Arrow Inferno
Chapter 92: Stanley ‘STAN’ Norris vs. Ian ‘WILL’ Williams ~ Let's do this!

***

"Hey, if you think you're not up to this..." Ty addressed Will quietly as the Arrowheads headed for the military aircraft waiting on the lawn of the White House. "I'm fine, Ty," Will muttered.

"No, you're not," Ty sighed. "You're clearly not yourself. I can speak to the admiral..."

"At this time?" Will scoffed gesturing at the military chopper whose blades were already turning with speed. "Have any idea how pissed the admiral would be if we pull a stunt like that?" he chuckled.

Ty signed. "I know. Maybe all that excessive workout must have taken its toll on you."

"Huh?" Will looked confused.

"I mean you do look great but maybe you worked yourself too hard." Ty pointed out.

Will's colleagues had been surprised at how amazingly fit he looked when they'd seen him after his 'trip to Quain Islands.' Will had had to lie to them that Stan had taken him through a vigorous workout routine during their stay on Quain Islands. He'd added that thanks to the instructor, he hadn't even been able to explore the Island.

"I'm fine really."

"Good. Promise me you're bringing your A-game, bro. You heard the president. We can't fail. And if you're distracted in any way, it might cost us."

"Is there an alphabet before A?" Will drawled.

"Huh?" Ty looked momentarily confused.

"Just trying to say I'm bring something even better than an A-game." Will shrugged. "If you could just give me an alphabet higher than A to use..." Ty burst into laughter. "You're nuts. But I trust you. And I'm confident that we're going to make Mr. President proud."

The Arrowheads had just left the president after listening to his pep talk as he'd termed it. The mission they were about to embark on was very important. They were to find and retrieve a coded file that had been stolen from the Australian Secret Intelligence Service before it fell into dangerous hands and got decrypted. The lives of several United States operatives were at stake. As the president had sternly put it, failure wasn't an option. Immediately that file got decrypted, lives would be lost. They had already spent a day getting briefed and talking strategy. Meeting the president had been the final item on their agenda before flying out. And that had been one worried president.

"Well, he doesn't have just the Arrowheads on the case," Will said dryly, "He has the best squad on the team. So he has nothing to worry about."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Ty gave a fist-pump.

They were four Arrowheads going on the mission. Will, Ty, Jackson, and George. As they always said, the fewer the swifter. It would be crazy to lose all those sleeper agents and undercover operatives. That would be a terrible way for anyone to go. Will was hopeful that they were going to retrieve the sensitive file in less than a month. He was a frigging supernatural being after all. That should count for something, right?

The Arrowheads got on the aircraft which took off even before the hatch got shut. It was a sixteen-hour flight to Australia. There was no time to waste.

***

Stan watched Deloris intently. His fingers were crossed, his toes were crossed, and...

"What in hell are you doing?" The warlock burst into laughter.

"Crossing my eyes," Stan said with all seriousness.

"And why are you doing that?" the elderly woman looked incredulous.

"You did say to keep my fingers crossed, woman. I'm only keeping more things crossed as a backup."

"What's going on here?" Ryan asked as he entered.

"Look at him," Deloris pointed at Stan, unable to control her laughter.

"Why are your eyes crossed?" Ryan asked with a frown. "Did the spell gone wrong?"

"No, no, it can't go wrong." Stan shook his head as he lifted his hands for Ryan to see his crossed fingers. "As you can see, my toes are also crossed. We're about to test the spell."

Ryan looked down at Stan's toes in his classy designer slides and shook his head in amusement. "So you decided to cross your fingers, toes, and eyes. Gotcha."

'My cock and balls are also crossed but I can't tell her that,' Stan drawled on his mind-link with Ryan. 'Can't risk offending these ancient women.'

It was Ryan's turn to dissolve into laughter. "I can't with you." He laughed as he dropped into a chair. "Del, ignore him and go ahead."

"Seriously, if he doesn't stop this, I can't work," Deloris protested, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "Alright, alright, but my fingers and toes stay crossed," Stan growled. "Now, proceed."

"Thank you very much, your highness." Deloris rolled her eyes even as amused chuckles left her throat.

She had called Stan to come in whilst she checked the potency of her spell. It had only been a day and a half since Will left on his mission. And the countenance of the warrior was dampening everyone's spirits in the pack house. Deloris hated it. Stan was the life of the Stanwood Pack. Even though a fierce warrior, his pleasant and fun attitude affected everyone positively in one way or the other, especially the executive. Deloris had therefore worked tirelessly to get the spell complete.

When the mind was desperate to get things done, lots of ideas and possibilities popped up. In Deloris' case, she remembered that she had a powerful warlock at her disposal. She decided to channel Ryan's powers in her spell. With both hers and Ryan's powers at play, a spell couldn't be tighter. And so far she was very happy with the outcome. It was time to do a final testing with Stan present.

Deloris recited some words. Then she beckoned Ryan who went to stand beside her and took her hand. Both then turned to face Stan.

"Let's do this," Deloris whispered. Then in unison, both Deloris and Ryan closed their eyes.

