- Heroic stunts.
A man dressed entirely in black, wearing a dark mask and holding a brown sack, tried to open a house window, covered by the night's shadows. After a few seconds of struggling, he succeeded, and, under the mask, smiled. However, when he was placing a foot inside the house, the man was stopped by a powerful grip on his neck.
"Sorry, man, but what you are doing isn't cool at all." Super Hunk said to the criminal while lifting him without any effort. The man struggled in vain to release himself, while SH made an heroic pose so his blond assistant could take a picture of him doing his job. Then, the hero punched the thief, knocking him out, and dropping him on the ground.
A few moments later, the whole neighborhood was surrounding the house to take a brief look of Super Hunk. On the meantime, SH's brunette assistant was giving an autographed picture of the hero to an excited brown haired teenage girl.
"Super Hunk really appreciates your help to catch this criminal. Thanks a lot for calling us." The woman said to the girl, who started giggling while looking at the picture.
Since SH arrived Everwood, almost a week ago, he announced that he would give autographed pictures to anyone reporting any kind of crime through the special phone line the Police Department assigned for him. Because of this, every day several persons, mainly teenagers, had started keeping their eyes open for any criminal activity, so Super Hunk didn't need to patrol. To make things easier for him, the city, or, more precisely, Mayor Gripling, gave a Cadillac to him and his assistants for transportation, and they were allowed to break any traffic law to be on time, just like an ambulance or a police car.
The next morning, Chuck picked up the newspaper, as usual, and found Super Hunk's name on the headlines, as it had been happening since he arrived. Chuckie sighed and sat at his kitchen's table, waiting for Angelica to have breakfast together. Since Chuck did almost nothing between The ColoRed Chuck's summons, he made almost all the house work, including cooking, as well as helping his parents to attend their business, the cyber-cafe Java Lava, which helped him as well to keep the facade of having a civilian job. Chuck started reading the article concerning Super Hunk's last stunt.
At least he is being useful, Chuckie thought. Truth be said, he wasn't so angry for having another hero around, but by his attitude and excessive showing-off; Chuckie had no trouble if the newspapers gave him more attention, as long as Super Hunk didn't mess with his job. He then noticed something about the criminal. The newspaper described him as part of a dangerous gang that operated in an international level, but Chuck caught this particular thief about two years ago, and knew that wasn't true. He operated by his own, and was considered a low-danger criminal.
The Press is exaggerating Super Hunk's stunts. I thought that was just a rumor. Chuck thought, remembering what he had heard at times in the UHPS' meetings. According to these rumors, even if Super Hunk really caught criminals, most of the time they were petty thieves, but he always convinced the press and even some cops to make them look like highly dangerous ones to improve his reputation.
"Reading the comic strips?" Chuckie lifted his head, founding his favorite police officer entering his house through the kitchen outside door, thanks to the key he gave to her. She was using a black top, a red jacket with her badge on it, and blue jeans.
"You know, Kimi, just because I gave you a key doesn't mean you can go inside a house without knocking first." Chuck said to his sister in a faked angry tone. Kimi shrugged and gave him a little kiss on his cheek.
"Oh, you're a little grumpy today. Angelica washed your disguise with too much bleach again?" Kimi asked in a joking way while grabbing a toast from the dish on the table's center.
"Don't remind me that. Somehow, The ColorPink Chuck doesn't sound so good." Chuckie chuckled, rolling his eyes. He offered Kimi a chair while he stood up.
"Want some breakfast?" Chuck said while grabbing the pan where he had prepared some scrambled eggs for Angelica and himself; he always prepared a little more than needed in case any of his friends or Kimi decided to appear and eat with them. Kimi shook her head.
"No, thank you. Just the toast and some orange juice, please. Actually, I came to... well... I guess you already noticed it." Kimi said, looking at the newspaper. Chuck gave her a glass with OJ, and sat next to her.
"Yes. Super Hunk and the way the press and the authorities are trying to make him look like the best thing that had happened to humankind since cheeseburgers." Chuck said while grabbing a toast himself.
"Yes... about that... Chuckie, I feel really bad for this. Commander Pangborn had ordered all of us to help Super Hunk and support any good story said or written about him. I tried to tell that guy a few things when he appeared at the station." Kimi said, slightly upset.
"And what happened?" Chuckie asked, with a concerned look. Even if he liked the idea of Kimi defending him (and, since she was Captain, her opinion was quite important), he hated thinking she might get in trouble with the commander or the mayor.
