The plane lands on the roof of Stormwatch Tower, and the members of Stormwatch start filing out and heading for the elevator to go down to their apartments. Gwen is one of the first people off, and she stands to the side and waits for Slider to come out of the plane.
Slider walks off the plane and rolls her eyes playfully at Gwen. She walks over to her and shrugs. "You know I don't remember anyone being mean to Sero. I mean we tease but we tease everybody!" Slider says shaking her head. "If we didn't tease you we don't like you!"
Gwen rolls her eyes, too, and nods. "Exactly! And Sero was always one of the worst ones of the bunch when we first joined Stormwatch! Guess who came up with the nickname 'Pumpkin' for Damage? Guess who came up with the idea of buying a pumpkin and turkey costume, waiting for Damage and Watcher to get drunk, and then putting them into the costumes and taking pictures of them? I wish I could say it was me, but nope! Sero!"
"And you know what? I was thinking about it on the plane, and Sero is the only one who didn't have any embarrassing pictures taken of her during Truth or Dare! Remember? All of the rest of us did! The 'Feathers and Shlong' for Watcher...the picture of Damage and Watcher kissing...the pictures YOU took of me in the ballerina-costume...the pictures they took of you pointing to my bare ass on top of the tour bus...the pictures of you posing in erotic positions...and when I think back, nope-- not a single picture of Sero! We've always been aware of how far we could take it with Sero and we've only pushed her as far as we dared, but she never held back with us!"
Slider nods with a bemused grin. "I know!!" she says excitedly. "I just wish we knew what the hell she's upset about." she says. "Oh well," she shrugs. "She'll tell us in time."
"What do you think about us splitting up into teams? I think it's a good idea actually."
Gwen smiles and nods. "OH yeah! I think it's a great idea! Now we can get to the action faster! You know...I think we've always kind of been operating like that, anyway. Whenever we had a mission to do we'd split up into groups. It was usually Sero and Damage in the labs, and me and Watcher out in the field-- Watcher sneaking and me pummeling! Now there will be four of us pummeling and four of us sneaking! Or...two of us pummeling...two of us in the labs...two of us sneaking...and two of us shooting! Something like that! I actually can't wait to go to Caestus' little place in Arizona and start training as a team in our different roles! I can't believe Caestus didn't have us doing that in Geneva! Silly Caestus!" Gwen grins.
"Yeah! And Mestre is coming up with a training plan! I think it's about time we did this. You know we did some training in Team Tomorrow, too. But that's because we weren't exactly heavy hitters like you guys. Team Tomorrow always looked up to you guys." she says. "Yeah spending time out in the sun, it'll be great!"
Gwen looks at her tanned skin, and then over at Slider's pale skin. "Yeah-- you could use some sun!" she grins, punching her playfully in the arm and accidentally almost knocking her over!
"Oops-- sorry!" she grins. Then her face grows a little serious. "Look, I...uh..." Gwen struggles inwardly for a moment. "I wanted to...apologize for something I said." she strains with the word "apologize."
"Yesterday when we were shopping for dresses and you had the green low-cut one on...I told you that you should write 'Help fight cancer!' or something on the exposed skin as an advertisement, and...I meant to say it completely playfully and teasy, but when it came out of my mouth is came out sounding mean. I saw your face right after I said it, and you did a good job of covering up your initial reaction, but I could tell I'd hurt you. So...I just wanted to say that I don't know why it came out sounding mean when I said it, and that I didn't mean for it to."
Slider looks at Gwen and smiles. She suddenly hugs Gwen. "Thanks, Gwen!" she says. "I know that a lot of you don't like me that much, but I hope at least you respect what I do," she says. "I just want to be part of the team you know." she says. "Thundergirl used to hang with me but not so much anymore. And I really feel bad about blowing off the Duke, but...I mean he's nice but he's not...not my type." she says.
Gwen's eyebrows raise. "Hold up on that 'not like you'-topic for a minute-- you blew off the Duke?" she asks in surprise. Gwen had missed almost the entire dance-portion of the evening while she was doing her own mini-mission. "But I thought you girls were saying how hot he is! What IS your type if hot isn't?" she asks in bemusement.
Slider looks at Gwen sadly. "Can we get off the roof and go somewhere private," she says. "I have to get this off my chest or I'll explode, Gwen!" she says. "Let's go to my room." she says walking towards the elevator.
