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Message-ID: <47410asstr$1081735804@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Imagineer <imagin8r47@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Cruel Summer 30 {Imagineer} (MF reluc viol rape caution ScFi)
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Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 22:10:04 -0400
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Cruel Summer

copyright 2001-2004 by Imagineer.

comments to 
imagineer 47: yahoo green eggs com ham
but without the green eggs or ham

http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Imagineer/www/


// 30: Squeezed


  "Hold on."

  Val found herself suddenly sideways, sliding across the slick vinyl
to smack her head into the hard plastic door.
  "Ow!"

  Things could be worse. Ten minutes ago she was pinned under a pile of
concrete with the Avenging Angel standing over her and the police
closing in...


  "Sorry," Max grunted. "Our new pursuers are not [ungh] so easily lost
as the police."

  Things couldn't be worse. Ten minutes ago he'd knocked Sapphire out
of the sky and was scant meters away from scooping her up when police
cruisers suddenly appeared from everywhere and his shadow power had
failed him...


  Val found herself weightless as the beater cab bounded over a
sidewalk and into an alley, then bounced twice hard off the worn seat,
eventually coming to rest in a more or less vertical position. The girl
did her best to wedge herself against the back of the front seat, the
door, and the back window as she hazarded a look behind her.

  The prow of a Cadillac bounced into the alley behind them.

  "Shit!"

  Val was thrown back across the cab to the other door as Max juked a
wayward dumpster. Her face planted into the window just in time to see
a familiar firetruck-yellow door whiz by. Club DeiGlo. She struggled to
figure out where that put them as the cab's ill-advised velocity over
the potholed pavement pounded her brains against the inside of her
skull.

  "Max, it's a dead end!"

  Val tasted cigarette-tinged plexiglass as the big sedan shuddered
against its brakes. The metallic groan of a deforming dumpster marked
the final deceleration. The recoil bounced the tall teen off the
seatback and landed her on the floor as a heap of limbs, the ending
impact punctuated by the dumpster's lid clanging closed.

  Max wasn't moving. Was he all right? Max said but one word in answer:

  "Run."

  Val jumped out of the cab, quickly evaluating her options. She had
none.

  Men piled out of the black Caddy, unfolding like the size chart of a
Big And Tall store: Schwarzenegger. Hulk. And Kong.

  These men were not hired professional security. They were Bates' own
guys.

  Valerie watched as some of them reached into their jackets for
weapons. But they didn't pull guns.

  Billy club.
  Brass knuckles.
  Baseball bat.

  Didn't these guys know who she was? Hadn't they heard what'd happened
to the bastards who'd crossed her before?

  Of course they had. But they were ready to take blows in order to
deliver them. Broken nose, scarred face, one of them walked with a
limp. Veterans of street scuffles all, and eager to add another notch
in their belts. Maybe two.

  Val's sapphires had already taken a beating tonight. She felt the
paradox of exhaustion and exhileration that had marked turning points
both triumphant and tragic in past encounters. As she sized up the odds
in front of her, she came to the grim realization that they did not
favor triumph. But she refused to be afraid.

  Black Widow squared up. She cracked her neck, tilting her head first
one way, then the other, then she rolled her shoulders back in a
demonstration of determination and defiance.

  "I'm tired of running."


  Brass Knuckles and Billy Club spread out, circling to either side of
her. Black Widow backed up, trying to keep all three of them in view,
until her back was against the trunk of the cab.

  Baseball Bat stayed back. She would have expected him to come first,
since his weapon gave him the longest reach. But if he was hesitant,
that was fine with her.

  Slam! The billy club hammered a dent into the cab's trunk. She jumped
away from the lightning-fast hit, only to feel herself smacked forward;
she took two quick steps to regain her balance as the sensation of a
thousand pinpricks faded from her left kidney, dangerously close to
Baseball Bat. The silvered stick twitched; Black Widow instantly ducked
to her right and spun to her left to avoid the expected swing, but it
never came; Baseball Bat just stood there and smiled a sinister smile.
You Flinched, Bitch. She looked where she'd been two moments ago; Brass
Knuckles stood there, arms flexed, one fist in front of the other, just
now recoiling from the kidney punch he'd unleashed.

  To her left, Billy Club. Too close. Over her. And suddenly Black
Widow found herself launched forward by what felt like a mule-kick
between the shoulder blades. She spilled forward, palms to the broken
asphalt to catch her fall. She let her left arm give and pushed off
with her right, sending her into a mostly-controlled tumble over her
left shoulder past Billy Club, coming up in a crouched three-point
stance facing away from her attackers. She sprung to her feet and spun
180 to find Brass Knuckles, the largest of the three at well over 350
pounds, charging her like a minotaur, one shoulder driving forward, the
other hand cocked back ready to throw. Black Widow jerked her upper
body back and away from the charge, the man's sharpened hand-weapon
grazing across her torso just under one breast and up across the other,
ripping through what was left of her bodice. She fell back to the
pavement just as the charging man-bull stopped himself with an open
palm smacked against the wall.

  Black Widow coiled herself back onto her shoulder blades, holding her
pelvis and tucked legs up off the ground, waiting just long enough for
Brass Knuckles to turn toward her. He hadn't taken a step when she
kicked both legs up and out as hard as she could, twin stiletto heels
making their points felt between the lapels of his unbuttoned suit
jacket, through his shirt, and into his chest.

  The mountain of menace took a small step back as his body relaxed; he
looked down at a pair of patent pointed toes, a curiously-passive
expression taking over his face. His hands reached up slowly to grasp
her ankles. She felt herself pulled forward, dragging her shoulder
blades as he took two more staggering steps back. Then, strangely, he
pushed his hands and her ankles away from his chest, his grip
slackening with his jaw.

  But before she saw him fall back against the wall and roll to the
ground, she was blinded by a bright blue flash of light, which faded
just as she saw the billy club retreat from her vision... and felt the
asphalt crack and settle under the back of her head as her whole face
and neck felt momentarily singed by burning pain. Her legs hit the
ground like a tossed ragdoll's. 


  Joey looked down at this bare-breasted slender girl laying before
him. There were no bruises, no lacerations, no broken bones. But her
tits heaved with the effort of breathing; she was clearly winded if not
in serious pain. He didn't understand how this shit worked, but at
least he was having an effect, and that was good enough to keep wailing
on her. She'd have to give up eventually. And when she did, he was of a
mind to give her a righteous fucking.


  The baton came into Black Widow's field of vision again; she
instinctively cringed, hands coming up toward her face. The club caught
one hand and sent it smashing to the pavement. Another blow struck her
other hand away as she tried to grab the weapon. Her fingers tingled
and stung.

  Black Widow rolled away desperately. Stinging blows rained down on
shoulder, neck, back. On her hands and knees, she swung her left arm
out hard in a karate-chop, connecting with Billy Club's shin. He folded
to one knee in pain; she rolled again onto her back, up against the
wall now, bringing her knees to her chest. She kicked out hard with one
foot, sweeping across his lowered chin, snapping his head sideways. Her
other leg kicked herself to her feet, bringing a swinging left arm
around in a windmill blow to Billy Club's back. She heard his breath
leave him, but the blow failed to break him down off hands and knees.

  Suddenly Black Widow felt herself launched sideways as if her head
had been shot out of a cannon. She spun over to her back and then to
her side, crumpling to the pavement in disorientation. Before she could
get up, she felt a massive blow to her midsection; Baseball Bat was
standing over her. The bat raised and drove in a second run to her
abdomen; but this time Black Widow grabbed the baseball bat and pulled
hard, hoping to yank him off balance and send him sprawling. 

  But he was much bigger and stronger than she and simply hoisted her
up on the end of the bat, like a fish on a hook, then stepped back and
swung, sending her flying, stumbling right into the Cadillac's hood.
She felt the hood ornament underneath her, snagging her already
battle-torn dress. Another powerful bat-blow struck her, this time
falling across her back, flattening her to the hood with a loud crash;
she felt the steel give way slightly underneath her as the depleted
sapphires did their best to isolate her from the force levied against
her. 

