So Not a Hero (25 page)

“You do that,” Kurt said. Then the handsome detective turned back to me. His expression tried to be neutral, but failed miserably. His eyes cut over in Greg’s direction for a moment before coming back to mine. The corner of his mouth moved up into a slight smile that vanished as he cleared his throat and pulled out a mini-tablet and a stylus. “So, Kayo, want to tell me what happened here?”

I gave them both a summarized description of the fight, starting with Tank grabbing me by my hair. I left my visit to my mom out of the narrative and Greg, thankfully, didn’t ask. When I recounted being flung through a couple of cars, Kurt’s grip on the electronic pen tightened and his eyes flashed. He drew in a slow breath and managed to retain control. I was pretty sure he wanted to hurt Tank for hurting me. That would not have been professional.

But I thought it was romantic as hell.

When I was finished, he tucked the device back into his jacket and looked at Greg. “I think we’ve got all we need from the Good Guys. Kayo’s statement and the surveillance camera footage should be enough to incarcerate the Colonel. If we need anything else, I’ll be in touch.”

You already did a fair amount of touching, Detective
, I came so close to saying. Instead, I gave him a chaste, professional nod and turned to Greg. “Back to patrol?”

The older hero looked from me to Kurt and back, a curious expression on his face. Maybe a bit surprised that I was acting like I hadn’t spent the previous evening in the company of Detective Braddock. Then he gave me a nod. “Okay. Let’s go.” He turned and strode towards the entrance with a determined march in his step. I went to follow and Kurt joggled himself in my way.

“Can we talk for a second?”

I stopped and looked over his shoulder to see that Greg had paused at the entrance to wait for me. His eye caught mine and he smiled before tapping his wrist and holding up five fingers. I gave him a little wave in return and looked back to Kurt. “It’ll have to be quick.”

“I just want to clear up something from this morning.”

“There’s nothing to clear up.”

“Yes, there is. After you left the way you did, I spent the next hour rehashing and examining every bit of our interaction. From the moment you walked up at Amalfi’s to the second you walked out of my condo. Trying to figure out what I did to upset you.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, strong-arming a neutral expression onto my face. “Come to any theories?”

The detective nodded. “Yes, actually.” He sighed and tilted his head down so that we were eye to eye, a few inches apart. “I didn’t mean to call you a villain, Karen. You know I don’t think of you that way. Your past doesn’t concern me.”

I shrugged. “If it did, you wouldn’t be the first. So don’t sweat it.” I so wanted to believe his words. When he’d told me that he’d always considered me a hero, my heart had fluttered wildly. Hearing him casually lump me in with other super-criminals over breakfast had brought me crashing back down. “It’s not a big deal.”

He shook his head. “Actually, it is a big deal, Karen. To me. I said something in a jovial attempt to put you at ease and ended up insulting you instead. For that, I am truly sorry. I just wish we could have talked it over before you jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

The sincerity in his words broke through my shield of indifference and caused a smile to form. “I should have handled it better. I didn’t mean to leave bruises.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “We’re both trying to regain the hang of this, remember? There are going to be a few hiccups, I’m sure.” Then a sly look formed on his face. “I didn’t mind the bruises. Especially considering how they got there.”

I planted my hands on my hips, arched a brow, and gave the detective a smirk of amusement. “Is that so? And jump to a conclusion, did I?”

He nodded, then shook his head. “Jump? That’s a poor choice of words. It was more of a three-block-sprint-at-super-speed-into-a–flying-leap kind of thing. Which wouldn’t have been so bad if the landing had been in bed and not a pile of hurt feelings.”

I blinked and snorted, covering my mouth with one hand in an attempt to strangle the embarrassing laugh. I shook my head, looking up at him. “Kurt, if I dive into your bed like that, we’re gonna end up doing stuff in the basement.”

“Not if I move the bed down there first.”

I sighed and glanced over at Manpower. I’m pretty sure he couldn’t hear the conversation from where he stood, but he’d obviously seen the physical gestures Kurt and I had made, and gave me a thumbs-up. “I have to go, Kurt. Still need to keep an eye on the city.”

“Yeah. I need to get Sleeping Beauty processed and put away for safe keeping.” He gave me a look full of hope. “Can I call you later?”

I nodded and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Of course.” With a wink, I turned and walked towards my awaiting teammate. Then something popped into my head and I looked back at Kurt. “Hey, I thought today was your day off?”

