PART II: Initiator
Meanwhile...
Saturday, May 13th, 2017
City of Los Angeles
United States of America
22:04 GMT-7 (05:04 GMT May 14th)
The Kawasaki's 998 cubic-centimetre engine roared as the four cylinders pushed the haze grey machine forward at over ninety miles-per-hour.
On Interstate 110, you had to be a certified lunatic to be riding at such speeds. However, the title of 'certified lunatic' had to go to the rider of the ascari black Aprilia RSV4 RR motorcycle, which was weaving in and out of the traffic, a dozen yards behind the fleeing Ninja H2 motorcycle. Bane was that certified lunatic, and she was proud of it. Her skills when riding a motorcycle were flawless but, on that night, she was also relying on technology to keep her alive. Not only did she have a high-definition heads-up-display in her helmet allowing her to keep her eyes on the road, she also had an 'eye in the sky' watching out for traffic and potential trouble on the road ahead of her. Bane trusted her eye in the sky, totally – she had to.
"You've got some slow-moving trucks a mile ahead of you," Crypto warned from the safehouse as the same information appeared in the HUD using stylised icons.
"Got you!" Bane responded as she veered from lane to lane, avoiding the slower cars, vans, and trucks.
"Copy that!" Venom replied as she followed her twin, twenty yards behind on her own bucine grey Aprilia RSV4 RR motorcycle.
The twins were in pursuit of a man whom they had witnessed picking up a package from the Port of Long Beach – they assumed it to be drugs – and, therefore, they had taken up the pursuit. Naturally, the courier had accelerated and had tried to get away, confirming to Team Los Angeles that he had something hot in his custody . . . exactly how hot, the twins had no idea. The three high-powered motorcycles raced north up the 110 weaving in and out of the traffic, ignoring the various LAPD vehicles which joined the chase. Everything hinged on the skill of the riders and the quality of their machines. One single mistake, and they would ultimately end up like the proverbial bug on the windshield. The straight stretch of I-110 passing over West Carson allowed the three motorcycles to accelerate past one hundred miles-per-hour. They continued at high speed down the interstate with its gentle curves allowing them to maintain an average of ninety miles-per-hour.
Back in the safehouse, Crypto grinned to herself as the three riders blasted past, less than a mile away from where she sat at her computer screens. Crypto wondered how far they were headed as at the speeds they were going; they were rapidly running out of Interstate 110. A few minutes later, the three motorcycles blasted past Safehouse A, to the left, and Los Angeles proper, to the right. They were very rapidly approaching US-101 and the fleeing courier could head in several different directions – none of them good.
As they raced through Los Angeles, Bane was concerned about the outcome of the pursuit. They had covered almost twenty miles at exceedingly high speeds and the courier appeared to be showing no sign of slowing. However, as they approached Exit 24A, the courier showed signs of moving over to the right, away from the outside lane.
"I think he's going for the 101," Bane reported.
"Copy that," Crypto responded.
The courier took the offramp at fifty miles-per-hour, despite the signs advising thirty-five. He narrowly dodged an errant pickup truck as he weaved in and out of the vehicles taking the same ramp. Bane took a risk as she flew between a pair of panel vans while Venom reluctantly slowed as there was no safe way to pass a large truck. They raced under I-110 and under the various elevated sections of the junction where the courier jinked ahead of a Toyota, causing the driver to brake hard and lose control, slamming into the steel crash barrier. Bane dodged around the smashed vehicle as it rebounded off the crash barrier and kept up the chase with Venom following suit. As they curved around, Bane was able to pull alongside the courier and she tried to pull past and block him, but the courier accelerated hard, almost losing control on the curve but preventing Bane from blocking him all the same.
