"Horizons" Part One (Heroes; Elle/Claire; Rated R)
Title: "Horizons" (Part 1)
Author: Erimthar
Fandom: "Heroes"
Rating: R
Word count: 1,969 for this chapter
Pairing: Claire/Elle (for starters)
Warnings: Spoilers for the TV show Heroes, up to and including the finale.
Notes: This is the latest in my series of stories about the professional and amorous adventures of Claire Bennet and Elle Bishop, partially AU (but mainly adhering to canon), and now post-series. If you want, you can catch up on the earlier stories in the series by looking at my story index, under the "Heroes" section. This is a work in progress and will most likely be 4 or 5 installements.
"You're probably wondering right now whether you should think of me as a prostitute or not," Erin LaMontaigne said to Karen. "And the answer is yes, you should. I sometimes have sex with clients who strike my fancy, and who can afford me.
"But what I mainly do is manage my little company, and the careers of the girls who work for it."
"HORIZONS," Karen read from her notes. "Your little company."
"Yes, that's right."
"Do you call yourselves horizontals?" Green Fairy asked.
Erin smiled tightly. "Not in the literature, no. I have twenty girls on staff, and more than fifty as part-timers and consultants. Most of them have special talents that make them particularly unique and exciting as sexual partners. I'm talking about the sort of super-human talents that I know you ladies are familiar with. That pretty much everyone is familiar with, thanks to Miss Bennet's dramatic ferris wheel dive."
Claire smiled wanly and shifted uncomfortably in her chair, as Elle nudged her.
"I'm not sure we're that familiar with these particular powers," Karen said. "But back to the subject at hand: three of these special ladies who work for... with... you, have gone missing."
"Been taken against their will. Yes. And I want you to get them back safely for me. Regardless of the cost."
Karen tapped away at her computer, bringing up what little she had on file about Miss LaMontaigne and her company. She was unusually clumsy with her keystroking, and had to backspace over three different mistakes before she brought up the correct file.
Claire couldn't remember Karen ever being nervous about a client interview before. Twenty years of experience as a field agent, first for the FBI and then for the Company, had jaded her to just about anything. Claire had seen her fearlessly stare down people who could have killed her, or destroyed entire city blocks, with a thought.
But Erin LaMontaigne wasn't quite like any client they'd ever had before. For starters, this office was sweet. Located on about the 500th floor of some downtown office building, it featured a magnificent floor-to-ceiling view of L.A., which looked a lot better from up here than it did from down there, in Claire's book.
The office itself was large enough to park a small aircraft in, and lined with paneled bookcases, shelves, and glass cabinets containing an array of tasteful, extraordinarily expensive-looking art objects. Even the kidney-shaped glass table they were all sitting around was the height of trendy luxury office design.
At least, Erin and Claire and Elle and Karen were sitting around it. Green Fairy, queen of A.D.D. that she was, was up and snooping around among the office's museum pieces, some of which held her interest for as much as five seconds at a time. Thanks to Green's ability to put people into an instant, deep sleep, Karen never failed to bring her along to first meetings with clients. Especially if the client was an much an unknown quantity as this woman.
The woman herself was stunningly beautiful. In her early forties, perhaps. Her shoulder-length chestnut hair was pulled back into a businesslike bun, except for a few twists and curls that artfully escaped to frame her lovely face, which was equipped with a pair of piercing, grey-green eyes.
Erin was dressed in a black Armani business suit that was otherwise remarkable for its breathtakingly short skirt. On display beneath the surface of that glass table were miles and miles of creamy, exquisitely shapely, bare leg, each capped with a black Laboutin Décolleté pumps. They were the most beautiful legs Claire had ever seen... except for Elle's, of course, which were at the moment tucked away inside a pair of blue slacks in the chair next to her. Oh, and maybe Anne Hathaway's.
It was distracting.
"I imagine losing these employees will be bad for business," Karen observed.
"Yes," Erin agreed, fixing Karen with an intense gaze. "But while you should think of me as a prostitute, one thing you shouldn't think of me as is a pimp. These women are my dear friends. I care about them more than I care about myself, and getting them back safely is far more important to me than the revenue they generate... and that's a lot of revenue, believe me."
"Of course," Karen said. "But we'll need to know everything you can tell us about these three ladies. Names, appearance, powers... and anything else that might be relevant."
Erin typed a few keystrokes on her laptop computer, then turned it around so Karen, Claire and Elle could see. Three professional studio head shots were displayed, side-by-side.