  The dark-haired damsel tried to push herself off the hood but
couldn't free herself from the hood ornament. She felt the bat come
down hard again, crunching the hood beneath her with its force. Her
legs gave out and she slid down the creased hood, ornament ripping all
the way up her dress. Finally free of the car logo's grasp, she rolled
to her left, barely escaping another blow as it shattered the
chromed-plastic grille. Black Widow struck back, driving her knee up
into her attacker's exposed groin. From her prone position sliding down
the hood, the blow had little force behind it, but it was enough to
make him fall to the side and let her escape immediate danger. She
pushed herself up off the hood; her dress fell away to lay on the hood
and slide to the ground as she stood and ran/stumbled away from the
twin terrors, toward the cab, her skin now bare except for a black
velvet thong. 

  Billy Club got up, stalking to her left, stiffness betraying injury
but a look of snarling hatred conveying the will to continue. His
hurt-stick rose and fell rhythmically. His brother-in-arms stalked
right, the tip of the bat wagging above his head, a slugger's weapon
waiting for the perfect pitch.

  Black Widow was hurting. Amazingly, nothing was broken, but her body
was covered with a dull ache, muscles burned, nerves buzzed. And the
world wouldn't stop spinning... She took another step back, bracing
herself against the trunk of the cab in a semi-crouch.

  She shook her head clear. Why wouldn't they fall? She'd thrown her
whole self into each body blow, but even with the sapphires making
hands and feet and forearms and shins as hard and unyielding as steel,
there was only so much force a girl of a hundred and twenty pounds
could muster against such massive men. Bruise and gasp they might, but
fall they wouldn't.

  And sapphires notwithstanding, she felt like a pinata every time the
thugs connected, careening dizzily off billy club and baseball bat,
wondering if the next blow would crack her open.

  But Black Widow showed no fear. "Is that all you've got?" she taunted
breathlessly.

  "Why won't you fall?" Baseball Bat asked in anger.


  She struggled to keep her feet. Her right foot stumbled over Billy
Club's boot. She lifted her foot quickly and struck down hard, throwing
her weight down through her heel. Metal stiletto drove down through
leather, piercing flesh, splintering bone. Billy Club screamed in
agony. Black Widow reached down, grasping the billy club from a
slackening hand. She raised and cocked her arm, preparing to deliver a
roundhouse blow to Billy Club's temple...

  ...as Baseball Bat uncorked a home-run swing for her head...

  Black Widow juked her upper body sideways, ducking the dented silver
stick even as she raised her forearm to block, her movement lowering
the arc of her own swing. The end of the billy club struck the man in
front of her square in the neck, squishing inward with sickening speed
until it struck vertebrae.

  The aluminum bat crushed in around Black Widow's raised left forearm,
driving her hand back toward her temple and blasting her shoulders
ahead of her own ducking move. She felt herself rocketed past Billy
Club's left shoulder, her bare foot popping out of the pump embedded in
the stoney-faced man's boot, the incredible force of the bat-blow
sending her out like a grounder to skid across the pavement several
feet away from the car.

  She rolled herself onto her back, looking back toward the trunk of
the cab where her two assailants stood. Baseball Bat was just turning
to face her when she saw him recognize two new facts. His bat was
cracked open and bent off, looking like a streetlamp post hit by a
truck. And his partner wasn't responding.

  Billy Club began to fall, in slow motion, like an imploded
skyscraper. Ankles collapsed, then knees. His body twisted to the left,
face lifeless, head slowly flopping over to rest unnaturally on his
shoulder. Knees hit the ground, sending a bouncing shock up through his
limp body, popping his head back, dead eyes looking skyward. Left arm
swung spaghetti-like ahead of torso, knuckles scraping, elbow crumping,
shoulder lurching. The lifeless body landed in a rolling wave of meat,
hip, belly, chest, shoulders, head. The wave returned down the fallen
form as weight settled.


  Baseball Bat looked down. This slender thing -- bare smooth flesh
smudged with dirt, propped up on one elbow, legs splayed, wearing
nothing but a single black stiletto pump and a small black velvet thong
-- this *girl* had taken a viscious beating from three goodfellas,
felling two of them in the exchange, and yet there wasn't a mark on
her. Everybody had a limit, didn't they? Where was hers?

  He looked at his bat, the top third broken open and hanging at an odd
angle, throwing off the weapon's balance in his hand. He'd dented bats
pretty good over a guy's skull before, and he'd broken them
accidentally hitting a tree or doorway, but he'd never busted one on a
*person* before. He looked over at the Cadillac with a questioning
look. What was he supposed to do now? 

  Black Widow could barely move through the cold molasses of pain and
exhaustion. But she was only battered, not broken; the sapphires felt
cold and lifeless around her neck, indeed seeming to drain rather than
invigorate, but still they protected her like an invisible shell, at
least diffusing if no longer deflecting the thugs' attacks.

  She had no way of knowing where her limits might be. But neither did
he. And his own limits were readily apparent, one of them held
awkwardly in his hands.

  "Looks like I broke your stick."

  Black Widow forced herself to her feet with a speed that belied her
lethargy. She stood square, feet shoulder width apart, bare right foot
on tiptoe to compensate for her missing shoe, and planted her hands on
her hips.

  "Now I'm gonna break your balls."

  He looked over her shoulder worriedly. It occurred to her that he was
no longer standing between her and escape.

  But that would mean abandoning Max. She'd never felt obligated to
anyone before, but she felt an obligation to him now. Besides, she was
not about to leave this business unfinished.

  She took a step toward him. He raised his bent bat in a move that
looked almost defensive.

  Let him hit me.

  She took another, bigger step, planting her spike heel as best she
could in the cracked pavement, winding up her hips, telegraphing her
attack. But he was already committed to his swing, one foot out in
front of the other, almost off-balance, knowing what was to come next
but powerless to stop it, and still strangely looking past Black Widow
with a pleading expression...

  Black Widow's bare foot rocketed around and upward, her hips
thrusting forward to put her whole body into the soccer-style kick,
pushing forward off her other leg. Baseball Bat's damaged weapon struck
her in the shoulder, but the end of the bat simply snapped off, losing
most of the energy of the attack. The top of her foot struck its target
dead-center...

  ...and Black Widow's whole body siezed. 

  Every nerve came alive with alarm. She was dimly aware of a prickling
sensation in the small of her back as the center of this sudden
violation of motor control. Spasms rocked her body as she spilled
stiffly forward, crashing into Baseball Bat, then falling right as he
fell left, twisting to face him, her foot caught between his taut
clenching thighs as they collapsed.

  Black Widow couldn't see; she struggled to regain control of her body
through the searing pain.


  A tall, dark form stood over the body of Baseball Bat, the stump of
his weapon clenched in a white-knuckled death grip. An evil-looking
thick black baton with two silvered studs at the end clattered to the
ground. A black box thumped down heavily beside it; thick snakelike
cables twisted and coiled between them. A pair of shoes stepped over
the large lifeless body, aligning themselves in front of Black Widow's
recovering vision. Parts of her still twitched uncontrollably, jiggling
her naked breasts. Smoke rose from her velvet thong.


  "Don't be so shocked," a gruff voice said. Val heard deep, booming
laughter.


  Val fought to get up, willing her body to respond. She managed to get
to her knees, then one foot, then the other. Her mysterious new
adversary stepped aside, as if daring her to attempt escape. She pushed
weakly past him, hobbling on one high heel. Her joints felt raw; her
body creaked, limbs moving erratically, as if re-learning how to walk.
Her shoe flopped loosely; she looked down dully to see the seams had
split. She'd made it halfway past the Cadillac when her heel broke,
sending her sprawling into the open rear door. As her knee hit the
ground hard, the charred threads on one side of the thong gave out; the
front of the shock-damaged garment flopped open as her hip crashed to
the pavement.

  Gleaming dress shoes clicked the pavement in front of her. "Here, let
me help you in." A strong hand grabbed deep into her hair on the back
of her head and yanked her up roughly; she whimpered in meek protest.
The expensive Italian suit led her by the hair around the car door and
threw her inside. Hands pushed the backs of her thighs to get her
across the soft leather seat, half-crawling, half-sliding, her naked
ass thrust lewdly into the air. Val heard more than felt the sharp
Slap! across her left asscheek, knocking her hips over to lean against
the seatback.

  Val heard footsteps retreating, walking toward the cab. Max! Val
began backing out of the car, pain and exhaustion causing her body to
respond in slow motion. Got to get out! Got to save Max! Got to get
away!

