37
Kya felt the fire blazing at her back, not really so much the heat as the comfort and control that it gave her. She pulled her eyes away from the sight of Sam jumping the porch railing and disappearing inside, returning her steady gaze to the dangerous duo in front of her.
"I'm glad you came back," Hunter told her in a tone that could only be described as sadistic.
"You won't be for long," Kya shot back, directing the fire farther out around her small form.
"What are you gonna do, burn me at the stake?" he demanded with a laugh.
"Thinkin about it," she told him seriously. "Where's Dean?"
"Safe and sound," he told her.
She bit her lower lip and nodded before shooting a hand out. The fire behind her shot out a length of dancing flame that wrapped around her outstretched arm, twirling and coiling before gathering in her palm and exploding toward Hunter in a devastating fireball. He dove out of the way, pushing the woman out the other way.
As the woman came back up Kya came forward without a word, eyes burning with anger and jaw set in stone. She snapped her right leg out in a gracefully arcing kick that hit the woman in the side of the head and brought her right leg down, turning to pivot on it as soon as it hit the ground and shooting out her left leg in a back kick that hit Hunter in the chest as he tried to sneak up behind her. She completed the turn, coming around to face him and snapping a hand out as he came back up, hitting him twice in the chest and once in the throat with the edge of her hand in a chop. She put both her arms out to the sides for balance, palms facing the ground and elbows slightly bent and whirled, bringing her right leg around again in a fluid circle, slamming her outstretched foot into the woman's shoulder as she tried to come from behind in an attack.
As Kya completed the maneuver she spun again to face Hunter this time. Her right leg was bent slightly at the knee, pushed back behind her and her left leg was in the lead pushed straight out with the knee locked so that her body was slightly tilted back. She brought her right arm up to cross over her chest, the palm open and flat as her fingertips hovered inches from her chin and her left arm bent at the elbow, pointed down over her torso at the ground with the palm of that hand also opened and fingers pushed tightly together. She held the defensive posture, keeping on ear behind her for any further attacks by the woman.
"You can't beat me," she told Hunter seriously.
"Can you outrun a bullet?"
She half smiled at him, lowering her head to stare up at him through narrowed eyes and a curtain of curls. "I'm Supergirl."
Hunter's laugh was cut short as she lunged. She ran straight for him and jumped at the last minute, her right foot connecting with his lower stomach. She used her momentum to propel her upward, as if he were a wall, and her left foot slammed into his chest. She pushed out with the blow and arced her body back down in a perfect aerial display that set her lightly back down on her feet in front of him. Her left hand shot out and backhanded him while her right came in low to hit his gut as he stumbled back.
He fell to the ground and she resumed her defensive stance with a small smile and a raised eyebrow. He rolled back to his feet with an audible groan.
"Chelsea," he spat. "Take care of this."
He ran back toward the house, leaving the brunette woman named Chelsea to spit a string of curses at him before getting back to her feet. Kya turned to face her, mentally putting out the fire before somebody from the highway noticed it and called the cops prematurely. The two women circled each other warily while Chelsea repeatedly glanced at her shotgun that had been thrown to the ground during Kya's first assault.
"You're not getting to that with all of your fingers intact," Kya promised her.
"I'm gonna blow a hole so big through you they won't be able to stitch you back together for your funeral," Chelsea hissed.
Kya shrugged and lunged at the woman, the time for wordplay done. Chelsea managed to dodge her first attack and come back quicker than expected, aiming a punch right for Kya's face. Kya reacted with only inches separating them, leaning forward to grab the woman around the waist. She pushed her torso straight out, keeping a tight grip on the woman, and bent her right leg straight up behind her in an incredible display of flexibility. Her right leg bent at the knee as it arced over her lowered head, slamming into the woman's forehead before Kya brought it back down and jumped away. As soon as she had cleared some distance she shoved her left leg out to kick the woman in the stomach. As soon as the left leg hit the ground again she switched legs, kicking Chelsea with the right instead as she stumbled back. The blow made her stumble further and Kya came forward again with the right leg no sooner than she had touched it to the grass. Chelsea stumbled back several more feet and Kya finished the four combo kick assault as soon as she had completed the third kick. As soon as her right foot touched the ground again from the last kick she spun on it, pivoting her body around in a circle as she brought her left leg up and kicked Chelsea in the stomach full force with a back kick. She stood over Chelsea when the woman hit the ground gasping for oxygen.
"I wouldn't get up if I were you."
38
Sam held his breath and tried to move away from the looming barrel of the shotgun but his head still spun from the blow to the wall. He saw Dean free his other hand but his feet were still firmly secured to the chair and his brother would have no chance of making it in time to spare Sam a bullet to the head.