"I just couldn't say a thing to him! I stared at this guy, and, well, he kissed my hand and commented about how pretty I am, and, when I reacted, he already had given me an autographed picture! Susie was the one who made me react, and even she was affected the same way!" Kimi said, slapping her head in frustration. She was convinced that was a sure way to betray her brother. Chuck sighed, and placed a hand on Kimi's shoulder.
"I know, it's hard to resist him. I guess the only ones who aren't impressed by Super Hunk are those like me, who get annoyed by his attitude or are directly affected by his actions." Chuckie told her.
"You know, maybe that's another superpower of him. Hey, that doesn't make him a super villain?" Kimi suggested.
"I had thought about that myself, but, even if he has some kind of charming power, he fights crime and protects citizens, and does it well. What he does with his charm might be a little un-ethical, but it's not illegal, and doesn't really harm anyone except me." Chuck commented his sister.
"Brother, I guess you have a super power as well... to stand this guy, you must be super-patient." Kimi told him, smiling slightly as it seemed Chuck wasn't angry with her.
"Of course he's super patient. He married me." Angelica said while entering the kitchen; since she had no work that day, Angie was wearing a white top, blue short pants, and red sneakers instead of her business suit. Angie greeted Kimi and kissed Chuck before sitting and having breakfast with them. Kimi, as she had said, wasn't really hungry, so she just took some sips of her juice while chatting.
"You stared at him with Chuckie right next to you?" Kimi asked Angelica when they touched the Super Hunk's subject and the little incident they had with him.
"Yes. Not my brightest moment." Angelica said while eating her eggs.
"Don't sweat. Susie did the same, and Harold was right behind her." Kimi informed her. Angelica chuckled.
"Sergeant Susan "I do the right thing" Carmichael did that? Wow! Guess she is only human after all. But, again, even if this guy is handsome, we can't just lose our heads every time he's around." Angelica told Kimi.
"I think..." Chuck started saying, but couldn't finish the phrase. When Kimi and Angelica turned to see him, they noticed he was gone, and his civilian clothes were on the floor..
"I wonder who might summon him so early on Saturday." Angelica told Kimi.
"Yes. Well, it would be a crime not eating this, and I must fight crime." Kimi said while grabbing Chuckie's half- eaten breakfast. Angelica arched an eyebrow at her.
"Girl, you are spending too much time with DeVille." Angelica sighed.
X-X-X-X
"Push harder, Spencer. I think I can get it." A seven years old girl with pig tails said to her friend, a brown haired boy about the same age, who was trying to help her climb a tree.
"Bernadette, this is useless. You can't even reach the low branches, and the ball is stuck in one of the tallest." Spencer said to her. The girl sighed and asked the boy to help her down.
"Great. Why I allowed you to convince me to play at this time in the park? There are no grown-ups who can help us to take the ball down." Bernadette said to Spencer. The boy gave her a weird look.
"Bernie, you are the one who convinced me to play at this time, remember? You said it was a good idea because we would have the park for ourselves." Spencer told her. The girl sighed, and looked at the ball, who was way out from their reach.
"Oh... and now, who will help us?" Bernadette said in a slightly upset tone. In a perfect cue, they heard a voice coming from the nearby playground.
"I!" The ColoRed Chuck said to the kids, standing on top of the slide.
"THE COLORED CHUCK!" Both kids exclaimed.
"Didn't count with my cleverness! Good guys, follow me." Chuck said a moment before losing balance and slipping on the slide, landing face first.
"Are you hurt, Mister ColoRed?" Spencer asked while he and Bernadette moved next to the hero. Chuck shook his head, and stood up while dusting off.
"Of course I'm not. I did that on purpose to see if the games are safe for you kids to use... and besides, I always liked the slide. All my movements are coldly calculated." Chuck said to the children. Unlike SH, he tried to seem a little better than he really was, not for showing-off, but to try keeping an image of a competent hero people could trust.
"Oh, well. Anyway, good thing you appeared here, Mister Chuck. I know you must be a very busy hero, but we'll appreciate a lot if you recover our ball. It's stuck on that tree." The girl said to the hero while pointing at the tree. Chuck smiled at them.
"Of course I will. I'm never too busy to help anyone. As the old and known proverb says; It's nice to be important, and don't look to who." Chuck said in his expert tone, causing the kids to get dumbfounded expressions.
