the screen, and no amount of optimism was going to help this.
The money was gone.
Alex went looking around, but it was completely wiped out. What could have happened. Did MI-6 find it? It was possible... they were trained to do Alex's old job, and she didn't have any delusions that she was the best there was on the planet. In a panic she logged off, fearful they might have tried to track her back to Jack's computer; no, she thought, that would be stupid. If they wanted to catch her, they'd have left the money there so she wouldn't be tipped off. No, she was probably safe... except for the fact that she didn't have anything more than the clothes on her back.
Alex hadn't realized she was crying until she felt Jack's hands on her shoulders. "What is it?" he asked in his gentle voice that somehow made her cry all the more. She explained about the money, and he held her tight. "It'll be all right," he promised.
"I d-d-don't know what to do," Alex got out. “I'm a fugitive without a penny to my name."
"I'll help you," Jack said.
"I can't even afford to pay you," she said miserably. "And your sister's expecting ten million-"
"I'll handle her," Jack said. "Relax, Alex. This is bad, but it's not the end of the world."
"What am I supposed to do?" she asked in despair. "Where am I supposed to go?"
Jack was quiet for a time. "Why do you have to go?" he finally asked.
Alex's sobs trailed off, and she looked into his face. "I don't have any money," she said again.
"It's fine, Alex," he said, and held her tight. "It'll be fine.” His voice shook a little. "I know this is horribly selfish, but this is the best thing I could imagine happening. You- you filled the hole that Kate had left... and I started to think there'd be an even larger one once you were gone."
"Oh Jack," she wept because she didn't know what else to do. She had wanted to be with him, and all the emotions, the love and the anger and the frustration and the terror and the joy all mixed together until it was too much for her to take in; she didn't know what end was up and felt like she was going to collapse into total despair. So she did the only thing she could to keep from falling, and clung to him. And as the minutes passed, she found that he was right... that this was the best possible thing that could have happened. If she would have gotten on that plane, then nothing would have changed, she'd still have been Susan Baker, just a Susan Baker sitting on a beach. Her life would have been just as drab and empty as it had been, because all she'd do is try to fill it with things again. But Alex had much more, someone who would care for her and love her and tickle her as much as she needed... and the thought of that finally stopped the tears from falling and a smile to come to her full lips. "I.. think I need to have a good laugh. A very good laugh." She wiped at her eyes. "News like this... I think I need to laugh until I can't breathe."
Jack smiled, and despite his build picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, and a few minutes later, with the removal of clothing and the addition of ropes, she was soon laughing like a madwoman... and never been happier.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Carol sipped some coffee and then got back to work. Susan, or Alex, whatever you wanted to think of, had been good, but hadn't been as careful as Carol herself always insisted on being. Then again, Susan had always been too small time and too short term a thinker. Expecting Carol to risk prison for a mere ten million? Nonsense.
Poor fool, Carol thought with pity. It had been so easy under the influence of the flash programming to make her do what was needed, like writing out the account details for Carol without any memory of it. Then again, she really had been remade, hadn't she? That crushing bore Susan was gone, and good riddance. And her poor brother... she loved him, but even after all Kate had put him through, she knew he'd just wind up finding another busty-slut to take her place. He just didn't think, and so it was left once again for her to look out for her little brother. She sighed inwardly. At least this shouldn't end in tragedy, she thought. She'd made Alex to be everything he wanted, from her playmate body to her addiction to tickling. With a little mental conditioning to make sure she fit the role cast for her, Alex would become the perfect bride for him.... and she'd have no need for the other twenty million she'd been planning on keeping.
Carol thought on it. I think I'll win at gambling next summer, she decided. That could bring in a sizable chunk. After that, bringing it in will be much easier. She wasn't going to disappear, she'd hide right out in the open. That was how it worked. Try becoming a fugitive, and you risk it all. Anyone who finds your secret could leave you in... she smirked a little. In a very ticklish situation.
Susan Baker slipped into the ladies room at the south end of the mall; Carol was already there. "Your message said it was urgent," Carol said, getting right down to business. Carol was never one to get bogged down in the pleasantries, but it didn't matter. Susan didn't come all this way, go to these lengths, for a "Hi how are ya?" "How urgent are we talking?"
"Lock the door," Susan said, which said all that was needed on the urgency. Carol pulled out a key and locked the bathroom door. It was easy enough to acquire them with a CIA ID, though hopefully Carol had used some discretion, as this wasn't exactly an above the boards kind of meeting.
Carol crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, looking neutrally at Susan. "Okay, we're alone. Now what?"
Susan took a deep breath. This was the moment when it could all come crashing down. If she'd made a mistake, if she'd judged Carol wrong, then this whole thing ended at this moment. But eventually she'd have to get someone involved, and no one back in MI-6 could be trusted not to turn her in. "I came into some money," she said finally.
"I take it you mean 'embezzled," Carol said, but there was no accusation in her tone.
"In a manner of speaking. MI-6 secured a large number of private accounts that were supporting some less than desirable forces. One of those accounts went missing." She didn’t have to say how.
"How much?" Carol asked, still with a poker face.
"Ten million," Susan lied. It was actually over thirty, but you don't let your potential accomplice know how much you have to work with, or else they might demand more than they deserve. After all, it was Susan that had put her neck on the line here, Susan that MI-6 was either now or soon going to be trying to hunt down.
"Ten million's not much to run away with, Carol said flatly.
"It is when you're living in a two-room flat working sixty hour weeks," Susan said.
Carol's expression was still neutral. "You need to disappear, is that it?"
Susan nodded. "MI-6 is going to want that money, and they'll likely worry I'll compromise them. I need to cease to exist."
Carol nodded a little. "I can make that happen," she said, and it was the truth. In a joint venture the two had worked a bit together and Susan knew that Carol had devised treatments that could completely alter a person head to toe. Fingerprints, retinal patterns, hair, eye color, DNA, dental work, all of it. Carol could turn Susan into someone else entirely, someone MI-6 would never be able to find. "But it's aiding and abetting a fugitive."
"I'm not technically a fugitive yet," Susan pointed out.
"So I would be an accessory after the fact," Carol said without missing a beat. That was the problem; she was far too smart sometimes. "How much are you offering?"
"Two million?"
"It's been fun talking with you," Carol said, heading for the door.
“Three million."
"That was quick." Carol turned around and crossed her arms again, waiting.
"Four."
"Six," Carol said.
"That's more than ha-"
"Please, you had to take at least twenty to make running worth it."
Carol breathed deeply through her nose. "Okay, six million."
"How much do you really have?" Carol asked.
"Ten."
"We're done."
"Wait! Thirty-two, okay?"
Carol stared hard at her, and Susan had to resist the urge to sweat under her gaze. "It's not about the money," Carol said. "You lied to me, and this is a situation where I need to know all the facts to cover my own ass. If I can't trust you, then your money's worthless." She turned back to the door. "I'll consider it; you'll have my answer tomorrow." She unlocked the door and left. Susan waited, then left heading another way. She hoped she hadn't just made a big mistake. Actually, she hoped she hadn't just made several.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The following day was spent waiting in the drab motel room Susan had acquired, but it was something that had often come with her job, and if she could do it for the British government, she could certainly do it for herself. .
Carol had finally called her back in the early afternoon. "It's a go," she said simply. "Ten million, and you need to come up with one now to cover expenses."
