THIRTEEN
.
The Black Beauty eased to a stop, Britt pressing a gloved hand up against the window to see out. "And it's not even underground," he said to himself.
Kato adjusted the rear view mirror, then looked to his left. "Seems like… just what we planned."
"Hmm." Britt leant back, then thought for a moment. "Does this seem… too easy?"
"I like easy. Easy is no-one getting shot," Kato grumped.
"Yeah - and don't get me wrong, I think this is definitely the best way." He paused. "But…"
"But what?"
"Well… what if they've moved?"
"Moved?"
"Yeah, like… left this place as a front, but they're not here so we blow this place up and they still work." Britt shrugged. "It's what Lenore would do."
Kato looked out of the window again. Something went round and round his head. And then he slid the keys from the ignition and pulled on the inner handle to open the door.
"Dude - wait," Britt hissed. He scrambled out of the back of the car. He turned on Kato and reached out, grabbing his elbow. "Stop."
He pulled his arm free. "I will go and see. If there is no-one in there I leave. If there is someone in there I come back and we use the rockets," he shrugged.
Britt's face went hard and dark. "Ok now this is getting stupid," he accused. "What is with you, man? Either I go look or no-one does - I'm not letting you go in there when you're hurt already. What if there's like an army of people in there and they see you?"
"I will just take a look - no-one will see me."
Britt moved to stand in his way. "Uh… no."
Kato went to dodge around him. Britt moved back into his path. "Come on, Britt."
"No," he said simply. "And I can do this all night. Look - we just sat and had a beer, watched a really really terrific movie, and you barely talked at all. I still don't know why you think you can walk off a gunshot wound that went through a vest first or why you won't just give yourself time off to heal." He paused. "I mean how are you even upright? When I got shot it was agony and I had no idea that bit of me was connected to all the others so it hurt when I wasn't even using it - and that was my shoulder, dude. I didn't need it to walk and sit up." He stepped back, his hands out in surrender. "Come on, bro. Just… what is it?"
"I need to do something."
"And I get that - but not this. I mean hell, teach Amy how to sketch or play piano or something - but not this. Not yet."
"No, I need to—." He paused, looking at his feet. "I need to do something. Something useful to someone."
"Useful to someone else?" Britt prompted. "Let me tell you - that's crap and it doesn't get you anywhere."
"And how do you know that?"
Britt pulled the brim of his hat down slightly. His hands flailed out to his sides before they slapped back into his coat. He huffed and his shoulders sagged. "When I was like fifteen, I was in this group of school kids who were the cool ones." He snorted. "To begin with I didn't know why they wanted me - I was this pudgy, privileged kid who got picked up by a driver every day in the very car you turned into the first Black Beauty - you know, the one that died at Chudnofsky's construction site?" He sighed. "Then one day I figured it out. They didn't want me, they wanted someone who could get them things. I was useful to them, so… I traded being liked for being useful." He shrugged. "I got used to it. Eventually though… I met a few adults and I thought hey, this isn't what those school kids had been like. These grown-ups like people, and they don't want anything from me, they just want to hang out and be friends." He put a hand on Kato's shoulder. "You're my friend, dude. Probably my closest, even with all your secrets and friends and hobbies and bars I don't know about. So just…" He let his hand drop. "Life's not just about being useful. Sometimes you just gotta have fun and be you."
Kato looked up at him from behind his mask. "I make friends and they leave. I get to like people and they wait until I am sleeping and they run away. So no, I don't want to be liked. I want to be useful, because then no-one will leave me behind again."
"Oh… dude," he sighed in anguish, unable to look away from his furious eyes. "That's backwards. If they ran away? Then they didn't deserve you anyway. And if you're doing this whole Black Mask superhero thing just to be useful then I've got news for you. I don't care - no-one cares. You're my friend, and I won't leave you behind. Friends don't do that. I don't do that - not to my friends."
Kato shrugged, his hands out in resignation. "Everybody does, sooner or later."