Just as Hunter put his finger on the trigger a black tornado hurtled from the shadows. Buck took Hunter down with him, teeth gripping the man's arm and shaking violently, causing him to drop the gun. The Labrador stood on top of the man's chest, eyes flashing in the dim light of the room, emitting a series of vicious snarls and growls.
Hunter screamed in pain as Buck's teeth tore through his flesh and Sam found his feet just as Dean undid the last of his bonds. Sam snatched up his shotgun and leveled it at the man on the floor.
"Thanks, Buck," Sam told the dog.
Buck released Hunter's arm and stepped away to stand at Sam's side, nearly reaching the man's thigh in his height. The fur on his midnight black coat bristled slightly and his mouth remained curled in a snarl.
Dean stepped up beside his brother and looked down at the blue eyed man on the ground still holding his savaged arm and whining in pain.
"Get up," Sam ordered.
"You sonofabitch," Hunter growled at the dog. "I'm gonna kill you and use your fur as a carpet!"
Buck almost lunged again but held himself in check, as if he knew exactly what Hunter was saying to him and didn't like the suggestion for his coat one bit. Sam shoved the barrel of the gun closer to Hunter.
"I said, get up," Sam said again, this time in a tone that brooked no argument.
Warily looking at the trio in front of him Hunter climbed to his feet. As soon as he got his feet under him Dean came forward and hit the man in the jaw with a right hook and all the strength he could put behind it. Sam stared at his brother in shock as Dean shook out his hands and allowed a grin to split his face.
"Damn that felt good," Dean commented as Hunter rolled on the ground.
They turned at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs in time to see Kya shoving Chelsea ahead of her. She had the woman tight in her grip with one of her arms wrenched behind her back and the other on her shoulder, propelling her forward. Kya shoved Chelsea to the ground with Hunter and grabbed Dean into a tight hug.
"I'm glad to see you're still in one piece," she told him.
"Yeah because pieces wouldn't be as sexy," he replied.
She playfully punched his shoulder as Sam held the gun steady on the duo on the floor. Kya released Dean and cast a thoughtful glance at the dog next to Sam before returning her full attention to Hunter and Chelsea.
"So tell me," she said slowly. "You were hoping to accomplish what, exactly, by all of this?"
"This whole town deserves to drown in its own blood," Hunter screeched from the floor. "And if you three hadn't of meddled then I would have made sure that it happened!"
"By stealing the book from the museum, kidnapping our friend, assaulting me not only earlier but today as well, and planning mass murder?" Kya clarified.
"Damn right," Chelsea threw in. "I would have been more than happy to put a bullet between your friend's eyes."
"I'm sure you would have," Dean told her. "But that's not on my to-do list for today, sweetheart. I think I left it out somewhere between driving my car off a bridge and enrolling myself in band camp."
"So in other words, the two of you are completely psychotic?" Kya asked.
"You can't prove any of your accusations," Hunter growled. "The whole story is ludicrous."
"Yes," Kya agreed. "But kidnapping, assault, and theft isn't. And you did do all of those things, right? So where's the insanity in all of that?"
"There isn't any," Hunter told her. "I'll do it all again if it means this town will fall to its knees. There's no way you can stop me unless you intend to shoot us both."
Kya smiled and slipped a small hand held recorder from her back pocket. "I don't intend to shoot either of your sorry asses. I think this will be enough to put the both of you away for a long, long time. And if you ever get out to cause more trouble, I'll be back to put you right back where you belong."
Hunter cursed at her as Dean smiled and pulled out a cell phone to call the cops. Sam held the gun on them both as Kya tied them up and left them in the basement for the police to find, along with the recorder in plain sight with the entire confession on it.
The three of them and Buck quickly left the premises, jumping into Dean's car and leaving before the first sound of sirens could be heard approaching in the distance. Hardly a word was spoken on the trip back to the motel room and Kya told both the boys that she needed a moment alone after all of the activity. She watched them disappear into the motel room in exhaustion while she turned back to the faithful dog in front of her.
"Alright," she said slowly, kneeling down to his level and staring him in the eyes. "Something is up with you and I want to know what it is."
Buck looked at her with far more understanding in his brown eyes than a dog should have had and backed up a few steps. Kya reached out, grabbing hold of his collar and pulling him back to her.
"Now, Buck," she said in a firmer tone.
She had to stop herself from falling onto her butt as the dog seemed to give in to defeat and lowered his head. Buck's shoulders began to expand upward, mutating as they went and taking on a human form as the rest of his body shifted as well, rising up from the ground. As the body shifted it began to become incorporeal until she could see right through the shifting mass and to the other side of the parking lot. She held her breath as the transformation completed itself and she was found herself looking up at the ghost of a man.