He laughed. “It was. But I knew you’d be out canvassing the city stopping bad guys. And since I wanted to talk to you, I took a co-worker’s shift. That way I’d be sure to run into you.”

I blinked a few times and then turned around and wrapped my arms around him, planting my lips squarely on his in a deep, lengthy kiss. One that wasn’t too far removed from the ones we’d shared naked on his dining room floor. I might have kissed him for hours if I hadn’t heard Greg clear his throat rather loudly. I reluctantly released Kurt’s tongue and stepped back, running my fingertip over my lips. “Uh, sorry. You know, to kiss and run.”

Kurt laughed and rubbed at his own lips. “It’s okay. That might sate me for a little while.” His eyes sparkled with desire. “I might need a booster or something later.”

I grinned wide enough that I thought my head might split in half. “I’ll see what I can do about that later, then.” I walked backwards and blew him an air kiss before reaching Manpower and sighing.

“If singing birds or helpful forest animals appear during our rounds, I’m going to forbid you from seeing him.”

I sighed again and shook my head. “No birds or fuzzy animals. Check. Not that it is likely to happen in the first place. I’m not a fairytale princess.”

Greg’s hand came down on my shoulder and gave a friendly squeeze. “No, maybe not. But you are a hero. And that entitles you to some happiness, I’m sure.”

I certainly hoped he was right.

CHAPTER 17: REPAIRING BRIDGES

Manpower and I finished out our shift with no further criminal interactions and returned to the Paulus Building a little before midnight. As we rode the elevator up, I noticed Greg glancing over in my direction several times with a quizzical expression on his face.

Darla, Rocket, and Daniel were in the briefing room going over a list of outstanding warrants and making plans should those individuals pop their heads out of their hidey holes. All three of them glanced up as Greg and I entered. Daniel gave me a smile. Darla a smirk and a little head shake.

Rocket didn’t sneer or roll his eyes, so I counted that as a plus.

“Congratulations on knocking out Colonel Meathead,” Darla said, giving me a thumbs-up. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”

I shrugged, smiling just a bit. “Still hurts like hell.” A compliment and no disdain? I had moved up in the world, it seemed.

Daniel glanced down at my gloved hands and then back up at me. “Do you want me to examine you? Uh, I mean, your hands? Make sure nothing’s broken or sprained?”

I opened and closed my fingers a few times, holding them up for everyone to see. “I think they’re just bruised or something, Daniel. Thanks for the offer though.” I gave him a smile that I hoped hid the fact that I didn’t want to go down to his lab right now. After our earlier discussion, I didn’t want to think about his feelings towards me. I wanted to save all my attention contemplating the feelings of a certain EAPF detective.

“Karen,” Greg interrupted. “I think you should tell them what you found out from your little chat with Colonel Tank.”

“What did you learn?” Darla asked. “That he can speak in more than two syllables?”

I shook my head, resisting the urge to laugh. “Actually, he can. I think he even used four syllables at one point.

Greg sighed. “I meant about his being hired.”

“Yeah, I know.” I turned to look at the three of them. “Apparently someone paid Tank to attack me. He was supposed to, in his own words, ‘rough me up a bit and make me bleed.’”

Daniel’s head bobbed up and down. “Is that even possible? I mean, short of a Vibro-Scalpel or a really large Atomic Blade?”

“It’s never happened from blunt force trauma, not since my Activation.” I shrugged. “Of course, if Tank had managed to pin me down and pound on me long enough, who knows?”

“There’s also the fact that Vaporizer showed up the other night. Right where you happened to be,” Greg said. “Do you think it’s possible he was hired to attack you as well?”

Darla arched a brow. “Are you thinking it might be the work of the same person who was behind the university robbery?”

Daniel and Greg looked at each other and the resident genius nodded. “The probability is high on that, Darla. I can run an analysis on Vaporizer and Tank’s known activities for the past two months and see if there is a pattern.”

“Do that. Contact the EAPF as well. Find out if those two had any common associates.”

“Might want to add Turbu-Lance and Princess Snow to that investigation,” Rocket said. “They’re still on the loose and might be the next to come after Kayo.”

“Good point, Robert.” Greg looked at Daniel again. “Let me know what you find out.”

