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Dana held up the stop watch and grinned at Joel, Chad and Carter. "I'm ready when you guys are."
"Hang on, hang on," Joel said to her, hold up a hand. He turned back to Chad. "How have you never played rock, paper, scissors? Ever?" He gestured emphatically, staring at Chad incredulously.
Chad shrugged. "We just took turns," he said. The corner of his mouth twitched and Dana was starting to suspect that he was just messing with Joel again.
Joel spluttered for a couple of seconds. Carter just stuffed his hands into his pockets and grinned at the two of them, clearly enjoying the show.
Kelsey dropped down beside Dana on the wall and took a long drink from her water bottle before offering it to Dana. "Did he fall for it?" she asked as Dana took a sip from the bottle.
Dana nodded towards the boys. Joel was slowly and clearly demonstrating rock at the moment, pretending to crush the scissors on his other hand. Carter was staring hard at the ground, shoulders shaking lightly. Chad was covering a smirk with a fake thoughtful pose, hand pressed over his mouth.
Kelsey's giggle spilled out before she could clap her hand over her mouth. Joel paused mid-word and looked over at her and Dana. His look turned suspicious and he turned it onto Chad. Chad barely lasted a second before folding under the scrutiny and cracking up laughing. Carter's shoulders started to shake more obviously. Joel glared at all of them and gave Carter's shoulder a light shove. "Very funny. Just for that, I think you two should run the obstacle course, and I get to keep the ladies company." He grinned brightly and strutted over to the wall that Dana and Kelsey were sitting on.
Carter and Chad started to follow, both looking ready to protest, but Dana quickly held up the stop watch. She gave them a stern look and shouted, "On your marks!" They froze, unsure if she was serious or not. "Get ready!" They scrambled back to the starting positions. "Go!" she shouted happily as Chad and Carter raced for the wall jump obstacle.
Joel plopped down beside Kelsey and stole her water bottle for a quick drink. "So, how'd the date go?"
Kelsey lit up. "It was awesome!" she said. "The observatory was just as cool as you said it would be."
"You don't have to sound so surprised," said Joel, rolling eyes.
"Well," said Dana, watching worriedly as Carter stumbled and almost landed face first onto the low crawl. "we knew you were all about flying during the day, but you never really talk about stars."
Joel shrugged, deliberately casual. "I know a guy."
Carter and Chad raced for the finish line, jogging through the tires easily. Dana sat up a bit, holding the stop watch ready. "You guys are still going rock climbing on the weekend, right?" she asked Kelsey, keeping her eyes on the boys though.
"Yup," said Kelsey. "We're going to try some of the easier mountain paths on Saturday, and then we're camping out and coming back on Sunday afternoon. Well, unless Diabolico attacks-"
Carter and Chad cleared the finish line and Dana hit the stop button on the watch. "Minute twenty five, guys!" Chad grinned and clapped Carter on the shoulder.
"And then we'd just use the hiking trails to get down to where we can get picked up," finished Kelsey, kicking her feet idly and pulling a red and a blue water bottle from her bag.
Carter and Chad made their way up to the wall panting and then dropped down at the foot of it, taking the water bottles gratefully. Chad bumped Kelsey's knee with his shoulder. "Your first night with Nancy, right?"
Kelsey stuck her tongue out at him. "Only our first night outside."
Dana blinked. "Oh, so that's where you were on-" She blushed as the others started laughing. She caught herself wondering just how two women could have sex. She knew some of the basics from her medical courses, but did it really feel that good? She glanced at Kelsey, biting her lip.
Kelsey caught her look and tilted her head curiously. Just as she opened her mouth, Joel clapped her on the shoulder and pushed himself off the wall. "Okay, who wants to help me leave these two slowpokes in the dust?"
Laughing, Kelsey practically bounced off of the wall. "You're on, cowboy!"
Dana shook her head a bit to clear her thoughts and held up her stop watch. "Okay, on your marks!
*
Dana rushed into the exam room, panting hard and dropping her lunch as she ran. She was late for her anatomy test. She glanced around, looking for an empty seat, but all the desks had been piled in the back to make room for the large four poster bed in the centre of the room.
Dana stared at it in confusion. "I thought the practical was next week," she said, holding up her pen. "I'm ready for the essay questions."
"This is the essay portion," said Nurse Robertson as she sashayed up to the bed. She was wearing a dark green teddy that set off her red hair perfectly. She smiled slowly, her lips a warm crimson and she didn't stop moving until she was right in front of Dana. She lifted one manicured finger and drew it slowly down Dana's pink uniform shirt, the material sliding apart easily. "You'll be graded heavily on your enunciation."
"I'm good with vowels," said Dana happily. She let her hands caress the edges of Nurse Robertson's breasts, enjoying the fullness.
