Kendra (CK) Dionne's Story

"No, but seriously, when will you let me drive one of these? I've got my licence and everything, I just can't afford a car. I swear I'll try my hardest not to crash it. I won't even go fast, or far, I just really wanna see what it would be like to drive it." Jack was once again pestering Chance about letting him drive. He had a can of Relentless in one hand as usual, and was taking periodic swigs from it. "I won't even bring coffee with me. You know I'm serious when I promise I won't bring coffee." Jack was still buzzing after the apartment they had thrashed hours before. The Relentless definitely wasn't helping, but Jack was used to it by now.

Jack heard someone come in and spun around to greet them enthusiastically as he always did, but then he saw who it was. His grin slipped a little when he saw that it was CK. He still felt a little hate towards her following the massive fight they'd had a few years ago. She had pulled some stupid stunt that had meant he had almost gotten caught by the police, and they had a massive argument over it. They had nearly divided Black Cat, and someone had been forced to step in and stop them from starting a full blown physical fight.

He took a swig from his can and shook it a little. It was nearly empty. Part of him wanted to go get another, but his common sense intervened. Funny. His common sense tended to keep quiet when it came to coffee and Relentless. It piped up on just about everything else, from helping him choose his outfit to making a quick getaway.

He caught CK staring at him and raised an eyebrow. "Hello, Kendra. My name is Jack, and you have seen me before." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, and he finished his can and crumpled it, throwing it into a nearby bin.



Kali's couch was surprisingly comfortable. Kat had found that out the night after her apartment had burned down, when her mind took to distracting itself by focusing on the little things. Kat was now once again stretched out on it, just thinking about everything that had happened. She had finally managed to get a new bank card and had done a little clothes shopping, treating herself to the outfit she was now wearing. She was all too conscious of the amount of money in her account. She seriously needed to get a part-time job. Maybe that was a plan. She couldn't live on Kali's couch forever, and she was finally finished school. College wasn't an option, not for another few years. But she made a good cup of coffee and was pleasant enough. And she wasn't bad with hair either.

Her insurance company had been in touch, and they had said that her claim for her contents was being processed. The apartment had only been rented, but apparently the landlord was covered for that. She hoped that that meant she would be getting some money before long. She needed a new phone. Her old one had been reduced to ashes in the fire, and she hated being out of contact with her dad. He knew where to find her, but it wasn't the same as texting him whenever she missed him. She wanted a new laptop as well, but she had to prioritize. She hated it. She hated having to ask Kali for everything. The only things she had were her baseball bat and a few sets of clothes. Kat always done the cooking- apparently it ran in her Italian blood- but she felt that that wasn't enough. She wasn't exactly the cleanest person either, and she felt bad for that.

Chance let out a tired sigh and leaned back in his chair. Jack was standing next to him, chattering about his cars. "No, but seriously, when will you let me drive one of these? I've got my licence and everything, I just can't afford a car. I swear I'll try my hardest not to crash it. I won't even go fast, or far, I just really wanna see what it would be like to drive it." Jack said, and took a drink of his Relentless. Chance was used to it, and he wouldn't even say it annoyed him. Jack was nice, but hyper. No way was he driving one of his babies. "I won't even bring coffee with me. You know I'm serious when I promise I won't bring coffee." He added. Chance's lip twitched upward into a smirk.

"Jack, I will let you drive my car when you get put on Adderall and don't drink one of those," he gestured to the drink "In over a week. No coffee either," he said, crossing his arms across his grey sweater. What may have been a smirk left his lips as he walked over to his black 2009 Camaro. She was fairly new, and currently his favorite. He trailed his fingers along the crevice of the hood. He sticks his hands in his front pockets and leaned against the door, facing his other car. She was a 2008 red Eclipse with a sick body kit. She'd never let him down, but driving the newer Camaro was better.

"Tell you what," he said taking a deep breath. "You can drive Red, if you can find the keys," Chance said. He was serious. But he knew the keys would be hard to find. They were inside Charlotte, the Camaro, and she was locked. Her keys were in his pocket. He slapped Jack on the back and walked over to the kitchen. Okay, so it wasn't really a kitchen. His entire home was just a big warehouse. If you waked in the door, you could see everything. The kitchen was in the far right corner, and the couches were in a circle in the center. He had a TV, but that was mounted on the wall of his room. His room was in the right corner near the front. There was a room separator and a curtain for a door. No one was ever allowed in there. His cars were always parked on the left side, by the garage door. He got a sprite out of the fridge and began drinking it.

"Hello, Kendra. My name is Jack, and you have seen me before." Jack said as CK walked in, staring at him. Chance had hardly noticed, and he was already uninterested. He could tell by the look on her face he didn't want to get involved. He lifted his sprite to her as hello and then retreated to his room, in search of something.




