Shades of Gray
Differences
A man strolled through the streets. He wore a large light brown overcoat and red tinted glasses hiding his appearance from anyone that gave him a glance. Only his black boots and equally black hair could be seen with any clarity. The man looked to be trying not to draw attention to himself, a wise choice in Independence Port, especially after dark. The Family ran the port though the Council had set up a foothold. This only escalated the tensions between the two villain organizations as the Family also had a foothold in Striga Isle, the Council home base. With each group having striking power against the other's main base of operations a full blown war was bound to come. Many in the city were wary; the fight between the Hellions and Skulls had given Paragon City a glimpse of what a gang war on such a large scale could do. However the man was not here to worry about that. He was here on other business.
Normally he wouldn't be in Independence Port. His fight was against the Clockwork making Kings Row, Skyway City, and Perez Park his normal beats. Normally he would be out patrolling now, one of the darker heroes of the city who purposely ignored other forms of crime in his personal battle against the Clockwork King. Instead Jon Stone III found himself in front of a popular diner. It was a front company for the Family's smuggling business but the food there was rumored to be good. However that wasn't the reason he was here.
Stone entered the restaurant, took off his coat and hung it up careful to hang up the package concealed in it as well before he sat down at a table. If he had timed things right he would get his answer. He would find her.
It had been several weeks ago. Stone was patrolling Kings Row when he came across a girl. Stone had come across her fighting some Cogs. Her weapon of choice was an assault rifle making her a Blaster. Her appearance was the most surprising thing about her though. Hot pink dominated the color scheme mixed in with red. Boots that were laced up to just beneath her knees had a camo design to them but in the mix of pink and red. Camo pants were tucked into the boots, that seemed to have small heels, hid what were clearly trimmed legs. A tactical utility belt adorned her slim waist. A pink vest covered her chest leaving the mind to speculate on her bust size though the vest suggested that the mind not get too much further then B. A red spade decorated the center of the chest, the sign of the Johnson faction of the Family. Ringed shoulder guards, red on top with pink on the bottom, appeared provided some shoulder protection. Armored sleeves colored pink protected her upper arms. A red shirt's sleeves poked out from beneath the vest and covered up to just past her elbows before the first glimpse of creamy white skin could be seen. Fingered red gloves were on her hands. A pink veil covered the lower half of her face, a pink targeting reticule over her right eye, and a strategically placed strand of pink-red hair fell over her other eye making it very hard to get a clear look at her face. Her hair was in a pony tail and seemed to come to the small of her back suggesting that once let down her hair would cascade to past her waist.
It had been this beauty that Stone had come across blasting away at a few Cogs. Cogs were normally easy pickings but Stone had been fighting the minions of the Clockwork King for more over 15 year now. He knew how to dismantle them quickly and efficiently. The girl was holding her own, backing up to keep her in what was her optimum range for pumping slugs into the tin cans. She had been doing well until an Assembler Prince and a pair of Tesla Knights showed up. It was then Stone acted.
Kimberly couldn't believe it. Sitting at a table in her section was him. Kim had just a started her career as a "hero" having just gotten her license. She had taken to it pretty well but she had taken months to convince her father and brothers that she wasn't turning her back on the family by not doing business the traditional way. As much as Kim loved her family and understood what they really did for a living she felt could help out her Family and get some fame while she was at it. After convincing her father and brothers that she wouldn't target Family operations they gave their blessing and Kimberly made a costume transforming into Hime Kimberly, using her Japanese mother's pet name for her as her "superhero" alias.
Having earned the Isolator Badge and in high gear Kim worked her way up to have a security rating of 6. How the city government figured out just how many "villains" a "hero" defeated or how they decided that a certain person was ready for a high level of security clearance was beyond Kim but she left that to the local government to deal with.