Susan nodded a little to herself. There would no doubt be a few people that would need to be bribed into not paying attention, and to replace whatever resources the process consumed. "When can we do this?"
"Tonight we'll get you started," Carol said. "But this is not an outpatient kind of thing, Susan. We are going to need to give you several treatments over the course of a month."
"I can be found if I stand still that long, Susan said.
"With the first treatment you'll undergo the full change," Carol said. "But without further treatments it won't stick; you'll turn back to your old self, and believe me, that is a very painful experience."
"I see," Susan said.
"There's more. To help you acclimate we'll be using flash imprinting to give you instant knowledge of your cover story. It'll help you avoid making mistakes, and add some small touches."
"Such as?"
"We can change your accent from Welsh to Irish," Carol said. "Or Scottish, or Cockney, I suppose. Some place from the isles without staying the same. It'll help cement your story together, because you'll be more familiar with information from that region."
"You think of everything," Susan said.
"That's my job. I'll need to keep you under observation during that time to see if anything starts to go wrong. Fortunately my brother is available to help us with that."
Susan went a little pale. "What did you tell him?"
"Everything," Carol said without concern. "He's in; he has a nice condo with a spare room, and he's a doctor so he can keep an eye on you medically, spot things and let me know if something goes wrong."
Suddenly Susan wasn't so sure about this. "Are you sure all of this is going to work?"
"If you listen to me, yes. But it's not going to be simple and it's not going to be cheap. But if you follow me through on this, then you will disappear from the face of the Earth."
Susan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to do this; it was the safest way to stay underground for good. "All right, what time?"
"I'll have a cab pick you up at eight; be checked out." The phone hung up and Susan looked at it, then hung up her end. Ten million was a lot of money... but if it worked she'd be in the clear with over twenty all to herself. She could still live a very comfortable life on that. She gathered up her few things and quietly waited for the time on her old life to run out.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The facility where Carol worked wasn't in Langley, but on the outskirts of Baltimore. Still, that didn't make the facility any less secure; Susan knew this was the most dangerous part of the process - even if they bribed their way in, there was security footage that would be harder to deal with without being caught. Fortunately, Carol had taken care of everything, although it wasn't in the most ideal way for Susan. She arrived with a collection of medical cadavers that were routinely used for ballistic studies and medical experiments. Still, these deliveries always took place in the evenings to avoid offending delicate sensibilities, and Carol routinely oversaw the deliveries since she worked with many of them. Susan had to admit, it was a good plan.
"Welcome to my world," Carol said without any drama, though it certainly would have been fitting. The entire area was filled with various apparatus that Susan couldn't even begin to identify, along with an array of medical equipment and some very impressive computers.
"Who else knows about this?" Susan asked, getting to the point. "You need assistants?"
"No. It will take a little longer, but I can handle this by myself. Anyone else is a potential leak, and while they may be scientifically gifted, they are rather stupid in other ways. They'd deposit any bribe into their accounts without the slightest thought that it would raise some red flags. No, it's safer if we do this with just the three of us."
Susan nodded; Carol had a lot more to lose if this went south, because she didn't have the money to run with. She could trust Carol to be careful out of self-preservation. "What's going to happen?" she asked. "Do you... .I don't know, have a catalogue or something?"
"Susan, this isn't Star Trek; the purpose of this procedure was to find ways of putting our people undercover, not to open a beauty shop. I can give you a choice of ethnicity, some basics, but this is still a new science. Did you give any thought to your background?"
"Irish," Susan said, "raised in London, so I can have some use for those facts."
"Fair enough, I can set your accent accordingly later on." Carol sat down at the terminal and logged in, then began looking at information that made no sense to Susan. "You need a new name as well, and it would be a good idea if you started thinking of yourself with that name."
"Alex O'Connell," she said.
"That's fine. Give me a little while and I'll have you ready. Go get undressed and lie down on the table; there's a sheet you can use for the moment."
Alex -as she now thought of herself to help the process along - laid there on the table, sheet pulled over herself, listening to the clacking of Carol's keyboard. She'd thought that she'd already passed the point of no return; the moment when she diverted the funds and covered her tracks she knew it would be impossible to ever return to her old life. She had a sister in Ives she spoke with at Christmas and on their birthdays; that was no real loss. Other than that, there was really nothing that summed up her life but things, and they weren't the kind of stuff she'd become that attached to. They were all things she could leave behind, and perhaps that had made that easier. There was no going back to that dull and empty life... so what? But now, there was going to be no going back from this. This wasn't going to be like a bad tattoo that she could have removed, she'd stop being herself forever. Before she'd thought it was the best part of the plan; a forty-year old spinster wasn't the most glamorous life, and getting to trade it all in for another throw of the dice had seemed perfect. But now, lying there with the sound of Carol making the person that she would remain for the rest of her life left her shivering in quiet terror. But she'd come too far; she'd taken the leap and had no choice in hitting the ground, it would either be easy or hard but it would come.
Carol stood over her; she hadn't even noticed the typing had stopped. "I'm going to put you under now," she explained, fitting a mask to Alex's face. "You won't feel a thing. Now breath deep."
Alex did as she was told, and consciousness and all her worries faded away into fluffy clouds.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex's eyes slowly opened, and everything was slightly blurred; it didn't go away. "What's going on?" she asked, and was a little surprised at the sound of her own voice. "Carol?"
"It's all right," Carol said. "All part of the procedure. You're slightly near-sighted; it'll help maintain your cover. There are some glasses on the tray to your right." Alex fumbled until she felt them and began to put them on. "The procedure was a complete success; as soon as you're ready we can start the flash implanting."
"Do you have a mirror?" Alex interrupted before things got too far.
Carol appeared and nodded. “It's on the wall over there. I'll step out to give you a little privacy; let me know when you're ready. Oh, there's a robe here for the moment." Carol stepped out and closed the door.
Alex hesitated, then sat up and turned to look. A stranger was staring back. Gone was her graying brown hair, replaced with an almost fire red set of locks. Her eyes were green now, and her face dusted lightly with freckles. She looked like she'd lost fifteen years as she took in her smooth skin. She got off the table, then finally removed her sheet to take herself in. She was shocked beyond words. She looked like she belonged on a magazine cover with a body like this.
A short while later she emerged from the room in her robe; Carol was waiting. "Well?"
"Is this some kind of joke?" Alex asked.
"You don't like it?"
"Carol, I'm trying to blend in, and you gave me a gigantic pair of knockers and a bum that will stop traffic!"
"You wanted a disguise, this is a disguise," Carol said simply. "No one is going to suspect you."
"Yes, no one's going to say 'There's someone trying to blend in.' Change it."
"It's not a dress that I can take in," Carol said, "it's your body. Look, there is no physical similarity between you and the person you were, everything's changed. I've even taken away your scars and straightened your teeth. The only way anyone is going to put you and Susan together is through records, which is why we'll have to be careful."
"This is unacceptable," Alex said. "I want you to change me back."
"I can't change you back; the most I can do is not give you your treatments and let you return naturally."
"Fine."
"Alex, that's not very pleasant."
"I don't care."
Carol took a deep breath through her nose. "Imagine for a moment that you are experiencing a muscle cramp throughout your entire body. Then imagine that at the same time, your skin is covered in painful boils. Then imagine that you’re running a fever of a hundred five all the time. It's like that, only worse... and it lasts for the next four weeks."
