Rally
The door opened silently except for a small creak from the hinges, Jeremy thought it didn't make any difference anyway, Leon would be asleep by now.
"You're late." Well, Leon wasn't asleep. His voice was low in key but still easily heard, you could neither tell if he was angry or just plain bored sitting in his recliner, only the lamp lighting his black hair.
"I stayed after, they were planning another rally," He paused, "and I signed up. It's not really a rally, more of a council meeting, to plan the Resistance to-
"Resistance against what!" Now you could tell he was angry. "Against Direct? What have they done that we need to go to rag-tag war?"
"We have to kiss their butts every day, don't you get aggravated by that or are you too busy to pry your lips away?" Jeremy shot back.
"No one's sucking up to anybody." He answered calmly.
"Well it sure seems like it." And he stormed upstairs.
"Oh crap..." Leon murmured under his breath.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"You requested to see me sir?" Kane was standing in front of his Major's desk, already knowing what he was asked there for.
"Yes, Lieutenant, I was wondering if you had heard anything about a rally last night?" He was getting straight to the point, no introductions or welcome talk, just the facts.
"..."
"Don't give me any silent crap, just tell me why you didn't intervene."
"I didn't need to sir, Trevor easily took care of it."
"We don't know how long Trevor will still be part of Direct, there's been talk of retirement for him. Now, I know that's not the real reason, you wanted to see what Direct was going to do, then you'd think about whether to intervene or not." Just then, a red light flashed on the Major's desk. "I'm sorry, we'll have to continue this conversation another time, I have an appointment, dismissed."
Kane decided to take a walk after that "joyful" encounter, he considered it more of a patrol. Maybe I should visit Harvey's and see if that window got replaced yet, or try and get a lead on those two renegades or whoever they were, he thought.
The window wasn't replaced yet, but the broken glass was swept up. This time some customers even left when he arrived, and those that didn't leave made sure there was three to four seats between them and Kane. Plus, Harvey wasn't too talkative about anything whatsoever, or very happy either, probably just shaken up.
He was about to get a little more shaken up as the door quietly opened and a group of rebels entered the bar, requesting a hiding place and asking if there were any cops in the building. Harvey shot a quick glance toward Kane, whom was slumped over in his chair sighing, hardly noticeable. He got out a remote of some kind and pressed a button, sending a signal to the liquor shelf, which moved away from the wall with a Hiss. The five rebels piled in quickly. The fifth one sent an uncertain glance at Kane, it was the boy again. He was reassured that it would be all right because Kane was there, even though he wouldn't except it, and rushed into the crawl space.
After a few minutes the door got knocked off its hinges and Direct troops flowed in, Trevor was the last one inside, calm as ever. The leader of the group spoke, "My name is Darin of Direct Faction, Commander in Chief. Have any of you seen a pack of rebels enter this establishment?"
No one moved, except for a small nod from Harvey met by a wink from Kane. The tall Enforcer rose and turned to face the Direct Commander.
"Ah," he exclaimed, "Good, another fellow law enforcer. Well, have you seen any rebels today?"
"Yes."
"Here?"
Kane grinned, "Sure. Have you checked your butt crack today?"
It took a moment for the other officers to compose themselves after receiving a glare. "You fixin' to get a beating?"
"Sure, why not. But not here."
"No, let's fight here." Darin was one of those that would try and sock out a tooth with the slightest remark. Trevor was ready to step in if anything got ugly, he considered this definitely not ugly.
Darin shot two jabs on either side of Kane's head, he dodged both with his feet firmly planted and still. He saw Darin reaching for his nightstick, so he flicked out his arm stick. He deflected six swipes, then caught Darin's arm, yanked him up and forward, and pummeled his fist into his gut. He retracted back his arm, brought the commander's face right up to his and said; "They're not here."
The officers knew that Darin had it coming and decided not to interrupt, not until he was dropped back down to solid floor panels was he was helped up and led out of the room.
"Sorry about the disturbance, have a nice day. Oh, and we'll take care of the door. Put it on my tab, Harvey." Trevor ended and left.
Kane looked over to where Harvey was sweating and said, "Boy, this is just your best week isn't it?"
* * * * * * * * * * *
On an outside street corner, one leaning against a lamp post, the other standing beside him, talking.
"We only need a few more members and the council has requested you. We've been watching you carefully and believe that we could channel your anger to our advantage."
"And then we can crush Direct!"
"Yes, just a few more members." The woman in red grinned.
"How do we know its safe, Direct has bugs everywhere, you even had to scout this spot so we could talk here?"
She paused as a green light on her earpiece flickered for a moment, then continued. "I've just been informed all other requests have agreed. Its just you now, that's all. This is how it all begins, the rebellion, the freedom; everything is on your decision. I'm counting on you, Jeremy."
Jeremy also paused, afraid and uncertain of what he was getting into, but still anxious.
"I'll do it, but don't tell my brother."
"Leon won't have a clue, glad to have you with us." she turned her back to him and walked down the street. The next time Jeremy looked, she was gone.
Inform the Council we've gathered all the renegades, they'll all be there at the meeting.