Having earned her 6th level Kim had gone out on a celebration patrol in Kings Row, since it was close to home and she didn't have to worry about interrupting in her Family's business, when she came across a couple of Cogs. She had seen them before but she had never fought them before and wasn't prepared for the electrical shocks they gave her. Kim had fought back using her assault rifle alternating between bursts of fire and various kinds of slugs to see which worked the best against the giant metal toys. Much to her dismay a much bigger version of the Cogs and two middle sized models came around and joined in the electrical zapping of her. Never having seen the other two kinds before Kim was at a loss as to what to do. As luck would have it someone came to her aid but in her panic and somewhat electrically fired state Kim hadn't really noticed. She kept firing away as the Clockwork minions fell swiftly to her helper. One moment she was firing a slug into a Cog, the next thing she knew she was being shaken on the shoulder. Shocked Kim pulled the trigger. The bang of the gun firing was not followed by the pinging of metal but rather the grunt of a person in pain. Once Kim came over her shock and her eyes came into focus she looked up to see the face of her savior.
He wore red tinted glasses and had a red cloth tied around his forehead. His black hair was parted down the middle and his bangs hung over the red cloth. He had a thin pointed nose. His cheeks looked slightly gaunt and he had a strong jaw line and chin. His mouth was drawn tight as he suppressed some kind of pain. It was this mental picture of this man Kim had carried in her head. She couldn't get the mental picture out of her head once she had realized that she had shot her rescuer are point blank range in the gut. After that point Kim remembered running straight home. She had been so intent on getting home that she had dropped her rifle somewhere along the way.
So here Stone was returning the assault rifle that belong to one Kimberly M. Johnson. Ironically the girl had an 'if found' card on it with an address on it. So Stone did some detective work and found out what he could on this Kimberly M. Johnson. It turned out she worked part-time at the restaurant he was now at. With a little digging Stone found out her normal working schedule and timed it so he would be there in the middle of her shift. Upon seating himself it didn't take long for Stone to recognize the girl. In this busy place she had stopped still and was staring at him, recognition on her face. With that Stone got up and made his way towards her.
She was dressed in tight blue pants with matching sneaker, a pink short sleeve blouse and a white apron around her waist finished out her outfit. Her hair was done up the same way Stone remembered but without the monocle or veil Stone suspicions were confirmed. The girl was a complete knock out package but Stone was here on business.
As he made progress to where so stood stone still and rather large and muscular man blocked his path.
"Can I help you?" The man asked nicely enough but his eyes gave a wary warning.
"I'm here to speak with someone." Stone stated plainly as he looked up at the man blocking his path. "Her." Stone said pointing out Kimberly.
The man nodded. "Whatever you have to say to her you can say to me first." The man stated.
"I'm simply returning something to her." Stone motioned for the man to lean closer and he complied. "I have no qualms with your kind. I suggest you let me talk to her before you have to explain to your Capo while there is very pissed off hero on your Family's case." Stone whispered into the man's ear before slipping by.
Kim was stunned by the man's presence and her one of her bodyguards, James, had noticed. She watched as James headed off the man's advance. It gave her time to take a look at the rest of the man she had shot.
His face was the same. A martial arts robe that was buttoned up and went down to his knees covered his torso. It was black with red trim which seemed to be the main colors that made up his costume. The robe itself was sleeveless and a tight long sleeve shirt could be seen beneath the robe. A thick red band went around either of his biceps. Black gloves were on his hands, red mixed into designed cuts. His boots were of the same colors and design. Black pants with what appeared to be red veins could be made out from under his robe. Given how tight his clothes were Kim could plainly see that the man was cut.
Kim snapped herself out of her staring in time to see the man blow off James and complete the distance between them.
"Can I help you?" Kim asked politely. Up close it was apparent that Stone stood about 5' 6", a full 4 inches taller then she was.
"My name is Jon Stone III. I'd like to speak with you Miss Johnson. Do you have somewhere we could speak in private?" Stone introduced himself and noticed at his request for a private talk half the customers in the diner had stopped doing what they were doing and looked at him.
Kim looked around and tried to subtly motion with her hands that it was ok. Slowly the noise returned to the diner. "This way please, Mr. Stone." Kim said.
"If you would have one of the other waiters… bring my coat…" Stone interjected.
"Of course." Kim replied and signaled for James to get Stone's coat before leading Stone to a back room that had a table and a few chair around it. Kim sat down and Stone sat down across from her.
