Cat was quiet on the drive home, a trait that seemed to be more and more common as the days passed.
Iris was nestled between Douglass and Cherry in the backseat, her small form sinking into the plush, black leather. Yvonne had surprisingly placed herself in the shotgun seat, much to the surprise of everyone, and had refused to speak a word the entire way from MCU.
Thus, it was up to Douglass and Cherry to fill the uncomfortable silence with small talk about the day.
"Douglass," Cherry was shaking her head slowly. "If you tell us all one more time about how you make your own hummus, I'm going to roundhouse kick your ass out of the car."
Iris giggled and glanced between the two of them, the first display of emotion so far that wasn't anxiety. "So, how long have you two been together?"
Cherry was suddenly silent, she swallowed nervously and fidgeted with her fingers. Douglass was less shaken by this comment, and he put his arms around Cherry's shoulders playfully, a task made rather awkward since they were on opposite ends of the car.
"It's been 27 years." He choked on a fake lump of emotion. "Cheryl here is the best thing that has ever happened to me."
She punched his arm playfully, again Iris was smushed in the middle of this flirty banter.
"You wish, Jay, I haven't even happened to you."
Cat glanced up at the rear-view mirror and caught Iris' questioning expression, she raised a single eyebrow and smirked.
Not yet.
After about 15 minutes of travel, the fuel gauge dropped close to the 'E' indicator and Cat hummed in annoyance.
"Okay," She sighed, pulling the car into another lane and straining her neck over the dashboard. "This little prison-break needs a gas station, anyone bring any cash?"
Cat pushed the gas pump into the car and leaned against the red exterior, tapping a rhythm against the rim of the window. Cherry and Douglass had volunteered to pick up snacks and a change of clothes for Iris at the gas station, while Yvonne quickly excused herself to the toilet.
Iris and Cat were alone and leaning against the car's scarlet interior, enjoying the early morning sunshine.
"So," Cat smiled warmly and ran her free hand through her hair. "Iris, I'd love to hear the story."
She blinked up at her with her big brown eyes, and answered in her soft British accent.
"What story?"
Cat shrugged a single shoulder and glanced lazily at the measuring meter. "You know, the stories that married couples have, all that beautiful shit."
Iris laughed gently, easing into the conversation.
"You haven't been married, have you."
It wasn't a question, again, Cat shrugged in reply, but didn't exhibit any signs of further agitation.
"Well," She managed a thin smile. "None of my relationships have been in that ballpark. It's all heartbreak and scandals here, like a bad soap opera."
Iris nodded slightly and bit the inside of her cheek, obviously mulling her answer over. "Yvonne and I-"
Even just mentioning her name brought a small smile over Iris's pretty face, she took a moment before resuming her recount.
"-We met while she was studying abroad in England, I worked in a flower shop, 'Green Room', and she came in one day looking for some seriously rare flowers. Straight away we started talking, I had just come out of a pretty crappy relationship and at the time I wasn't…"
She paused again, searching for the right phrase. "Queer, I guess." Iris looked up to search Cat's expression, she was use to observing a certain level of discomfort when discussing such a topic, but Cat smiled patiently and gestured for her to continue.
"-I just thought that kind of thing didn't interest me, I'd never felt that level of intimacy with someone. But before I knew it, Yvonne was at 'Green Room' every day, and I really got to know her. She was analytical, beautiful, caring, a little pessimistic, and a serious perfectionist. I think I was rather the opposite; I was a complete romantic, naïve as all hell, and I'd never been a particular scholar."
Iris' gaze had dropped to the concrete flooring, and she was wearing a sort of whimsical smile.
"But we both had been unlucky in love, and we were both in need of a good friendship. We went for coffee a lot, spent entire nights just chatting, and sure enough I became unbelievable in love with her.-"
Iris lowered her tone and leaned towards Cat, as if afraid someone was listening in. "-I was still unsure though, about myself, so this kind of terrified the hell out of me. It didn't help that I was raised fairly catholic, and my parents had joked about kicking me out of the house when I was younger if I ever loved another woman. I tried to break it off with Yvonne, making some excuse up about needing to work everything out."
Iris' expression was suddenly downcast and she looked away in shame.
"We were alone in the car, after we had met for dinner that evening, I think it was about midnight and the carpark of the restaurant was completely empty. Yvonne was studying therapeutic science at the time, and she quickly pointed out everything I was really feeling. I was embarrassed, scared, so I tried to leave, I thought she was making fun of me. But Yvonne locked the car door quickly and kissed me like no one had ever kissed me before."
