That afternoon
Thursday
D-JAK
"It has begun!" Paige confirmed that morning at D-JAK.
"What?" I asked, stupidly.
"The beginning of the end!"
"Huh?"
"Megan has officially started puberty!"
I grimaced.
"Oh great! Just what we need around here; another hormonal girl!" Dave complained, shaking his head.
"Gee, thanks Mom!" Megan said sarcastically, walking over. "Just let every fucker know about my fucking private life!"
"She's also getting very stroppy!" Paige added needlessly.
"Been there with Mindy – not fun!" Dave conceded.
I scowled at Dave before turning to the belligerent Megan.
"Back to the mat, hormonal terror!" I suggested, pushing Megan back in the direction of her friends.
The following night
Friday
West Columbia
"Megan – is that blood?"
"Yes, Mother!"
"Did Mindy hit you?" Mother asked.
"Not even close, Mother!" I replied shortly, heading upstairs.
Yes, I had been involved in a fight. Nevertheless, I really was not in the mood for twenty questions; however, Mom was!
"Megan Wilson, get your backside down here, right now!" Mom almost shouted. I paused on the stairs and considered ignoring the command. I knew I had pushed way past my bounds – I was an hour late to boot.
Anyhow, common sense quickly prevailed and I turned around and headed back downstairs, but threw Mom a filthy look, anyway. Which turned out not to be a good idea, apparently!
"You, young lady, need to sort your life out – I am not going to tolerate this behaviour from you – you are grounded!"
I snapped; who, the hell, did she think she was!
"Like hell, I am!" I retorted and turned towards the door, intending to leave the house.
"You walk out that door, young lady and you are history!"
"Try it, bitch!"
That same time
Fourteen miles south
The fireball exploded out from the side of the building.
Masonry fell all around us, as we cowered behind a large truck. I glared at Shadow – not that she could see my face!
"How the fuck, was I meant to know the dickhead had a dead man's switch!" Shadow moaned, trying to sound innocent and failing badly.
"The Lieutenant is not gonna like this!" Kick-Ass chuckled.
"Ya think!" I retorted angrily.
"Cool explosion, though!" Jackal cut in.
"Well, you're another dickhead; so you would think so!" Shadow countered.
"Hit Girl, this is Battle Guy – we have an alert out for Wildcat; the little bitch skipped out after turning up at home covered in blood!"
"Oh for fuck's sake!"
..._...
"She's gone – I'm worried about her," Paige said, sounding panicked. "I don't think she's thinking straight."
"I'll sort it out, Paige – hang in there."
I was fuming; Paige had been in tears, when I had called.
Something had obviously gone wrong!
However, the explosion was cool and it gave me the distraction that I needed to attach my tracker to their truck. Now I just needed to wait and follow the signal! Too simple? Maybe, but I had to try something!
I was fully aware that if I were caught, I would most likely be killed.
Western Chicago
119 South Oakley Boulevard
Home of Sam Fellowes
I heard a knock on the window of my bedroom.
It was after nine at night, who could be on the balcony outside my room? I pulled back the curtains and...
"Megan!"
"Let me in asshole!"
I opened the window and let the girl into my bedroom. Normally, I might have been surprised to have a hot looking girl at my bedroom window, but this was Megan and nothing really surprised me about her – not anymore at least! Once Megan had climbed in, I closed the window and turned to the girl who was now making herself comfortable on my bed.
"Hiya, Cam!" She said with a smile.
"Err, Megan – it's late, my Dad will kill us both, if he finds you here – not to mention that I'm only wearing a towel."
I had just climbed out of the shower and had not had a chance to put my shorts on yet.
"Don't mind me!" Megan replied with an evil smirk.
I vanished to the bathroom and returned with shorts and a t-shirt on. Megan was gazing up at the ceiling. Then I noticed something.
"Megan – is that blood?"
"Don't you, fucking start on me!"
"I won't," I replied defensively.
"But I will!"
I turned to find Dad standing at the bedroom door and he looked pissed. I turned back and glared at Megan, who had turned away from the door and was pointedly ignoring my Dad. I knew what was about to happen.