They soon joined US-101 where the traffic was a little heavier, despite the late hour. Surprisingly, the courier appeared to hug the right side of the freeway and after dodging around a few cars, he took the Glendale Boulevard exit where he slowed, momentarily, to cross the junction at the bottom of the ramp without waiting for a red light. Bane and Venom slowed cautiously. and they expertly dodged the traffic, catching a green light, then picked up the pursuit which was to be much more dangerous now that they were on residential streets as opposed to the multi-lane highway. Still, the courier raced up the east side of Echo Lake for less than a minute before he found his route blocked by a red light and a car turning left ahead of him. He all but locked up his rear wheel as he braked hard and his rear tyre left a solid black streak on the blacktop as he slithered to a halt. The courier took a brief glance behind him and he saw Bane slowing down quickly with Venom not far behind her. He spun his rear tyre, accelerating ahead around the intruding car and racing on up the street.
Only, he did not get all that far as three or four young men chose to cross the street at that very same moment, more than a little inebriated, and forgetting the basics of how to cross the street. They never registered the speeding motorcycle which was heading directly at them, nor the sound of two more machines close behind. However, while the courier lost all control of his ride before crashing into a parked car, Bane and Venom were in full control of their machines and they had plenty of time to see what was happening and bring their Aprilia motorcycles to a speedy but controlled halt. Venom and Bane leapt off their mounts and dumped their helmets. They found the courier on the grass – he had completely missed the sidewalk – as he struggled to his feet. His helmet and leathers had protected him from the impact which was soft anyway. However, Bane's kick to his stomach was in no way soft. The courier went down hard, gasping for breath.
"Stay the fuck down, asshole!" Bane growled.
Venom turned her head as she heard a squeal of tyres and she saw a black SUV skidding to a halt about a dozen yards away. Two men jumped out and they began to shoot at . . . the courier!
"Stop!" the courier yelled as he pulled off his helmet. "I've got..."
Then he was dead – two rounds to his chest. Venom and Bane dropped both of the men who were dead before they hit the blacktop beside their SUV.
"What the fuck was that all about?" Venom asked her sister.
"Fucked if I know," Bane growled as she rifled the Kawasaki's panniers before standing back up with a wrapped package in her hands.
"Let's go, Bane," Venom directed as sirens were heard converging on their location.
Together, the pair roared off.
A short while later...
23:15 GMT-7 (06:15 GMT May 14th)
Safehouse C
Garage
The two motorcycles stopped in their allocated zones and their armour-clad riders cut the engines.
The two riders pulled off their helmets and placed them onto the rack provided before heading into the safehouse proper. Venom and Bane, otherwise known as Chrissy and Sky Abbott, pulled off their masks and began to unzip their combat suits. They were met part way by the grinning faces of James Todd, otherwise known as Paradox, and Maddie Tyler, otherwise known as Crypto.
"Found this," Sky commented, handing the package which she had liberated from the courier over to Maddie. "My sixth sense tells me it might be important."
"Sixth sense?" James asked.
"Don't go there," Maddie warned the boy with a grin. "You know how sensitive Sky is about her sixth sense!"
James laughed.
"Little fucks!" Sky growled as she headed off for a shower.
"Stop winding her up," Chrissy suggested with a grin. "You'll only regret it when she gets you back."
"Good point, Mads," James pointed out.
"I can handle Sky any day of the week," Maddie commented as she carried the package down the corridor.
"Of course, you can!" James grinned as he headed for the kitchen.
23:22 GMT-7 (06:22 GMT May 14th)
Safehouse C
Lab
In one of the containers which made up the safehouse, there was a well-equipped lab which Maddie was still figuring out – the manuals for each piece of equipment were about a foot thick.
One of the many expensive hi-tech gadgets available was a standard machine used at airports and the like for detecting foreign substances which may cause problems on a flight or at the destination – drugs, explosives, etcetera. To begin with, Maddie carefully unwrapped the package in a sealed enclosure, unsure of what she might find inside. Maddie's simplified instructions for using the major items in the lab had come from someone she had yet to meet; an NCIS forensic specialist known as Abigail Sciuto who had designed their laboratory layout. The package was about eight inches square by about six inches tall. Once the package was unwrapped, Maddie sent the item through the airport-style device and within about five seconds an alarm sounded, and the monitoring screen flashed red and the item in the package was highlighted on the screen. As Maddie read the contents of the screen, she was surprised to find not one, but two explosives identified. The first was Octogen and the second was Baratol.