They sat in silence until James brought in Stone's coat and the rifle it had concealed. After that James left them alone but not before giving Stone a distasteful glare.
"This, I believe, belongs to you Miss Johnson." Stone said motioning to the gun which Kim quickly picked up and cradled.
"Thank you. How did you know where to find me?" Kim asked as she gave the gun a quick over for damage.
"You left a card in the stock of the gun." Stone replied pointing to the shoulder of the gun which made Kim blush. "May I ask to see your card?"
Kim handed her hero card to Stone and took his as he offered it to her. Every hero carried around card like businessmen had business card. There were simply too many heroes nowadays to keep them all straight. It also had information on it that was practical for other heroes to know such as a list of powers and their archetype.
Kim's eyes bulged when she looked at Stone's card. His name was on it along with contact information. Also it had the current number of badges he had and his security level on it. Both numbers were 25. Kim suddenly didn't feel so proud of being ranked at level 6 and only having 1 badge.
"May I see which badge you have, Miss Johnson?" Kim handed over her Isolator badge. She had had it in her pocket as she had been carrying it around proudly displaying it to people and keeping it as a good luck charm.
"This is very impressive Miss Johnson. I wasn't as zealous in my early career. I never earned this badge." Stone admitted at he looked over the shiny hexagon-shaped coin.
Kim felt her cheeks heat up a little at the compliment. After all it was coming from a rather accomplished hero. "Well thank you again for returning my gun to me. If there is anything I can do to thank you…" Kim trailed off as she took back her badge when Stone handed it to her and stood up.
"No thanks would be necessary. Returning your weapon is only half of why I am here." Stone said motioning Kim to sit down again which she did. "I came here because I noticed a few things about you. When I first saw you, you were doing a good job of fending off those Cogs but you looked like you were out of your league. Yet you did not run. Any experience hero knows when to run. Since you did not run when you were out numbered and out class you are either very brave or very inexperienced. May I ask your age and how long you have been a heroine?"
"I just turned 17 a few weeks ago. I started the day after my birthday." Kim replied truthfully. "But I've been using my rifle for several years so I know how to use it." Kim added in her own defence.
"I see. You went through basic training and took to it as well. Your Isolator badge is proof of that. Tell me, why did you become a heroine? And lie to me." Stone told Kim giving her a heavy stare.
"I wanted to help my family by striking out at our enemies." Kim replied before she realized what she had said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that. Please don't tell anyone."
Stone sat there a moment absorbing the information. So the girl was a member of the Family and was using the hero system to lash out against groups like the Council much like he was using the hero system to get at the Clockwork. The more heroes found out about the heroing world the more they found out that the heroes weren't in it for the lousy pay or fame and glory. Most were in it for revenge, plain and simple.
"You are not so unique in your reasons to don a mask, or veil if I remember correctly. You'll find that out soon enough. Now, I want you to deliver this letter to someone of authority. It's a business proposal. I'd do it in person but I have rather pressing matters to attend to. The Council are mounting a raid on a warehouse on pier 6. Consider it an act of good will." With that Stone got up and left.
Stone's contact had been right. The Council were making a raid on a Family warehouse, a prelude of things to come perhaps. It was a small raid. Only standard Elite Riflemen being led by an Adjunct according to his intelligence. Normally these guys in this part of Paragon City were slated 20's by the Hero Board but Stone knew never to underestimate a horde.
Stone swiftly entered the warehouse. Inside gunshots could be heard being exchanged. It didn't take long for Stone to find the main battle zone. The Family had obviously known about the impending attack for they were in well defended positions and had managed to hold the Council strike team to either side of the main entrance into the warehouse. Several bodies littered the Council side where Stone crouched, hiding but he could make out several bodies on the Family's side as well.
Stone acted quickly. He sprang from his crouched position and ran into the midst of a cluster of Council Elites. Before anyone noticed he spread his arms and drew them in towards him summoning a dark portal to open and draw towards him, draining his opponents of their life force and energy. Then he unleashed a flurry of shadow powered punches knocking out three men in the process. Spinning Stone threw a hard left hook bringing down another Rifleman. By now the other group of Council soldiers had noticed and began to unload into him. Stone was quick and had Kevlar lined clothes but that didn't stop a few bullets from penetrating his skin.
