**Taylor**
“Hebert residence,” my father answered, probably as soon as he got the house phone up to his head.
“Hey dad,” I said glancing at the clock, “Have you watched the news yet tonight?”
“No,” he answered slightly questioningly, “Should I be concerned?”
“There was an incident at the mall today,” I answered looking over at Katie who was chatting on her own phone. “Downside was that we ended up being involved, the upside is that I made a new friend.”
“Was anyone hurt?” he asked, concern coloring his tone.
“Only Mush,” I answered smiling and letting it show in my voice, “Rune hit him with a table and slammed him into a pillar.” My dad chuckled his amusement, “Currently I’m kinda stuck here for the after-action review, but I’m likely going to end up staying over with Rune and Akane, at least until everything gets settled.”
“Which will be when?” Dad asked concern entering his voice again.
“Getting Rune settled in will likely take most of the night,” I answered, “possibly some action tomorrow but I don’t think that will be likely. I promise, I’ll be home for dinner tomorrow night no later.”
“Alright kiddo,” he said, his tone grudging at best. “You take care of your friends, I’ll see you for dinner tomorrow, just remember, it is your turn to cook.”
“Thanks Dad,” I chirped, “I’ll talk to you later, ok.”
“Love you kid,” he replied, “you be careful.”
“Love you too Dad,” I said back, “and you too, I’ll see you tomorrow, bye.”
“Bye Taylor,” he said and then I hung up. Looking over I saw Katie waiting to go back into the conference room, “You ready to face these idiots?” She nodded and pushed the partition door open leading the way back in.
**Katie**
RING…RING…RIN-“Hello, Katie? Where are you, they still have the mall cordoned off.” Greg gasped in my ear, near panic apparently.
“Greg,” I cast a look over at Taylor who was talking with her father and ignoring me, “I’m fine, I had to go down to the PRT building to give my statement.”
“Never figured you would sit that out,” he said, the smile evident in his voice. “Word is from the other civilians that Rune was there and took out Mush, any truth to that?”
“Yeah,” I answered, “Look I got to get back into this debriefing thing, try again tomorrow, same time and place?”
“I guess,” he answered hesitantly, “but what about your job?”
I smiled at that, “Screw them,” I said confidently, “I just got an internship offer by the PRT, and they pay more with better hours.”
“Well then tomorrow we’ll celebrate,” Greg answered the smile in his voice obvious. “Till then?”
“Till then,” I answered and hung up my cell. What the hell was it about that damn geek that got my damn motor running. He was a cape geek and an uber nerd that spent more time banned on PHO than any three other users combined. And I think I’m falling for him, damn it I thought and remembered yesterday.
**Friday 2pm**
“So I asked around and this place, while they pay their protection money, isn’t an empire front.” I told Greg as I opened the outer door to the gym. The place was obviously built around the boxing ring in the center area, and the equipment was meant to aid people in learning the art. At the edge of the ring, an older black man was directing the pair inside the ring. One was a man a decade or so younger than the man outside the ring while the other was only a couple years older than me at a guess. Beefcake my brain commented at how the two in the ring were built, big, muscular, and while the younger one wasn’t as large as the bruiser he was fighting against, he was faster, and used that smaller size to his advantage. Suddenly the man outside the ring sounded the bell and the two men inside separated.
“Good work Brian,” the man outside the ring said as he threw each of them towels. “You keep moving and landing a series of shots,” he said to the younger man. “Using your smaller size to your advantage but never afraid to close and land a solid hit, that’s good tactics.” Turning to the older man he continued. “Jonathan, you need to learn to close faster, keep him from dodging out of your range while he pegs you like that. He’s right there within your reach why aren’t you hitting him?”
“He’s” the older man gasps, “he’s to damn fast, seems every time I swing he’s already gone or at least far enough back to lean back out of my reach.”
“That’s because you started throwing those damn barroom haymakers,” the oldest of them said. “If you would keep a short jab right from here,” he demonstrated dropping his right arm slightly and lancing out with it at chest height almost faster than you could follow, “then you would have connected more. You get sloppier the more tired you get, work on it,” he finished. “Now, Jonathan, you go hit the showers, Brian, there’s supposed to be a pair of white kids coming in here soon, one of them needs training in weights and exercise.”
“I think they’re here pops,” the younger man said pointing causing the older to turn around and look at us.
“So they are,” he replied. “Well boy, get to work, I ain’t paying ya to stand there and look pretty, cause she’d do it far better than you do.” I snorted and I think the young man rolled his eyes as the two older men climbed out of the ring and headed for the door labeled “Men’s Locker Room” standing next to the door labeled “Office”
“Don’t worry you two,” Brian said once the other two had left the gym proper and he had climbed out of the ring. “The old man’s bark is far worse than his bite, just don’t get in the ring with him unless you know a whole hell of a lot about fighting.”