Cat smiled, but couldn't keep the sadness from welling in the pit of her stomach. She had felt that before, the kiss that changed everything, and she missed it deeply.
"That doesn't really sound like Yvonne," Cat chose her words carefully. "Forgive me, but she seems…withdrawn? Reserved? Not really the romantic type."
Iris smiled and glanced over at the restrooms. "I thought so," She continued in a soft voice. "But you'd be surprised, really. Yvonne has always had a lot of love to give, I guess she'd just been waiting for the right person."
"That was you."
Iris blushed happily, and cleared her throat in response. "I guess so, we dated officially after that night. And honestly, I'd love to tell you that it was a fairy-tale romance, but it wasn't. We were constantly fighting against prejudice, discrimination, our own friends and family, and sometimes, against our inexperience and hesitance. We broke up a few times, when the fight was too much, but we always came to our senses again."
Cat couldn't even begin to picture it, the struggle they must've faced as a couple. But the fact that they were now married was incredibly uplifting.
Iris noticed the supportive smile on Cat's face, and she seemed to draw a level of confidence from it.
"We were 19 when we met," She continued. "20 when we started dating. And on Yvonne's 22nd birthday, I proposed under a beautiful oak tree."
"That was brave as fuck." Cat shook her head in disbelief. "That's pretty young."
Iris shrugged again, but couldn't keep the pleased expression from passing over her face. "There's no such thing as too young, not when you know. I knew Yvonne was the one, there was never a doubt about that, the only doubt was whether she felt the same. But she did and she said yes, so we've been married 10 years this year, and I haven't spoken to my parents since that day, but it was worth it. It was all worth it."
A few quiet moments followed that heavy comment, implications and thoughts hung in the air like a thick fog.
"Damn," Cat whispered, finally closing the fuel tank and returning the gas pump. "That shit's beautiful."
The two of them laughed in earnest, a weight lifted from both of their shoulders.
"What about you?"
Iris walked around the car to stand beside Cat, and she nudged her playfully with her arm. "Yvonne told me that you were in something pretty serious. I was in England at the time, so I'd never heard of this 'Joker'. I've never been with a criminal before, what's that like?"
Cat was grateful that Iris was able to make a joke of the whole fucked up situation. And she smiled despite all the tormenting memories that attacked her.
"It wasn't love, if that's what you're asking." Cat summarised it quickly. "I never had a chance to fall in love. There was always anger and plans for revenge, we never did the whole 'confessions in a car' shit."
Iris nodded in understanding, but this didn't sway the interest in Caterina's love life.
"It's not always said so plainly," She explained slowly, twirling her long fringe between her fingers. "Sometimes love hits us unwillingly, despite our best efforts." Iris finished with a half-smile, leaning back and resting her shoulders against the car door, she lifted her chin so that her face was dappled in sunlight and she enjoyed the warmth.
"Just promise me something."
Her words were barely above a whisper, and Cat almost missed them altogether. Iris cracked open a single eye and gazed at Cat with an oddly stern expression.
"Promise me you'll never be ashamed of who you are, or who you love."
Cat was taken back by the weight of this comment, and she found herself nodding surely. Iris had that aura to her, the kind that always made you want to protect her, to make her smile. It was probably charisma.
Iris did smile, and Cat barely had time to acknowledge what her promise really meant, before a cluster of people approached them noisily.
Cherry and Douglass were both carrying white plastic bags, filled to the brim with colourful candy wrappers, bottles of water and soft drink, a few bags of chips and nuts, and a selection of clothing.
"-Next time they don't have Doritos," Cherry was saying in an annoyed tone. "I will shoot someone, anyone."
Douglass was audibly sighing but still harbouring a subtle smile. They threw their bags into the back seat of the car and Cherry tossed the armful of clothing to Iris, who barely caught it in time.
"You're lucky I picked these out." Cherry was glaring at Douglass playfully.
"This man has no fashion sense."
He shrugged in response, but was muttering something along the lines of 'what the hell is clashing?'
Iris unfolded the faded blue skinny jeans, large white-knit sweater, and inspected the light brown ankle boots with deflated enthusiasm.
"Great," She managed in a reasonably light tone. "You almost got some colour in here, what a disaster that would've been."
Cherry shrugged the comment off and stretched in her recently changed outfit, the security guard disguises had been left forgotten in the ice-cream freezer of the gas station.
"Well, sugar." She gestured down to her black jeans, black leather jacket, and scandalously grey t-shirt. "I make this work, monochrome is unbelievably sexy."
