Rock and a Hard Place: Chapter 13

Author's Notes: This chapter is just a small epilogue to help tie into Saga Two and keep a few more questions burning in your minds. Lisa and I are really glad that you've enjoyed the story so far, and we hope you'll stick around for the next Saga installment.

"Fate promises more twists and turns before this Saga unfolds completely."--- Kain, from Legacy of Kain, Soul Reaver. (for all you gaming types out there. Hehehehe. : - )

Annie pulled up in front of the Tahoe Bike Shop in a leather jacket and shades, stopping to do a double take as she pulled off her helmet and glanced in Phoenix's side mirror. She hadn't realized how much her new attire made her resemble her father, and she smiled at the difference the new look made. Tougher, more rugged, and a little darker than the normal 'uniform' of her white Ranger jacket. Exactly the aura she was going for to accompany the request she was about to make.

Someone wolf whistled at her from nearby. "Lookin' GOOOOD, babe! I always wanted a woman in leather. How's 'bout takin' a ride on the wild side with me?"

Annie removed her sunglasses and regarded the offender coolly as he approached her bike. "How's 'bout I arrest you for harassment and disturbing the peace, Tramp?"

Tramp, one of Butch's various 'colleagues', stepped away from Phoenix with his hands in the air, having the good grace to look completely abashed as he got a good look at the person he was hitting on. "Whoa, easy there, Ranger…I surrender! I, uh, didn't, uh, recognize ya with, uh, the new look…"

Annie crossed her arms and smiled deviously. "Be a good boy and tell Butch I'm here, and I might forgive you."

"Yes ma'am!"

Within a few moments, the shop's owner stepped out and walked over to where Annie sat perched on Phoenix, asking gruffly, "You harassin' my help, again?"

"More like your help harassing me. That's a crime, you know," Annie commented as she hopped off the bike.

"I'll take care of it." Butch circled Phoenix carefully, observing all the nicks, scratches, and scuffmarks Buddy wasn't able to buff out properly. He turned back to Annie with a dissatisfied frown. "What the hell did you do to this thing?!"

"I had a little accident."

"I thought I told you to be careful."

Annie smirked at him. "I was careful. You should have seen the other guy."

Butch rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air. "Come on, bring 'er in."

Annie pulled Phoenix into Butch's garage, noting with satisfaction that no one else seemed to be milling around the shop. She dismounted and laid her helmet carefully on the seat before stepping away to let Butch take a look at the bike.

"Girl, I swear ya waste more of my time," Butch grumbled as he examined Phoenix's back tire. "I clean this baby up for ya, wash it, wax it, and what thanks do I get. Ya go and wreck it. Damn, but you're lucky I like you."

"How much do you like me, Butch?"

This time he glanced up at her from over the seat. "Now what kinda question is that?"

"A serious one." Annie's voice and overall demeanor hardened slightly. "I mean, come on, we've had this little relationship going on for a few years now, ever since I got stranded at your favorite biker bar. I let you fix my bike, you feed me information…but I'm still not sure we're friends. How friendly are we, anyway?"

Butch tested the play in Annie's steering. "I guess that depends on what ya plan on askin' for."

"What makes you think I'm planning on asking for anything?"

"Come on, lady, I ain't stupid," Butch snapped from the vicinity of her tailpipe. "You've been long gone into those mountains by now if ya didn't have somethin' on your mind. So spill already, and I'll see what I can do for ya."

Annie sighed deeply, preparing for the moment of truth as she confessed. "Okay, you're right, I do need a favor. But it's a pretty tall order, and I'm not sure you're going to like it."

"I'll be the judge o' that, just spit it out."

She took a deep breath while she found the appropriate words, then she explained, "All right, I have a friend who has a friend, and my friend thinks that friend is in trouble. I think that my friend's friend is MAKING the trouble. I'd like to know for sure which it is."

"This friend of your friend have a name?" Butch questioned as he stood back up, having checked most of Phoenix's systems.

"Roxanne Trakker."

If a bomb had exploded in the middle of his shop, the old biker couldn't have been more shocked. "Yer right, I don't like it. It's one thing for me to be droppin' them small potatoes in yer lap but that…" He rang his fingers through his gray hair nervously, "…that's playin' in the big time. That's some mighty high stakes poker yer dealin' into, little lady. You get in on that game and you don't leave until you win…or you fold. Catch my meanin'?"

"I hear you, Butch, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm already playing in the big time," Annie retorted. "And I plan on playing to win, if you help me."

Butch tried a different tactic, smiling grimly as he asked, "And this friend of yers wouldn't happen to resemble a certain multi-millionaire's son, would he?"

Annie's eyes flashed dangerously with anger, "That's not relevant."

"I think it is. I got a right to know who's askin' for information like that."

"I'M asking."

"Yeah," Butch replied steadily, "and just who the hell are you really?"

"You KNOW who I am, Butch," Annie's voice remained rock steady and icily calm. "You just said yourself you're not stupid."

"Well maybe," Butch flashed her a cold smile, "I wanna see if you'll admit it. See if we're really friends and all."

A significant silence filled the garage as Butch crossed his arms and waited for Annie's reply. She crossed her arms as well, eyeing him carefully, before deciding that she didn't have much to lose. If she was right, she'd just be verifying what he already knew, and hopefully get his help. And if she wasn't…well, it isn't as though he didn't have the resources to find out anything about her he wanted.

"Fine, you want to know who I really am?" Again, she chose her words carefully. "My name's Annie Turner, I think you knew that already. And that's Turner, as in the famous rock star Brad Turner, yes. He's my father, and he's also an undercover agent for the Peaceful Nations Alliance." That comment made her wince a bit, but that fact too was unfortunately known in the underground. This was the part she hated admitting to, "My mother…my mother was a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, A Contraworld agent who got a little more than she bargained for when she seduced my father for information. Somehow, I get the feeling you can fill in the blanks from there."

Butch smiled at her, then craned his head as the door to the garage opened and some actual customers walked through.

"Alright, listen, next time you and one o' them Ranger Boys head into town, you drop this baby," he indicated Phoenix with a jerk of his thumb, "off and I'll clean 'er up for ya. I'm not sure about those accessories ya requested, but I'll see what I can do."

Annie expelled a frustrated breath, knowing that was the best answer she was going to get for now. She climbed back onto Phoenix, pulling on her helmet as she started the bike. "Okay, Butch, I appreciate the help. Thanks."

"I wouldn't thank me yet," he muttered to himself as the bike streaked out of his garage.