DISCLAIMER: The Bionic Woman and its characters are the property of NBC. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, awhile back, geekgrrl wrote this great Bionic Woman story that stuck with me. And, because I like a good challenge, I asked if I could do my own take on her tale. Luckily for my randy muses, she said yes! It was the 'reset button' line that started all this, because I just could not forget it. Now, the original version of House Call is HERE. Thanks GG, for accepting my challenge, because this was tons of fun.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
House Call: the extended version
By Shatterpath
It has been building for what feels like forever.
Honestly, I didn't even notice it at first, rising like static electricity that cumulates into a lightning strike. The weird vibe is humming along my nerves and bionics like the shiver of guitar strings, plucked and caressed.
Why haven't they called?
As much as Jonas has beaten the subject to death about how much damn money I cost him, I figured he'd have some sort of OnStar system to let Burkett know when I was melting down. Oh well, I guess I'm back to the usual old-fashioned phone call.
Really, you think they would have installed some kind of communication device along with the ear and eye…
Like my programmed fighting reflexes, I get through the security checkpoints by rote, waiting impatiently while they find someone high enough on the food chain to deal with me. Outside, it's growing dark and I can hear the Friday night traffic jostling around the city. I've completely lost myself in the diffused chaos by the time a voice jars me from my zone out.
"Jamie?"
Low, throaty, calm… I know this voice. It actually takes a moment to place the tones through the distraction of my internal turmoil.
"Ruth," I taste the word as though never having rolled it around my mouth before. Even through the distance over the wireless lines between us, I can hear the woman's breathing and it provides some kind of anchor. "Ruth, I … there seems to be something going a little haywire with me."
It's a lame excuse at best, my fumbling like some awkward teenage boy faced with his crush, red-faced and stammering.
"Are you in any danger?" Once more, her calm voice is anchoring and I shake my head before answering out loud.
"Not that I know of."
"Well, that's something." Part of me is startled by the faint wisp of relief in her voice, part of me expects it. After all, they can't have their Robocop pet under threat, can they? "Can you give me a few more hints?"
Shaking off my continued mixed feelings regarding Burkett and this woman who has been my handler of sorts for this short while since Antonio's death, I struggle with an answer. "I'm amped up and shaky and can't seem to calm down."
"Hmmm," Ruth hums thoughtfully to herself and I want to scream with frustration. The enigmatic woman drives me nuts. Everyone else I've pretty much figured out, but not her. "I was just on my way out for the weekend, but let me see if Nathan is still here. You stay put and I'll get back to you ASAP with what I find out."
It's not what I want, but I'm the new kid and sigh, "yeah. I'll be here."
It's ridiculous, really. Sometimes it seems like my body isn't my own any more. I guess in many respects, it really isn't and that's just disturbing. Pacing around the loft, I massage my bionic hand with my flesh one, digging into the palm as though trying to read the artificial bones beneath. They don't look any different; they don't even feel any different, at least not to others. To me, I can tell by the biofeedback that races along nerves of two sorts.
Breathing shallowly, rapidly, like a nervous rabbit, I clamp down on the enhanced abilities of the bionics and grumble about all this chaos. Like my damn life hasn't been weird enough…
The sharp rap of a knock at my door makes me jump like a startled cat, whirling to stare at it. Once again, I can't seem to react for a long moment, watching the tracking device in my new eye assess the potential threat, feeling hardwired reflexes kicking in.
It takes a real effort to wrestle them down and focus past reflex. Beyond the door… what's beyond the door?
"Jamie?"
Her voice isn't raised, but still carries clearly to my bionic ear and I want to sag in relief. Clamping down on the stress, I force myself to the door. Sure enough, here is Ruth, with the strangest expression lurking around her perpetually serious face. Silently, I step aside, nearly slamming the door to get my hand away from it before I deform the knob into modern art. A flick of my finger has the deadbolt thrown and I gesture lamely for her to follow me deeper into the apartment.
