It’s a Small Uber World After All
 

Chapter 6
at3Sparky

BJ looked over at her partner Aeron. The doctor seemed enraptured of the drag show that was going on around them in the bar. BJ was glad that Aeron had agreed to come to Atlanta with her to visit the family, though after her family’s reaction to Aeron, she wasn’t sure the doctor could say the same. The ghostbusters were staying with BJ’s older sister Buffy. Buffy shared BJ’s blue eyes, but other than that was taller, blonder and plumper than her younger sister. After putting up with her family’s antics, the brunette was more than ready for a night on the town. Since she was not about to leave poor Aeron to the interrogation skills of her older sister, the good doctor was now being exposed to Atlanta’s hottest drag show.

Aeron, for her part, seemed to be having a great time. She was feeling no pain, if the empty glasses in front of her on the table were any indication. Since Atlanta was the brunette’s hometown, Aeron was not the designated driver instead for the evening she got to play designated drunk.

“Ok, now is this a girl or a guy?” shouted Aeron over the music, waving in the general direction of the woman on stage.

“Guy,” shouted back BJ. She sipped her coke, amazed at the talent displayed in front of her. “It’s a drag show. All the women you see up there are men, and all the men you see up there are women.”

Aeron still looked confused. “Why do they do this? I think some of the women up there are very beautiful and I’ll have to take your word for it that they are really men.”

BJ shrugged. “It something that they like to do. It doesn’t bother me one way or another, and I like the shows. I’ve never tried to analyze it.”

The drag queen’s number ended and she finished picking up the tips the patrons had thrown on the stage. The MC came out and announced the next act. Not listening, BJ and Aeron were distracted by the laughter coming from another table.

“Hey, isn’t that....” started BJ before Aeron interrupted with “That’s Brooke and Sam!” BJ grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her back down into her seat. “Where are you going?” hissed BJ.

“To go say hi,” said a confused redhead.

“They are here with friends. Let’s leave them alone and if they see us, they can come say hi. Brooke and Sam may not want to be bothered.” Responded BJ.

“But they seemed really nice when we bumped into them in DC?”

“Look, you told me yourself that Brooke Gordon is some kind of hot shot in the music industry, right?” asked the brunette.

“Right,” confirmed Aeron with a question in her eyes.

“So, she is probably inundated with people bugging her all the time for favors and passes and record deals and the like. So don’t you think she and Sam can have one night out to have a good time with their friends without groupies bugging them?” BJ gave the redhead a pointed look.

“Yes,” replied Aeron sheepishly.

The brunette’s reply was lost in the screams from the audience as the next drag king took the stage. This one was taller than most, standing at probably close to 6 feet. The most striking thing about the king was his eyes. They were probably the most piercing blue that BJ had ever seen. The king started his routine, the whole time his eyes were focused on a small strawberry blonde in the front row. BJ glanced over to see Aeron’s reaction to the show. The red head was sitting there with an unabashed look of lust on her face. BJ blinked in surprise. She had really never thought of the doctor as having a sex drive. While it was fine that Aeron be fuel for the ex-officer’s fantasies, it was unacceptable that the woman have her own... fuel. BJ could feel her own face getting red in response to the look on Aeron’s face. The doctor sensing eyes on her tore her gaze away from the gyrating figure on stage to catch the bodyguard’s stare. Aeron looked away in embarrassment.

BJ reached across the table and put her hand on the doctor’s arm. “It’s ok Aeron. You are supposed to feel this way. My god, that’s pure sex rolling off that king!” the brunette reassured her friend.

Aeron looked up to see if BJ was serious. The brunette reassured her with earnest blue. “Honest. Even the guys are turned on, and listen to the women scream. It’s ok.”

The doctor looked around at the crowd, noticing that BJ was right in her assessment, then looked back at her friend and grinned.

“He is hot. I wonder what he looks like out of drag?”

BJ shrugged, “Who knows. I bet if we hang around, we can find out.”

