As he was walking Rodney again adjusted his grip on Aidan, not wanting to drop her and cause her more problems. Feeling her slide forward again slightly, he quickly rehoisted her up on his shoulder, accidentally grabbing her butt.
Seeing Rodney blush, Quinton chuckled derisively. "Don't tell me you're embarrassed about that," he mocked, only to then laugh when Rodney glared at him. "Regular knight in shining armor huh? Heh, all for naught I'd say."
"There's still time to stop this," said Rodney. "We can say that you temporarily went crazy…" which would be too far from the truth Rodney thought to himself.
Quinton stopped him with a jab in the back with the pistol. "Or I can do what I plan to do, which we are," he said as they continued walking. As they did, Ralph, who was still invisible, had sped over to where they were and shadowed the group. He eavesdropped on their conversation, praying Bill would get there soon before he would have to risk revealing the suit.
Not knowing help was nearby and on its way, Rodney shook his head in frustration. "You're sick you know that? I don't know where you're getting this superhero suit bit or why you claim Mr. Hinkley destroyed your family, but harming Aidan? Chloroforming her? What were you going to do after she was out - rape her?"
"I was going to do that too before I killed her, but you and her put me out of that mood," said Quinton, flinching slightly at what happened earlier. "But, she's getting what she and Mr. Hinkley deserve. She protected him…"
"So? You're avenging your dad because he's bitter about his predicament. If he did sell drugs it's his own damn fault," he said, glaring at Quinton.
"No… it's Mr. Hinkley's fault for intervening in my family's affairs," he said as they neared the end of the dock. He stepped back, leaving Rodney a few steps from the edge of the pier. "And now, it's time to pay the piper. Dump her in."
Rodney looked at the water and frowned. He was considering his choices, all of which he knew had risks. He didn't know what Quinton would do if he didn't obey, though he had a pretty good guess, and that moment both options led to their death.
Seeing the teen balk, Quinton leveled his gun at Rodney's back. "I said dump her in Rodney," he said.
"No…" Rodney said deciding to disobey Quinton. "I'm not going to put her in the harbor. And I'm not going to be your lackey and murder an innocent person."
"Dump her in, or I'll make your death slow and painful," the kidnapper threatened.
The teen lowered Aidan off his shoulder, as though to drop her in. Quinton smirked. "There you go, now just let…"
Rodney then instead picked up Aidan in his arms. He kept his back toward Quinton to act as a shield for Aidan as much as he could. "She's not the one who committed a crime. You and your dad did…" he said, angrily.
The other man growled, and aimed his gun right between Rodney's shoulders. "Yeah, and I'm about to commit one right now," said Quinton pulling back the hammer of the trigger. Rodney closed his eyes, praying that if he was going to die there, that it was quick…
A shot fired, and Rodney braced himself for the impact … but there was no hit. Confused, Rodney looked up and turned only to see the same look on Quinton's face.
Ralph, who had stopped the bullet by getting in between the two groups while they were arguing, frowned as he concentrated on staying invisible. It wasn't easy, especially since he briefly saw Aidan resting limply and defenseless in Rodney's arms, but he succeeded.
Not knowing what happened, but thankful anyway, Rodney smirked. "You know how to point that thing, but not fire it," he said. "Why don't you give up and stop this nonsense?"
Quinton growled. "Because I never miss a second time…" he said.
Seeing the vindictive teen again begin to pull back the trigger of the gun to fire at Rodney, Ralph started to come forward when he heard the sweetest words in his life - though admittedly they sounded a bit vinegary with the person's voice. "All right freeze it creep," shouted Bill as he stepped out from behind the boxes. "Bill Maxwell - FBI."
Quinton turned around and froze. "What the hell?…"
Bill, however continued. "You, Romeo… go get you and that gal you're carrying behind cover," he ordered to Rodney.
The man, though quite confused at the comments, did exactly as he was told. Quinton, however, turned his gun toward Rodney, but aimed this time for Aidan. "You move, you'll kill her," he threatened.
Ralph, now furious, concentrated on a box and using telekinesis, threw the box toward Quinton. The teen, surprised by the movement, turned his gun and fired at the box. Bill, knowing where the box came from, hollered at Rodney. "Move it - now!"
Rodney nodded ran as quickly as he could with Aidan, ducking behind some boxes. The teen gently laid Aidan on the ground to lie on her side and checked her pulse and breathing. Sighing in relief that they were still strong, Rodney then gently removed the blindfold off her eyes. He shuddered slightly when he saw the thinnest sliver of white peeking out from under her eyelids. Shaking it off, remembering she was drugged, he then started to work on freeing Aidan's bonds.
On the other side of the boxes, Bill saw Quinton jump back at seeing that he only shot at a box.
"You, drop your weapon and put your hands up," said the agent.
"Go to hell," said Quinton, running away from the man. Bill gave a second warning, and not getting a response, started shooting his gun. Quinton returned the fire, and Bill dove behind some boxes, again firing his weapon on the assailant.