Nurse Robertson leaned forward and kissed Dana softly. Dana kissed back enthusiastically, opening her mouth for Nurse Robertson's tongue. She threaded her fingers though that silky red hair, moaning happily. When Nurse Robertson finally pulled back, she smiled, cupping and kneading Dana's naked breasts. "You have to lie down for the oral," she said, pushing Dana back onto the bed.
Dana laughed and as Nurse Robertson knelt onto the bed, Dana rolled towards her. -And hit the floor with a hard thump. She groaned and wondered how falling out of bed would put out the sun. A light clicked on over her head and Dana squinted, peering around her room at the Aquabase.
Kelsey let out a grunt and prodded Dana with a foot. "You okay?"
Dream. It was just a- Dana pushed herself up onto her elbows and peered blearily up at Kelsey. "Ow?" she tried,
Kelsey snorted and flopped back onto her bed, pulling the covers over her head. One hand snaked out and flicked off the light. Dana sighed and climbed slowly back into bed.
*
"You know," said Carter, grinning. "You could probably just fit Dorsey into a roller skate and pull him along." He neatly sliced the loaf of bread, passing the slices over to Kelsey for buttering. Dana giggled, dropping her chopped carrots into a container.
Kelsey bumped her hip against Carter's, rolling her eyes. "Ha, ha." She grinned, rolling her eyes. "Some how? I don't think Nancy would go for it."
"What about tying a doggie carrier to a skateboard?" suggested Dana. "We could make him a little Ranger flag or something."
"Dorsey as the Lightspeed Rescue mascot for Mariner Bay's Pride Parade," said Joel thoughtfully, looking up from filling the water bottles.
"It could work," said Dana as Kelsey rolled her eyes.
"Oh, hey, can Nancy ride with us in the Rescue Rover?" Kelsey asked.
Carter nodded. "Sure, I don't mind having her along for the ride."
"She can have my seat," said Joel. He screwed the last of the caps on the water bottles. "I want to walk with some of the air show crew. Nelson's trying out wheels on his stilts this year and we're trying to get a good group to catch him when he falls."
"You mean if he falls," corrected Chad from where he was packing up the lunches.
Joel snorted. "You? Haven't met Nelson. It's when he falls."
"Want me to come with you?" Dana offered. "It never hurts to have a medic on hand."
"All right, you're on," said Joel with a bright grin.
"Okay," said Carter slowly. "Chad, are you with us in the Rover?"
Chad thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I'm with you guys." He grinned at Kelsey. "I can hold the mascot."
Kelsey stuck her tongue out at him, giggling.
*
The parade was loud and colourful. Dana was constantly getting distracted by new sights. Joel's air show buddies were a friendly and excited bunch. Nelson was a rather sweet, gangly guy. He'd tripped and had his fall broken by his friends three times already. He wasn't even in the stilts yet.
Dana watched with trepidation as Nelson sat down and strapped the stilts on. The rest of the air show group crowded around, ready. "Easy now," said the wing rider, Kim. Her pilot, Jason, was gripping one of Nelson's arms to help leverage him up. One of the sound roadies, Walter, was holding Nelson's other arm.
Dana held her breath as they got him standing. Nelson straightened and nearly over-balanced but Joel was there, pushing him back up. Nelson wobbled a bit but stayed up. "All right!" said May, one of the pilots of the old fighter planes. "Now can we get going so I can grace some beautiful women with the presence of me?"
Carl laughed, swinging an arm around her shoulders. "If you'd just come out clubbing with the rest of us, you wouldn't be so desperate right now."
"With the music you kids listen to nowadays?" May snorts. "I like what I have left of my hearing, thanks."
"Okay, okay," said Jason, smiling. "Let's get this show on the road."
"Yeah," Nelson said. He grabbed at the nearby lamppost and used it to push himself forward. And then he yelped as he over balanced and began to flail wildly. The rest of them rushed after him, calling instructions and laughing.
The parade itself was busy and full of both participants and watchers. Dana was having a lot of fun, talking to random people before the crowds parted them, taking in the sights and just enjoying the walk. Nelson would overbalance from time to time, but the rest of the air show group were good at catching him in time.
Dana kept noticing some of the women in the parade. She'd had a couple of other dreams after that first one with Nurse Robertson, and while she knew dreams and reality were two different things, she couldn't help but notice. And it made her wonder if maybe this was something that was always there.
Joel nudged her shoulder. "Okay," he said quietly. "Blue pants, pink sparkle shirt, hot blue hair, two o'clock."
Dana looked over to see a handsome young guy grinning and chatting with a pair of drag queens. He was making emphatic gestures about something that was cracking both of his friends up. Dana looked back at Joel dubiously. "He looks cute, but I don't know if he's exactly Carter's type," she said.
Joel eyed the guy seriously. "I know Carter's pretty low key, but that's my point. He needs someone to drag him out of his shell."
