Jess had set aside the investigation for something she viewed as more important for now. Running from one agency to another, and gathering paperwork and other legalities, as well as evidence, Jess was fairly certain of one thing: things were gonna get better for Joe. A lot better. She had just returned to her office when she had gotten the phone call. Her face pale, she got her keys and got in her car, on the way to the hospital.
She Lives!!! She officially hated hospitals. Forever. Harley groaned as she leaned her head against the wall, watching her mom's chest move in perfect timing with the beeping heart monitor. She almost envied the peaceful expression behind the few bandages on her mom's face. Since they arrived, Harley had barely left her seat or closed her blood-shot eyes, waiting for the moment when she could relax for good. The moment she knew it wouldn't be her mother's last. Harley shifted in her chair again, stretching her sore shoulders. The muted TV flickered in the corner and she decided to put all her focus onto the unfolding crime show. Bloodied dead bodies suddenly appeared on screen and it was beyond her how the nurse felt this was an appropriate channel to leave on for a patient's family. If she hadn't been so exhausted, she would've laughed. Her heavy eyelids drooped slowly as she sank further in the chair, sleep taking hold of her. Her worries were gone as she slipped into dreams of the past, until a voice broke through. A real one. "Harley?" She jumped, raising her head quickly to see her mom's weak smile. Was...she still...dreaming? "Mom!" Harley was fully awake and at her bedside in seconds. She grabbed tight hold of her hand, letting out a relieved breath. This was no dream. "You're alive." "Of course I'm alive, sweetheart." Trisha struggled to sit up, glancing over the room. "And...I'm in a hospital?" "You're hurt, but you'll be better in a few days." Harley said, swallowing hard. "Do you remember what happened? Why you got here?" Trisha's brow furrowed as her thoughts traveled back in time. Her concerned gaze met Harley's, but she shook her head. "It's all still a bit foggy, honey. How are you? Being a good girl?" Harley nodded. "Yeah, been kinda busy actually. We had to look for you." "Who's we?" "Me and..." Harley paused. "Dad." Trisha gasped even though it pained her to do so. "What?" "Don't make me say it again, Mom." Harley sighed. "He showed up on our doorstep asking for you, but I didn't know where you went, so I went with him to try and find you. No way could I let him do it alone." Trisha's face turned paler than it already was. "Is he here? At the hospital?" "Yeah, around here somewhere. Probably harassing a nurse or something." Harley smirked, taking a seat on the bed. "Don't worry Mom, I won't let him harass you." Trisha laughed softly at that. "How long have I been here?" "Since this afternoon...well, it's morning now. Since yesterday I mean." Harley said, squinting at sunshine streaming through the open blinds. "Doctor said you were stabbed in multiple places and have a few broken ribs...you sure you don't remember anything? Like, who maybe did this to you?" "All I remember is wanting you to be safe and here you are, safe." Trisha gave Harley's hand a gentle squeeze. "It will come back to me eventually, I have a good memory." "I know you do." Harley made a move to give her a hug and the two of them embraced. "I love you, Mom." --- “Awwww...” Dexter’s voice cut into their hug like a sharp knife. “How sweet, I wish I'd of brought my camera.” He rolled his eyes and shifted them to Harley. “Out.” "But...but she just woke up! You can't kick me out!" "Harley, baby." Trisha said, smiling. "Why don't you go get breakfast? It will only be a second, then we can talk all you want. Alright?" Harley was quiet as she scowled at Dexter, but finally got up from the bed. "You're a freaking moment killer." She muttered to him as she walked past him. Dexter shut the door behind his daughter. "We got reeeeeeeeeeal problems, sleeping beauty." Dexter said calmly. "Reaaaaally reeeeeal problems." "Seems so, since I'm inside a hospital." Trisha replied, carefully crossing her arms. Dexter opened his mouth to speak but before he could pace around the room to rant and rave.....he raised a curious eyebrow at her. "What's with the look?" "You let Harley see me like this?" Trisha said sharply. "What were you thinking?!" "......Well." Dexter swallowed not facing her. "Yeah it was dumb but you are her mom and she kinda forced me to bring her along." He held up his hands. "She's very hard to disagree with.....for some reason." "You should've said no, but it can't be helped." Trisha looked down at her lap and sighed. "Where did you find me?" “A bridge Trisha.” He said. “I found you under a damn bridge.” It was his turn to stare at her disapprovingly, Dexter pointed a finger at her. "Out with it....who was it?" He asked sternly. "Who took a run at you?" "That woman...the Vampire. Along with another woman...it wasn't a fair fight, bunch of cheaters!" Dexter gave her a flat look. "Well?" "Well, what?" Trisha snapped. "She tried to kill me!" "Wellllll." Dexter said. "What did you do to her?" "Don't blame me, she started it! Popped my car tire, swung around that silly sword of hers, talked about her family..." The heart monitor began beeping rapidly as Trisha spoke. "Said she had orders to kill me, so what was I to do, run away?!" "Stop shouting!" Dexter yelled back. "Normally when people are shooting at your ass it means YOU ran afoul of them." "I didn't do anything this time." She narrowed her eyes at him. "She said it was because of you, Dexter." "Why is it that when something goes wrong that everyone automatically assumes that I had something to do with it?" Dexter shook his head. "If anything you started all this the day you decided to go and start trying to hunt down that Stella girl." Trisha flinched at his words. "That...wasn't my decision." “Your decision or not!” Dexter said, storming up to her and leaning down to meet her eyes. “You had a hand in ending the lives of people the same age as our daughter and lord knows how many enemies that could make!” "Dexter, stop talking." Trisha lifted her hospital bed remote control and swiftly placed the cord around his neck, pulling just hard enough for it to dig into his throat. "Or I'll have to make you stop." Dexter gagged and coughed, the wire cutting off breathing quickly with Trisha’s strength behind it. Dexter gritted his teeth, blue eyes going wide as he brought his casted arm down on Trisha’s head. "Stop!" He heaved, delivering a second blow. Trisha winced and released her grip, but before Dexter knew it, she'd thrown herself forward to head-butt him. "You're the one who needs to stop!" “Fuck!" Dexter snapped his head vibrating with pain from that hardhead of hers. “You bitch ya head-butted me right in the freaking face!” He continued making painful groans for several seconds pressing his palm hard against his head. Trisha grinned watching him. "Aww poor baby, want me to get the doctor?" "I'll freaking...." Dexter muttered. "Doctor you...." He rubbed his eyes. "You're lucky you're injured and what not or I'd of beaten you worse then a pimp who's missing his check." "We both have seen how you fight Dexter, you're no pimp." Trisha said, holding her sides as she laughed. "Yeah and we both seen how you date losers in Hawaiian shirts." Trisha shrugged. "Hawaii is a beautiful state." "Harley hates that damn fool." Dexter responded simply. "Oh come on Dexter, don't drag Harley into this." Her grin appeared again, teasingly. "I know it's hard to believe but somebody else wanted me after you were gone." "Dammit!" He said. "Seriously, Harley hates the fool you arrogant cow." She cocked her head at him. "Harley does, huh? You sure about that?" "Trisha...." He sighed. "Look we have bigger problems to worry about....like the mayor but please just listen to what I'm saying." He stared at her. "For our daughter." "Fine...I'm listening." Dexter's voice went into a low whisper. "The mayor, Cecil Sanders tried to kill me and Woodrow....he was Shep's handler. Put two bullets in Woodrow and threw me out a window." Trisha grimaced. "You really can never trust politicians....hm, is Woodrow dead?" "Not dead." He said. "He had his main rape and beat Abbey, Shep's dead." Dexter yawned. "Cole killed him." "Cole who?" "Colt." He said. "Cole Colt...strangled Shep and shot him." "Aw, but I wanted to do that!" Trisha pouted. "Where did this Cole guy come from anyway?!" "He came from sixteen years ago.....Stella's boyfriend or something, ring a bell? He shook his head. "That Garrison guy tortured him." "Oh, I remember! Wow, haven't heard the name Garrison in forever. Wonder how he's doing." "Trisha!" He hollered. "Stay focused dammit! I'm worried that Cecil is gonna try and hurt Harley." He took a seat at the foot of her bed his blue eyes wide with worry. "Woodrow wants to try and kill him...." "Woodrow? Killing?" Trisha let out a snorted laugh. "Does that man even know how to shoot a gun?" "Yes." Dexter said. "No, ....or I don't know." He shrugged. "Probably is better with a gun then me but.....I'm not sure we, or well I should help him do it. I think it might be best just to, ya know? Let it go." "So, you're going to let him go risk everything on a suicide mission?" Trisha asked. He couldn't lie his way around this. "Maybe." Dexter admitted. "Harley and me don't get along, I'd prefer we didn't, but this man....the things he had done to Abigail." He frowned. "I'd rather not have it happen to her." "It won't happen to her." Trisha said firmly. "But, if you want the Mayor dead, letting Woodrow do the job alone isn't going to work....actually, that's kinda pathetic." Dexter clenched his fist at her words, she'd choked him, humiliated him and now was making him feel guilty all in the span of this seven minute conversation. He opened his mouth to speak-- But, at that moment the door swung wide open. "Hospital food is disgusting! That stuff probably hurts more than it helps, seriously!" Harley came marching in, a half-eaten candy bar in her hand. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" she said, acknowledging her parents. "What are we talking about?" There was an awkward silence for several seconds. Dexter gave her a flat look and without a word stood up and headed towards the door, plucking the candy bar out of her hand as he went, chomping away on it.