“Cool,” commented the redhead as she settled back to enjoy the rest of the show.

“Just remember,” warned BJ. “I brought you, so I get to take you home. No picking up strays. I refuse to try and explain an extra body in the room to my sister.”

************

After the show, the two hung around after the ugly lights came on. When asked what the ex-officer meant by that, BJ explained to the red head about drinking, dark lighting, and the whole ‘tequila sunrise’ situations. The doctor blanched and stepped closer to the brunette’s side. Aeron even went so far as to grab onto her arm when some of the more aggressive patrons started eyeing the redhead like a hunk of meat. Before they could get a chance to see the wonderful drag king out of drag, a bouncer came and pretty much shoved them out the door. Brooke and Sam were not swept up in the rush, so BJ and Aeron never got to say hi to them.

The two walked down to the car and BJ unlocked the doors by remote. As they passed underneath one of the parking lot lights, the brunette noticed the unhealthy color the red head had turned.

“Aeron, are you all right?” she asked.

Aeron shook her head no in response and started looking around for a bathroom.

“They won’t let us back inside,” warned BJ.

Aeron ran over to some bushes by the side of the parking lot and lost most of the alcohol she had consumed in the last hour. BJ sighed and walked over to her friend and pulled back her hair. “Ok, we need to figure out what your limit is so you don’t do this, ok?” The red head gave a shaky nod as she spit the taste out of her mouth. “Do you want to stick with beer or the hard stuff. I think your problem tonight was that you were switching back and forth.” BJ reached into her pocket and found a fast food napkin and handed it to the doctor. Aeron used it to wipe her mouth and slowly stood up. “Are you done? Is it safe to put you in the car? Buffy would kick my ass if you stunk up her car. She would think I’m not taking care of you,” teased the bodyguard.

Aeron smiled weakly and nodded her head. “Yeah,” she replied softly.

The two started over to the car and almost ran into another couple that was leaving. BJ looked up, startled from where she was watching Aeron’s face for signs of further regurgitation. The apology lodged in her throat as those piercing blue eyes that so transfixed her on stage caught her.

“S-s-sorry,” she managed to stumble out.

The strawberry blonde patted her friend’s stomach in a reproachful manner. “Taryn, stop. You’re scaring them.” She turned to the two ghostbusters. “That’s ok. I can see you were just concerned for your friend.”

The taller woman grinned sheepishly. “Is your friend all right?” she asked.

Aeron, who had been studying the taller woman intensely, blurted out. “You’re him! That really hot guy, I mean girl, I mean...” she trailed off.

The smaller woman laughed. “Don’t worry... my boy flusters a lot of people.”

“You were really good up there,” commented BJ. “I was floored by your performance.”

“Yeah!” added Aeron “What she said!” was slurred out.

“Thanks,” replied Taryn.

“I’m Rosalyn,” said the smaller woman. “And this is Taryn. If you are ever in Buffalo, come see the show.”

“I’m BJ, and my friend with the alcohol problem here is Aeron. We’d be glad to see your show if we are ever in Buffalo.” Aeron tried holding out her hand, but didn’t quite have the coordination required to remove it from around BJ’s neck. Instead she wound up whacking the smaller woman in the back of the head.

“Ouch! Ok princess, its time to get you to bed.” She turned her attention back to the couple in front of her. “It was nice to meet you. If you are ever in San Jose, look us up.” She fished around in her pocket and dug up one of Aeron’s cards. “We’d love to see your show if you ever come out to the Bay Area.”

“Good night,” waved Rosalyn as BJ half carried Aeron to the car. “They seem really nice.”

************

Taryn was studying the card that BJ had given her. “They investigate the paranormal. Think we should introduce them to Rae?” she asked with a mischievous smile.

“Only if they show up on our doorstep. You know how these things work. Only if they are meant to be,” answered Rosalyn. “Now come on, I have to show you how much I loved your show.”

