{George}
I wanted to get out of bed when I saw Eve pass out but I couldn't because of the wires and stuff that was attached to me. Good thing Levi caught her before she hit the ground.
Levi frowned when he looked at her hand. "What's up with the black spots?"
"I'm calling the nurse in," I said.
I pressed the call button. "I'll be there in a minute!" The nurse answered.
As soon as the nurse came in and saw Eve passed out she quickly called for a couple of other nurses and a doctor to take care of Eve. Levi went outside in the hallway to see what was going on. When he came back into the room he sighed, "Eve has Agent Flu but not for the same reason you do."
I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Eve is gaining a new ability," Levi explained. "The doctor seemed awfully excited when that happened because usually seasoned Agents like Eve don't really develop anymore abilities when they get to be her age."
That was when Zoey decided to wake up and start crying. Levi took her out of her car seat and held her.
"How long has it been since Zoey last ate?" Levi asked.
"Since you guys left her with me to go to the hospital," Mom answered. "Let me guess, she's hungry isn't she?"
Levi nodded. "I'll go talk to the nurse and see if I can get her a bottle."
He went out into the hall again and shortly after he came back a nurse came into the room with a bottle for Zoey. Zoey took it as if she hadn't eaten anything in days!
"Wow, she really was hungry!" I said.
"Yeah, um George? I gotta go take care of Eve. I'll be taking Zoey with me," Levi said.
I nodded. "Of course, I totally understand. I'd do the same thing if I were in your shoes."
Once Levi left Dad sighed, "You know what, I think we should get going too, son. I don't know about you but I've had enough excitement for the day."
Mom snickered. "You're getting old Hudson. I'm surprised you didn't have a heart attack with all the excitement happening today!"
Dad rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah whatever." He looked at me. "I'll see you around."
Mom nodded and followed Dad out the door. I breathed a sigh of relief when they left. After everyone left, the room was quiet. Now that I finally had a chance to process the bombshell that was dropped on me about Eve I couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for her.
"Poor Eve," I muttered to myself. "No wonder how she's able to do her job so well."
"You talking about Agent 36?" I heard someone say.
I looked up to see Triple X standing in the doorway with a look of concern on his face.
I sighed, "Yeah but I can't really say much about it though. Other than the fact that somehow, she got Agent Flu and it's because she's developing a new ability. The rest of the story falls underneath the Agent Code of Conduct."
Triple X whistled, "That bad huh?"
I nodded. "Yup. There were contracts involved that my Mom and Dad had to sign and apparently my brother signed a contract before he even married Eve."
"I do know a little about Prodigy Evelyn's background because we went to the same boot camp before being shipped out to different congregations," Triple X said.
My eyes went wide. "Really?"
Triple X chuckled. "Oh yeah. A couple of my friends and I were kind of jealous of her because Elder Lewis was taking special interest in her or whatever the reason, so we decided to gang up on her after training hours. Prodigy Evelyn didn't take us bullying her lying down and she handed us our asses and sent us packing."
"Wow, you were jealous of her because of Elder Lewis?" I said.
He nodded. "It wasn't until later on that was stupid of me because she would come back from training looking like she was somebody's punching bag. Although the wounds she had were gone the next day it made me think that Elder Lewis taking a special interest in you probably wasn't a good thing. Not to mention from what I know of Elder Lewis had her training underneath Trainer Michael. That guy is often referred to as the Devil Trainer for a reason.
"He's even trained future congregation leaders. That's the job I was being raised to do. And yes, I did wind up training under the guy. Trainer Michael would often have me spar against Prodigy Evelyn."
"Did you win any fights against her?" I asked.
He shook his head. "Nope. She kicked my ass, every. Single. Time. Why she wasn't trained to be a congregation leader was beyond me. But nope, she was being trained to be an Enforcer this whole entire time. And my friends are evaluators for Enforcers and from what I hear she's doing to a pretty damn good job. Of course, she's on break because of giving birth to her child."
"Yeah Zoey's adorable!" I said. "She looks like a mini Eve! But she has the same sleeping habits as her father." I chuckled, "She's a deep sleeper and I mean a really deep sleeper! With all the commotion going on in my room she was knocked out cold. I thought she was dead at first but she was just sleeping away. The only time she woke up was after Eve passed out and she was hungry."
He snorted. "Wow. Anyway, from the looks of it you'll be out of here in a couple of days."