Stone just gritted his teeth and as he performed another series of punches that finished of the group of soldiers that he had been in. With that Stone took a moment to collect himself despite being shot at. A green glow formed around him followed by a yellow glow around his fists. Stone then jumped the gap from one side of the entrance to the other. The Council Adjunct decided that he, being a mask, was the bigger threat and had ordered all attention to be given to him.
Upon landing Stone felt that attention in the form of a rifle butt to the gut, as a rifleman caught him in midair and then proceeded to drill him into the ground where Stone received numerous strikes with rifle butts and boots. Ignoring the pain Stone forced his way up to his feet and drew out his arms again sucking the energy from his foes and transferring it into himself. Revitalized Stone let loose another series of shadow punches.
Despite being ranked at his 25th level Stone had no formal training in the use of his powers. They had manifested at a young age, Stone's grief and anger over the loss of his parents opened up the Netherworld to him and he wielded the power it gave him with extreme prejudice even if that was mostly concentrated in his fists. His attack arsenal was limited to 4 main attacks but that didn't concern him. His real mutation was in his regenerative abilities. He could heal faster and recover his strength at amazing rates. What took normal men months to recover from took him merely days. This allowed Stone to simply wear down his opponents as there were few whose regenerative powers matched his own. His ability to temporarily increase his tolerance to pain as well as push his body to move faster let him get in more attacks and withstand more as well. Having such a high recovery of stamina granted Stone the power of speed, allowing him to run faster then most men without tapping into the Speed Barrier.
Bobbing and weaving to avoid the blows being rained upon him Stone took down Council soldier after soldier but they did manage to embed a few stray shots into his flesh as well as bruise him a lot.
Once the final Council was lying unconscious or dead the gun fire stopped but the Family members were wary of having a mask in their warehouse.
Stone took the stop in hostilities to lean against the wall to collect himself. He was in real pain now that the adrenaline was gone. Taking a great deal of effort Stone pushed the pain aside and pushed himself off the wall into a standing position. The action made the gangsters tense and Stone could hear the guns being trained on him. Slowly Stone turned to face the group of men and quickly picked out the Capo. It wasn't a hard thing to do, the local level mob bosses always wore the worst colored suits and had the biggest Tommy guns.
"My fight has never been with the Family. My job here is done for today, I suspect I will be seeing you again soon." With that Stone turned and limped out of the building and slowly made his way to his home in Kings Row.
It was after hours and the diner was closed to normal customers but the place was packed with Family members. The diner was a good meeting location for many of the local heads of the smaller gangs affiliated with the larger syndicate.
"After all that he turned to us and with the most dead pan expression and voice to match, he told us his fight was never was with us and then he said he would see us soon. Then the mask just left."
"Anthony, I'm a mask now too." Kim said punching her brother in the arm playfully. Her older brother Anthony was the middle child and closer to Kim then Victor who spent most of his time being groomed to take over their father's place as head of the Johnson Family branch. "He didn't happen to be wearing red glasses and a martial arts robe, did he?" Kim asked.
"He was. Why?" Anthony asked his little sister.
"He came in earlier today." Kim replied.
"Why would a mask come here?"
"Remember that one night I lost my rifle…" Kim trailed off and rung her hands and blushed.
Anthony groaned. That had been a rather embarrassing night. Kim had gone out with her gun and come back empty handed. The worse part of it was that his little sister couldn't remember where she had dropped her gun in her flight. Anthony knew that something had really given her a scare that night but she refused to talk about it.
"Anyway he brought it back to me and gave me this. He told me to give it to someone of importance, you qualify." Kim handed the letter to her brother.
Anthony took the letter, opened it and read the contents. "This mask must be joking. Why is it masks think we'll just do what they tell us to do?"