Through nothing short of a miracle, I had dragged myself out of the alley and flagged down a pedestrian walking nearby. They called an ambulance and ten minutes later I had been rushed to the hospital and ran through a number of tests to ensure that I didn't have a concussion or a broken skull. Once they confirmed that I had a concussion, and thankfully, only a hairline fracture, nothing too serious that would need to be operated on, they began to patch me up. I insisted that they called Jess instead of Rick. I refused to allow that fat drunk to take advantage of this and take custody of me. I wanted to be out of here before it even reached him that I had been injured.
Jess brushed up against Dexter, glaring at him on her way to Joe's room. "Joe?" she said, knocking on the door. "You up, bud?" She had a basket of food in one hand, not with fruit, but with a hamburger, a shake, and a smoothie. She had clearly managed to sneak them in.
I sat up in my bed. "Hey." I said smiling softly. "Sorry for worrying you... just a couple of cowardly neo-nazis that wanted vengeance for me beating one of them into the ground." I said, I regarded the basket quietly. "Oh, what did ya sneak in for me?" I asked, I wanted to change the subject and try to act better than I actually felt. "Actual food," Jess said. "None of that hospital crap I know they serve here. How you feeling?" Jess sat in the chair next to the bed, and tapped her fingers on the arm. Worry was very apparent on her face. I smiled brighter. "Great, I'm starving." I said and then tilted my head, trying to think of an okay response. "Oh, I'm feeling fine, just a concussion and a hairline skull fracture, no big deal." I said smiling, I still didn't realize that by now such injuries weren't common occurrence for most people. Jess raised an eyebrow, concern more apparent in her eyes. "Joe," she said. "Hear me out, but, I want you to leave town for a little while, until this case is over. You'll be safe, at my house. I have people who will look after you and can take care of you until you're better." I looked down quietly. "...I have to stay." I said after a little while. "I mean... after all, you're pretty useless without me, ya know." I said, putting on an easygoing smile. I wanted to stay, I wanted to grow stronger... I needed to face him myself, I couldn't let Jess do it... I wanted to be there when that bastard was finally put behind bars, I wanted to be there when I finally knew I could truly rest safely. Jess looked at Joe for a few seconds, sighed, and said, "I'm gonna go ahead and call a friend of mine. Her son is about your age, so you'll at least have someone to talk to and hang out with." And someone can keep an eye on you, was the unspoken thought in her mind. Jess continued tapping her armchair, then reached into the basket and pulled out some papers. "Here, I need you to sign this," she said, handing Joe the paper and a pen. "What are these?" I asked as I began to read through the papers. "They're... adoption papers." I suddenly looked at her and regretted the decision, my head pounding from the sudden movement, I took a soft steadying breath. "A-Adoption papers? W-Why?" I asked, we had gotten close, however, I didn't think that she'd want to keep me around... "Because you need a good home," Jess said. "A good stable home. And I need an assistant, and hiring you would violate child labor laws... and because I care about you." A few tears sprung to my eyes and I wiped them away. "...J-Jess... t-thank you." I said, without a second thought, I signed the papers. "...But we'll need to deal with him first... I'm... I'm almost ready to take care of business there, I'll just slip in, grab what I need, and leave." I said. "Fair enough," Jess said. "I've got my evidence that your father is legally incompetent, so, even if he makes a fuss, we can shut him down. I had to jump through a lot of legal hoops to get this done." She gave Joe a quick kiss on the head. "Right now, you need to sleep. I'll visit in the morning." "Alright, I will, riiiight after I eat." I said grinning. Jess chuckled, and started for the door. "See you in the morning, I need to investigate," she said before closing the door. Outside, she turned to a nurse. "I need someone watching this door throughout the night," she stated. "No arguments." The nurse gave her a confused look but merely nodded. I ate the food that Jess brought me, got up, and disposed of it, then sat down on my bed and called for one of the nurses and watched as one came in. "Please alert me of any visitors, make sure to get the names and their relationship to me, no questions asked, and no arguments, please." I said, the nurse gave me a concerned look, nodded, and then left. I lied back in my bed after switching off the lights and stared up at the ceiling, trying to sleep, but the noises outside of my door wrenched me awake each time... every little footstep... every small bump and squeak... I feared that the nurse wouldn't do as I asked and merely allow anyone in.
