Chapter 6 - Rebuilding
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(5pm, Eastern time)
Back at the Kent home, Diana sat down and showed Steve some pictures she had saved for many, many years. She showed steve an old photo of her and Col. Trevor, standing in front of a plane from the 1940s. Young Steve himself still couldn't come to terms with how old his mother really was, and the fact that his father was from a different planet. Furthermore, he couldn't believe that his mother served in World War II.
"And this one..." Diana pulled out a picture of her as Wonder Woman standing with Batman in front of the Wayne mansion in gotham city. "..that's Batman. He's still around. Last I heard, his protege, Robin, has since become Darkwing."
Diana hadn't spoken with Bruce at all for the last 2 years. He was really, really busy and was doing so much to keep Diana's privacy safe.
"And this one here..." Diana pulled out the picture of her and Kenny Triton doing goofy faces at the airport back in 2020. "This here was my best friend for the last few years that I was in the superhero business."
"What did he do?" asked Steve
"He had this gift. He could use psionic powers and wore a leather trenchcoat that was impervious to bullets and whenever he touched someone while wearing it...it comforted that person greatly." Diana replied.
"Where is he now?" asked Steve
"Up in Canada. When I left to get married to your father, I told him that we wanted to be alone and he hasn't found us yet." Replied Diana.
Clark was watching the news in the livingroom nearby and figured that was about to change.
"He might...come look at this." Clark informed his family.
Diana and Steve got up from the table and looked at the TV screen with the face of a man in a suit looking outward.
"In Fort Lauderdale, a young man has rescued a young lady from certain death after she fell from the roof of The Galleria. A young man, who appeared to have superpowers jumped into the air, and caught the young woman as she fell. The boy's identity remains a mystery, but there's no lack of social media coverage of this. News of this heroic young man's actions has spread like wildfire across the world."
"That...that was what we were afraid of." said Diana, turning back to her son. "We didn't want to be found. We just wanted our privacy."
"And now with your act of bravery...some old friends...they might actually find us."
"In other news." The news report continued. "The New Bountiful compound in British Columbia was attacked today by a man in a leather trenchcoat."
The news report caused Diana and Clark to glue their eyes to the TV.
"According to reports, a man with a leather trenchcoat charged into the facility, and shot several members of the FLDS. The RCMP have refused to comment on this story, and so far, the identity of the man in the trenchcoat remains a mystery. But even more mysterious, is the fact the man in the trenchcoat, when shot, wasn't hurt, and his gunfire did not kill any of it's targets, it merely disabled them temporarily. Could this be the return of British Columbia's mysterious hero of poverty, The Coat?"
Clark didn't say as much as a word, But Diana knew exactly who did it, and why a person like that guy would do it.
"Kenny, you crazy man." Diana smiled. "Who hurt your friends so bad you took it out on a bunch of polygamists?"
"Mom...that's your friend?" Asked Steve.
"Yeah...that's him." Diana turned to her son and turned back to the TV.
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(12 PM, Pacific time)
Kenny pulled out his laptop computer and fired it up, and went onto internet explorer.
"Ok...show me the money." Kenny hit some buttons on the keyboard..and typed in his friend's maiden name, and got absolutely nothing. So, then he punched in her married name. He got a hit, based out of the Miami, Florida hospital system. Her face was on it and everything. She had been employed since 2028.
"Nice...at least we have the general area nailed down." Kenny then turned back onto Google, went into the images section. Then, he typed in the name of his friend's alter ego, Wonder Woman.
The search brought up what Kenny ultimately expected. There were sexually suggestive artwork pieces and photos of knock-off Wonder Women engaging in sex with random men. This was how the world viewed his best friend, and ultimately, it hurt him too. He knew his friend wasn't like the pictures portrayed, and could totally connect it with how his daughter felt.
There was one last piece of business. Kenny shut the windows down and closed the laptop, and pulled out his smartphone to make a phone call.
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"Wahlberg's office, this is Christie speaking, how may I help you?" replied a secretary
"Yes, Christie, can I speak with Teena Wahlberg, please?" asked Kenny
"Just a moment." The secretary put Kenny on hold, and informed her boss that she had a parked call on the line. A minute passed, and Miss Wahlberg, dressed in a nice suit, pushed a button on her phone, and replied.
"Hello, Teena Wahlberg here." replied Teena.
"Teena, it's Kenny! I have to ask you something and I need it bad." Kenny sounded desperate.
"Anything for the man who practically got me here, Kenny. What's up?" replied Teena.
"I need to know if you've had any business dealings with billionaire Bruce Wayne in the past, and I want to know if any of it took place down in Florida."