"Ruth, what the hell is happening?" Collapsing into the safe cradle of the couch, I cringe at the whining note in my voice. Oh great, now I've started to actually shake, tremors racing along my patchwork nervous system. Distantly, I note that Ruth has followed me, setting down her heavy briefcase and smaller bag that probably contains a laptop before sitting beside me. "I feel like I'm hopped up on something. Thank God Becca isn't home this weekend to see me like this."
Like too many bees in a confined space, heat is pooling deep in my guts, making me feel fluttery and a bit nauseous. So I drag my legs to my chest, hugging them tightly, hoping that the pressure will calm my heartbeat and the tremors.
The feathery touch is so startling that I can't even jump in surprise. Fingertips caress over my shoulder, thumb tracing the tense line of the thick tendon that anchors neck to shoulder before all five fingers press into the tension at the base of my skull. My breath is an explosive sound in the cradle of my thighs pressed so tightly to my body. Ruth has never touched me before. Outside of Nathan's geekstar fiddling with my bionics, no one has really touched me.
In the press of Ruth's fingers to my neck and shoulder, I realize how desperately I have missed simple human touch. It feels impossibly good, her warm fingertips as they trace the ridges of my spine, soothing the muscles and tendons firmly, but sweetly.
"It's going to be ok Jaime." The familiar voice is so calm and gentle that I find myself looking at her as she leans out a bit to catch my eye. To my half amused annoyance, the bionic one has kicked in again, the tracking system looking over every familiar feature on her face and upper body. "Nathan ran a remote diagnostic on your systems and discovered what the problem is." For once, a mention of the amusing and obnoxious tech doesn't faze me and I nod obediently that I'm listening. A faint smile curls Ruth's mouth, shocking me with how it transforms her face and lightens her eyes. That caressing hand has moved, I note with distraction, toying and tugging at the dark fall of my hair. It's nice, giving me another anchor point as Ruth gathers her thoughts.
"The technicians had thought that Sarah would be the only one who's affected by the bionics, that with this next generation of technology they were sure they had solved the problem." Part of me has followed the words, but part of me is too caught up in the press of her hand and the thrum of reaction along my nerves. Leaning into her touch, I struggle with the energy as she shifts a bit closer, the heat of her body discernable now in the faint space between us. It's not just me affected by this strange interaction, as my bionic ear, still attuned so closely to her, has easily picked up her elevated heartbeat, the changes in her voice, "The anthracites will on occasion start to vibrate in sync with each other. This eventually hits a harmonic level that loops into your bionic implants and then slowly builds up. The side effect to all of this is your natural organic system, your body, will also begin a spiraling sympathetic rhythm, which can be dangerous if left too long."
Completely against any stimuli of my upper brain, I have started to go loose and boneless in the thrall of Ruth's low, intimate tone. Almost hypnotic, she has reached in to begin soothing the stress of my short-circuiting body. My eyes have drifted nearly closed in this safe, sensual place created by Ruth's voice and touch, when a very clear realization breaks through the haze. It's a startling revelation, echoed in the jolt that flashes through my entire body, scalp to toes.
Oh duh, Jamie, I castigate myself.
"Ruth?" The breathless note in my voice is obvious as I uncurl from my protective huddle, needing the heat of her body. The tremors are focusing now, coiling low in my belly, the ache throbbing in time with my elevated heartbeat. "I feel like I'm going to explode if something doesn't…" The fractured thought is lost in the tenderness in her pale eyes.
"I read Jae's report on similar situations with Sarah." Ruth muses half to herself, something that might almost be embarrassment flashing over a face I have never noticed is so expressive. The pale eyes drop away for a long moment, while I wait for this to play out with baited breath. When her gaze does return to mine, the lopsided smile makes me helplessly grin back. "As her handler, he was able to work things out."
Hard to say which is more distracting, Ruth's deepening breathing, clearly signally the rising emotion in the room, or that exploring hand, trailing over my cheek, thumb caressing my lower lip. The tease…
"We need to overload your organics which will in turn reset your bionic systems and get those crazy little anthracites back to work." In a far cry from her clinical and amusing explanation, Ruth has finally done what I've been desperately hoping for, reaching out to tug me into the warmth and softness of her trim body, both of us falling back into the couch cushions. With any luck, and it looks like it might be my lucky day, she'll 'handle' me soon!
