She was rock still, crouched on top of the car. Perfect poise, perfect balance, perfect form. Poetry in non-motion. The prop wash from the helicopter made her black hair flutter in the air. Any other time, I might turned on by the way she looks.
But she's in that position pointing an arrow at me. The drawstring is taut, motionless, her eyes locked on mine. "Shocker, don't make me shoot you. I'm not in the mood to waste arrows."
"Look, Hawkeye..." I began.
To clarify things, this young raven-haired girl was the second Hawkeye. The first one had vanished about two years ago. Most people claimed he was dead, a few even going so far as to take credit for it. Which meant he'll pop up in a few months, good as new, and whip some poor villain's butt. But for now, this girl had appeared after his disappearance, and picked up where he had left off. I hadn't had the misfortune of crossing paths with her until this evening. And with the world going to hell, it fell upon me, Herman Schultz, to be God's personal gag reel for the evening by running into an Avenger at the worst possible time.
"...this ain't what it looks like. They're not hostages, they're people Rhino and I just rescued!"
"I wasn't born yesterday, Shocker. I don't have the time to drag you to a police station. Let them go, and I'll let you walk."
Let them...let them go WHERE? I don't know if Hawkeye had noticed, but there were still ten or fifteen zombies stumbling around. Was she going to just walk them someplace safe? And if so, where?
I wanted to argue with her. After all, I had been the idiot who put my life on the line to make this rescue. I didn't feel like I was looking for pride or recognition, but where was she a few minutes ago when Rhino and I plowed our way through the crowd? Where was she when Rhino was busting the joint open and cracking open heads to get the three people with us out of the store? Again, the Shocker does all the legwork and someone else comes along to screw it all up...
"They did rescue us!" The Latino gentleman had to yell to be heard from where he stood. "There were a whole bunch of these things attacking us, and the two of them got us out! If it wasn't for them, we'd be sitting ducks!"
The dark glasses Hawkeye wore helped to hide her expression. If she was mulling things over and, you know, listening to the civilian, I couldn't tell. After too many brief seconds, she responded. "They're still criminals, sir. Back away, and I'll make sure they don't hurt you."
Oh, for the love...
Sidebar. One of the things I couldn't freakin' stand about heroes is the concept of "bad guys can never do anything good." I'm not saying that rescuing a kitten out of a tree (Stilt-Man) or opening a fire hydrant for kids during a heat wave (Aqueduct) or buying ice cream for a bank you're hold hostage (that one's all me) makes you a Boy Scout. But sometimes...bad guys do good things just to do them. Not often. But we were kids once...or maybe we just like kittens.
Right now, Aleksei and I were standing outside a wide-open 7-11. We had no duffel bags of cash from the safe. We weren't carrying pallets of bottled water. And I didn't snag a Klondike from the freezer. Did Hawkeye really think we broke into the place and rescued a pierced counter jockey, a blonde, and a middle-aged Latino man as part of some grand diabolic scheme that happened to coincide with the dead coming back to life?
Odds were? Yes. Yes, she did. Even though, right now, there's no one guarding the Lexus dealership, we had robbed a 7-11 to kidnap civilians willing to come along with us.
"Ok, everyone be cool," I said, putting my hands out to the side. "No one do anything stupid or rash, we can talk this out like adults."
The blonde stepped forward, standing beside me. "Ma'am, he's telling the truth! We were trapped in the store and a bunch of those creeps busted open the back door! If it wasn't for the Rhino ripping open the doors, we'd be dead!"
Again, couldn't make out if Hawkeye was processing this new information repeated for a second time. What I could make out was the crowd of zombies getting closer to the car she was crouched on. Part of me wanted to warn her. Part of me knew she wouldn't believe me. And the third part said "fine. Let her be lunch..."
"Sorry, ma'am, but these two men are known and wanted criminals. They're dangerous and will end up getting you hurt of killed."
Oh, screw this.
"Aleksei, when I say run, you take them and..."
The trash can sailed over my head mid-sentence. It arced in front of me, falling between myself and Hawkeye. I heard, over the helicopter, the twang of the bowstring as Hawkeye reflexively let her arrow fly. As the green-metal can bounced on the asphalt, I could see the purple arrow sticking out of the side. I also could see Hawkeye quickly pulling another arrow from her quiver, ready to restring and reshoot at us.