************

Aeron groaned slightly as consciousness forced itself upon her. She smacked her lips a couple of times trying to dislodge the awful taste in her mouth. She noticed her pillow moving in a slight up and down motion and realized that the pounding in her head was actually her pillow’s heartbeat. She slowly turned her head to the left and looked up at her sleeping bedmate. BJ was lying on her back, right arm curled around the redhead’s shoulders. Her left arm was flung out over the edge of the bed. The part that was truly interesting was the small boy quietly filling his aunt’s hand with shaving cream, while a small girl stood off to the side, impatiently holding a feather.

The little boy saw Aeron watching him and placed his finger over his lips in a sign for quiet. Aeron looked up at a bit of motion in the doorway and saw BJ’s sister Buffy standing there using sign language to direct her children. She motioned for Aeron to extract herself before little Megan attacked her aunt with the feather.

Aeron slowly lifted BJ’s arm and slid out from under it. She then stuck her pillow in her place when the bodyguard started moving around. BJ settled back down and pulled the pillow closer to her. The two kids almost spoiled the whole surprise by snickering, but a sharp hiss from their mom quieted them down. The red head slowly backed off the bed and quickly removed herself to the adjacent bathroom. She had just shut the door when she heard the yell from her friend and the screaming laughter as two little troublemakers raced from the room.

“Buffy! Your kids are dead!” screamed BJ.

************

“I swear I had nothing to do with it,” protested Aeron. “I was in the bathroom, being hung over.”

BJ sat at the kitchen table, glaring at everyone. Tom, Buffy’s husband, hid behind his newspaper. The two instigators shared a chair next to him and kept giggling at their favorite aunt. Buffy was manning a skillet in the kitchen, making omelets for everyone.

“She’s right, Barbie,” BJ gritted her teeth at the nickname. “Your girl had nothing to do with it. She was an innocent bystander,” asserted Buffy.

“Oh, and how big a hand did you have in this?” questioned BJ.

Buffy turned to face her sister, her identical blue eyes twinkling. “Who do you think gave them the idea, trained and armed them?”

The newspaper gave a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh as it rattled.

“Tom,” warned BJ. “Did you help?”

“I leave the kid’s education in the fine art of revenge to their mother,” responded the paper. “I’ve met my mother-in-law. Buffy is much, much better at dealing with sneak attacks, guilt trips, and general nastiness after growing up in that household.”

“Tom! Was that a disparaging remark about my saintly mother?” questioned Buffy.

“Yes dear,” responded Tom meekly.

“Good. You have been well trained.”

Aeron snickered.

“I’m sorry that you had to meet the wench,” said Buffy to Aeron. “I think you two make a great couple.”
BJ choked on her coffee. Aeron merely smiled.

“I’m serious. If you can get that one,” and the blonde pointed a spatula at her choking sister, “to settle down, you too can hold grandchildren over her head.”

The brunette’s choking intensified. Aeron started pounding her back.

“We haven’t had the child talk yet,” explained the doctor. “We are still pretty new at this couple thing.”

“You can say that again,” wheezed BJ. Aeron was merely pretending to be BJ’s girlfriend to upset the uptight Mrs. Taylor. After having the invitation to stay with the matriarch rescinded once Mrs. Taylor found out that Aeron was a woman, the two quickly took up Buffy’s offer to stay with her family. The middle sister, Bambi, was a platinum blonde copy of her mother and had refused to let her kids even see their aunt outside of the one forced family meal.

“Well hurry up. Dad will definitely come around if there are grandchildren and mom might have to learn to be civil,” commented Buffy as she turned her attention back to the eggs. “How long can you guys stay before you have to be in Orlando?”

“We have to leave tomorrow. I hope to get in a visit to Disney World. Aeron’s never been and I have a navy buddy that works there now. She said we could stay in one of the hotels there as long as we don’t mind putting up with a convention.”

“What’s the convention?” asked the paper. One brown eye peeked out as Tom checked to see if BJ’s anger over the shaving cream had abated.

“BardCon or something. I have no idea what that is. Jessica said I’d fit right in though,” responded BJ with a puzzled expression.