Britt folded his arms. "I'm hurt, dude - who stayed up all the time checking you weren't going to swallow your own tongue or bleed again or hurt yourself waking up?" he countered. "I did. I sat there for like eight hours - and I didn't even have my phone to play games on or anything. I had to make sure you were ok - I couldn't just leave you there. What would I do without you around?"
"You see - to fix your cars and make your weapons."
"No - to watch cool movies with, and joke about my dad, and - and - and just be friends."
"But if we didn't do this at night then we wouldn't speak about your dad."
"Jesus!" Britt exploded, throwing his hands up in the air. "You are the dumbest goddamn genius I ever—!" He bit his upper lip, wiping his gloves down his face. "Yes! Yes we would! Because you're one of the few people who knew him like I did! We'd be texting each other on weekends and going to parties and stuff! I wouldn't leave you hanging, man! You're my friend now, and you being a pouty little boy about it isn't going to stop me!"
Kato's head dipped until the top of his cap was all Britt could see. It was quiet for a long moment.
Britt stood back, watching his hat and hoping against hope.
Finally Kato sighed, his gaze still on his feet. "Ok."
"Ok? Is that all you got - 'ok'?" he chuckled. "Dude you are a tough one. Look, you're my best friend - we're supposed to be xiang di, right? And there's pretty much nothing you can do to escape that, so… Just deal with it, ok?" He paused. "Friends?"
Kato huffed.
Britt offered him a palm. "Friends?"
Kato lifted his head. He studied him for a long moment. Then he let his shoulders sag - but his palm came up and gripped Britt's, making the taller man grin.
"Does this mean I'm actually getting through to you? Well thank god!" he cried, letting go of him. "Ok - get in the car and I'll go see if anyone's actually in there."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Trust me - just once I can do one thing without screwing it up."
"No - I mean…" Kato looked up at him. "Ok." He turned and levered himself back into the car.
Britt turned and walked off, keeping his mouth firmly shut as he found an entrance to the building. He pushed through a side door, making sure it closed silently behind him. "Goddamn he's hard work," he sighed. "I am exhausted."
The inside of the building was as quiet as the street outside; Britt literally tip-toed from the inside of the door to the nearest concrete stanchion. He plastered himself to it, waiting and listening. Then he peered round the edge, half-expecting someone to be standing there holding a large weapon.
There was no-one.
He pulled back anyway, frowning. Maybe they have moved. So nothing goes boom tonight. He huffed and looked back round. He was about to move when something caught his eye.
His body froze. He swallowed, his eyes ranging round in their sockets to try to work out what had made him stiffen. They landed on a shiny white square in the ceiling, far off to his right. On the outside was a tiny stalk with a glass ball on the end - and a red light blinking away at the bottom.
Very slowly he slid back away from the edge. When his back was against the concrete he lifted his right hand and adjusted his hat.
A camera.
Then he grinned.
Why have a camera if there's no-one here?
He nodded to himself. Then he slid to his right and looked around the other side of the concrete. He studied the walls, the ceiling, but could not find another camera anywhere.
He edged up and looked back round the left side. He squinted, checking angles and stanchions.
He pulled back. I don't think it saw me come in, he realised. I think that other block is in the way.
A noise made him freeze again; voices, some kind of scraping sound, possibly of metal. Waiting, holding his breath, he heard the voices get closer.
"… Just like that?"
"Yeah, man - you heard Sapphire. His head or our asses."
"That's ok with me. The moment I see this Green Hornet dude I am taking him out anyway. I don't care if it gets me points with the boss."
"Right."
They laughed and Britt closed his eyes. He reached inside his coat, pulling out the Hornet gun.
Footsteps came closer.
He primed the weapon.
Feet on concrete echoed around the space.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he counted to three. Then he leapt out from behind the stanchion, his gun out and ready. "Alright - hold it!" he cried angrily.
The two men stopped dead. They looked at him. Then each other.
Then they rushed him.
He let off one shot before an almighty smack to his face threw him to the floor. He scrabbled for the gun but something whoomfed into his ribs so hard he was winded.
"You ain't nothing," said a voice above him.
His head came up. He caught sight of a shoe swinging back ready for an epic kick.
The grabbed the ankle and yanked with all his strength. The man cried out and lost his balance.