Kendra slammed the door to Nate's car shut, silencing his yells. She kicked his tire as he drove off, yelling obscenities after him. She took a deep breath and sat down on the gravel. After a few minutes, she got up and shook out her hair, making it look even messier than before. It worked for her though. She began walking towards Chance's house, but she still had a while to go. She and Nate had been on their way back to her house, and had gotten into a huge argument. It ended in him kicking her out of his car, and leaving her on the side of the road.

After an hour of walking, CK finally made it to the warehouse. Her converse were covered in dust, and she had broken a small sweat, being in the direct sunlight. She took a deep breath before walking in. The first person she saw was Jack. He was looking especially cute today. He turned excitedly, but his smile faded when he saw it was her. He took another drink of his Relentless, and it made Kendra want to punch him in the face and kiss him all at the same time. The little things drove her crazy, like how he was always drinking that stupid drink!

"Hello, Kendra. My name is Jack, and you have seen me before." He said to her. His sarcasm was noted, but Kendra kept her gaze.

"Sorry if I couldn't pull my eyes away, the asshole is just so rare these days," she cooed to him in an extremely sweet voice. Her brown eyes turned to slits as she gave him a rude look. Right now, insulting him would be the best option, rather than dwelling on the fact that all she wanted to do was look at him. Before she could say anything else she bit her tongue and dropped onto the couch. She grabbed a pillow and put it on her face. She lay there for a while before sitting up. She slid off her shoes and sat criss cross on the old couch, once again studying Jack. She wanted an excuse to talk to him, but she had to think of something good first. Giving up on thinking, she said the first thing that popped into her brain. "So tell me, how is it that you hide your true identity from the others so well?" she asked. Once again her voice was sweet, but it was clearly not nice. Before Jack had time to answer, Rick spoke up. CK hadn't even noticed he'd come. He hadn't been there when she got there, his car wasn't outside.



"Kendra, stop," Rick said, sounding annoyed. "I'm really not in the mood for you today," he said. He didn't look at either of them. It may have seemed like he was just talking to Kendra, but he meant it about both of them. He knew Jack never started the fights unless he was in a bad mood. And however much of a nice guy he was, he would take Kendra's bait when she offered it.

"You're never in the mood," Kendra said, her voice normal now. She flicked her eyes back to Jack, giving him a quick sweep, nothing more than the 'I'm better than you up-down.' Although for her she just wanted to look at him one last time before entering the kitchen and finding a snack.

"Whatever," Rick said half heartedly. He sat down on the couch opposite where the girl had just been. He put his hands on his face and sat there trying to push away the thoughts. "Dios," he said. "Jack, it's been a month now," he said, referencing to Maya. Of course it was obvious who he was talking about. "Those people who say it'll get better, yeah well they're all liars. It only get's worse man," Rick said. His voice was low, and he doubted Kendra could here. No, he wasn't trying to hide anything from her, but it would be better if she didn't butt in.

Amanda walked into the home in front of her quickly. It was a warehouse, to e honest, but it was cool. Her friends were in there, her black-cat friends. The 'friends' she was at the mall with were all revlon-faced people from school she could care less about. "What's up!" She announced, walking over and falling down on the couch next to Rick. She pulled her baby out of her backpack. Her entireoutfit matched, including the bag. It was OCD, but oh well. The baby was an Apple MacBook Air she had saved all her money up for. It was a no-no for anyone to touch it, or look at it the wrong way. She turned it on with a flick of her fingers. "So what are we doin' today?"

"Sorry if I couldn't pull my eyes away, the asshole is just so rare these days," CK told him, her voice sickly sweet, her real meaning obvious. He raised an eyebrow, and was about to reply with a smart retort of his own when Rick intervened. "I'm really not in the mood for you today," He warned, looking at Kendra. Jack knew he was included in that warning, however, and he raised his hands to his shoulders in the universal not-my-fault gesture. Rick came over to him. "Jack, it's been a month now," He said quietly. Instantly all of Jack's anger slid away, and he folded his arms. He was trying to think of something comforting to say, when Rick told him, "Those people who say it'll get better, yeah well they're all liars. It only gets worse man." Shivers ran up Jack's spine when he remembered that the policeman he had told about the threatening letters had said something similar. "Don't worry, they'll stop eventually. It'll get better." Jack had found another on his doormat this morning. It had read something like, "Nobody's going to come to your funeral when you're killed. Except me. Because I want to laugh."

