Day 9

Charlevoix to Manitowoc

We were underway by nine, that morning.

Ahead of us was a 160 nautical mile, ten-hour cruise at sixteen knots. We would head north-west and then west for about 44 nautical miles before heading south west towards Manitowoc. After overnighting there, we would have a 70 nautical mile, twenty-five knot cruise to Milwaukee for a refuelling, followed by another 70 nautical mile, twenty-five knot cruise home.

Everybody was looking forward to arriving home; we all had people waiting for us that we had missed during the cruise.

I also had a City waiting for me, a City loaded with a wide selection of criminal scum. Once back in Chicago, I would have to make myself known; show that I was still around and ready to crack some skulls.

Maybe Kick-Ass and I could join up with Petra one night!

I missed Mom.

Yes, I had seen her and spoken to her over the comms and I actually had Dad right there with me, but I hated being away from Mom. That sounded really, really, stupid coming from me, the fearless Chloe Bennett AKA Shadow!

The trip had been awesome and exhilarating, but I was looking forward to getting back to my normal life... That was a laugh! My normal life was going to school during the week and killing bad guys at the weekend. My Physics teacher was a retired vigilante called Dr Gravity and my boyfriend was British and a vigilante, too!

'Normal' was relative.

These guys were completely nuts, but I loved it!

How might my life have gone if I had never gone to Atomic Comics with Katie? I would never have met Marty and started to read comics and I would never have been there when Kick-Ass was being tortured which sealed my time with Marty.

It still scared me to think back and remember that night, watching Kick-Ass who I now knew was Dave. It had been horrible to watch, but no knowing that it had been Dave and that he had been rescued by Mindy, when she was only eleven!

My life was going good; at least I thought so.

This cruise had been wild!

I felt very lucky to have been allowed to go along. It had been one hell, of a revelation; I had seen many things that I would not easily forget. That had included my cousin getting well and truly laid!

My best friend had gone slightly nuts and had killed half a dozen pirates single-handed. Mind you she had been nuts well before the cruise had even started.

It was a privilege to be part of Fusion.

I still could not believe that Megan and Curtis saw me screwing the hell out of Chloe!

Talk about humiliating! I sincerely hoped that everybody had forgotten about that episode. The cruise had been fun, though and I was looking forward to getting back to 'work', as in, going out as Jackal, with my Shadow by my side!

That was what made my life so good.

That afternoon

I was sitting quietly in the salon watching a movie.

Things were getting interesting, not to mention conveniently violent and then I was violently disturbed by screaming and yelling that came from down below. The yelling was Curtis, as evidenced by his appearing at the top of the steps beside the control station, across from the galley.

"Problem, or have you just gone crazy?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's Megan and it's bad!" Curtis exclaimed, looking horrified.

"With Megan it usually is!" I groaned, getting up and following Curtis down below.

..._...

I was not in any way ready for the scene that greeted me in the portside cabin.

Megan was sitting on the floor between the bunks and there was blood on her legs and on the floor. She was crying her eyes out. She also looked just a tiny bit, short of outright panic.

"She gonna die?" Curtis blurted out.

I grasped the significance of the situation rather quickly, which actually surprised me.

"Curtis – give us a few minutes and make sure nobody comes in," I directed, shoving him roughly out of the cabin and closing the door.

..._...

Megan looked up at me and I actually felt sorry for the girl.

That girl was normally scared of nothing, except right there; she was really, really, scared. I knew what was wrong and whereas usually, I would enjoy seeing somebody suffer over something that I myself had endured, I could not do that to Megan. I sat down on the floor, just clear of the blood.

"You are okay, Megan – there is nothing to worry about," I said. "I assume that this is your first?"

"My first what?"

"Period!"

Megan's eyes went wide and then she blushed.

"You mean...?" Megan began. "I thought that wouldn't happen until I was twelve or so."

"It can happen at any time, everybody is different. Mine wasn't until I was twelve, but then I didn't start puberty until I was almost twelve," I explained.