"He might prefer someone who can coax him out of his shell, not drag him out kicking and screaming," Dana said pointedly.
Nodding in resignation, Joel sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. Can't blame me for looking though."
Dana smiled. "You're a good friend, I know."
"Yup," said Joel. "I wouldn't actually start shoving guys on him without warning though. You know that, right?"
"I know."
"Speaking of," said Joel. He slung an arm around her shoulders casually. "If you ever need me to hook you up, just let me know, all right?"
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if that applied for women as well, but Dana wasn't sure she was ready to talk about that yet. Instead, she just grinned at him and nodded. Then she and Joel had to rush forward to catch Nelson.
*
Dana flopped back onto the bed, reaching for her partner. Her hands got brushed back easily and she's suddenly being kissed thoroughly. A hand slipped down and started opening her blouse, buttons popping open easily. Long brown hair trailed over her skin as the woman kissed down her neck and started sucking at Dana's breasts.
Dana moaned, pressing her head back into the pillow. She reached down to reciprocate, wanting caress the soft looking skin of those breasts. But then her skirt and panties were gone and her partner licked her way down, easing Dana's legs open.
The long wet lick made Dana moan. She shifted restlessly, trying to ignore the beeping that started up. She pushed up towards that warm mouth, towards the tongue slowly circling her- alarm. That was her alarm. This was a dream.
Dana opened her eyes and glared at the ceiling. She pulled her pillow out from under her head. She dropped it onto her face and screamed her frustration into it. Of all the damned times for it to go off. She sat up with an annoyed huff and spotted Kelsey standing there, staring at her in surprise.
"You know," said Kelsey slowly, rubbing her hair with the towel. "I can spend the night at Nancy's tonight if you need some private time."
*
Dana got her usual breakfast from Chef Wilkins and turned to scan the commissary. Carter and Chad had chosen one of the tables in the corner. She nodded. Good, she needed to talk to them. She made her way over and drops down beside them.
"Hey guys," she said. She bit her lip and poked at her eggs.
"Hey, Dana," said Chad, putting his drink back down. "Everything okay?"
"Can I ask you guys a question?"
Chad and Carter shared a curious look before looking back at her. Chad nodded while Carter said, "Sure, what's on your mind?"
"Well..." Dana toyed with her eggs while she tried to think of a way to phrase it. She looked to Chad first. "How did you know when you liked girls?"
Chad blinked in surprise for a moment. He glanced quickly at Carter, as if looking for help, but Carter just shrugged. "I don't know," he said finally. "I guess I just always knew."
"Ah." She looked over to Carter. "What about you, Carter? When did you know you liked guys?"
Carter gave her a searching look, leaning back in his chair. "I knew for sure when I was fifteen, but in hindsight? I think I always knew."
Dana nodded, staring down at her plate.
Carter leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "What's up, Dana?"
"I..." Dana took a deep breath. "I think I might be bisexual." It felt weird and kind of freeing to finally admit it out loud.
"You think?" asked Chad. She glanced up at him quickly, but he was just genuinely curious. There was no censure in his gaze.
Dana nodded slowly. "It's just..." She sighed. "I like guys. I know I like guys. But there's always been stuff that I have to worry about, like training and med school and there just wasn't a lot of time for any kind of dating, you know?
"And well, I have friends, but not that many. And Carter and Kelsey are well... the first friends I've had who were gay and I've never really had to think about it. And it was just easier to agree that a guy was cute and then go back to studying. And now Kelsey's dating Nancy and I... I just-"
"Have some time to think about it?" finished Carter gently.
Dana nodded and realized she was slightly out of breath. She'd never really said all that out loud before. "Well, yeah. I just. I've never really noticed before and I don't know if it's always been there, or..." She bit her lip, poking at her eggs again.
Carter sighed heavily, sitting back in his chair. "Well, it's not exactly the same for everyone," he said slowly. "Even if you're just noticing now, it doesn't make you a bad bisexual."
"Yeah, I know," Dana said. "But I just. I want to be sure that I am before I do anything. I don't want to just lead some poor girl on."
Chad glanced at Carter again. "I don't- Well, can't you just-" He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe you could go with some books first? Or talk to Kelsey? She's a lot better at this stuff than we are."
Carter snorted and gave Chad a wry look.
"What?" Chad held up his hands defensively.
Dana hid a smile. "A book might be a good idea. Any suggestions?"
"Suggestions for what?" asked Joel curiously, dropping down into the chair beside her.
She dropped her fork in surprise. "Oh, I... uh..." She shot Carter and Chad a pleading look.
"Uh... for guys for Carter!" said Chad quickly.
Joel's face lit up. "Say no more," he said, "I have the perfect guy." He stood up and pulled Carter up too. "Come on." As Joel dragged him off, Carter shot Chad a dirty look.