Fritz (Aka Dexter 2.0) Anita bought a gun. Ya she felt like shit stealing her parents credit card to do it, ya she did feel a little redneck holding the surprisingly heavy thing in her hand. But you know what? better safe than Word, what ever happened to the poor bastard. "Fuck Marie is gonna get a kick out of this." She mutters as she reaches Fritz room and knocks. .......No answer "HELLO!" She knocks again harder this time. The door opened and a man stood in front of Anita. A towel wrapped around his waist and his eyes blood shot red, a dopey smile decorating his face. "Hey....um dude." He yawned. "Sup?" "Where is Fritz? is he here?" "Who?" The man responded "The guy who thinks he's cooler then liquid nitrogen. wears shades in doors, wants to to be famous for being an arrogant douche bag." He blinked. "Never heard of him.....me and my girlfriend been here for a couple days now." "Oh...sorry to disturb you then..." Fritz what the fuck dude! She thinks to her self, "Guess I'll see ya later..." "Aniiiiiiiiita!!!!!" A voice in the far distant cried. "ANIIIIIIIIIIIIIITA!!!!" Anita’s eyes narrowed across the active highway into the small patch of forest that sat on the other aside and in the tall grass sat a small tent, Fritz’s ugly rat face poking out from it. “Over here!” He hollered again. “You dolt!” Anita blinks, then turns to the man. "You! didn't see anything..." And she heads out of the hotel and...towards..the bushes...Fritz was homeless? Upon arriving she snarks. "let me guess, you live in a magic lamp, anything else and I'll laugh." "This...." Fritz said wrinkling his nose. "Is my temporary home of residence until I can find a place that fits my style better." "Fits you just fine, so, whats happening? Where is Word?" “Word.” Fritz said. “Was kidnapped by the Fourth Reich last night while they were gunning for you.” He smirked. “Little bastard put up one hell of a fight.” He shook his head. “But only I the great Fritz could stand and watch.” "What do you mean you stood and watched?" She says suddenly getting angry, curing her fist "Well....." Fritz said. "As amazing as a fighter as I am I wasn't about to jump in against twelve angry skin heads and I'm afraid I don't trust the police enough to handle such things." He shook his head. "You know how it is." Anita sits down worry etched on her face. "Damn it word...okay...what do we do?" Fritz hummed and ran his hand through his hair. "Well." He smirked. "I say we go get him back." "I've always been in the mood for a little gang bang and getting rid of nazis will be a good PR stunt." "Well no shit Sherlock, I mean how do we get him back?" Anita says getting annoyed. "Figure we grab your friends and we get some guns......yeah, you following?" Fritz gave a wolfish smile. "We go in, get Word, kill them and walk away heroes." Anita scooches over to him and studies his eyes. "My god, you're serious." She takes a deep breath, "I'm calling the police, your a real dumb ass if you think a group of teens would make good allies in a fire fight,or that anyone would agree to such a stupid plan." "You're calling the police?" Fritz asked giving her a flat look "Yes." She says. "something you should have done in the first place. They would be better at saving Word than you and a bunch of kids." And she begins to leave, pulling out her cell phone. Anita's paused once the cold steel of a gun press against her head. "Put down the phone Anita." He said. "I can't have cops messing this up till I'm in the city politics and control them." Anita pauses, then puts the phone away. "You're going to make me fight at gun point?" She asks incredulously not moving. "Maybe." Fritz. "I'm still planning my next move." He raised an eyebrow. "Think you're a good shot?" "never shot anything, so no. And certainly not at gun point." "Anita." Fritz shook his head. "These are dangerous times .....you need to learn to defend yourself, why not come with me? Look I'm no fool." He chuckled. "Half your friends are probably up to illegal activity anyway." "Come with you? You mean stay with you?" "Yes...." Fritz mumbled. "Yeah that seems like a good idea, lets ....lets go and pay them nazis a visit." "well considering I'm at gun point I don't see what choice I have." She throws up er hands in defeat. She would play along, for now, but first chance she got she was ditching this pycho. And calling the police on him as well as the natzi's. Asking a high school student to get into gun fights, idiot.
Dexter took a drag off his cig, nothing better than a smoke break outside of a building full of the dying. Yeah...made a man think. About his life, about accomplishments, why he ever had decided to have sex with a hot teacher who came on way too strong and most of all why he poisoned the lives around him like a person who pisses in a pool. He blew a ring of smoke. At least that chocolate bar he stole was good... "Hey, you owe me!" Harley shouted from behind him. Dexter nearly shot off his seat like it had been lit on fire and his cigarette went out of his mouth like a torpedo. "Jesus!" He snapped. "Don't do that!" "Wow, that was unexpected..." Harley said between her laughter. "Didn't think you'd scare that easily." Dexter shot her a stern look, a large sigh escaping his lips. “Yeah….” He breathed. “I didn’t think I did but….but these are weird times.” He yawned. "What do ya want kid?" He asked flatly. "Answers. What did Mom say to you? I need to know." Dexter stared. "She said." He swallowed. "She said you were failing English and she was extremely disappointed because she was an english wiz in high school." He gave a sincere smirk. "Maybe you just like business and history like your old man." "No jokes, I'm serious." Harley frowned, stepping closer to him. "I wanna know what she said. Now." "Harley." Dexter said. "What makes you think I'd tell you something like that?" "Well, why not? Why keep things from me? I've been a part of this whole thing, I helped find her. You have to tell me!" “Keep things from you because you’re not old enough to handle…..or hell, man enough to handle it.” Dexter said pointing a finger at her. “Got that? Save the questions without answers till your old enough to know.” "My mom almost died and you're telling me I can't handle the truth?! That's your freaking excuse!" Harley shouted. "I'm sixteen, I've been through more than you think!" “You ever been shot, stabbed, burned, lose it all and push everyone away…..you done all that yet?” Dexter asked. “How about be involved with people that would much rather kill you then sit around playing pranks and smoking dope all day.” He showed his teeth in a scowl. "You might have seen a lot but that won't change the fact you've never been on the field before and you haven't seen what it can do to people." "Field? I just wanna know what Mom said and what happened to her, is that really too much to ask?" Dexter shut his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" "Because I don't want to." Harley shrugged. "Look, you're either going to tell me now or if you don't, I...I'll do something and you'll regret it!" “You better listen to her Mister.” A young voice spoke and a boy around the same age as his own daughter started towards them. Dexter raised an eyebrow at the gothic clothing and white hair he sported. "Yo Harles." He greeted. "Um...." Dexter opened his mouth. "Shut up Gale, I'm not through with him yet." Harley said. “Woah, woah, woah….” Gale held up his hands. “Harsh much? Heard you were here.” He frowned. "How's your mom?" Dexter tilted his head at Gale. "She's recovering but I talked to her, so she's ok for now I think." Harley replied, glaring again at Dexter. "You gonna say anything?" Dexter shot a hard look at Harley and then at Gale and finally back to Harley. "Yeah." He nodded. "You're not allowed to date." Gale's eyes widened. "What!?" "We're friends!" Harley blurted, staring at the ground as her cheeks turned rosy pink. "That's all! Friends!" "Alright..." Dexter said, scratching his chin. "Yeah." Gale said. "Besides......Harley isn't really my type and all, I'm only human." "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Dexter snapped. "I mean she's like part wolf or something." Dexter opened his mouth to counter but the image of Trisha that flashed through his mind caused him to seal it shut for a brief moment. "........Okay.....can't argue with that." Gale blinked at Harley. "You're part werewolf?" Harley smirked. "You should really try harder with your insults. I don't even have the symptoms of a werewolf." "Look...." Gale said slowly. "I hate to howl into your business on a day like today.....what with your mom and all but I think we need you Harles." He shoved his hands into his pocket. "If you wanna come down to the neighborhood and hang out?" "Anything to get me out of this diseased place, sure. But, what about you guys needing me? Is there some kinda problem?" Gale stared at her. "Word." Dexter bit his lip. That guy had some kinda problem, damn ....maybe somebody had been tailing him when he'd been with that kid. "Who the hell is Word?" Dexter asked in a clueless voice. "A friend, sorta." Harley said. "What did Word do, Gale?" Gale leaned close to her and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Hell if I know, Anita shot me a call and said those fourth reich nazi guys had taken him or some shit. She has some guy named Fritz with her too." "What would a bunch of nazi idiots want with him? Last time I checked he's not Jewish." Harley snickered. "Latino not Jewish and I don't know." Gale shrugged. "You in?" "Can't pass up fighting nazis. Did you tell Lacey about this?" "Not yet.....should I?" Gale asked. Dexter coughed, cutting into their coversation. "Why don't you go and play Harley? You can call your mom's phone and I can take you home or bring you back here later, you should get some fresh air." "Alright, but me and you aren't done here." Harley muttered. "We'll talk later." Her shoes dragged across the pavement as she started down the sidewalk with Gale in tow. "Call Lacey, she'll want in on this for sure. Actually...wait, I'll call her. She can pick us up a few things." --- It had taken Gale and Harley a long nearly two hour walk to the spot Anita….well more likely Fritz had beckoned them to. The outskirts of Graves where almost anyone who lived within the town could tell most of the meth cooking was done Shep’s included where ever that asshole was. But this wasn't about Shep it was about Word, the reich and the guy in shades who was spinning a pistol in his hand. Gale looked back and forth between Anita and Fritz. "Shit...." He swallowed. "You brought a gun?" Fritz sniffed the air, his dark shades scanning Harley. "Who are you?" "Wow, someone who doesn't know me. Fun," she said dryly. "I'm Harley."