Maddie had never heard of either, so she sat down at one of the computers in the lab and she started typing.
23:55 GMT-7 (06:55 GMT May 14th)
Safehouse C
Kitchen
"Where's Maddie?" Erika asked Sky as the younger girl entered the kitchen.
"She vanished into her lab with something I brought back," Sky explained.
"She had that excited look on her face," James explained. "You know, where she's so focussed, a nuclear bomb could go off without her noticing."
"Okay."
Before Erika could say another word, the fourteen-year-old girl in question came bounding into the room holding a package in her hands.
"We have a huge problem!" Maddie almost shouted in her excitement.
Maddie placed the package down on the counter and Erika found herself looking at a weirdly shaped object.
"What is it?" Erika demanded impatiently – she was tired, and she wanted to go to sleep. "Why is it so fucking special?"
"It's an explosive lens," Maddie responded as if that explained everything.
"Explosive glass?" Sky asked as Maddie simply rolled her eyes at the older girl's ignorance.
The lens was hexagonal in shape with a convex outer face and a concave inner. The sides sloped inwards, forming a kind of six-sided wedge. On closer inspection, the lens was made up of two substances, both of slightly differing sandy shades. In the top of the item, a circular hole about half-an-inch across had been drilled and a small plastic stopper had been inserted. The entire item had been wrapped in protective plastic (which Maddie had removed) before being enclosed in a form-fitting polystyrene block which had, itself, been wrapped in plastic and taped.
"Let me dumb this down for you, Sky. That wedge is one of thirty-two which when locked together form a perfect sphere externally and internally. Externally, it forms a twelve-inch-diameter sphere with an internal diameter of eight inches," Maddie explained. "When combined with the correct high-speed detonators, it is an initiator in that it creates a perfect spherical detonation, crushing the central core and making that core go critical, thus initiating a fission reaction."
"By 'fission', do you mean 'radioactive'?" Chrissy demanded uneasily, her fingers accentuating the words with air quotes.
"As in 'nuclear weapon', yeah," Maddie replied, using her own air quotes.
"A nuclear bomb?" Sky asked.
"As in 'Hiroshima' and 'Nagasaki', yeah."
"Crap!" Sky responded.
The following morning...
Sunday, May 14th
San Diego
Haven One
09:15 GMT-7 (16:15 GMT May 14th)
Fifteen-year-old Nicholas Hyde fell backwards, and the youth crashed to the mat, rubbing his chest.
"He goes down and the crowd goes wild!" Juno exclaimed happily.
Thirteen-year-old Juno Saunders screamed as Nicholas swept the girl's feet out from under her. Juno reacted instantly with a swift punch as she went down, catching Nicholas on the boy's right thigh and eliciting a grunt of pain. Juno was on her feet in a second and kicking out at Nicholas as he tried to regain his own feet. Juno was no longer the target dummy which she used to be, she was both fast and agile, utilising her slim body to its maximum. Nicholas was bigger and heavier meaning that he could not move so fast, but he could punch harder and he had a greater reach. However, Juno had learnt new tricks in the preceding months which Nicholas hated, and one was executed by Juno, right at that moment.
Nicholas saw his opponent grin and he knew that he was about to enter a world of pain. He kicked out but missed as Juno sped up, then he found his target twisting as she somersaulted into the air and he felt a foot strike the side of his head, then a fist striking his chest hard. Another foot struck him in the back, and he fell forwards onto the mat. Before he could recover, he felt Juno land on his back and a knee was forced into his lower back as his left leg was wrenched halfway up his back. Nicholas groaned with the pain as he lay there, but before he could say anything, a phone rang.
