Holy shit so I got a ton of reviews last chapter, and a lot of them were anonymous so I couldn't really reply to them properly (which I really like doing, so if you have an account it would be cool to reply directly! I did want to mention Marnie's point about female characteristics, which is totally what I'm trying to do so omg I love! I also agree with all of Reino's shipping suggestions :D And thanks to everyone else who said lovely things about this story, it was actually amazing reading all of them.
Kate checked the address for the third time in the darkness of her car. She was right down the bottom of the suburbs district, bordering on Filmore. There were three apartment buildings crammed in next to each other, the beige paint peeling away in sheets from the old weatherboard. The car park was strewn with rubbish, and in the corner of it there was a rusty car up on blocks, glinting dully in the bright moonlight.
She looked up at the apartment complex again. There were sets of stairs on each side, and three open-air floors bridging between them at every second level. She slid her phone into her pocket and cracked open the door, listening. She could hear cars driving past, the tinny crackle of a nearby Forgive and Forget, a police siren in the distance.
She got out of the car, adjusting the gun tucked into the back of her waistband, heading for the nearest building. The car park was dark and deserted, lit only by the soft glow shining through the apartment windows above.
The rubber soles of her shoes were quiet as she began to climb the stairs up to the third floor. As she reached the landing, she paused. She could smell something chemical, harsh and acrid.
She approached the door carefully and knocked on it, sliding the gun out of her waistband and holding it just behind her. She could see the shape of someone moving inside through the glass pane next to the door.
"Who is it?" called a muffled voice.
She narrowed her eyes. "Hey," she called out. "I'm looking for Michael Stewart."
There was a long pause. "Who is it?" she heard again, more wary this time. The tiny peephole of light set into the door at eye level went dark.
"Look," she said, stepping towards the door. "I can't give you my name out here, it's not safe. I need to talk to you."
The door opened a fraction, the security chain stretching across the gap. A man cautiously peered out at her, with suspicious eyes and some kind of breathing mask on an elastic band around his neck. It was him.
"What do you want?" he asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
She lifted her gun wordlessly and fired two bullets into his face. As he fell back, Kate reached over to smash the window next to the door with the butt of her gun. She reached a hand in through the broken glass, feeling around for the chain on the inside of the door, and unhooked it. She took a quick glance behind her – even though she'd made a decent amount of noise, no one had opened their doors – and stepped inside.
She was almost knocked back by the chemical smell. Wrinkling her nose, she looked around the small apartment. One table was taken up by large glass jars, some encrusted with powder and some containing a dark red liquid, linked with rubber tubing. She paused for a moment, before reaching down to the dead man she was standing over and rifling through his pockets until she found his wallet. She shoved it into the back pocket of her shorts and made a half-hearted attempt at searching the rest of the room; opening drawers and tipping their contents onto the floor; pulling furniture out to check behind it; opening the cupboards in the tiny kitchen; and even hooking her fingers through a metal grid attached to a ventilation shaft and tugging.
It gave way, and she stumbled back, off-balance. Just inside the vent were two neat stacks of cash, bound with a rubber band. She grabbed both and backed out of the apartment quickly, locking the door behind her.
She ran down the steps and hurried to her car.
"Need a better fucking story next time," she muttered, as she turned the key in the ignition.
She turned the radio up as she drove over the bridge. She followed the road along the waterfront, and parked just outside the local Tee'N'Ay, where Shaundi was waiting for her.
Shaundi stood up when she saw Kate. She'd been sitting under a bench by the water, watching the moonlight ripple on the sea.
"Hey," she said, as Kate got closer.
"Hey," Kate replied. "This is nice. Romantic."
Shaundi laughed, but then recoiled. "Shit, you smell like a meth lab."
"Yeah, I've just been-" Kate waved a hand. "At a meth lab."
"Have any meth?"
Kate sat down on the bench next to her. "No, just ended up with cash on this trip."
Shaundi shrugged. "Least you got something."
"So what are we doing here, anyway?" asked Kate.
Shaundi sat forward. "Okay. So I haven't been able to figure out what's in Loa dust yet, right, but I know someone who can."
Kate glanced back at the Tee'N'Ay behind them.
"Nope," said Shaundi. "It's going to be a little harder to get to our expert, unfortunately. See, I met her in prison – and she's still in prison."
Kate blinked at her. "Do you have some idea about what we're going to do about that?"
"Yeah! All you have to do is bomb the prison generator, find her cell, and then escape with her." Shaundi raised a hand and waved at a Saint close by.