“It doesn’t matter.” Fritz responded to Harley’s greeting. “All you need to know is who I AM.” Fritz pointed his gun at Anita once again. “Why are you being so quiet?” He asked. “Introduce me.” Meanwhile as Fritz beckoned Anita to do his bidding. A red pickup truck pulled up behind them…..a suspicious look in her eyes. Other footsteps sounded on the ground and Marie whom Anita had also been forced to contacted materialized behind Gale. A scowl etched in her face her eyes sending a violent glare to Fritz.
Anita glares at him, then smiles "Harely, this is a man known by the name of ignoramus, or dumb ass for short. he wants us to storm a bunch of Nazis via fire arms in order to save word. Now I'm all for saving Word, but dip shit over here, also known as epic douche bag is on a whole nother level of stupid I don't even know."
"Somebody needs to learn how to give simpler intros." Harley said as Lacey joined their small crowd, carrying a covered box. One look at her best friend and no longer was she concerned with Mr. Sunglasses. Nope, he was out of her mind completely. He didn't exist. Harley gave Lacey a once over, her playful smile gone and her usual colorful dress replaced by ripped jeans and a dull grey tanktop. Even her voluminous red hair had been thrown into a messy ponytail. Harley couldn't care less about appearance, but the change was too much for her to not take notice. "Did the fashion fairy not show up today?" "Shut up, I brought your stuff." Lacey dropped the box on the ground and dusted off her hands. "Anythin' else ya want or can I leave?" Harley frowned, trying to wrap her mind around a reality that felt more like a weird alternate one. She'd seen Lacey upset plenty of times, but this felt different. Whatever this was. "You pissed about something?" "'Its nothin'." Lacey replied, her eyes flickering briefly to the others. "Now if we're done here, I'm gonna go." She turned on her boot heel, but Harley grabbed hold of her arm and yanked her back to face her. "No, you're going to tell me why you're mad." Lacey's expression darkened. "Let go of me, Harley." "Is it cause I didn't call sooner? I was with my mom, you know. It all was happening so fast and I--" "Not everything is always about you!" Lacey shouted, her words hitting as hard as the heavy shove that sent Harley off balance, falling into Gale. Gale grabbed Harley supporting her before she could tumble to the ground but before any words could be spoken among the bitter friends. The loud voice of Fritz cut through the growing tension. “You’re right!” He snapped. “It’s not about Harley, it’s about me!” He looked at Anita. "And um Word whatever." Harley felt like she'd been punched in the heart as an aching pain fizzed in her chest. She shrugged away from Gale, but it was too late. Lacey had already turned her back and started to her truck. Harley couldn't even bring herself to yell at her with all the confusion stuck in her brain. "What...did I do?" Gale blinked. "Not a clue....." "Lacey!" He called keeping his face composed. "Word is in trouble." "Would you all please cut the drama bit?" Fritz asked. "My goals of a crime free future in this town are very much in peril because of these nazis, I'd suggest we make our move now. I could of just done this alone if you were all gonna have teenage angst." "It's not drama when it's about somethin' important." Lacey said as she dragged her feet back over to them, much to Harley's relief. "But, fine, I'll help. For Word." "Yeah about Word, I'm not too keen on the whole firearms thing." Harley said, kicking the covered box with the tip of her shoe. "I think we can do better than that." Fritz stared at her and shot a glance at the rest of people he'd gathered. "Are you stupid?" He asked Harley. "Guns are the best damn thing we have on our side.....ya know? These are nazis they could like be torturing Word with some sort of gas chamber." "Let's make our own gas chamber then." Harley lifted the lid of the box, revealing an assortment of explosives. Most were from last years fireworks sales, but some she saved only for extreme occasions like the present. She grabbed a smokebomb and waved it in front of Fritz. "Trust me, these are way more entertaining than guns." "But do they kill?" Frtiz asked simply. "Maybe we could use them for a distraction." "Or, we could make them kill themselves." Harley said, ignoring their stunned faces. "I'm no murderer and if you guys got any kind of mind, you don't want to kill either. So, we'll use this stuff and make them accidentally kill their own, easy as that." "I feel the need to point out that you threw up when we saw dissected frogs in the 5th grade." Gale said, giving Harley a flat look. "Oh, that was bad." Lacey groaned. "But not as bad as the time she threw up when I cut my hand with your pocket knife."
"Or we could call the fucking police." Anita snorts in growing frustration. "You're all as dumb as fritz, thats, thats just amazing..."
Back in Action! ...Very Stupid Action Fritz took the opportunity of Anita’s mindless ranting to snap Marie back into attention. “Yo!” He snapped at her. “Shin kicking bitch, you’re up first!” Fritz calmly walked over to her. "You're going to be going in first." He gave his wolfish grin. "I've got two ways you could get in there, both are from my genius cranium." Got a bad feeling 'bout this, certainly a bad feeling. "Why should I go first anyway?" Asked the girl menacingly. "You were the first to disrespect me and you're gonna work the hardest today." His smirk only grew more intense. "Hope you have strong lungs, how fast can you sprint?" "I'm pretty sure you've been disrespected like thousand times before, also, do I look like an athlete or something like that?" Replied Marie. Fritz gave her the once over. "You look pretty fit." He snorted. "Anyway on to my first plan, would you be willing to strip?" "Drop dead..." She replied coldly. "What?" Fritz asked. "My plan is for you to get ass crack naked and run in there!" He was making motions with his hands as he explained his first tactical masterpiece. "The nazi sex drive will eventually give in and start chasing you around. You've got the kinda body few men can resist, let alone nazis." Fritz gave her a thumbs up. "Then we sneak in while they chase you or .....ya know, do whatever to you. But like I said you look fast and you should be able to get away." Gale stepped in. "I'm confused as to how this would work?" He asked. "I don't think a bunch of thugs will drop everything their doing to try and gangbang Marie." Fritz laughed. "Are you crazy?" "Are you!" At the next moment, the shoe of Marie made contact with Fritz's crotch powered by the mass-energy equivalence law of Einstein, in which the mass being Marie's feet and leg plus speed gathered by the lever movement of her hip turned into a surprising big amount of mechanical energy concentrated at a single point. In short a strong kick to his nuts. Fritz gave a low squeak and collapsed to his knees, his sunglasses falling to the ground. He fell on his face shaking slowly. Gale gave him an uncomfortable glance. "........ehhhh...." He turned to stare at Marie. "May I suggest something?" "Go on..." she replied with boredom. "Regardless of what Fritz says." Gale sighed. "Word is in trouble and might be in there but I do think it would probably be best to call the police, can't shake this feeling though." He narrowed his eyes on Marie. "There are rumors that your family has ties to some of the gangs in town.....is that true?" "Rumors are rumors, are you really going to trust rumors to rescue that idiot?" stated Marie. After all the trouble she had caused for the family she wasn't willing to take some soldiers and raid the base of a group of skinheads. Also, it would be better to maintain her identity hidden, after all, The Cocoon intended to maintain a low profile. Mmm... Sis was wounded in battle and is recovering, can't ask her help, Primal?... nope, that's a terrible idea... "I agree that we should call the police, however, they'll probably take days before actually doing something, we can't depend on them more than just a backup if things go wrong. Well, reality sucks, either we risk our necks or we can say goodbye to Word." "The FBI has been all over town lately." Gale said. "We could try the police and if that doesn't work that FBI guy gave me his card. The least we could do is try and call them." He frowned. "Come on.....I know he's annoying but you wouldn't hang around Word if he wasn't kinda your friend, right?" "That doesn't stop him from being an idiot. Anyway, we need a plan, a solid, decent one." Gale was silent for several moments and stepped over Fritz to walk closer to the nazi compound, trying to get a better view of what exactly they were up against. "I can call the..." He reached into his pocket producing a card. "Agent Brown and say that situation is hostile or something? I suppose we could scope out the area for awhile and see if we could warn the police and feds." "Agent Brown? Will he be of help? I thought he wanted to make some kind of TV drama or movie out of the FBI work." "More resources then we got." Gale pointed out. "We aren't killers and besides Fritz is only one that brought an actual weapon." "There is no more option then right? Call the Police, call the FBI..." Marie stared at the sky for a moment, lost in thought. "Hey... would it be too crazy to crack an unsupervised wall with a bomb? We split in two, a group who puts the bomb and then run driving the attention of the nazis, and another group enters and rescue Word. I mean..." Said while fixing her hair. "If those rumors are truth, I can easily get one or two explosives." A high-pitched shriek interrupted them as a firecracker flew high into the sky, leaving behind a trail of sparks. Another followed. And another. When the show had ceased, Harley cleared her throat and tossed the lighter between her hands. "You guys talk too much." "JESUS!" Gale snapped falling on his bottom at Harley's very abrupt interruption. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He stood quickly dusting himself off his eyes shifting over to where the skinhead hang out was. "Well I might of agreed with your plan Marie.....if Harley wasn't so damn impatient." "How much time do you think we have Har?" asked Marie. "None. Faster we do this, faster we get back Word and I can go home to sleep." "Sleep?" Lacey spoke up. "Our friend is in trouble and all you can think about is sleep?" Harley shrugged as she flicked the lighter on and off. "I haven't had quality sleep since two days ago, so we better shut up and do this before I change my mind." "Then go to sleep, we don't need you..." said Marie with certain unanimosity. "Fine." Gale said. "Let's do this but after this I want to call the police." He looked between Harley and Marie, biting his lip. "Well you two are the ones that like blowing up stuff, what do we do?" "I said shut up, Gale." Harley muttered as she glared at Marie. "You don't need me? I'm the one who brought the fireworks." "You act like those things are made of gold or somethin'." Lacey said with a roll of her eyes. "So are we gonna split up in groups or what?" "All right, here is my plan. We split into three. We'll need to bomb two different spots. One will be a wall, that way we'll draw not only the attention of those outside but also those on the inside. However, to do that, first we would need to draw the attention of any nazi scouting outside their base, for that we can use another explosive close to them, or alternatively drive their attention with a different method. In short, first we drive their vigilance, then we drive those inside and any remaining one outside. And then a third party enters into the base to rescue Word." Said Marie followed by a sigh. "Only problem is that we are just 5..... well 6 if you count that dork..." said while motioning her head toward Fritz. "You...you think they'll have someone standing watch?" Fritz muttered through his teeth trying to stand. "These guys are dumber then a bag of rocks, plus I woudn't trust Marie's violent temper to execute any sort of plan." Gale snorted. "Alright but I'm calling the police after this, what are the teams?" "Me, you, and Marie on Team Jets. Lacey, Anita, and the dork on Team Sharks." Harley said. "Now let's get boomin'!" A click was heard. It was Marie readying a pistol in her hand. "I'm ready to get 'em this time! Alright, let's do this!!!" She exclaimed. "You suck at names by the way, Har'."
Gale followed behind Harley who followed behind Marie. The pattern in which they were walking reminded him of a Mickey Mouse cartoon guess staring Donald and Goofy. “So if we die.” He said quietly. “I’d like to buried away from Anita because lord knows her ghost won’t let any of us rest in peace.” Both groups slowly neared the the nazi's small, broken and obviously flimsy hideout. It looked like the termites and cockroaches had gotten to it first, but ground shaking death metal blasted from within. Gale figured it for some sort of Aryan band. The outside of the building had no guards and obviously no cameras. Fritz seemed to have been right in his prediction, they didn't seem like tactical geniuses but of course neither were his friends.
No vigilance, could she trust that? Sure, they were just a bunch of amateurs nazi who probably didn't even understood what nazism was about... regardless, could they affort such risk? "All right... Har' how many toys did you brought with you? Shall we use them all or save ones for later?"
"They aren't toys, they're weapons!" Harley said above the music. "I mean one of these things could freaking blow your face off if you're stupid." She looked down at the box. "I've got ten M-80s left. Using them all at once would be insane..." Harley paused. "I'll do half, then we can decide when to do the rest." Harley picked up five firecrackers and approached the wall. After arranging the explosives in just the right spot and tieing the fuses together, she flicked out her lighter and applied the fire. Hurriedly she ran back to the others to watch her handiwork come to life in the form of noise, smoke, and her favorite--destruction.
Before Gale could protest or before Fritz could prepare to make any sort of move, The M80s blew the flimsy walls inward. "Shit!" Gale snapped ducking down. The bang of the explosion was loud enough that any nearby animals would be spooked away and any nearby humans would probably be calling the police. The hole wasn't human sized but damn close to it, smoke and dust billowed upward. Shrieks and curses could be heard coming from inside. Gale watched as five skinheads came burrowing out from the door clearing the house, three women and two men. They didn’t respond with violence or even seem to notice their six attackers but instead to large relived breathes. Al of their eyes wide with fear. None of the teenagers recognized them. "Oh....oh....God." One of the stammered at the guns both Fritz and Marie brandished. Two of the other skinheads seemed frozen in place at the sight of the chaos and those that weren't had already taken off running. Fritz snorted. "Cowards." Gale grimaced. "Well....I was kinda expecting more?" He looked at the nazi on his knees and noticed that a yellow puddle was forming under him. ".....You sure The Word is here?" "Fucking positive." Fritz replied, he looked at Marie and Harley. "Bitches go search the house." Gale let out a groan and slowly scooted away from Fritz, just in case if Marie shot him he'd be in the clear.
"Fireworks plus guns makes an awesome combination. Who would say they're the weak point of skinheads?" Said Marie with a grin. As Fritz ordered Marie complained. "Yeah, call two young women bitches and sent them to explore a house filled with violent skinheads. Such a gentleman you are Mr. Fritz. Weren't you aiming to become a hero?" She carried a weapon unlike Harley, sure she had the fireworks but using them took a certain time and wouldn't be of use if things went dire. Marie sighed "Stay close to me ok?" On the other hand, she was also the infamous crazy Harley whose name was already famous enough to inspire certain fear. I should not worry about her... I'm more worried about the police investigation after this With her gun in hand Marie entered the building studying her surroudings carefully. “Quiet you bitch!” Exclaimed a very ugly skinhead with a few scars and tattoo on his face that only enhanced his ugliness. One his hand he carried a big large and rusty machete, a threatening sight for the girls. “All right asshole, get the fuck outta here, I don’t wanna be sending flowers to your mother later!” Exclaimed Marie as she raised her gun and aimed at the skinhead’s head. However, contrary to her expectations the skinhead just smiled and laughed, raising the weapon even more menacingly. “I’m not dumb like that bitch you know? I won’t fell for that fake water gun bitches!” Exclaimed the skinhead. He was confident, certainly, also his appareance suggested he had a high rank within their “organization”, moreover he was calm even after the explosion that shocked many of his buddies. “Relax, I’ll just cut you a bit and then you’ll serve as a fine souvenirs, can’t reject a couple of cute girls” stated the man ready to strike with his weapon. But time froze… A drop of sweat traveled through the skinhead’s face, he felt a chill traveling down his spine and this reflected by a shocking expression on his face. In that interval of frozen time he visualized his entire life in a surrealistic way. Then time slowly moved again and he turned his head to visualize the hole that pierced the wall behind him. On Marie’s hand, the cannon of the gun expelled smoke and a nasty smell. The face of the girl showed clear disgust and disappointment at the same time. She missed the shot by only a breath of hair, a strange expression for a man who had no hair on his head. “Oh yeah… Hunter told me, shooting with one hand is something either only very experienced professionals do or on the other side something a retarded would do. All right Marie, calm down, two hands give you stability, precision and help to resist the recoil…” The girl’s monologue was followed by an adjustment of her gun’s trajectory, this time with two hands on the grip and slightly moving a few millimeters to the side. The skinhead quickly understood. The gun wasn’t a fake, and moreover, the girl shot him with a clear kill intention. It missed his head, she was aiming to his head and now she was going to make sure to land the killing blow. “W-wait, hold on!! Don’t shot!!!” Exclaimed the skinhead clearly frightened. He let his weapon fall to the floor as he steady but quickly moved to the nearest escape route. “Don’t move, I can’t aim!!” Exlaimed Marie angry as she quickly followed the man with her gun. The skinhead reacted with a scream and quickly run away. Marie lowered her gun and sighed. “Hunter would kill me if he were to had seen me… All right Har’ the way is clear, let’s go.” stated
Gale wandered in behind Harley keeping his shirt over his mouth and nose. He let out a long whistle as a ghost white skin head pushed past him. He blinked several times at Marie who was holding that what at first he assumed to be a water gun but judging by the hole in the wall it was packing led and not liquid. "Jesus." Gale muttered shaking his head at Marie. "What the hell are you thinking!?" He snorted. "That explosion was loud enough and now you're firing shooting, somebody had to have alerted the authorities, which should done in the first place." Gale's eyes scanned the room. "Instead of pissing off a bunch of neo nazis."
