THE MOMENT
"Sorry," J.J. shrugged at the mousey woman across from her. "I don't know how you got my info; but, I don't kill," she said.
"What?" Summer tilted her head at J.J. "Who said anything about killing?"
"You don't want to exist?" J.J. asked with the same confused tone Summer used.
"I WANT to exist.... just not like this," Summer sighed. "Everything forgotten and forgiven and... I just want to start all over again from zero. Like it's my first time around again; like I was never here....," She trailed off when she noticed J.J. focused on her with a slight grin. Summer was sure J.J. was laughing at her inside. "I guess death is easier...," she said.
"Nah," J.J. smiled. "That, I can do for you," she said. Then, she shrugged. "Kind of. For a price, of course."
"What do you mean... kind of?" Summer asked.
"I can't do anything about your history on this Earth. But, if I put you on a new Earth, it's pretty much the same thing. And, you can even pick what kind of Earth you'd like to move to." Summer narrowed her eyes at J.J. and she leaned back almost imperceptibly.
"Another Earth?" she asked with the same mocking tone she imagined J.J. using. "That's not a thing." J.J. smiled.
"There's a lot you don't know," she said. J.J. leaned forward over the table and placed both forearms down. Something about the way the light reflected off the black sleeves of her leather trench coat seemed off. Before she could study it more, J.J. distracted Summer with a question.
"If I show you something, safe...," she stressed the word. "...but undoubtedly supernatural, will you believe me about other Earths?"
"Maybe...," Summer nodded.
"Good enough," J.J. grinned. Then, she looked down at the table. She flashed her amethyst eyes back up to catch Summer's attention, then she looked down again. Summer followed her lead and focused on J.J.'s arms splayed across the table. She looked at the sleeves to try and place what was odd; but, they shimmered. Then, moved.
At first, the black sleeve on J.J.'s right arm seemed to be melting into a black pool on the wooden table. But, the pool seemed to be flowing across the flat table. She leaned a bit closer and realized the black substance was made up of thousands, if not millions, of tiny pitch black spiders. They crawled together across the table towards J.J.'s left arm like a stream.
Summer realized J.J.s left arm was bare now, with the black sleeve flowing, crawling up her arm toward her shoulder. Within a few seconds, Summer watched J.J.'s jacket rearrange itself around her. Her right sleeve traveled to her left arm, while her left sleeve moved up and more black flow down her arm to replace the missing sleeve. She took a moment to process it, then she looked up.
"I'll do anything, name your price," she said. Summer did not fully understand what she just witnessed. But, in a way, that was the point. She did know that J.J. wore a jacket made out of spiders. And, she probably got it from another Earth.
"Three conditions," J.J. said. Summer nodded.
"First, who gave you my info? I have an idea; but, in my business it pays to make sure." Summer hesitated for a moment, but J.J. spoke up again.
"If I'm right, they didn't tell you to keep it a secret. If they did ask to remain anonymous, that's helpful too." Summer shook her head.
"Mundo didn't insist on it, I guess." J.J. nodded.
"Yeah, I thought so," she grinned. "Okay, condition number 2. I'm hungry, you're buying," she said.
"Sure." Summer nodded. She had no idea what this kind of service ran; but, she was prepared to disappear then and there; just in case. Not that she needed to spend a lot of time planning her escape. Due to random happenstance over the years, Summer had no family. And, due to her own choices, she had no friends either. But, she did have a large bank account that she emptied. She hoped she had enough; but beyond that, she hoped she had a bit left over to build a new and better life. Lunch for two was an easy condition to agree to. And, she was eager to hear how much exactly she'd have to pay.
"Nice," J.J. smiled. "And, condition number three," she said. J.J. leaned forward and locked eyes with Summer.
"Once you're out of my sight, never. And I mean never EVER offer 'anything' to anyone when making a deal again. There are things you cannot even begin to imagine out in the multiverse that fall under the umbrella of "anything."
"Well... I never imagined a jacket made of spiders..." Summer said, then nodded. "I'm happy to agree to that. But.. that's it? That's the third one?" she asked. J.J. nodded.
"But.. don't you want money?" A small part of Summer felt like J.J. was taking pity on her. But, she was prepared to pay her way and placed a black briefcase on the table to prove it. J.J. grinned.
"What for? You're buying lunch," she said.
"...transportation fee?" Summer shrugged.
"Nah," J.J. waved dismissively. "I'm leaving this Earth anyway. Another passenger isn't a big deal."
"Why are you leaving?"
"I don't live here," J.J. said.
"On.... this Earth?" Summer asked.
"Came here just to see you," J.J. replied.
"Then... how did you get my texts?" she asked. J.J. shrugged and held her hand up to show Summer a glassy rectangle about the size and thickness of a playing card. She tapped the side facing Summer and numbers appeared to show the time.
"I have this awesome jacket. You think there isn't amazing tech out there too?"