Jack's head began to swim. Relentless suddenly seemed like a very good idea. Or coffee. But he realized he had been silent for several minutes and that he should probably reply now. "I probably shouldn't tell you that it will get better, then. I don't want to lie. But I don't think things will get worse. You can rely on this fool to make sure that doesn't happen." He grinned and went to the fridge, looking for something that might clear his head. He hadn't told anyone about the death threats and letters. The freaking police couldn't help. He doubted even Black Cat could. And he really needed an energy drink. There seemed to be a lack of caffeine and suitable additives, however, so he just went for something that looked like it had plenty of sugar in it and opened it, taking a mouthful. "Now, what was that about getting to drive if I can find the keys?" He asked himself, starting to search for them. He didn't notice Amanda coming in until she spoke. "So what are we doin' today?" He jumped. "We're waiting for everyone else before we get into the details. I think." He said, still searching for the keys. "Chance, keeping them in your pockets is just mean. I'm not saying that's what you're doing, but, you know..."



Kat grinned as Kali entered the room, singing to her heart's content. "All of the others just finished trashing an apartment, should we go join them?" Kat's grin widened, but then Kali's phone started ringing. "Yeah? Hi Mom. What? Of course this is Kali. Yeah, Kat's with me, you wanna talk to her? No? Alright. Um, yeah, I was planning to go out today with Kat. Where? To go, uh, shopping! And a movie, probably. Yeah. Hold on a sec." Kali looked at Kat. Shopping and movies tended to be cover for hanging with Black Cat. She nodded enthusiastically as Kali grabbed a bag of sweets. "Alright Mom. Mmhmm. Love you. Bye." Kat missed talking with her own mom. Every time she ate ice cream, she couldn't help but mentally compare it to her mother's. It was seldom as good. Her dad made ice cream that came so close, but nothing could quite compare. She really wanted her mom's ice cream right now. But Kali startled Kat out of her ice cream reverie. "So Kat, whaddaya wanna do now?" Kat stretched and looked at the clock on the wall. "How's about we head to the warehouse first? We can go, check if we've got any plans today, and if not, I want to have a scout around, see if anywhere's offering part-time work. It looks like my insurance compensation ain't coming any time soon, and I hate not being able to pay you back. Cooking dinner just isn't enough payment for what you've done for me."

The smell of smoke and the image of flames still haunted Kat late at night when sleep avoided her. The nightmares had stopped, but even the memories of them gave her shivers. She had dreamed that no-one had been there for her, and that she had died among all of her burning possessions. She dreamed that she was on fire, and everywhere she walked and felt comfortable went up in flames. That stuck with her the most, and that was part of the reason why she wanted her own place back. She worried that she had done something wrong and that someone had mimicked Black Cat and gotten their revenge. She didn't want to bring that upon Kali.

Leila took a long swig of her energy drink as the printer started spewing out a list of papers. Taking a side glance at the clock Leila kept on a shelf she couldn't help herself but to groan softly. It read 11:52 AM. Almost lunch time and Leila was still dressed in her pajamas.

Leila had woken up at about one o'clock in the morning from a particularly bad nightmare and knew she wouldn't be getting back to sleep. So instead she left a note to her dad saying she was going for a walk and wouldn't be back for a while. She did this all the time and her dad knew that she needed this personal time to try and forget about her bloody dreams. So at one in the morning Leila walked the long distance from her house to the Black Cat headquarters, only stopping at the gas station to pick of a pack of energy drinks and a donut. Flashing her ID card to the door she walked in without being questioned and immediately went to her little private office. Really it was just a closet which she'd sort of claimed for herself and set up her equiptment in., but sometimes she liked to thing of it as her private office.

And since then for the last nine or ten hours she had been making the criminal posters for the groups lastest seleted victims. Two women and five men with their common spots, adresses evidence and the crime they'd committed behind the back of justice. But Black Cat was the justice that followed behind and brought these criminals to the light. The printer quieted down and Leila realized it was done printing. Swallowing the last of her drink she crushed the can underneith her desk and tossed it into the bin along with the other twelve cans, all equally empty and crushed.

Standing up Leila stretched, holding her breath as her stiff muscles screamed in protest. Her chair still had the impression of her butt and Leila cracked a small smile, but was too exhuasted to laugh. Instead she rubbed her eyes and glanced at the mirror above her computer. Staring back was the face of a girl she saw very rarely. Her red hair was slightly unkempt, pulled back in a loose ponytail. Under her eyes were dark bags, only slightly hidden underneith a heavy layer of make up, which told the world exactly how much sleep she'd been getting lately. Leila tried to smile at her reflection but couldn't bring herself to do it and instead rubbed her bloodshot eyes.

Reatching down she picked up the papers, stapling them together in order as well as a few tacks. Steping towards the door Leila's legs gave out a little bit but she caught herself before she fell. Standing again she shook her head violently until her eyes swam and she had to steady herself. Then, unlocking the door she walked out into the comon room. Paying no mind to her friends who sat on the couches, chatting amongst themselves, she silently walked over to the mission board and tacked up the seven new targets. Stiffing a yawn she hesitated by the board, taking in the assignments, surveying them and processing what still needed to by done.