"We'd better go rescue him," Dana said, pushing her chair back.
Chad nodded and got up.
*
"You know," said Dana, taking her ice cream cone from Joel. "Carter's not big on organized sports."
"I know," Joel said easily. "But that doesn't mean he can't like a sports player."
Dana shook her head in amusement. "You never give up, do you?"
"Nope," he said with a grin. He steered them over to the mostly empty bleachers and sat down with a sigh. "Look, I'm trying to do him a favour."
"By setting him up with guys he probably won't like?"
Joel snorted. "Okay, answer me this. When does he go out?"
Dana blinked in confusion.
"He's always training, or reading, or hanging with us. And, look, I love the guy, but he's not my type and Chad's straight."
"But, that doesn't exactly mean that he's desperate." Dana pointed her cone at him.
Nodding, Joel said, "No, but he never comes out of his shell either. He buries himself in work and that's about it."
"I still don't get how introducing him to random guys is supposed to help."
"Well, he's not obligated to date them," said Joel, leaning back in his seat. "Any guys I talk to, I never tell them that I have a great guy for them to meet. And Carter knows that he's not meeting guys for blind dates. No pressure."
"But-"
"It gets him out and meeting different people. If he ever hits it off with one of them? Great. But he needs something, or someone, to watch out for him when we can't."
Dana nodded slowly. "Okay, yeah. I can understand that."
Joel bumped her knee with his own. "Now, what did you really want to talk to me about?" He gave her a knowing look.
Dana shifted in her seat, staring at her melting ice cream. "I... I just..." She bit her lip. "How did you know when you liked girls?"
"How did you?" Joel raised his eyebrows at her.
"What? How did you-" She stared at him shock.
Bumping his knee against hers again, Joel smiled gently. "You've been staring at random women for a while now. And you've been obviously thinking hard about something." Joel shrugged. "I just guessed after that."
Dana sighed. "Okay, but. Well, I'm not sure if I really like women or if it's just-"
Joel let out a snort. "You're thinking too hard." He grabbed her wrist and stood up, tugging her up with him. "Come on, I'll make this easy."
He pulled her towards the more crowded part of the park and slung an arm over her shoulders. Leaning in close, he nodded at a pretty blonde buying balloons. "Okay, look at her," he said. "Do you think she's pretty?"
Dana stared at the woman for a moment and then nodded.
"Why?"
"I..." Dana hesitated. "Her hair. I like how it tumbles around her shoulders. And she's got nice lips..."
"Nice enough to kiss?"
Dana sees it flash through her mind. Those lips would be soft and warm, and threading her fingers through that long, golden hair... She nods. "Yeah," she said softly.
Joel grinned. "There you go. Problem solved."
Dana shook her head, amused at Joel despite everything. "But what if it's just a phase and as soon as I try dating a woman, I get over it?"
"So what?" Joel shrugged. "It happens to people."
"Well, I don't want to lead someone on."
Joel nodded slowly, thinking it over. "You should talk to Kelsey," he said. "She'll have a good idea."
"Okay." Dana bumped Joel's shoulder with hers. "Thanks, Joel."
"That's what friends are for." He grinned. "Now, I believe we were finding a jock for Carter."
*
"Hey," said Kelsey, dropping down onto the couch beside Dana. "Nancy says hi."
Dana looked at her and smiled. "Hey."
Kelsey nudged Dana gently. "So, you wanted to talk? Girl time?"
"Yeah..." said Dana slowly. She bit her bottom lip, unsure of how to start.
"Does this have anything to do with what you've been talking with all the boys about?" Kelsey asked, smiling warmly.
Dana nodded. She took a deep breath. "I think I'm bisexual," she said in a rush.
"Yeah?" said Kelsey. "That's great! Right?"
Dana hesitated for a second and then everything just started spilling out. Her worries about accidentally leading someone on, the dreams, why she'd never really thought about it before. All of it. When she was done, Dana realized she was panting a bit.
Kelsey pulled her into a tight hug. "It's okay, Dana."
She hugged Kelsey back tightly. "I just feel so unsure about doing anything. I mean, it's bad enough, but we have Diabolico to worry about too. And what if I do like girls, but she thinks I'm blowing her off any ways because we have to go save the city, and-"
"Hey," said Kelsey, with a sympathetic smile. "Nancy gets it. So will most of the city. But, how about this? Nancy's got an old flight school friend coming in. You come along so she's not a third wheel when we take her out, and if you guys hit it off? Great. And if you don't? It's just a fun girls' night out."
"But, what if-"
"Easy," Kelsey said with a gentle laugh. "One thing at a time. First, we get you on a date with a girl. Then we worry about the rest, okay?"
Dana nodded slowly. "Okay. Thanks, Kels."
"No worries." Kelsey hugged her again.
End