"Gimme!" Juno ordered, twisting Nicholas' leg.
Nicholas dutifully reached out for the phone which lay a foot away and he passed it up to Juno who let go of his leg.
"This is Wonder Woman Juno, who is calling?"
"Hello, Wonder Juno," Erika chuckled.
"Hi, Erika!"
"May I speak with Guinevere, please?"
"Two seconds . . . GUINNY!"
"What!" Guinevere Murdoch called back from across the space.
"Got a call from Team LA, Guinny!" Juno responded.
"Pipe it through to the command centre," sixteen-year-old Guinevere directed as she strode over to a secure door and placed her hand onto a pad which turned green and the door lock was released.
Guinevere strode into the command centre and picked up the ringing phone.
"Senior Operator Lilith. Speak – muscles don't tone themselves!"
"Very formal," Erika responded with a chuckle. "We may have a minor problem."
"Okay," Guinevere responded.
"We think the components for a device may be inbound via the west coast."
"Define 'device'?"
"Thermonuclear."
Guinevere did not know how to respond to that.
Several thousand miles away...
Changi Airport
Singapore
23:20 GMT+7 (16:20 GMT May 14th)
They were driven right onto the tarmac and they pulled up fifty yards short of an exceptionally large aircraft.
A customs official met them, and he quickly scanned through their travel documents before he waved them on their way. Lieutenant Montgomery and Craig said brief goodbyes and they went their own way as both were to fly directly back to London. Some swift talking by Craig had meant that the rest of the team would be debriefed in the coming days while in the United States, therefore not extending their trip home any longer than it needed to be. Dave was incredibly surprised as he saw a familiar face walking across the tarmac towards them.
Lara Cockburn smiled as she approached before she waved everybody towards the giant aircraft whose twin turbofans were starting to spool up. The aircraft was a Boeing 787-8 Business Jet in white with the Cockburn logo floodlit on the tail and the single word 'Cockburn' on the forward fuselage. Lara led the way up the steps which led to the second door on the port side, directly ahead of the wing, and into the aircraft.
"Nice aircraft," Joshua stated as he stepped through the doorway.
"Mine's bigger," Mindy offered nonchalantly as she pushed past Joshua.
"Mindy," Dave cautioned with a chuckle. "Put the claws away."
Mindy simply rolled her eyes and continued up the steps.
..._...
It was the first time aboard Lara's private jet for all of them and it was an eye-opener.
As you entered the aircraft, there was a narrow passageway to the left which headed forward to the crew areas, while to the right, there was a small reception area with an L-shaped sofa. Ahead, you entered a circular vestibule decorated with medium wood panelling. To the right, you headed aft towards the main cabin. Ahead was the master suite, in the forward cabin. As they passed through a corridor created from wavy wood panelling, they entered the main cabin which was screened off from the corridor. As you passed around the screen, you found four cream leather seats, two per side, facing forward. On the back of the wooden screen was a large forty-eight-inch flat-screen television. The floor was carpeted in a pleasant cream and brown plaid while the ceiling was clear of all obstructions and the space was illuminated by discrete LED lighting. Beyond the leather seats, there were a pair of chaise-longues in the centre of the cabin with sideboards beneath the windows to port and starboard. Then there were two four-seat sofas, each below the windows and they were each complemented by a table and a pair of dark leather seats facing each end of the tables. The tables were special and were normally configured as a coffee table, but they could rise and extend to allow six to eat comfortably at each table. At the end of the main cabin, a circular bathroom was located with the corridor extending around it as well as there being an exit to port and to starboard. In the after cabin, there were eighteen first-class seats, each of which could convert into a single bed. Beyond the after cabin, in the tail, was the galley with six seats for the crew.
"Please take a seat," Lara directed as she pointed to the eight seats scattered around the main cabin. "Amelia is our senior steward and she will check that you are all belted in securely."