Alex glowered for a moment, but only for a moment. Okay, she thought, this wasn't what you expected, but it's not bad, is it? Things could have been a lot worse. Just give it a little time and you'll get used to all of this. "Fine, it stays. Now what?"
"As I said, now we'll flash implant the information you need, and get started on your accent. Oh, I should probably introduce you to your new boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?!" Alex said with frustration. "What-"
"Relax, please," Carol said. "It's a cover for the time being. You and my brother came today to see what I do here; he's trying to impress you, or so people will think. And with you staying at his place, it explains everything."
Alex had to admit, it all made sense, and if she were on top of her game, she would have thought of it herself. "What's his name?"
"Dr. Jack Yates," Carol said. "His wife left him eight months ago, so this is him being a typical male trying to overcompensate."
"You don't expect me to be doing things with him."
"I think dinner once a week for appearance-"
"I mean... you don't expect me to sleep with him, right?"
"Alex, my brother is being well-compensated for his part in this; we're all professionals here."
"Of course, of course," Alex said. "Sorry... head must still be a little foggy."
"That happens," Carol said, "but it does make the flash implanting easier, so we really should get you in there now, so come on." Alex nodded and followed Carol. She had to get her head together; a screw-up now, and MI-6 might find her, and this was not the kind of body you wanted to bring into prison.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The whole "flash" process involved Alex sticking her face up to a rectangular box and peering inside like Mr. Spock used to on the old Star Trek shows she'd watch on lonely weekend afternoons. However, instead of seeing something "fascinating,” all Alex saw was pulsing light. After a few seconds it was kind of nauseating, but she seemed to be unable to close her eyes -Carol later explained that it was part of the procedure that she couldn't stop looking at the programming for her own good. It wasn't fun, but it actually didn't take all that long, and when she was finished she noticed that she did already sound different.
Everything after that became a kind of blur. Alex was given clothes to put on - tasteful, fortunately - and introduced to Jack Yates. Jack was pleasant enough, a little short with dark hair and a kind of nervousness about him. Hopefully he wouldn't wind up getting cold feet during this operation, but it did seem that despite first appearances he was on top of things. He led her out of the building without in any way acting uncomfortable around the guards, smiling a seemingly genuine smile at her the whole time, which helped keep up appearances. Very good, she thought, and it was a nice touch when he got the door for her. He had a rather nice sports car - a glance at the odometer revealed that it was obviously either very new or he never drove it. For a moment she worried that he'd just bought it, which would attract attention from MI-6 if they started looking in Carol's direction, but a quick glance around showed a discarded chip bag on the foot of her side, along with an umbrella and a couple crushed bits of paper. Odds were good that he'd had the car a couple months.
He pulled into an underground parking garage, let her out, and popped the trunk. They'd picked up her luggage the night before - it wouldn't have done to bring it into the security building. Always the gentleman, Jack grabbed her bags and led the way to the elevator and up to his apartment. It was quite lovely; three bedrooms, all with their own private bath, a spacious kitchen and living area, and a vaulted ceiling. It wasn't opulence, but it was very nice.
"There's a room in here that's all ready for you," he said, leading the way through a door. A tastefully done bedroom with a Queen size bed and plenty of space was waiting. This was nicer than her entire flat had been. Jack set the bags on the bed. "I don't know much about what Carol's process does, but if you like there's some clothes in the drawers and the closet. Help yourself if you want them, or just put them aside if they're in the way."
"Thank you," Alex said neutrally.
"The bathroom's through here - I've stocked it with a few things, but I wasn't sure what you'd need. If we need to run out-"
"This will be fine," Alex said. She'd brought whatever she usually used when she left her apartment, although Jack seemed to go it one better. Shampoos and conditioners and scents and oils and things Alex couldn't begin to identify.
Jack cleared his throat. "Look, we're going to be spending a lot of time together, and I know we just met. Let's not worry too much about tiptoeing around, or we'll both explode, all right? Help yourself to anything you need, don't be afraid to do something you would do at home, short of rearranging my living room, of course."
Alex smiled a little. Well, he was trying, even if he was a bit of a doofus in some ways. "Thank you. I'll try not to get underfoot anyway." She cleared her throat. "I don't know if Carol thought to mention this or not, but... if our story's going to hold up, then you can't be involved with anyone during this time..." She left the implication there.
"No problem," Jack said. "I'm used to it. Dinner will be ready in about an hour if you want to... I don't know, whatever you normally do."
"This is a new me, I don't know what that is yet either."
Jack nodded laughed good-naturedly and left, closing the door behind him. Alex took a look at some of the clothes; someone certainly had a wide range of tastes, from glamorous to gauche. She looked at one or two items, then put them back and sat on the bed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw herself in the mirror, and turned and looked at her. A number of complex emotions passed through her as she did.
"Today's the first day of the rest of your life," she said, and for once that trite sentence actually seemed fitting.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Jack was called in for an emergency procedure, so Alex had the place to herself. She took a long bath, allowing herself to really relax for the first time since she'd made the decision to go on the run. When she was finished, wrapped in the fluffy robe, she returned to her room and pulled out her nightgown.
Alex held it there, looking at it like it was an old high school yearbook pulled out of the attic. It was funny, but somehow it just didn't feel like her any more, but like this was some silly phase she'd outgrown. The idea of putting it on made her smirk a little to herself. This belongs to a Susan... Alex would go starkers.
Alex opened her robe and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. After a full day of being this person she already felt completely at home. What's more, it had come to grow on her, so that by now she was actually happy with how it all turned out. She felt invigorated and sexy and excited - she was a beautiful young woman with a wad of cash. The reflection seemed to approve, smiling back at her as if she already knew all the fun things they were going to get up to before too long.
Alex climbed into bed and laid there in the darkness. Sleep wasn't coming yet; her mind was too busy. She'd noticed it for several hours now, in fact, but had assumed it would go away. She was feeling really turned on and just couldn't ignore it any more. She rolled onto her back with a sigh and looked at the ceiling. It must have been a side-effect of the procedure; normally she'd go a year or even longer without feeling any kind of sexual urges, but now it was like all that pent up emotion had finally shown up and demanded recognition.
Alex sighed again; she wasn't going to get any sleep unless she did something about this. Of course, there was the rather embarrassing fact that she had no real experience; it wasn't exactly something they taught at the school back home in the late seventies. But she had the vague memory of one of her friends in college swearing by a small makeup brush for its many virtues and ease of use, not to mention being discrete and innocuous. Feeling a little silly and excited at the same time, she hunted around in the dark until she found it; it was small with less than a centimeter-wide head, but it would probably suffice.
Alex crawled back into bed, laid back and took a steadying breath as she reached down and gently applied the brush to her clitoris-
Her hand jerked away in an instant, and she laid there with a feeling of shock as she slowly tried to put everything together. The most prominent thought was that it tickled, not an itch or tease, but a genuine ticklish sensation. That was puzzling, but even more so was the fact that despite the tickling -in fact, maybe because of it- it had felt really nice.
Alex hesitated, but then carefully applied the brush to her feminine center, and there it was again. It stirred up her tummy, making her want to shiver under its influence. She applied it again, and she couldn't help but giggle at the tickling touch. But she adored it, and she kept at it, until she was quietly chuckling to herself, her hips twisting about under the ticklish influence. But it was pure ecstasy for her, and she was soon deftly stroking over her ticklish flesh while giggles and moans slipped from her mouth, and she was grateful that Jack wasn't here because she knew she couldn't contain herself, not with all this hitting her mind at once. She continued even as she felt the glow growing in her belly until finally it exploded through her and she was left giggling and gasping in its wake. She stayed like that for some time, just breathing and reflecting on how wonderful this had just felt, until she finally put the little makeup brush on the nightstand.