"MOVE!" The mass of footfalls behind me let me know what we going on without having to look. The group of four, three survivors and Rhino, were getting the hell out of Dodge. For once, civilian logic went the way of the villains...go with the people who saved your life instead of the other guy. The question that instantly went through my mind, watching Hawkeye set the arrow on her bowstring...was she going to shoot at me, the target right in front of her, or take a shot at the rapidly retreating Rhino?
Well I do a better imitation of a pincushion then Aleksei. And behind her, maybe fifteen feet away, the two closest zombies were definitely locked on to her, slavering at the thought of tender flesh.
Multi-tasking's an underrated skill among the criminal community. Everyone thinks in a linear fashion. You do A, then you do B, then you do C. I'm cleverer then that...stop snickering. When you work with redundant wiring and fail-safe alarm systems, you're dealing with the potential for cascading failures when one link in the chain breaks. So, with that engineering genius I mentioned earlier, I think big picture. Do A and B at the same time, THEN do C.
So, as she pulled back the bowstring on her weapon, I raised my gloves and put a level-three vibro-blast into the side of the car she was standing on.
The old Hawkeye would have flipped into the air, managed to set the arrow on the string, and shot me in the thigh before landing so gracefully that the Latverian judge would have given him about a 9.0. This girl wasn't that Hawkeye. As the car moved underneath her, she lost her balance. Her hands, which had been pulling back the drawstring, slipped as she tried to steady herself, and she fell forward. The arrow (I'll give her credit, she had "reloaded" pretty quick) fell off the string, clattering to the street, soon followed by the young archer. The asphalt knocked the wind out of her, and her bow fell out of her hand, landing just out of her reach.
As for the aforementioned car? A level three wasn't going to send it airborne, but it damn sure slid that son-of-a-bitch sideways. Right into the advancing crowd of undead.
Hey, to me, five undead are a crowd...and company, and too close for comfort, and enough...
Christ. Note to self, leave the stupid quips to Spider-Man. One heroic rescue attempt and I'm already making bad jokes.
Anyway, car, zombies, metal, flesh, vibro-blast, knocked down like bowling pins, you get the picture. One of them fell down as the back bumper him. The rear tire slid over his leg with a satisfying crunch, pinning him to the ground. The front end barely missed a zombie on the left, sliding just past its hip before coming to a stop. What had once been a young girl with pig-tails hadn't even noticed two tons of Detroit steel and glass coming towards it, never flinched or tried to move the hell out of the way. It was locked on a direct course towards Hawkeye, who was now reaching out for her dropped bow...
The whine of my vibro-smasher stayed her hand. "Don't try it, Hawkeye," I growled. Now the shoe was on the other foot...and it felt damn good. Bad guys, we live for moments like this; getting the drop or the advantage on a cape. She was glaring up at me, top lip pulled back in a snarl, and it just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. "Stay down, and don't even think about going for that bow."
The zombie was getting closer. It managed to let out a high-pitched moan, and the way Hawkeye turned her head, I knew she heard it. Good. Keep her attention split. She turned back to me, and I knew she was thinking about how to grab her bow, shoot it, and then shoot me. If it was only that thing she was going to put an arrow in, I would have let her play Robin Hood until Maid Marion came home. But...
"What's your angle, Shocker? Going to hold them hostage? Maybe use them as bait or something?"
My shoulders slumped as I sighed. "Hawkeye," I said, keeping both gloves pointed at her, "didn't you hear a damn word myself, Rhino, or, how about, those civilians said? We rescued them. Rescued. Romeo Echo Sierra Charlie Umbrella Echo Delta'd."
"You never were an altruist, Shocker." Hawkeye's finger crept towards the bow. Damn it, I'm pointing my vibro-smashers at her, both of them. Does she think she's that fast?
"Maybe I'm donating my time to charity tonight," I shot back. The zombie was closer now, and it really was time for me to go. If I got out of here now, she'd have plenty of time to turn around the get the guy behind her and hopefully I can get out of bowshot before she has to turn and deal with me. Carefully, I took a step backwards, away from Hawkeye. "Alright, I'm just gonna walk away, Hawkeye, no harm, no foul, ok?" Another step, my gloves still pointed at her head as she lay on the street.
She started to talk. "Can't let you leave, Sho..."