Then the moment passed and Leila forced herself the turn away. Sometimes she had to force herself to keep moving even if only not to collapse and fall into a deep sleep right there on the ground. Her sore eyes passed over the others on the couch, barely recognizing them, instead falling onto the cooler where drinks were usually kept. Shuffling over to it, still in her pajamas, she opened it and took an energy drink, popping the tab with a small hiss of contained carbon. Then taking a sip of it she relished the burning pleasent sensation as it spilled over her tongue and down her throat. That was better.

"Hey Amanda," Rick said as she came in. She sat down and began doing her computer stuff. Rick wasn't about to pay attention and try to figure it out. He took a few more moments to let his thoughts linger in Maya before pulling back to reality. "I'm not sure. Got anything, Jack?" Rick asked him. He honestly hadn't given much thought to their next project. They always had a list, but some required more planning than others. "Let's just ask Chance," he said, but trailed off when she left the couch. She wrote a bunch of lists on the white board and pulled out some throw away phones. Rick was sorta confused, but when she explained what they were fore, he smiled. "Nice going," he said and took his phone.



The boy threw the picture on his bed. It was one of him and his mother. He was 8 years old in that picture, and he had just one a lego building contest. He let out a big sigh and looked around his picture covered walls. He had everything there. It was a bit dangerous should his house get broken into, but he couldn't help it. The pictures were his life. His first raid, his first deal, girlfriends, childhood memories, everyone in the Black Cat. Although.. Some pictures were strange, they didn't fit with the others. Chance smiled and left his room just in time to hear what Amanda had said. "We can't keep these forever," he said as he picked one. "If anyone catches on, like the cops, we'd be dead," he said. From being at the station a lot, working on the cars, Chance knew just how much the police could find out about a person. These were a good idea for now, but it wouldn't last. Unless she could find a way to get them off the radar. Which was impossible. He sat down on the couch and kicked his feet up, idly flipping the phone in his fingers. "And Jack Red's keys aren't in my pocket," he said, keeping his eyes forward. He wasn't really looking at anything, but he seems deep in thought, as usual.



CK was choosing not to join the party that occupied the couch area. Instead the girl laid down on the floor with her legs straight up against the counter. She heard what Amanda was yapping about and contented herself with making hand puppets, acting out Amanda and Rick. Her silent play ended in them biting each other's heads off. Just as she was beginning to grow bored with her self entertainment, Leila joined her in the kitchen, opening an energy drink. Ardic came over as well and began asking Leila if she was alright. once CK saw Leila's face her giddy mood disappeared. She looked tired. She must have had a rough night last night. Kendra smiled at her and let her legs flip over her head, doing a backwards somersault. She stood up and mocked a gymnasts landing. She then sauntered over to the couch. "Hey Elden," she said and sat away from Rick and Amanda. Her mood was back now that Leila had left her thoughts. She let her brown eyes settle on Jack once again. She was looking him like a hungry lion. She couldn't figure out which she would rather do right now, chew him out, scratch his eyes out or simply confess her love, then make love. The last thought surprisingly brought a bluch to her cheeks. She averted her eyes then, and slid off the couch, so her back was on the ground, but her legs were still on the couch. "Let's do something," she said, letting her hands drops on the bright red carpet.

"Hey, you look tired. Are you going to be alright?"

Leila's mind had wandered away from her again, being pulled back to reality only by a familiar voice. She blinked a few times and looked up at Ardic, lines of worry crossing his face as he jammed his hands into the pockets of his coat. It was nice of him to care. Leila appreciated it, and showed her gratitude by forcing a small smile.

"Yeah, I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I'm fine."

This was probably Leila's most commonly said phrase. Her 'catch phrase' as some may call it. It was also her biggest lie too. But she was willing to suffer dishonesty and guilt if it meant keeping her nightmare safe from other people's ears. Saving other people's lives.

Like Maya's life.

Leila stood abruptly. She couldn't think of Maya right now. She was tired enough there was a high chance that if Maya came to mind Leila would break down and cry. Something that she refused to do. Tears were worthless and made you appear weak if you didn't have a good reason. As a policeman's daughter she took pride in her ability to silence her emotions, though she suspected that she could only control them because she was too tired to conjure them up.

Snapping out of her thought induced trance, Leila's eyes trailed over the room. Most everyone was here. Her bloodshot eyes targeting the cell phones that had been dropped on the coffee table, Leila carefully reached down and took one, tucking it into a pocket. Or at least, tried to. After a moment of two of searching for a pocket she glanced down and remembered she was wearing pajamas and had so pockets. Leila tucked it into her bra instead.

"Let's do something," CK interjected, the boredom in her voice giving away to agitation. Leila stared at her a moment like a zombie might, then turned away and walked to the board. Running her finger over the papers gently she came to rest on one printed in yellow paper. A group mission. Leila had always liked to color code and had a system for her missions. Different colors for solo missions, group mission, interrogation, retrieval and various other mission categories. Plucking the pin from the yellow packet she turned and set it on the table beside the cell phones.