"Megan, it is time to go home..."
"Go fuck yourself – I'm busy!" Megan retorted, cutting Dad off.
I winced; this was not going to end well!
"Err, Megan, you're coming with me!" Sam Fellowes said. "You're going home."
"Oh no I'm not! I am not a fucking kid, anymore."
"You are coming with me – voluntarily; or in cuffs – your choice."
"You wouldn't fucking dare!"
I felt myself lifted off the bed and I twisted my head, just in time to prevent my nose hitting Cameron's bedroom wall. My arms were pinned behind me and I then felt cold steel on my wrists. The cuffs were ratcheted closed with my arms behind my back. Fellowes then dragged me downstairs and outside, where I was then thrown, unceremoniously, into the back of his unmarked Chicago Police Department SUV.
"You asshole!" I breathed.
"Shut it, before I tape that trap of yours!" Fellowes growled, getting into the driver's seat.
..._...
Fellowes drove me home and pulled up outside the house. I was more than pleased to see that Marcus was not home yet! Fellowes hauled me out of his SUV and up to the front door. He knocked and the door flew open to reveal Mom, who looked none too pleased; in fact, she looked just a bit pissed. I was marched inside and once the door was closed, Fellowes span me around to face him.
"What's going on kid?" He asked with genuine concern.
"Get these damn things off of my fucking wrists!" I growled savagely.
"You have surprised me, Megan," Fellowes said calmly.
"You think I give a crap?"
"You are supposed to be Wildcat, somebody that I respected – but this… This is not whom you are – you are behaving just like a spoilt little girl, who cannot get things her own way," Fellowes continued. "It is time to grow up Megan!"
"You can't speak to me like that!"
"Well I just did, because I used to respect you and I do respect your Mother and I want to help in any way that I can."
"I am old enough to look after myself… I do not need anybody to tell me –"
Wham!
Fellowes slammed me against the wall and I almost screamed with pain as he whispered into my ear.
"What would Mindy think if she could see you now? A delinquent child in cuffs. I think she would be ashamed of your childish behaviour. She needs disciplined people – not immature, little brats. I have now lost all the respect that I had for you and what you do. You need to sort yourself out, Megan," Fellowes said, before starting to yell. "DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"
"Yes!" I replied insolently.
"I DON'T THINK YOU DO!" Fellowes bellowed before continuing more quietly. "I am going to remove the cuffs – you misbehave and I'll put them straight back on."
Fellowes removed the cuffs and replaced them in his pocket. I turned around and looked up at the Cop.
"Sam, I –."
Fellowes cut me off.
"It's not 'Sam' anymore, Megan; it's Sergeant Fellowes to you!"
It hit me then that I had really fucked things up. What had been a small firecracker of an issue had now gone nuclear. I was fucking history and I felt ashamed, I felt tears forming. I turned to Mom, who looked beyond disappointed. That dug in, as a knife and I knew exactly what that felt like.
"Megan, please go to your room and stay there," Mom said. "Do not come out for any reason."
I did not dare to look at Fellowes, so I just headed straight upstairs and shut my bedroom door behind me.
I sank on to the bed and started to cry.
"I'm sorry if I went too far, Paige."
"No, Sam, you didn't go too far – it had to be done."
"You know – I was way worse than Megan at that age. I just worry about what Cameron will be like when he approaches puberty."
"We've all been there – I hate to say it, but my parents saw me brought home by Chicago's finest much more than I would like to admit!" Paige admitted. "Just don't tell Megan!"
"Does Marcus know?"
"Oh yeah – I had to tell him where I got my taste for handcuffs from?"
An hour later
Oh, crap!
I heard the truck pull up outside first and then the sound of the front door opening.
"Where is she?" Marcus demanded.
A minute later, Marcus entered my bedroom, after knocking. I did not think I had ever seen Marcus look this mad before, ever. He stood there and just looked at me. I felt so fucking small; it was horrible. I had tremendous respect for Marcus, so I kept my mouth firmly shut.