Dave and Mindy took the forward pair to starboard while Joshua and Chloe took the opposite pair to port. The two girls, Ariana and Freya, took the after pair to starboard, leaving Jennifer and Lara to occupy the remaining seating to port. A tall lady with a big smile entered the cabin from aft and she went around each person checking that they were securely belted into their seat which was, in turn, locked in position facing forward. There was a thud from forward as the main door was closed.
"Crew to take-off positions."
"That's Captain Jeremy Hodges, our Command Pilot," Lara called out to everybody. "We poached him from British Airways."
The lighting onboard dimmed, and the aircraft began to taxi, rumbling over the taxiway for a few minutes before swinging around and lining up on the runway. The large forty-eight-inch screen on the forward bulkhead came to life in a split-screen effect. The left side showed a Google Earth view which was zoomed in on Singapore Changi Airport and the image showed the aircraft's location at the end of runway 02 Right. The right side showed the view from two cameras, one atop the other. The upper image was from a camera mounted just above the nose of the aircraft and included vital statistics overlaid on the image while the lower image was from a camera mounted on the nose gear. In front of the aircraft, the runway stretched four kilometres ahead of them, centreline and edge lights stretching mesmerizingly into the distance. Then, with a giant roar, the twin Rolls Royce Trent 1000-H turbofans increased thrust and the pilot released the brakes. With increasing speed, the 500,000-Ib aircraft accelerated down the runway.
When the aircraft hit 142 knots, the nose began to lift, and the aircraft tipped sharply upwards and the altitude readout increased rapidly as the aircraft climbed.
Monday, May 15th
Aboard Cockburn One
Over the South China Sea
01:30 GMT+7 (18:30 GMT May 14th)
"Thank you, Lara," Mindy said.
"I thought you might like some comfort for the long flight ahead of you," Lara replied.
"It sure beats flying commercial – or even on a pokey little Gulfstream," Joshua commented as he strode up and down the main cabin.
"Why don't you get some sleep," Lara suggested. "It's still over five hours to Tokyo and we can all have breakfast after we refuel and take-off."
"Okay," Joshua conceded.
Jennifer, Ariana, and Freya had already vanished aft and were fast asleep on the first-class beds. Once Chloe, Joshua, Dave, and Mindy were laid down on a suitable sofa or chaise-longue, Lara headed forward to her own bed in the forward cabin. As she undressed in her private suite, she reflected on the first impression of her friends. She had been stunned by how different they were compared to when she had last seen them. Mindy for one appeared thinner than usual and despite her shit-eating grin, Lara could see that the young woman was hurting inside, and that the outward bravado was forced. Chloe appeared just as thin and haunted as Mindy. Dave and Joshua were much the same – they had all obviously been starved during their captivity. As such, Lara had suggested to the stewards that they make the breakfast extra special for her friends. Jennifer did not appear to have suffered as much as the rest, but there were obvious psychological signs that she too had suffered.
As for the two girls – they both reminded of her of Lily, back home.
Monday, May 15th
Aboard Cockburn One
Over the Pacific Ocean
09:01 GMT+9 (00:01 GMT May 15th)
Everybody had been awoken at 07:00 Tokyo time (that had annoyed Joshua as he had lost two hours of sleep due to the different time zone).
After landing, the aircraft had been quickly refuelled before being queued for take-off. The time on the ground had allowed everybody to take a shower and freshen up before breakfast. Ariana and Freya had been supplied with fresh clothing which had been sourced in Tokyo during the time on the ground. They were both smartly turned out in blue jeans, a T-shirt, and trainers. New underwear had been procured for them both. The girls had been surprised at how well-fitting everything was. By the time they had all dressed, the smell of hot food was drifting throughout the aircraft. As they entered the main cabin, they were amazed to see the change. Both tables at the after end of the main cabin had been raised and lengthened. White tablecloths had been draped over them and both were piled high with food, including a full cooked breakfast for all aboard.