"Maylin Street. There's an alley three blocks down where a bus is parked. Every Sunday a group of thugs meets up in the bus. There's been rumors of plots involving kidnapping and bribery." Taking a step back Leila had to stifle a yawn and blink a few times before she could speak again. "As far as I can tell they plan to pick up children and whisk them away here, then glld them for ransom. Once the parents have paid the kids will be knocked out and returned. The kids left over will be sold or killed."

"The law won't do anything because there hasn't been enough proof, but I hacked into the cameras in they alley and recorded their plan." Leila hated to bad mouth her father's occupation, but she would hate herself more if she left this plan go off without a hitch. "Best thing to do would be to destroy the bus. And if you guys are up for a fight, the group is meeting tonight. There's six guys total. We could round them up, destroy the bus and leave them there. Then I could tip off the police and have them there to arrest the criminals by daybreak."

With that Leila finished her drink and tossed the empty can in the trash bin, searching the cooler for her favorite drink and popping the top of her second favorite when she couldn't find one. "So guys, are you up for it?"

Alex pulled his hood over his head as he neared the warehouse. His mom had taken away his car for a while because he had misread "YIELD". Who thought that it was a good idea to give a dyslexic guy a car in the first place? He walked in, just as Leila said, "So guys, are you up for it?" He closed the door with a genial smile. "Up for what?" he asked. "Sorry I'm late!"

Amanda smiled, wiping away a fake tear "I'm proud, you cracked into cameras. Now I just need your amazing organization and planning skills and we could do each others jobs" she laughed lightly. "If the bus has a built-in navigational system, I can get into that- if it is connected to wifi, but most are. And some newer buses have a computer in the peddles to make sure they don't lurch to a stop- no seat-belts- that isn't connected to WiFi, but it is to the GPS, and if I can get into the GPS..." she trailed off, realizing some of the stuff she was saying was probably useless, and she should just do that. "I couldn't turn the bus, but I could lock up the accelerator when it was parked, and they wouldn't be able to move..."

Jack grinned as Leila came in. Discussions for the mission started, and he listened. He had a special rank of hate for people who hurt kids. They were innocent, and couldn't hurt anyone- or stop themselves from being hurt. "That all sounds good, but what are we going to do when the bus is stopped? We can't trash it like we usually would an apartment. I always do prefer not to hurt people." He sat on a couch, thinking for a moment. "What if we got someone onto the bus? They could record the plans and get photos of the suspects. You can track by photo identification, right, Leila? Then we could turn up at their houses, write some stuff on the walls to frighten them while someone gives the police an anonymous tip-off with some evidence. I'd be willing to be the guy on the bus." He offered.

He got back to his feet and continued to search for the keys. He took another swig of the drink, when something in the Camaro caught his eye. He shot to the window and peered inside. There was something that looked very much like a set of keys inside. He pulled on the door handle excitedly, but it was locked. He swore to himself and went back to the others. Kali and Kat had joined them at some point in the conversation.



"No no no, it's completely fine! You don't have to pay us back! Plus your cooking is soooo much better than having to order Chinese when Mom isn't home. I'll go get the scooter, so come down when you're ready, a'ight?" Kat nodded and swung her feet off of the couch. She grabbed a black leather jacket that her father had sent her from Italy the week after the riots and traded it for her hoodie. She ran downstairs and met Kali.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the warehouse. Jack was searching for something and Leila was describing their next mission. Kat moved silently to the fridge as everyone had their own input. She got a bottle of Coke and started taking swigs from it, listening to the various remarks. She grinned and crossed the room as Alex entered. She kissed him on the cheek and took his hand. "Hey sweetie. How are you?" She asked, grinning.

Amanda snuffled and wiped away a fake tear "I'm proud, you cracked into cameras. Now I just need your amazing organization and planning skills and we could do each others jobs." she laughed lightly and Leila smiled at her, though couldn't find a laugh within her tired self. "If the bus has a built-in navigational system, I can get into that- if it is connected to wifi, but most are. And some newer buses have a computer in the peddles to make sure they don't lurch to a stop- no seat-belts- that isn't connected to WiFi, but it is to the GPS, and if I can get into the GPS... I couldn't turn the bus, but I could lock up the accelerator when it was parked, and they wouldn't be able to move..." Amanda trailed off andLeila could hear her muttering to herself.

"That all sounds good, but what are we going to do when the bus is stopped? We can't trash it like we usually would an apartment. I always do prefer not to hurt people." Jack plopped down on the couch as he spoke, obviously thinking the plan through. "What if we got someone onto the bus? They could record the plans and get photos of the suspects. You can track by photo identification, right, Leila? Then we could turn up at their houses, write some stuff on the walls to frighten them while someone gives the police an anonymous tip-off with some evidence. I'd be willing to be the guy on the bus."

