The Rarest One

Tango Part 23

(Scott)

Crystal worked on dance with me for the next three hours.   She started out with basic stretches, footwork, then got into the waltz steps.

"You have to lead me.  I can't lead because I'm not a guy, so you have to act confident even if you don't know what you are doing, okay?" Crystal held her arms up and I joined her in the frame.  "Shoulders back, push them down and back.  Good, good, final run through.  Hugh, start the music."  Hugh nodded and pressed play and her ipod, which played the Tennessee waltz by Pasty Cline.   We began, her giving instructions, "Flow easily, think of a creek of water, step softly,  head side, and don't forget the spin."  I spun her out and back to me.  "Nicely done!" she exclaimed happily.  "Here comes the dip."  I gently lowered her, and brought her back up.  "Very nice, great lines. Here comes the end," I brought her into our pose, her arms around my neck, facing me, and her legs in the center split.  I lifted her out of them.  "You're a natural, very nice work.  That's all for today," she looked at the clock that read 3:00 in the morning.  "Get some sleep."

Adrian was already in the top bunk, sleeping peacefully with his arm over his eyes.  Hugh took another top bunk because there are three rows of bunks with three bunks from top to bottom.   Victoria was in the bottom bunk underneath Hugh who was one up from her sleeping form.  I took the middle bunk under Adrian, putting the bag with our guy stuff in it at my feet.  Crystal threw her duffel and backpack to her feet and got her sheets ready.  Kira finished her conversation with Puck and moved to the last bottom bunk, but Puck made no move to go to sleep anytime soon.  Everyone fell into their beds fully dressed only stopping to take off their shoes.   I remember Crystal climbing into bed, but I fell into a black abyss full of silver arrows, Gates torturing me, and just bad nightmares over all.

(Crystal)

I climbed into bed, lay down and pulled my shoulder-length hair loose.  I listened to Scott's breathing deepen as he fell asleep and soon the sound of his deep breathing lulled me to sleep.  I jerked awake, sweaty and breathless.  I pushed my wet hair out of my face, and swung my legs over the edge of my bed.  I rubbed my coal-filled eyes, and when I looked up, Puck was asleep on the desk in the corner of the room next to the bathroom.  I grabbed my duffel bag, and a soft, grey, fuzzy blanket and shuffled my way over to him.  I covered him with the blanket, and entered the bathroom.  I looked at the clock in the bathroom and it read 5:32 in the morning.  In the large bathroom, I began doing my warm up routine.  First, the basic ballet warm up.  Second, was my balancing exercises, then onto turns, and rounding out my warm up, was split stretches.  I moved to cardio, and when I finished I stepped into the shower.  After I got out, I checked my ribs, and was very pleased with how they looked.  I walked out, trying to be as quiet as possible, and put my bag next to my bunk and dug out my pointe shoes.  I placed my toe pads over my toes and the ball of my foot.  I pulled my shoes on and tied the ribbons.  I walked, with my ipod in hand, to the bathroom framework and used it as my barre.  My back to the bunks I turned my music on quietly and began to warm up my feet.  Dance takes a lot of warm ups, because of all the different muscles used. I was balancing in passe when my ankle wobbled from all the missed dance strengthening classes, plus from when the rogue bit my leg and broke my tibia.  I leaned back in an effort to hold it, loosing my balance.  Strong hands griped my narrow waist, stabilizing me.  I turned to face Scott and I smiled.

(Scott)

She smiled and my mouth turned up at her beautiful smile directed at me.  "Dance lessons without me?  I'm hurt," I placed one hand over my heart and acted hurt with the other hand still on her waist.   

She stepped down from her toes, and bent, untying them.  She pulled them off with the toe pads and stuffed them back into her duffel.  "Let's begin with going over the waltz."  She conducted me back through it but I had mastered it yesterday, so she started me on the tango, which I guess is a sexy, passionate dance.

"This is going to be interesting," I rolled my eyes, trying to imagine myself as sexy.  

She demonstrated the steps, taught them, and then we walked through it slowly. 

"Gosh, this dance is so frustrating," I growled as everyone began to stir.

"You have to remember that you have no dance experience and I just taught you a three minute dance.  Let's try it again," she motioned me closer, and we did it again with her doing the counts. "See you did much better that time, let's try with music."  She put on "Bust the Windows out of your Car"by Jasmine Sullivan.   We moved into hold, "Last time, be confident and don't forget, have fun.  Ready, five, six, seven, eight," she let me lead her through the dance with as much passion as I could handle.  We were on every beat, every count, and every feeling.  The song ended, her in a lunge and myself in a higher luge behind her.  Applause filled the air and we stood and bowed like she taught me to do.  

"Sis, you need to teach me to dance like that," Adrian spoke from his bunk.  "No lady can resist a man who can dance."

"Come on down brother," Crystal smirked.

"Let's just take a rain check on that right now.  It'll take to much energy for me right now," Adrian laid back down.  We all laughed and Puck jerked awake.

"Who died?" Puck mumbled sleepily.

"Nobody died, Puck," Kira smiled.

"That's good," he stared at the screen in confusion.  His eyes narrowed on it, then he sprang into action, fastly typing.  

"What's wrong?" Kira was there in a flash.

"He's trying to access the tablet and get our location," Puck finished typing and unplugged his tablet from the computer system.  "Okay, we safe.  We good, we good, I have it under control.  By the way, you have three more days until that ball you are going to.  Oh, and the files that we need are on his home laptop, which he carries everywhere with him.  And to be able to hack it, I have to be in the same building as him."

"Got it.  Victoria, work with Crystal on weapons, I have to think of some way to get you in to the party," Kira murmured to herself.  Victoria pulled Crystal away.  

"What do you mean get me in?" Puck didn't look happy about the change of plans.  

"You are going to the party," Kira grimaced under his green eyes.

"You know I don't like being the spy who gets into places, I always mess it up and say the wrong thing," Puck  spoke with his eyes rolling.

"Don't worry, that's why I'm going with you," Kira assured him, and motioned to herself.   A thump and we all looked at Crystal.   The knife she just threw landed in one of the moving dummies between the eyes.  Her yellow eyes were filled with concentration as her eyes went back in forth between the last two moving dummies as she raised her hand with another knife in it.  Her head jerked to the right and the knife in her hand sailed into the dummy and planted in the chest.    She whirled around letting the last knife fly from her fingers and into the throat of the last moving dummy.  "Humph, I still got it," she turned, "What?"

"Where did you learn to do that?" I asked, my jaw open. 

"My father wanted to teach an older boy, but when Adrian was taken, he taught me everything Adrian should have learned," she looked at Adrian who looked up and rolled out of his bed.

"Okay, so here's the deal.  The fundraising event is in three days so we need a wardrobe.  Puck, Adrian, Scott, Victoria, Crystal, and myself are going with Melanie to find clothes, while Hugh stays back here and monitors the scanners.  Hugh will also watch if the computers locate where the event is, so let's get out of here, this could take a while," Kira climbed the stairs.  We grumbled and followed her up the stairs.  We followed Melanie to her rusted out, navy blue Ford. She drove out of the hood, and made her way to the rich people lane.