Disclaimer: Once again, this is your brain on fanfiction... oops, wrong disclaimer. Once again, I don't own them, I won't make any money from this, it's is just for fun. No suing please.

Author's note: This is a bit short, I'll see if I can't get the next one up a bit sooner to compensate.

Between a Rock and the Hot Place

by Colleen

Chapter 6

One of irony's greatest accomplishments is that one cannot punish the wrongdoing of another without committing a wrongdoing himself.

-- Anonymous

Kyle had just about stopped shaking when the movie ended. He stayed in his seat even as the Mom and her three bouncy daughters left as the end credits started. He sat through all the credits, not even noticing the last silly joke scene that flashed across the screen at the end of them.

He was too scared to move.

Tears threatened to overspill his eyes and he wiped at them angrily. He was just a stupid, dumb ass cry-baby.

"Are you okay kid?"

Kyle started and threw a terrified look towards the man who sat several seats away from him. Every nerve in his body was on overdrive and stayed there even when he realized that it was the guy in black leather and not...the other guy.

"Yeah, sure." He rubbed his face again, willing away the tears.

"Uh, huh." The guy just looked at him for a few moments. "You didn't do anything wrong you know."

"Of course I know I just ate too much popcorn." Kyle said angrily.

"Kid... What's your name anyway?"

"Why do you want to know?" Darn it, why didn't he leave with the Mom and the three girls?

"Just didn't think you'd want me to keep calling you kid."

Kyle glared at him and Johnny smiled a little at the reaction. Better that the kid got angry about what had happened. Angry might let him get past it while scared could cripple him until he started to blame himself for what had happened rather than laying the fault at the feet of true guilty party.

"Kid, you don't have to tell me what happened but take it from one who knows, secrets like that will eat you up inside and spit you out like watermelon seeds. Talk to someone, or if there isn't someone you trust than at least try one of those kid help lines."

The boy looked away from him as if trying desperately to ignore him and Johnny sighed.

"Anyway I thought I'd just let you know that guy won't be bothering you again. In fact I doubt you'll ever see him again."

Kyle snorted. "Yeah, right. What did you do, kill him?" He said, his voice mostly condescending and yet just a little hopeful.

Johnny just smiled again, although it was a touch sad this time. "He wishes."

The ushers came in then to clean up the theatre before the next show and Kyle was surprised they hadn't been in sooner. Usually they were waiting in the back of the theatre even before the end of the credits.

The boy threw one more look at Johnny and headed out the empty side of the seat row. Kyle was sure he could feel the guy's eyes on him as he walked up the aisle to the theatre's door but felt some measure of safety in the thought that he wouldn't try anything with the ushers in the theatre.

Not that he had tried anything, it was just that at the moment Kyle wasn't inclined to give anyone the benefit of a doubt.

When he hit the lobby he realized why the ushers had been delayed.

Eyes wide he watched as the good ole boy was strapped onto a gurney by a pair of medics for his ride to the ambulance parked outside the door. Looking at the shaking, drooling piece of slime Kyle started to shake himself, only this was out of relief, not fear.

He didn't know what the other guy had done but Kyle was pretty sure he was right. That bastard wouldn't be bothering him again; in fact from the looks of it he wouldn't be bothering anyone, ever.

--------000--------

Stanley tracked down Waldo, Ruiz and Manning at the Fort Worth field office. Since Waldo was his partner he'd been tagged to help brief them on the meeting they had missed. When the three agents saw him however they all did a double take, making him wonder if they hadn't already gotten the news about his possibly evil biker twin.

"What?"

Waldo just shrugged. "Nothing, I was just wondering what was with all the costume changes today."

"What costume changes?"

"Come on, I mean first you're in a suit, then your all in black with a black leather jacket and then you're back in a suit, what gives."

"Black leather?"

--------000--------

Murdock finally called Johnny back just as he was leaving the theatre via the back entrance.

"Mr. Blaze, how may I help you?"

"I think I may have done a rather stupid thing."

"Define 'stupid.'"

"I'm back in Fort Worth and three people came up to my loft unannounced. I think they were Federal Agents and they had a warrant with them."

"You 'think' they were Federal Agents, didn't they identify themselves?"

"No, but they didn't seem to know who I was, in fact they seemed to believe that I was a fellow agent and I didn't tell them differently."

"No, that wasn't exactly a smart thing to do. You said they had a warrant?"

"Yeah, it was pretty much like the one I got six months ago."

"Did you interfere with their search?"

"Nope, I just got out of there as quickly as I could and then I phoned you." Johnny decided to neglect mentioning where he'd been while waiting for Murdock to return his call. It was bad enough that the kid knew he'd done something to that guy, no need to let his lawyer know as well. Besides it wasn't like it had anything to do with the current problem... hopefully.

"Good. I'll see what I can find out from this end. If need be I'll fly down in the morning, although I hope it won't come to that."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

"Wait until you get my bill."

--------000--------

"Agent Thornton, I think we have a situation." Dr. Goodspeed said as Thornton entered the conference room to assist with the briefing.

"Do tell."

"Hunter, Ruiz and Manning all saw me at Blazes apartment while I was at the briefing."

"Really? Dolan said Blaze took off as soon as he was able to six months ago," Thornton said, wondering how he could use this piece of information.

"Agent Thornton." The five of them all turned to see one of the office's receptionists at the briefing room door. "A Mr. Matt Murdock is on the phone, he says he's the lawyer for a Johnny Blaze and he would like to know why three of our people invaded Mr. Blazes loft without identifying themselves as federal agents."

Apparently he wouldn't be able to use that at all.

--------000--------

By the time they had gone over things with Blazes lawyer, who was one seriously well prepared man who during the entire phone conversation never got angry and yet still managed to convey just how badly he could hang the group of them out to dry, briefed Hunter, Ruiz and Manning, who had cracked a number of bad jokes about Goodspeed's evil twin and were no doubt even now coming up with ones to use tomorrow and than returned to the hotel it was well passed the normal supper hour and Stanley was prepared to eat his shoe leather if he didn't get real food soon.

He striped off his suit coat, tossed it on a chair and crashed on his bed, arms outspread. He felt the hotel room he shared with Waldo spin around him a little as the day and lack of food caught up with him and he considered his current options. One, order in room service. Two, head to Cafe Texas the restaurant in the hotel, or three, hit the phone book and order take out, which was probably all his per diem could handle.

A knock at the door had him dragging his weary, hungry ass off the bed and over to the door to answer it. What was on the other side woke him up completely.

"Daddy."