Iris winced slightly, but pulled the white sweater over her prison-issued tank top. "I've never been one for 'sexy', I like to say graceful, or lovely."
Cherry laughed and tapped her nose. "Yvonne might disagree."
Douglass was wearing a simple generic sweater in light grey, a dark grey beanie over his curls, and dark blue jeans messily tucked into deep brown boots. The outfit looked more expensive than it probably was.
"Damn," Caterina shamelessly let her eyes wander over his form. "I don't mean to objectify you, Douglass, but Damn."
Cherry nodded proudly and lifted her hands to her eyes, framing him like a work of art. "This outfit brought to you by yours truly, you're welcome ladies."
He blushed slightly, nervousness halting any snide remarks he might've made. Douglass remained a good sport, however, and even did a turn to showcase the outfit, smiling constantly.
Cat felt mildly under dressed in her own black on black outfit. She was donning plain, black running tights and a black tank top that was tied into a knot at her waist, so that a sliver of midsection was showing.
"Oh, c'mon." Cherry noticed Cat glancing down at her own outfit, and she cracked open a can of energy drink with a disapproving expression.
"You know you look fine as all hell, it's like you don't even have to try." Her aggressive remark was obviously good natured, and Cat found herself grinning despite herself.
"Damn 'Megan Fox' types." Cherry muttered into her can. "Even coming straight out of a nuthouse, you looked like you were doing an obscure urban photoshoot."
Cat opened her mouth to retort, before a thunderous explosion caught her mid-word.
A second explosion shook the air, and a metallic twang forced them to jump forwards as something ricocheted violently against the gas pump behind them.
Caterina found that her hearing was suddenly thrown out, and a low muffled hum replaced everything.
The rest of her senses seemed to kick in at this point, and she grabbed as many bodies as she could and threw them all to the ground, taking shelter behind their red Audi.
More explosive twangs boomed around the four of them and a few perfectly round holes drilled their way into the car's body.
Iris was leaning aggressively against the tire of the car, her hands thrown over her ears and her faced screwed up in terror. Cat reached for her and grabbed her arm assuredly, the only way she was willing to escape was with Iris on her arm. Cherry and Douglass were further down the car's body and cowering behind the front wheel, Douglass had Cherry's head against his shoulder and had one arm secured around her waist, the other hand was held against his own ear.
Cat wildly observed their surroundings and noted a few very real and very serious factors;
The car was already severely bullet-ridden, and it was sheer luck that none of them had been shot yet but that fear became more real the longer they remained. The gas pump behind them was also feeling the effect of the gunshots, and Cat remembered all too well how easily fuel ignited, one punctured bullet would probably kill them all.
Their only option was to make a run for the kiosk and take cover between the many shelves. There would be a fire alarm inside, and at least two fire exits that might offer escape. Cat assessed the building to their immediate left and counted the length of the trip.
"4 seconds at least." She muttered, and glanced around to her right, where the toilets were still seemingly untouched by bullets. "15 seconds." Her assessment dropped her spirits considerably, and she looked over at Iris sadly.
"We have to move." Cat shouted above the blasts that where still rocking the air. "Kiosk, stay behind me."
Iris managed to open her eyes, and her expression was desperate, tears streaked her trembling face.
"N-No." She shouted back, "Not without Yvonne."
Cat kicked the tire in frustration, but knew that leaving Yvonne behind was never an option. She crawled over to where Cherry and Douglass were still sheltering, her heart racing at each new gunshot.
"Kiosk." Douglass shouted over the noise, apparently, he had come to a similar conclusion. Cat nodded and motioned to the right, indicating the restrooms.
"Take Iris, keep her safe, I'll get Yvonne. Get a car and meet us at the back."
He looked like he wanted to protest, but Cat gestured to Cherry who was still securely within his grasp.
"Protect her." Cat shouted, eyeing him seriously. "She needs you."
Douglass swallowed his argument, and nodded, before jerking down violently as a bullet narrowly missed his shoulder.
"Fuck." He shouted, and Cat noted that she'd never heard him swear before. They must be in really deep shit.
They no longer had the luxury to wait around and make plans, Douglass dragged Cherry along the car and pulled Iris into his other arm, keeping both girls tight against his chest. He looked down at the ground and breathed raggedly, counting out the bullets and waiting for the reload. Eventually the pattern of fire hiccupped slightly as the shooter/s reloaded, and both Douglass and Cat kicked off from the ground into a sprint.