Kim took the letter and read it. The request was simply enough; Stone wanted the Family to provide him with intelligence on the Clockwork. In exchange, he wouldn't gather a team of heroes to cause serious damage to the Family's network. It wasn't a real threat at least that was what Kim thought. Masks didn't do blackmail and it wouldn't take the Family long to repair any damage caused by a rampage of "heroic deeds."
"So what are you gonna do about him?" Kim asked.
"We could whack him. He is a mask after all."
"I'll do it." James quickly volunteered.
"James! Brother! I'm a mask too if you have forgotten." Kim reminded the men with a playful hit to the head for each of them. Being the youngest and a girl did have its advantages. "Besides, you can't just whack someone of his status and no one notice. I mean look at his card, he's cleared the 25th, the 25th security level!"
"You made the 6th in just a few months. It can't take that long to reach the 25th level." Anthony commented.
"Yeah but that's not uncommon. If your ranking is below 10 then you're considered a trainee. If you're under the 20th level you're just rookie. You have to be over 20 to be considered a real hero. It normally takes a year or so to make 10, about 6 more to make 20. Any rank after that take about a year to get. Assuming of course that the person is only part time like me and isn't a fanatic. That means he's been at it for at least 11 years and must have made some serious connections by now. That's why you can't just make masks over 20 disappear. Someone is bound to notice. Also by that point they must have become pretty strong. You said so yourself, dear brother, that he took out 20 Council soldiers by himself." Kim finished her lecture having thoroughly driven the point home.
"Fine. So if we don't make him swim, what do you suggest we do with him sister? You know we can't let this go unanswered." Anthony asked Kim. Normally Kim wouldn't even be consulted on this of thing but dealing with masks were, in a way, now her area of expertise and this wasn't really a pressing matter that need to go higher up. Anthony could deal with this however he felt.
"Well, I suggest you do as he says. Give him whatever information we have on the Clockwork." Kim stated.
"And we should do that because…" Anthony trailed off to allow his sister to fill in the blank.
"We should do that because in exchange for information he would be my mentor and let me be his sidekick once or twice a week." Kim explained.
"James, get me a drink. Something hard. I can't believe I'm hearing this. You expect me to let my kid sister run around with a mask we know next to nothing about?"
"Oh come on Anthony. I could learn so much by having a mentor and plus he'd be obligate to look out for me well being and you wouldn't have to send out a couple of patrols to protect me. I ditch them pretty quickly as well."
Anthony groaned. Kim's reasoning was near flawless. He had been sending out men to act as screens and herders, herding the easy pickings Kim's way when she went out. It slowed her progress as far as ranks were concerned but that was something everyone in the Johnson Family was willing to take some heat for. They didn't want their favorite girl to get hurt. Having a much stronger hero tutoring her would eliminate the need for the bodyguard and let Kim make up for some lost time as a pretty cheap cost.
"Ok."
Kim squealed in delight. "Thank you Anthony!" Kim glomped her brother.
"But you can still only go out on Friday and Saturdays. You still have your job here and school to take care of. Speaking of which it's almost 11, off to bed. You have school in the morning." Anthony said untangling himself from Kim's vice grip of a hug.
Kim stuck out her tongue at Anthony before heading to the back of the diner and up to her room. The diner was one of many places she had rooms. Since she worked relatively late hours at the diner and often had school in morning her mother had ordered that a small living space be constructed in the back. After a quick shower and changing into her pink pajamas Kim crawled into be with a smile. She was going to have her own private mentor soon. Though she still had to apologize about shooting him…
Stone's limp wore off as he staggered/walked home. A few Trolls thought they could take advantage of him but after sucking the life force out of one completely the others had run.
Upon reaching his house in Kings Row, Stone unlocked the door to his home. Stepping inside the small foyer Stone could see the TV illuminating the sitting room. That could only mean one thing. Moving as quietly as he could up the half story of stairs to the main level of his split level home. From the steps Stone could make out two people on the couch; one grown man dressed in red clothing that covered his entire body cloaking his identity, and a teen-age girl curled up into his side.
"You're back." The man said not turning to face Stone.
"When did she go to sleep?" Stone said making his way to the back of the couch.