Behind the boxes, Rodney heard the gunfire, and lay on top of Aidan's prone form, covering his and her heads with his hands and body to protect her. Hearing it dissipate, he continued untying the knots that secured her arms to her torso.
Ralph seeing Bill dive behind some boxes, rushed over to where his friend was, and turned visible. "Bill, you OK?" he said.
"Yeah, fine Kid, but Creep Junior is getting away," he said. "Go get him."
"I'm on it," said Ralph, and he sped ran in the direction Quinton ran - back toward the warehouse. Bill then got up from behind the boxes started to run the same direction.
Quinton was about halfway to freedom when he hit something solid and bounced off it, hitting the ground. He looked up, only to see nothing but air. "What the devil?" he said, only to see Ralph pop back in visible.
"Not quite," came back a blunt reply.
"Mr. Hinkley?" Quinton asked, then trained his pistol on Ralph, firing it. The bullet hit Ralph, but Quinton saw to his horror that the bullet bounced off the principal's chest and fell to the ground instead of the result he was expecting.
"That's impossible!" Quinton said in disbelief scooting back some in both fear and shock.
Ralph smirked at the teen "No, that's a superhero suit… just like what your dad saw," he said, walking up to the teen. He wanted to make Quinton pay for harming his goddaughter, but knew in his heart that if he did, he'd be no better than the teen was.
Quinton, however, was shaking in fear as he stood up. "What the hell?" he said, terrified at the realization of what was going on - and how similar it was to what his dad said.
"Yes… that you've got right. There is hell… to pay." Ralph said, nearing the man.
The teen backed up, only to find his way blocked by boxes. Ralph reached Quinton and grabbed the teen's shirt collar. "No one messes with my goddaughter," he growled, then tapped the teen on the chin, though slightly harder than he normally would in the suit.
Quinton's body relaxed and he fell into Ralph's arms, limp. Ralph picked Quinton up in a fireman's carry, looking for a place to store Quinton until he could be properly dealt with. While he was worried about Aidan, Ralph knew that he couldn't leave her insensible kidnapper in a place he could escape when he came to. Looking around, he spotted something and smiling, walked toward it…
"Kid, where are you?" Bill shouted, arriving at the last place he had seen Ralph. He scanned the large space again calling for his partner. Not hearing Ralph respond, he started to grow worried. He knew that Ralph had a temper and both knowing that Quinton rendered Aidan unconscious, he wasn't sure if Ralph decided to do more than capture the teen.
"C'mon, where are ya Ralph," Bill said trying again.
"I'm right here Bill," said a ghostly voice behind him. Bill turned around, only to jump when he saw Ralph pop back in, visible.
Bill grumbled, embarrassed that now, even 15 years later, he still would jump when Ralph would pop in and out visible. "Kid, I've told ya ta…" he said, then paused. "Wait, where's Creep Junior? Don't tell me he managed to…"
"No, I got him," said Ralph, smiling.
"Uh, ya got him huh? Then where is he?"
Ralph shrugged "Oh he's taking a little swim cooling off " he said, starting to walk over to where he placed the kidnapper.
Bill looked at his friend confused and followed Ralph over to the edge of the pier. Once they reached the edge, Ralph chuckled pointing toward the water. Bill gave him another look then looked over the edge, and then started to laugh at the site. His teammate had tied the teen, who was starting to come around, to a chain and secured it around a pole that supported the pier.
Quinton opened his eyes and looked around, feeling water lapping under his feet as he was suspended over the water. "Hey get me out of here," he squirmed, trying to get free.
"Well, well lookie here, we've got the shark becoming fish food," Bill smiled, then grew serious looking back at Ralph. "Ya didn't tie him up with something I can't get him out of did ya?" he said, making a face and looking at all that Ralph could've used as bindings in the suit.
"No, rope. The rope's just threaded through the hook too," Ralph answered looking over the edge giving Quinton a small wave then ran a hand through his hair looking back at Bill.
"Good…"
"Though I will admit it was tempting to use an anchor and tie him up," the younger man said with a bit more sincerity for the agent's liking. Seeing Bill glare at him, Ralph shrugged. "Well… he did call me the devil and did try to kill Aidan…"
At the mention of her name, Ralph remembered his goddaughter's condition and started to leave. "Oh no, Aidan."
Seeing Ralph panic for the second time that day, Bill put a hand on Ralph's chest before he went over to where the teens were. "Uh, Kid you better change into your normal clothes," said Bill simply.
"What?" said Ralph, more concerned about Aidan than anything else.
"Ralph, I don't think you want to explain to your goddaughter why you are wearing the long johns," the agent said, pointing to the suit. Ralph looked down and blushed, remembering that she didn't know about the suit. Seeing Ralph make the correlation, Bill continued. "Now your clothes are in the car and Buoy Bob there ain't going anywhere, so I will go check on Aidan until ya get there."
Ralph nodded and ran off to the car to change into his clothes. He was thankful for two things: one he could change into his clothes quickly thanks to the suit's super speed, and secondly, the more important one, Aidan was safe thanks to it, Bill and most of all Rodney for being steadfast in the face of danger.