"Great idea." Leila said, covering her mouth politely as she yawned again. "If you shut down the bus and get pictures of the guys involved I could identify them and give you their addresses so you could pay their houses a little visit. Let them know they're not as clever as they think they are. Then if they still try to go with their plan we'll turn in the recording I have of their plan, their pictures, locations, information and have the police all over their sorry a-"

Leila stopped herself before she cursed. She hated to swear and tried to never do it, but occasionally when she was both exhausted and passionate about something they would try to slip out. "Ahem," she corrected herself, taking a long swig of a cherry flavored energy drink. It helped a little but Leila could still feel the utter exhaustion which made her body so weak she visibly swayed as she stood. Trying to be casual about it she leaned against the nearest wall and tok anther sip before continuing, "We'll get them behind bars before they could even get behind the wheel. Like I said, they meet tonight around 2 in the morning. We should send someone who could get their pictures so I can track them down and have the missions and information posted by tomorrow afternoon."

Rick sat silently and listened to everyone. "Hey Kat, Kali," he said as the girls walked in. "I really like the idea, good work Leila," Rick said, smiling at the tired girl. Man, she really needed more sleep. He couldn't figure out what was eating her. "You had a really good point too Jack. At some point I really would like to hit these guys in the homes, not just take them down," he grinned. He thought over having Jack on the bus. Of course he could handle it, but he thought having someone else go with him would be better. "Maybe someone else should go too," Rick suggested. Of course having two people on the bus was more risky, so maybe a decoy. "Just someone that could be a decoy if you need to get out of there or something," he said, shrugging. He deliberately averted his eyes from Alex and Kat. Seeing the couple brought up painful memories. Instead, he became very interested in the table in front of him. Suddenly CK popped up from the floor, causing him to lose his fake concentration. He was shocked by what the girl said.



"I can go with Jack," Kendra said, sitting up. She looked at him then to Rick, who was staring at her, looking like she just kissed him. "What?" she asked defensively. Even Chance almost choked on his drink. She rolled her eyes and stood up. "I mean," she began, fighting off a blush. It was a stupid thing for her to say. She should have waited for Rick to ask her to go as a decoy, if he would even ask her. She would be the best one for this job, at least she thought she would be. If it came down to it, she would do anything to save Jack. Any Cat she corrected herself. As Kendra let her mind trail away she thought about all the things she would do for Jack that she wouldn't do for anyone else.

"I mean," CK said again, "I can be a good decoy in this situation. I'm just thinking about the group," she said. Her mood turned sour and she sat down again, with her back against one of the couches. "We all know Jack is--" she stopped mid sentence, shooting Jack a rude look. She wanted to smile at him. "Well. We all understand the circumstances of Jack and I's relationship, so like I said, I think this is for the good of the group," she shrugged and looked around the group, feeling only slightly awkward. It took a lot of self control for her not to look back up to Jack. She really needed to get this under control. She saw him move back over to the car, and felt free to watch him. Most people didn't stay focused on her this long, and Rick was no longer looking at her. When he turned back to the group she looked up at the ceiling. She pulled out her phone and texted Elden. Of course, she knew he was in the room, but she would most likely get barked at for changing the subject. Hey! I'm bored. Do you have any ideas? she asked. She wanted to do something and she wasn't exactly sure where the whole Jack-CK partnership idea was going. Probably down the drain. Just like her chances with him went a few years ago. She audibly sighed and sat up, staring at Elden until he made eye contact with her and checked his phone. She grinned.




Chance raised his eye brows at CK, but did nothing else. He bit some dead skin off his thumb and glanced at the clock. It was almost 2 p.m. and that meant he had to meet up with Chino soon. Chino was supposed to deliver a package to los Intocables by 6 p.m., so they were already cutting it close. Chance hated doing things last minute, and he considered this last minute. He knew in the middle of planning something like this, he would need to know every detail. He pulled out his phone and texted Chino, telling him a time and place to meet. Chance watched as Jack moved back over to the cars. He pulled on Charlotte's handle but of course, she was locked. Chance tried to recall exactly what he had said. Was it if Jack could get the keys or find them? He was a man of his word, so if Jack had found them, Chance owed him a drive. He muttered to himself remembering he had used the word find.