I frowned. "Why? I feel fine."
"That's exactly what all Agents say when they first wake up," Triple X said. "It's just for observation and if nothing goes wrong you'll be free to go back to business as usual."
"I see," I said.
"And I'm pretty sure Branden will be by to visit you again," Triple X said with a smirk. "You know he really cares about you right?"
I paused. "Um… Okay?"
"And I know that you have your eye on him," Triple X said. "When you two finally get the nerve to confess to each other, I approve. Anyway, I just came by to check on you. I have to get going."
I stared in disbelief as he walked out the door. What just happened?
***
{Eve}
The next time I opened my eyes I was lying on a mattress. I stretched out and noticed something different about me. When I looked down I saw that my hand wasn't a hand anymore. It was a giant paw!
That made me pause. What the hell?
"Good morning!" A nurse said as they walked into my room.
Once they turned on the light I realized that I was in a hospital room. The bed that I was on was an extra wide bed. I looked over and saw that Zoey was asleep in a crib right next to my bed and Levi was sleeping on the small couch in the room.
I blinked. "What the fuck happened to me?"
The nurse smiled. "You gained a new ability! And it looks like you can turn into a Lioness now! It's so cool that Agents can still talk like humans even when they're transformed!"
I blinked again. "What?"
"Oh and I saw your daughter turn into a baby Lioness in her sleep! She's so cute!" The nurse said.
"Alright enough gawking at the patient!" A doctor said as he entered the room. His name tag said Dr. Larry on it.
The nurse turned around to look at him. "What? I couldn't help it!"
Dr. Larry pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "Agent 36 and her daughter aren't animals in a Zoo! If you want to spectate animals in a Zoo then go to an actual Zoo during your time off! And if you can't be professional while you're in here then send in another nurse who can!"
The nurse put her hands to say she surrendered. "Okay, okay I can be professional."
Dr. Larry nodded. "Good." He looked at me. "How are you feeling Agent 36?"
"Totally and utterly fucking confused!" I declared.
He chuckled. "That's understandable. I'd be confused too if I woke up transformed into a cat. It doesn't surprise me that you developed this ability because it runs in the family for you. Your mother could turn into a Lioness and your father could turn into a Lion. Just like you inherited your Demon Power from your father. I'm just surprised that you developed the ability this late in life."
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"I see," I said.
"Can we show her what she looks like as a Lioness? Please?" The nurse asked, while giving Dr. Larry puppy eyes.
Dr. Larry rolled his eyes. "Fine because she'll be turning back into a human soon anyway."
My jaw dropped. "How do you know that?"
"It's part of my abilities," Dr. Larry said. "It comes in handy when you're a doctor. It's called a Sensor Power. I can sense people's emotions and when they're powers are going to go out of whack among other things."
"Cool," I said. The nurse pulled up a mirror at the foot of my bed and I stared at it in shock. I looked like a Lioness alright! I had huge paws, broad shoulders, and a long fluffy tail. I was so shocked that my hackles went up and I hissed at my reflection.
"Alright, alright calm down," Dr. Larry gave the nurse an annoyed look. "Take that mirror away before it breaks."
Right on cue Zoey woke up and started crying and that caused the mirror to break because of how loud her cries were getting and that caused Levi to abruptly wake up.
Levi stared at me. "Okay, why is there a Lioness in my wife's bed?"
"Uh, Levi? Can you calm Zoey down first?" I asked.
Levi looked over at Zoey when she let out another loud cry and moved to take her out of her crib. "It's okay sweetheart. I know you just woke up. Alright, you need a bath, a diaper change, clean clothes and a bottle."
"I can help out with the bathing and changing her clothes if you want?" The nurse asked.
Levi shook his head. "Nah, I got it. I'll just need a bottle after she's taken care of."
The nurse nodded. "Alright then."
Levi looked over at me again. "I have no idea why you're transformed into a Lioness but you look pretty cool as a cat."
I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha very funny."
Levi went and took care of Zoey and while he was feeding her he made a call for someone to bring him a fresh change of clothes and his laptop. That meant he planned on doing some work from the hospital today. That thought made me smile. How did I get so lucky to have such a kind and caring husband like Levi?
Once Levi took care of everything that's when I noticed myself starting to shift back into a human.
"Nurse Padin! Get Agent 36 a medium sized hospital gown, now!" Dr. Larry ordered.