“Must be your natural charm,” quipped Aeron.

“Oh I like her BJ. If you break up, I might have to disown you and adopt her,” laughed Buffy.

BJ rolled her eyes. “Can we get this show on the road? I want to see the Coke factory!”

************

The two women prepared to leave for the airport with two very upset children clinging to their legs.

“Don’t go,” cried Megan gripping Aeron’s leg tighter. “I love you,” she declared with all the certainty a six-year-old can posses.

“Please Aunt BJ. Stay longer. You and Aunt Aeron are my favorite Aunts.” Exclaimed a upset Tommy.

“Like you have a big pool to choose from... me or Aunt Bambi,” muttered BJ. She knelt down and hugged the sniffling child. “Look, you guys can come see me out in California, ok? It’s not like I live overseas anymore. Aeron has a big house and everyone can stay there, ok?” BJ met her partner’s eyes over his head to confirm this statement. The red head nodded her agreement, and knelt to hug the crying Megan.

“I would love it if you guys would come visit us in California. I even have a pool at my house.” BJ groaned at this little tidbit that Aeron let slip.

“I hope you don’t mind Christmas guests,” she said to the doctor as both kids ran screaming excitedly to tell their parents that Aunt Aeron had a pool and said that they could come visit. The bodyguard picked up the two rolling suitcases and made her way down the stairs to the car. Aeron picked up their backpacks, making sure that Skeeter was safely tucked in his usual spot. Skeeter had not made much of an appearance this trip for the fact that he didn’t really like kids. They had a tendency to grab him and drool all over his fur.

As Aeron left the room to follow her partner down the stairs, Buffy pulled her aside in the hallway.

“I just want to let you know you are always welcome in my house. The changes you have made in my little sister are incredible. She really loves you and so do we. Don’t let what my mom says bother you at all. We don’t like her and we’re related to the woman.” Buffy grinned. “Welcome to the family, sister” and gave Aeron a big hug.

Aeron gave the blonde a big hug back, and brushed at her watering eyes. “Thank you. I haven’t really had a family for a long time. This means a lot to me. Especially since you are BJ’s favorite sister.”

“Pshaw. Look who my competition is, Bambi. The walking, talking Barbie doll,” joked Buffy.

Aeron laughed. “What was your mother thinking?”

“I could tell you, but then I’d have to wash your brain out with soap to erase the images.”

“AERON! LET’S GO!” bellowed BJ from the front door.

Aeron gave her newest sister one more hug. “Thanks for everything.”

************

“I think that was the quickest de-bunking I’ve ever seen you do,” commented BJ to the doctor as they sped towards Disney World and a quick three day vacation.

“It was a fake; I knew that going in. By doing it this fast, we can have 4 days at Disney world!” Aeron was trying to coax extra speed out of the rental car. The Avis desk had been out of the Institute’s usual class of cars and had stuck her with a Dodge Intrepid. Normally, Aeron didn’t have a problem with the larger cars; but this one seemed to have been given a 4 cylinder engine instead of the 6 that it required to move above 45 miles an hour.

BJ started to retort when she was thrown against her seat belt when Aeron slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a screeching halt. All around them was the sound of squealing breaks and crunching cars. She looked over at Aeron to see if she was all right, to find her partner gripping the steering wheel with white knuckled hands and her eyes tightly closed.

“Aeron,” said BJ, “Are you ok?”

The doctor opened one eye to see what she had hit. Miraculously, she had missed the car in front of her by inches, and the car behind had partially pulled off the road to avoid hitting her. She opened both eyes and looked at the brunette with her mouth making a big O shape. Traffic seemed to be stalled, and BJ unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. Around her, other drivers were shakily getting out of their cars and checking damage.

Angry shouts drew her attention further down the highway as two drivers started exchanging blows as well as insults. She started running towards the altercation with the intentions of breaking it up. A taller form passed her as she stopped to dodge around two cars that had kissed bumpers. The form resolved into a very tall woman with dark hair that jumped into the middle of the altercation. She shoved the two men apart, sending one to his rear, and the other went bouncing off the hood of a car.