Britt got to his knees. As the man fell he grinned. He threw himself at him, elbow out. It slammed down right into the man's stomach.
He coughed and tried to breathe as Britt climbed to his feet, pulling his coat straight. He ignored the whimpering and swearing to check the other man. He was flat on his back, totally unconscious with a dreamy smile on his face.
Britt bent down and picked up the gas gun, priming it ready. He walked over the man now moaning in pain on the floor. "I'm going to do you a favour," he said. He aimed the gun at the man's face. He fired. The little puff of green gas clouded the man's head - and then he relaxed all over. Britt stood back, the gun by his side. "Yeah, see? Screw you, dude." He opened his coat to put the gun away.
A metal scraping sound made his head snap up and round.
A door at the end had flown open. People were pouring out of it - stampeding toward him.
"Shit!"
He turned and ran for the exit.
.
.
Kato put a hand to his side, pressing slightly as he let himself slouch back in the driver's seat. He sniffed, then bounced the keys in his right hand, humming to himself.
His head went left and right in a sarcastic wobble. His voice went low and stilted: "'Dumbest genius I ever met'," he mimicked. He pulled a face, bobbling his head again in resentment. Then he paused. "Dumbest… genius." He sat back and frowned in thought.
Finally he slid the keys in the ignition, turning it onto the first step to see the dashboard and peripherals light up. His index finger smoothed across the toggle switches, finding them all in the right places and ready for action. Nodding to himself, he lifted both hands and slid them around the steering wheel, the glide of his gloves over the much-loved curve making him smile.
A smack and a bang made him jump. He twisted to look over his left shoulder - and hissed in pain.
The rear door opened up. "Go! Go! Go!" Britt cried.
Kato turned the key and yanked on the gear stick. The Black Beauty's tyres spun only for a second. The back door slammed. The car gripped the tarmac. It propelled itself forward with supernatural strength. It leapt out of its spot and hared down the alley.
Kato glanced up at the rear view mirror. "What the hell, Britt?"
"They're after us!" he cried, finding the right way up on the back seat. He squirmed around and then put his hands to the back of the seat to look over the top. "Faster, dude!"
"They are running!" he shot back. "We have a car!"
"Oh - right - yeah," Britt blurted. "Go round the block and come back - take out that building."
"So there were people in there?"
"Yes! I got like two of them but they must have seen me on the camera - like a whole city came running after me!"
Kato took a harsh left. Britt was rolled around the back seat. He righted himself and pushed his mask further up his nose.
"Rockets?" Kato offered.
"Yes! Finally! Some rockets!" he grinned. "Do it!"
"Get in the front - you do it."
"You're letting me touch the controls?"
"I'm driving," Kato said. A subtle bit of braking and he was wrenching the wheel left again. The car shot round the corner. It fish tailed into the other, empty lane but then snapped back straight. "One more corner then we are back at the same place," he said. "Come on! Get ready!"
Britt climbed over the seat. He looked down to see Kato opening up the cover over the controls. "Aw yes!" he gushed, rubbing his gloves together. "Which ones!"
"The red ones," Kato said. He reached forward to the dashboard with a hiss of pain. He pushed at small white buttons, a tiny read-out above showing numbers. He pressed again to make the numbers change. He sat back. "Hold on." He braked and yanked - the car twisted round the final corner. "Ok - now! The red ones on the left!"
"Your left or my left?"
"We have the same left!"
"Just kidding," Britt chuckled. He snapped down the first two switches.
The car gave a rumble and shivered. Britt watched in excitement as two balls of white fire leapt out from somewhere under the bonnet. They shot down the road on a curve - and slammed into the building.
People - brickwork - it all went flying.
"Woohoo!" Britt cried. He pressed the next two.
They followed the first, snaking at a harder angle as the car picked up speed. One rocket disappeared into the smoke and debris - the other locked on and followed. A huge mushroom of fresh smoke, dirt and debris was thrown up behind them.
Kato stamped on the brakes. He looked up in the mirror then snatched the gear lever. He reversed up as fast as he dared, then brought the Beauty round to face the carnage. "Well?"