The two warlocks remained still and quiet, leaving Stan staring at them. "Aren't you supposed to be spitting bars or something?" he chuckled. "Y'all can't be sleeping on the job. At least now that your eyes are closed, I can cross mine comfortably." He relaxed into his seat, crossed his eyes and legs, and then waited.

Deloris and Ryan opened their eyes and stared at where Stan was sitting.

"Stan?" Deloris called out falteringly.

"Y'all about to start that damn chanting, aren't you?" Stan yawned. "Go on. If it rhymes, I can't promise not to join in," he chuckled.

But rather than chant as Stan expected, Deloris and Ryan's faces broke into brilliant smiles. "Maybe we should make him answer some questions just to be double sure." Deloris laughed.

"What is this? An episode of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Stan snorted. "What's with the proposed quiz?" He stood and stretched. Then he went to open the fridge to take out a bottle of water.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked, his eyes on the opened fridge.

"What does it look like? I'm parched."

Ryan laughed as he watched the contents of a bottle that was upturned in the air disappear into something...obviously Stan's mouth. 'At least three questions have been answered,' he communicated with Deloris telepathically. 'We couldn't hear his footsteps, the sound of him drinking, or whatever nonsense he's been spewing since we spelled his ass.'

'Make that four,' Deloris chuckled. 'He can clearly still see himself. He would have screamed murder by now if he couldn't.' The warlocks laughed. 'Can you imagine the hell this guy would raise at the thought of not seeing his penis?' she added, setting off another round of hysterics.

"Care to share the joke?" Stan drawled as he dropped the empty bottle into the bin beside the fridge.

When neither warlock responded, he went back to his seat and then looked at the now quiet duo expectantly. But he noticed that they were still looking in the direction of the fridge. It suddenly dawned on him...

"Erh... Y'all can't see me, can you?" He asked with wide eyes. When they still didn't answer him, it occurred to Stan that not only could they not see him, they couldn't hear him either. "Oh shit!"

"Stan, can you touch any of us?" Deloris asked.

"I can do better." Stan laughed as he went and hugged the warlock who started to laugh. When he let her go, he hugged Ryan too. "Y'all did it! What now."

"Stan, don't move," Deloris instructed. "Stand before me."

"I'm here," Stan said but of course they couldn't hear him.

"Now, I'm going to try and touch you." Deloris reached out to touch Stan but her hand went right through him as if he wasn't there. "Perfect."

"No, no, no, what do you mean perfect?" Stan growled. Why can't you touch me? This is not what I signed up for. How will Will be able to touch me if I'm untouchable?"

But Stan realized that all he was saying was totally lost of the two in the room with him. He turned around, intending to find a pen and paper but then heard Deloris saying; "Alright, we're going to reverse it, Stan. Until you're ready to leave."

The two closed their eyes again for a few seconds and then opened it again. "There you are." Ryan grinned. How did you feel?"

"I felt okay," Stan breathed. "But I'm not happy about the fact that you couldn't touch me. Meaning Will won't be able to..."

"Will is immune to all this," Deloris said, cutting Stan off.

"Oh, thank god." Stan let out a breathless chuckle.

"He's the only one immune. As you could tell, even Ryan and I couldn't see, hear, or touch you. Meaning no one...not even a supernatural being, would sense you." "Are you saying you didn't feel it when I hugged you?"

"Oh, we did. But that's because you initiated it. You wanted to hug us. If someone else wants to touch you, however, they wouldn't be able to. Accidentally or intentionally." "Meaning I don't have to worry about someone bumping into me. 'Cause they won't feel me."

"Exactly. Or you bumping into them accidentally." Deloris shrugged. "They won't feel you. I don't want any nasty surprises so that's how I spelled it." Deloris grinned. "Dayum!" Stan breathed, looking very impressed. "You do your name justice, woman. Del-the-fucking-spell," he shook his head in wonderment, making the elder laugh. "Just remember not to pick up stuff that is not yours when you're in the midst of people," Ryan advised. "We could see the bottle of water as you drank from it." "Roger that." Stan grinned.

"So...say your goodbyes, pack your stuff, and then call us. Need to do something about your stuff before you leave." The elder looked even more excited than Stan himself.

"It just occurred to me that I could actually streak without having to run," Stan gasped, staring at Deloris.

"Oh, my god!" Ryan's eyes went wide with shock and incredulity. "Why would you even think of that?"

"Just saying," Stan shrugged with a naughty grin.

"Stanley Norris, don't you dare go walking naked in the streets," Deloris said sternly. Then with a grin, she added; "But yeah, you can." They all laughed. "Oh, and we threw in a...bonus. It might come in handy. I'll tell you all about it when you're ready to leave."

"I don't even know what to say to you guys," Stan said with so much emotion. "I mean it's just day two."

"I'm pretty sure we all hated seeing you walking around like a lost puppy," Deloris chuckled as Ryan nodded. "I did say we might beat the four days. Thank god for Ryan."

Stan hugged Deloris and kissed her on her both cheeks. Then he hugged Ryan, picked him up, and twirled him around to his delighted laughter. "I can never thank you two enough."

"Just go keep him safe." Deloris gave a tremulous smile. "Now off you go. Call me when you're ready."