"Oh, would you just shut it and listen!" My vibro-smashers came upwards, and I ripped off a level two. The zombie's arm had just started to come up when my blast sent her pigtails blowing in the breeze and her body tumbling backwards. Even as her form was falling back to the street, I aimed my hands back at...
She was crouched, bow in hand, arrow nocked, pointing at my chest as I brought my gloves to bear on her. Damn, she was fast. To her credit, she didn't say a word, but kept her eyes on me, her arrow drawn back and aimed.
I don't know how long we stared at each other, amidst shattered windows, wrecked cars, and the sounds of the living dead, but I was the one who broke the silence between us. "I just saved your life, Hawkeye, and I'm cashing it in now. I'm walking away. I'm going to hole up in my hideout, and do my best to avoid what's probably the end of the world." I took two, three steps backwards, away from her, a very quick glance over my shoulder letting me see that there wasn't a hungry corpse behind me.
"Shocker..."
"No. No, don't say a damn word. Just get the hell off the streets before you become a snack." A few more steps took me out of her line of sight, and then my ass pounded pavement back the way I came, up Degrosses Street. It took me a second to readjust to the darkness, after being in the harsh glare of the news helicopter, but the way was just as clear as we arrived. Part of me waiting for an arrow to hit me, either a net arrow, an arrow to knock me unconscious, or something, but by the time I got to the West Side Highway, having passed by four or five zombies, it was obvious she wasn't going to come after me.
Which was good, because I needed to get back to the warehouse. After the events of the previous half-hour...
...I really needed to take a leak.
X
"Woohoo! Mate, that was awesome!" Boomerang slammed the door behind me, holding two cold bottles in his hand. "You made Hawkeye look like a namby, Herman! Nice job!"
"Hold that thought," I managed to say between gritted teeth. I bolted immediately for the bathroom, managing to get my vibro-smashers off along the way. I dropped them on the workbench before almost diving into the bathroom. I'll spare you the gory details, but they're best summed by the following word.
"."
I buckled and re-magnetized myself back up, and after washing my hands (it's important to keep one's vibro-smashers germ-free), I stepped back into the warehouse. I breathed deep after removing my mask. To me, there's something about...the way an industrial area smells. It could be a workshop, or a warehouse, or a truck stop. Something about sawdust, grease, and diesel fuel, I can't explain it.
"How's my nose," I asked, tilting my head up a bit so Fred could get a good look as he approached.
"Don't see any blood. Suit did its' job tonight?"
"Like a charm if I don't got a nosebleed. Doesn't take a big blast to put one of those things on the ground, anyway. It's more accuracy and range then power."
Boomerang handed me one of the bottles. Screw breaking the seal, I think as I chug a good half of the bottle. Heroics are thirsty work. "Mate, I still think you're a crazy son of a gun, but I'll admit, what you did to Hawkeye..."
I lowered the bottle from my lips once I realized what Boomerang had said. "Wait...how did you know...you saw it?"
"Me and the rest of America." Across from my workshop area, the flatscreen TV was still showing ABC 7, but this was the national feed, with Charles Gibson speaking. The clerk was already sitting on the couch, his back to me, focused on the images. I could feel my eyes widen as I comprehended what was being shown on the screen...
"RHINO AND SHOCKER IN THRILLING RESCUE."
"You're kidding me," I remembered murmuring. I mean, yeah, I was there, it was a rescue, and it was quite thrilling. But I walked closer to the TV, beer still gripped in my hand, watching an ariel view of Rhino smashing one of the 7-11's doors over the head of a zombie. And then...the scene cut to me, with Hawkeye on the ground, blasting the ghoul behind her in the face.
"...incredible footage, shot about fifteen minutes ago, by a traffic copter in Lower Manhattan," the smooth, professional tones of the longtime ABC anchor reported. "Villains the Shocker and the Rhino engaging in an act of heroism as they rescued civilians from a trapped convenience store, as well as the Shocker keeping the young archer Hawkeye out of harm's way with a daring energy blast..."
"Vibro-blast," I whispered.
"Mate, they just used the word 'Shocker' and 'heroism' in the same sentence." Boomerang clapped me on the back of the neck, laughing. "Congratulations, hero." He clinked my bottle with his, and took a pull of the (to him) watered down American beer.
Hero?
Wow. That actually felt pretty good.
Fred was right. Those words (and 'Rhino,' where credit's due) never go together. Hearing it for the first time...