Gwen's eyes get even bigger! A Slider-secret! This should be good! "Sure!" Gwen says eagerly, following her to the elevator. "Listen Slider..." she says as they wait for it to come back up to the roof. "I want to explain the negative vibes you're getting from the girls in Stormwatch-- me, included." She sighs. "We're jealous. That's it in a nutshell. Can't you tell that all the guys in Stormwatch want you? Seriously! Remember that first Truth or Dare session we had when we went around the room and made everyone confess which novas they found the most attractive, or which novas we'd sleep with? Every guy said YOU! No one said me..." Gwen sighs. "I mean, I know I don't exactly come across as very loveable, but...*I* think I'm hot! Or...I CAN be when I WANT to be!" she smirks.
"Oh Gwennie! You're beautiful." she says. "They're jealous? Of me?" Slider says as the elevator dings and opens. The two walk in and Slider pushes the button to her apartment.
"Firstly, no calling me 'Gwennie!'" Gwen grins. "And secondly, um...yes! Especially after those erotic poses! If you hadn't won the guys over before that, the legs behind the head-thing sealed the deal!"
Slider blushes, "Sorry. I didn't mean to get them all riled up. And no 'Gwennie'-- got it..." she says.
The doors open and Slider leads Gwen into her room. She sits on the couch and puts her head in her hands. "Oh Gwen I've done a stupid stupid thing. I've let myself...fall in love with...Brody."
Gwen's eyes almost pop out of her head. "What?? With PUMPKIN??" she exclaims-- louder than she meant to. She clears her throat and gives Slider and apologetic look, sitting down next to her on the couch.
"Wow...really? I mean...I'm stunned. I never would have guessed!" She pauses a minute, still trying to absorb this confession. "Why?" she finally asks, curiously.
"He's great!" she says looking up. "He's funny, he cares about people, he's one of the best and most faithful men I've ever met. And he's so cute!" Slider says. "It just happened. I mean I tried to fight it Gwen I really did...but...it just happened."
"Wait wait..." Gwen says, holding her head for a second as she STILL tries to absorb this! "When you say 'cute,' do you mean Brody, or Damage? Or both?" she asks. "And when you say 'faithful,' do you mean to Songbird, or to Stormwatch, or both, or am I completely off-target?"
"Both! Cause I know they're the same man." Slider says. "And yeah to Stormwatch and Songbird. And I love Songbird-- she's great so I can't ever tell him, or her, and you've got to keep my secret Gwen. You've got to!" she pleads.
Gwen is still reeling a little, but has gotten most of her composure back. "Don't worry...I will." she says with complete seriousness. She's thinking to herself that if someone had a crush on Ethan that she definitely wouldn't want to know about it. She'd end up killing the girl-- just for insurance! Now if someone had a crush on GWEN, Gwen wouldn't mind knowing about it! She could use it for leverage!
Her forehead wrinkles a little bit. 'IS Damage in love with Songbird, or did he just propose because it was the expected thing to do? Or because he had that near-death experience with Divis? Because he really did propose out of the blue after he got out of the infirmary. And he never talks about Songbird unless we bring her up first. The rest of us gush about the people WE like all the time! And Pumpkin was one of the guys who said he thought Slider was the hottest female nova, AND he picked her for the female nova he'd sleep with if he wasn't with Songbird! I remember that one vividly...' she thinks to herself with a little sting of hurt. 'What the hell AM I, anyway? Chopped liver? Hmph.'
She looks back at Slider. "Has he given you any kind of sign that he might...you know...have any sparklies for you in return? Because he did say he thought you were the hottest nova, and that he'd like to sleep with you if there was no Songbird..." she says slowly.
"No, but I don't want Songbird to think I stole her man!" Slider says. "This situation is hopeless! It would be different if it weren't her...but it is." she says. "And now the poor Duke asked to escort me back to my room and I was a jerk to him." she says. "This whole situation sucks..." she moans.
Gwen sits back against the couch and folds her arms, tapping the fingers of her right hand against her bottom lip in thought.
"Well...how do you know you're in love, rather than just a crush?" she asks.
Slider shrugs. "I've had a few dates since joining the team and nothing does it for me. I just can't get into the date. I keep comparing them to him." she says. "And now I don't even date. I haven't even had sex since joining the team, Gwen."