Nuzzling into the softness of Ruth's throat, I feel the warmth of her wash over me, making me shiver pleasantly in reaction.
"God, I hope you're volunteering Ruth," I whimper, my voice strained, pausing at the shudder of reaction I've gotten at that spot just to the side of the hollow of her throat. I like that. My idiot voice just continues to ramble away with a mind of its own. "Because I don't know how much longer I can keep my hands off you."
My mind is crowded, buzzing with images and desires. I want the feel of her skin, naked against my own. I want the thrill of this powerful, controlled woman stripped of clothing and self-control, writhing beneath me. With a physical jolt, brain translates to body, the trembling tension that has been plaguing me spiraling inward like a tornado reaching for earth. When that funnel cloud of lust touches down, the tremors hone in, my own body growing slick and tight with desire.
"Come here," Ruth growls, abruptly fisting both hands in my trailing hair to tug my head back and lay claim to me with a sweetly demanding kiss. There's only a moment of pause, permission silently asked for and willingly given. In only a pair of heartbeats, I have picked up on her lead, shifting my stronger body more fully, noting the way our bodies nestle together easily, the way her mouth responds to the sudden demands of mine, the grip of her hands in my hair.
The tornado has me now, my upper brain lost in the maelstrom of need and want and desperation that shakes me, makes me cry out for the succor only she can offer now. The soft moaning low in my throat is my breath now, her hands on my flesh the only thing defining me as a physical being.
With gentle, implacable demand, Ruth twists so that I am cradled by the seat and back of the couch. That lovely mouth has moved to my neck, ratcheting my acute need higher as she explores with devastating accuracy. One hand roves over my chest and belly, nearly making me cramp with want, tugging my shirt out of my jeans.
"Now, let me see if I can find that reset button…"
As though she has known me forever, Ruth touches and strokes expertly, quickly curling that sensitive hand into the burning wet at my core. The storm crashes over me, my cries echoing through the apartment.
Blinking back to myself, I'm almost startled by the hazel eyes so close to my own. The couch is creaking with my bionic death grip on its superstructure, my other hand curled protectively over the crotch of my jeans, where I can feel the outline of Ruth's hand beneath. "That's a little better," I hear myself say, swallowing hard to wet my parched throat. Maybe later I'll be stressed over repercussions, but right now I just don't give a damn. "C'mon."
Startled by my sudden burst of energy, Ruth cringes away but manages to stay on the couch as I clamber over her. Dizziness from the quick assent forces me to pause for acclimation before hauling Ruth to her feet and dragging her after me.
"Jamie," she murmurs, the sound lost when I turn and haul her into a deep kiss. Words are overrated here because I know the need echoed from my body to hers and back again. There is an odd note of vulnerability as I tug her silky blouse loose from her slacks, running both hands beneath to feel her bare skin. She is smooth softness over firm muscle and bone, cloaked by the silk of her skin.
"You feel good," I hiss, leaning away to grab the trailing edges of her shirt and jerk at them. Oops, I forget how strong I am now, buttons flying and fabric tearing. "Sorry."
Shaking her head wordlessly, eyes wide, Ruth only peels my own shirt off and we kiss again as more clothing vanishes beneath fumbling fingers. It's sloppy and wordless and raw as we finish what started on my couch. My hands shake with the need to feel her whole naked length against me, but some part of me thinks to not ruin any more of her clothing and my hands shake as I pop the button on her slacks and yank down the zipper. Some part of me, brought closer to sanity by Ruth's touch, notes the unexpected closeness of our heights, the differences and similarities in how we're built.
Ruth is sturdier than I, broader across the shoulders, and smaller breasted, the signs of age unexpectedly sexy on her slender frame. She hisses and makes a keening sound when I touch places she likes and I get to use that as a barometer to how I'm doing. I can only be distantly thankful for the bionic feedback that got me to this state and the circumstances that brought her to me to solve the problem.