The Saint ran towards them, carrying something close to his body. Kate's eyes widened as he tripped on the curb. He lost his grip on the small, grey box in his hands, sending it skidding across the concrete towards them. It stopped just short of her feet.
After a moment, Shaundi let out a long breath.
Kate looked up at the man who'd been carrying it. He was standing with his hands clasped tensely, frozen, a forced smile pasted onto his face. "Is that going to explode?" she asked, in disbelief.
"It's, uh, probably not too stable right now," he admitted cautiously. "So the quicker you get there, the better."
"Okay," said Kate, holding both her hands up in front of her. "I'm totally not doing this. So you-" she pointed at the Saint standing in front of them. "Take this bomb and get rid of it. Deactivate it if possible, I guess, or drive it out into the harbour and drop it in the water. But seriously, holy shit, I am not staging a prison riot."
The Saint scooped up the box hurriedly, and carried it carefully away.
Shaundi was staring at the ground between her feet. "Sorry," she said, quietly.
Kate shook her head. "It's alright," she said, touching Shaundi's shoulder. "I'll give Legal Lee a call and see if we can get an appeal and then see if we can snatch her from the court house or something like that. If that doesn't work we can reconsider this bomb idea. Just – try and think of easy ways to do stuff before jumping straight to the hard ways, okay?"
"Yeah," said Shaundi, half-heartedly. "I just like – I like thinking up stuff like this."
"Still keep thinking it up," said Kate. "But just, like, warn me before it's bomb time."
Shaundi sighed. "It wasn't meant to be bomb time yet. And it seemed like it was going to be so exciting."
Kate tilted her head to one side. "Do you actually want to do it?" she asked. "I mean, shit, if you're keen to do this we could get that guy back-"
"No," said Shaundi quickly. "That's okay."
"Okay," said Kate. "No big deal then. I'll tell you what happens with Lee. What's her name?"
"Oh, Laura… something."
"What was she in for?"
"Dealing." Shaundi shook her head. "She wasn't too subtle, apparently. I feel so bad for her, her marriage fell apart when she got arrested, and her kids never came to visit her or anything. But she was so – I don't know, peppy all the time. And it's not like they hand out valium in the pen, so it was just her."
"Sounds nice," said Kate, turning away. "Look, I'll-"
"Oh yeah," said Shaundi. "I think she said she knows you."
Kate turned back. "What? How?"
"I think she said you did some work for her, back in the day?" Shaundi tilted her head to one side.
Kate narrowed her eyes. "What does she look like?"
"Oh, she's probably late forties, she's got that haircut that every woman in their forties somehow end up with. She's um, suburby. She likes you. Said you're a good shot."
"No way," said Kate. "No fucking way." She covered her mouth with a hand. "Oh, no, that's totally my fault, we attracted way too much attention doing that shit."
Shaundi shrugged. "She doesn't seem mad about it."
"Well, shit, now we have to get her out."
"D-do you want the bomb back?" Shaundi asked tentatively.
"Still no," said Kate. "Look, I'll figure something out."
She felt her phone in her pocket vibrate, and grasped for it desperately before Shaundi could recognise the ringtone.
"Hey," said Pierce. "Look, I got something for you. Looks like a huge group of Ronin up by the amphitheatre by the museum. If you hurry you might be able to make it."
"What are they doing?" asked Kate. She waved at Shaundi and beganto walk towards her car. "Just like, hanging out? Having a meeting?"
"If I had to guess, I'd say some kind of deal is going down. If you go yourself, you might want to take a McManus along. They're pretty heavily armed."
"Ooh, McManus," Kate said, her eyes widening. "Okay, I'm sold. You keeping an eye on the situation?"
"Course I am."
"I might take Johnny along," she continued. "You know how he gets when he doesn't get taken for regular walks."
"What?"
"Never mind," said Kate. "Sounds good. See you later."
She hung up, and immediately began redialling.
Johnny answered on the second ring. "What's up?" he asked.
"That was quick," she said. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing," he said. "Shit, Eesh isn't even here. She's barely been home since you got her that goddamn ID."
"Aww," said Kate. "Are you lonely?"
"Fuck off," said Johnny. "Bored, maybe."
Kate smiled. "I might be able to help with that," she said. "Meet me by the Friendly Fire closest to Amberbrook. I'm going to snipe some Ronin and I need you to keep reinforcements off my ass."
"Fuckin' sold," said Johnny. "Be there in ten."
The McManus was cool and heavy in her hands. She ran her fingers over the brushed steel reverently.