"Now that IS serious!" she teases with a smirk, but then her face goes serious again. She leans forward, lacing her fingers together and resting her forearms on her knees. "Well...what about Andre? You mentioned that you liked him back when you were in Team Tomorrow. What if I tried to set you two up so you could see if he could help you forget Pumpkin?"
She pauses before continuing. "I remember my first week in Geneva. I saw that footage on TV about that mysterious nova who stopped the airplane from crashing, and then not long after Caestus brought Ethan to Geneva. Ethan was really shy and didn't say much, but I remember when I first laid eyes on him I thought he was SO cute and tall and muscular! I asked him about when he saved that plane, and he said he did it because his girlfriend...his high school sweetheart...was a stewardess on board and he was trying to save her life. I assumed he was probably engaged to her or something. High school sweetheart! I mean...that sounds serious! I didn't know that right after he saved the plane she dumped him because he was a nova! So I quickly tried to switch my mind into plutonic-mode and stop crush-mode. Then later that day me and Ethan went out to the training-field to test our flying-skills together, and he flew so fast that he made the clouds swirl! I got those sparkly-feelings back-- I couldn't help it! I thought it was so sexy!"
"Not too long after that we were watching TV and we saw Andre erupt during the world championship soccer game. I think that same day YOU erupted on TV, too! Anyhow, I saw how they treated Andre...how they kicked him off the team and took away the championship-win from his team. I saw how his teammates treated him and talked about his eruption. They were pissed. And I thought 'here's a guy who's just like me.' I was thinking about my Olympics and how I was treated by the commission...by the US Olympic Team...by UCLA...I made it a point to be the first nova Andre met when Caestus brought him over. We got along instantly! But then again, I think Andre would get along instantly with just about anyone!" she grins.
"Anyway, I just realized that I'm rambling about myself so let me get to the point. Andre helped me clear my mind of Ethan...until I found out that Ethan was single, that is! Andre is very romantic...chivalrous...a lot of fun...he makes you feel like you're the most beautiful, sexy woman on the planet...I think you should let me set you two up on a date. See how it goes. What do you say? If he could help me get my mind off of Supreme..." she leaves the sentence open, raising her eyebrows.
"No, no. Andre is a good friend but that's all I'll see him as." Slider says. "But hey you lucked out. Ethan is awesome! So you excited for your wedding? It's a just a week away now!!" she says excitedly. "What are your plans?"
"You're changing the topic!" Gwen says, wagging her finger at Slider. "Don't think we're done with this subject!" she smiles.
"I was actually going to come to you about this! I keep asking Ethan how he wants the wedding to go, and he always says, 'YOU know! Like how any normal wedding goes!' Argh! We both completely suck at this wedding-planning-crap! He knows he wants his father to be his best man, and he knows he wants to wear his costume instead of a tux, and we've agreed on the place, but that's about all the definite plans I can get out of him! As for me, I know that I want to wear my costume, and I want Pete to have some kind of position of honor, and I was thinking about having our Stormwatch teammates to be in their costumes, too...but that's all I've got." she shrugs.
"So I asked Ethan last night...or early this morning...I can't remember..." she winks at Slider, "...anyhow, I asked him what we were going to do, and he suggested I let YOU plan it since you seem to know more about this kind of thing than we do! At least you had some ideas last time we were talking about it! That's a step or two better than us! And...in exchange...I'll...let you wear a poof-dress...if you'll be my maid-of-honor." she finshes, watching Slider with a hopeful look.
Slider squeals and jumps over to Gwen and hugs her tight. "YAY! You bet!! I'll be honored to be your maid-of-honor!! And I'll plan the best wedding you've ever seen!! I promise!!" Slider says. She stomps her feet excitedly. "This is going to be so awesome!! Gwen you won't regret it!!"
Gwen laughs as she's "attacked" by Slider, and then watches Slider bouncing around excitedly and grins.
'Wow! Ethan was right! She DID want to be my maid-of-honor!' she thinks to herself.
"Thanks Slider! We really appreciate this!" she exhales. "It's a big weight off my shoulders knowing someone who's good at it will be planning the wedding! If I had my way it would just be me and Ethan exchanging vows in front of the team and Caestus, or something, but I think our parents would be disappointed, and I think Ethan secretly wants a really nice, big wedding, and I want him to be happy! Listen-- just tell me how much money you need as you go and I'll wire it into your account, OK?"