"Live a little, Gale! You don't have to call the cops everytime something bad happens." Harley said, stepping further into the house. "And, I don't think they'd be very happy to see me...we better hurry." Harley continued through the clutter towards a closet on the opposite side. She swung the door open fully expecting to see an unconscious Word, but weird nazi gear and junk lay on the floor instead. Harley stood back with hands on her hips, casting a glance around the dump of a gang base. There weren't any other good places to hide a teen boy, so that could mean only one thing. "We're too late." Harley said with a sigh. "The aliens took him."
Marie looked around the room, hoping to find anything that could serve as a clue yet it was filled with no more than garbage. All right, that’s expected, we assumed without any clue that he was here. That is, Fritz’s gonna have to say goodbye to his balls. She sighed and said “Perhaps ‘nita and Gale were right, we should have called the police.” Her ear caught a glimpse of the wild disorder outside, probably confused Nazis after the bombing. “They’ll come here anyway after all…”
The group’s search was cut short by the sound of sirens of the police, not that it matter they’d all come to the conclusion that The Word was nowhere to be found. Fritz remained adamant that the Aryans still were keeping him hostage in the city but it fell upon deaf ears as Marie smashed her foot into his testicles once again. All of them ran off in various directions splitting up, leaving Fritz clenching his crotch. --- One week went by with no sign of Word or Fritz who hadn't been in contact with Gale, Marie, Harley or any of the rest regarding what they’d done nor had the police. The nazis had responded to what they'd done either. With neither The Word gone, Fritz gone and Harley visiting her mother most of the week things finally began to settle and of course Anita reported all that she'd heard from Fritz to the police, making sure to leave out a few 'details' upon how she got this information. Things got quiet for them.....for everyone really. Woodrow, Trisha and Joe had all been left alone as they continued to recover from their injuries. The meeting Dexter had set up several days before was finally set to take place, Laplace's plane had landed only an hour ago but the man himself was eager to talk things over with Thomas. --- The Good, The Bad and The Stupid You sure you don’t want one?” Dexter said offering a cigarette to Woodrow who sat beside him with a nasty look etched on his face. That same look that had been on his face since he’d found out what happened to Abigail last week, the pair were outside the hospital both still recovering from the damaged Cecil Sanders had done. Woodrow with a bullet hole in him and Dexter beat up as he'd usually been over the last few months. "You should really try and calm down." He said. "Didn't visiting Abigail cheer you up at all?" Thomas' eyes drifted over to Dexter. "You didn't see her. What they did..." His jaw clenched, as did his fist. "She may very well be in that wheelchair the rest of her life. And her spirit...it may never heal. Her eyes Dexter, it was like she wasn't even there." He breathed deeply. "Cecil needs to die. Scum like him can't be allowed to walk around free." Dexter snorted. "Why do you always gotta talk all poetic and shit." He take a puff off his cigarette and watched a black car up the street begin to cruise slowly towards them, a small limo like vehicle windows to dark to see inside. "Because I have class? Unlike you." Woodrow responded jokingly with a half smile. He stood. The car pulled in front of and a window in the back seat rolled down. Dexter and Woodrow’s eyes narrowed on the familiar face that met them, he hadn’t changed much over the years. His face a little older and his hair a little grayer but he was all in all just as boring and casual looking since 1996. Laplace Damon "Gentlemen." He said casually. "If you please." Dexter grumbled and got in the car along with Woodrow. The two sat side by side opposite of Laplace who was accompanied by another man which sat to his left with golden hair......not blonde like Dexter but literally golden and sharp eyes. No doubt a bodyguard. "It's been awhile." Laplace said. "I can't imagine you called me all the way down here to play catch up though." "No, we haven't." Woodrow replied darkly, crossing his arms. "You know of Mayor Cecil, I'm sure. We need to kill him." Laplace stared at Dexter. "Yeah." Dexter said rubbing the back of his neck. "He's been like this all week and well I can't blame him, I'd like to bury that piece of shit to if it at all possible." "I know of Cecil and hate that man." Laplace said. "What he did to your niece was depraved and hardly something I condone however, he's done much worse and as much as I'd like to make him vanish he is valuable." He clasped his hands. The man with the golden hair gave a shark smile. "Oh? So you're the guy with that cute niece that the pervert mayor had his men gang rape." He chuckled. "It would of be pretty fun to kill a guy that evil or kill these two....I've heard the things you two have done." Laplace sighed. "Please ignore my security, The Gentleman's mental stability has never been his strong suit nor has manners." Dexter sent Gentleman a glare. "Still." Laplace said. "I'm afraid that I'd prefer things are settled in a civil manner between Cecil and Woodrow." "Civil?" Thomas scoffs. "I'm not settling for anything short of his death or public embarrassment and a permanent residence in solitary confinement." "I've taken the liberty of inviting a guest to our little meeting." Laplace said ignoring Woodrow's statement. The car began to move and soon Dexter and Woodrow found themselves pulling into an alley. "Ahhh shit." Dexter sighed. "Are you gonna kill us?" "No." He said. "Then what? Underground Poker?" Thomas asked, Laplace produced a cell and dialed a number. Dexter and Woodrow waited in silence for several moments before Laplace finally finished his conversation with. "Send him in." The car doors opened on either side of Dexter and Woodrow. Two large looking thugs squished sat down. The same men that had beaten Dexter to a pulp the night of Abigail’s rape, the door on Laplace’s side opened and a man with a jacket covering his face entered. “I’ve invited him to clear things up.” Dexter’s mouth fell open slowly. “Oh no…..no….no….no, you son of a bitch.” He growled. “Come now.” A southern accent said and Cecil dropped the jacket from his face. “I don’t want to be here anymore then you two.” "Bastard!" Dexter snapped. A gun appeared in Thomas' hand, aimed straight at Cecil. His eyes held a cold glint. He mentally thanked his girlfriend for sneaking it into the hospital for him. "Thankyou, Laplace. You've saved me the trouble of finding the bastard myself." "You will not fire that weapon." Laplace said simply. "If you do The Gentleman here will put a bullet in your head and then Dexter." Dexter barred his teeth at Cecil and Laplace but raised his hands to show he wasn't packing a gun. "Might want to calm down a little Thomas." Cecil swallowed