Caterina was barely aware of her surroundings, she kept her head low and was only going by what she could see directly before her. She swerved around a row of gas pumps, jumped over a water tank and hose, and narrowly missed a bucket of tire maintenance equipment. Behind her, cement and clumps of dirt flew into the air as bullets dislodged them violently. The automatic gun was slow on the aim, so Cat was merely trailing the bullets without actually receiving any.
The danger here was if she stopped, if she let the gun catch up to her, she would be killed immediately.
Cat glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Douglass, Cherry, and Iris duck between the automatic glass doors of the kiosk. They had barely cleared the entrance, before the panes of glass vibrated dangerously from hundreds of bullet holes. Shards of glass exploded from the metal frame and sprinkled the ground like raindrops, the sound was almost deafening.
Who the fuck needs hearing anyway, Cat thought bitterly, and she returned her attention to the toilet which was now barely 10 feet in front of her. She had no time to knock on the door, or force it open, both of those actions would leave her vulnerable to being shot in the face.
"Yvonne." Cat screamed at the top of her lungs, praying that her voice would carry above the echoing gunshots.
"Yvonne, open the door in 5 seconds."
No reply.
On the one hand, Cat would burst through an open door safely to retrieve Yvonne; on the other hand, Cat would crash headfirst into a toilet door.
Not exactly the way she wanted to die.
Cat mustered up the courage and blinked rapidly, watching the blue door of the toilet blur in and out of focus, her legs were starting to feel the effects of the sprint, and her breathing was low and ragged. Just as her nose was about to make contact with the door, it swung open and Cat burst inside.
She had no time to be grateful, she grabbed Yvonne and hauled her down to the tiled floor just as a line of bullets passed inches above their heads. Cat groaned and glanced down at her right wrist, which was squashed awkwardly under her shoulder at an odd angle.
"Exit?" Cat screamed, Yvonne managed a nod and pointed a shaking finger at a window over the sink, luckily too far left for the bullets to reach.
Cat hauled Yvonne up by her elbows and threw them both against the yellow wall, so they were directly below the opaque square window. Yvonne wiped her eyes and swallowed, and Cat took the quiet moment to assess the damage;
Yvonne was easily standing on both legs, and her arms were strongly pressed against the tiled wall. The only injury that Cat could discern was a deep red bruise beside her right eye. Cat, on the other hand, could feel blood trickling from her mouth, and her wrist was burning in a familiar way.
Cat glanced around for a weapon to break the window with, before Yvonne motioned at the heel of her black combat boots.
"'Being a girl'." Cat grinned, and quickly untied her laces. She held the heel securely in her hand, and brought it to the center of the window rapidly. It bounced off the glass but created a thin crack. Cat repeated the action, this time the crack splintered further outward, creating a web-like appearance.
"Is Iris okay?"
Yvonne stopped Cat quickly with a hand on her shoulder, her expression deadly serious.
"She's fine." Cat hit the window again. "Douglass and Cherry have her."
The window finally gave in and shattered quickly, both Cat and Yvonne ducked to avoid the projectiles of glass.
Cat roughly tugged at Yvonne's burgundy leather jacket, indicating what she wanted. Yvonne caught on and quickly shrugged her jacket off, offering it to Cat.
"Wait," She stopped Cat again, brushing a few coils of red hair from her face. "I need to tell you something."
Cat was already placing the jacket carefully over the shards of glass on the window frame, allowing them a safe exit.
"Not now." Cat shouted over her shoulder. "Follow me, keep your head low."
And she was gone, using the jacket to lever her weight up and over the ledge.
Cat was out in the open street, looking at the busy road and praying that Douglass had made it out. The whirring of morning traffic was nothing to the bullets she had heard, and it was a relief to be met with a quieter environment. Yvonne appeared beside her with an agitated expression, like her struggle currently wasn't the gun fight.
"I have to tell you-"
And again she was cut off as a black Sedan screeched to a halt beside them. The traffic of civilian cars was forced to swerve around and a few horns were blared in protest.
Cat seized the handle of the passenger side and roughly pulled it open, hauling Yvonne in behind her.
Douglass was behind the wheel, he had discarded the beanie and was nursing some sort of bleeding cut on his forearm. Iris was riding shotgun beside him and appeared to be paralysed in fear.
Cherry was on the far left of the passenger side, and she helped Yvonne into the middle seat while Cat shut the door behind them.