That was practically worth the ten million right there.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex awoke to the smell of frying, an altogether alien experience for her. She got up, looked at her clothes, and promptly gave up; all that stuff was hopeless now. She started going through the clothing that was available in the closets and drawers and managed to put something together at least approaching good taste, and exited. Jack was in a robe making breakfast and drinking coffee simultaneously. "Take a seat, he said with a gesture of the mug on his way back to the counter. "Be five minutes."
"I didn't think a doctor would know his way around a kitchen," Alex said with a smirk as she took the proffered seat.
"Heh, earned my way through medical school working as a short order cook," he said. "Carol tapped out the family savings getting her degree - there's an advantage to being the first born."
"Well, certainly smells like it was my gain," Alex commented as he deposited eggs and bacon on a plate for her, then for himself. It wasn't spectacular, but it was good. "Thanks for the clothes," she said. "I'm going to have to do some shopping today, of course, but this is a tremendous help."
"Take whatever you want," Jack said. "It's all fine with me."
"Thank you," Alex said. "So what's the story behind these? Do you have a secret hobby I've stumbled upon?" she asked with a smile.
"No," Jack said, but he didn't seem to pick up on the joke. "No, that used to be my ex-wife's room. We split up a few months back."
The breakfast suddenly took on a more funereal taint. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Thanks. It was inevitable. Separate bedrooms are usually a sign things aren't going to work out.” He picked at the eggs. "Never marry your high school sweetheart," he said with a dark grin. "That's what they say."
"You drifted apart?" Alex asked.
"In a matter of speaking. I became a doctor, she stayed the trailer trash she'd been. That just didn't mix well. I... knew she was cheating on me for close to a year before, but I thought maybe I could work it out. Heh, well, call it what it was: denial. It wasn't until she wasn't bothering to hide it any more that I had enough and sent her packing."
"Sounds like you did the right thing," Alex said.
Jack half-shrugged. "You know, when I worked the ER during my residency I'd get these women in who'd 'accidentally' walked into a door, fallen down stairs, you know." Alex nodded grimly. "I don't want to compare myself to that, but then I'd wonder how these women would keep telling the police that it was their fault, not his. I thought they were idiots... but the truth is, that there really is a kind of logic in it all. This is the person I love, how can they hurt me like this, and the mind wishes to impose order on this incomprehensible situation, and it's the only way out. Blame yourself, and it all makes sense. I made so many excuses for her for so long... there comes a point where you've got to wake up and realize that the rational truth is that you're married to a bad person." He suddenly sat up straight. "I'm sorry; that's-"
"It's all right," Alex said. A few months? This kind of thing had to sit right near the surface. “I haven't had a chance for a fairly normal conversation like this in a long time."
Jack tapped the table with his fork a couple times. "You need to go shopping? I'll take you."
"Don't you have to work?"
"I'm due some R&R, and frankly the idea of doing something 'normal' with another human being sounds like bliss. If you don't mind; I don't want to impose."
"No, that'd be fine. It'll help our cover story as well. But I have to warn you that I have lots to do today - you need to be ready for a long haul."
"So long as I don't have to pay for it for once," Jack said, "shop as much as you want."
Alex laughed despite herself. It was a pity his ex had treated him so badly. She hadn't known him long, but Jack seemed a decent man, educated and intelligent, but still human.
So they made a day of it, filling out Alex's wardrobe until Jack's trunk was near bursting. They took in lunch at a cafe and had a nice conversation, and that evening, when they’d finished getting her stuff squared away he showed her his take on Italian cuisine. It wasn't anything masterful, but he still had a good touch, and a glass of wine afterwards made her think it might have been the most perfect day she'd had in a while.
That night, when she went to bed, she had that same feeling, and had to again use the makeup brush. Still, aside of needing to stuff a pillow in her mouth to keep the giggles and moans from giving herself away, it seemed the best way to end the first full day of her new life.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Carol picked Alex up the following morning on the pretense of spending quality time with her brother's new girlfriend. In truth, it was so that she could bring her by the lab to do the first post-operative treatment to prevent her reversion to her old self. At this point it seemed like a century ago that she'd been Susan, but this was going to be just the first of several injections to keep her looking like that beautiful young girl looking back from the mirror.
"How are things?" Carol asked. "Is Jack behaving?"
"He's been a perfect gentleman," Alex said. "And very understanding. I owe you both a great deal for this."
"Yes, you do," Carol said. "Do remember that when it the time comes to pay the bill."
"I will," Alex said, though the remark seemed to suck the air out of the room. For a little while she'd actually deluded herself into thinking these people were her friends, when they were just her accomplices in an escape. Why was that?
Jack, she thought to herself. That's why. He was genuinely friendly, and didn't treat her like Carol did. The way he acted was so honest she got the impression that he'd honestly do this anyway even without the money, that he couldn't help but be kind to her because that's just what he was.
"Focus on the white dot," Carol said, putting Alex's face up to a viewport. There was a flash and then a harsh strobing effect, but Alex obeyed as information was downloaded into her brain via high-speed subliminal suggestion. Eventually it went dark, and she had to blink several times before her vision was well enough to even see anything."
"Recite a nursery rhyme," Carol said, and Alex complied. She could hear the Irish tone to her voice was coming through even more now. It was a very queer feeling.
"Good," Carol said. “Where are you from?"
"Potters, but I was raised in London," Alex said without thinking. "Papa died during an IRA attack and my mam and gran brought us away to be safe." She smiled a little. "Very nice," she said. "I didn't even have to think, it was just there."
"That's the idea. You know how liars can be spotted."
"Yes," Alex said; it was a part of her job, spotting liars. Well, it was a part of Susan’s job; Alex's job was to find ways of enjoying herself, finding a good time. That was much more appealing.
"Three days and you'll need another treatment," Carol said. "Try to maintain a fairly low profile and don't leave town."
"Understood," Alex said, but the idea of being cooped up didn't sound appealing. She was starting to feel a lot more alive and wanted to really enjoy it for once. But she managed to tone that down; just a few weeks and she'd have the chance to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. And then the world had better look out.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex climbed into bed, this time actually looking forward to this. Now that she'd gotten past the alien experience she found she really enjoyed it, anticipated it.
Alex began giggling a little as the little brush tickled her; she hoped she was quiet enough to not attract attention, but it was impossible to keep the laughter in with the tickling sensation. She soon found her other hand was on her tummy, trying vainly to properly run her nails over her skin. It was no good, of course; it was very hard to tickle yourself, and Alex was rather surprised at how much that fact disappointed her. Still, after a little while some creativity set in - she found that if she lightly scratched her nipples through the bed sheet that it would tickle rather well. She had to put a bit of the quilt in her mouth to stifle the chuckling and moans from all this, but there was no chance she would actually stop. She was having more fun than she'd had in a long time, and-
And the funny thing about it was that as she did it, she kept seeing Jack in her mind's eye. Part of her was putting him into the scenario, imaging that it was him tickling and touching her like this. And what was more amazing was how that mere thought made this even more intense, until she was sure other people were going to be able to hear her, but too wrapped up in the pleasure to care. And when the moment of triumph came she whispered his name. She would have reflected on it, but the truth was it had been so intense an experience she was left dazed, and soon fell asleep. But it turned out he was waiting there for her as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------
It was four days after the first treatment that the first real threat came, though it was from the least likely source. It was late Saturday morning and Alex and Jack were doing a little tidying up when there was a loud pounding on the door. No one friendly ever pounds on a door in that way, and it took all of Alex's self-control not to run on the spot. Jack quickly went to answer it, but rather than burly government agents it was one medium size woman in green stretch pants and a clip in her hair, half-smoken cigarette resting in between her lips. “We need to talk,” she said, pushing past him into the apartment before he could say anything. "The whore can go."
