Amaranthine

“How’s that harness feel, Kev?” Cait called over comms, racing ahead of where Kennedy flew above.

Kennedy had Kevin fastened against her chest with a comical amount of straps, completely immobilizing him. They’d learned the first time they took him up to acclimate him to flying, that letting him move at all could cause a lot of mechanical and aerodynamic problems related to a flailing boy-hero.

A side benefit, or at least Kennedy thought, was that the bindings seemed to be having a ‘thunder blanket’ effect on the kid. Through her link she could feel he’d calmed down a bit, although she could still feel his heart thundering in his chest through her tits.

Good thing Cait suggested this, this kid was terrified of flying. Wild that he agreed to this plan. Wild that we agreed to this plan.

“F-feels pretty good!” Kevin replied, entirely unconvincingly. “Th-there’s excellent back padding up here!”

Kennedy smacked him sharply on top of the head, while Cait tittered like a child.

“Every time you talk about my girlfriend’s boobs is a time I make a pass at your mom, kid, remember that!” Cait replied, exasperating Kennedy further.

“Oh my god,” she groaned, drawing attention from Rose, gliding along next to her. The cat bumped against her gently in concern. “Cait, if you act any more like a child ARMOR is gonna come around asking Lira and I questions. Focus up. Rose is pretty calm up here, so I don’t expect much, but are you seeing anything ground level?”

Kennedy was linked 3 ways, taking Kevin’s flight acclimation as time to do her own training. Rose was easy as breathing, but adding Breastman on top of them to access his enhanced senses, stacked with keeping Kevin calm, and minus the support of Cait’s link stretched her to her limits.

Pushing her vision into B-man’s Altered sense felt like purposefully giving herself a migraine, but fuck if it wasn’t useful. She’d been able to alert them to a few threats before the Honey Badger, which Breastman had uncreatively, but appropriately, named ‘Honey’, drove straight into them.

The most interesting had been what, far as they could tell, was some kind of slime mimicking an entire stretch of road. Jury was out on whether or not it was some kind of monster that replaced the road, or if the road itself had been Altered to become an ambush predator.

Fortunately, ambush predation didn’t work on Cait. It tried to swallow her up when she poked at it, asphalt body weirdly shifting and flowing around her, only to be hit by a double dose of dragon fire from Kennedy and Qi that burned it to ash. It paid to have prep time.

The overgrown fields and forests she flew over as they left Iowa, however, were largely devoid of any Altered energy signatures. There were plenty of small ones that scattered as Cait approached, but those didn’t concern her. Could be anything, but chances were they were just bugs that had been Altered to turn pink or something. If they weren’t aggressive enough to attack a lone human woman, albeit one that created sonic booms with each stride, they weren’t something that concerned her.

“You’re doing great, Kevin,” she said, soothingly, patting at the spot where she’s just slapped him. It was true, too, she’d be able to tell immediately if he was losing control of his abilities. When she was linked to him she could still see, but everything looked… different. Washed out. But things were clear as day.

“Thanks Kennedy!” the kid wiggled in his harness, trying to look up at her, or maybe just taking the opportunity to press back against her boobs. “Your focus techniques were clutch, I almost never lose control anymore.”

That’ll be put to the test a hell of a lot more than this soon, kid.

“I’ve noticed! Wanna push those limits?”

“Wha-? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Kennedy folded in her wings, plunging down towards Cait while Rose spiralled around her, graceful even in her dive. She pulled up mere feet from the ground, alighting the last few steps before the Amazon, who stood there smirking and slowly clapping.

“Awwww, no need for app—”

“Good work Kevin!” Cait said, clapping the beaming boy on the shoulder where he hung from his harness. “Even when the mean lady was trying to kill you, you kept it together. Nice spins too, Rose.”

Kennedy scowled as the Cruma head bumped against Cait’s legs. She couldn’t stay too mad though, as Cait raised her head, meeting her eyes to wink and blow a kiss. Kevin intercepted it with his hand, spiking the imaginary kiss to the ground.

“Gross! Not while I’m attached to her!”

Kennedy yanked the release, and Kevin yelped as he fell forward off of her. Cait pulled herself away from a rumbling Rose to walk over, take Kennedy’s chin in her hand, and lift her up into a deep, soft kiss.

“Not better!” complained Kevin from below them. Kennedy kicked dirt at him.

The rumble of Honey’s engine grew louder as the vehicle caught up with their advance party, wheels crunching to a halt a few meters from them. Cait stuck out a thumb, posing hopefully.

A window rolled down, and Breastman’s whole body poked out, supported by tentacles.

ASS, GAS, OR GRASS?

A clump of dirt and grass hit him square in the mouth and he commenced some very human-like spluttering.

“Always wanted to give that response, but hitchhiking isn’t really a thing anymore outside of movies,” Kennedy sighed, wiping her hands off on her jeans. She shook the last of the dirt off by slapping Cait on the ass. “C’mon, lets mount back up.”

“So?”Gwyn asked excitedly, “How’d it goooo?”

“Kids a champ!” Cait said, shaking Kevin by the shoulders as he blushed. “Zero blips thus far, although I guess you guys would be better judges than me.”

NOTHIN’

“Nothing!”

“Nope!”

Kevin beamed, chest puffing up a little with a warm pride that Kennedy felt like sitting next to a campfire. She honestly wasn’t sure what they would have done if things hadn’t gone this well. Warhawk didn’t have any of the defenses Kennedy or Cait did against Kevin’s abilities, if he couldn’t keep it together, this dangerous mission would be suicide instead of difficult.

“Looks to me like the only thing we’re gonna have to worry about is whether or not our little strike force can handle what-or-who-ever Bookkeeper is keeping around as a personal guard,” Cait said, hitting on a point that had been grinding on Kennedy for awhile.

She wanted so badly for it to be just the two of them, but with only Cait’s powers for Kennedy to draw on, it very well might not be enough firepower. The others would be at massive risk behind enemy lines like that but… well, same could be said for the frontlines. The real issue was both stealth, as more numbers always made that harder, and taking massive heavy hitters like Qi and B-man away from the battle lines.

On the other hand, Cait seemed to get more dangerous each day as she got used to her powers and Gwyn’s tech. Kennedy benefitted too, as their bond deepened, able to share in more of the Amazon’s colossal invulnerability.

Qi’s tail flicked her on the nose. She raised her head to see the dragon smirking at her as Honey rumbled back on its way.

“Chin up, Kennedy,” she said, patting the seat next to her. Kennedy looked to her right, where Cait bickered amiably with Breastman next to the drivers seat. Sighing, she switched over to the other bench seat, scooting up next to Qi.

Everyone in Honey but Kennedy had a tendency to run hot. So, with the AC blasting Kennedy was chilly, even done up in a full black denim Canadian Tuxedo. Qi hadn’t put her arm around her, she knew better than that, but she still radiated heat as her arm stretched over her along the back of the couch. Kennedy bit her lip, braced herself, then cuddled in, resting her cheek on Qi's breast.

She felt Qi stiffen as she did, then relax, letting her talon drop to rest gently on her side.

Well, if she’s not going anywhere, least she can do is keep me warm.