"Ok let me work out the plans and I'll get back to you later today!" Slider says happily bouncing around. "Oh Gwen I promise you will look back and say what a beautiful wedding this was!!! I won't let you and Ethan down!!" she says.
Gwen smiles. "Thanks Slider. Hmmm...I'm actually starting to feel a little excited about this wedding now! I can't wait to see what it ends up being like! You know...in a weird way I'm even starting to feel a little wistful about not wearing the traditional gown..." she says thoughtfully. Then she really thinks about wearing a gown. "NAAAAH!" she grins.
Slider laughs and runs to her computer. "I have so much to do!!! Gowns to order, flowers to get, arrange for a cake and get the marriage certificate! Oh gosh, Gwen!! This is going to be a lot of work, but I can handle it!!" she says from behind the computer screen.
Gwen grimaces and feels a little guilty. "Really?" Visions of eloping start dancing through her head again. She pauses a minute. "Hey Slider? Did I hear you say that you're not re-signing with Stormwatch after your contract is up?"
"Probably not. We'll see. I think I can do a lot of good on my own. But you know that's a few years from now, my mind may change," Slider says. She looks at the screen and blows some hair out of her face. "Why do you ask?"
Gwen gives a tiny shrug. "Bob said I'm not going to be offered another contract after this one expires. I mean, he said it in anger, so he'll probably retract it at the 11th hour when he realizes he can't live without me, but still! Makes you start thinking about what you're going to do after you hand in your keys and drive away for the final time."
She pauses. "Maybe I'll do what Supreme's doing right now and work WITH Stormwatch, but not be IN Stormwatch. Maybe I'll be the one who goes in and gets things done while Stormwatch is held up in red tape. Kind of like what Supreme did in Darfur. I HATE red tape, and I hate rules, and I hate restrictions, but I still want to live in the tower. I love it here." she sighs.
"Yeah, me too," Slider says clicking around on the computer. "Like I said, we'll see in a few years what I want to do," she says. "But right now I want to get your wedding started." she says. She leans over the computer. "So Gwen if you want this done right I need total concentration!"
Gwen sticks her tongue out at Slider and gives her a raspberry. "Fine, fine..." she says good-naturedly and stands up from the couch. She decides this would be a good time to snoop around Slider's apartment while Slider's attention is all on the computer! She starts walking around the apartment slowly with a nonchalant air, hands held behind her back, looking for things like pictures or letters or note-paper with notes scribbled on it or diaries...
Slider leans around and raises an eyebrow at her. "Yes???" she asks looking at her with a smile on her face.
Gwen jumps a little, turning around with an innocent raise of her eyebrows. "Hmm? Oh I didn't say anything...just go back to the computer! I'll entertain myself!" she grins. "Just call me if you need me to answer any questions!"
Slider looks at Gwen and shrugs. "Alright. Oh do you two want a minister or a priest or justice of the peace?" Slider asks. "Just want to make sure because it could effect how I decorate." she says. "Oh and there's lots of snacks in the fridge, help yourself if you need something." she says.
"Well we DID want a justice of the peace, but then we remembered that nova priest-guy who Watcher found, and we figured it would be much safer to use him because we already know we can trust him with Ethan's secret. We're just going to tell him that he needs to lay off the god and religion a little. Or a lot. I have to talk to him and make sure he's going to emphasize that line that says, 'for better or for worse...' That's the most important line to me..." Gwen says, turning her head so Slider can't see her face and walking over to the window and looking out. "This window open like mine does?" she asks, changing the subject.
"Yeah..." Slider says absent-mindedly. "I'll talk to him see if he'll do it. I'm sure he won't mind at all." she says furiously typing on the computer. "There, flowers are done..." she says to herself. "Scratch one thing off the list...make that two..."