"No, wait... oh, yes. Do well, but is more important to be nice." Chuck tried to correct himself. The kids scratched their heads, confused. Chuck noticed this, and tried to correct the proverbs again.
"No, that wasn't right... okay, if you are important, you can try to be important to everyone... but that's impossible because not everyone will care about what you do... unless you're really nice, and you are good being nice... which of course is important as well... well, you got the idea." Chuck finally gave up.
"Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself with the slide?" Spencer asked, concerned.
"Relax, I'm fine. Okay, now I'll get down the ball. Let's see if I can hit it with my Skweaky Lumper." Chuck said while taking out his mallet. The hero aimed at the ball, and threw his weapon, but, unfortunately, it got stuck as well. Chuck groaned and slapped his forehead.
"Guess I'll need to do it the hard way. Stand back." Chuck told the children, and started climbing the tree. After a minute or so, he directed to the kids, who were a couple of feet away from the tree.
"A ball, going down!" Chuck yelled, while dropping the ball. Bernadette caught it without problems.
"A mallet, going down!" Chuck said next. A moment later, his mallet fell from the tree. Spencer caught it; since the mallet wasn't so heavy, it was easy for the boy.
"Yours truly... GOOOIIING DOOOOOWN!" Chuck yelled in fear while falling from the tree.
CRASH!
"Oh, my...! Are you okay?" Bernadette asked Chuck while she and Spencer ran next to the hero, who luckily had landed in a bush next to the tree, softening his fall.
"Of course I am... I did that... who I'm trying to fool? That wasn't on purpose. Ouch." Chuck said while standing up, with a pained expression.
"I got your mallet, Mister ColoRed. Sure you're fine?" Spencer said while handling him the mallet. Chuck, despite the pain, smiled at the kids.
"Yes... don't worry. I'm used to receive a few hits once in a while... actually, more frequently than I would like. Anyway, I'm glad I'm the one who fell from the tree instead of one of you. Next time, however, try playing away from the trees, deal?" Chuck said to them.
"Deal." Both kids chorused, and after thanking him, they left to play in the tree-less part of the park. Once they were at a certain distance, Chuck took out his cell phone and dialed home.
"Hello? Angie? No crime this time; just helping two kids with a little problem they had. Can you please summon me back... and take out the ice bag, and a couple of pain-killers?" Chuck said to his wife while rubbing his shoulder.
X-X-X-X
"You caught a super criminal and a panther without getting a scratch, and got hurt taking a ball down from a tree?" Tommy Pickles, wearing the trademark explorer's outfit of Okey Dokey Jones, asked Chuck while trying to hold his laughter. He decided to pay a visit on his friend and cousin that afternoon, and now they all were chatting in the living room.
"Yeah, I know it sounds silly, but that happens to me all the time. Two weeks ago I was hanging some pictures on the wall, and I think I hit my fingers with the hammer like five times... and my trademark weapon is a mallet." Chuckie shrugged. Luckily, the damage caused by the fall was limited to some muscular pain that now was almost totally gone.
"Hey, you're not the only one with weird luck. I face wild animals and archeological artifacts' illegal dealers all the time, and I still get nervous when I see a lizard, or have to swim." Tommy replied, trying to make his friend feel better.
"My heroes." Angelica said in a sarcastic tone while rolling her eyes. Tommy and Chuckie chuckled.
"Changing the subject, have you talked with Super Hunk to see when he'll go?" Tommy asked Chuck, in a more serious tone. Chuck sighed.
"Nope. And, by the way he is treated by everyone around here, I doubt he'll leave any time soon." Chuck confessed. Angelica then got an idea.
"Hey, why don't you go and talk to him, Tommy? You are a hero as well, and, since your identity is public knowledge, you can surely go to his penthouse without worrying about being spotted." Angelica suggested.
"I already talked with him, Angie... actually he did almost all the talking. He said this city needed him a lot because Chuck is always attending calls from other cities, and I'm nothing but a glorified archeologist." Tommy said with a slightly upset look on his face.
"The nerve of that guy!" Angelica snapped. Every time she heard about SH doing something like that, he became less attractive to her eyes, and a lot more annoying.
"And, unfortunately, is very hard to fight back his arguments because they're usually partly true. I mean, I'm not like Chuckie, whose became a hero for his own choice; I'm just an archeologist and a documentary film maker who, by several circumstances, had ended playing a heroic role." Tommy admitted.