"Dude - this is awesome," Britt breathed. He waited until the night breeze had moved some of the smoke. Then he chuckled, rubbed his gloves together, and snapped down two more toggle switches.
This time the two rockets shot directly into the gigantic new hole in the side of the building.
They waited.
And waited.
And then the rockets finally hit something.
A horrible groaning sound made them both lean toward the front windscreen. Britt put a hand out to his left - but Kato's was already heading for his coat. They gripped each other's shoulders as they craned their necks up.
"Shit shit shit!" Britt blurted in realisation. "Go before we get pancaked!"
Kato grabbed the steering wheel. His foot went to the floor.
The Beauty shot off.
Right before half of the building's roof crashed into where it had been parked.
.
.
The car rumbled onto the special markings on the floor of the garage, the engine chug-chugging with patience.
"I can't believe how cool that was!" Britt cried, his mask already in his hands.
"You always say that," Kato said, cutting the engine. He sat back, blowing out a sigh.
"Because it was amazingly cool!" He opened the back door and slid out, pumping his hands in the air. "Woohoo! We are the shit, dude!"
Kato pushed himself out of the driver's seat. "I guess."
"Like that Indonesian dude in the film we saw tonight!" He turned to Kato, his hands up as he bobbed and weaved, jabbing soft punches just short of his black coat. "This whole night has been everything!"
Kato put his hands up, smiling. "Ok, it was amazing."
"Yeah, man! Let's get a drink - blow off some steam!"
He sighed, his shoulders sagging. "I think I need to sleep."
Britt forced himself to calm down, blowing out a long breath to try to slow his heart. "Right - right. Yeah - pretty sure you should sleep some more. You wanna crash here or go home?" he asked, his hands falling. "I mean there are like a million rooms to choose from."
"I take my bike," he said, pulling off his hat and then his mask.
"Ok but be careful," Britt said. "And don't come into the office tomorrow, ok?"
Kato waved his hat over his shoulder, already undoing the secret fasteners on the coat.
"Alright, well… You get going. I'll just… uh… get a beer - maybe watch that movie again. Be careful on the ride home, ok?" Britt grinned to himself and stepped out of the garage, disappearing into the house.
Kato undid all the fasteners and stripped off the jacket, sliding it off as carefully as he could, reluctant to pull on his side. He folded everything up as he crossed the garage to his bike. Sliding it all into the garbage bin liner in the rear box, he snagged the keys and his jacket from the handle and sat himself down. He eased the jacket on carefully, found his helmet, and started up the bike.
It was a cool, relaxing journey back to his apartment. As he opened up the front door and carried the bag in, he let himself yawn. He dumped it at the side of the door and pulled off his helmet, scrubbing a hand through his hair. Heading across the room to the refrigerator in the darkness, he stumbled on something. He looked down and picked it up, finding it a black Converse trainer.
His head snapped around and he reached out, turning on the lamp. His eyes went to the woman's bag on the couch, the other Converse shoe by his boots. A lump in the bed in the far corner made a noise; he snapped off the light quickly. He dropped the shoe, went over to the bag by the door, and yanked it up so fast he nearly hit himself in the face with it. Opening the front door as close to silently as he could get, he hurried down the steps and put it back in the storage box on his bike. He looked down at his shirt, then ripped off his jacket. He unbuttoned the shirt half way before he panicked and instead yanked it off over his head to leave him in a black cotton sleeveless tee. He pulled the jacket back on quickly, then folded the shirt up and sealed it in the storage box. He hurried back up the steps and into the apartment. He closed the door silently and leant back on it, taking a deep breath and releasing it very slowly.
Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. He waited until his heart had slowed, and then locked the front door. He peeled off his jacket carefully and placed it silently on the sofa. Pulling off his boots and leaving them under the tiny table by the kitchenette, he went through to the bathroom and poked his head in.
Everything seemed the same - except for a woman's toiletries bag by the sink. He frowned, then pulled back out, going back round to the main room. He turned the lamp back on and then wandered over to the bed in the corner. He sat on the edge, then turned himself as much as possible to twist as far as he dared to his left.