  But the footsteps hesitated; she heard the man grunt as he picked up
something heavy.

  God, why wouldn't her body respond? Why couldn't she do something as
simple as get out of a car?

  Heavy footsteps went around the other side of the car; the back of
the car dipped as something heavy thumped into the open trunk, then
dipped again as the trunklid was closed.

  Val had managed to get her knees to the edge of the seat, her feet
poked out the open car door. Come on, hurry!


  A hand gripped the edge of the car door, ready to close it. How cute,
she was trying to get away... the fourth man grabbed the feeble girl's
ankles, preparing to shove her back into the car. But his eyes made him
hesitate. What a perfect, smooth, round ass! Propped up on her slightly
knees, it was almost in his face as he bent over to push her inside.
And between those perfect half-moons was nestled a pair of plump, juicy
lips, bare and smooth and bulging, the sweet smell of her nectar
overpowering the faint odor of singed cloth. And above that a tight
pink starfish just begging to be poked. The girl moaned weakly as his
hot breath played over her exposed nether region.

  Her body sagged, thighs coming to rest on calves, sweet ass hanging
out of the car, weight transferring to her ankles which he still held
in his hands. He let go of her ankles to cup her firm cheeks, holding
her up. He lifted the young woman's hips and shifted his weight forward
to push her back into the car, but misjudged her light weight and in so
doing wound up raising her backside right up past his face before
losing his balance, driving her hips forward to land muff-down in the
middle of the carseat and face-planting himself into the junction of
her thighs. Her smell was intoxicating; he felt his dick twitch as it
quickly came to attention. As he pushed himself up off her, his wrists
chafed the sides of her cheeks, spreading them before him and again
exposing her cute little asshole.

  "Nnnoo..." she whined pathetically.

  Yes. He didn't know why, but he hadn't been this hard in years. No,
he did know why; he hadn't been this close to a sweet virgin asshole
since he'd left the service.

  The boss had only said "dead or alive." He hadn't said anything about
"banged or unbanged."

  He unhooked his belt and pulled it out of his pants, folding it back
on itself and holding it in one hand as a short whip in case she got
feisty -- though after the shock he'd given her with his custom-built
electric prod, he doubt she'd do much more than whimper at this point.
He'd given her enough juice to stop an elephant's heart; indeed, it had
nailed Sal cold through secondary contact. But after witnessing the
events at the restaurant, and the beating she'd taken from Sal and Joey
and Meatball without so much as a mark anywhere over her... gorgeous...
body... well, he had to hit her with all the juice at once just to be
sure. And she was still unscathed, not counting her toasted panties and
shoe and slightly-frizzed-out mane. But at least now she was
considerably more pliable.

  "I guess we took all the spark out of you, eh, missy?" He bellowed
with laughter again at the bad pun. He grabbed her by the hips and
pulled back and up on her knees again. She moaned softly at the sound
of his fly opening. "Well, maybe not *all*..."

  His dick sprang out through the fly of his boxers, ready for action.
He yanked down on the waistband, but they hung up on his
suddenly-youthful erection; he couldn't get them stretched out far
enough to pull them down in the confined space of the car doorway, and
his member flat-out refused to bend down even for a moment, the root of
his shaft sending warning pain at the attempt. Aww, Fuck. He abandoned
the job, letting the waistband snap back into place; his dick seemed
plenty happy right where it was. Well, almost right where it was...

  He squished his head between her fat cunt lips, rubbing back and
forth slowly, both to get her warmed up and to slicken his ramrod.
"Mmmmmm, Mmmmaxx..." She seemed to be coming around a bit...


  Where was she? She'd had a horrible nightmare, her revenge cut short,
beaten by Sapphire, chased by the police and then Bates' monsters...
but *this* was more like it... she felt something hot and hard between
her legs, rubbing back and forth over her distended labia, just
tickling her clittie; she felt outside her body, not in control of it
yet feeling every sensation... people could say what they wanted about
older men, but Max really knew how to bring her around...

  Suddenly the stiff shaft withdrew, and she felt something sliding up
her crack toward her anus. "MMaxx? Whaddrryuuddooinngg?" Her brow
furrowed; was he going to try what she thought he was going to try? A
finger pressed her clit; she clenched and relaxed convulsively...

  Val's eyes suddenly opened wide. This was no dream! Something was
inside her! Not something, someONE! She felt her sphincter stretch as
the invader pushed past his head, lodging her cruelly on the thickening
part of his shaft.

  "Oh! Ow! Stop! Get off me! No! Don't! Oh! N-n-n-ohhh!"


  She gripped him tight like a vice, pulling her hips forward, yanking
hard on his warrior's helmet as she tried to free herself of the
unwanted intrusion. He always enjoyed this part of the ride the most.
Well, second-most, but hardest to come by. Through the pain he felt the
pleasure of dominating, subjugating his unwilling lover, riding out the
attempt at rejection until he reached acceptance, then participation.

  It was especially thrilling knowing that he was breaking the same
girl his boss had broken years ago. But Bates had only made Valerie
Strain a woman. Tonight he would make her his Bitch.

  She was settling down now. Accepting. Or at least hopeful that if she
stopped squirming it wouldn't hurt so much, and that was good enough
for him. He pushed deeper; she relaxed, tensed, relaxed... was she
*massaging* him?

  He pulled out, all the way to the tip. This was the test. This would
tell whether she needed the whip. Whether she was broken, or needed to
be. He pushed back; she relaxed again. This was easy. Almost... too
easy.

  "Nnnghh... nnnghh..." she moaned through gritted teeth with every
stroke, clenching, then relaxing. He felt his balls swell. His cock
pulsed. This girl was... marvelous.

  He noticed her shift position slightly; he heard her wetness pierced
by stroking fingers. So she *was* enjoying herself. Gratifying. Not
that he gave a rat's ass how she felt, beyond the fact that his toy was
behaving as directed. Indeed, he thrust faster and deeper, working the
car into a pleasing side-to-side motion, fully in his familiar
fuckengruven...

  ...until he felt her shift again, ever so slightly...

  ...and felt her delicate fingers graze his scrotum.

  It hit him like an electric shock. He lunged forward, as much in
appreciation as surprise at the unexpected pleasure, before again
finding a rhythm. Again her fingernails gently scraped; again he
lunged. He felt her reach back further, fingers curling, cupping his
balls even as he thrust himself as cruelly as he could manage. This
bitch was spectacular; so good it was... scary...

  He found himself adopting shorter and shorter strokes; her insides
were massaging him again, as if... milking him. Mirroring the action of
her fingers, teasing, scratching, squeezing, releasing. The pressure
building in his balls was incredible. His heart pounded loudly,
punctuating the ringing in his ears. He was hardly moving at all now
except in rapid-fire spasming thrusts, yet he felt out of breath...
dizzy... cloudy... suddenly *she* was controlling *him*... this was not
how it was supposed to go at all. But it felt so fucking great, he
couldn't... stop... her fingers were as much a blur as his cock, less
stroking than *vibrating*... until... his dick surged, again and again
and again... he felt a fire in his chest, his entire body locked up as
his essence flowed out of him... no, was *drawn* from him... until she
relaxed and let him go with a plop, and he fell back stiffly, the back
of his head striking the doorframe with a sickening thwack as he
spilled out of the car, his face frozen in a death mask of joy... and
surrender.


  Valerie's knees gave out, slumping forward as her left knee lost
purchase on the seat and slipped to the floor. Her body spasmed gently
in the dwindling throes of crashing orgasms, the side of her wrist
gradually releasing pressure from against her hyper-sensitive nub,
drawing her hand back up from between her legs to gently stroke around
her buzzing sex before retreating completely.

  It was several long moments before she regained her composure enough
to straighten up in the seat. She looked down at herself. A
broken-heeled split-open pump on one foot, the remains of her velvet
thong panties sliding down one thigh. She looked to her left, out the
car door where her assailant/lover had fallen. He had the graying
frozen expression with which she was becoming all too familiar.

  "Fuck with the best, you die like the rest."