The stewards, four of them, milled about efficiently, ensuring that everybody had a hot drink before sitting them down before an enormous plate of food. Ariana's eyes almost popped out of her head at the sight of everything and she dug in with gusto, pushing bacon and sausages into her mouth as fast as she could chew and swallow. Freya laughed at her friend as she did the same. Dave and Jennifer were happy with a coffee while the others all chose English Breakfast Tea to wake them up. Lara was incredibly pleased to see that everybody began chatting, laughing, and joking. The atmosphere was much happier than earlier. Lara had her own darkness in her life, so she had an idea of what her friends were going through. Once she had eaten, Lara went to sit with Mindy.
"Where did you find a pair of Predators?" Lara asked. "Yes, I saw the tattoos."
"We've not heard the full story, yet, but they were cut off after we killed Urban Predator, last year."
"What's going to happen to them?"
"I have no idea," Mindy replied honestly. "Things went so horribly wrong, Lara. It was two weeks of sheer hell that scared me."
That surprised Lara – Mindy scared?
Whatever had occurred in Cambodia had to have been really bad.
Aboard Cockburn One
Over Northern America
07:45 GMT-6 (13:45 GMT May 15th)
The thirteen-hour flight was all but over.
While it had been exceptionally long, it had been also been fun. They had alternated sleeping with talking, watching a movie, and eating. Lunch and dinner had been enormous affairs and the extra food and drink were going a long way to helping those who had eaten nothing much more than military rations at best to bland rice at worst. All of the Americans had large appetites which had been seriously upset after two weeks of a starvation diet. As for the two girls, they had spent most of the flight together, either talking or watching a movie. At one stage Ariana had gone missing and Lara had found the young girl right aft in the aft crew seating.
"Hi," Lara offered.
"Hi," Ariana responded, looking very despondent.
"Talk to me," Lara said as she sat down beside the girl. "How old are you?"
"Fourteen."
"I know you're a Predator."
Ariana looked surprised.
"I have a young Predator living with me – she's the same age as you."
"You saying I have a future?"
"Is that what's worrying you?" Lara asked.
"I'm damaged. All I know how to do is kill. No one in their right mind is going to want me."
Lara grinned.
"What's so fucking funny?" Ariana demanded.
"I know of one person who is not exactly in her right mind that will find you a home."
"Like whom?"
"Mindy."
"I don't think she trusts me."
"She doesn't trust people easily, however, she will give you a chance to prove yourself. I see Mindy as one of my best friends. She took me in and looked after me . . . after . . . I was taken when I was seventeen and held as a sex slave for six months before I was rescued by Fusion – you know who Fusion is?"
"I do. I was trained to hunt down Hit Girl and kill her. I don't want this life; I want to be a normal girl."
"If that is what you want, then I am certain you will get it," Lara replied with a smile. "That applies to Freya, too."
"You sure?"
"I trust Mindy with my life, honey, and so should you."
Freya nodded, accepting Lara's words.
..._...
Further forward, Mindy saw Lara and Ariana emerge from aft.
Mindy's thoughts had been all over the place. She was struggling to cope with everything which was going on. She knew that she was free. She knew that she was soon to be back with her family. She knew that she was safe. She knew that her friends were also safe and coming home with her. But, why did she feel so different? For the very first time in her life, she had actually experienced some of what she regularly dished out to people on the very streets of Chicago. For the very first time in her life, she had broken her biggest rule – she had, for a moment, been scared that she was going to die.
A conversation sprang into her mind.
...+...
"Are you not scared . . . to die?"
"Are you scared you're never going to grow into your big boy pants?"
"I'm serious! It could happen."
"If you're scared of dying then one thing is certain; you're going to die . . . my Daddy was never afraid of dying."
"Look where that got him!"
"He knew he might have to make the ultimate sacrifice, one day."
"Your Dad was insane . . . you know that, right?"
"You're wrong, Dave . . . my Daddy was the first real superhero – not you, or Red Mist; it was my Daddy, and it was an honour to serve by his side."