"This sucks!" Megan grimaced, her tears gone.

"The only thing that really freaks me out, other than Dave cleaning between his toes, is having blood come out of me. Don't get me wrong, I love blood as you know, but when it comes from me, it freaks me out – I hate it!"

"Being a girl fucking sucks!"

"Oh, yeah, but there is good stuff to being a girl, believe me."

..._...

I helped Megan get up and took her through to the bathroom in the master stateroom. Curtis volunteered to clear up the blood and find some clean clothes for Megan. I shoved Megan into the shower, just as Dave appeared.

"What was all the yelling about?" Dave asked apprehensively.

"Megan!"

"That answers so many questions," Dave laughed.

"It wasn't funny, this time around," I explained. "It was her first period and it freaked her out a bit!"

"Well yours freaked out both you and me!"

I felt myself blushing!

"Megan was about as prepared for it as I was," I said quietly.

"It shows the human side of you both," Dave responded. "Not just the hardened crazed killer!"

"I am not a 'crazed killer'!" Megan growled from the door to the bathroom.

..._...

She appeared, wrapped in a towel.

"You, okay?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, thanks, Dave."

"Well, I'll leave you to get dressed; I need to relieve Ryan."

Soon after Dave had left, there was a knock on the door. It was Curtis.

"Here are some clothes for Megan," He said, looking worried.

"Curtis, I'm fine, I just overreacted was all," Megan said with an embarrassed grin.

"It scared the shit outta me!" Curtis said, and then he turned and left the stateroom, closing the door behind him.

"You have a good friend there, Megan."

Megan was feeling a bit shy about going on deck, so we both stayed below and chatted.

I knew that she would get over it; I did!

"Right kid, we need to plan a patrol that will help us gain intelligence on the current state of criminal activity in Chicago," I said.

Megan looked excited at being asked to help with planning an operation.

"Don't get too excited; you're still grounded," I reminded Megan.

Megan deflated and looked like I had just popped her balloon!

"Marcus will still carry that through?"

"Hell, yeah!"

That evening

We moored alongside in the City of Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

This was to be our last night onboard, so we were going to have some fun! It was a beautiful evening, so after refuelling we got ourselves cleaned up and settled down to eating as much of the remaining food as possible.

Dave cooked steaks and burgers on the grill, on the flying bridge while Erika and Ryan put together some salad and some gorgeous looking desserts.

Typically, Chloe and Josh took their food and vanished down to the bow while the rest of us sat down to eat. Megan and Curtis insisted on having their own table, so it was just Dave, Erika, Ryan and me eating together.

"Successful cruise then?" Ryan asked.

"All in all, yes," I admitted with a nod from Dave. "Once we are home, I think I'll speak with Tony and see if we can't improve the security on this tub."

"We don't want people just walking aboard, anymore!" Dave agreed.

"So, what happens when you get back to Chicago?" Ryan asked.

"We need to be back out there, showing a presence. Some criminals may think we've vanished. Dave and I need to let them know that we are still protecting the City. Not to mention that I miss my Ducati."

I felt myself blushing a little.

"Girls and their toys!" Ryan laughed.

"I miss my motorcycle, too!" Erika added. "I love to have something throbbing between my legs."

"Mindy's the same!" Dave quipped and I felt my cheeks warming up.

Ryan laughed.

"Cathy says the same thing – her motorcycle seems to satisfy here more than I do!" He said. "Must be a girl thing."

"Have you enjoyed yourself, Ryan?" I asked to rapidly change the subject.

"It all worked out very well, I thought," Ryan said after a short pause. "You have a well-oiled team here, Mindy and you Dave. It would not work without the both of you at the helm. I am always concerned about what my wayward daughter gets up to, but I am also aware that there is often no stopping her when she has made her mind up. A typical damn female!"

"Thanks Ryan, it's good to hear that from somebody like you."

"I am serious. You two work well together and help to balance each other's insecurities. We all fight to protect the citizens of this country, in our own particular ways."