And The Struggle Continues.
Author Chick's Notes: A little more recap is all. Disclaimers in Chapter 1.
And The Struggle Continues.
Short Fuse awoke to roaring laughter in the other room. A day had passed since he'd arrived in San Francisco to round up Sci-Fi and Tripwire. He'd called ahead to Las Vegas to see if Dusty and Imani were interested in taking out some really stubborn snakes. They both jumped on the bang wagon and Short Fuse had told them that he'd swing by town to pick them up.
Glancing at the clock, he decided that it was pointless to try and go back to sleep, so he crawled out of bed and made his way into the living room. The first thing he saw made him think if he had remembered to put his glasses on. A flamboyant, petite, Asian woman with more luggage then a rock star would need, was joking with the two residents of the house. On second glance, Short Fuse saw that the woman was in fact a man. A very feminine one at that.
"Oh Sea honey, who is this gorgeous hunk of blonde?" The man asked when he saw Short Fuse.
Sci-Fi laughed before introducing the two. "Angel, this is a buddy of ours, Eric. Eric say hello to the greatest drag queen of the Castro, Angel." Angel extended a warm greeting to Eric. Eric meanwhile, was happy with just waving and was about to move when he thought of something.
"Where's that furry hearing impaired rat of yours?" Eric asked, not wanting to accidentally step on Diz, or get the living hell scared out of him like the previous day.
"In the tree behind you." Eric turned to his left where a potted palm grew in the corner and sure enough, snoring away in the branches was Diz.
Angel spotted the squirrel too and spoke up. "That thing is going with you right?"
"Your sequins and wigs are safe. Diz is coming with us."
"Oh good." Angel chirped.
"Great." Eric growled. Tripwire stepped into view with a cup of coffee and handed it to Eric. "So I take it you're house sitting then?" Eric asked Angel as he took a seat on the couch.
Eric watched as Angel made himself at home in the small townhouse and chattered away about the nightlife of the area. A knock at the door caused Eric to become suspicious as he looked to Sea and Tor. Tor went and answered the door, allowing a tall thin man with long shaggy blonde hair into the place. "Eric? This is Chaz, the kid we're bringing along with us." Tor introduced. "Chaz, meet Eric, a good friend of ours from the good old days."
Chaz nodded at Eric before turning back to Tor. "Met him in the Army?" Eric couldn't miss the man's slow South African drawl if he tried. At Tor's 'yes', Chaz smirked. "Looks like he's straight you slag." Chaz directed at Angel. Angel just poked his tongue out at the new comer before returning to his unpacking. "We're leaving this afternoon?" Chaz asked as he dropped his bag in the foyer.
"Yup."
Chaz nodded again. "I have something I need to wrap up real quick. I'll be back in a few." He said as he turned to leave. He rummaged around in his jacket pocket and pulled out an empty cigarette pack. "Make that two things I have to wrap up." He added and with that he left.
"I didn't understand a single word that kid said." Eric laughed as he watched the front door.
"You get used to it." Sea offered as he got a small bag out of a drawer. "Babe? Where's Dizzy's towel?" He asked, his train of thought shifting to packing up for their trip.
Several hundred miles away, Gladys Tadur smiled at the tiny waif that staggered into the kitchen. She greeted her daughter in law as the girl poured a cup of coffee for herself and flopped down at the table. "You don't do mornings very well do you dear?" The elder woman asked.
"No." Imani answered tersely.
Gladys chuckled as she left Imani to wake up in peace and went outside. It was still fairly early in the morning but it was already getting quite warm. Gladys figured that the desert spring had ended and the notorious Las Vegas summer was about to begin in earnest. Gladys watched her son tinker with the air conditioning unit on the side of the house for a while before announcing herself.
"Hey Mom." Dusty smiled when he realised he wasn't alone. "Imani up yet?" He asked.
"Yes and in her usual cheerful mood." Gladys laughed.
Dusty winced then said he'd wait a while before seeing his wife. "She's never been a morning person." He muttered. "As long as I've known her, she hates mornings."
"This morning is no different, Honey." Gladys smiled. She watched as Dusty placed the access panel back onto the unit and screwed it shut.
"Well. Looks like the house'll be nice and cool this year for you." Dusty drawled. He looked down at his mother who was only slightly taller then Imani and smiled. The two were quiet for a few minutes, enjoying the early morning together before Gladys spoke up. Dusty noted the hint of sadness in her voice as she wished for his and Imani's safe return.
"We'll be careful Mom." Dusty assured her. Gladys raised a hand to her son's face and patted his cheek.
"I miss when you were smaller." She teased.
"He was small at one time?" Imani asked from the back door, her eyes sizing Dusty up in disbelief. It was then that Gladys realised she hadn't properly embarrassed her son yet.