“How much more should I know about fighting before getting in the ring with him?” I asked, curious at what the man’s son would say.
“Well first,” he said looking at both Greg and I. “You should know that in the ring he’ll have no problem knocking your head off, girl or not. The man makes Rocky Balboa seem like a lightweight with the strength of his punches and since he grew up street fighting, he probably knows every dirty trick in the book and then some.”
“Good things to know,” I said calmly. “Look, I’m Katie and this is Greg, and we were hoping to be able to train here since he won’t be welcome where I work.”
“Where do you work?” Brian asked cocking his head to one side.
“Beast bod,” I answered. “Greg pointed out that it’s an empire front, and I know that while your dad pays his protection, he doesn’t allow any of their bullshit in here. So I figured it would be a good place for Greg to get in shape and learn to protect himself.”
“I’m in shape,” Greg said with a tone that said it was false hurt, so I shot him a look. His reply to the look was to say, “Round is a shape after all.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled at that, his sense of humor was a bit twisted, but he was funny, “Anyway,” I continued. “He is going to be in here daily, and I’ll be with him as often as possible barring my job and finding a new one, and he’s going to need help. In return, I’m arranging to cover your old man’s protection fee’s while he’s here.”
“I can work with that,” Brian said calmly nodding, “which means you don’t get to quit Greg, and by this time next year, you’ll likely have shed that baby fat for good solid muscle and she’ll be beating the other girls away with a stick.”
Greg’s jaw dropped at that in disbelief, though whether that was the comment about beating the other girls off with a stick or that he would look good enough that I would have to I didn’t know. “Anyway,” I said catching both of their attention. “I was thinking getting a baseline for him today so we could tailor the routine and judge his advancement over time,” I said causing Brian to nod.
“You’ve done this before,” he said, and I nodded. “Works for me, I get paid either way. So let’s get started.” With that said he clapped his hands together and led us through the workout equipment.
Two hours later Greg was effectively a limp noodle, barely able to hold himself upright as I guided him to the bus stop. “You did good in there Greg,” I told him and smiled. “Soon you’ll look back on today and smile knowing it was the turning point in your life.”
He smiled slightly, something that caused my heart to skip a beat for some reason. “No,” he said shifting, probably to ease a muscle that was aching. “The turning point in my life was meeting you yesterday,” I blushed slightly at that, “and while I doubt someone like you would…”
“Now you shut that shit down right the fuck now Greg,” I snapped at him. “You have had enough people in your life giving you shit, you don’t need to be doing it to yourself. Now what would you like from me?”
“Would you like to go see a movie with me tomorrow?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said smiling. “Now that wasn’t too hard was it?”
His smile was fit to break his face as the bus pulled up in front of us. “No,” he said. “No it wasn’t. Weymouth Mall has a cinema and we can grab dinner before or after, your choice”
“Meet me at the food court at four then,” I told him as I pushed him onto his bus. “We’ll see what’s playing and then make the call about dinner.” He nodded and stepped back, waving as the door closed and the bus pulled away. Turning I walked the opposite direction, whistling happily while I walked toward home.
**Taylor**
As we stepped into the room you could feel the tension on the air as Akane was glaring across the table at the Youth Guard attack dog. “Say again,” she said, barely able to be heard from where I stood in the partition doorway. What was able to be heard though was the anger in her voice and that her accent was extremely thick instead of practically nonexistent. “Say again, I not have physical powers, but I put you head through table easy.”
“Miss No No,” the director growled, “That is enough. You know she is wrong; I know she is wrong, and Ms. Burns knows she is wrong, and it is Ms. Burns that is in charge of her. That said, Ms. Burns, please.”
“Quite right Director,” Ms. Burns said calmly. “I think this meeting has been sufficiently derailed Carolyn.”
“Ma’am?” the assistant answered continuing her glaring contest with Akane.
“I said that’s enough!” Burns snapped. “I apologize director,” Burns continued coolly. “Carolyn should never have made that comment, and while I think Miss No No is a bit hot headed on the subject, she has not done more than threaten Carolyn.”
“Yes,” Director Piggot said calmly. “Something she and I will have a long talk about later I assure you.”
As Katie and I headed back to our seats I looked at Vicky and Amy. Both were staring at the two hotheads with their eyes wide. What the hell happened in here while we were out?
“Hebert residence,” my father answered, probably as soon as he got the house phone up to his head.