Amy was asleep, her back to him, curled up in a small ball. The sheets were over her up to her shoulder, letting him see the familiar design of a t-shirt. He put a hand to her shoulder, smoothing it down slightly, rocking her.
She jerked and opened an eye. "Who's that?" she demanded in fear.
"It's me," he said, surprised. "You're in my apartment. How did you get in?"
She pushed herself onto her back, and his theory about her having stolen one of his t-shirts was confirmed. Her hand went out and captured his gratefully, and she let herself smile. "Hi."
"We didn't say we would meet tonight."
"No - I—." She made herself sit up. "Sorry. I kinda came in with the delivery guy. I hope you don't mind."
"Delivery guy?" he frowned. Then he got a good look at her face, her tired eyes. "Is everything… ok?"
"No," she said miserably. "I wanted to see you, because I feel better when I see you. But you weren't here and I really didn't want to go home again so I thought I'd wait, and then it got later and later and I just - well a guy turned up in a van so I lied and said I was waiting for him and his delivery… and I kind of let myself in when he was bringing in that big box so… I'm sorry," she said miserably. "I shouldn't have just let myself in because this is your private space and now it's like I've broken in and—." She bit her lip, and he realised he could see water in her eyes.
"What happened?" he asked. She breathed slowly, her eyes squeezing shut. "Did someone hurt you?" he asked, his voice going hard. "Who?"
"No-one has…" She opened her eyes. "Just some bad news. About my brother."
"Bad-bad?" he dared. She nodded. He pulled on her arm and she shuffled up, putting her arms round him. She held on, keeping her breathing controlled. His arms went round her and he suppressed a hiss of pain as it twisted his side. "Is he ok?"
"No. He's had a relapse. Cancer - again."
He had no words. He just held onto her, waiting her out.
Eventually she pushed him back, looking at his shoulder. She smoothed a hand over it, again and again. "I'm sorry I just followed the guy in - he said he had keys from the office and I lied and said I forgot mine."
"I don't care," he said quietly. "I don't want you to be alone when you're upset." He paused. "I… don't want you to be upset."
She stroked a hand down his face and offered him a sad smile. "You're such a decent person," she allowed. "I've met a lot of assholes in my life. And life has been unfair. But you… you're like a… something to make up for all the bad things."
He slid his hand into her hair, holding her still to push a kiss into her forehead. "Let me get out of my work clothes, then we sleep."
"Uh…"
He paused, assessing her face. "Or… you want me to take you home?"
"Absolutely not," she scoffed, wiping at an eye. "I just…" She sighed. "Now you're here, I don't want to sleep. I want you to take my mind off… everything."
"TV?" he offered.
"Oh! That movie! The one about the fourteen swords."
"Blades."
"That one - can we watch it?"
"Now?" he asked, surprised.
"Or… not," she said awkwardly.
He smiled, brushing hair away from her face. "I can watch that movie again and again - anytime."
"Sure?"
He got up, walking off toward the far corner. "I get changed first," he said - then stopped short. A large box was sitting in the way, the image of a television on the front. "What's this?"
"The delivery guy said it was a TV."
"Where did it come from?"
"I have no idea," she frowned, turning and pulling sheets up around her. "You mean you didn't buy it?"
"No," he grumped, sliding a hand over the top. He huffed. "It looks new."
"So… who got it for you?"
He crouched to look at the back, finding a receipt taped to it. He pulled it free to read it. "B Reid, on behalf of the Daily Sentinel. A new TV." He rolled his eyes with a worlds-weary huff. Then he opened up the flap along the top edge, peering in. He pulled out another piece of paper and his face registered surprise. "Oh. Not new."
"What? He got you a second-hand TV? Rude," she giggled.
"He wouldn't do that," he said, bemused. "He would just tell Lenore to buy me one…" He paused, flapping the paper idly. "And she would know to get a used one."
"Why do you want a used one?" she yawned.
He didn't look at her. "Like the refrigerator."
She 'oh'ed, nodding. "Yeah… you did say. Sorry."
"Well… now we have a big TV to watch the movie on." He got to his feet. "Don't move."