“Break it up,” she said with an authoritative voice.

“Fuck you bitch,” sneered the man on the ground.

“That’s Special Agent Bitch to you,” the woman said as she pulled out her badge. “Now I suggest that everyone calm down and wait for this mess to get cleared up by the highway patrol. How far ahead is it to the original accident?”

“About a mile,“ said a woman from her hiding spot behind one of the cars. “We have been sitting here for a while and traffic was slow, anyway because of the construction. This man was talking on his cell phone and hit us from behind.” She pointed towards the man on the ground.

“Tony,” called a woman from behind her. “I’m going to start looking for injuries. Can I trust you aren’t going to pound on some one?”

“Sure Megan,” replied Tony. “I’ll just shoot them.”

“Tony!”

BJ watched this exchange with interest. There was something familiar about these two women but she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

Aeron came running up. “BJ, are you ok?”

“Yeah, Wonder Woman stopped the fight before I even got close.” BJ waved in the direction of the where the tall woman was standing over the gentleman on the ground.

Aeron looked closely at the FBI agent. The woman must have felt her scrutiny, because she turned around and peered at Aeron over the top of her sunglasses. “Yes,” she purred, “Is there something I can help you with?”

Aeron was shocked at the woman’s eye color. “You wouldn’t happen to have any sisters, would you?” she asked.

“No,” came the curt reply before the woman turned her attention back to the man on the ground.

A strawberry blonde came running up. “Tony, I need the keys to get into the trunk. I need my bag.” The FBI agent handed over her car keys to the smaller woman. In doing so, she pushed back her jacket enough to reveal the gun holstered under her arm. The man on the ground became very co-operative.

“Can I help?” offered Aeron.

“Sure,” replied the blonde. “Do you have any medical experience?”

“None what so ever, but I take direction well.”

The blonde smiled, her nose wrinkling between her eyes in a very endearing way. “My name is Megan, and tall, dark and glowering is Tony.”

“My name is Aeron, and my friend there is BJ." Responded Aeron, pointing towards where BJ was glued to Tony's every move. BJ studied the way Tony employed her intimidation techniques with a look akin to a child's at Christmas. Aeron could see BJ mimicking the taller woman's stance and body posture; she almost burst out laughing when she saw Tony place her hands on her hips and then BJ echo the movement right down to the facial expression.

************

“Oh, that looks bad,” Olivia commented to Karla, as they drove across the overpass above lines of stalled traffic. The brunette took a swift glance out the window, before returning her attention to the road.

“No worse than the Big Dig at home,” Karla answered. “Maybe we should put in a bid to do the PR work on Orlando’s traffic problems,” she added with a grin.

“No work! We are here for vacation,” Olivia said as she replayed the scene in her mind. Something about those women she had seen standing in the road was familiar. Then she shook her head. It would come to her. It always did.

************************************
“Oh my, love. What happened?”

The couple looked at the snarl of traffic, not missing the two travelers on the overpass as they saw the commotion on the road.

“Accident, probably,” the warrior answered thoughtfully. “They were a regular occurrence in this time and place, especially but that mode of transportation.”

“Then why travel that way? Why not travel the fast way?”

“Lots of reasons. This was how all the local traveling was done... like for going to work and such. Though a lot of families used it for their recreational traveling as well.”

The bard’s eyes were focused on a small group of women standing to one side talking together. She looked back at the warrior. “They seem to be fairly relaxed, given the situation.”

The brunette smiled fondly at her companion. “Of course. They are all headed to the happy place.”

Green eyes lit excitedly. “Really? Do you think we’ll see them there?”

The dark head nodded. “I’d almost count on it.” They watched for a moment longer until flashing blue and red lights came into view. “C’mon. We’ve got some more things to see before we get to BardCon.”
 

To be continued in Chapter 7 ....

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