A few minutes later, when everyone departed for their beds, I caught up with Rocket as he headed towards the elevator. “Hey,” I said to catch his attention. “Got a second?”

He turned around and crossed his arms over his chest, giving me an annoyed look. “What?”

I held up a hand. “Nothing. Look, I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for suggesting that Daniel check to see if the rest of the Legion might be gunning for me.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Are you serious? I honestly couldn’t give a shit what happens to you. I just don’t want to see you taken out by a couple of supervillains.”

“Oh?” I planted my hands on my hips. “Then why say anything?”

“Two reasons.” He uncrossed his arms and held up one finger. “One, it shows that I can be a team player.” He raised a second finger. “Two, I want you to fail all on your own.”

“Fail how?”

“Pfft.” He said, still grinning maliciously. “You’re a villain, Karen. And while you might be sincere in trying to be a good guy, you’ll always be a villain deep down inside. Eventually, I think you’ll give up and go back to being Crushette. Then everyone will know that I was right.”

I nodded slowly. “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that? I’m going to be the best damned hero this city has ever seen. Even if it’s just so I can rub that smug fucking expression right off your stupid face.”

He turned around and pressed the button on the wall before looking back at me.   “We’ll see, Karen. We’ll see.”

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Kurt answered the knocking on his door with a Chinese take-out container in one hand—chopsticks sticking up through the opening—and a surprised look on his face. He had changed out of the dark suit he’d worn earlier and into a pair of beige lounge pants. Sans shirt. It took a moment for me to stop staring at his pecs and abs to formulate some intelligible words.

After Rocket had departed, I gave considerable thought into going back out with the hope that some idiot villain would be waiting to receive the fruits of my frustrations. However, I also recognized that murderous intent didn’t exactly go hand-in-hand with heroics. Any bad guy whose path I happened to cross probably wouldn’t survive the encounter. So, rather than put a criminal—or ten—in traction, I decided to find a sympathetic ear to vent into.

“Karen,” he said, looking from me to the quiet street and back. “Is something wrong?”

I didn’t immediately move from my place on the top step. It was almost one in the morning and I was standing in the very spot where earlier that day I’d blown off the detective’s attempts to talk about why I was leaving in such a hurry. Now I was having second thoughts about being there. “I just needed someone to talk to,” I said looking into his eyes. “But if this is a bad time or someth—”

“Come in.” He stepped back to allow me to enter. “It’s not a bad time at all.”

“Thanks.” I entered the foyer and turned around as he closed the door behind me. The memory of our bodies being crushed against it sped up my pulse and I grabbed those desires and locked them in a box. “I couldn’t talk to any of the other Good Guys. Mainly because I need to vent.”

He smirked and nodded. “And you want it to be with someone who’s probably going to take your side?”

“Well, yeah. If I wanted an objective opinion, I’d have asked Mister Manpower or Power Brain.”

“Good point.” He gestured with the savory-smelling container towards the kitchen. “Well, why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind.”

We had barely entered the kitchen before a tirade of angry profanity blasted out of my mouth. All of it focused on Rocket and the fact that every time I turned around, my criminal past was slapping me in the face. Kurt set the food container down and leaned with his back against the counter, listening silently and nodding occasionally.

When I’d ended my rant twenty minutes later, I realized that my anger at Rocket was pointless. He was always going to see me as a villain, no matter what I did. I should focus my attention on those who believed in me. Like my other teammates. Like my mother.

Like the handsome, half-dressed detective looking at me with soft eyes and a kissable mouth.

He arched a brow as I stripped off my gloves, threw them on the counter, and grabbed his hand in mine. “You know,” I said as I backed up towards the doorway. “I never did get a proper tour of your home.”

Kurt walked forward to keep his arm attached to his shoulder. “Well, you did rush off before even finishing breakfast.”

I nodded. “Yeah, let’s just call that a momentary lapse of sanity and forget it ever happened, okay?” I grabbed the zipper at my collar with the fingers of my other hand. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.” I pulled the fastener down to my stomach and showed him that there was nothing under the uniform but me.

His eyes widened and his steps went from playful dragging to closing the distance between us. “Oh? And just how do you plan on making it up?” His eyes never left the view I was offering, and mine drifted down to the bulge protruding against the thin material of his pants.

I backed us down the hallway towards what I hoped was the bedroom. Once through the door, I released his hand, slipped my arms out of the sleeves, and pushed the top down onto my hips. “I can think of all kinds of ways.”