Those fathomless eyes watch me almost unblinkingly as our naked bodies melt into the disarray of my familiar bed, as I grip her thigh in my flesh hand, holding her long muscles tight to the burn in my groin. Staring intently at each other, breathing harsh in the quiet of the room, we silently goad each other on, my own leg and hip finding the wet heat in Ruth, grinding tight and close.
There is something in watching this cool woman melt down that moves me. Always so calm and in control, this contrast is startling and gratifying, her eyes fluttering, body rolling and thrusting into mine. Tickling a couple of fingers down where we're pressed so tightly together finishes the job, making Ruth groan heavily, breath shuddering from between clenched teeth.
"That was sexy," I can't help but grin, temporarily distracted from the energies in my own body. Hazel eyes gone grey and dark in the faint light bleeding down the hallway from the living room, Ruth watches me while her body settles. This is the first time I've really seen the woman, her armor temporarily stripped away.
Then she rolls me off to pounce on me and the contemplation of real selves will have to wait until later.
What feels like an eternity later, calm has settled after the raging storm. Despite the exercise, I'm unable to sleep, turning the last few hours over and over in my mind. The buzzing, foreign energy is gone now, leaving me settled and calm more than I have been since waking up in that infirmary with Will leaning over me, trying to explain what had happened to me. I can only imagine that this harmonic vibration, or whatever Ruth called it, is a cumulative thing.
Ruth.
The woman has been perfect, intuitive and thorough and driven to exhaust me. On the couch, my whole body spiraling into a chaos that could harm me, she drove me out of my mind, hands and mouth everywhere she could touch, before calling me back to myself. Still hungry, still hot and bothered, the games moved to my bedroom, where we got naked and picked up where we left off.
Now, I am no prude, nor have I lead a particularly boring life. But this is outside of what has happened to me before. Not that these past few months haven't been absolute science fiction craziness…
In lizard-brain reflex my hand, ironically the bionic right, is stroking over Ruth's silky skin as though trying to memorize her. Sprawled limp and boneless on her belly, she is dozing and my body is curled comfortably along her side. It's the comfort that startles me far more than my sexual reactions to her. After all, sex feels good with any partner. Why would Ruth's being a woman change that? But the ease I feel draped along her body, breathing into the utter disarray of her short hair is somewhat unsettling, though not unpleasantly so.
If this evening's chemistry is anything to go by, I will definitely keep this one close.
To my delight, Ruth shudders and inhales a long, slow breath. The sensuality of the scene is intoxicating and I carefully lean over her to watch the pale lashes flutter open. "Hey," I murmur with a smile, stilling my hand on the curve of her hip. For long moments, there is only the glimmer of her eyes, barely open. Then, a faint grin curls the corner of her mouth and the small tensions that sprang up in her body fade once more.
"Hey," Ruth whispers hoarsely, reaching back to awkwardly touch my head. "You look better."
Leaning close, I trail my tongue lightly around the shell of her ear, drinking in the tremble of sensual reaction down her body. "I feel better. You've got the magic touch."
A nudge from her shoulder gets me to shift away only far enough to allow Ruth to roll onto her back, draping both arms over my shoulders. There's no hesitation to once more kiss her, the interaction unhurried and deep. "Glad it was you that picked up the phone," I murmur against her lips and get an unfettered laugh. I've never heard Ruth laugh, never seen her smile freely and certainly never seen this unfettered warmth in her eyes.
"So am I," she chuckles and the smile goes impish. "I can only imagine that Jae would have run screaming. Nathan would have done it though."
My stinky-face of distaste makes her laugh once more and I vow to seduce her again sometime just to get her loosened up enough to that. "Smartass." My sour comment deepens her laughter, shaking her whole body with mirth. Before I can decide if I'm offended or not, Ruth has tugged my head down to be kissed once more.
"Anything else I can help you with?" She teases me coyly and I cannot fathom where this playful creature has come from. Though my parting shot before getting down to business makes us both giggle hysterically.
"Yeah. See, I have this reset button that needs fine tuning…"
The End