"I guess they are walking corpses," Fred said. "While you were gone, the CDC and SHIELD made it official. We got dead people, Herman. The dead are returning to life and attacking the living." He finished off his beer, eyes locked on mine. "We're in a world of trouble."
"Yeah, man. And they're..." I took a swig of my beer. "...relentless is the word. They just don't stop coming, Fred. This one...how much of it made it on TV?"
"All of it, mate, from when you two showed up to when you ran away," he needled me. "Either ABC told the government to take a flying leap, or someone was asleep on the switch." My friend studied me for a second. "Let me guess, the girl who wouldn't stay down?"
"Fred, she didn't have elbows left when I finished with her. I blasted her three times, and I'm talking dead-on shots, not glancing ones, until Aleksei reminded me to go for the head. And you saw the car trick, right?"
"Now THAT was a piece of beauty, Herman, two birds, one stone."
"Yeah, well...the zombie I missed with the car? Didn't flinch. Didn't blink. Even Luke Cage would have stepped to one side..." I finished the last of the beer and handed the empty bottle back to Fred. "And going to the back of the store to break in...I don't know. Maybe, when it comes to finding food, they're geniuses."
"Reassuring thought, mate." Fred took my empty to the trash as I headed over to the kitchen. Rhino was standing nearby, arms crossed, and nodded as I approached.
"Any problems making it back, Herman?"
"None. Clear and easy once Hawkeye saw the light."
"Mr. Shocker, thank you." The blonde had been leaning against the counter after drying off her face, and extended a hand towards me. "I owe you my life."
"Um...thanks," I said. It took me a few more seconds before I responded with a firm, but dumbfounded handshake. "Don't forget Aleksei."
"I haven't," she said.
"Yes...thank you, sir." The Latino gentleman put his hand out, and the shock was less evident the second time around as I pumped twice and let go. "If it wasn't for you, we would have been trapped by the zombies who broke in. We are in your debt."
"...think nothing of it," I got out. "I couldn't...we couldn't," I corrected myself with a nod towards Aleksei, "just sit by and do nothing. We had to help."
Before, blowing from of the warehouse like a bat out of hell, I didn't have time to think about why. Now, with the threat passed and everyone safe...I didn't even ask myself 'why.' Just seeing the look of relief on the faces of the blonde and the Latino man, that was reason enough. Knowing that they would have been toast without our help...it wasn't 100% heroic and altruistic, maybe. But I felt good. The world was going to hell, and I did something good. Fantastic.
"And now, sir...I must ask you, am I free to leave?"
I remember blinking at his question. "Um...leave? Are...are you sure you want to do that, Mr..."
"Robert Prosario," he said. "And yes, I have to leave. I appreciate you saving my life, but I can't stay here, Mr. Shocker." He motioned towards the metal door leading outside. "I was on my way home from work with Ashley..." The blonde waved. "...when we got hit by the other car. We were going to meet my family and get ready to leave the island, like when the Hulk came through last summer and they evacuated Manhattan."
I looked over at Ashley. "Are you related?"
"Oh, no, no, he's just my co-worker. My apartment's up past 92nd Street and I didn't want to try to get back there alone," she replied. "But...I'm fine with staying here, if that's what you're going to do, Mr. Shocker."
"I was planning on it," I found myself. "I mean...we got food, water, and the walls are pretty sturdy. Beats being out on the streets right now by a long shot."
"Yeah, it's your standard hideout," Rhino chimed in, "great for when you need to lie low and hide out for a while."
"I'm sure it would be, Mr. Shocker," Robert answered, "but I cannot sit here while my family is waiting for me. The last time I talked to them was before I left work, and that was a few hours ago. I don't want them to worry, or worse, go out looking for me when, as you said, the streets aren't safe."
That was a good point in his favor. Normally, I wouldn't give a damn if this guy wanted to go stick his neck out. As long as my neck wasn't the one on the line, most everyone else could fish or cut bait for all I cared. He knew the risks, and if Robert wanted to become a meal for some shuffling zombie, I normally wouldn't have cared all that much. But...didn't Aleksei and I just do the same damn thing, going out onto the dangerous streets to make sure people were safe? And that was for total strangers, not for family.
"You know it's a death wish, right, Robert?"
"Herman, that's what Fred said to you earlier tonight, but you went out, anyway." Aleksei had gotten a bottle of water while we had been talking, the small plastic container almost lost within his massive fist. "If he wants to go do it, let him, he knows the score."