"What?" Alex said, her terror turning into subdued rage at this comment from someone off the cover of White Trash Monthly.
"Kate," Jack said, obviously trying to defuse the situation. "You can't just barge in here whenever you want."
"Oh sure I can," Kate said. "All this stuff's half mine."
"Wrong," Jack said. "You committed adultery; ipso facto, you get nothing of mine."
"Yeah, well, I got these here pictures that says otherwise," Kate said, hitting him in the chest with a file folder. He took them and flipped through the contents. "You were cheating on me too with this little missy right here; who’s the ipso fatso now?"
"Kate, she wasn't even in the country then-"
"I got a PI who'll swear he took those a month before we divorced," Kate said with a sickening smirk.
“You know that's a lie," Jack said. "These pictures were taken this week."
"Can you prove it?" Kate asked with that same look of hers. "Should we find out? I got nothing to lose."
"Jack," Alex said, beckoning him over.
"Not now, Alex," he said.
"Jack, now," she said, and she made it clear she wasn't going to be ignored. Jack came over and she led him off a ways. "I'll pay her off."
"Out of the question," Jack said firmly.
"Her snooping around is the last thing we need right now," Alex said.
"You don't know Katie," he said. "Give her an inch, she'll take a mile."
“We'll have a lawyer fill out the paperwork; she gets a one time payment in return for waiving any possible future claim. She can't touch you again.” She looked pleadingly into his eyes. "It's the safest way."
They talked it over a little more, and Jack soon came over to her way of thinking.
"A hundred thousand?" Kate said. "You expect me to settle for that chicken feed?"
"Kate, I'm doing this against my better judgment," Jack said. "Don't push your luck."
Kate sighed. "All right, all right, fine. You better not screw me, Jack," she warned, grabbing her folder and storming out, slamming the door behind her.
"Why bother, when everyone else has," Jack grumbled.
"Don't let her bother you," Alex said, though she couldn't really explain what made her think of that. Kate was a totally bothersome person - it seemed to be her sole purpose in existing. "Once she signs the contract you won't have to worry about her again; if she even tries to-"
"I know," Jack said sharply, then seemed to get more depressed, dropping onto a stool. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. I just feel so... helpless."
"About the money?"
"About... me." He closed his eyes and rubbed them, but it seemed it was mostly so he didn't have to look at her. "I still see the woman who said she'd be with me for life... stupid, but I can't shake it."
"Jack," Alex said softly, "you deserve something much better than a tramp like that. You are a good person."
"Thanks," he said. "I'm just... never mind." He got up and went back to the clean up. Alex watched him a moment, and then did the same, but it was hard not to keep thinking all the same.
--------------------------------------------------------------
That Monday Alex worked with Jack to get the money transferred into his account to pay off Kate. It took a while; not only was it necessary to avoid an easy-to-follow chain from her bank to his, but there had to be an explanation for why that money appeared in his account all of a sudden. Fortunately spending so much of her life dealing with money launderers had taught her many tricks. Hiding a few million was usually the smaller stuff - compared to that a hundred thousand was a walk in the park.
He'd gone off to work then and Carol had picked her up for the latest treatment. It was more of the usual, and had long stopped being uncomfortable - it was just one more thing that needed to be done. One nice thing, however, was that now her accent had fully shifted into its Irish-by-way-of-London mode that it would remain, and personally Alex liked it. After being dropped back off at Jack's place she'd taken some time talking to herself just to listen.
The funny thing was, she sat on the couch and felt a very odd sensation - loneliness. She had spent most of her life without, well, a life, so she hadn't expected that. Maybe it was after having Jack around all weekend that had gotten her used to having someone to talk to and do things with. In fact, when she got down to it, she really just wished Jack was there.
Alex didn't know what possessed her, but before she knew it she'd gone into his bedroom and laid on the bed. Something about it seemed to just fit, and she must have stayed there for at least a half an hour before boredom got to her. She started looking around a bit more, really looking. She hadn't much experience in a man's bedroom; she noticed that he wasn't the typical stereotype - his stuff was all put away, there were no clothes on the floor, the bed was made, so everything was rather tidy. There was an empty glass on the nightstand and a paperback with a bookmark in it. One of those cheesy technothrillers where half the book was detailed descriptions of weapons systems. Alex had never cared for them - they read too much like the mandatory reports that crossed her desk. Not thinking, she opened the drawer on the nightstand, regretting it even as she did. This was snooping, and after all he'd done, she-
Alex froze and blinked. She leaned over, then finally took the magazine out. Of course, single men often had adult material on hand, she knew that much. But what had surprised her was that it was exclusively devoted to tickling.
Alex stared at the cover for a while, and she noticed that her chest was thumping a bit and she was breathing a little heavier, as if she was suddenly excited and nervous at once. She opened it and began flipping through, looking at the crude pictures and reading the absurd story that went with them - a collection of scenarios that never existed beyond desperate fantasies. But what surprised her was that as she read and looked at the images, she felt a bit turned on herself. The truth was, the more she thought about it, the more she wished she could be in one of those predicaments. She thought about what it would be like to be chained up like this girl was, with someone running feathers over her skin while she was captured in a still moment of laughter. She thought of how much it made her feel good to supplement her pleasure with it. She looked at the pictures and she began to fantasize...
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex finished readying herself for bed; it had been a rather uncomfortable evening. She'd put the magazine back and left no sign she'd been in there, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd given herself away, that he knew that she'd taken advantage of his hospitality and was just trying to be polite. Dinner was silent, the evening passed without any real comment; he wound up getting the paperwork finalized for Kate.
Alex laid back. By now it was simply habit that she'd use the makeup brush, but even as she held it in her hands, a bit of melancholy came over her. She stared at it for a while, trying to figure out why.
Alex put it down, got up, and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. Who is Alex O’Connell? she asked herself. Whoever she is, she's not Susan Baker, what happened to Susan doesn't matter, because they're two different people. So what do you do, Alex? What happens next?
--------------------------------------------------------------
The door offered only a slight squeak as she opened it, but Alex knew that at night such things are like alarm bells. Jack stirred a little. "Wa's?" he muttered, and then he seemed to finally really notice Alex, standing there, naked as the day she was born... and re-born.
“My room feels so.. so lonely," she said finally. "I don't know how Kate could stand it, but it feels so huge and cold that I just can't take it any more." She crawled onto the bed with him; his eyes were so firmly fixed on her she wasn't sure he could even blink.
"Your treatment must be-"
Alex put her hand over his mouth. "It's not hormonal, it's not some kind of delirium. This is just me knowing that I need you to make love to me. You- You're a loving person, Jack, and I want to feel that in every way possible. You're not taking advantage of me... you're just taking me."