The first was a beautiful girl with black hair, fair skin and striking blue eyes. "This is Jeannette Girard," Erin said. "She's quite tall -- about 5-foot-10 -- and French, although she speaks excellent English. When last seen she was wearing a short red teddy and red panties."
"Working?" Elle asked wryly.
"Yes, actually. She was working anonymously as a cocktail waitress at a private party for a certain young couple with an... adventurous circle of friends. She would circulate around the party serving cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, and using her power on various guests at random."
"And her power is...? Karen asked.
"She can make people orgasm instantly, by looking at them and concentrating for a few seconds."
There was a moment of silence as all the women in the room thought about that one. Claire couldn't help giggling, and Elle gave a low, impressed whistle.
"I've been to... I mean, heard of those parties," Green piped up from someplace halfway across the office. "They call them pop roulette parties, 'cause you never know who's gonna pop, or when. Everybody will be standing around talking, having drinks, and suddenly someone just has an orgasm right there in their underpants, no warning. Boys and girls both. It's really exciting. Or, um, so I hear from people who aren't me who have been to them. Is this mask African?"
"Yes," Erin said. "And the one thing all those parties have in common is that Jeannette is at them, somewhere. She's a very popular young lady. And she doesn't even have to spend any time on her back... although she usually wants to, by the time she's done. She's a girl with some healthy appetites of her own."
The second picture was of a cute, round-faced Asian woman. "Ling Zheng. She's a sex changer."
"She can change into a man?" Claire asked.
"Well, in a way. She can change her sexual organs into those of a man. But more importantly, she can temporarily change the sex organs of other women into those of a man, too. Fully functioning, right down to the potent sperm. A lot of her clients are just looking for a thrill or a new experience, but we get a lot of lesbian couples looking to have their own biological children, too."
"She can do that?" Claire blurted, in a voice much higher than she had anticipated.
"She can do that," Erin affirmed with a smile.
Claire felt Elle nudge her. "Careful, Pom-Pom," came a whisper in her ear. "You're gonna rupture something."
"Ling was probably dressed up for a night out clubbing," Erin informed them. "She mostly likes to wear black, Keep an eye out for her black leather jacket. Which I love, but can't find in my size."
The last photo was of a fairly nondescript looking redhead with tons of freckles. "This is Brie Sullivan, as she appears naturally. I think that she was the reason these girls were taken... the kidnappers wanted her, and the other two just happened to be with her. These three are best friends, and Ling and Brie had just picked up Jeannette from her party. They were going to take her home to change, and then go out. But they never got to the apartment."
"Why would these people want Brie?" Karen asked. "What can she do?"
"She's a shapeshifter. She can take on the form of any living woman in the world, exactly as she appears at that moment... right down to what she's wearing. She specializes in fantasy jobs. Want to sleep with your favorite singer or actress? She's your girl. Re-live that memorable night with your ex? Score with the girl who turned you down? Brie can do that."
"There are other shapeshifters out there," Karen observed. "Ones more versatile than that, in fact. They can become either sex, and can take on identities of completely imaginary people."
"Yes, but trust me when I say that Brie is the best at what she does. She's accurate to the tiniest detail... not just physically, but in personality, quirks, voice... everything. You'd never know you weren't with the real person in question. You wouldn't believe how lucrative her talent is. She's the biggest earner in my agency, and I think someone wanted to use her for their own purposes. I don't know what they intend to do with Jeannette and Ling. Maybe use them, too. Or maybe just eliminate them. Bring them back safely. Please."
Karen transferred the files on the three women to her own computer. "I think we have enough to go forward with now. We should have their location within a couple of hours, and we'll move very quickly after that." She snapped her computer shut. "Is there anything else we should know?"
"Yes," Erin said. "You'll find that I... we... can be very grateful to our friends. If you do this job successfully, in addition to the fee we've already agreed on, you will all be entitled to any service my company can provide, free of charge. You would be surprised at how versatile we are, and how much we can do..." she gazed at Claire with a smile... "in addition to the things I've already mentioned."
They all seemed to exhale at the same time as they emerged from Erin's office into the wood-paneled lobby outside, and rang for the elevator.
"Damn," Claire said to Elle. "Did you see those legs?"
"You and legs," Elle teased her. "Did you see those shoes?"
"The shoes were nice."
"I've never had an orgasm in my pants in front of everybody at a party," Green said. "You guys got that, right?"
"Yes, Green. We know," Elle humored her.
"Claire, Elle," Karen said. "I guess you know where we go now, right?"
"Sure thing," Claire said. She pulled out her phone and speed-dialed one Molly Walker.
Continued in Part Two