Teena sat back and remembered Kenny's hockey game against the capitals that night and how she challenged Bruce to a bet.
"There's one time that stands out...remember your first game of hockey?" Asked Teena.
"Yes, I beat up that guy." replied Kenny
"I made a bet with Mr. Wayne. If your team won, I would buy this place down in Florida. If I lost, Bruce would buy it."
"We lost that game 4-1." replied Kenny
"Yeah...but that was the only Florida related business deal i've had with Bruce...funny how he paid 2.5 million dollars on a foreclosed property as a wedding present for another big friend of his."
That was all that Kenny needed to hear.
"Where was this place?" asked Kenny
"I can't remember the address, but It's a big mansion at the end of Bimini drive in the No Name key of Florida."
That was it...that's where Diana had run off to. Kenny's smile was ear to ear, and he was ready to drive to Teena's office in Vancouver to hug and kiss her as thanks before flying to Florida.
"Teena, you're an angel...when we get together, i'll buy the coffee."
"You're welcome, Kenny...Enjoy the weekend."
"Ok, bye-bye!" Kenny ended the call, and began preparing.
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(12:45 PM, Pacific time)
Kenny's family had begun packing up the basics for the trip back to Abbotsford. After the incident involving Kenny's daughter, she needed to get away from the spot for a while to clear her mind and get to feeling better. By the time almost everything was packed up, there was still a bit of business.
"Hey dad, when do I get paid?" asked Zakk, loading up his Playstation.
"Oh..." Kenny didn't have any cash on him. "Let me hit the ATM, now you worked a total of 5 hours, right? that's $50. Keep loading, I'll be back in a few minutes."
Kenny walked off to the local convienience store to go and get some money for his son and daughter, both of which had worked for him. Unfortunately, the patio job wouldn't be complete for another month, but at least the parts were still there, covered up with tarps and canvas to keep dry and the bugs away. The convienience store clerk knew Kenny, and had watched the attempted kidnapping. And out of all people, called the sheriff to inform him of the incident so he could at least catalogue it.
"Hey Kenny, how are you?" asked the clerk as Kenny walked into the store.
"I'm ok, Jesse. I'm actually just about to head back to Abbotsford for a while." replied Kenny.
"I saw your daughter, and those polygamists try to kidnap her, eh? I called the sheriff."
"Yeah, my daughter told me. I dealt with it. That's why we're going back to Abbotsford." Kenny put his bank card into the ATM.
"That explains your truck chasing the van up the road." Jesse figured it out.
"Yep." Kenny pushed the buttons on the ATM to withdraw some cash.
"Thank you, Kenny. You're a great guy, eh?" asked Jesse.
"And you're welcome...eh?" Kenny replied in his natural Canadian dialect.
Kenny got some cash out, and needed to break a 20 to make due.
"Can you give me two 10's?" asked Kenny, handing off a 20 to Jesse.
"Sure thing, eh?" Jesse switched out the 20 and handed kenny two 10$ bills.
"Take care, have a good summer." Kenny walked out of the store. He didn't get much further past the pumps, when the sheriff's 2032 GMC Canyon truck pulled up beside him.
"Hey Kenny, heard what you did up in the hills." The sheriff said.
"Word travels fast, don't it, Andy?" asked Kenny.
"The Global BC people are coming, and CBS and NBC and all those other guys." The sheriff replied "The concubines were calling me, and I took an earful of crying and shit. What the hell'd you do to em?"
Kenny cracked a bit of a smile.
"I just wanted to let that boy who touched my daughter know never to do that again...and he apologized and he said he wouldn't." replied Kenny
"And now you're going back to Abby for her sake. I wouldn't want to stay here if someone tried to catch me to stick their pecker in me either." The sheriff joked.
"No, I bet you wouldn't. Me neither." Kenny replied.
The sheriff was busy, but he had one thing to say.
"I gotta go do some stuff, but I just want to thank you Kenny. And oh yeah, good news...I sent an email off to commissioner Paulson in Ottawa...they're going to send us some more help, and maybe even plan to deal with those polygamists the right way." The sheriff shared the good news.
"Thank God." replied kenny.
"I already did." the sheriff smiled "Not one day goes by that I don't thank God myself. Maybe you and I have different approaches to it." The sheriff pulled a Book of Mormon from his glove compartment and looked at it with a smile. "But at least someone still believes, right?"
Kenny smiled back at the sheriff. Kenny himself didn't believe in Mormonism, but when it came to religion, he had stopped caring a long time ago, and just accepted everyone for who they were and accepted the fact that everyone looked at God in a different way.
"Take care, Andy." Kenny waved goodbye and went back to his place.
"Have a safe trip." The sheriff rolled up the window and cruised back to the detachment.
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