"I know, Mr. Rhino...I know. But I can't sit here and let my family possible die waiting for me. Thank you for everything, but I must go." Robert started to push past me...
I grabbed his wrist. "You can't get in touch with them? You tried?"
"I just tried a few minutes ago." I let go of his forearm as he continued to speak, holding up a small Blackberry. "I kept getting a recorded message, from the phone company, about all the lines being tied up."
I didn't want to do what I was about to do. I really didn't. Yeah, I enjoyed the positive feelings and general sense of well-being my earlier actions had brought me...but let's face it, dumb luck had a strong supporting role in the whole 7-11 rescue. And I'm an engineer. I don't believe in luck. I deal in numbers and absolutes. Fact, the undead were walking around Manhattan, as well as the rest of the world. Fact, nothing at the moment seemed to stop them, or even slow them down, other than a shot to the head. Fact, they saw humans as a source of food. Fact, they seemed to keep going after their food, no matter what. Fact, right now, we were in a secure, easily fortified location away from the busier parts of Manhattan. Fact, we were safe.
Fact, Herman Schultz is about to pull another dumb move.
"Where's your place?"
"Up on Versey Street," the Latino answered.
"Come on." I motioned for Robert to follow me over to my workbench. Once there, I scrounged for a couple of seconds, moving bolts and tools out of the way to find what I was looking for. "Write...write your family a note, saying you're ok and that I'm a friend who's coming to rescue them." Robert, even though he took the pen and paper from the workbench, stared at me in confusion. "Look, if I show up at your place, your family's gonna think I'm there to case the joint or something. You give me...a letter of introduction, something that'll tell them I'm cool and not going to hurt them."
"I..."
I cut Robert off. "Come on, we don't got time, just write something." I grabbed my vibro-smashers from the workbench, and stepped away. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Fred shaking his head as I initialized my gloves. Full charge. Good.
I didn't mention it before, so I might as well put it in here now. I have a charger for my gloves on my workbench, and in a pinch, I can plug directly into a wall outlet. But, in case I'm cut off from my hideout for a long period of time, my gloves have their own built-in recharging mechanism. I based it off the concept of the self-winding watch that uses the wearer's momentum from swinging and moving their arms to keep ticking. It's not much, and if I go completely dry in the field, we'd be talking hours to charge back up to full blast capability. But it's what lets me throw around level one and level two blasts without too much worry.
"A few minutes of good press, you think you're an Avenger," Boomerang said sadly. "Come on, Herman, once is luck, twice is foolish."
"Fred, I'd agree with you under most any other circumstance." My vibro-smashers hummed slightly as I turned to face him. "Look, I risked my butt to save three people, and after doing that, one of them wants to go back out there anyway. Sorry, not after all of that. I'm batting a thousand for once."
"Herman, let the guy go if he's that dumb. Two out of three ain't bad."
I remember staring directly at Boomerang as he spoke those words. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good success rate. Why not take it? Why not just let the guy go? The clerk was alive, and the blonde, Ashley, she was alive. Robert wanted to go home to his wife and family. Let him. Maybe he'd make it back...if Rhino and I could as two conspicuous bad guys...
Two out of three.
I knew what I was doing...and with those words, I finally figured out why I was doing it.
"No way, Fred. I ain't gonna live with 66.6 tonight."
My friend linked at me for a couple of seconds, before throwing up his hands and sighing loudly. "Christ...alright, mate, if you're going to be stupid, let's do stupid right." Robert was still writing his note, scribbling as quickly as he could, so I nodded to Fred to go on. "You need someone to stay home and guard the fort. I'll do that for you. Make sure the civvies don't accidentally trip a trap or open a door and let one of those things inside."
I couldn't help but smirk. "And you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart, right?"
"I'm doing it because the only thing that I want to gobble me down is a Playmate, Herman, not a walking corpse. The guy said the phone lines were all tangled up. You try your suit's comms yet?"
"Haven't had a need to...give me a second. Yo, Aleksei!" Across the warehouse, Aleksei was still taking to the blonde girl, Ashley. He looked up as he heard me yell his name. "Make sure your communication system is on, gonna test it out." He shot me a thumbs up as I grabbed my mask from the workbench. I pushed the panel to activate the radio and lifted the mask to my lips. "You hear me ok?"
"Loud and clear," his voice came back through the mask's ears.