...+...
Mindy grinned at the absurdity of that conversation, so long ago.
Okay, her Daddy had been a little bit nuts – maybe a little insane. Was she letting her Daddy down by allowing the beatings and degradations to get the better of her? Back then, it had just been her . . . her and Dave. Now, she had four insane kids to care for. Back then, she had never known that she could ever love anybody like she loved Dave and her children. Stephanie, Jamie, Danny, and Anne-Marie had come so close to becoming orphans. She knew that would have torn Stephanie apart.
"Hey!"
Mindy looked up to see Joshua.
"You look like you need a hug."
Mindy allowed Joshua to sit beside her and then she fell into him, sobbing. Joshua felt his own tears falling. He was doing everything he could to be strong for the girls, but he could not hold it in any longer. Other than Becky, his entire family had been in that jungle hell with him.
He had nobody else.
..._...
Across the cabin, Chloe sat with Jennifer and they were both talking.
Dave sat near to them and he had watched Mindy's expressions as she had sat thinking. Dave was struggling with his own emotions and he was trying to be strong for the entire team. He knew that it was Mindy's incessant training and attention to detail which had kept them all alive. They had all inherited Mindy's stubbornness, over the years, and they had turned it against their tormentors, mitigating everything those tormentors had tried to do to beat down their resolve. In the end, they had escaped with their lives, and the enemy had got nothing.
He knew it was going to be an uphill struggle, but he also knew that there were many people waiting in Chicago to help them.
Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Chicago, United States of America
08:15 GMT-6 (14:15 GMT May 15th)
Due to the vagaries of the world's time zones, they were on the ground in Chicago about the same time that they had taken off from Tokyo – sort of.
Arrangements had been made long before their arrival and the giant Boeing aircraft landed without fanfare before being escorted to a private hanger where the aircraft came to a smooth halt. As they all deplaned, they were escorted across the tarmac into the hanger which, at first glance, appeared empty. However, Dave was all but flattened as something cannoned into him and he found himself being squeezed tight enough to bust ribs. He found himself looking directly into the gunmetal-grey eyes of his eleven-year-old daughter, Stephanie, who had jumped up and wrapped her long legs around his waist. She was grinning, despite the tears of joy which rolled down her cheeks. She tried to say something, but she could not get the words out and she burrowed her face into his shoulder and sobbed.
All around, the same thing was happening. Mindy had been ambushed by Anne-Marie and Danny with Jamie close behind. Chloe was on the ground with Becky hugging her and both were crying as Joshua wrapped his arms around them both. Jennifer had been surprised to find her husband there with their daughters. Typically, for Rodney at least, he carried a dozen red roses which he held out for his wife before he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground. Marcus was there with Paige and Megan – both females were crying buckets as they waited their turn for Dave and Mindy. As for Ariana and Freya, they had no idea what to do, at least until two surprisingly familiar faces appeared.
"Hello, Ariana, Freya."
"Saoirse?" Ariana asked.
"Yes – you are now both safe and I am going to look after you with Lucy here."
"Lucy?" Freya growled.
"Shit happened," Lucy said. "Time to move on, girls."
Lucy held out her hand to both girls and they shook. They both knew Saoirse and Lucy, although Lucy was not their friend – at least not until that moment.
"Are there many others safe?" Ariana asked.
"Hell, yeah!" Saoirse replied. "You two bring the number of recovered Predators to well over fifty."
"Cool!" Freya exclaimed.
Glenview
10:35 GMT-6 (16:15 GMT May 15th)
For Dave and Mindy, seeing their home again was like something out of a dream.
It finally brought home to them both that they were finally safe, and that their adventure in Cambodia was truly over. Everybody had gone their separate ways, back to their own homes. Paige and Taylor were to be on call for anybody who needed help and they would call each member of the team every few hours to ensure that they were safe. Paige had sat down with Stephanie, Jamie, Danny, and Anne-Marie to make them aware that their parents would be severely traumatised by their experiences overseas. All four children had promised to look after Dave and Mindy with Stephanie declaring that they had both stood by her when she was in hospital, so it was only fair that she took the lead.