Gwen glances over her shoulder. "Wow...you're fast! Maybe you should do this professionally!" she grins. She turns back to the window and bends over, resting her forearms on the window sill and staring out. Suddenly she's feeling very depressed. Bob's words still haunt her...his threat that Ethan would leave her if he knew about her man-handling of Herman LaFontaine...even though Ethan's dad tried to convince her that Ethan would never leave her over that. There's a quiet volcano deep inside of her that sends off little tremors from time to time...tremors that she deflects by wrestling...by fighting novas with Stormwatch...by punching annoying New York citizens...by throwing asshole-generals into the sea...what will she do next? Seems like the wrestling and police work isn't quite holding the volcano at bay anymore. What will Ethan do if the volcano finally erupts? What if she just needs it to erupt so she can finally get it out of her system? What if she erupts and then she's just regular old Gwen again? Will Ethan forgive her and realize she's finally done being a fuck-up? What if she erupts and she stays Rage permanently? Will Ethan still love her, or will he immediately leave her?
Gwen presses her forehead against the window and breathes slowly, eyes closed. Slider is going to all this work for she and Ethan's wedding...what if it's only for a short marriage and then she erupts or fucks up and Ethan leaves her? There it is...the demon that's been nipping at her. Whenever she tries to get excited for the wedding, then the demon comes back and she has to think about something else.
Slider smiles at the screen. "Yay I got a DJ!" she says. "And a caterer. This is awesome!! I think I could do this as a full time thing," she says with a laugh. "Hey Gwen?..." she says. "Gwen?" she says again. "Well I booked Divis Mal to sing at your wedding and Count Ortiz will do the ceremony, Geryon will be the flower girl, too."
Gwen hears something about Divis and Count Ortiz and Geryon in the back of her mind, but it doesn't register what Slider's saying.
"Thanks Slider..." she says, trying to put some enthusiasm into her voice. "Computers make everything easier, don't they?"
"They do indeed," Slider says shaking her head. She smiles at Gwen and gets back to work.
Gwen glances back at Slider, only to see her hard at work again on her computer. 'Wait...did she just say something about Divis and Count Ortiz and Geryon??' she thinks to herself. She pauses. 'Naaah.'
Gwen turns from the window and starts walking slowly around the apartment again, trying to take her mind off of her stress.
Gwen finds Slider's room to be immaculate. On her walls are posters of U2, Radiohead, and other bands, as well as movie posters. The kitchen is clean and so is the bedroom. Not a scrap of paper anywhere...not a post it note, either!
Gwen feels a little disappointed not to have found any juicy secrets about Slider, but then again, her heart has kind of gone out of the search. Besides...she's come to believe that Slider's the type of person who doesn't keep a lot of secrets. She's way out in the open. No pun intended about the erotic poses!
Finally she can't stand the pressure building inside of her and she walks back into the bedroom area and sits on the foot of Slider's bed.
"So Jennifer..." she says, finally using Slider's given name. She feels dumb when she realizes that she's been calling her 'Slider' this whole time! "...seriously no action on this bed yet?"
"Nope. None," Slider says. "Boring aren't I?" she says. She looks up from the computer. "It's a nice bed, too. But I just haven't found anyone that compares you know. My heart just isn't in it."
Gwen nods. "I think the rooms are laced with aphrodisiac-juice or something, because from the moment I first walked into my apartment I just felt this overwhelming urge to find a guy and bring him up to break it in!" she laughs. "That's why I had to make sure you really haven't had a guy up here! These penthouse apartments are the devil, I'm telling you!" she grins. "Ooh! Maybe Bob's secretly trying to get us all to have lots of sex so there will be lots of pregnancies and lots of 2nd-gen babies to study!" she laughs. Then her face slowly falls, and she lays back on the bed so her knees are bent and her feet are still on the floor. She stares up at the ceiling and slowly exhales.
"Hey Jennifer? Will you give me an honest answer if I ask you a question?" she calls from her prone position on the bed.
Slider looks up from her computer and nods. "I will Gwen. You know that might be the first time you've called me Jennifer." she says. She smiles. "I like it." She stands up and walk over to the bed. "It sounds like a serious question. Fire away."
Gwen glances at her from her laying-position on the bed and sighs. She moves her eyes back up to the ceiling. "OK. Here goes. Do you secretly think me and Ethan's relationship is a joke...that he's way out of my league? Do you think everyone secretly thinks that I'm not good enough for him and it's only a matter of time before he comes to his senses and wants a divorce? Do...do you think the other members of Stormwatch feel that way? Sometimes I think the whole world is secretly giggling at me behind my back...waiting for me to fall from grace. Sometimes when the press calls me 'Lady Supreme' the title feels so heavy that I think my back will break from its weight, and I wonder...are they calling me that sarcastically?" she says softly, staring up at the ceiling without blinking. She can't believe she said all of that out loud, and waits with held breath.