"You know she's turning 17 soon. She shouldn't have such an early curfew." Udai replied.
Stone leaned over and moved a strand of raven black from the girl's face and tucked it behind her ear. "Maybe for the weekends, not school nights. You're right old friend, she is getting older. She's become quite a beauty, hasn't she?" Stone looked straight into Udai's eyes.
Udai choose not to answer. Instead he just looked down at the sleeping girl who was leaning against his side. She had long curly black hair that reached her shoulders, partially covering her oval face. She had her lean figure leaned against him, her arms wrapped around his right arm, one arm crossed over her bosom. Her long legs were tucked under her body.
Her past was a mystery to him but Udai never asked about her past. He had tried once, when she was younger, but Stone had cut him off clearly indicating that it was not a topic to be broached, much like Udai's own past or even real identity. Udai knew Stone's past as Stone did not bother to hide his identity or his distaste for the Clockwork.
Stone's history was an odd one which made Udai wonder about the girl's as well. Stone was orphaned at the age of 3, his parents killed before his eyes. They had been out on a walk when they stumbled upon a group of Cogs. His parents had been electrocuted to death; Stone survived only because of his mutation of regeneration had manifested itself at birth. Stone was taken in by his mother's father, an elderly Japanese man who raised and made Stone into the strict man he is today. His grandfather died when Stone was 13 and having no other living relatives Stone was on his own. His parents had had a nice life and had left everything to their son, as did his grandfather, leaving Stone set for a comfortable life. Having nothing else to do Stone started his campaign against the Clockwork King, the campaign that was still continuing 15 years later.
Since he had waged his private war Stone never went to school and Udai knew that was why Stone was so insistent that Karen studied hard. Stone was very street smart but having never gone to college, let alone high school, Stone wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to academic knowledge and he knew that.
Stone's friend and occasional patrol partner was the opposite. Despite being a few months younger the man was a genius. Honors through out school, 3 years to complete high school, and 3 to complete college. Out of school by the age of 20 Udai went out into the world looking to make a place for himself.
Originally part of a special ops task force assigned to take down the Circle of Thorns; Udai quickly developed a taste for taking down super-powered villains. At the time his powers still lay in a dormant state. The task force, while marginally successful in capturing low-level CoT members, was disbanded after the death of 2 of its members in a raid which turned into an ambush. Udai felt a sense of responsibility for not being able to get his team members out alive. He vowed revenge on the Circle of Thorns but without the help of his task force, there was little he could do. He then turned to Melshik, a Circle Mage who he had captured while part of the task force. Udai agreed to get the mage out of prison in exchange for a spell the mage had mentioned when he had been captured. This spell was able to boost the recipient's strength, endurance, speed and mystic abilities for periods of several hours. However it also took several hours to apply. At Udai's urging, Melshik developed a spell which was just as powerful, but took only a few minutes. When applied, this concentrated burst of mystical energy acted as a catalyst which activated the dormant mutagens embedded in his cellular structure. These mutagens altered his fundamental DNA, giving Udai his powers.
It also had negative effects as well. It drained the pigmentation from his skin which kept him cloaked and hooded for years. He has now increased his powers to the point that he can take direct sunlight for limited amounts of time as long as most of his skin is covered.
For a day job Udai ran his own magic shop that was geared towards the magic using heroes of the city. Karen often spent her spare time helping out her "Uncle Udai" in his store.
"Yes she has." Udai finally replied. "I suppose that soon you'll have to start beating the boys off of her and threaten the boyfriends."
"I doubt it. She can take care of the boys herself." Stone chuckled. "First guy that got to feisty with her ended up with a knee to the groin. I know because I got called by the school when I was in the middle of pounding on a few Freaks. Besides I think the only boy I need to worry about is sitting on my couch."
Udai audibly sighed. It wasn't like he could help it. Karen took every opportunity to be around him and she grew on him. Both Udai and Stone knew Karen liked Udai and visa versa but she was still only 16 to Udai's 27 years of age. There was the age gap, the fact that Karen was underage, and Stone was going to make sure that Karen went off to college. And there was the issue of her hazy past.
