Chapter 28

At least one night in the coming weeks went off as I had hoped. It was on a Saturday night after a training session with the rest of the Paladins and Mutants in the area. They loved the training area as much as the kids did, and we agreed to swap where we trained each month as the older one was better for actual combat training. Whereas my new one was more tuned for individual skill training.

I also got to meet Feather for the first time. She was another of the new Paladins that had moved to Compass City, as she said in LA she joked she was about as useful as the “Fifth Beatle”. She had telekinetic powers, but stronger than Carol. And one thing she could do was lift herself up off of the ground, and almost fly.

I asked her what her limits were, and she said around 200 pounds. “Basically, I push myself off of the ground. That gives me up and down, and if there are other objects around I can push against them to move. But I do not actually fly, I say push against a wall nearby and it is similar.”

“So if there is nothing nearby to push against?”

“I can’t move” she said with a laugh. “If I am low enough, I can push against the ground, but once again not very fast. At about the speed of a normal walking person.”

I nodded, and said she would really come in handy. “We lost our only flier in the region, and since then have largely been blind. Racer does not have the speed to run up a wall, so mostly he just tries to zip in and out when he can to try and let us know what is going on.”

We talked for about an hour, and I suggested that she spend some time in various parts of the city. “Just go on up to the top of buildings, and see what you can see from up there. Talk to Control, they have some really advanced binoculars that can come in handy. We might be able to use you in a fight, but I think your biggest power would be that you could be our observer.”

She smiled and nodded, and said she looked forward to that. “That is already what I am doing for my patrols really. Mostly just watching, and calling Control if I see something.”

“Well, talk to some of us. I know that I would welcome you once a month or so as a partner, and Bo might also. Dire Wolf is in Canada I think, but you can ask her when she gets back. She and Carol already make a great team, and you are like her but even more so.”

“Would I not be taking her place?” Feather asked, and I smiled.

“Oh, no. You see, Carol is only in our reserve, and is a full time member of the CCPD. In fact, she is kind of the unofficial liaison between us and the CCPD. And she is also involved in training the Junior Paladins. Each week or so one of them teams up with her to show them what the cops do. Gets the cops used to seeing and working with us, and lets the kids understand that we must work closely with the cops to do our job.”

“Wow, this is so unlike how it is in LA. We almost never work with the cops there, and only a few ever get calls or do anything.”

“Well, you also have over 50 Paladins there. Here, we are much smaller. And because of Bohica, we take more of a ‘Neighborhood Watch’ kind of approach. Most of us have an area of town we patrol, and work with each other and the cops.”

“I’ll say. Last year when we tried to do the sweep like you guys had, it was a three ring circus. After the first sweeps, most of the bad guys just up and left. And I swear some of the Paladins were just mugging for the cameras.”

I shook my head, remembering that. “Yeah, we covered that a few months ago in a big meeting in DC. What we did worked well for here, but in a bigger city like LA, Chicago, or New York it just would never work. Just too much area to cover, too easy to run and hide. But come on over sometime, would love to sit and chat for a bit and see what else we can come up with for you.”

That night, Lucy and I both got dressed up nice and I took us to The Sandpiper. The best surf and turf in town, and the bill showed it. And afterwards we drove out to the Reservation and with her shoes in her hand we walked along the riverfront.

And with some reservation, I had her lean against a wall as I knelt down at her feet. Not even caring that I was getting sand all over the knees of my suit. Lucy caressed my face and kissed me, as even kneeling my face was not all that far below her face. Then I looked into her eyes, and pulled out the blue velvet box from my pocket.

And I did not even get a chance to say anything. As soon as she saw it she simply said “Yes”, and pulled me in for another kiss. I think we were both crying when I finally opened it, and slipped the ring on her finger. She gasped softly as she looked at the ring, and gave me yet another kiss.

“Oh Clint, it’s beautiful” was all she said. I said I had found it, and it was about a hundred years old. It was a simply gold ring, with a small diamond and set with white gold around it. That made the diamond look larger, but not showing off as if it was a traditional solitaire setting.

Of course that night we discussed plans, and decided that in the Spring would be best. Down in Florida at her family compound, so we could invite a lot of people. And over the next week we made it a point to visit as many as we could. And I even chuckled inside my head when Gloria gave Chris a look, and it was not hard to understand what that look said.

“Dianne and Doug, Clint and Lucy, when is it time for Bohica and me?”

And two weeks later I had Gabor again for a week of training. And after a routine night of patrols, we were back at his place and relaxing when he left the room. And came back a bit later as Alicia. I gave her a hug, and she sat on the floor in front of me as we talked.

And one of the things she mentioned was that she finally had her own car. “I got my license last week, and Bo and Gloria got me a green Neon.” I congratulated her on a car of her own, and she smiled.

“Control has it now, they are doing the minimum to it. Mostly to the controls but also adding some armor. I will get it back on Tuesday, and I am so looking forward to it!”

