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From: HammonWry@yahoo.com (Hammon Wry)
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NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 10:43:31 EDT
Subject: {ASSM} SONG: "Liberty Call" (MF rom nosex)
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 15:10:05 -0400
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Notice: The following is a work of erotica, and is meant for those of 
legal age and inclination in their jurisdictions.  If you are not of 
age, or if this is illegal where you are, please do not read any
further.

(C) E. Howe  2002
All rights reserved

Author's note:  This is taken whole cloth from my alt.devilbunnies
stories.  Chronologically, it takes place after "Friendship of the
Thighs", and immediately before "Catharsis" and the subsequent
"Vanilla".    I was inspired to share this piece with you because of
the {ASSD} Elvis Event thread, and Hamadryad's excellent suggestion to
write something based on a song.   Sarah McLaughlin "Angel" was the
inspiration for this piece.  

"Back Story:  Totten and Carter again, this time on a real date.
Techi, Totten's lover of eight years is undergoing a painful and often
fatal conversion from human to devilbunny.  Totten, freshly graduated
from antidevilbunny training herself, and under the pressure of being
labeled a wunderkind, is feeling stressed.  Carter tries to help by
taking her off base to dinner.  Things do not turn out as planned, and
the result can be read in Catharsis. 

Enjoy.
Hammon Wry. 

	(C) E. Howe 2002 
All rights reserved 

Quoted lyrics from "Angel" 
(C) Sarah McLaughlin 
All Rights reserved 
  

Liberty call 
Part one 

Friday, June 28 1720 hours 

"Spend all your time waiting for that second chance 
For the break that will make it OK 
There's always some reason to feel not good enough 
And it's hard at the end of the day 
I need some distraction or a beautiful release 
Memories seep from my veins 
Let me be empty and weightless and maybe 
I'll find some peace tonight" 

MSgt.Totten ached. Her feet were swollen, her back was a mass of 
knots, and her scalp itched from sweat and grit. She sat on the edge 
of her bed and pulled the steel-toed molders's boots from her feet, 
let them *thunk* to the floor, and lay back. 

A knock sounded. She mentally groaned. As much as she liked the 
TAD's, she really didn't want to be house mother right now. Sighing, 
she sat up and said with more enthusiasm than she felt "Come in." 

The door opened, revealing the tall form of Doctor John Carter, the 
base CMO. She flopped back and said "I am so glad it's just you, 
Doc." 

"*Just* me? I'm glad of the compliment, Sarge." 
"I'm sorry, Doc. I am tired of being house mother to the TAD's." 
She stood, picked up her boots, and put them away, then crossed to her

dresser, and started taking down her hair. 
"What did you stop by for, Doc?" She watched him in the mirror as she 
pulled the hairpins from the tight bun at the top of her head. 
The doctor watched as the bun was unwrapped, and the rubber band was 
removed, and her hair fell down, cascading over her shoulders. 

"It's been two weeks since the Temporary Away Detachment arrived, and 
I thought we might get away for the evening, Wench." 
She smiled at the nickname, and turned toward him, trying to run a 
brush through her hair. She winced at a snarl, and said, "What did 
you have in mind?" 
"How about dinner on The Hill?" 
"Dressy, or casual?" 
He thought fast, and said "Dressy." 
"Dressy I can do, I think." She remembered that for some reason, she 
had brought the LBD--Little Black Dress. Hosiery, shoes, foundations, 
yes, she had them. "Yes, I can do dressy." 
"Good. How long do you need?" 
Calculating quickly, she said "I can be ready in 40 minutes--only 
because I'll have to dry my hair after I wash it." 

38 minutes later, the doctor again knocked on the door to Totten's 
barracks room, and was met by a barefoot woman in a sleek black dress,

her hair piled in the same loose coiffure that she'd done on the night

of the TAD arrival. She held on to the edge of the door as he 
entered, and bent to one side to slip on a high-heel, and then closed 
the door. She then put on the other shoe, and when she straightened, 
the Doctor whistled his appreciation. She smiled. He was dressed in 
loose white linen slacks, and a matching white shirt open at the 
throat. The cufflinks were gold, she noted. 