"Anything interesting in there?" he asked Jack, hitting the unlock button from his pocket. The camaro's lights flashed, letting Chance know she was unlocked. If Jack was going to go over to the car again he only had a few seconds before it automatically locked once again. Chance regretted making that deal. However, this gave him a reason to leave. He hoped Jack would get the hint and find Red's keys. Chance would never let him go on the drive alone, so he would go along and tell him where to go. He didn't think Jack would suspect he was going to a deal, especially since it was common knowledge Chino was Chance's best friend. On top of that, Chance wasn't getting the money until tomorrow. This was going to seem as innocent as returning a video game. Which is exactly what it was going to look like. Chance had gotten information on a rival game and downloaded it into a game of Grand Theft Auto. It took him a while to figure out how to do it, but he managed it eventually. This was their typical way of passing back information. All los Intocables would have to do is play the game and take a few missions, answer phone calls and there was all there information. There was no way to trace it so Chance felt safe 'betraying' this other gang. Los Intocables swore to never rat him out since he was such a valuable playing piece in their... society, for lack of a better term.

Leila raised her hands up to the height of her shoulders and shrugged slightly. "Handle it however you like. Give me the pictures and I'll find them. Shut down the bus while you're at it and you'll save a bunch of children who are about to experience the unbridled wrath of the world." A small yawn made her stop talking for a moment. It took another bit of time for her to compose herself enough to speak again, though she couldn't stop herself from rubbing her red eyes. "Whatever you decide to do, the location is on the back of the second page. Just be careful."

'I'd hate to lose any of you like I did Maya...'

Pushing herself away from the wall, Leila wearily stretched, not ready to think of Maya. Not wanting to consider the possibly of losing any more of her friends. Moaning softly as her muscles screamed in protest from lack of sleep and use, Leila was forced to yawn again. "And let me know before you leave, okay?" Then she turned and walked out of the room. Or tried to. Instead her nose was meet by the wall that had supported her moments ago. She'd entirely forgotten that it was there. Rubbing her nose gingerly she would feel a little bit of blood run down from her nose.

"Ah crap," she growled softly, covering her bloody nose so the others wouldn't see she walked into the bathroom and grabbed a few tissues. She was prone to nosebleeds like this if the weather changed suddenly, something bumped into her nose to hard or whenever she got very scared. It'd started at some point after she had been released from the hospital but she hadn't thought much of it, though countless nights she'd woken up with blood on her face from a nightmare that had been too much for her to handle. Pressing the soft tissues to her face Leila could feel the blood seeping through them and sighed softly. She was so tired...

Ardic gathered closer to the small group that they were making, and listening attentively yet finding little to say to having little role to play in this new mission in the works, he let his mind wander about the room, and then finding something curious to see, he settled on looking at the quick and almost sudden movement of a certain brunette advancing to his car. It seemed almost strange to him, that he would just leave in the process of something like this at the moment, and thoughts of the past were brought to his mind. Settling on that quietly for a moment or two longer, he looked away like he hadn't noticed anything, and instead, turned to the new arrivals in the room, before having his gaze pulled away when their Informant and Organizer spoke up. He followed Leila's figure out of the room, a frown furrowing in deeper worry, where she seemed to have bumped into the wall rather hard, but continuing through.

"So how exactly are we going to execute this?" Slowly, he turned back to the small gathered group, his voice soft like it usually was outside out of this warehouse and when generally not as a Black Cat, his hands shoving further in his pockets, the pressure also threatening to rip through but yet subtle enough not to. "We need to sort this out before doing anything. We could have Jack and I act as decoys like usual if a Jack-CK duo won't be agreeable enough to do. He gave a pointed look towards aforementioned girl, "Not trying to shoot you down though."



He gathered close to the group as Leila gather their attention to it. Elden was slightly distracted by the cellphones by the table, and having already gone to pick one up as soon as he saw them, he badly wanted to mess around with it; to twist its potential wires depending on the model the cellphone was, and having opening the bad, he was disappointed that this was a simple device that wouldn't give much entertainment or amusement in even taking apart. Closing back the back, he simply fumbled around with it, a smile naturally setting to his face, his eyes darting back and forth between speakers, visibly perking up a bit at the idea of mentioning the accelerators and GPS system, but being unable to get in a word yet, he patiently waited to say something. He gave appropriate responses as suggestions were passed around, from a slightly frowning face of listening, to quiet nodding of agreement, and still faces of disagreement.

Fumbling around with the disposable cellphone in his hands, he was startled when his own phone in his jeans vibrated him a text, almost dropping the cellphone but managing to hold on it before actually dropping it. He frowned, but catching CK's eye, he took out his phone to look at what the text said. He had to stop himself from smiling too wide and just shaking his head out of respect of planning for this mission, his entire body almost freezing to a stop to read the message. Hey! I'm bored. Do you have any ideas?