"But you are as much as a hero as me, or even more, Tommy. I think we'll better start ignoring whatever Super Hunk tells us, or we'll develop a complex or something. As the old and known proverb says; to silly words, doesn't bite." Chuck said in his expert tone. Angelica and Tommy rolled their eyes, knowing what will happen next.
"No, no, wait... A barking dog, deaf ears." Chuck corrected himself. He then slapped his forehead, realizing his mistake, and tried to correct it.
"No, that's wrong... if you are deaf, and a dog barks, you surely aren't going to hear it... and you don't hear silly words as well... actually, if you're deaf, you'll not hear anything... so, if someone asks you to go get a bite, you'll not hear the invitation... and that person will need to write it, or use signal language... but the real problem is if that barking dog is an aggressive one and charges against you..." Chuck was cut by his wife and friend.
"Well, we got the idea." Angelica and Tommy chorused, making Chuck to stop talking and sigh in frustration.
"Chuckie, how you can be so good about giving advices and improvising plans, but you are unable to say a proverb?" Angelica asked.
"Honestly, I don't know. I can write and understand proverbs perfectly, but, when I want to say them out loud, well, you see what happens." Chuck commented.
"Maybe you should quit the thing with the proverbs; since you are not good at all with them, why keep doing that?" Tommy told him.
"Well, being bad doing something hadn't stopped Angie from singing." Chuck said in a joking tone, making Angelica to give him a playful punch on his still pained shoulder.
"Watch your mouth, mister, or you'll sleep with the dog." Angelica told him in a slightly menacing tone.
"Angie, we have no dog." Chuck reminded her.
"But the neighbors do... a pitbull, if I remember right." Angelica frowned at Chuckie, making him to gulp and Tommy to chuckle. At that moment, the phone rang, and Angelica answered, softening her expression.
"Hello? The Three Stooges here, Moe talking." Angelica said at the phone. Chuck and Tommy laughed.
"Can I be Shemp?" Tommy asked, following the joke.
"Oh, hi, Kimi... yes, he's here. Okay, hold on." Angelica said while getting a more serious expression, and then turned to see Tommy and Chuckie.
"It's Kimi. She wants us to see Channel Twelve." Angelica informed them. Chuckie turned on the TV, and SH appeared on the screen, while Doddie's voice was heard narrating the action.
"In these video images, generously provided by Super Hunk, taken by one of his assistants, we can see him fighting two dangerous weapons dealers, something that happened just one hour ago. They were transporting enough firepower on their car's trunk to scare Saddam Hussein, as one cop said when arresting them." Doddie said, while the images showed SH punching one of the criminals, and lifting the other over his head, throwing him inside a nearby dumpster.
"Ouch. Well, we can say something positive about SH after all." Chuck commented while Tommy and Angelica nodded. Then, Angie heard Kimi telling her something, and got an upset expression.
"Wait, Kimi, I'll turn on the speaker. Please, repeat that." Angelica said while doing right that. Tommy and Chuckie turned to pay attention to Kimi's voice.
"I said that those guys only transported a few low-caliber guns. They really are dealers, but not as dangerous as the news are saying. Super Hunk told that to the press, and the officer that made the arrest supported his version." Kimi said, making Tommy and Chuckie to get shocked expressions.
"Man, that guy is insane, or what? Those lies aren't going to do any good to him!" Chuck said, upset.
"What do you mean? He is getting the attention of the press, and, unfortunately, the public support as well." Angelica commented. Tommy sighed and shook his head.
"Yes, but by showing-off this way and inventing these stories, he will make people think he is like, invincible or something, and, when he fails, everyone will be really disappointed." Tommy told her.
"And what if he never fails?" Angelica asked.
"Angie, even the best heroes can fail once in a while. And, despite SH being a competent hero, he isn't the best, as much as he wants to be considered that way." Tommy explained.
"Well, I guess... Chuckie?" Angelica noticed then that her husband wasn't present, and his civilian clothes were on the couch. Tommy noticed it as well, wide opening his eyes in surprise.
"I can't hear any of you. Chuckie was summoned again, right?" Kimi guessed. Angelica sighed.