She nodded and did as she was told. Dr. Larry left the room along with her and shortly after that I changed back into a human. I grabbed the hospital gown and changed into it.
"How did he know you were getting ready to change back into a human?" Levi asked.
I shrugged. "Apparently, it's a part of his abilities. And changing into a cat runs in my family. The doctor told me that my mother could turn into a Lioness and my father could turn into a Lion."
"Interesting, is that why Zoey can turn into a cub?" Levi said.
I nodded. "Yup. I guess this is a family thing. Why I developed this ability so late in life is puzzling though. It's bad enough that I'm barely getting the hang of controlling my Demon Power. Of course being on break because of having a child helps me focus my training more."
Levi sighed, "Yeah you know you don't need to train as hard as you've been going lately right? When you go back you're still going to be the best Agent ever!"
I felt myself blush. "Um, thanks Levi."
"Okay let's take care of your vitals, and we'll run some tests just to make sure things are okay," Dr. Larry said as he came into the room.
I looked at him and nodded.
Dr. Larry did his job and then smiled at me. He was ready to say something when we heard a tiny roar coming from Zoey's crib. We looked at Zoey's crib and sure enough, Zoey was sitting down turned into a lion cub.
Levi chuckled. "That will always be cute."
"She'll be changing back in three… Two…" Dr. Larry said.
Zoey slowly but surely turned back into a human.
"Looks like I'll have to take her vitals too and possibly run some tests on her. She won't like it though," Dr. Larry said.
My eyes went wide. "Let me guess, blood draw?"
He nodded. "Blood draw."
"You have to do blood work on my daughter? For what reason?" Levi asked.
"A routine check for children that develop abilities like your daughter did. Agent 36 was the same way. She developed her Demon Power right from the moment she was born. She cried with her eyes open and they turned red and she almost leveled the building. I was able to deduce from her blood test results that she would gain another ability by the time she turned two and she did," Dr. Larry said.
"And what ability was that?" I asked.
"Your electricity ability. You loved zapping me every single time I had to work with you even if it was just to do a routine check-up," He laughed. "It got so bad that I had to resort to using rubber gloves instead of the regular latex. Although I should've done that from the start. Agents that have the electricity ability as a toddler or even a newborn rubber gloves are required and me being the idiot that I was at the time I thought that that rule was just plain stupid."
Levi laughed; he got a real kick out of that with his laughter. After a moment he regained his composure. "Wow, Eve was a handful even as a baby!"
Dr. Larry nodded and said proudly, "Yup! That's exactly what happens when you have a child who's destined to be an Enforcer."
At this point in the conversation Nurse Padin came in with the necessary tools to do blood work for me and Zoey.
"Um, do you mind if you take my blood first? That way I can take care of Zoey when you're poking her with a needle," I said.
Dr. Larry nodded. "Sure, yeah even though I can help somewhat with my abilities she's definitely going to cry. I find that the mother comforts the baby more so than the father. At least how it is for Agents. Not sure about the Agents that marry outsiders."
Levi snorted. "Eve can handle it. She's one heck of a mother. If anyone can calm Zoey down it's her."
I didn't say anything to that comment because I had nothing to say. Nurse Padin did my blood work and that didn't take long when she turned to Zoey and when Zoey saw the needle she started crying.
I went over to her and started making funny faces and talking to her in a baby voice. "Zoey, look at me! Oh, I know what will work!" I looked at Levi. "Did you pack her favorite toy by chance?"
He smiled. "When do I ever not pack it?"
He went over to the diaper bag and pulled out Zoey's favorite which was a stuffed Lion that she likes to cuddle with. When he handed it to me I held the Lion up and said, "Hey Zoey! It's Harry the Lion! Please stop crying, you're making Harry sad."
Sure enough Zoey looked at the stuffed toy and giggled. But then the needle went in and she started crying again. I tried everything in my power to console her but I had to wait until after the blood work was done so that I could pick her up and hold her.
"I know, I know it hurts doesn't it?" I said in a baby voice. "It's okay you're fine now. Shhhh…"
I rubbed circles on her back to comfort and after a moment she calmed down. I put her back in her crib and she looked at me and did grabbing hands and said, "Harry? Lion?"
I nodded and handed her her toy. She took it and cuddled with it and shortly after that she fell asleep.
Levi smiled. "It's about time she added more words to her vocabulary."