Darting his head towards when Alex, Kali, and Kat arrived quickly before looking back down to his phone to clumsily type back with an odd way of typing with his thumbs, he replied back discreetly. Lol I do actually gonna give my own suggestion just waiting for it to be appropriate to say (:

Putting his phone away, he looked at Ardic for a moment, and silently had little to say as his lips pressed together to stretch between his cheeks; the CK and Jack thing was something that he hadn't been around for, so it was awkward whenever the tension came up. He spoke up, "You know, I guess that it's a bit late to bring it up, but about the accelerator - if we could get under the hood to put a toggle switch limiter, it could work depending on the bus." He paused. "If not, we could implant bugs around to try and pick up sound through radio wave. If the distance could work, anyway. Just a suggestion though."

Jack raised an eyebrow as CK offered to be his back-up. It was surprising, considering both their past and current relationship. It sparked an inner conflict, which he tried to resolve as he headed back over to the cars. He became lost in his own thoughts. He hated to say it, but CK would be a valuable ally. She was smart. She would know when was the time to get out. But she was so reckless. He didn't want her putting him or the operation at risk. The inner argument continued like this as the Camaro's lights flashed. He didn't pay much attention to them until Chance said, "Anything interesting in there?" He surged over and pulled the door open, seeing the keys on the front seat. He grabbed them and crowed triumphantly, "Yes!" He grinned broadly, looking over at Chance. "It's okay. I can wait. But you owe me a drive." And as he said that, he decided what to do.

As he returned to the others, Ardic said, "We need to sort this out before doing anything. We could have Jack and I act as decoys like usual if a Jack-CK duo won't be agreeable enough to do." Jack shook his head. "No. CK and I can work together. It might help us get over that particular incident." He started flicking through the information Leila had left them. As he reached over to grab a phone, he noticed her leaving the room. He was a little worried for her. She always looked so tired.

"'Kay. So, Kendra, if we meet here at about seven, we can organize what we're going to do."



Kat smiled to herself as Alex put his arm around her. "I'm pretty good. Now what's going on here? I heard some stuff about missions." Her grin changed, becoming a shade darker. "Sounds like Jack and Kendra are going to bust some bad guys. Then we get to go trash some apartments."

She could vaguely remember everyone being surprised when she wanted to continue as a Black Cat. A few people had been surprised that she had wanted to continue thrashing apartments when her own had been so brutally destroyed. Surprised in a good way, of course.

"We should try and get you guys some weapons. I suppose getting bullet proof vests would be a bit much to hope for. They'd probably hinder your escape as well."

Jack was sitting at the back of the bus, one headphone in. It was connected to his phone, which he was watching carefully. Leila and Amanda had combined their resources and talents, and Jack could now hear what their targets were saying like he was sitting behind them and see exactly what they were doing. His adrenaline was already pumping, but he popped a can of Monster and took a swig. He needed to buy more Relentless, he noted to himself. He glanced up at Kendra, who was seated across the aisle from him. His eyes returned to his screen.

It was at that point he realised that something was up. 

One of the men had shifted his position slightly, and his gun was blatantly obvious to Jack. That was the first warning sign. It was hard to remain casual, but he managed, taking another swig from his can. He could hear their plans clearly, and what he heard didn't exactly please him. They were discussing who their next target was going to be. Jack had trouble not standing up and punching them in the face. Then shivers ran down his spine as he heard what they said next. "You know, those two kids at the back look like they'd make a good target."

They all nodded and began to discuss how. Jack leaned across the aisle, a smile on his face like he was just making conversation, but there was a sense of urgency to his voice when he spoke. "Kendra. Get your ass off of this bus, now. Don't wait for me. Don't be stupid." He gave her shoulder a shove to move her and sat back in his own seat, finishing his can of Monster. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he sure as hell wasn't getting Kendra involved.



Kat strode into the warehouse. Everyone else, except for Jack and Kendra, who were on the bus, was already assembled. She was late because she had managed on getting a job. She had walked into a café and asked for a job. She'd been handed an apron, a notepad, told her working hours and pay, and been told to start. "Sorry I'm late, guys. Work and all that." She apologised, taking a seat on the couch beside Alex. She leaned into him, putting her head on his shoulder. 

Things didn't seem to be going so well. Concern flashed across her features as she heard the same conversation as everyone else. Jack and Kendra were in serious danger- and anything that Black Cat could do was only putting them in more danger.

Amanda's face twisted into one of horror as she heard the words the men spoke. "I could stall the bus now, but I feel like that would get them in lots more danger. I-I'm sorry guys. They are on their own- I hope and pray they can get out before something bad happens. I also hope they put in the communicators I told them to" she said, leaning over her computer- the screen had a medley of programs, all moving at once. The screen everyone was looking at was in the top right corner. It was the only one with sound. She tapped on one of the windows and a small icon pulled up. She put on the headset next to the computer and began to speak into it. "Guys, get out- now. I don't care, we can finish this later" she sighed "I know we shouldn't wait, but we have to... tell me what I need to do to help" she said into the microphone before flipping it up and talking to the rest of the group. "I hope they could hear that..."