  Val made her way slowly toward the driver's door of the cab. "I could
have used your help back there, ya know," she said as she leaned in,
only to gasp in shock. "Shit, you don't look so good." Max leaned back
in the seat, hands limply at his sides; he looked awfully pale, with
dazed eyes... was he...? No, he was breathing. Barely.

  "Max?" she touched his cheek gently.

  "Did you beat them?" His eyes seemed to clarify as he blinked, but
remained fixed in a thousand-yard stare. As if he were gathering
strength.

  "Yeah, I fucked 'em up. Worse than they did me, anyway. But I need a
vacation. Let's get outta here."

  Max took a deep breath, then slowly straightened up, as if it took
great concentration. "Wait. There is something I must do first." He
reached for the door pull and opened the door; Val backed out of the
way even as she protested.

  "Hey, you shouldn't be walkin' around. Hey." Max was not listening.
  "Get in the car; I will be fine in a minute." Or maybe he was. She
looked after him with a peculiar expression; what was he up to? That
Max was a weird one, she thought as she grabbed the rear door handle.

  Wait, maybe he's getting the Caddy's keys. Their car is in the way...

  Val made her way stiffly back to the gansters' Caddy. Max was bent
over Baseball Bat, touching his forehead like some kind of holy man
giving weird Pagan last rites or something. Val pushed the tall one's
corpse out of the way, closing the back door. The trunk had popped
open; perhaps Max had found the remote and triggered it accidentally.
She went around to the back to close it.

  Val couldn't resist taking a peek in the trunk before closing it.
This *was* a mob vehicle, after all. Who knew what dead bodies or
medieval weapons might be in there? Actually, she had a pretty good
idea about the weapons, having been on the receiving end of several
already.

  There was the awful electrical prodding thing, with what looked like
jumper cables attached to a black box the size of a car battery. It
probably *was* a car battery. She shuddered at the memory of the
unexpected attack. Maybe I should use *that* on that bastard Bates.
Right under his balls, the motherfucker. Val found herself clenching
her fists in anger; she forced herself to relax. Bates would get his in
time; but after this harrowing experience she was less enamored of the
direct blast-through-everyone public approach. Not that she'd get
another chance to be that stupid anyway... No, she was going to lay
*very* low for a while, then do a little honest work stalking the man
to pick her best spot. She wasn't going to let that evil Fuck get away
again. Letting him walk the Earth a little while longer was a small
price to pay to make sure she sent him to Hell where he belonged. If
anything, just the uncertainty of waiting for her second coming would
be a little Hell of its own.

  Coming back to the present, she moved to close the trunk, but
something caught her eye. A big paper bag, wrinkled and folded closed
over itself. Hmph. These guys didn't strike her as the bag lunch type.
She reached for the bag, unrolling the top and peering inside... 

  ...to find it full of neat little bundles of hundred dollar bills.
Her hand reached in the bag to count ...nine, ten, eleven, twelve,
thirteen, fourteen. She took out a bundle to count, looking around
suspiciously first. As if anyone would have approached her with an open
Cadillac and four well-dressed dead bodies littered about the alley.
...22, 23, 24, 25 was half a bundle, so assuming each bundle was fifty
bills, that was... five grand per bundle, ten bundles was [gulp] fifty
grand, plus four more... she was holding seventy grand.

  "Fuck me." Her words echoed across the silent alley.

  "Later. We need to go now." Max was suddenly standing next to her.
Shit, he was stealthy. Maybe he could teach her a few tricks.

  She looked at her elder companion. He still looked ill, but not
near-death as before. She closed the bag, tossing it into the trunk and
slamming the lid. "Let me drive," she said, holding out her hand for
the keys.

  "You are... naked," Max stated the obvious.
  "Cops'll think it's a sorority hazing dare," Val dismissed his
concern. "If they even see us. I doubt these windows are legally
tinted."
  Max released the keys. "Good. I can use the rest. But we must dispose
of this car quickly; the police are still searching for us, and it will
not be long before they discover Gerald Bates' men here and surmise our
transportation."

  Val grinned at the odd way Max spoke as they got in the car. "Yeah,
sure. But I'm keepin' the grocery bag."
  "That will only make him want to kill you that much more."
  "I'm stealing his car, I wrecked his restaurant, I've wiped out
almost a dozen of his goons, and I tried to kill him. I think I've
already buried the needle on the 'wants to kill' meter."


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  "Hey, Detective Aquino. Didn't expect to see you here. Thought you
took the night off."
  "I did, but guess where I decided to have dinner?"
  The uniform guarding the door whistled. "No shit. So where's Rubio?"
  "He's still in the field. Ramirez chewed him out for not getting
prior authorization, and he's making him stay onsite until the mopup is
finished. Rubio asked me to come down here to see what I could get out
of the suspect before she had a chance to stew on it."
  "Damn. Some night off."
  "Yeah, well, after what happened I couldn't sleep anyway." 

  Noel Aquino pressed the intercom button on the wall. "Miss-..." he
turned to the uniform, "what's her name?" 
  "We don't know." 
  "What name did she give when you booked her?" 
  "She didn't give one. She hasn't said a word to anybody since we
picked her up, far as I know."
  "Is she even awake? Alive? Why's this taped over the window?" Aquino
ripped the sheets of blank paper off the small window in the door.
  "Don't... you're not supposed to do that," the uniform protested
half-heartedly.

  Noel tilted and craned his head to and fro in front of the window,
scanning the room for several moments before he saw her. There, in the
far corner, laying on the floor, a small naked girl curled up in a ball.

  "Jesus," Noel breathed. She looked so pathetic.

  "Will somebody get her a blanket? Why didn't anyone get her a
blanket?!"
  "Ramirez said to keep her in isolation. He said 'nobody goes within
fifty feet of her and nobody opens the door for any reason.' He made a
big deal out of it. Anybody who had contact with her is in quarantine
under close observation. You weren't even supposed to look at her."
  "For how long?"
  "Until we can get her tested."
  "For what?"
  "Ramirez doesn't know. He's bringing in an expert."
  "An expert in what?"
  "I dunno. Somebody from the CDC. They're flying in in the morning."
  "So how does Ramirez expect us to get anything out of her?"
  "I think he's operating under the 'bird in the hand' principle."
  "There's still two killers on the loose. We need to know if she can
help us get them off the street."
  "Well, Ramirez said-"
  "Fuck Ramirez," Noel spat. The uniform was taken aback; Detective
Aquino had a reputation for clean language and keeping his cool.
  "Oookay..."
  "Here's my gun. Now, I'm going to take this blanket, and this bottle
of water, and I'm going to go in there and talk to her."
  "Ramirez'll have your badge."
  "If Ramirez wants my badge, he can have it. That girl saved my son's
life."


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Ricky couldn't sleep. His dad had promised to call him as soon as
he'd found out anything. Aside from a sketchy text-ticker note of a
failed attempt on Gerald Bates' life on the Kilborn show with a promise
of details on the 6am morning news, TV was silent on the issue; there
were probably so few people watching local stations this late that "we
interrupt you for this special report" wasn't worth the trouble. A lot
of good that did him.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Posted: 1:08am
  Author: PenMan

  Last night Sapphire proved herself as a defender of justice. I know
because I was there.

  In a couple hours the papers and TV will show terrifying pictures of
a "war zone." And they'll probably tell you how dangerous these
mysterious vigilantes are. And like they've been doing for weeks,
they'll lump Sapphire and Black Widow and the Hunter in the same pot
and call them a menace.

  Let me tell you what really happened.

  I took my girlfriend to dinner at GB's. We were having a great time
waiting for dessert when Black Widow walked in. She pushed right past
the hostess and started walking through the restaurant like she owned
the place, right past my table. She had a black pistol in her hand. She
was there to exact her twisted form of justice, or revenge against
abusive men, or whatever it is that drives her. And Gerald Bates had
somehow come to the top of her list.

  Gerald Bates is known for his... diverse business interests, and
having just been released from prison, and being a prominent if
mysterious public figure, he had extra security on-hand. But they were
no match for the Black Widow's fury. She brutally attacked the two
guards out front and stormed the back room, gun blazing.

  Naturally, everybody in the restaurant wanted to get the heck out of
there. In the chaos, I found myself pushed away from the door and so I
took refuge underneath one of the tables. I saw an EXIT sign above the
hallway to the restrooms, and I thought maybe I could get out that way.
There was a lot of shouting and stomping and shots were fired; it was
intense. Through a broken window I could see into the private room,
where Black Widow was about the only one still standing. The room was
destroyed, and through the settling dust I saw the floor littered with
downed bodyguards.