As soon as they were all inside, Douglass swerved the car sharply to the left and joined the line of traffic, leaving a trail of smoke and blaring horns behind them. Cat glanced out of the window, and wondered if attempting to blend in was the best strategy.
The gas station was shrinking behind them, and Cat allowed herself a sigh of relief, before a number of white trucks sped out of the driveway and zipped down the road, dodging cars and knocking down the occasional traffic cone.
"Fuck!" She shouted, and turned to Douglass, who was watching the vans through the rear-view mirror. "Car chase."
He tugged the wheel and lurched the car left, before stepping down on the accelerator. The car flew forwards between lanes, occasionally knocking the mirrors off passing cars in small explosions of sparks.
The vans mirrored their movements, until they were directly behind them and gaining.
"We need cover." Cherry howled, just as a bullet ricocheted off their left door. Douglass swore under his breath and stamped his foot down on the breaks, spinning the steering wheel frantically. They drifted left in a haze of exhaust, narrowly missing a grey Station Wagon, and flew down a less populated side street.
Cat lowered her window and glanced out at the street, sure enough four white vans had made the turn and were barrelling down the road, making up for lost speed.
Douglass drifted again, the breaks groaning in protest as he took an immediate right. The entire car lurched sideways sickeningly, and Cherry smashed her head roughly against the passenger window. Cat leaned over and checked her pulse, she found a heartbeat and eyed the blood that was oozing from a gash along Cherry's forehead.
Douglass was busy trying to navigate their route and Cat decided that now was not the time to request safer driving.
He barrelled down the street and noticed a sharp left at the end; if the turn wasn't made, then the car would crash into a large brick apartment building.
At the last second, he hauled the steering wheel and the entire car slid sideways, until their passenger-side door hit the apartments gently. Douglass accelerated them again, and Cat turned her head, just in time to see three vans successfully make the turn, the last hit the apartments dead on and was flattened like cardboard.
"One down." She yelled above the squeal of tires. "Three to go."
Douglass had a stare of absolute concentration, his mouth was set in a firm line and his knuckles were holding the wheel so tight that they had become pale white.
"Hng." Cherry stirred slowly, blinking awake and coughing some blood down her shirt. "We still alive?"
Cat nodded, motioning at Douglass. "He's a demon behind the wheel. Your boyfriend is badass."
Rather than correct her mistake, Cherry smiled and wiped the blood from her chin. "Yeah he is." She slurred in a singsong voice. "If I faint, please keep me alive, mkay?"
Cat nodded as Cherry passed out again, her head lolling backwards on the headrest of the leather seat.
Meanwhile, Douglass had managed to lose a second van, a large truck happened to fly down one of the intersecting roads and collided with the van's back wheel, sending it spiralling back down the road.
He swerved right, and left, right, and right again. Cat wasn't sure if he had an actual destination, or if he was merely taking random roads.
Eventually it became clear that he had a clear motive, as Cat saw before her.
"Oh shit, no." Cat breathed. "Douglass, don't fucking do it."
He did fucking do it.
They hit the steps dead on, and immediately were thrown into the air like a sack of potatoes. The lurching started instantly, the entire car was thrown up and down like a mutant seesaw, if the seesaw was gasoline powered.
Cat held desperately onto her seat and watched the world vibrate around her, she kept banging her head against the ceiling of the cabin as they dipped and rose. Iris was screaming, Yvonne had tears running down her cheeks, Cherry was lucky enough to be unconscious, but her limp form was madly flying about like a rag doll.
"D-o-u-g-l-a-s-s." Cat hiccupped, her words barely distinguishable. "S-t-o-p."
Iris had quietened down but was looking oddly pale, her head rolling forwards and backwards with the rhythm of the car.
It had to be the longest set of fucking steps in the universe. But eventually, they met solid ground again and paused.
Everyone was silent, everyone was clinging to a surface.
Douglass leaned over to glance out the window, and watched in satisfaction as no vans attempted the long stairway.
"I knew it." He breathed triumphantly, his voice shaking with adrenaline. "Vans are far too top heavy."
Iris was breathing heavily; her pale face had transformed into a sickly shade of green. After a few moments she leaned forward and retched to the floor.
"Yeah." Cat eyed her, feeling both relieved and sickeningly dizzy. "Pretty much sums it up."
Iris wiped her chin with shaky fingers, and attempted a small smile.
"That was impressive." Iris managed, though she was still shivering in fear. "You got us out of that."
Douglass smiled at her and leaned back, to assess the damage in the backseat. "You girls alright?"