"Yes... you know, that can be annoying at times, but there's a good side effect. I don't like him leaving at the middle of a conversation, but always feel really happy when he comes back, and, when I feel happy, I try making him happy as well." Angelica told Kimi, using a suggestive tone at the end.
"That's too much information!" Tommy covered his ears, while Angie and Kimi chuckled.
X-X-X-X
"More water, quickly!" A half bald blond man, apparently on his fifties, wearing a blue shirt, brown shorts and white sandals, yelled to his neighbors, who were trying to fight a fire who was burning one of the neighborhood's houses... his daughter and her family's home. And this fire wasn't an accident.
"This is useless, Ray! The lawn and part of the first floor were sprayed with gasoline! We can't turn down this fire just with water!" A blond young man, slightly overweighed, using nerdy glasses, told the older man while using a fire extinguisher to, at least, contain the fire.
"I know, Sammy, but we must try! My grandson is inside!" Ray Rocket replied while throwing another water-filled bucket in the house's entrance.
"Please, let me go. I can do it." A red haired Latin man, about Sammy's age, said to his wife, a beautiful young woman with purple hair, and his best friend/brother-in-law, a guy with braided brown hair and shades. He was laying a few feets away from the house, covered by bruises and first degree burns.
"No, Twister, I'll not let you do it! You hardly survived when trying the first time! I can't lose you too!" The woman said while hugging him, with tears on her eyes. She and her brother also got a few burns when saving her husband from the fire.
Otto rocket, the woman's brother, felt like crying as well, and got an angered expression when lifting his head, looking at the guy who started the fire, his friend's brother, Lars Rodriguez, who now was inside a patrol, with a furious expression on his bruised face (well, he fought trying to escape, and deserved a few hits). He had been jealous of his brother for years, since he married Reggie Rocket, Ocean Shore's most beautiful and coolest girl ever, and decided to have his revenge burning down their house while the couple was talking with the next door neighbors. Unfortunately, he did it without knowing Twister and Reggie's three-years-old boy, Alberto, was taking his nap on the second floor.
Otto tried to run inside the house to save his nephew, but couldn't advance too far because of the flames. His other best friend, Sammy, as well as his father's, Tito, had to pull him away from the fire before he could get injured like Twister.
"The firefighters! Where are they?" Violet, an old woman who had known Reggie and her friends since they were kids, asked in frustration to no one in particular.
"The fire truck had been failing lately, so they're running all the way here! The kid isn't going to survive that long!" McKenzie, a red haired girl, replied to her while running transporting another bucket. Reggie and Twister heard her, and hugged while looking at the burning house, ready to break down.
"Oh... and now, who will help us?" Reggie said, with a broken voice.
"I!" Everyone turned to see the famous hero in red, jumping from behind a parked car.
"The ColoRed Chuck!" Sammy said, surprised.
"Didn't count with my... CHANFLE! There's anyone inside the house?" Chuck cut his usual introduction when noticing the problem.
"My son... he was sleeping on the second floor..." Twister told him in a pained voice. Chuck gasped, and immediately started thinking about a way to save the kid. He then noticed a guy using a long black cape and cowl, and a hockey mask.
"I need your cape, quick!" Chuck told him in a hurry. Eddie, the guy wearing the cape, nodded and handled it to him; it was the regular disguise he normally used while attending his father's magic and novelties' store..
"Now, someone soak me!" Chuck said while putting on the cape. McKenzie then threw him the full content of her bucket, wetting the cape entirely.
"He is on the third room, counting from the stairway." Otto told the hero, understanding his plan. Chuck nodded, and slowly, started walking in the house's entrance direction, and, despite the heat, sweating cold.
"I'm going to do it... I'm going to do it... seriously, I'm going to do it..." Chuck repeated to himself, trying to summon all the courage he needed.
"MOOOOMMMYYYY! DAAAADDDYYY!" The kid scared voice was then heard, freezing everyone on their spots. Chuck gasped in surprise, and then, clenched his teeth and frowned; that scream was all he needed to hear.
"I'm doing it!" Chuck yelled while dashing inside the house. When entering, the first thing he did was throwing himself to the floor, rolling in the direction, he guessed, the stairway was; luckily, he was right, and ended next to it, burning just like the rest of the house. Chuck took a breath (not so deep because of the smoke), and ran upstairs, feeling the heat on his sneakers; fortunately, the burning sensation gave him an extra impulse to run faster, avoiding being caught by the flames and falling because of the steps who broke under his weight.