Jack seemed hesitant, but then finally he kissed her, and it was exquisite. And soon she was under the covers with him, and they did exactly what she wanted. It wasn't a night of wild passions, it was controlled, savored, cherished. And afterwards, she laid there feeling his arms around her, and she didn't feel the loneliness or the melancholy any more.
Morning came, and as it did, the full measure of what she'd done came home to Alex. This was supposed to be a job; he was being paid to provide a service, and this wasn't the kind of servicing that contract called for.
But then Alex turned over and looked into the sleeping face of Jack, and she remembered why she'd done it.
She kissed him gently on the lips; she had no idea why, but it suddenly happened, and he woke up. "Sorry,” she said, a little embarrassed.
Jack shook his head to clear the cobwebs. "Nicest way I've ever been woken up," he commented. She smiled a little sheepishly at him, still not sure what had come over her. He got up and went into the adjoining bathroom. Alex waited, then she heard the shower running. She got a little bored, but didn't want to leave for some reason, and the next thing she knew she'd opened the drawer and taken out the magazine.
"Oh my God," Jack said. It wasn't an interjection, just a spontaneous reaction to the embarrassment of the situation as he saw Alex holding his magazine.
Alex opened and closed her mouth wordlessly; she had lost track of time and was equally embarrassed for having been caught reading through it. And then she realized that he was taking her reaction as being shock and condemnation of him. Boy these situations could get messy, she thought. "Wait, Jack-" He turned to retreat to the safety of the bathroom. "Please, don't be embarrassed."
"I can't believe this is happening," he said, finally coming back just to take the magazine away, as if he could make this not happen by removing it.
"Jack, it's all right."
"I know it probably seems weird-" Jack began.
"It doesn't," Alex insisted, getting up and coming over to him. "It's... I..." She swallowed. "Tickle me," she said in a voice just above a whisper."
Jack's train of thought jumped the rails. "What?"
Alex took the magazine from his hands and tossed it aside. "I fantasize about being tickled," she said, pulling him towards the bed. "And you... you like tickling, right?" Jack swallowed and nodded nervously. "Then it seems like we can both fulfill each other's fantasies," she said, pulling him onto the bed with her.
Jack still seemed unsure. "You're not playing around with me, are you?"
"Jack," she said with a smile, "less talking and more tickling, if you please."
Jack offered just the slightest grin, like a starving man who'd been offered the meal of his dreams yet feared it'd be taken away if he reached for it. He took Alex's right foot and placed it on his lap, then looked to her once more. She nodded, and he carefully drew a nail up the sole of her foot; Alex's breath froze. He repeated the gesture, and she giggled. He kept at it, and soon she found herself laying back, giggling madly as he ran his finger up and down her sole. She covered her face as she started to laugh a bit harder; she seemed to be even more ticklish than she'd imagined, although given that she was able to tickle herself to a degree, she shouldn't have been surprised.
After a little bit of stroking Jack seemed to finally get that Alex wasn't playing with him, and that he finally had a golden opportunity. He began scratching along her sole, up and down from ball to heel. She was laughing much harder now, and was trying to pull her foot out of his grip. It was purely involuntary, of course, because the more intense tickling brought that familiar sensation to her tummy, and she was so happy for this turn of events. He tickled all over her foot until she was pulling on her hair trying to resist fighting him.
Eventually, he abated, and she laid there gasping for breath. "Did you like that?" he asked.
Alex nodded, still trying to get her breath back. "More," she finally got out."
Jack laughed. "I never imagined that I'd find someone who would say that," he said, crawling towards where she lay. He reached down and began tickling her tummy, and Alex squealed and squirmed. His fingers dug around trying to get her, but she kept worming away from him. "For someone who asked for this, you're not cooperating very well," he said after a while.
"I can't help it," she said, still giggling. "I'm just too ticklish!" He continued tickle-chasing her around the bed, getting at whatever bare spot was available - tummy, flanks, thighs, butt, while she squealed and wormed around, laughing all the while. Finally she rolled right off the bed, and laid on the floor, laughing to herself. Jack peered over and did the same. "Having fun?" he asked.
"Yes," she said demurely, but then she reached over and grabbed the magazine from where it had fallen. "But I think it's time to raise the stakes." She flipped through it until she found the page, then revealed it to him, showing a girl hog-tied. "Do you think you can do that?"
Jack nodded with a lopsided grin. "I have a nice soft rope I can use," he said.
"Then quit jawing and go get it," she teased. Jack got up and disappeared for a minute or so, then returned. Slowly he began to tie her up on the bed, wrists to ankles just like it was in the picture. "Comfy?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, but before she could even finish she was laughing because he was scratching along the bottoms of her feet again. Like this her feet couldn't go anywhere, so he was quickly able to hit both at once, and she laughed hard at his touch. After a little while of this he reached underneath and began scratching on her butt cheeks, and she shrieked in response before a laughing fit hit her. He was really teasing her now, scratching and then just stopping to give her a little pinch that would make her jump, chuckling to himself while she laughed under the ticklish assault. He started to scratch up her back, sending little shivers all up her body as he went. He stopped when he got over her shoulders and began lightly scratching all over her neck and collarbones, and at that point Alex was fighting. "Stop it! Hahahahaha! Not there Jack!" But Jack wore a nasty grin and kept at it while she thrashed about, until she had wormed herself onto her side, and then he deftly shoved her over the rest of the way. Suddenly she realized she was trapped, and she panted for breath as he abated, seemingly looking for the next best target. "You're evil," she teased. He held up his hands and began pinching his thumb and index finger together. As he approached her breasts, she realized what he was up to, and started laughing a little in anticipation and enjoyment. Then he began lightly squeezing her nipples, and her eyes screwed shut, and a long staccato laugh came out. He seemed to be inside her head, because each little pinch just seemed to tickle her all the more than the last one had, until she was having trouble breathing. Soon, however, he stopped, and began lightly massaging her breasts; Alex let out a sigh of enjoyment. It didn't last, of course, he went back at it after a while and she was left shaking with laughter. Over and over the pattern would repeat, - first the tickle attack, then the wonderful fondling. All of it was starting to drive Alex crazy with desire.
But Jack wasn't done. He suddenly and without warning dropped all ten fingers into her arched tummy, and Alex was laughing her head off instantly. He wriggled his fingers all over, and in no time she was laughing so hard she had the hiccups. He worked the center, right around the belly button area, then out to the sides until he was squeezing her flanks. In no time he was back in the center again, and Alex was sure she was going to pass out from laughter, he was getting her so hard. And then even while she laughed, she felt him kiss her. The tickling abated slowly and the kiss grew more passionate, until she felt him lift her up and onto him. The kiss never stopped as he reached back and undid the ropes by feel, and gradually Alex wrapped herself around him, and they made love far more passionately than the night before, but no less savored. The tickling had gotten both of them charged up, and Alex was certain that all the sexual experience of Susan couldn't hold a candle to this one shared moment with Jack. And after she'd found release several times, he held her, and she felt warm and safe, as if he was a magic cocoon to hold the universe at bay. She nuzzled into him, and glowed with happiness.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Jack and Alex had no problem with maintaining their cover story after that; the two went out together, did things together, and spent their evenings engaged in more of their mutual passion for tickling. Things seemed perfect, so she should have known it wouldn’t last.