Ultimately, Marcus just turned and left my bedroom, closing the door behind him.
The fact that he had never said a single word felt worse than if he had yelled at me.
The following morning
Saturday
West Columbia
I knocked on Megan's bedroom door.
There was no answer, so I pushed the door open and went in. I found Megan lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, still dressed and with dried blood on her face.
"How you doing, oh grounded one?" I asked.
"Not good!" Megan replied, still staring at the ceiling.
"I'm not here to lecture you – that isn't my place. I just want to help," I offered. "Besides I'm all lectured out having gone through Shadow like a ton of bricks after she blew up most of Chicago!"
Megan sat up and looked at me. I expected a smile, as I sat down on the end of the bed, but then she surprised me by jumping up, wrapping her arms around me and bursting into tears. Between sobs, she asked questions.
"I've fucked up badly, haven't I?"
"Will Mom forgive me?"
"Will Marcus ever speak to me again?"
"How will I regain Fellowes' respect?"
When Megan stopped crying, I smiled at her.
"In order. Hell, yeah! I should think so. Probably, and you'll earn it back," I said.
"Thanks Mindy. I am sorry for letting you down and I am sorry about running out and, well, I'm sorry about everything. I honestly don't know why I snapped."
"Hormones, huh?" I queried.
"It sucks – big time!"
"You don't know the half of it, girl! Now go get yourself showered and make yourself presentable," I suggested.
"Why?" Megan asked.
"Move it!"
..._...
Megan spent almost twenty minutes in the shower, followed by me helping her with fresh dressings for her knife wounds and yet another twenty minutes of her rushing backwards and forwards, getting herself dressed. She looked a lot better, now that she was cleaned up. I had the feeling that she had not slept much the previous night.
"Feel better?" I asked.
"Not really."
"Ready?"
"Not really."
"Come with me," I directed and took Megan's hand.
..._...
I led Megan downstairs into the living room. There sat Paige, Marcus and Sam Fellowes. Megan stopped dead and tried to backtrack. I pulled her forwards and pushed her towards Paige.
"You can do it," I whispered, before stepping back.
"Mom, I'm really, really sorry. I did not mean any of it. I will never treat you like that again – ever!"
"You hurt me, Megan, but I love you and I will never let anything get between us," Mom said, smiling.
Megan turned slowly towards Marcus, but he pointed towards Sam Fellowes and Megan moved to face him.
"Sergeant Fellowes. I am sorry for what I said and did. I never stopped to think about my actions. I know actions have consequences – I know because my actions have led me to be wounded and I have the wounds and eventually the scars that will remind me of that bad decision every damn day. I understand why you were hard on me and I deeply regret causing you to lose your respect for me. I am sorry for letting you down and I am sorry for letting everybody down. If it had not been for Mindy, last year, I would probably have been brought home in cuffs, way too many times by now. I hope that I can earn back your respect."
Fellowes nodded approvingly.
"That was a very mature and well thought out apology, Megan. You have gone a long way to regaining my respect."
Megan grinned for the first time that evening.
"Thanks, Sergeant Fellowes."
"Call me Sam, Megan!"
Finally, Megan turned to Marcus and her smile faded.
Marcus did not say a word.
"Come on, Marcus. The girl's doing her best!" I said. Marcus enjoyed his little game; I had 'played' it often enough!
"I accept your apology, Megan. As Sam said, it was very mature and I am proud of you, for the apology at least. Now back to your room."
"Yes, Marcus."
Two days later
Monday morning
Burnham Harbor Marina
Megan had spent all of the weekend in her room.
Marcus had told her that she was to be allowed out for the trip and that, how well she behaved, while aboard, and would affect how long she would be grounded for, on her return.
Marcus had a heart and knew how difficult it was to control a wayward daughter!
Authors Note: At this point, you are strongly advised to read my other story: The Voyages of The Salty Swallow, for the next events in the Forsaken timeline. You can ignore the story, but events in The Voyages of The Salty Swallow will be referred to from time to time. Chapter 164 of Forsaken continues ten days, or so, after the end of this chapter (Chapter 163).