  She was ready to put the hurt on Bates himself when Sapphire dropped
in. Literally, through the skylight, like that Batman movie only
cooler. The moonlight came in and lit her up like an angel from heaven.
She put herself between Black Widow and Bates, but Black Widow wouldn't
stop. She punched Sapphire, who didn't even flinch; she just flicked
Black Widow back like swatting a fly. Then the SWAT team came in hard
-- I was surprised they got there so fast -- lobbing in tear gas or
something and busting in with guns raised, without even checking for
innocent bystanders. I won't say the police were wrong, but I will say
at that moment I didn't think my safety was their top priority.

  Anyway, Sapphire raised up in the air and kawhoom! blew the tear gas
and the SWAT guys and Black Widow right on their asses. It was just
simply awesome. :-)

  Black Widow took advantage and went after Sapphire again, but
Sapphire managed to get the upper hand and drive Black Widow back. Then
she literally blasted Black Widow right through the back wall of the
building. I SHIT YOU NOT. Sapphire went out after her to make sure she
didn't go anywhere until the cops could come, but The Hunter showed up.
Sapphire couldn't hold them both -- two against one -- and they got
away, but the important thing is that Sapphire stopped Black Widow from
hurting anyone else, and almost caught her, which is something the
police have been unable to do.

  Say what you want about Gerald Bates. Maybe you think he's a bad guy,
maybe such a bad guy he deserves to die. But Black Widow stormed into a
crowded restaurant, mowing down anyone who got in her way in a messy
and brutal assasination attempt. And Sapphire stopped her cold.

  I was there. I could have been killed. But thanks to Sapphire, I'm
home safe and sharing this with you now. Spread the word. Don't let the
media smear campaign succeed. Sapphire is one of the good guys. And
with people like Black Widow and The Hunter on the streets, we need her.

  Thank you, Sapphire for saving my life. Thank you for saving us all.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Ricky had spent the last hour writing and editing a post about the
events for sapphireexposed.com. Now that it was up, he felt a sense of
helplessness. After Sapphire had knocked the Black Widow out of the
building, he'd expected... well, he didn't know what he expected, but
it wasn't for both of them to disappear. His dad had been tight-lipped
as always, even after Ricky'd told him everything that'd happened
inside, merely grumbling at Ricky's desperate request that he make sure
Sapphire was all right.

  Sometimes he wondered, if his dad had to choose between him and the
job, how long would he have to think about it?

  Maybe somebody else saw something, he thought, and logged into the
chat room he'd set up and linked from his site.

  ::: WELCOME, PenMan, to ca.ov.talk.avengingangel :::
  PenMan: Hey
  JemFan: ya everybodys sold out of blue glass jewelry
  *DiamondGrrl has entered the room.
  DarkestKnight: sup penman
  *DarkestKnight bows down in supplication to the great PenMan.
  JemFan: DGrrl!!! HUGZ!!!!
  JemFan: PM!!! HUGZ!!!!
  PenMan: You will NOT believe what happened tonight!!
  JemFan: good thing i already got my sapphries!!
  DiamondGrrl: my brother just called me from his celll and told me he
he heard black widow belw up a resturant
  DarkestKnight: cool cant wait 2 c u in costume
  JemFan: just 2 more days!!
  JemFan: belw?
  DiamondGrrl: down by club row!!! ne1 know what happened??
  DiamondGrrl: blew
  DarkestKnight: what happened
  DiamondGrrl: thats what im asking
  PenMan: ok maybe u will
  JemFan: Holy SH1T!!
  DarkestKnight: penman what happened
  PenMan: believe it i mean
  PenMan: DiamondGirl was close
  DiamondGrrl: thats gRRl no i
  PenMan: Sorry DG, I'll get it one of these times
  JemFan: details!! spillit pM!
  PenMan: It's kind of a long story
  DarkestKnight: so get started
  DiamondGrrl: yea pm dont keep us in suspence
  PenMan: I posted it in Sightings
  DarkestKnight: oh ok cool brb
  *DarkestKnight has left the room.
  DiamondGrrl: ? sigtings??
  JemFan: an area on his board DG
  DiamondGrrl: ohright duh
  DiamondGrrl: sorry
  DiamondGrrl: brainfade
  JemFan: whats it say
  PenMan: tooo long 2 dump here... go read it
  JemFan: okbrb
  *JemFan has left the room.
  *DiamondGrrl has left the room.
  PenMan:
  PenMan:
  *PenMan is looking around the room.
  *BluePrincess has entered the room.
  BluePrincess: Hey hey hey my fave artist
  PenMan: good morning Princess
  BluePrincess: thought i might find u here
  PenMan: why's that?
  BluePrincess: well u always seem tto have the Scoop
  BluePrincess: and i thought fr once I"d know something u dident
  PenMan: well I usually get my "scoop" here
  BluePrincess: DRAT
  PenMan: but not tonight 
  BluePrincess: so u alreaddy know aboutthe thing at GB"s
  *DarkestKnight has entered the room.
  DarkestKnight: damn
  DarkestKnight: heavy shiit dood
  DarkestKnight: hey blue
  PenMan: I was there
  *BluePrincess has said a naughty word and had her mouth washed out
with soap!
  BluePrincess: no SH!T
  BluePrincess: do Telll..
  BluePrincess: (ps i hate the f'in filter)
  PenMan: I posted the whole story on the board
  DarkestKnight: so did they get away??
  BluePrincess: whats the short version
  PenMan: yeah... two against one
  BluePrincess: saphire didnt get away
  PenMan: no; she went with the police to give a statement and help
  PenMan: Black Widow and Hunter got away
  BluePrincess: i heard my mom andher bf talking abbout it
  DarkestKnight: so she's not wanted for murder anymore??
  DarkestKnight: bout time the cops figured that out.....
  *DiamondGrrl has entered the room.
  DiamondGrrl: WOW
  BluePrincess: they were at GBs too just got home 10min ago
  DiamondGrrl: just WOW
  BluePrincess: sapphire was put in chains and put in a patty wagon
  DiamondGrrl: paddy
  BluePrincess: that dosent sound like helping with a statement
  BluePrincess: whateverr
  DarkestKnight: so they arrested her? and let BW go?
  DarkestKnight: typical
  PenMan: I didn't 
  GAHero: it was an ambulance, not a paddy wagon
  *JemFan has entered the room.
  *JemFan is speechless!
  PenMan: GAH, didn't notice you were here
  GAHero: sorry, lurked while TCOB
  PenMan: How do you know it was an ambulance?
  *JemFan hugs PenMan tightly!
  JemFan: shell be okay pm dont owrry
  JemFan: worry
  *DiamondGrrl hugs PenMan tightly!
  PenMan: thanks guys; I'll feel better when I know she's ok
  GAHero: friend of mine is an EMT, he heard it on the radio
  DarkestKnight: damn is she ok??
  GAHero: weird thing is they never got to County General
  GAHero: after a 1/2hr they rerouted to the police stn
  PenMan: so what does that mean???
  JemFan: NOT GOOD :( :(
  GAHero: it means she wasnt really hurt
  DarkestKnight: prolly she's ok enough not to need to go to the
hospital
  JemFan: oh thats good then
  GAHero: dont know why it took so long tho
  DarkestKnight: er... what he said ;-)
  GAHero: and my friend aint talkin
  PenMan: took so long?
  DiamondGrrl: hosp is only 10min from club row, police only 5min
  GAHero: exactly
  GAHero: makes u wonder what happened in the ambulance
  JemFan: gah ur not helping
  JemFan: think ++ happyy thoughts
  GAHero: im just saying
  JemFan: well dont
  JemFan: youll upset Penny
  DiamondGrrl: best not2 think aboutt it
  PenMan: its ok jemfan.. I need to know whats going on
  BluePrincess: so why were S and BW there in the first place??
  BluePrincess: u new S would find her eventully But..
  BluePrincess: why attack her in a public place??
  GAHero: dunno
  PenMan: it wasnt like that.... Black Widow came in first
  PenMan: she was going after Bates
  DiamondGrrl: bates why??
  DarkestKnight: he runs prositution rings im sure
  PenMan: Sapphire came in after and stopped her
  DarkestKnight: and widow seems to have a problem withthat.. 8-/
  JemFan: but isnt bates a criminel?? why would saphhire save him??
  GAHero: the hero's code, of course
  PenMan: other lives were at stake, not just Bates
  PenMan: including mine
  BluePrincess: mymom said bw killed like 8 ppl
  *JemFan has said a naughty word and had her mouth washed out with
soap!
  JemFan: oops i mean holy sh1t
  PenMan: those were professional bodyguards that died
  DarkestKnight: black widow is nothing if not efficient
  PenMan: anyway I gotta run
  GAHero: truedat... and yet sapphire kicked her ass
  PenMan: gonna see if I can find out anything else
  DiamondGrrl: yay sapphire!!!
  *DiamondGrrl jumps for joy!
  JemFan: i just hope shes ok
  PenMan: if anyone hears anything more PLEASE IM ME
  DiamondGrrl: bout time we had a powerful female role model who doesnt
wear leather!
  DiamondGrrl: yuck
  *PenMan is waving goodbye!
  GAHero: I thought grrls all wore leather
  DarkestKnight: u got it
  BluePrincess: let us know what u findout
  DiamondGrrl: bye PM< KIT!!
  *JemFan hugs PenMan tightly!
  *PenMan has left the room.