It was four days after Alex had first climbed into his bed that the CIA showed up at their door; there were two MI-6 agents with them. "Dr. Yates," the stern man with his ID already out said, "we need a few minutes of your time.
Alex was very nervous, but Jack seemed perfectly fine - all he projected was confusion. "What's this about?" he asked, leading the way to the living area. He took a seat beside Alex while the four agents took various positions opposite them.
"Who is this?" the agent asked. Apparently everyone else was there just to look intimidating. They were very good at it.
"This is Alex," Jack said. "Alex O’Connell. What's this about?"
The agent didn't answer, he just stared at Alex for a while. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, but then, this was an uncomfortable situation. "Does the name Susan Baker mean anything to you?"
"No," Jack said with a bit of confusion. "Was she a patient?"
"She's an ex-agent of MI-6, we're trying to track her down. You've never heard of her?"
"No, why would I; I don't even know what MI-6 is besides what I see in James Bond movies."
"We believe she contacted your sister last month."
"Then why are you talking to me?" Jack asked. "My sister should be easy enough to reach."
"She says the woman in question had contacted her, and then moved on. We're just verifying her story."
Jack looked confused. "How would I know that?"
"Doctor," the agent said, folding his hands and leaning forward in a mildly intimidating manner, "you did make a very substantial payment to your ex-wife recently, yes? Where'd the money come from?"
"A few secure holdings I had," Jack said, naming a couple of the covers Alex had used to launder the money. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"The money wasn't on the list of assets listed in your divorce proceeding."
"My wife didn't know about them," Jack said. "I didn’t think she needed it brought to her attention."
"That's against the law," the agent observed.
"Look," Jack said, and now he sounded very upset, "my wife was a tramp with the moral center of a scorpion. I only shunted that money away because it didn't seem right that my hard-earned money should pay for her exotic trips to fuck other men, all right? Yeah, it wasn't exactly legal, but how many husbands do it, huh? You going to turn us all in? And I still don't see what that has to do with this person you're looking for."
"If you feel that way about you ex-wife," the agent said, "then why pay her that money?"
"She had a detective following us around," Jack said dismissively. "I knew she was trying to find the money. I figured it'd be better to give it to her and shut her up than have her drag me back into court to suck the life out of me and then take it."
The agent had an unreadable face, but there did seem to be the faintest hint of a smirk there. "What's your relationship with her?" he nodded towards Alex.
"Look," Jack said, "I know you're just doing your job, but you still haven't told me what any of this has to do with me. You can't just go digging into my private life like this." The man just stared at him. "We're romantically involved," Jack finally said. "All right?"
"For how long?"
"This is ridiculous," Jack said in frustration. "I want you to leave."
"How long," the man repeated firmly.
"What does this have to do with me?" Jack demanded. And, of course, they couldn't tell him without breaching security.
"Your friend here has made a couple of visits to where your sister works," the agent said.
"Yes," Jack said. "Our relationship's fairly serious, I want her to get to know my family."
"How serious?" the agent asked.
"That's none of your business," Jack said sternly.
"Doctor," the man said, "we can take you into custody if we have to. And before you threaten to get your attorney, I should warn you that if you do we will take you in. So you can answer my questions and have us on our way, or we can spend the rest of the day going over your life with a fine-tooth comb."
Jack gave him a menacing glare. "Very serious," he finally said.
"So you two have engaged in sexual relations," the man said.
Jack opened his mouth to reply with indignation, but then stopped. "Yes," he said through his teeth.
"I don't suppose you can prove that. Some details of each other's anatomy we could verify-"
"Oh for God's sake," Jack said. "Is this really necessary?" He saw the agent’s look. "Check the bathroom trash can in there." An agent detached from his post of looking intimidating and went where he was told he came back, wearing rubber gloves and holding the can in one hand and in the other- "Condoms," the man said. "Lots of them."
The agent’s eyes never left Jack. "Used?"
"Looks that way," the agent said.
"Satisfied?" Jack said sarcastically. "Would you like us to go at it right now in front of you? Is that what's next?"
"Jack," Alex said, taking his hand, "please, get ahold of yourself."
Jack calmed down. "Sorry." He turned back to the agent. "Are we done?"
"Interesting accent," the MI-6 agent on the right asked. "Where are you from?"
"London," Alex said. "But my family moved there when I was little, I was raised in Ireland." The MI-6 agent asked her a few more questions; the answers came naturally. After a little while he seemed satisfied and nodded to the others.
"Thank you for your cooperation," the main agent said. "I apologize for any embarrassment"
"Just leave, please," Jack said, and the four were led out. The door closed behind them, and they waited until they were sure they were away. "You all right?" he asked.
Alex nodded. "You were amazing," she commented. "I can't believe you were able to do all that. When I first saw you you seemed nervous as hell, but you were just..." She grabbed him and kissed him passionately.
Their lips parted. "Pity you didn't do that in front of them," he said slyly. "That certainly would have made the point clear."
Alex laughed a little. It was amazing; if she hadn't started sleeping with him, then there would have been a severe hole in their story. And Jack had had the good sense to think about the condoms. There was no doubt about it, he was the perfect cover. By the time they were finished no one would suspect a thing. She could...
That melancholy feeling came back again. She started to think about being away from him, and all there was was dread. And she looked at him and wished he could come with her. But he couldn't, of course. If he disappeared they'd know something was up, and they'd be able to track them down through him. No, that wasn't even a pipe dream, it was so foolhardy. When she left, she'd be going alone.
She forced a smile to her face. Then she'd better make good use of what time she did have, she thought, and kissed him even more passionately than she just had.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alex put some drops in her eyes to keep them from drying out during the flash process. This was the final one; she'd stay for a few more days to make sure she didn't have some kind of reaction or problem, but this was essentially it.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you a head's up about the agency coming," Carol said. Alex, of course, knew why she couldn't. Any communication would have tipped them off to a possible connection; as it was they had just come for a routine follow-up (Alex had seen the more thorough follow-ups, and it was much more involved and unpleasant).
"No problem; Jack actually did very well. I think we're safely out of the woods."
"I agree," Carol said. "It was a fairly mild interrogation, I think they were just making sure all the i's were dotted and t's were crossed. Let's begin."
Alex put her eyes up to the opening and it all came again, for the last time. And when it was over, she was glad for that. By this time next week she'd be on a South Pacific island drinking cool drinks and watching the waves, with MI-6 far behind her.
And Jack, she thought, and a cloud hung over everything.
--------------------------------------------------------------
When Jack came home, Alex was waiting. She had the rope coiled up in one hand, and a long feather in the other. "I have been waiting hours for you," she said with a seductive smile. "I almost started without you."
Ten minutes later he was securing the last knot to the bedpost while Alex giggled in anticipation. She was so desperate for tickling that she really had almost tried using the feather on herself, but every time she headed towards her bedroom she'd stopped herself. It still felt, when all was said and done, lonely. It felt -and this was the truly depressing part- like her flat back in London where Susan Baker had passed the time waiting for the next event that was only slightly less dreary than what she was doing at that moment. No... what she craved wasn't just tickling, it was him tickling her.
He climbed on the bed and straddled her, and it was clear she would get it now whether she'd asked for it or not. "Any place you want me to start?" he asked
"Um-"
"Too bad," Jack said, and dropped his hands into her armpits. Alex immediately began laughing and despite herself she tried to pull her arms down. His fingers were astonishingly effective, wriggling about her smooth pits, leaving poor tickled flesh in their wake. Alex was letting out small shrieks of laughter within minutes, he was doing that good of a job. "Oh God! Oh God! Hahahaha! Jack! Not too much! Don't do too much!"