Slider shakes her head and crosses her arms. "No way! You and Ethan have a great relationship! I think you're going to make it and I would say most people do. And if he divorces you then he's the idiot because you are a great person who's really soft on the inside and just doesn't show it a lot. I mean look at you right now, just asking that means you're deeper than you let people know." she says. "Getting cold feet, Gwen?"
Gwen cringes at the "soft" comments but keeps quiet until Slider's done talking. When Slider asks if she's getting cold feet Gwen's eyes shift over to look at her in surprise. Then her eyes close and she sighs.
"I'm going to tell you something and it's only because I trust you not to repeat it." Gwen takes a deep breath. "If Caestus hadn't found me first I would probably be in the Teragen right now because after I erupted I was consumed by hatred and the need for vengeance against nova-hating humans. I came really close to using my powers to get back at the Olympic committee, but my fear and inexperience with my new powers was the only thing that stopped me. Then after I joined Project Utopia somehow I pushed my anger down really deep because I grew to think of Caestus like a father and didn't want to disappoint him, but...it's still there. When Ethan and I fell in love I thought I was cured of it because I couldn't feel it anymore for a while. But I wasn't. It's still there. And I can feel it pushing to get out with every stupid thing that humans do, and I can feel my hold on it weakening. So right now I wish I could go back in time to before Ethan and I met and just...just freak out and do whatever it takes to get rid of the rage...and THEN meet Ethan as Aura and start over. Because Jennifer? I'm really afraid that after we're married something will happen that will snap that last string that's holding me back and I'll go nuts and pull a Divis or something." she says in a low voice. She rests her arm over her eyes and just lays there.
"And please don't tell me you know I'm a good person deep down and that I'll be able to fight it if it happens and that the good me will win. That's Ethan's mantra."
Slider nods and crosses her arms. "But it's true Gwen. You don't think the rest of us get mad enough to kill Herman, or any other Cletus that acts like an asshole to us? We have the power to take them in our hands and crush them to goo but we don't... see that's the difference, Gwen. We get those urges and we count to ten or push them down. We don't just let that rage take over us. You haven't yet and that is the difference."
Gwen sits up slowly. "Yeah but I don't see the Herman Walkers thanking us for that little favor...or realizing how many times we've killed them in our minds but not with our hands." She looks at Slider. "So...if I did give in to my 'rage,' as it were...what would that make me?" she asks tiredly. "Besides dead or in prison..." she laughs bitterly.
"It depends." Slider says. "If you went off at the Teragen and killed some of them, you'd be a hero. If you went after some soldiers trying to kill you, you'd be justified. Let your rage boil over carefully, Gwen. That's all. I've had to...kill before. I didn't like it but it was them or me." she says.
Gwen sits there feeling frustrated. "I can't CHOOSE who to unleash my rage on, Jennifer. Besides, it was originally directed at regular humans, so that seems to be the blood it wants. I thought that killing Frost would help it, but it didn't. Man did that sound surreal!" she attempts to smile. She runs her fingers through her hair, eyes staring unseeing at the floor as she thinks. "What to do what to do what to do..." she murmurs under her breath. She sits there rocking slightly for a long silent moment, and then glances up. "You might be on to something...I hope. If I can find a opportunity where I can legally go ballistic-- like against the Teragen, or terrorists or something-- maybe that will finally calm me down."
"I know they can be frustrating, Gwen, but you have to understand just how afraid of us they are!" Slider says. "And yeah you can always choose."
Gwen resumes staring at the floor for another quiet minute, and then stands up from Slider's bed. "Thank you for being honest and non-judgmental, Jennifer. And...thank you for supporting me and Ethan's relationship. I...hehe..." she laughs, glancing down. "I have another confession. The reason I was so cold towards you when you first joined Stormwatch was because...you were too perfect. The press loves you...the public loves you...because you're nice. And cute." Gwen makes a gagging-face and then grins at Slider.
"Aww thanks, Gwen. I'm not perfect, I have a few things about myself I'd like to fix." she says. Slider smiles at her. "You think I'm cute?" she asks. Slider shakes her head and makes a gagging noise right back at Gwen.