"Do you need a minute alone with that?" asked Johnny.
Kate grinned. "Shut up," she said. "I've seen the way you look at rocket launchers."
"I didn't say it was a bad thing," said Johnny. "Just, you know, make sure it's not loaded if you're going to stick it-"
"Oh my god," said Kate, laughing. "Shut up. Don't even – just don't." She turned to the cashier. "Yes, we'll take it. Thanks."
She picked out the deserted rooftop of a parking building to set up her rifle. She fixed it carefully in place with the tripod and lay down to look through the lens. It wasn't a great angle, but it was good enough.
"Do I get to do anything anytime soon?" asked Johnny.
"Give it a couple minutes," said Kate, looking up from the scope. "They'll figure out where we are soon enough." She sent a quick text message to Pierce to let him know they were set up and returned back to the scope.
Yellow cars were parked by the roadside on the grass verge next to the amphitheatre. Ronin gathered around the steps, visible around the crumbling white pillars. They seemed to be heading down towards the lowest level. One of them had a rocket launcher.
Kate smiled, tracking him through the scope. When he paused for a moment, she squeezed the trigger. She watched the Ronin react, turn towards the target in horror. Before they could move, she'd targeted another one. It wasn't until the third had fallen that they began to scramble for cover.
She watched one of them point towards her location, waving his arm. She slid the barrel of the rifle towards him and fired, sending him flying backwards into a pillar. He slid down against it, leaving a red smear.
She could hear Johnny shifting restlessly behind her. "Am I actually going to be doing anything here?" he asked. "Or did you just want to hang out?"
"They're on their way," said Kate. "Couple minutes." She scanned the amphitheatre. Most of the Ronin had taken cover, but there were still those that weren't sure where the shots were coming from.
She could hear squealing tyres in the parking garage below.
"You ready?" she asked.
"Always," said Johnny.
She heard gunshots behind her, but didn't turn around as she continued picking Ronin off. She watched them through the scope. They were running, now, back to their cars.
She was suddenly wrenched sideways, grabbed by her collar, almost choking. She looked up at Johnny, glaring incredulously, but a yellow motorbike hit the spot where she'd been lying, its rider flipping over the edge of the building. There was a car sitting just down the ramp to the lower levels, with bodies lying half out of it.
"I got ya," he said. "Don't worry."
She looked again through her scope. There weren't many more Ronin in sight, but she knew there were more hiding. "I think we're going to need to get closer," she said.
"More action? Sounds good," he said. "I'm driving, by the way."
She sat balefully in the passenger seat as they drove the Ronin's car towards the amphitheatre.
"Hey, what?" said Katie, as they passed a banner advertising the museum. "Eromenos museum? Gross."
"What?" asked Johnny. "What's gross about that?"
"Oh," she said. "I guess cultural relativism and all that, but it's still gross."
"What in the fuck are you talking about?"
"Well, an eromenos is kind of like – okay, well, in ancient Greece where like, an older man would pick out a younger man, who was usually a young-ish teenager, to be his lover, who gets called the eromenos. It's like a kind of institutionalised paedophilia thing and anyway it grosses me out."
"Okay, what the hell?" said Johnny. "How do you even know this?"
"I did this one paper at-"
"Do you have a degree?" asked Johnny. "Because you keep just talking about all this fucking study you did."
Kate was silent for a moment. "No," she said, finally.
"How the fuck not?"
"Well," she said. "Basically a lot of bad life choices. I don't want to talk about it."
"Yeah, well, I don't want to think about paedophilia every time I drive down this road," he said.
"I guess life just sucks then," she said. "Look, pull over here, we need to head up the hill. What's this city's deal with all the classical architecture stuff, anyway?"
"Fuck if I know," said Johnny, reloading his shotgun and gesturing towards the hill. "You wanna go first?"
"Not particularly," she said.
He grinned. "Good."
Johnny took point and rushed in, with no regard for his safety. Kate followed, but she kept behind pillars, taking time to line up her shots with her pistol.
Waves of Ronin kept coming at them, until finally they stood surrounded by bodies, in what looked like the ruins of a temple.
"Is that all?" asked Johnny. "Kind of disappointing. Oh well."
"Ugh," said Kate, breathing heavily from the exertion. "Let's just get out of here before even more show up."
Johnny shrugged. "If you say so," he said, lightly. "Catch you later, then. It's been fun."
She watched him drive away, yellow cars peeling off as he drove up the street, following him, with a faint frown. She watched until he disappeared.