"Oh! Let me show you his baby pictures!" She grinned as she went inside to retrieve them. Imani caught the look of horror on her husband's face and smirked. This was going to be fun.
Back in the City by the Bay, Chaz had returned having wrapped up his personal loose ends, and stocking up on his favourite brand of smokes. Angel was standing in the doorway wishing the group good luck and a safe trip, as they packed up the car taking them to the airport.
"No wild parties!" Sea teased. Angel sniffed and said he wouldn't dream of inviting scum over to the neat little townhouse to begin with. "And no orgies either! Unless you get em on video!" Sea added.
"Honey I always film my good times." Angel teased back. Eric had to bite his lip from laughing out loud as Chaz made a crude comment under his breath. "I heard that you unkept Boer!" They said their final farewells and the car left the curbside.
On the way to their plane Eric asked why the couple had chosen Angel to house sit for them. "Simple. Angel might be over the top, but she's honest to a fault. All our stuff will still be there when we get back." Sea laughed. Eric thought about it and agreed that the couple had a point.
They had been in the air for a little over an hour when they felt the plane begin to descend. Chaz looked out the window but couldn't see anything save for miles of nothing. "I thought you said we were going to DC?"
Eric heard the question and told Chaz they had to make a pick up first. The plane landed in Las Vegas and Chaz's eyes lit up. He'd never been to the Sin City but he had heard a lot about it in his native South Africa. Sun City in his home country had tried to emulate the desert oasis with little success. When Chaz found out that they'd be staying long enough to meet two people already waiting for them in the terminal, he made a mental note to come back one day for a proper visit.
"You'll be legal then." Tor teased as the plane came to a stop. That's when Eric found out that his suspicions about the youth were correct. Chaz was barely twenty years of age, Imani was older then him by a few months.
Eric got out of the plane and went to the terminal bar where Dusty and Imani would be meeting him. He had no problem finding the couple, especially Imani. As small as she was, she tended to stick out in a crowd with her exotic looks. They followed Eric back to the plane and got aboard. Introductions were made between the couple and Chaz as they took off for their final destination. Chaz was quite surprised and pleased that Dusty knew so much about his homeland. Imani remained quiet as she normally did, preferring to listen and learn, rather then speak.
It was nightfall when they landed in the capitol. Dusty had to wake Imani up, who had curled into a little ball in her seat and gone to sleep. They got out of the plane to find a large van waiting for them and soon they were taken to a large mansion on the outskirts of the city. "What happened to the bunker?" Imani asked.
"The Baroness doesn't need to hide an army now, so we've moved our base of operations here." Eric explained.
Imani shrugged and leaned her head against the window as they drove. She sat bolt upright and grinned when she saw who was waiting for them in the garage. The van hadn't even come to a complete stop when Imani tossed back the door and dashed over to Cover Girl's waiting arms. The two women embraced and laughed as they reunited. Their audience however took a more reserved approach, steering clear of the two out of habit.
"Peace as we knew it is over?" Clutch asked Dusty as the mechanic greeted the travellers.
"Oh yeah." Dusty sighed, watching Imani and Cover Girl.
"So how's Imani adapting to western culture?" Clutch asked.
"Remind me to have a little chat with my ex girlfriend about that one." Dusty smirked, jerking a thumb in Cover Girl's direction.
The other gathering was not quite as friendly as the first one however. Stalker raised an eyebrow when he was introduced to Chaz. "South Africa?" The Detroit native asked warily.
"Yes." Chaz replied. "And despite what those who used to be in power believe, not all whites in South Africa believe in Apartheid." He added. To prove his point, Chaz was the first to extend a hand in friendship. Stalker took it and realised that the man was telling the truth.
"Okay." Sea chimed in. "Stalker bud…YOU'RE gonna handle the rest of the introductions!" He laughed.
The ranger laughed as well. "Don't worry, I'll vouch for the kid."
Chaz shrugged and took out a cigarette. Satisfied that his nationality wouldn't be an issue, he relaxed some. Sea and Tor had already heard about his Nana, who was Zulu, and had not been allowed to come to his birthday party as a child, simply because she was black. Chaz had sworn then, that if the chance to wipe away the regime in control had ever come to pass, he'd be the first in line to do so. COBRA's take over however had only made things worse and he feared for his homeland.
Eric watched Chaz as the tension visibly melted from the young man. Chaz had already explained his behaviour with Angel as an ongoing joke between the two and now Eric could see it for the truth it was. Glancing at the two joyous women, Eric was grateful that Imani, as worldly as she appeared, was in fact quite naive about much of the world. She'd shown no wariness of Chaz at all and Eric was glad. He'd found that the longer he knew the youth, the more he liked his quiet, to the point manner.
TBC…