"AAAAAH!!" Gwen laughs, rolling her eyes. "You know what I mean!! You made the rest of us look like selfish, lazy goof-offs! And I kept hearing over and over again that you were America's sweetheart and Ethan was America's hero, and I started getting really paranoid that Ethan was going to suddenly notice you and think, 'Hey! This girl is really nice! And cute! Think of how much the press would love it if WE were a couple instead of Gwen and I! We would be like American royalty! Gwen's just going to drag me down with all the controversial things she says and does. I'd better switch.'" And then we played Truth or Dare and all the guys said they wanted you, and then the next time I talked to Ethan's dad he told me he thought you were cute and that he had a little crush on you! GOD!!" she exclaims. "So...it made me a little insecure. And that's it in a nutshell." she smiles sadly.
Slider looks at Gwen and suddenly it's like a light bulb goes on in her mind with the look she gives her. "That's perfect Gwen! We would make the perfect couple!! America's sweethearts!!" she says. "It's perfect!!" Slider says smiling at Gwen. She lays on the bed and picks up a pillow. "Oh Ethan, kiss me like you've never kissed before!" she says to the pillow...and then she squeals and swings the pillow at Gwen trying to hit her.
Gwen's eyes widen and she makes a crazy Amazon-shriek of vengeance. She grabs the pillow from Slider as it swings towards her and whips it around, bringing it down POOF!!! onto Slider's head...the pillow exploding in a giant puff of feathers!
"BITCH!!" she shouts jubilantly-- although not seriously, luckily for Slider! Then she looks down at the exploded pillowcase in her hand and feigns a devastated look. "Oh god...no...Ethan...look at you! Oh god what have I done!?!" she wails, clutching the pillowcase to her chest in mock-torment.
Slider laughs and watches all the feathers float in the air down to the bed. She blows a feather out of her face and picks up her other pillow. She fakes to one side and thwaps Gwen on the side of her head. "Hah! Ethan is mine!!!" she says. "Just try and take him from me!!"
"Oh yeah?" Gwen grins. She pulls out her cell phone and pretends to call down to Housekeeping. "Hello Housekeeping? Yes, I need one big muthahfucking pillow sent up to Slider's apartment please?" she laughs, putting her cell phone away, and then gets into running-stance. She pauses a second, and then runs and leaps over Slider's bed pole-vault-style and reaches down to snatch the pillow from Slider's hands as she sails overhead...and then very gracefully forgets to activate her Flight and crashes into Slider's nightstand and lands on the floor in a tangle of lamp and drawers.
She holds up the pillow triumphantly. "Victory is mine!" she cries, and then pretends to flop back unconscious on the floor in a dramatic death-grimace.
"Yes!!!" Slider says laughing. She jumps on the bed whooping and hollering. She finally dives onto the bed and rolls over towards Gwen, looking down at her on the floor. "Wasn't that fun..." she says. "See? You can cut loose Gwen. You're a lot nicer than you think." she says.
Gwen lays there with a look of epiphany on her face. The pole vaulting-thing tripped something in her brain. Then when Slider talks to her she brushes the hair out of her face and raises her eyebrow at Slider, looking up at her from the floor.
"Oh yeah? Well I'll tell you what I told Ethan when he said the same thing to me: tell anyone and I'll deny it!" she grins. "And hey! I cut loose ALL the time! In fact, isn't that what I'm always getting in trouble for?" she smirks. She untangles herself and gets up off the floor, setting the nightstand and its contents back where they were. Then she sits on the edge of the bed again.
"You know...I wonder what Bob would think if we did a 'sexy women of Stormwatch' poster! Either just me and you, or ALL the girls! We could be posed either naked with strategic objects covering our naughty bits, or in sexy lingerie...something fun like that! I mean, why compete when we can team up, right?" she grins. "That's how I was posed for Maxim, so it can't be breeching the contract! Plus you know Bob would secretly frame it and peek at it all the time!" she wiggles her eyebrows.
Slider laughs, "I'm up for it, but good luck trying to get Sero to pose for something like that." she says. "I was thinking we could do a calendar. You know a Stormwatch calendar, what do you think? Oh or a swimsuit calendar!"
