Chapter 79.
Havoc didn't think she'd ever felt more shocked in her life.
Never had she anticipated getting pinned beneath Gordon Tracy of all people. Gordon, who was a lot stronger than he looked with his damn swimmers' arms.
Tragically for him, he was still a guy, and like all guys, had one main weakness.
A shriek of pain followed by a water-themed expletive tore out of Gordon's throat as Havoc kneed him in the groin. Cackling madly, she sprang back to her feet and continued on her mad dash to freedom. She may have lost the DNA she'd been tasked with extracting, but the opportunity to cause physical, mental, and possibly spiritual chaos for the Tracys more than made up for the disappointment brought about by her little blunder.
Coughing in pain, Gordon managed to stagger to his feet before giving chase, a scowl of agonised fury taking the place of his usual easy-going smile.
Like the loyal duckling that he was, Alan promptly bolted off after his immediate brother, leaving behind a tragically confused Virgil, a still traumatised Scott, and a panicking John who was glancing around in indecision, unsure which brother to direct his attention towards first.
As usual, Scott won.
"You okay, Speedy?" John asked, hunkering down next to Scott and offering him a tissue, "She didn't bite you, did she?"
Scott mutely shook his head before twisting away and gagging, "No, but she did eject half a litre of saliva down my throat."
Virgil cringed as Scott dragged a sleeve across his mouth in disgust, "I think she properly managed to French you there, bro. Small wonder you didn't choke on her tongue."
Scott's face creased in revulsion. Standing up, he stormed towards one of the railings encircling the terrace and peered over, his eyes locking onto Havoc's rapidly retreating backside, "You seriously need to work on your technique, woman! I'm a generous man, but even I'd struggle to give that more than a three out of ten. Most people don't appreciate the wet and slobbery approach!"
Before Virgil or John could so much as snicker, a bottle of champagne flew overhead, missing Scott by mere inches before shattering on the patio directly beneath the terrace. A sharp yelp confirmed that Havoc had been the intended target.
A quick over the shoulder glance revealed an explosive looking Kayo standing beside a white-faced Penelope, her face red with rage. She was barefoot, her heels having been discarded, and was glowering at Scott like she hated the marrow in his bones.
A second bottle of champagne hung from her left hand.
-x-
Havoc was, surprisingly, a rather proud woman.
She didn't beat about the bush when it came to self-promotion, and definitely didn't need a man to tell her how smart, savvy, and attractive she was. Bonus points went to to anyone who mentioned her name and 'kickass' in the same sentence, though.
Naturally, Scott's tasteless comment about her kissing ability left a somewhat sour taste in her mouth, no pun intended. She was half tempted to turn back and curtly inform him that she'd been after his DNA, not his affection, but decided against it upon realising that Gordon was within gnawing distance behind her.
Havoc didn't scare easily, but the sight of Gordon's face as he zeroed in on her sent a shiver of unease up her spine. While those brown eyes were probably the most beautiful sight in the world if you were being rescued by them, they were nothing short of terrifying if you were being pursued by them.
Any remaining confidence inside her promptly jaywalked into the path of an imaginary bus when Alan materialised behind Gordon, his little legs working like pistons. Taking on an enraged Gordon by himself was one thing, but messing with his younger brother was an entirely different ball game. It would be like walking into the lion's den, only instead of a lion, she'd have four pissed older brothers to contend with. She was no fool. She knew the boys had combat training under their belts. After all, they lived with Kayo.
Reports of any International Rescue members using self-defence were scarce, making it impossible to ascertain the true extent of any of the brother's abilities. Havoc's own limited research had revealed zilch on the fighting front; they could be ham-fisted nitwits, or black belted experts for all she knew.
Now definitely wasn't the time to find out.
"Fuse! Get me out of here!"
-x-
Poor Scott's evening wasn't going to plan:
He'd been violated by a surprisingly slobbery Havoc,
He was in the middle of a humdinger of a row with his wingman brother,
He was the not so proud owner of a soaked Armani suit,
He was also the not so proud owner of a ruined head of hair,
The gas company had just emailed him with a document mentioning something about a 10% price hike,
And Kayo was threatening him with a bottle of champagne like it was a baseball bat.
While he was quite content to admit that things could be going much worse, he was also quite content to admit that things could be going a hell of a lot better.
"Easy now, Kayo," Penelope soothed, raising her hands in the universal gesture of peace, "You've had a bit to drink and you're not thinking straight. Let's get you up to bed and we can talk about all of this in the morning over a cup of tea."
The scorn in Kayo's eyes as she shrugged Penelope's helping hand away was tangible, "No, Penny! I want to talk about this right now. What, pray tell, is so special about old Scotty Boy here that Havoc would target him over Virgil, huh? We all know Mr Land Cabbage is the biggest ninny of the group."
John's eyes narrowed in protective irritation, while Virgil shrugged offhandedly. He'd been called worse, and Kayo had been drinking.
"I don't think a lot of pre-planning went into the behaviour we just saw Havoc's exhibit," Penelope replied, choosing her words with care, "There was obviously a motive behind her actions, but we won't know for certain what it was until we gather more intel."
"Intel, schmintel," Kayo slurred, "Three out of ten my ass. Are you seriously implying that you've got enough lip action under your belt to warrant your own scoring system?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Scott retorted, not tearing his eyes away from the weaponised bottle of bubbly Kayo was tightening her grip on.
"You sicken me," Kayo hissed, striding up and scowling when she remembered that she only came up to Scott's shoulder, "You are an arrogant, conceited, cologne drenched peacock of a man!"
Scott's eyes narrowed at the blatant insults. Opening his mouth, he sucked in a lungful of air in preparation for an epic response, however promptly choked on it when Kayo grabbed the back of his head, yanked him down to eye level, and smashed her face against his.
'Well, this feels familiar.'
It was a brief kiss, lasting only a couple of seconds before Kayo broke free. Scott barely had time to process his second violation of the evening before she patted him clumsily on the cheek and weaved off in belated pursuit of Havoc, Gordon, and Alan, somewhat satisfied that she'd made her point.
"What the actual hell?" Scott squeaked, his eyes on stalks as he tried frantically to remember what day of the week it was.
Penelope smothered a delicate cough and flipped open her compact to brief Parker on the situation. John, unsurprisingly, looked at a complete loss for what to say, while Virgil made do with patting Scott on the shoulder, all arguments long forgotten.
"Never thought I'd say this, but for the first time in my life, I'm glad I'm not you."