"I think Cherry has a mild concussion." Cat replied, checking her pulse again and finding that she was thankfully still alive. "And my wrist is probably broken."
Douglass grinned again despite everything, and gave her two thumbs-up.
"All in all, a successful car chase."
Their Sudan was badly beaten and suffering a number of broken windows, not too mention the smell of Iris' discomfort. In conclusion, they had to find a new car pretty quickly.
Douglass picked out a simple ocean-blue Ford Mustang, and requested pretty loudly not to drive again.
Cat had no objections and she happily slid into the driver seat, while Cherry, Douglass and Yvonne took the back. Iris quickly called 'shotgun', and Cat felt selfishly pleased that she was allowed more time with her; Iris was really pleasant company.
"Chocolate?"
Cat swivelled around to plunge her hand into the yellow packaging. She popped a red one in her mouth and regarded Cherry quickly.
"You ok?" Cat brushed her fingertips against Cherry's forehead, where most of the blood had been cleaned off but a thin line remained.
"Fine." Cherry smiled and retreated with the chocolate, though she looked a little dazed and sore. "Let's just get back to the apartment."
Cat pulled the car into the main road again, and wound the two front windows down. Air rushed through the open space, blowing her blonde hair behind her and cooling her face.
She sighed happily, resting one of her forearms along the window's frame. Iris leaned forward to tinker with the radio, she also had an arm out the window.
Finally, the radio crackled to life and a familiar song began to sing sweetly through the car.
"Ugh, yes." Cat tapped the window frame passionately, and leaned into the music, causing Iris to turn the volume up with a smile.
"O Rock of Ages, do not crumble, love is breathing still!"
Cat found to her delight that Iris was heartily singing along with her. The people in the backseat were too busy chatting amongst themselves to appreciate the music.
"O Lady Moon, shine down a little people magic if you will."
Cat dramatically drummed her hand against the window frame to the electric guitar solo, simultaneously tapping the beat with her foot.
Iris had her eyes closed, and her forefingers jumping rapidly as if playing the song on a keyboard. Cat recognised the fingers of a piano player, and she made a mental note to ask Iris about it later.
"Fucking awesome." Cat sighed, as the song faded off into simple chords. "I'm impressed you know that song."
Iris laughed and pointed to herself. "Classic rock." She then pointed behind her to Yvonne, who was deep in conversation with Cherry. "Indie Acoustic." She finished with a grin, and the two of them dissolved into giggles.
"I honestly love you." Cat managed between laughs.
Iris took her hand loosely, and played absentmindedly with her fingers.
"Ditto," She said with a warm smile, before her expression melted into a more serious kind.
"I have to ask you something, I think now would be the best time."
Cat shrugged and beckoned for her to continue. "Knock yourself out."
Iris sighed and attempted to draw confidence from the air, before she glanced behind her and watched Yvonne with a wistful expression.
"Look, if all goes well, if we get home and it's all quiet again." Iris paused, twirling her fringe between her fingers. She seemed to be incredibly nervous, and was chewing the skin from her bottom lip.
"You're allowed to say 'no', I completely understand, there's no pressure or anything…But Yvonne and I have wanted to adopt for a while."
Cat smiled hugely, and gave Iris the safest side-hug she could while driving. "That's fucking awesome, you would be the coolest moms."
Her words relieved Iris greatly, and she laughed nervously in response.
"Yeah, well, I was wondering if you wanted to be the godmother."
Cat took a moment to process what she was being offered, and her face was a mask of complete awe.
"Y-You what?"
Iris laughed and returned the side-hug, her eyes twinkling with happy tears.
"Godmother, Aunty Cat. You would be the coolest Aunty, teaching the kid all the important life lessons."
Cat tried to hide the fact that she was wiping tears from her eyes, but Iris noticed them and hugged her again.
"Of course," She continued with a warm smile. "It would probably be best for you to stay with us, we have a spare room and could really use help with the rent."
Cat had a million replies, a million ways to say 'thank you'. But in the time she was given, she didn't manage one.
Before she could accept Iris' offer, a white van suddenly slammed into the passenger side of the Mustang at full speed, sending the entire car spinning like a top.
The driver of the van was lying on the asphalt; having flown through the windscreen, and was now missing half his face.
The Mustang was barely still whole, all the windows were shattered and the entire passenger side was caved in like an aluminium can.
Cherry, Douglass, Yvonne, Iris, and Cat were all lying haphazardly in the car, unconscious, and drenched in blood.
'Brighton Rock' -Queen (Awesome song, check it out)