As far as Udai knew, Karen showed up out of nowhere, a skinny little 12 year old girl who Stone took under his protection. Over the years things settled into a system of sort. Karen called Jon "daddy" and Udai was given the title of "uncle" since he was around a lot. Karen knew that Jon wasn't her real father and that Udai and Jon weren't related at all but they were her family and she was insistent on treating them as such even if her feelings for Udai were somewhat strong.
"We've been over this. You know I won't make a move on her without your permission Jon, but what do you want me to do if she starts making passes at me?" Udai asked plaintively.
"I expect you to act like you know you should. I might owe you a life debt but if you hurt her I will beat you to within an inch of death." Stone said in a cold low voice.
Karen had been awake ever since her father had come home but she had decided to act as if she was sleeping. Her heart had soared when Udai had told her dad that she was beautiful. He had never told that to her directly but hearing it made Karen so happy and it was all she could do not to react in some way. Karen knew that she was young and that her father wanted to put her education above all else and Karen would gladly do that if it meant she could continue to spend her afternoon around Udai in his shop.
Udai had always been so kind and nice to her over the past 5 years they had known each other and Karen looked up to him to protect her as much as she looked up to her adopted father to do the same. Udai had a way of keeping his distance while getting close to people, getting people to trust him without offering much about himself and Karen had learned to live with that. Over time she would wear him down and get him to open up to her, Karen knew she could do it. The only things she needed to do that were her father's permission and time.
About this time Karen figured it was time to stop her act though she was dramatic about "waking up" yawing and stretching so she could prolong her contact with Udai for as long as possible.
"Finally decided to get up have you?" Stone asked with a small smile.
"Did you enjoy your nap?" Udai inquired as he looked down at Karen.
"I did." Karen cooed happily as she snuggled against Udai's side again. Udai looked up at Stone to see his partner raising his eyebrow but say nothing.
"You have a good night daddy?" Karen asked innocently. She had seen the exchange between the two men in her life and knowing what they had just talked about decided to draw their attention away from her act of affection.
"It went ok. The Family should either be trying to kill me or finding out all they can about me before they try and kill me." Stone replied.
"Did you find the girl and give her back her gun?" Karen asked.
"What girl and what gun?" Udai asked suddenly intrigued.
"I think it's time for you to go to bed Karen." Stone told his adopted daughter.
Karen pouted but grudgedly got up from the couch sliding one hand along Udai's arm and holding it for a moment when she got up. In a flash she left the room too embarrassed to look at either a very surprised Udai with his hand still in the air or a not very amused Stone.
Stone turned his gaze onto his friend.
"What?" Udai asked innocently.
Stone raised a brow.
"She's never done anything like that before, I swear."
"That explains why she left so quickly and red as anything."
"Yes it would. Now what about this girl and gun? I didn't think you would mingle your work with pleasure." Udai chuckled.
"You know I do no such thing."
"You have to lighten up my friend. Now get on with your story."
"The a few weeks back I was patrolling as normal when I happened across a girl who was fighting some Cogs. She was new to the game, that much was evident but she was doing fairly well so I let her handle it. A pair of Tesla Knights and an Assembler Prince turned the tides and I interceded. After saving her she was so shocked by my appearance that she dropped her rifle and ran. I merely returned it to her." Stone told his friend. It was mostly the truth with lots of pieces cut out. Plus Stone had to admit that the girl, one Kimberly Johnson, was quite attractive but she too was only 17 years of age. It wouldn't be very good politics to tell Udai he couldn't even court his soon to be 17 year old daughter when the thought crossed his mind about young Ms. Johnson.
Of course the dangers of courting a Don's daughter were quite high. Then again, the threat of dating a hero's daughter was quite great as well.
"I'm sure you're leaving out details but that can wait for another night. We patrol tomorrow night if you're up for it, and I have to get up tomorrow to open my shop. I'll go upstairs to say good night to Karen and be on my way." Udai said as he moved to get up.
