Blue Monday

Prologue - New York City Serenade

Fionna Lee thought she was done wishing, even subconsciously, to be back together with Alex Snow.

Clearly, she was wrong.

How else would she explain the fact that she was dreaming about making out with him, hotter and heavier than anything she'd ever experienced in her life?

She knew it was a dream because if she looked out the window, the view was that of a city skyline she'd never seen in person. New York, perhaps? But by looking out the window on the other side of the room, she could see what could only be San Francisco's Pier 39, lit up brightly for the night.

But Fionna saw none of the wondrous cityscapes below her at this moment. She saw nothing, in fact, because her eyes were closed as Alex kissed her. All she sensed were his lips on hers, and his face under her fingers. Her thumb stroked the bridge of his nose, while the rest of her hand cupped his cheek.

She then opened her eyes as he pulled away from her mouth, and a bit of fabric flew into her face. Alex was taking off his shirt and spreading his wings. Rather than remove it from her face right away, though, Fionna let the shirt linger there until Alex pulled it away himself. She took the chance to smell it, the crisp scent of his deodorant underlaid by a hint of boy-sweat.

Wasn't it true that sweat, especially pit sweat, contained pheromones? If so, that might explain why she felt so turned on. That, plus the lean muscle he'd built up since she last saw him. He looked like a real young angel now.

As soon as her vision field was clear, Fionna zeroed in on a sight she'd never noticed before. "When'd you get the ink?" she asked, pointing at Alex's right arm.

Alex immediately reached to cover the strange tattoo with his hand, but then relented and allowed her to get a closer look at it. "It's new," he said as Fionna's eyes took in all the details. Most of the tattoo was a black cross with sharply tapered arms. At the ends of three of the arms were large blue dots, connected by blue crescents.

She took a while to put two and two together and realize what the tattoo was. It was the symbols for Heaven and Hell put together.

"Why have I never seen this before?" she asked, gazing up into Alex's eyes. They were so very much like those of his father. Her killer. But she banished those thoughts before Alex could pick up on them. She was determined to make sure that this moment could not be spoiled, by anything or anyone.

Alex seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he tilted her head up and captured her in his kiss again. He then took her hand and placed it right between his wings. It was a strange contrast - the rounded knobs of Alex's spine, flanked on either side by soft feathers.

She stroked the skin between the feathers, making Alex shudder and gasp. He responded by bringing her down with him as he lay on the bed, so they were both on their sides. Alex nearly tore her shirt as he pulled it off, then he started leaving a trail of kisses on her collarbones.

How'd you know...? the voice in her head began.

Alex looked up at her and grinned. I've been waiting for a long time to do this, he thought, rolling her onto her back.

More kisses on her neck and shoulders, then down to her stomach. She especially liked the way his Roman nose pressed into her navel. Alex's touch brought tears of joy to Fionna's eyes. She'd thought she would never get to be so intimate with her beloved Feathers, not since she'd been murdered.

Unfortunately, she would have to wait even longer for that, even in the seemingly safe haven of her dreams.

Alex slid his hands up Fionna's back, over the stubs of her wings, and up to the clasp of her bra...and then they came.

Commandos in full tactical gear, matte black, broke into the room from all possible entrances. The doors were blown open, and the skyline and pier views were blocked by even more swarming military men.

"Hands up!" barked the man in front of the line at the door. "Hands up, both of you!"

Alex and Fionna both obeyed, but Fionna could see the beginnings of frost at Alex's fingertips as he got ready to surprise them with the frozen side of his water elemental. Taking her cue, she started getting her fire power ready to go as well.

But then the leader pulled his mask off, revealing a horribly familiar face, also with dark gray eyes.

"No funny stuff, kids," Elijah Emery said. Oddly enough, his Southern-accented voice was even and calm, not angry and sardonic like they remembered. "Just come quietly. We don't want to hurt you."

Alex made to step slowly off the bed, but then blasted the nearest bunch of black-ops dudes with ice to the ankles, freezing them in place. A split second later, Fionna's flames seared across the masks of another bunch of enemy agents. More than one started to crack and warp when faced with the heat of Fionna's power.

All the others behind Elijah opened fire with their assault rifles.

And then Fionna jolted awake, her hand held over her hammering heart. She blinked, and the city apartment bedroom vanished, to be replaced by her new bedroom in the Second Universe.

She sat there for a short while, catching her breath, then she crossed over to the window and gazed out at the nighttime view.

It sure as hell wasn't New York or San Francisco. In this town, called Bearville after the mid-sized city (and Fionna's hometown) that occupied the location in the Prime Universe to which this pocket of the Second roughly corresponded, almost every building was a ten-story stucco block, with the weird and often garish colors of the balconies and walls often the only way to tell them apart.

Fionna sighed heavily, then returned to her bed and crawled under the covers. Even with the early-summer warmth, she still felt chilled by the sudden nightmare she'd just experienced.

She also wanted very badly to cry.

When she'd been alive, she'd never been much for tears. Not that she'd considered it weak or shameful - she'd just never really had much opportunity to really cry before. But since her death, she'd had a lot more opportunities, and reasons, to let the tears come.

And now, after such a disastrous end to what was supposed to be a blissful break from reality, Fionna could no longer contain her emotions. She cried herself bitterly to sleep, wishing more strongly than ever that she were still alive. That she could really taste and smell and touch Alex like she'd never gotten the chance to do before, outside of her dreams.

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