"Let me get my earrings and put on my lipstick for the full effect, 
John." 
"I don't know if I can handle lipstick and earrings, Wench." 
"Suffer then, John." 
"You have no clue, Wench, none whatsoever. Hard hearted woman." 
"I've been called worse, John." 
She leaned toward the mirror, and applied the lipstick with a deftness

that fascinated Carter. His eyes wandered over her form. It had been 
a lonely two weeks in his barracks rack. 

She inserted the thin gold wires of the amber earrings into the holes 
in her earlobes. Then she reached for a string of pearls, and asked 
him to help her put them on. He did so. 

"I'm ready when you are." They left the base for Federal Hill in 
Providence. 

Once seated at their table, the doctor noted that Edith was a bit 
distant. "How did your visit with Techi go this Wednesday past?" 
Edith focused on John's face. "She says she's not in as much pain, 
and she's coping with the voices. She should be coming home soon, 
right?" 

He nodded. "Probably within 2 weeks, according to Mentat Snowpaw and 
Dr. Firbrush." 
She nodded, and continued, "Before you ask, no, she didn't question me

about..." the sentence hung unfinished until Carter said "...about 
us?" 
Edith nodded. 
"Do you regret what happened?" 
"I have no regrets about that, John." Her voice was heavy, and he 
found it hard to believe her. He reached to take her hand, and raised 
it to his lips. She pulled it back, with a shake of her head. 
"Please..." 
He switched his hand position to place her hand back on the table 
gently, and looked her in the face. "Are you sure you don't regret 
it?" 

She looked at him intently. She replied "Regret is incredibly 
destructive, I've found, John. It is almost as bad as guilt. I 
needed your company that night. I truly did. But this whole thing 
with Techi has me in knots, and I just don't know where to start 
unraveling it all.... 

"So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn 
There's vultures and thieves at your back 
The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies 
That make up for all that you lack" 
It don't make no difference, escape one last time 
It's easier to believe 
In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness 
That brings me to my knees" 
  

"Try at the beginning. Tell me why Techi would be willing to share 
you with someone else?" 

She thought a moment, deciding just what to tell him. She really 
wished that Techi were here, but it was now or never. 

"We wanted to have a baby. She was to carry it, being the younger of 
us. However, that was shot to hell when she contracted HLV. But 
that's not all of it. We wanted the father to be a part of the 
child's life. We wanted to find a man to invite into our 
relationship. As the occasional third, and a father to our child." 

She paused, and toyed with the wine glass in front of her. 

"We had planned on making the offer to you." 

Dr. John Carter was stunned. It took him a moment to find his voice. 

"I'm...flattered." 

Edith smiled. "You're smart, you're kind, you're good looking, and 
you didn't strike us as being the overly possessive type. We were 
trying to come up with a way to broach the subject with you. Then 
this happened. It's just that we finally find you, and now she's 
going to be out of the picture." 

"Because of HLV and the Fourier option, you mean?" 

She nodded, and lifted the wine glass to sip. She set it back down 
carefully. 

"Yes. And to be brutally honest, I hope she accepts the offer. 
Because Elmer Fudd help me, I could not stomach being partnered with a

devilbunny." 

"If we could suppress it, she wouldn't be a devilbunny, Edie." 

"I know John, but let's be real. I saw her hands when I was there. 
Her nails are changing. Her ability to scent is phenomenal. She is 
changing, and I think you and I both know that try as hard as they 
might, the BEST that Mentat Snowpaw and Dr. Firbrush can do is simply 
retard the process, not stop or suppress it." 