I smirked. "Yeah and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before she says Daddy."
Dr. Larry chuckled. "Alright you guys. I'll leave you alone now and the test results should be in by tomorrow. Of course you'll be staying here for a couple of days and as long as everything looks okay you'll be able to go home."
"Thanks Doctor," I said.
"No problem," Dr. Larry said and he left the room.
The rest of the day passed with nothing major happening. Levi worked on his laptop and then he went home for the night.
***
{Branden}
I've been trying to keep my worries about George being in the hospital at bay so I could focus on doing my job but it was hard.
As I sat down to eat lunch Olivia and Ben came and sat down next to me as usual.
"You seemed rather distracted in class today. What's wrong?" Olivia asked.
I sighed, "I'm just worried about George. He should be out of the hospital today. I went to visit him yesterday and he seemed fine."
"Okay if he's fine then why are you so worried? He's a grown man and he can take care of himself," Ben said.
Olivia gave me a pointed look and raised an eyebrow. "Unless you like him? And I mean like, like him!"
I sighed, "Yes I do. I really do! And I know he likes me because he's giving me clear signals that he does. I just think he's a little clueless about what he's doing."
"So how'd you find out he likes you? Has he confessed?" Ben asked.
"Well not exactly but I did happen to overhear him talking to his sister-in-law about me and he admitted it in that conversation," I said.
"Maybe you should just go ahead and confess to him?" Ben suggested.
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Really Ben? Love needs to grow slowly. I mean how many women have you confessed to?"
"Plenty and that includes my wife," Ben growled. "It's easy! Just go up to George and tell him maybe ask him out on a date?"
"Easy for you to say! You're married!" Oliva said. "Here's an idea Branden, why not try and show off for him?"
"Show off? How am I supposed to do that when George is an Agent and I'm just a Boot Camp Instructor. That's why George was in the hospital. He had Agent Flu," I said.
Ben gasped. "Was it his first kill or did he develop a new ability?"
"First kill," I answered.
"Even better!" Olivia declared. "You could give George your shoulder to cry on and when he has nightmares you can console him. When in doubt you could just peacock it!"
I paused. "Huh?"
Ben burst into a fit of laughter. He laughed so hard he almost fell out of his seat. "Peacock it? Seriously Olivia?"
"What do you mean by peacock?" I asked.
"You most certainly probably have a nice little six pack of abs underneath your shirt like every other male boot camp instructor does, so why not walk around the cabin naked? I mean not like a full birthday suit naked (unless you're comfortable doing that) but at least with your shirt off and in your boxers. Maybe you can tempt him into confessing?" Olivia suggested.
“Tempt him?” I said. “I don’t know.”
Olivia shrugged. “You’ll never know until you try something.”
“Hmmm, I‘ll think about it,” I said.
Later that night George came back from the hospital and he seemed to be doing okay.
“How are you feeling today?” I asked.
He sighed. “I feel fine for now. I talked to my sister-in-law about this and she said didn’t start feeling some type of way about her first kill until later on. So maybe I’ll feel something? Maybe I won’t? I have no idea.”
”I see. You know if you need to talk I’m right here, right?” I said.
He smiled. "I know and there's something that I want to confirm."
He sat down on his bed and motioned for me to sit down next to him. "Okay, what do you want to confirm?"
He leaned closer to me and without warning kissed me. I didn't resist the kiss at all. I leaned into it and the next thing I knew into a full blown make out session and I loved every bit of it. We didn't stop kissing until we needed to breathe.
"You know you're lucky I like you because most would've kicked your ass just for kissing them alone," I said.
He chuckled. "It appears I've been a clueless idiot this whole time. Just like I was when I was coming to terms with my sexuality. My friend Jerry helped me with that when I was still in boot camp. We were just friends with benefits. So we weren't really dating."
I paused. "Wait a minute! I thought you were dating Jerry. Usually Jerry's known for sleeping around even if he was in a relationship. It's funny I was trying to drop hints that I liked you even at boot camp."
He facepalmed. "Yup, I'm definitely a clueless idiot! Even my sister-in-law saw that you liked me and I totally thought otherwise."
I chuckled. "It's okay. So with that in mind would you like to start a relationship with me?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I would like that."
I leaned over and started kissing him again. Being with George made me the happiest that I've ever felt and I had no idea that in the near future I'd be even happier adding another person into the mix.