"Oh don't worry," Jack said, "I'm doing fine." Her laughter intensified, and then reached that point where she couldn't even talk, she just let laughter bubble out of her mouth. After fifteen solid minutes he finally stopped and allowed her some time to breathe. "That was torture," she said, but her smile said that despite the rebuke she'd loved it.
Jack slowly leaned down and kissed her. "You know... your accent has really... it's very sexy."
"Sexy?" Alex said, surprised anyone could ascribe that to her brogue. "I dinnae ken what'cha mean, Jack." She exploded with laughter as he dug his fingers into her ribcage. He wasn’t subtle about it either - he dropped his fingers on the poor ribs and just wriggled them right into her flesh until Alex was left screaming with laughter. He grinned evilly at her the whole time, never relenting while her eyes teared over. He worked up a little, darting back into her pits a moment before heading back down to her ribs again. Alex was completely helpless now; even if she hadn't been tied down, she lacked the strength to move. When he reached up and began delicately tickling the undersides of her breasts, she could only lay there and laugh. Of course, that was all she really wanted to do.
"Your pleas sound so sexy in that accent," Jack commented while she panted for breath. "I can do this all day."
"Oh no," Alex said with exhaustion. "Not all day Jack.”
"Oh come on, Alex," Jack said. "You can't talk like that and not expect me to tickle you, right? Right?"
Alex giggled, and really dropped into her Irish accent. "Okay, then, Jack; then do a girl a favor and tickle me blarney stone." She tried to keep a straight face but giggled and Jack laughed a bit himself. He slid off her and took up the feather she’d brought, then knelt carefully over her as she giggled in anticipation.
He hadn't actually tickled her there yet, so she wasn't sure what she'd be in for. But she knew one thing: if she could tickle herself there, then odds were good he could do an even better job. And as the feather's tip touched her womanhood, she knew without a doubt he could tickle her out of her skin. "Oh my God! OH MY GOD! HAHAHAHA!!!" Jack turned up to look at her face while he stroked, and she roared with laughter. He kept at it, and she was laughing even more than any of the tickling before. He drew the feather along her curves, wriggled it over her rises, dipped it into her depths, and all the while Alex laughed and laughed. "HAHAHAHA! OH JACK! HEHEHEHAHAHA! MORE! HAHAHA DON'T STOP!!!" She adored the tickling and under it she could also feel the rising sensation she'd felt many times under similar ministrations, except far more intense. The lack of control gave it a wicked edge that filled her with lust, and she was bucking her hips even as he continued tickling all over, until she felt the pleasure hit her like being dropped into icy water on a hot day, and she was left giggling and panting in the wake."
"How was that?" he asked as she panted for breath.
"A nice start," Alex said. "But you can do better. Back to it."
Jack laughed a little. "I thought you said I shouldn't do this all day."
"I lied," she said. "Now stop talking and get back to work." And she shrieked as the feather dipped into her navel, and Jack did exactly what she'd wanted.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The day before she was planning to leave, Alex went online to make the preparations. The money would need to be transferred again several times before it was given to Carol, and Alex would need to withdraw some for a ticket and carry around money. She flirted for the thousandth time about bringing Jack with her, but just like all the other times she knew that just wasn't possible. Tomorrow she'd get on that plane, alone, and that would be that. She reminded herself of everything she'd put herself through to make this happen, and it helped.
Then she blinked at the screen, and no amount of optimism was going to help this.
The money was gone.
Alex went looking around, but it was completely wiped out. What could have happened. Did MI-6 find it? It was possible... they were trained to do Alex's old job, and she didn't have any delusions that she was the best there was on the planet. In a panic she logged off, fearful they might have tried to track her back to Jack's computer; no, she thought, that would be stupid. If they wanted to catch her, they'd have left the money there so she wouldn't be tipped off. No, she was probably safe... except for the fact that she didn't have anything more than the clothes on her back.
Alex hadn't realized she was crying until she felt Jack's hands on her shoulders. "What is it?" he asked in his gentle voice that somehow made her cry all the more. She explained about the money, and he held her tight. "It'll be all right," he promised.
"I d-d-don't know what to do," Alex got out. “I'm a fugitive without a penny to my name."
"I'll help you," Jack said.
"I can't even afford to pay you," she said miserably. "And your sister's expecting ten million-"
"I'll handle her," Jack said. "Relax, Alex. This is bad, but it's not the end of the world."
"What am I supposed to do?" she asked in despair. "Where am I supposed to go?"
Jack was quiet for a time. "Why do you have to go?" he finally asked.
Alex's sobs trailed off, and she looked into his face. "I don't have any money," she said again.
"It's fine, Alex," he said, and held her tight. "It'll be fine.” His voice shook a little. "I know this is horribly selfish, but this is the best thing I could imagine happening. You- you filled the hole that Kate had left... and I started to think there'd be an even larger one once you were gone."
"Oh Jack," she wept because she didn't know what else to do. She had wanted to be with him, and all the emotions, the love and the anger and the frustration and the terror and the joy all mixed together until it was too much for her to take in; she didn't know what end was up and felt like she was going to collapse into total despair. So she did the only thing she could to keep from falling, and clung to him. And as the minutes passed, she found that he was right... that this was the best possible thing that could have happened. If she would have gotten on that plane, then nothing would have changed, she'd still have been Susan Baker, just a Susan Baker sitting on a beach. Her life would have been just as drab and empty as it had been, because all she'd do is try to fill it with things again. But Alex had much more, someone who would care for her and love her and tickle her as much as she needed... and the thought of that finally stopped the tears from falling and a smile to come to her full lips. "I.. think I need to have a good laugh. A very good laugh." She wiped at her eyes. "News like this... I think I need to laugh until I can't breathe."
Jack smiled, and despite his build picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, and a few minutes later, with the removal of clothing and the addition of ropes, she was soon laughing like a madwoman... and never been happier.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Carol sipped some coffee and then got back to work. Susan, or Alex, whatever you wanted to think of, had been good, but hadn't been as careful as Carol herself always insisted on being. Then again, Susan had always been too small time and too short term a thinker. Expecting Carol to risk prison for a mere ten million? Nonsense.
Poor fool, Carol thought with pity. It had been so easy under the influence of the flash programming to make her do what was needed, like writing out the account details for Carol without any memory of it. Then again, she really had been remade, hadn't she? That crushing bore Susan was gone, and good riddance. And her poor brother... she loved him, but even after all Kate had put him through, she knew he'd just wind up finding another busty-slut to take her place. He just didn't think, and so it was left once again for her to look out for her little brother. She sighed inwardly. At least this shouldn't end in tragedy, she thought. She'd made Alex to be everything he wanted, from her playmate body to her addiction to tickling. With a little mental conditioning to make sure she fit the role cast for her, Alex would become the perfect bride for him.... and she'd have no need for the other twenty million she'd been planning on keeping.
Carol thought on it. I think I'll win at gambling next summer, she decided. That could bring in a sizable chunk. After that, bringing it in will be much easier. She wasn't going to disappear, she'd hide right out in the open. That was how it worked. Try becoming a fugitive, and you risk it all. Anyone who finds your secret could leave you in... she smirked a little. In a very ticklish situation.