  Darn it, why wasn't his dad answering his cell phone?

  Well, maybe there was some other way he could find out what was
happening...

  "Hello?" Ricky heard Jimmy typing furiously in the background.
  "Jimbo, I need your help."
  "You know what time it is?"
  "Like you'd be in bed already."
  "I think you mean 'sleeping.' I'm frequently in bed about this time."
  "Cut it out, Jimmy, this is serious."
  "It's always serious with you lately, Rick, ever since you got
Sapphire on the brain."
  "Did you hear what happened?"
  "Yeah, of course. The Blue Oyster Bar is right across the street from
GB's. I only came home because the tear gas wafting in killed the mood."
  "Well I need to find out what's happening at the police station."
  "I think you have a wrong number. You meant to call your dad. He
works there, remember?"
  "I can't get a hold of him."
  "So what do you want me to do?"
  "Remember we were talking about private webcams?"
  "Well, yeah, but the Oak Valley Police Department doesn't use webcams
in the building; they've got a secure system."
  "I was afraid you'd say that."
  "Hasn't your dad ever given you the tour?"
  "He doesn't like to talk about work much."
  "Jeez. Well anyway, sorry I couldn't help."
  "Yeah. I'm just really worried about Sapphire. She left GB's in an
ambulance but never showed up at the hospital, and didn't show up at
the police station until a half-hour later."
  "It doesn't take a half-hour to get from club row to the police
station. When I got hauled in it only took five minutes."
  "You got arrested?"
  "Naw, they let me go when they found out I was a minor, tried some
lame-ass scared straight shit. All because my date had a little coke on
him; I didn't even know it."
  "Well, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. I guess I'll
just have to wait until my dad calls. *If* he calls."
  "Waitaminute, Ricky, are you sure it took a half-hour?"
  "That's what my source said. He's friends with an EMT."
  "And yet he didn't tell you about a Code Six."
  "What's a Code Six?"
  "Um..." Jimmy regretted bringing it up, but he knew Ricky wouldn't
let it go. "It's what EMTs call having sex in the ambulance. They turn
on the sirens and race around while one of them does the deed on the
gurney. Apparently chicks dig it. I wasn't impressed."
  Ricky was too concerned for Sapphire to dwell on his friend's
seemingly endless sexual horizons. "Oh my God, you mean they... take
advantage of their patients?"
  "Oh no no, it's strictly what they do on the side with willing
participants. I shouldn't have even brought it up. Except... hold on a
few minutes, let me go check something out."
  "Wait, don't go! Except what?"
  "Well, the ambulance company has digital cameras in all their rigs;
they record everything to a microdrive that gets changed out every
shift. It's a big secret though because they don't want the video used
against them in a lawsuit. Only a few EMTs know about it." Jimmy typed
and clicked sporadically as he explained. "Anyway, sometimes when a
crew pulls a Code Six they pull the microdrive and replace it with a
dupe of a blank run. One of the EMTs takes the footage and edits out a
movie of the Act and makes it available as a souvenier. For a price, no
doubt."
  "So how do you know about it? Or do I even want to know?"
  "I happened to find the guy's editing system one day when I was
cruising for offsite storage."
  "Do you think he might have a tape from the rig that took Sapphire?"
  "It depends on whether they got any action during the shift, but it's
possible; I'm checking now."

  Ricky could hardly stand the waiting. "Why do they call it a Code Six
anyway?"
  "Code Six... Code Sex... get it?" Ricky could be so naive sometimes...

  "There's a download for tonight; I'm downloading the segment for the
time in question now."

  Jimmy was silent for several minutes; he had stopped typing and was
only intermittently clicking.

  Ricky heard Jimmy whisper: "Oh, no."
  "What did you find? Send it to me."
  "I can't."
  "Why not?"
  "You don't want to see this."
  "Jimmy, I have to find out what happened. I have to know that she's
okay."
  Jimmy was silent.
  "Jim. If you won't send it to me, at least tell me something. Is she
okay?"
  "I can't really tell. I mean, she's walking out of the ambulance at
the end of it, and she's not bleeding or bandaged or anything, but..."
Jimmy trailed off.
  "But what?
  "No, Ricky. It doesn't matter."
  "Tell me."
  "There's nothing you can do about it."
  "Send me the file."
  "You won't like what you see."
  "I need to know, Jim."
  "Okay, Rick, but I warned you. You have to promise me you won't do
anything stupid."
  "What's that supposed to mean?"
  "Just promise."
  "I promise, just send me the damned file."
  "Here's a link. You should be able to stream it directly."

  Rick clicked the link; a media player window opened.

  And his heart sank.

  There was Sapphire, laying face up on the gurney underneath a
blanket; the EMT sat next to her, checking her responses. She looked
really out of it.

  But it would get worse.

  The EMT put down his penlight and stowed his clipboard. He pulled the
blanket down to the girl's waist.
  She was naked but for a pair of shadowy wisps of fabric draped
partially over her breasts. Her head moved, and her body shifted
slightly. The EMT's hands rested in the middle of her chest, ostensibly
checking something. After a moment, he withdrew his hands, removing his
gloves and tossing them into the corner. Hands returned to their
examination.

  Tattered fabric was surreptitiously brushed aside, completely
exposing Sapphire's chest. Hands moved up and down her chest from neck
to navel and back again, fingers spreading and hands moving outward
from center with each stroke, gradually becoming circles around the
sleepy girl's firm breasts.

  Sapphire's brow furrowed; her arms rose weakly from the gurney to
cover herself.

  The EMT halted his ministrations long enough to brush away her hands
and then grab each wrist in turn and secure it to the gurney with heavy
straps. This seemed to bring Sapphire around; her eyes opened and she
looked at the EMT with confusion.

  Confusion became fear when the EMT suddenly yanked the blanket
completely off her and straddled her thighs.

  Ricky gasped in fear and revulsion, one hand covering his mouth in
horrified disbelief.

  Sapphire's assailant leaned down over her, almost smothering her. He
was forcing a kiss! Sapphire tossed her head back and forth in panicked
rejection. The EMT rose up, cocking his open hand and slapping her
across the face. Sapphire's eyes flew wide open in terror.

  The EMT reached down to his crotch; in a flash he was upon her again,
his knees forcing hers apart. His pelvis thrust forward savagely.

  Sapphire screamed in haunting, deafening silence.

  Tears welled up in Ricky's eyes until everything became a shifting
blur. He clicked over and over, blindly trying to stop the player from
carrying the scene to its logical, and unconscionable, conclusion.