We talked for a bit, and we called Di and got her permission to park it at the garage at her apartment. That Alicia could park it there, then use the tunnels to reach the apartment in Chinatown and change to Gabor. After all, he was now spending almost as much time there as he was at the house here. Combined, not much less than she was spending at her real home.

And on Thursday night, as I was patrolling Riverfront Park I was surprised but also not surprised to see a green Plymouth parked at around the middle of the area facing the river. And I zoomed in with the camera for just a moment before zooming back out and moving down the line. I had never seen Eli before, but I had no doubt that was who was in the car with Alicia.

And who she had her arms and legs wrapped around in the back seat as he was giving it to her. And as the drone returned, I knew that the suspension upgrade from Control was working as advertised. As the car was not rocking at all.

And the next night, in another space it was Gabe and Stacy. But that was a much more subdued couple, as from what I could see she was in his lap with her blouse opened and he was feasting on her breasts. And she was apparently enjoying herself as her skirt was hiked up to around her waist, and his hand was embedded deeply in her panties from the back.

That night when I got home Lucy giggled that I had caught Gabe and Alicia there two nights in a row. And I realized it a bit later that she was trying to recreate the scene I had seen on our couch as I was sucking on her nipples as my fingers brought her to two orgasms. And I did not know if they had gotten more advanced than that, but surely Gabor was not as copious when Lucy finally brought me to my orgasm.

And as we cuddled in bed afterwards, Lucy gave me an ultimatum. That within a year of our getting married, she expected to be pregnant.

“Clint my love, I agree to wait for a bit. But neither of us are getting younger, and I want a baby. Your baby. So you had better expect to be a daddy within two years of us getting married.”

There was no mistake at the training session the next day that Ice Girl and Gabor were a couple. Even Windy seemed happy, and I suspected things would be interesting after that.

Then came the biggest event of the year, the annual Night of Madness Ball. As always it was at the American Legion – VFW post. Lucy of course was my date, but this time it was Bohica and Gloria that were there. As well as Gabor and Ice Girl. And Dianne looked incredible in one of her cheongsams with Wang and a smiling Doug.

But the surprise came at just before 9:15, when an almost breathless Gloria came in and quickly pulled Lucy and Dianne to the side. And all three of them exchanged hugs as Bo and I talked with Doug. He smiled but refused to say anything until the girls came back. And it seems that things were contagious, as they were still walking towards us when I looked down, and saw a rock on Gloria’s left hand.

We all exchanged hugs and kisses with both of them, and Doug said “About time!” to which we all laughed. Even Eric came up and congratulated the couple, and seemed happy for them. And it was nice dancing with all of the ladies, and Gloria was glowing.

On the drive home, Lucy was still excited for them, and I asked if they had any plans for the ceremony. “Nope, not that she has told me at least. And it will be a bitch to pull off, that’s for sure.”

I looked at her, and she sighed. “Clint, it should be obvious that Chris will not be there. And they are almost as close as sisters. And with no Chris, why would Eric be there? She said they are still talking it over, but none of them have an idea how it will all work. But just so you know, when I told her what I had told you she said she will do the same thing. No more than a year after they get married she expects to be pregnant with Bohica’s baby.”

I shook my head, and said that everybody was going marriage and baby crazy. “No, not really. Of course, Di has a jump on both of us. Me, I am almost 30 so that is my main concern. Gloria is still young. But like me, we have lovers in a dangerous profession and we each want something of yours that is permanent.”

And to that I had to nod. Remembering how many got married or their wives pregnant either right before or after a combat deployment when I was in the Army. There were not many couples that I knew that were not parents by the time they were 25.

It was the week after that when everything started to go to hell.

I was doing a patrol just before dusk of the docks, and as it was a nice day I had taken the trike. And as I was driving on the main road I sent out the drone to check some of the others nearby. Mostly I had started to do this to see if somebody was obviously trying to avoid me. I saw nothing really unusual, but then the feed went black.

I pulled up to a red light, and hit the recall button on the control panel. And I looked in the mirror as I saw the drone mover lower, but not moving as smoothly as it usually did. I saw that the trunk lid had not lifted, so reached back and opened it manually. Obviously there was something wrong with it, and the drone was not linking up properly with the base unit.

And I was just realizing that something did not look right when the light changed. I put the bike in gear and was going to pull to the side of the road when the fucking thing exploded! I could feel shards of metal and plastic hit me in the back, and it hurt like hell!

I stopped the trike once I cleared the intersection, and got off. I could tell I was hit bad, and could see some of the debris had gone through the trunk and hit me. Then I looked back, and saw the minivan pulling off behind me. In fact, I barely got out of the way before it hit the back of the trike.

I looked inside, and there was a woman driving it with blood on her face. I ran around and opened the door and put the van into park as I helped her out. But the first thing she asked about was her daughter. Thankfully, she was in the back in a child seat, and other than crying was not hurt.