"Udai, sly as you areto get a private moment with my daughter, I trust Karen's judgment. I'll change her curfew for the weekends as long as her grades don't suffer and you don't get her into any kind of trouble. She will finish college before I'll give her hand up so you have some waiting to do. I mean it friend, if you hurt her, life debt or no, I will beat you into a bloody pulp." Stone finished off in a dead serious voice that left no room for anything other then a nod that Udai gave in response. Inside he couldn't be happier and nor could Karen, who had been hiding at the top of the stairs eavesdropping on her father and uncle, but now bolted to her room as quietly as she could to get ready for bed.
Udai got up but he didn't get far before Stone spoke again. "I may be giving my permission for you to court her, but I don't want to see you going all soft and lovey dovey in front of me, ok?"
"I'll hold up my end of the bargain. You'll have to bring that up with your daughter." Udai said with a smile. Naturally Stone couldn't see the smile but he could hear it in Udai's voice.
Udai made his way up the stairs that led to the small second floor that was Karen's private domain. There was a bathroom, Karen's bedroom and Karen's study and a storage closet. Once he reached the top of the stairs Udai turned the corner and walked the 5 short steps to Karen's door. Udai knocked lightly twice and entered. The sight that greeted him took his breathe away.
Karen whirled around and clutched her nightgown to her chest. She was in the middle of changing into her nightie when she heard the tacks on the door. Her door opened and there stood Udai in complete shock as his eyes took in the seen before him.
Karen's lithe body was framed only by the moonlight streaming in through her window, her raven hair cascading over her shoulders, her arms clutching her nightgown to cover her chest, and her long tone legs crossed to hide her womanly features.
Udai shook himself from his staring and turned away giving Karen an opportunity to slip on her nightgown.
"Sorry about that." Udai said as steadily as he could, hoping his embarrassment wouldn't carry in his voice. "I just came up to say good night, so good night." Udai turned to leave when Karen stopped him.
"Wait, Udai." Karen called out.
Udai froze cold in his tracks. Karen normally called him "uncle Udai" and the lack of that title caught his attention. "Yes Karen?"
"I heard what daddy told you downstairs…" Karen started shyly.
"Look Karen, just because your father gave us the go ahead doesn't mean we should dive in, as much as we both want to. There's a lot of things that makes our relationship"
"And there are a lot of people who would disapprove of our relationship because of me being so young. But I don't care about what any of them think, all I care about is what you and daddy think. Daddy said he was ok with us…" Karen trailed off and wrapped her arms around Udai's chest.
Udai stiffened at the contact of Karen's front to his back. The contact was gently and light, which made it harder for Udai to keep his thoughts together, and Karen's arms armed around his torso didn't help at all. Giving in Udai turned around and returned Karen's hug. The hugs turned into an embrace with Karen resting her head against Udai's chest, completely relaxed by the musky scent of Udai's cologne, and Udai rest his head on Karen's head inhaling her sweet lilac fragrance, neither Udai and Karen not wanting to let go of the other.
The two of them stayed like that for several minutes, each enjoying the contact with the other that was, until just very recently, something neither dared while in Jon's presence. Finally Udai reluctantly pulled himself away from Karen's tender embrace.
"I should leave now, good night Karen." Udai bade Karen before exiting the room.
Karen collapsed onto her bed feeling emotionally spent but extremely happy. After years of secretly pining for Udai her father had finally given his consent on the two of them dating.
Karen knew that her father's childhood had been strict and combined with a sense of honor not seen in modern times Jon was a little strict and traditional with Karen but she never complained. She knew that it did her a lot of good and she was grateful that Jon had taken her off the streets.
A/N: Well this is what my creativity is geared towards right now so this is what I'm writing. I have the plot outlined up to chapter 5 and the POV's I'll be using is creative if I may say so myself. Breaking into the very untapped world of CoH fanfics will be fun, I always found that the thrill, in part, came from breaking into new ground. All of my fics are among the older ones when the categories were in the mere hundreds or lower. I hope you all enjoy this fic, I've decided to push myself a bit with it to develop my writing some more so that when I return to BETCOS I can really do credit to my visions for Stone and Raven.
LockDown over and out…