  "Those... monsters. How could they do something like that?" His voice
wavered in outrage and despair.
  "I'm sorry, Rick. I didn't want to show you."
  "They'll pay for what they did," Ricky said, steeling the quiver.
"I'll take this to the police. They'll lock them up."
  "Ricky, think about what you're saying."
  "Are you telling me they should get away with this? They... they
r-raped her."
  "No, I'm not saying that. But if you show anyone that video, what
will it do to Sapphire?"
  Ricky's breath became shallow; he felt helpless. And ashamed for
being so.
  "B-but I have to do something," Ricky said, pleading desperation
palpable in his voice. 
  Jimmy could tell he was almost crying. Man, Ricky really fell hard
for this girl.
  "Delete it," Jimmy said brusquely.
  "But that's the proof! If we delete it then..."
  "Then no one can prove what happened. Look, I'll make a copy of it
and keep it safe. If Sapphire wants it, she can have it. Otherwise, I
think she would want us to delete this guy's copy before anyone else
saw it."

  "Do it," Ricky cried before hanging up.

  Ricky fought back the tears as he dialed his father's cell phone
number.
  Still no answer.
  Where was he when his son needed him?

  Ricky threw the cordless phone across the room and collapsed on his
bed, face pressed hard into his pillow, muffling the sounds of abject
weeping.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Noel Aquino stood just inside the door for a long moment, just
staring sadly at the tiny ball of shame across the room. He didn't
approach her directly, instead making his way along the wall to the
adjacent corner, where he could see her (and hopefully she see him)
from as far away as possible.

  She had tucked herself as far into the corner as possible, as if
hoping to simply disappear. The poor girl's face was shrouded in a
tangled mat of long black hair. Arms crossed protectively across her
chest; knees were drawn up, feet clenched against buttocks in a sitting
fetal position. Her body rocked back and forth slowly, rhythm broken by
silent sobbing.

  It wasn't until he'd gotten all the way to the corner, looking at her
from the side, that he noticed the chains. They'd cuffed her wrists and
ankles and bound them with chains, not unlike a maximum-security prison
transfer. Or a viscious animal. Perhaps they'd seemed appropriate at
the scene considering the crimes and feats for which she'd been
credited, but they looked cruel and unusual now.

  Aquino returned to the door; the uniform hesitantly opened it a crack.
  "Give me your key."
  "But Captain Ramirez said-"
  "Captain Ramirez said if he ever found out who was poking his niece
in the closet on the night shift he'd send him to Norway on a two-year
exchange program."
  The uniform snapped to, dropping his keychain in Aquino's
outstretched hand. "Damn, I thought Rubio was the one with the
connections. How'd you know?"
  "You just told me." "Aw, fuck." "Watch your mouth. Now go fetch an
energy bar from the vending machine."
  "Fetch? What am I, your dog?"
  "You'll be some lonely Norweigian trooper's bitch if you don't hurry."

  Noel again knelt next to the girl. He reached for her hand; she
pulled it back, curling up more tightly. "It's okay," he soothed, "I
won't hurt you; I just want to get you out of these chains. Do you
promise to be a good girl?" The mop of black hair nodded pitifully;
hands peeked tentatively out of the mane and rested on knees. He undid
the cuffs gingerly.

  Noel stood behind her as he draped the blanket around the girl's
shoulders, leaning over her to wrap the ends around her slight frame
and tuck them under her toes. He held the water bottle in front of her;
a delicate hand reached up to take it.

  Noel waited silently while she drank, tiny swallows in between
gasping sad sighs. Finally she stopped drinking. He knelt next to her
again, taking the bottle and setting it aside.

  "Do your parents know where you are?" The girl shook her head 'no.'
"If you tell me your name I'll call them and let them know you're all
right." She shook her head emphatically. "Okay, okay, they don't have
to know." He brushed his fingers along her forehead to get her hair out
of her face, but she shrunk back; he withdrew for the moment.

  Aquino's heart ached for the poor girl. It was hard to believe that
this frightened creature could harm a fly, much less drop from the sky
to stop violent criminals cold. Or save his son from a killer. The
paradox made him think of another girl who seemed fetching and sweet
but had a hidden wild side. Maybe Angela was just lost, like this girl.
Well, maybe not quite like this girl...

  "I didn't mean to cause all this trouble. I'm so sorry, Mr. Aquino,"
she blubbered between sobs.

  Noel felt a chill. She knew him?

  Well, he had been assigned to the case for some time; it was public
knowledge, and if she was the vigilante legend made her out to be she
would probably make it her business to know who was watching her. Had
she been watching him? Did she know he'd spent too much of his time
watching another young woman instead of doing his job? Noel cursed
himself silently. If he'd been doing his job, maybe things wouldn't
have come to this.

  He sat next to her, his back against the wall, facing her, looking
over the shuddering mop of hair that still covered her face, watching
her shoulders shake as she cried. He couldn't blame her for hiding her
face; she'd been through a humiliating hell. His hand took hers,
stroking the back of her hand with his thumb as their hands rested on
her knee.

  "I need you to help me. Can you do that?"
  "I don't know," she sniffled. "All I want to do is help people but
all I seem to do is hurt everybody..." the girl trailed off in tears.

  "Shh, it's okay, it's okay," he soothed, though he knew it wasn't.
This girl was on the hook for at least a half-dozen murders unless she
could clear her name before Rubio got his hooks in her.

  I met this guy an' he gave me this present an' I found out I could do
stuff that nobody else could do so I decided to help people an' at
first I did, I stopped those men at the QuickMart and saved that couple
from those muggers only then I got weak and I couldn't get away and
they made do stuff but then even though helping people made me feel
funny and do bad things after I knew I had to keep trying to help
people an' I did like Jimmy and Ricky from those bullies an' I caught
the man who raped all those other girls only then things started going
wrong an' the other girl she had powers too an' she was hurting all
those bad men over there an' then Ricky an' then all the people I
touched started dying an' I thought it was me but it wasn't it was Him
trying to find me an' he killed those bullies an' I tried to stop him
at the Ramseys but she was there too waiting but I tried anyway but he
can make people do stuff an' forget but he couldn't to me but instead
he made me weak and he was gonna hurt me but I stopped him an' they got
away an' I was afraid of them but I knew I couldn't give up because
they'd keep hurting people so I followed the police an' she was there
an' him too but she was hurting people so I went in to stop her an' I
stopped her but then she made me weak but Ricky saved me an' then she
was gonna hurt him so I blasted her real hard an' I went to catch her
but then he came an' he hit me so I tried to get away an' he made me
weak an' they got away and now I'm here an' all I wanna do is help
people and stop bad people but everyone thinks I did everything an'
it's all my fault everything's messed up I'm sorry I'm so sorry I tried
I just thought I could do good but it just made me a bad person an' now
everybody hates me especially you an' Ricky..."

  Noel's head spun as he tried to follow the poor girl's blubbering; it
all came so fast he couldn't understand it all...

  But why would she think Ricky hated her?

  Had Noel somehow made Ricky trade one obsession for another?

  "Listen to me. Angel, listen." He didn't know what else to call her.
"I know you tried to do a good thing last night. But a lot of other
people won't see it that way; they won't understand that you were
trying to help. I need you to help me; I need you to tell me your
story. I need you to make me understand why you-" 

  "I'm sorry about what happened with your son," she said softly,
breaking down again.

  Noel was taken aback. Sorry? "Y-you saved him from the Black Widow."

  "No, [sniff] before... I didn't mean it," she looked up at him, hair
parting to reveal plaintive eyes welled with tears.

  Angela's eyes.

  A tidal wave of confused emotions crashed through Noel, dashing all
rational thought against the rocks of pity and sorrow and regret. He
could only collapse his arms over the distraught girl and weep with her.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Noel had no idea how long he'd held her; he gradually became aware of
her exhausted, fitful breathing. She was asleep, or in some trancelike
state beyond awareness. As he sat there cradling her head on his chest,
his mind worked back up to speed, trying to figure out what he could do
next. He had to find a way to protect this girl from the cruel hand
that fate would have Miguel Rubio deal her. Rubio didn't care whether
he had the right man -- any man was his man. Or woman. He'd believed
the Avenging Angel and Black Widow were one and the same; proof to the
contrary would be irrelevent. This poor girl's proximity to last
night's blood bath made her guilty of something, and close enough to
take the blame; that plus Rubio's interrogation technique and a closed
room would be enough to get cooperation, confession, and conviction.

  Noel's own obsession with Angela melted away in a puddle of shame
that only strengthened his resolve to save her.