“Hey dad,” I said glancing at the clock, “Have you watched the news yet tonight?”
“No,” he answered slightly questioningly, “Should I be concerned?”
“There was an incident at the mall today,” I answered looking over at Katie who was chatting on her own phone. “Downside was that we ended up being involved, the upside is that I made a new friend.”
“Was anyone hurt?” he asked, concern coloring his tone.
“Only Mush,” I answered smiling and letting it show in my voice, “Rune hit him with a table and slammed him into a pillar.” My dad chuckled his amusement, “Currently I’m kinda stuck here for the after-action review, but I’m likely going to end up staying over with Rune and Akane, at least until everything gets settled.”
“Which will be when?” Dad asked concern entering his voice again.
“Getting Rune settled in will likely take most of the night,” I answered, “possibly some action tomorrow but I don’t think that will be likely. I promise, I’ll be home for dinner tomorrow night no later.”
“Alright kiddo,” he said, his tone grudging at best. “You take care of your friends, I’ll see you for dinner tomorrow, just remember, it is your turn to cook.”
“Thanks Dad,” I chirped, “I’ll talk to you later, ok.”
“Love you kid,” he replied, “you be careful.”
“Love you too Dad,” I said back, “and you too, I’ll see you tomorrow, bye.”
“Bye Taylor,” he said and then I hung up. Looking over I saw Katie waiting to go back into the conference room, “You ready to face these idiots?” She nodded and pushed the partition door open leading the way back in.
**Katie**
RING…RING…RIN-“Hello, Katie? Where are you, they still have the mall cordoned off.” Greg gasped in my ear, near panic apparently.
“Greg,” I cast a look over at Taylor who was talking with her father and ignoring me, “I’m fine, I had to go down to the PRT building to give my statement.”
“Never figured you would sit that out,” he said, the smile evident in his voice. “Word is from the other civilians that Rune was there and took out Mush, any truth to that?”
“Yeah,” I answered, “Look I got to get back into this debriefing thing, try again tomorrow, same time and place?”
“I guess,” he answered hesitantly, “but what about your job?”
I smiled at that, “Screw them,” I said confidently, “I just got an internship offer by the PRT, and they pay more with better hours.”
“Well then tomorrow we’ll celebrate,” Greg answered the smile in his voice obvious. “Till then?”
“Till then,” I answered and hung up my cell. What the hell was it about that damn geek that got my damn motor running. He was a cape geek and an uber nerd that spent more time banned on PHO than any three other users combined. And I think I’m falling for him, damn it I thought and remembered yesterday.
**Friday 2pm**
“So I asked around and this place, while they pay their protection money, isn’t an empire front.” I told Greg as I opened the outer door to the gym. The place was obviously built around the boxing ring in the center area, and the equipment was meant to aid people in learning the art. At the edge of the ring, an older black man was directing the pair inside the ring. One was a man a decade or so younger than the man outside the ring while the other was only a couple years older than me at a guess. Beefcake my brain commented at how the two in the ring were built, big, muscular, and while the younger one wasn’t as large as the bruiser he was fighting against, he was faster, and used that smaller size to his advantage. Suddenly the man outside the ring sounded the bell and the two men inside separated.
“Good work Brian,” the man outside the ring said as he threw each of them towels. “You keep moving and landing a series of shots,” he said to the younger man. “Using your smaller size to your advantage but never afraid to close and land a solid hit, that’s good tactics.” Turning to the older man he continued. “Jonathan, you need to learn to close faster, keep him from dodging out of your range while he pegs you like that. He’s right there within your reach why aren’t you hitting him?”
“He’s” the older man gasps, “he’s to damn fast, seems every time I swing he’s already gone or at least far enough back to lean back out of my reach.”
“That’s because you started throwing those damn barroom haymakers,” the oldest of them said. “If you would keep a short jab right from here,” he demonstrated dropping his right arm slightly and lancing out with it at chest height almost faster than you could follow, “then you would have connected more. You get sloppier the more tired you get, work on it,” he finished. “Now, Jonathan, you go hit the showers, Brian, there’s supposed to be a pair of white kids coming in here soon, one of them needs training in weights and exercise.”
“I think they’re here pops,” the younger man said pointing causing the older to turn around and look at us.
“So they are,” he replied. “Well boy, get to work, I ain’t paying ya to stand there and look pretty, cause she’d do it far better than you do.” I snorted and I think the young man rolled his eyes as the two older men climbed out of the ring and headed for the door labeled “Men’s Locker Room” standing next to the door labeled “Office”
“Don’t worry you two,” Brian said once the other two had left the gym proper and he had climbed out of the ring. “The old man’s bark is far worse than his bite, just don’t get in the ring with him unless you know a whole hell of a lot about fighting.”