Gwen's eyes light up. "OH yeah! That would be GREAT! Ooh hey! I know! Let's do it as a present for Bob! We could call Caestus and make sure it's OK, and then we can call our agents and get it set up, and then bring the finished product to Bob! We could write a sticky-note on it that says, 'Look what you're missing upstairs! Get well soon!' HAHAHAHA!" Gwen laughs excitedly.
Slider laughs, "That's so awesome!!! Let's do it!!" she says. "Hey Gwen! Let's go rent some movies and stay in tonight what do you say? Girls night at Sliders! I'll make some popcorn and get some soda!!" she says. "We could ask Thundergirl and Sero and Facade if they want to join!!"
Gwen grins and relaxes a little. "We could do that! I know Ethan's been working long hours to get caught up and ready for the Edgar Wright trial so he won't be home until late, and it sounds like Thundergirl might need it-- especially if her test comes back positive. And maybe it will get Facade out of her shell, and calm Sero back down. Hmmm...unless as Stormwatch One she can't fraternize with the employees. I asked Bob if he'd like to come to our next party, and he said he can't because it would 'jeopardize our respect for his position of authority,' or something. But it can't hurt to ask, right? And we're sure to get three of us to say yes, at the very least!"
Gwen pauses for a second. "Jennifer? Do you think I deserved my Olympic medals?" she suddenly asks.
Slider looks over at Gwen and blinks. "Of course. I read your file. You didn't erupt until after your events. They were stupid to take them away." she says. "Let's do it then! I'll just run to the video store and get some movies!! This will be so much fun!!"
Gwen smiles. Her mind is racing but she keeps it to herself for now. "OK! I'll be upstairs in my apartment. I have some things I need to look up on the computer. Oh and I'll call Caestus about the calendar-idea, too!" she grins.
"Ok! I'll call you when I get back...oh wait what kind of movie do you want me to get? Action? Adventure? Chick flick?" Slider asks excitedly. "I'm up for whatever." she says grabbing her jacket and keys.
Gwen gets up and straightens her clothes, joining Slider at the entrance to the elevator. "Hmmm...how about one of each just in case. You never know what the others will want. And you know what? I'm so grateful that you're handling the wedding that I'll even sit through a chick flick if that's what they vote on!" she grins.
"I knew you were just a softie waiting to come out!" she says. "I'll get the most romantic and tragic chick flick just because you said so!" she says. "And I'll tell all the girls you asked for it by name!!" she says. "I bet they'll love that!"
'AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Gwen cries in distress, covering her ears. "Now what did I say about calling me a 'softie' in public?" she chastises, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. "Like anyone will believe you!" she smirks. She pauses for a second. "Tragic, hmm? I might be able to swallow a tragic chick flick! Does the chick die?" she grins hopefully.
"Oh I wasn't supposed to say anything?" Slider asks. "I told everybody!!" she says and laughs. "I'm not going to tell you what happens. You need to watch the movie!!" she says. "I bet you're the type of person who reads the ending of a book first."
"Read?? BOOK?? What is book? Gwen head hurt now!" Gwen grunts, pretending to be dumb caveman-Gwen.
"Go cavewoman!" Slider says laughing. "Go to your cave, nice lady Slider come get you later!" she says. The elevator door opens. "You go now. Busy Busy!!!!!" she says shooing Gwen to the elevator.
"Oh Slider...you are SO dead..." Gwen grins, shaking her head as she gets into the elevator. The doors start to close when Gwen suddenly puts her foot out, stopping the doors. "You know, Jennifer...if it were to get out that I was a softie deep down, it might ALSO have to get out that a certain stretchy nova is in love with a certain orange-colored nova..." she says in a sing-song voice.
Jennifer turns and looks at Gwen. "Well then we'll just have to keep those secrets now won't we?" she says with a smirk. "And Gwen?" she says. "I love my best friend." she says in a sing-song voice and standing on her tippy toes blinking innocently.
"AAAAAAH!!" Gwen cries as the cheesiness of it almost makes her gag! The elevator doors start closing. "Slider, I'm going to b--" and Gwen's sentence is cut off neatly as the doors finally close and the elevator finally starts moving upwards.
Slider snickers as the doors close. "Last words, woohooo!" She says holding her hands up in the air. She laughs when the elevator comes back, half-expecting Aura to be still on it. She hops on, sighs happily, and the doors close.