Naturally, the animals had gone wild, meaning that Dave and Mindy had been buried underneath three incredibly happy dogs and a loopy cat.
..._...
Stephanie had ensured that nobody disturbed Dave or Mindy, however, she ensured that there was always somebody around, so they were not in any way alone.
That afternoon, Mindy had vanished for over an hour, and Dave had become worried. Therefore, he had sought her out, quickly finding her in the bathroom of their master suite. He was more than a little surprised by Mindy's new appearance as she had emerged from the shower. It was the very first time that Dave had ever seen Mindy's vulva without pubic hair. For Mindy, it was also a first; she had never shaved her pubic region – trimmed slightly, but never shaved. Mindy had always seen a shaved vulva as being vulgar and she thought that it was a pointless trend. However, there had been an overriding reason.
"I had to, Dave . . . those bastards, they touched it . . . they had their hands in it."
"I know, honey."
Dave gently ran his fingers across Mindy's newly revealed pubic region, feeling the soft skin. Mindy had trembled beneath his fingers and she had pulled her husband into a kiss as they had both fallen onto the bed. It was the very first time that they had truly been alone and as Dave shrugged off his clothing, they were both just as naked as they had been for the previous two weeks, only it felt different. So vastly different. Mindy kissed Dave for all she was worth, savouring the taste of his lips on hers. She savoured the touch of his body on her own. His rough skin against her own. She felt his penis, hard as ever, pushing against her stomach and she moved to allow her husband to slip inside her. Never in her life – actually, since her sixteenth birthday – had she gone so long without sex. The feeling inside her was intense and as Dave kissed her and his fingers manipulated her nipples, she began to mentally batten down the hatches on the previous two weeks, pushing the events down deep into the murky bowels of her subconscious.
Her body hurt like hell from the abuse, but Mindy buried the pain deep, instead focussing on the sexual excitement and stimulation which her body craved. She craved the love of her husband and she craved his touch. It did not take long for just about every part of her body to tense up as Dave's ministrations caused her entire body to contract and expand at once. Mindy could feel the orgasm building deep down inside her and the sensations struck her body like a well-planned assault, hitting every part simultaneously and she felt like a nuclear bomb had exploded inside of her.
She felt the hot sensation as Dave came deep within her vagina and she locked herself to him, refusing to let him go.
..._...
Outside in the entrance hall, four faces cringed as the sounds of epic lovemaking echoed around the house.
"This is one of the few times that I am glad to be psychologically damaged," Stephanie stated. "Because if I wasn't, I would be after listening to all that."
"I'm too young to be hearing things like that, right?" Anne-Marie grimaced.
"Every time I look at a porn movie, I'm going to be hearing them," Jamie groaned.
"And I thought Stephanie screaming as she played with herself in the shower was bad," Danny shuddered.
..._...
That night, Mindy and Dave both spent longer than usual putting the four kids to bed.
Just kissing each one of them goodnight brought an intense feeling of happiness to them both. Listening to each child's recounting of what they had been up to over the previous two weeks was important for them all. Stephanie was the last, as usual, and they found the eleven-year-old sitting up in her bed.
"It's good to have my bed to myself," Stephanie commented. "Megan kicks while she sleeps."
"Thank you, Steph," Dave said. "Paige said you've been a great help and you've looked after your siblings."
Stephanie grinned happily, ignoring her pink cheeks.
"I'm just happy that you are both back – more or less in one piece," she replied as she tentatively reached up and touched the wound dressings on Mindy's face.
"It was hard but knowing that you were all back here waiting for us . . . it kept us going," Mindy said.
"Night, Mum. Night, Dad."
"Night, Steph," Dave said.
"Sleep tight," Mindy added.