  All those times he'd followed her to work, followed her home, staked
out her store and her house... foolishly watching an innocent young
girl instead of searching for a supernatural vigilante, when all along
they were one and the same . . .

  But if Angela and the Avenging Angel were one and the same... that
meant that the Avenging Angel and the Black Widow couldn't be the same.
Not that he doubted what he'd seen or what his son had told him about
last night. But Rubio's indifference would surely use one's noose to
hang the other.

  Except that Noel's own obsession exonerated Angela of most, if not
all, of the violent crimes attributed to any of the mysterious three.
He knew the timing of the events well; he'd been dragged over the coals
enough over it. "Where were you when this Black Widow was killing this
pimp?" Watching Angela through her bedroom window; "and this one?"
eating a lousy hot dog as Angela measured lace and chiffon; "and when
Dirk was killed?" sneaking a peek at Angela's latest underwear
purchases from behind the pantyhose display, despite promising himself
he wouldn't follow her anymore...

  Of course, when it was discovered that Angela was the Avenging Angel,
Noel's claims would fall on deaf ears. Ramirez would assume Detective
Aquino's protests were driven by his obsession, by his need to protect
this particular girl from the consequences of her actions for his own
selfish need.

  No; he could do this delicate flower no good that way.

  Delicate flower. She'd been anything but a delicate flower in that
restaurant.

  Why did she need his help at all? He'd seen her do the impossible.
Defy gravity. Smash through concrete like glass. All she needed was to
buck up and take charge of the situation. Unless...

  "An-- Sapphire, sweetie." Her head lifted from his chest; she looked
up at him with doe's eyes. "Why are you still here? I know you're
hurting, and I know you want to do the right thing. But is the right
thing to sit here, helpless? If you're a..." Noel marveled at the
appropriateness of the fantastic word "...superheroine, shouldn't you
still be out there trying to stop the Black Widow and her partner?"
  Her head fell in shame. "I don't have a choice. I failed. I've messed
up everything. I don't deserve to be called a superheroine."

  "Would you feel better if I brought you your things?" He lifted her
chin with his finger, holding her gaze with an intensity that forced
her to consider veiled meaning. Her eyes lit up; she nodded hopefully.
"Yeah, that'd help a lot," she said, wiping the tears from her face.

  "I'll see what I can do. You stay here, and don't tell anyone what we
talked about, okay?"
  "Okay, Mr. Aquino."
  "Call me Noel."


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  "In, out, in, out. I wish you'd make up your mind!" the evidence
master grumbled.
  "Hey, don't bust my balls! I'm just the messenger. Trace sent me down
here; some mixup over shift change. He thought she was gonna test it,
she thought he already tested it, then Cap'n calls in and says 'where's
my focking resolts?'... and now I'm here."

  "All right, here you go. But I don't want to see this box again
tonight!"
  As the man behind the counter pushed the box through the hole in the
grate, the messenger scribbled unintelligibly and scratched a badge
number on the clipboard, then snapped down the pen.

  "You got it, sarge. Sorry they dragged you over here from Maplewood
in the middle of the night just to stick you in Evidence."
  "Not as sorry as I am. But another hour and I'm outta here --
four-day weekend. Well, keep your head down out there, Officer..."
  "Detective. Rubio," the messenger smiled.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Angela's eyes lit up when she saw the closed metal box. She inspected
it with a surprisingly critical eye before opening it and hungrily
removing the contents.

  Shimmering satin wrist cuffs slid over her hands, their huge
sapphires throwing off a blinding blue light as they moved. The tiara
stuck jauntily in her tousled mane. Small feet slipped into sky-high
stiletto mules, gemstones dazzling as she wiggled her toes. 

  Even with the blanket shrouding her body like a cape, she seemed
immediately transformed. Small, but powerful. 
  Confident. 

  Heroic.

  "Stand back," she said, her sweet voice nonetheless infused with
authority. "I don't want you to get hurt." Noel backed up several feet.
She looked up, as if she were calculating something.

  "About Ricky..." Noel blurted.
  "Please don't tell him." She looked at him with a sudden
vulnerability.
  "I just wanted to say I don't really understand all this, but if you
say you didn't mean it, I believe you. I'm sorry."
  "Thank you."
  "And thank you for saving his life."
  "Thank you both for saving mine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a
spider to catch."

  Noel stood there for a long moment before he realized she was waiting
for something. "Ahem," she cleared her throat. She ruffled the blanket
still covering her; Noel gave her a strange look. "No, that's okay, you
can take it with you."
  "Actually, I can't."
  "Oh. Oh! Sorry." Noel turned around quickly before she could see him
blush.

  He saw her shadow rise impossibly up the wall before a thunderous
crash shook the building and filled the room with dust.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  "You let her go?" Ramirez growled, incredulous. Rubio stood fidgeting
right behind him, like a small dog eager to bite an ankle.
  "Not exactly," Noel corrected. "She escaped."
  "She *escaped*?"
  "But she's not the killer."
  "Oh she's not? Then who is she?"
  "She's... Sapphire." Noel shrugged.
  "And who the fuck is Sapphire?"
  "Would you believe, a superheroine?"
  "I'd expect that from your kid, but you should know better."
  "Whatever. All I know is, there wasn't a skylight in that room
yesterday."

  Someone yelled from down the hall. "Rubio! Call for you. It's Gerald
Bates. And he sounds wicked pissed."
  Rubio blanched. "Take a message."
  "Fuck you! I'm not gonna forget this, ya fucking prick!"
  Rubio and Ramirez both looked at the man holding the phone, shocked.
  "That was the message."

  Before they could recover, they were accosted by a short
impeccably-groomed man in a very expensive suit, looking far too
chipper to be anything but bad news.

  "Excuse me, hi, I'm Rudy Baylor, I'm here on behalf of the individual
you're holding in connection with last night's incident at Gerald
Bates' restaurant. I have here two documents, first a statement from
Mr. Bates preemptively dropping any and all charges he may have the
option to file against said individual, and second a court order signed
by the Honorable Judge Reinhold releasing said individual immediately
on her own recognizance until such time as an arraignment can be
scheduled for any criminal charges that may be filed." He snapped his
briefcase shut; Ramirez snatched the two documents from his offered
grasp.

  "Fuck! Is that even legal?" Rubio whined.
  "It doesn't matter," Ramirez reminded his Detective. "Mr. Baylor, I'm
impressed by Mr. Bates' interest in 'said individual,' but she has
already flown the coop."


------------------------------------------------------------------------


  "...and the latest development in this stunning story, Gerald Bates
has called an urgent press conference where, moments from now, he will
be... and we go live now to the offices of Mr. Gerald Bates."


  "Good morning. As you may know, last night I was the target of a
brutal assassination attempt from a woman who calls herself Black
Widow. This violent criminal, already wanted in connection with several
murders, showed a clear contempt for the lives of the citizens of this
city when she chose a crowded public venue in which to exact twisted
vengeance for some imagined offense. In a horrific display of
calculated rage, this cold-blooded killer ended the lives of six close
friends. These men had families. I too would have met such a tragic and
senseless end but for the heroic efforts of a remarkable young woman
who goes by the name Sapphire. This Angel came down from the heavens to
forcefully end Black Widow's viscious attack, saving my life and the
lives of many others. I am forever in her debt. I am told she is
cooperating with the Oak Valley Police Department to help bring a swift
end to this nightmare. We should all learn from her example.

  "Black Widow must be stopped. As a responsible citizen of Oak Valley
I cannot stand idly by while this agent of evil advances her campaign
of terror against us all. I will dedicate every resource at my disposal
to aid our police department in the swift execution of justice, and I
encourage all citizens to work within the law to aid in the immediate
apprehension of this dangerous psychotic. To that end, I am offering
$50,000 to the first person who facilitates justice for her heinous
acts."


  Ramirez was furious. "God damn that Bates! He just made a public call
for a lynch mob!"
  The DA stood, motioning for Ramirez to calm down, and closed the
office door. "I'm sure his lawyers will argue that his offer is no
different from a concerned parent's reward offer for information about
their child. Considering the current political situation revolving
around the QuickMart duo, now is probably not the time to charge him
with intent to incite. Let's get a hotline number out there and
encourage people to call, and I'm sure clearer heads will prevail."

  "That makes one of us."



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