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Kurt had to be at work by nine the next morning, and when he found out I didn’t have anything scheduled until after lunch, he tried to get me to sleep in.

“You were up rather late last night,” he said as he buttoned his shirt. “You should just stay here and get some rest.”

I sat cross-legged on the floor, wrapped in a thick, cotton towel. I’d awoken this morning to find myself alone on the bedroom floor and followed the sounds of running water to the steam-filled master bathroom. After staring at the tantalizing form of the hunky detective on the other side of the frosted shower door for a few seconds, I decided the opportunity was too much to resist.

I pulled open the door and stepped inside the small space, closing it behind me as I ducked under one of Kurt’s arms to get between him and the scalding spray. “Good morning,” I said with a wicked grin and grabbed the soap from his hand. “Allow me.”

The resulting round of wet, foamy sex was the reason why he was hurrying to get ready. I probably shouldn’t have insisted on giving him a post-coital blow job.

 “We were both up late for the same reason.” I winked up at him. “And in case you missed the morning fun, I’m not all that tired.”

He shook his head and grabbed a tie from a spindle hanging in the closet. I thought the stripes went well with his eyes. “I know. I just didn’t want you to feel that you had to leave because I was leaving. You can stay and hang out if you want.”

I fingered through my still-damp hair and shook my head as I pushed myself to my feet. “Thanks. But I thought I might go by the hospital on my way back to HQ.” I grabbed my panties from the chair with my uniform hanging on the back. “Hopefully, my mom will be awake this time.”

He tucked the shirt into his slacks and draped the tie around his neck. “I hope so. Sounds like you two have some stuff to talk about.”I’d given Kurt the condensed version of the animosity between me and my mother, but left out the specifics of what started the whole mess. “Hey, do you think I’m being too forward if I asked you if you wanted to come over again tonight?” he asked. “We could order a pizza or something and just hang out.”

 I planted my hands on my hips, striking a flashy pose in just my thong. “Just pizza and hanging out?”

He shook his head and laughed. “Well, I would like this to be more than just great sex. So, yeah, just hang out. At least, for a little while.”

I grinned and stepped into the yellow and black costume. “Sure. Sounds like fun.” I stopped dressing and grabbed his arm to pull him into a deep kiss that seared my heart and initiated warning bells to remind me that he didn’t have time for another bout. As with our second round of sexcapades, I took extra care to keep my strength reined in.  Reluctantly, I broke the kiss. “After what we’ve already done, pizza and talk would be the opposite of too forward.”

 He offered me a ride to the hospital, but I declined in favor of walking. I wasn’t in any real hurry, the weather was nice—sunny and warm—and I wanted to practice some of the things I was afraid might be said during the upcoming visit. Plus, I still didn’t know if I wanted to tell her what had made me turn myself in. Or what had happened while I was incarcerated.

My father wasn’t in the hallway outside her room this time, so I knocked softly on the door.

“Yes?” The voice that came through the door was faint, weak, and nothing that I’d expected. A heavy sensation blossomed throughout my stomach and the hand that reached for the knob shook slightly. I turned it slowly and pushed open the door to peek inside.

The head of the bed had been elevated, allowing her to sit up and see the television. A light pink headwrap covered her thinning hair and made her look like a swami or fortune teller. Step inside and let Madame Hashimoto reveal your fate! I smiled with my teeth pressed together to keep from laughing at the image of my historically no-nonsense mother waving her hands over a crystal ball.

“Hello, Kaori,” she said, giving me a tired smile. “Please come in.”

 I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. Suddenly, I was fifteen again and asking permission to go out with Reggie Hanes. I glanced down at my boots and scrambled around for some dura-steel to stick in my spine. It would have been so much easier to stand there if we were still hating each other. Then it would be a quick-draw contest to see who could be the most verbally abusive in the shortest amount of time.

  “Can you stay a while?” she asked and muted the news program. “Or are you working?”

 I glanced up, swallowing the lump in my throat. Her face held an expression I wasn’t even sure she’d been capable of. Worried hope. I nodded slowly and then shook my head. When her face faltered, I realized I was throwing out confusing gestures. “No, I’m not working at the moment. I mean, I guess technically I’m always working.” I forced one foot to move forward, followed by its partner. “I can stay for a bit. If you want.”