She grinned, bending her knees to wrap her arms around them, as he disappeared off round the corner.
Finally he re-appeared in a simple red t-shirt and joggers, carrying an innocuous looking lead.
"What's that?" she asked.
"I have a DVD player… somewhere," he muttered, turning to look around. He scratched his head, thinking.
She grinned and scrambled out of bed, pulling her purloined basketball shorts straight and going to the cupboards under the front windows. "Is this it?"
He looked over to see her lifting a silver box, about the size of five DVDs cases stacked on top of each other. "Uh… that's a VCD player."
"What's the difference?"
He walked over, taking it from her but then crouching to see where she had found it. "It won't play DVDs. Hang on…" He pulled out another silver item, then got up with a smile. "This is it."
She folded her arms as he went back to the TV in the box. "I'll… make some tea."
"Ok." He pulled parts and leads from the box as she went to the kitchenette, emptying out a transparent glass teapot and opening up the diffuser ball from inside, chucking all the cold, wet tea leaves in the bin.
In the time it took her to boil the kettle and fill the teapot with fresh water, he appeared to have the TV and the player plugged in and connected to each other. She opened up the cupboard by her head, finding assorted boxes of tea leaves - none labelled in English. "So… what colour tea box am I using?"
"Mmmm - the green one," he said over his shoulder. "It won't keep you awake."
She took it down and opened it up, shovelling one teaspoon of leaves into the diffuser ball. She clicked it shut and dropped it carefully into the hot teapot. Dusting off her hands, she got together the teapot and two small mugs without handles on a wooden tray. She carried them all over to the low table in front of the sofa. He was getting back to his feet, pressing at the remote control before noting it wasn't working. He shook it, then realised there were no batteries in it.
"And we were so close," she giggled.
He put a finger up. "Wait." He went to the row of pot plants on the windowsill, feeling around by the largest plate. He retrieved two batteries, pulling the back off the remote and sliding them in. "There."
She shook her head. "How much stuff do you have just stashed around this place?" she teased.
He looked at her, then the table with tea, then back at her. "Are you hungry?"
"Don't tell me you have chocolate."
"Uh… no," he said. "Sorry."
"Well what do you have?"
He handed her the remote and walked off toward the kitchenette. She pointed it at the TV, making sure the volume was low before pressing buttons to get the DVD drawer to open. She grinned at her ingenuity before realising she had no idea where the actual DVD was. She looked over at him.
He was in the kitchen, rummaged around in a large drawer. He pulled out a metal tin and carried it back over. "Almond biscuits."
"Like cookies?"
"Kinda." He prised the lid off and she looked in.
"Ooh - interesting." Inside were lots of small round items, vaguely off-yellow in colour and smelling wonderfully of warm crunchiness. "Well I'll definitely try those."
He put the tin on the table and she got comfortable on the couch. He went back to a pile of books in the corner of the room, lifting them all until he pulled out two DVD cases. Keeping hold of the top one, he put everything else down and went over to the DVD tray. He slotted the disc in and pressed the button to close the drawer.
He went back to the sofa and flumped down in the middle, wincing and putting a hand to his side. She shuffled up to lean on his left arm as a large copyright warning appeared on screen, changing into the same screen but in Chinese, before it gave way to the main menu.
"Now if I think I'm totally missing the point then I'll have to pause it and ask you for help," she warned. "How many times have you seen this?"
"Many," he allowed with a smile.
"And you really don't mind me asking silly questions about what's happening?"
"No," he grinned. "It means you are interested, so maybe it's a good movie."
She scooted closer to him, bringing her feet up to perch on the end of the cushion in front of her. She leant into him and he pulled his left arm free, putting it round her instead and pulling her in. Her knees collapsed until they were leaning in his lap, and she let out a long sigh. Then she let her head fall back to look up at him. "Thank you."
"For what?" he asked.
"For being you."
His grin widened about three inches, and she swore he grew an inch taller. He leant round and kissed her, just long enough to make her start to giggle.
Music from the TV made them jump as the DVD had given up waiting and just dived straight into the main feature. They settled into a very relaxed lean, as the movie started to unfold.