nervously. "Yeah son.....I mean I don't think Laplace would much like having to get rid of a mayor's body from his car or cleaning the mess." The Gentleman giggled. "This is really nice......I hope something fun happens." Dexter's eyes shifted to Woodrow and he swallowed. "Put it down." The Gentleman licked his lips a hungry look in his eyes. Thomas glanced over at Laplace, though his gun remained raised. "If you didn't bring him to kill him, then we have nothing left to talk about." He replied coldly. "I'm done making deals with devils." Laplace glared at Cecil and Woodrow "I'm warning you both to stand down." He said simply. "If you don't I'm going to make both of stop by way of force. My life has been rather hectic lately and I do not need a drug ring that I work with going to war with you two." Woodrow breathed out a frustrated sigh then tucked away the gun. "I'll take my leave here. There's nothing else you can say that I'll be interested in." He reached for the door handle. Dexter shook his head. "This might be our last chance to get out of this mess." He said his eyes meeting Woodrow's but before Dexter got a response all men in the car were sent off balance by the fact another black car crashed into the front of Laplace's. A look of surprise went came over the face of everyone even Laplace who's eyes widened once the other car began to accelerate pushing them further into the alley way. Cecil started daggers at all men in the car. "This was a damn set up." He growled. "Kill em." One of the thugs made a gun appear just as quick as Woodrow at earlier but he never got the chance to fire once Laplace opened up the man's vein with a switch blade, the man's warm blood soaking his own clothes. The thug let out a long howl of pain but Cecil didn't seem to care and instead his fury was now focused on Laplace. "What the hell you doin!" He snapped. "They're trying to kill us." "I believe this meeting has ended." Laplace said simply keeping his blade on the other thug that was near Woodrow. Dexter made a disgusted look at the blood and he'd of up chucked at a wrist cut if not for the chaos starting to go on outside of the car. Gunshots. Laplace's driver was exchanging with whoever was in the black car. "Gentleman." Laplace said. "If anyone else moves please execute them." The golden hair man had a pistol produced as well and no doubt he knew how to use it. "Dammit...." Dexter snorted. "We didn't have anything to do with this." "Likely but it remains to be seen." Laplace said and Cecil's simply raise his hands over his head his face ghost white from fear. "Men like you, always get what you deserve." Woodrow hissed at Cecil. "More important things to worry about Woody." Dexter said. "Like what the hell is-" But before Dexter could finish his sentence Cecil lunged at Woodrow, his old skeletal like hands going around Woodrow's neck he was surprisingly strong. The Gentleman raised his weapon at the two as they struggled with one another but before he could kill them Dexter sent himself forward into the psychopath but Laplace's knife moved from the still living thug's throat and buried itself into Dexter's leg. --- Cecil grabbed the handle the to the car door both him and Woodrow spilling out. The gun Thomas held sliding across the concrete, the first thing either of them saw in their struggle was the corpse of the driver. A bullet hole in his head from the whoever was in the black car that had rammed then, yet Cecil didn't do much sight seeing keeping his hands wrapped around Woodrow's neck as more chaos erupted from all sides.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE STUPID CONTINUED.... (But who is which?) Woodrow wrapped his hands around Cecil's head and smashed it as hard as he could at the pavement. When Cecil's grip loosened he dove to the side, rushing to get the gun he'd lost. Woodrow’s goal was once again stalled when a boot came smashing down his hand, pinning him in place. But that was the least of his problems, a man with the most pleasant of smiles greeted him. It wasn't forced nor sadistic like Gentleman's but sincere. If not for that fact he had a military style rifle pointed in Woodrow's face the old fashioned bowler hat he wore would of been worth a laugh. "Hi." He greeted. "How you doing?" Thomas sighed like a man resigned to death. "Well, considering I have a rifle in my face, could be better...I'm just trying to kill the guy responsible for having my niece raped. Don't suppose you could let me finish?" "You mean that old man?" Bowler hat asked. Thomas pointed to Cecil. "Yeah, that guy." "That guy?" He asked, keeping his gun on Woodrow. "Why would you want to beat up on an old man.......that's the guy that sells chicken right?" "He's a corrupt mayor that had me shot, my friend thrown out a window and my niece gang raped on his order. Now, if you're not going to shoot him, please let me." --- Dexter kicked, punched and scratched more viciously then he had in a long time, going for Laplace’s eyes and even managed to slam his head into The Gentleman’s nose. Laplace ripped his knife out of Dexter's leg. "I believe its time we made an exit." He said, opening the door and diving smack in between the dazed Cecil and pinned Woodrow. Dexter and The Gentleman on the other hand were caught off guard by the second thug who who used his superior size to push both men out the opposite of the car. --- Laplace glanced at Garrison. "This is the man that was shooting at us, I assume?" He asked. "The bastard is a hitman." Cecil muttered holding his head. "I bet you hired him." He gave Woodrow a nasty glare. "Should had my boys finish that niece of yours after they was done with her." Garrison looked at the three men in front of him and sent a glance to his right side at Dexter, Gentleman and Cecil's goon fighting it out on the ground. "Is that a clown car?" He asked curiously but Laplace's knife came flying at him, Garrison removed his foot from Woodrow's hand to dodge out of the way. Woodrow reached forward and grabbed his gun. He rolled on his back and aimed for Cecil. "This is for Abigail you son of a bitch." He pulled the trigger. Cecil cried out in pain once the bullet went through his shoulder, his white jacket getting coated in red blood, he quickly began to scatter away from Woodrow. Laplace on the other hand didn't waste any time in moving after he threw his knife. Garrison had opened fire on him in small bursts. The crime boss barely managed to roll out of the way behind his car. "That guy was rude." Garrison said. "But I don't know if he's on the list....." Garrison aimed at Woodrow again. "You're Woodrow, right?" Thomas stood, aiming his gun again at Cecil, he glanced at Garrison and then at the rifle aimed at him. "No." Smart answer. A gunshot ripped through the air and the thug hired by Laplace was shot in the head, his limp body falling backwards on the blood splattered pavement. Four more gunshots rang out, but the bullets whizzed past them. None of them struck. Another man of Mexican descent stepped into the scene with his assault rifle raised high, leveled on the bowler hat. "I told you to bring them out of the alley!"