“How much more should I know about fighting before getting in the ring with him?” I asked, curious at what the man’s son would say.
“Well first,” he said looking at both Greg and I. “You should know that in the ring he’ll have no problem knocking your head off, girl or not. The man makes Rocky Balboa seem like a lightweight with the strength of his punches and since he grew up street fighting, he probably knows every dirty trick in the book and then some.”
“Good things to know,” I said calmly. “Look, I’m Katie and this is Greg, and we were hoping to be able to train here since he won’t be welcome where I work.”
“Where do you work?” Brian asked cocking his head to one side.
“Beast bod,” I answered. “Greg pointed out that it’s an empire front, and I know that while your dad pays his protection, he doesn’t allow any of their bullshit in here. So I figured it would be a good place for Greg to get in shape and learn to protect himself.”
“I’m in shape,” Greg said with a tone that said it was false hurt, so I shot him a look. His reply to the look was to say, “Round is a shape after all.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled at that, his sense of humor was a bit twisted, but he was funny, “Anyway,” I continued. “He is going to be in here daily, and I’ll be with him as often as possible barring my job and finding a new one, and he’s going to need help. In return, I’m arranging to cover your old man’s protection fee’s while he’s here.”
“I can work with that,” Brian said calmly nodding, “which means you don’t get to quit Greg, and by this time next year, you’ll likely have shed that baby fat for good solid muscle and she’ll be beating the other girls away with a stick.”
Greg’s jaw dropped at that in disbelief, though whether that was the comment about beating the other girls off with a stick or that he would look good enough that I would have to I didn’t know. “Anyway,” I said catching both of their attention. “I was thinking getting a baseline for him today so we could tailor the routine and judge his advancement over time,” I said causing Brian to nod.
“You’ve done this before,” he said, and I nodded. “Works for me, I get paid either way. So let’s get started.” With that said he clapped his hands together and led us through the workout equipment.
Two hours later Greg was effectively a limp noodle, barely able to hold himself upright as I guided him to the bus stop. “You did good in there Greg,” I told him and smiled. “Soon you’ll look back on today and smile knowing it was the turning point in your life.”
He smiled slightly, something that caused my heart to skip a beat for some reason. “No,” he said shifting, probably to ease a muscle that was aching. “The turning point in my life was meeting you yesterday,” I blushed slightly at that, “and while I doubt someone like you would…”
“Now you shut that shit down right the fuck now Greg,” I snapped at him. “You have had enough people in your life giving you shit, you don’t need to be doing it to yourself. Now what would you like from me?”
“Would you like to go see a movie with me tomorrow?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said smiling. “Now that wasn’t too hard was it?”
His smile was fit to break his face as the bus pulled up in front of us. “No,” he said. “No it wasn’t. Weymouth Mall has a cinema and we can grab dinner before or after, your choice”
“Meet me at the food court at four then,” I told him as I pushed him onto his bus. “We’ll see what’s playing and then make the call about dinner.” He nodded and stepped back, waving as the door closed and the bus pulled away. Turning I walked the opposite direction, whistling happily while I walked toward home.
**Taylor**
As we stepped into the room you could feel the tension on the air as Akane was glaring across the table at the Youth Guard attack dog. “Say again,” she said, barely able to be heard from where I stood in the partition doorway. What was able to be heard though was the anger in her voice and that her accent was extremely thick instead of practically nonexistent. “Say again, I not have physical powers, but I put you head through table easy.”
“Miss No No,” the director growled, “That is enough. You know she is wrong; I know she is wrong, and Ms. Burns knows she is wrong, and it is Ms. Burns that is in charge of her. That said, Ms. Burns, please.”
“Quite right Director,” Ms. Burns said calmly. “I think this meeting has been sufficiently derailed Carolyn.”
“Ma’am?” the assistant answered continuing her glaring contest with Akane.
“I said that’s enough!” Burns snapped. “I apologize director,” Burns continued coolly. “Carolyn should never have made that comment, and while I think Miss No No is a bit hot headed on the subject, she has not done more than threaten Carolyn.”
“Yes,” Director Piggot said calmly. “Something she and I will have a long talk about later I assure you.”
As Katie and I headed back to our seats I looked at Vicky and Amy. Both were staring at the two hotheads with their eyes wide. What the hell happened in here while we were out?
Wolf wins every fight but the one where he dies, fangs locked around the throat of his opponent.
Currently writing BROBd
Currently writing BROBd