The Window At The World's End (Juryrig Fiction)

Vibora Bay is dying.

Damon Armstrong has spent his entire life fixing broken things, but this?this is not something that he's sure can be fixed.

How do you fix the Apocalypse? How do you fix the end of the whole world?

He doesn't know. He doesn't know where to start. He doesn't know why he's here.

Well, that's not entirely true. He knows why he's here. He's here because Black Mask brought him here. He's here because she's saved his life.

And he's here at this window with her because she's crying.

Not loudly. Not dramatically. Her face is as much an emotionless mask as the one she wears, but he can see the tears falling from her eyes.

She?s crying because she's watching her city die.

"I should be out there," she whispers softly. "I should be out there doing something. There are people out there who need me. I should go..."

"No. No you shouldn't." He's known her for years now. She's called on him to fix or modify her motorcycle or to help her identify some piece of technology she's taken off a criminal. She's asked him to make or repair this or that piece of equipment to help her in her never ending quest to protect their city.

She's saved his life at least a dozen times.

"BM, you can't go out there now. You know what happens when you set foot outside that door." Therakiel has raised her forefathers from their graves and the only thing that keeps them from attacking her are the magical wards that protect Dr. Ka's home. Nine men who spent their lives defending the innocent, protecting the weak--their corpses torn from the ground and set loose to wreak havoc.

And to torment Black Mask.

"Daddy would be ashamed of me," she whispers again. "He wouldn't let this stop him. He would be out there."

"If you go out there now, you'll die." He wants to shake her. He wants to hold her. He wants to keep her safe. "The city needs you alive. We need you alive."

I need you alive.

He doesn't say the last part aloud. Even at the end of the world, he's not brave enough to say those words out loud to her. He would rather die than say those words to her ever.

She wouldn't laugh at him. He knows that. She's too kind to laugh at him. But he couldn't live with the pity in her eyes if she knew how much she meant to him ...

No, men like him--ambulatory junk piles like him--do not tell beautiful women they love them.

Ever.

"What good am I doing anyone in here? How can I be stand here--safe in here--when Vibora Bay needs me, Juryrig?!"

"No one knows Vibora Bay better than you do, BM. The crypts. The hidden places. That could make all the difference. I know it's hard, but for right now you gotta wait."

She bites her lip and then smiles at him, gently touching his cheek. "Thanks, Juryrig. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Let's hope you never find out." He grins lopsidedly at her.

"What are you two talking about?" Amphibian saunters over and actually leers at Black Mask. "Got plans for a hot date after we save the world?" He laughs then as though that's the funniest thing he's ever said.

"No," Juryrig says shortly. He doesn't know what's wrong with Amphibian. He'd known the aquatic hero for years--longer even than he'd known Black Mask. Geoff had always been a good man-- a little shy, a little unsure-- with a troubled past.

In his way, he was as much a misfit as Juryrig.

They'd been friends ... before.

Now ... now something seems wrong with Geoff. He's arrogant. Brutal, even. Stronger than he had ever been, but more reckless ... even cruel.

"You get bored chatting with 'Rig, you can always hang out with me, Mask. If things don't get started soon, I'm going to go out there and start busting some heads. It's fun. Always a good time when you take out the trash." Again that barking laugh so unlike the Geoff he'd always known.

"Dr. Ka says to wait. Help's coming. The Champions. Some other sorcerer. And another hero who knows what's coming on. We just gotta be patient."

"Yeah, yeah. Patience. I hear you, 'Rig. You want me for something, Mask--fighting or anything else, you let me know. Maybe 'Rig can use that blender on his back to make us some drinks or something. See you later, baby."

And he swaggers off in a way totally unlike the man he had been before Lemuria.

And Black Mask laughs. "One thing for sure, Juryrig. If that guy thinks that going out there and busting heads is the right thing to do it's obviously the last thing I should consider." She sighs. "He's not what I expected."

"He didn't use to be like that." And it disturbs him for reasons that he can't quite name.

"Damon?"

He blinks and looks over at her because even though she knows his name?it?s not like he could ever disguise who he is?she has never used his real name before now. "Yes?"

"Do you really think that we can stop this? I've spent my career fighting thugs and bank robbers. This ... it"s so much more than that. How can I stop this? How can anyone stop this-- even the Champions??

"I don't know." He's honest with her because he's never lied to her. "You're right. It's big. The biggest thing I've ever seen or heard of. Vampires and werewolves are walking the streets and evil angels fill the skies. It's Judgment Day, and I don't know how to fix it."

He sighs.

"But I know this. There are good people in this city. People like Dr. Ka and Red Snake. People like you. And that has to count for something--I can't believe that everything this world has been through has been for nothing--that this city is going to die as the casualty in some sort of biblical war.

"I can't believe that. I won't.

"The Queen City is down, but I don?t think she's out yet. We'll get a handle on this, BM. We'll save the city, and the world. We'll do it because we have to. We'll do it because we have people like you."

She squeezes his hand and he looks away because he can't face her just now. "You know something, Damon? You're my hero."

"You're my hero too."

"Good." She takes his hand--his human hand--and squeezes it.

And together, they wait for the oncoming storm.