Chuck looked for the room Otto indicated him, and opened the door, finding a dark red haired little boy on his bed, shocked and coughing. Chuck moved next to him and tried to make him react.
"Don't worry, pal, I'm here to help. Come on." Chuck tried to pick him up, but the kid reacted in a negative way, struggling.
"No! Mommy says I can't go with strangers!" Alberto said, scared. Chuck knew it would be really difficult to carry the kid if he was this scared.
"What's your name?" Chuck asked, in the kindest possible tone.
"A-Alberto Rodriguez." The kid replied.
"Good. I'm the ColoRed Chuck. Now we aren't strangers. Can I help you now?" Chuck said to him, trying to hurry up since the room now was getting hotter and filling with smoke.
"I guess... who said you were?" The kid asked, a little calmer now.
"A friend." Chuck said while offering the kid his hand. Alberto smiled at him, and allowed Chuck to carry him while covering the kid with the cape. Chuck ran out from the room, but noticed that the fire now was far bigger, so he couldn't escape the same way he entered.
Chuck turned to try jumping through Alberto's bedroom's window, but noticed the lawn was on fire as well, so that wasn't an option. Chuck moved to the other bedrooms, trying to find a safe way out. He noticed that the neighbors had a pool, not far away from the windows, and, apparently, it was a deep one.
"Alberto, I need you to take a medicine, okay? Don't worry, kid, we'll get out of here." Chuck told the kid. When he nodded, Chuck cut a section of Eddie's cape, and took a jar out from his shorts. He then took out a little Swiss Army blade Tommy gave to him as a birthday gift, and made a hole on the jar's cap. His plan was risky, but hadn't too many options.
"He had been there almost five minutes." Ray thought out loud while he and his neighbors looked at the burning house. The fire was so intense now, nobody could approach the house to keep throwing water or using the extinguishers.
"Hey, look, is The ColoRed Chuck! He's climbing to the roof!" Violet pointed. As she said, Chuck was now going out from a window, and climbing to the house's roof.
"My baby! Where is him?" Reggie asked, concerned, when noticing the hero wasn't carrying Alberto.
Chuck walked through the roof, coughing, and stopped the contrary side the pool was visible. After hesitating for a minute or so, he dashed to the other side, and jumped from the roof.
SSSPPLAAAASSSSHH!
Chuck hardly reached the pool, falling on his back. Everybody ran next to the pool, and saw his gasping head emerging from the water. A moment later, the house collapsed, and the second floor was covered by the flames as well.
"Alberto..." Twister, who had handled to move next to the pool thanks to Sammy and Otto's help, looked at the house with a shocked expression, while Reggie buried her face on her father's chest, crying loudly. Tito and Eddie, with tears on their eyes, helped Chuck going out from the pool.
"Don't feel bad, bro. You did a very brave attempt." Tito said to the hero, who was looking down with a pained expression.
"Yes... and a successful one!" Chuckie said, smiling, while taking out the jar from his shorts. He opened it, and a little human head popped out from the jar.
"That was the coolest thing I've ever done!" Alberto exclaimed in happiness. Everybody turned to see the jar, not believing what was in front of their eyes.
"I gave him one of my Shrinktolin's pills, and, since he is just a kid, he reduced to a smaller size than the one I usually turn. I put a little piece of the cape inside the jar to cushion it, and holed the cap to allow him to breath. My pocket is designed to support all the hits I receive without getting the jar broken, so it was the safest place to place the kid. Don't worry about the boy; he will be back to his normal size in a few minutes." Chuck explained.
"Mom, Dad, look, I'm okay!" Alberto said, excited. Twister, ignoring his pain, moved next to Reggie, who now was leaning to see their son. They both were crying, but, this time, because of happiness. A loud cheer was heard from the crowd, and it was even louder a minute later, when Alberto returned to his regular size and was hugged by his parents.
"Thanks, God! Thanks, God! Thanks, God!" Reggie said while she and Twister were kneeled, hugging their son. Then, she lifted her head, looking at Chuck, who was using both Tito and Eddie for support, since his body ached so much he couldn't stand by himself.
"We'll never be able to pay you enough for this... thanks." Reggie wide smiled at Chuck.
"You're welcome. Oddly enough, this isn't the first time today I take a fall for a kid." Chuck said, smiling in reply. As much as his body was killing him, he couldn't deny he lived for these moments.