So Long, and Goodnight

21. See You Again

Chapter 21
See You Again

POV - Virgil

    A week had passed since the incident with the CPS worker and Jodie, and things were slowly getting back to normal; even if our ginger friend was still jumpy when new people came into her 'sanctuary.'

    We'd learned something none of us knew about John that day, and it was the fact that he hacked during his down time. All the hours he'd been hauled up in his room on his old-school laptop, typing away furiously; and he'd been coding, and hacking secure data networks.

    But all that work had gone to good use. It had helped in bringing down a group that the police, FBI, and CIA had been trying to capture. This type of crime wasn't something the GDF handled.

    From what I'd been able to get out of my two older brothers and Jodie, the plan to re-kidnap and kill Jodie had been foiled by en episode of Elementary. In said episode, the police couldn't charge the escapees until they left the floor. It was the same in this instance, but they couldn't charge them with anything until they left the hospital grounds.

    When Jodie had returned holding her stomach, sporting a split lip and the beginnings of a black eye, with an orange blanket wrapped round her shoulders, we didn't know what to think. The doctors had also checked her stomach, and found a large bruise starting to form on her ribs.

    "I'm okay." She'd told us, sitting up, "I've had worse things happen to me."

    Only now, she didn't have to worry about going through something like that ever again. The entire group had been brought down only a couple of days after Catrina had been arrested.

    Jodie had sighed in relief when the FBI came in to tell her what had happened, and that while they weren't happy at the hacking of their system, they were going to overlook who did it as long as it didn't happen again. She'd joked with them, saying, "there goes my promising career in espionage," and taking a drink from her glass of water.

    "Hey, Virg. You with us?" A hand was being waved in front of my face, and I jumped back in surprise, "That was an obvious no."

    "Well I am now." I said, feeling a little bit sheepish as the others laughed.

    "You didn't miss much." Gordon told me, "Unless you wanted to see Johnny being beaten at chess three times in a row."

    "Nobody beats John."

    "Well Jodie did." Scott threw a card on the growing pile I hadn't noticed, "And John was not happy about it. He's now refusing to play with her."

    "Is that why we're now playing Uno again?" Jodie asked, placing her blue one on the pile, "Don't feel bad, John. I just have a lot of free time on my hands."

    I looked at her, and while she was healing, she still looked like hell. The whole of the left side of her face was black and blue, her lip was still a bit swollen and scabbed, and her stomach looked more like an artists pallet then her face then her face did. And even though she wouldn't admit it, her stomach was still giving her problems.

    "Yes, because you cheat at chess." John grumbled, picking up two cards and putting them in his hand.

    "How do I cheat at chess? If I'm honest, I can normally Mate people in six moves, if not less. You're the first real competition I've had."

    "I don't know, but you do."

    Jodie started laughing, and then grabbed her side; rubbing it lightly and holding her breath.