I had gotten out of the hospital the next day and had stayed in the hotel room most of the time. Afraid that my father had followed me from the hospital. The only time I left was to tag along with Jess, go to school, or to run errands. This day, I was just grabbing some groceries and was heading home with a few bags in my hand when I saw a car pull into an alley. I probably would have not noticed it, if it didn't look like a black higher class car. I stopped at the corner of the street and fiddled with my phone, pretending to wait to be picked up. I watched the car out of the corner of my eye. Soon, I saw a man with a jacket covering his face being escorted by two men and then all three entering the car. I snapped a quick photo before turning the corner, entering an alley that connected to another that would give me a great vantage point to watch whatever went on within the alleyway, I hid behind a dumpster, peeking my head out from behind it, watching the scene intently, ready to take more pictures. Maybe something would happen. Something did. Another black car smashed into the other and pushed it deeper into the alley, I snapped another picture and continued to watch soon, gunshots began to go off and I froze in place, afraid that if someone saw me, they'd come and kill me as well, I saw the driver of the original car get gunned down. Soon, two men came tumbling out of the original car. It took my brain a few seconds to process the scene. It was Mayor Cecil... strangling Mr. Woodrow, and a gun had skidded away from the two. I was able to quickly recognize Cecil's clothing was the same as the ones as the man with the jacket on his face. Soon, more people came out of the car... my head began pounding. I quickly snapped more photos and then ducked behind the dumpster and held my head. The pain was quickly becoming unbearable, it felt like my skull was about to burst. I shut my eyes and tried to block out the world around me, I covered my ears, shaking uncontrollably, doing my best not to make any sounds, I wanted the pain to end. I saw... images... they were hazy and I couldn't seem to hold onto any one of them for more than a second... sitting at a table with several suspicious characters. Sitting in a classroom with scornful faces. Walking through a decrepit building, druggies scattered around me... a man lying dead in a room, horribly mutilated... I'd never seen these places before, nothing made sense... I pushed the images away and got up with some difficulty, grabbing my bags. I stayed crouched and low to the ground, stumbling out of the alley. I needed to get away before anyone else saw me. I had enough to confront someone with, staying here any longer would be foolish.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE DEAD "Could someone please explain what's going on?" Woodrow demanded. "Same thing that always is on." Dexter said, The Gentleman's gun pressed to his temple. "Some asshole probably wants me tortured or kidnapped or killed, which is it this time?" "Killed." Garrison said. "I think." The Gentleman removed his gun from Dexter and raised it at Silas. "That was a wonderful murder." He said with a grin, staring at the dead thug. "But I don't think Laplace appreciates being attacked." "That would be correct." Laplace said from where he'd taken cover. "Well shit." Dexter sighed. "Looks we are in a bit of bind, any chance we could settle this later? I'd prefer not to die with a bunch of men I hate .........and Woodrow." Garrison's friendly smile never faded. "Sadly I believe my angry friend here came to kill the majority of you." "Lovely." Woodrow sighed and moved his gun off Cecil and towards Silas. "Any particular reason why?" Silas' hostile gaze settled on them. "For Goldie." "Who?" Dexter, Laplace and Gentleman all said in unison. "I'm guessing Goldie is someone you knew? Who you think Dexter killed?" "You killed her!" Silas shouted at Woodrow. Not another word could be said between them as he squeezed the trigger, firing while he started out of the dark alley. Woodrow dove to the ground, rolled on his back and shot back while he thought, "I did?" Silas let out a howl of pain when Woodrow’s bullet pierced his arm and but continued firing bullets crashing through the already cracked windshield of Laplace’s car. The Gentleman moved to fire as well and despite his incredible accuracy Silas's was the quicker on the draw this day. The Gentleman's head snapped back blood drenching the nearby wall. A savage death for a savage man. "Oh.....oh fuck this!" Dexter snapped and started moving as soon as The Gentleman's corpse hit the ground, he moved with speed no smoker should have but thankfully he had a lot of practice running away from things. Cecil and Laplace followed Dexter's example and took off down the alley. Sirens were already screaming in the distance and civilians on the street outside having panic attacks from the brief war that had just erupted. Dexter had reached the end of the alley bullets whizzing by his head, he quickly hopped a fence into the yard of an apartment complex. Before Woodrow could get a clean shot both Laplace and the bloodied Cecil both vanished from sight either around the corner or cutting in between in the buildings. Garrison and Silas made an escape through the entrance they came even leaving behind their car. Silas gave Woodrow one last hateful glance before disappearing around the corner. Thomas stood, gun barely held in his trembling hand. His mind replayed the days events. He'd shot Cecil. He'd tried to kill him. In cold blood. He staggered out away from the crime scene, nearly throwing up at the thought of what he'd nearly done. What have I become?
Retired from business As Dexter ran away from the scene a patrol car arrived and stopped right in front of him. The door opened and a tall man with a grumpy face that had already certain fame within the city showed himself. “All right, don’t make this harder please. I have a headache. Get into the car, peacefully” Said Edgar Copperfield. Instead of aiming the man with a gun he was lazily trying to lit a cigarette Dexter took several large breaths, his chest heaving in and out a boy having asthma attack. He stared at Edgar for a moment, his blue eyes shifted back and forth. "You know?" Dexter snorted. "Those things will kill ya." The man puffed in front of Dexter's face and said "I suppose I should try to follow your life style then." He opened the back door of the car and motioned with his head. "Don't worry I'm off duty, still having the uniform helps you bypass red lights. Oh, gotta add, I'm not planning to take you to whatever place to kill you, it seems you have a bad luck for that kind of things" "Its fine." Dexter panted making sure his jacket was straight as he started towards Edgar's car. "Even if you wanted to kill me I'm positive that you'd fail.....I'm somewhat unkillable." Dexter opened the door and took a seat. The car departed at moderated speed but close to the limit, often letting the sirens go wild as soon as a red light showed in the way. A few minutes passed before Edgar spoke. "Unkillable and good to mess with the wrong people. But that's the good thing 'bout you. We have a lot of information in the department, you are a little famous there, not the big shot of course, but they already know who Dexter is. Regardless, you're like that kind of necessary disease, the one that sucks but is better than other options. Ya get what I mean?" Dexter looked out the window, his shoulders slumping. Is Woodrow dead? He was tempted to say goodfucking riddance if he was. "You're saying that I am just so damn cute you had to pick me up and take me for a night out on the town?" "Pretty much, but my woman is gonna kill me if she find I've been picking whores" said as the car abruptly took a curve. "What I say is that you're that kind of guys that is better to have than other scum. The mayor for example, you think the police can even comb his hair? Only a very little few even know what kind of scum the guy is, yeah we played his game of investigating Shep and etc. However, when I'm not in duty I would gladly put a bullet between his eyes, and not only him but many other cancer that walk freely around here; but, this position is quite useful to risk it. So, people like you and that teacher serve me, and others pretty well" Dexter visibly cringed at Cecil's name. "So you want me to work for you?" He asked dryly. The man exhaled again. "Sixteen years ago you made a wreck out of Vector with no one telling you to, you were just a piece in the game of bigger guys. So work for me? Not really, I'm just gonna take you to a ride, threw you somewhere outside of danger and offer you any help so you can naturally go and do by yourself the same shit again 'till it works, well in case you don't want to, the teacher will surely if he is still alive." Once again he exhaled. "Oh and I'm not making you my bitch like whoever did sixteen years ago. I tell you, just want scum like that guy outta the town, outta the USA, etc. but the law is useless most of the time." "Ahhhhh." Dexter said nodding. "You want my help because you think I'm sort of great destructive force or something?" He chuckled. "I hate to break it to you but you've got the wrong impression of me. I'm just broken down old man." "Even a toddler can break your nose. No, I want your help 'cause you have balls enough to pull yourself in danger, you're simply that stupid and no one takes you seriously. Years ago you also break a whole mafia 'cause the don was an idiot and took you for a mere piece of shit, but well, shit can make a mess of your suit." "Also, I can't ask for the help of any powerful or at least strong group 'cause they aren't fool enough to make themselves enemies of the mayor" Dexter opened his mouth to speak but stopped, the actions Edgar had mentioned and many more flashed through his mind. The organizations he'd crippled, the friends he'd let die all those years ago, his mother, Harley, the teens he'd manipulated, Woodrow and even Trisha. All those life he'd damaged in someday, even if his own daughter. "I'd love to." Dexter said. "But I think I'm.....retired from this kinda life." After a couple of turns the car stopped in what seemed to be a random location. Edgar stood off the car and threw what was his third cigarette to the ground then lightly pressed it with his foot. "Doubt it, you're like a magnet for these kind of stuff" He handed a black bag to the man. "I'm commiting a crime by givin' you guns and bullets. But as I said, law is useless" After Dexter left the car the man took his seat and closed his door. "Let's see, I hope your friend is still ok. There were a few patrol cars heading to the scene. 'till we see each other again, if we do..." Said Edgar and then the car left gently throwing its smoke to Dexter's face. Dexter snorted and looked back in the direction that the gun battle had happened. The words Edgar had spoken drilling into his skull. 'Doubt it, you're like a magnet for these kind of stuff' "No." He sighed. "I can .....choose to be someone else." Dexter shrugged and tossed the black bag on the ground and walked away.