I nodded, and spoke one more time. "I'm heading out again. You don't have to come with me, but..."
"Good," he interrupted me. "Are you going to that guy's family's apartment up on Versey Street? Because if you do, I got someone I want to stop by and check in on in Soho afterwards."
"Christ, we're getting ourselves a regular entourage," Boomerang groused somewhat good-naturedly.
Soho was a bit of a hike...but there was no logical way to argue that fact based on what I was setting out to do. "Ok, Aleksei, you and me. We do this cool, and we keep watching our butts, just like last time. We can't get cocky. Got it?"
"Got it," my friend replied. "I'll meet you by the door when you're ready, Herman."
I put my mask back on, re-magnetizing the connection with a touch. "Alright, comms work. You still got your comms in your suit, Fred?"
"Yeah, but you still got that headset around, right? I'd prefer to use that."
"Sure, I got it over here." It was in a box under my workbench, a prototype unit I had worked on a few years ago. Cell phone and PDA technology made communication hardware and software to small, it was easy to thread and wire a small walkie-talkie into someone's uniform upon request. I never threw out the headset though, but kept it tucked away in case I needed it, or the parts, again. I never throw anything away if I can help it. Hell, I have a circuit junction from my very first radio-controlled car running tertiary power functions in one of my vibro-smashers. I remember that car...
I bought it with allowance money from mowing lawns all spring so I'd have it during the summer. When it shorted out one afternoon after flipping into a puddle, my friends thought it was ruined for good. Not me. I brought it home, dried it out using my mother's hair dryer, cracked it open on my father's workbench, and fixed it. Don't ask me how, because I couldn't tell you, but staring at circuit boards and gears, it didn't take me long to figure out what went where, which circuits needed soldered onto which board, which wires didn't cross, and just how much more power I could squeeze from a brand new battery. Once it was all put back together, the car ran just as well as it did before it got soaked...and maybe a little bit better.
When I was putting together my first real pair of vibro-smashers after breaking out of prison, I remembered cracking open that RC car one more time, and cannibalizing the hell out of it. The parts were sub-par, but they did the job until I acquired real gear. I ripped them all out and installed the new components, but along the way, I had forgotten the circuit junction, which was buried deep in my vibro-smashers, acting as a backup system to a backup system. By the time I had remember, it would have been too much hassle to rip them open and replace it. Over the years, no matter how many times I've upgraded, tweaked, repaired, or replaced my vibro-smashers, that circuit junction kept slipping under the radar, and eventually, it evolved into a bit of a good luck charm.
I mentioned all this to the Enchantress during a more formal night at the Bar With No Name once, and she smiled and told me in that silky voice of hers, "A piece of a toy from your childhood? It sounds like you have a fetish there, Herman."
Yeah, these days, I ain't the only one...
"Here," I said, untangling a few wires before handing it over to Fred. "Channel 4. Anything bad happens, you let us know right away, got it?" Boomerang nodded, take the headset and clicking it on to test it.
"Mr. Shocker?" Robert handed me a folded slip of paper. "I told them you rescued me and that it would have been on television. Hopefully, that'll be enough."
I slid the note into my belt. "The three of us have a communication system set up, Robert. I'll let you know your family is safe the minute we get up to Versey Street. Alright?"
"Yes..." He reached out and took my gloved hand. Even though the quilted fabric I felt his strong, sincere grip. "Bless you, Mr. Shocker, for doing this. Please...bring my family back safe."
Alright. Versey Street is more a hike then the 7-11 was...and then we gotta go to Soho. Versey's closer in any case, and the sooner I can let Robert know the fate of his family...alright. It's doable. Dicey. Definitely stupid. But doable, if Rhino and I keep our heads and don't get cocky.
Aleksei was waiting for me at the warehouse door, with Ashley beside him, ready to set the lock one we were both outside. He took a deep breath as I approached, and actually smiled at me. "Once more into the breach, huh?"
I stopped in my tracks. Under my mask, I stared in wonder at the big guy. "Since when did you know Shakespeare, Aleksei?"
"I don't," he said in a low rumble. "That was Shakespeare?" He opened the door for me, and the two of us stepped back out into Manhattan. "I've just heard that damn quote so many times, it seemed like the right thing to say."
Over the sound of sirens and occasional gunfire, I shrugged at him. "Works for me. Come on, we got a walk ahead of us."