He looked uncomfortable for a moment. He then said "I didn't want to 
say anything. But that's what it looks like at this point. We had 
early hopes, but the virus mutates too quickly. We are hoping to 
stabilize her to bring her home, and then to DoomWarren." 

"I basically knew. I just was in denial about it. This puts you in 
one hell of an ethical dilemma, doesn't it, Doc?" 

"Yes, it would. That is why I have left her treatment to the experts 
at Namakata." 

"What? You did that before I told you about the offer..." 

"Edie, I have not been your doctor since your second exam. I knew 
then I could not maintain objectivity about you. And I got Techi into 
Namakata as fast as I could because not only am I not qualified to 
treat HLV, I could not be objective about her because of my feelings 
for you." 

It was Edie's turn to look stunned. Then she laughed, a high brittle 
sound. "I hate irony, I really do." 

"Where are we now, Edie? You pulled your hand back just now. Why?" 
"I don't know, John. I don't know where we are right now. I don't 
know where I am. Techi is still my lover. But not. She's part of my 
life. But not. I want a future with her, but not as a devilbunny. I 
want a baby. I don't. So I throw myself into reopening the base, and 
work myself to exhaustion. I think I may be overdoing it, because I've

felt like hell each morning. My period is late due to the stress. And 
I have been on the verge of tears more often than I like. And through 
it all, I see you, and I want you, and I don't dare act on it. So I 
cover it, probably as well as a cat trying to cover a puddle on a 
linoleum floor." 

He chuckled at the analogy. "Fair enough. I'm a patient man, Edie. 
I can wait." He cast about for another topic. 

"What was it you said about being a house mother to the TADs? Are 
they really getting to you?" 

"Not really, they are all grown ups." She paused, and looked out the 
open window casement to the street. A light breeze stirred the table 
cloth. "I suppose war will do that to you. But then, I wouldn't 
know." 

John caught the hint deftly. Ah. Another sore spot. He considered 
his next comment. "You really worry about that, don't you?" 

She turned back from watching the pedestrians on Atwells avenue and 
her eyes had a haunted look. 

"Do you think I shouldn't, John?" 
"You'd be a full fledged fool if you didn't, Edie" 
She reached for her wine glass, and took a another sip. Her hand shook

slightly. 
"So I'm only a half-fast fool for pretending it doesn't matter?" 
"No!" 
His vehemence made her start, and he continued. 
"Edie, how the hell do you think Joan of Arc felt? All she had were 
nebulous voices, nothing half so good as what you have in your Navy 
experience and training. Add to that a personal determination to hold 
at bay the Evil that Fluffs, and you will be *fine* in battle." 

She wasn't paying attention to him. Her face had become a mask of 
hatred, pure and simple, directed at something over Carter's shoulder.

He noted that the tendons on her neck were bulging, and he could see 
the pulse in the artery at the front of her neck. 


"In the arms of the Angel far away from here 
 From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you feel 
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie 
You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here" 

"Edie? What do you see?" 
She shook the look off, and looked at Dr. Carter. 
"John, I think I mentioned that I had first gone to Sears to buy an 
axe?" Her voice was pitched low, and carried to his ears only. 

He nodded. 

"I said that the man who served me tried to sell me earbows for 
rabbits?" 

He nodded again. 
"He was sitting at the table behind you, facing me. He recognized me. 
He winked at me. He's heading here." 

Just then she looked up, and smiled. It could only be called a smile 
because her teeth were visible. Carter would have sworn on all things 
holy that he had seen her tongue flick over canine fangs. A figure 
approached on his left, from behind him. He turned, and saw... 

"Antony Scapaldi." It was a statement, not a greeting. 
"Dr. Carter? And Miss Totten, I believe... What a pleasant surprise. 
I trust you are enjoying the summer evening." 

Carter fought an urge to rise and belt the man in the mouth. Instead 
he grinned a feral smile, and said, "Antony, imagine meeting you here.

My companion here says she was served by you at ...Sears, was it?" 

"Yes. Imagine my surprise when this stunning lady asks me for an axe. 
Of course, we don't carry them anymore...it was my disappointing duty 
to inform her." 

Totten interjected. "How do you know my name?" She picked up the 
serrated steak knife by the side of her plate and with her elbows on 
the table, placed the tip of it against the first finger of her left 
hand, and idly twirled it with her right. It flashed as it spun. Her 
irises were dilated out wide, and Carter could see her nostrils 
flare. The tendons on her neck stood out slightly again. 

"Miss Totten, I am disinclined to reveal my methodology. Would you be 
disposed to accept my interest as a compliment?" 

"I'll accept it for exactly its worth, sir." 

He nodded, possibly aware of the veiled insult, possibly not. He 
addressed the doctor again. "Dr. Carter, I should have known that she 
would be in your company eventually. You always did have a way with 
the ladies, didn't you?" 

"Antony, you'll forgive us for asking you to leave us in peace. As 
you can see, we are trying to enjoy our meal." 

"Before I do, Doctor, answer me this: why are they re-opening Ft. 
Roger Williams?" 

"Because, Antony, we once again have a job to do. I won't bother 
asking if you will be joining the rest of the sons and daughters of 
Rhode Island on induction day. Your familial traditions would 
preclude that option. Now, good evening, Antony, or do I have to call 
the owner?" 

Antony stood stone-faced for a moment before turning and bowing 
slightly to Totten, a smirk on his overly handsome face. He then 
turned on his heel and left. 

Totten grimaced, and without realizing it, stabbed the tip of her 
finger with the steak knife. As the blood welled up, Doctor Carter 
caught an ice cube in his napkin and pressed it to the wound deftly. 
She started, and said "Ow! Did I do that?" 
"Yes, you did." 
"Who the hell was that?" 
"Antony Scapaldi. The Scapaldi family are symps to a one." 
"And they are still alive?" 
"It's not illegal to be a symp. And they have powerful connections in 
this state. Word is out, 'Leave them alive' ." 
"But not 'alone'?" 
He smiled at the implication. "I could tell you stories about things 
that have happened to the Scapaldi family. Remind me later, will 
you?" 
"Gladly. Holy St. Yosemite Sam, I'd give my eye teeth to peel the 
smirk off that man's skull along with his skin." 
She shook the vestiges of the fury from her mind. She could feel the 
start of a raging headache right behind her eyes. She fought it. 

Dr. Carter knew from experience that Totten would have one hell of a 
headache, and soon. He could see her fighting it already. 

"Edie, you're going to have a headache. I know something that will 
help it." 
She rubbed at her eye sockets. In a voice heavy with pain, she said 
"What?" 
"There's a nerve between your thumb and first finger--" he took her 
hand and demonstrated with an extended, hard pinch to the spot. She 
winced at the pain, and then her eyes widened. He released her hand 
"It's--" <blink> "gone! Show me where again?" 
He indicated the spot, and she smiled. 
"Thanks, Doctor." 
"You're welcome, Wench." 
She sat back and sighed. 
"John, I feel so odd. All of this is so unreal to me, like a dream. 
Carnivorous rabbits, HLV, symps in Rhode Island..." 
John listened. He knew the feeling. "I know, Edie. But it is real." 
They listened to the sounds of diners around them, and looked at the 
night skyline of the city out the open casement. 

Somewhere on the street a radio played the chorus from "Angel", by 
Sarah McLaughlin. 
"In the arms of the Angel far away from here 
 From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you feel 
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie 
You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here" 

"John?" 
He looked at her. "Hmm?" 
"Please tell me we don't have to go back to the base tonight. I don't 
think I can face that world right now." 
"Where would you like to go, Edie?" 
"I really don't care. Just not there, and not my house." 
"My house, then?" 
She simply nodded. 

On the radio in the distance Sarah sang: 
"In the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here" 
                                        

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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