~ Rat's Bitch ~
by Larisa
Disclaimer: Yep, they will remind you of our favorite women, but these two are all mine. This story contains everything that a Xena ep would have in it and then some. If your jailbait or live where this life style is against the law, sorry about your luck. Loving scenes between two women, violence, bad language and what ever else I've forgotten. No infringement on songs by famous artists is meant.
Thanks to Lesia and Ri for being my sounding boards. I've set up appointments with the local nut-wards for ya.
Part 2
Steve had just finished placing supper on the table, she had yelled out the door for Dirke to come and eat and after five minutes of no tall dark and greasy one, she decided to go out to the garage and drag her in by her ears if she had to. Walking into the garage, she saw that the area was empty. Seeing a smaller area at the back, she jogged the short distance and let out a yelp of surprise when Dirke's head came up through the trapdoor.
"Holy…"
"Fuck!" Dirke finished the sentence and let out a deep groan. She had never been caught coming out of the trapdoor before and if not for having one hand on the floor, she would have tumbled down the steps and landed on her ass.
"What are you doing down there?"
"I uuhmm…shit!" She ran one hand across her face and looked up at a foot tapping Steve.
"You took ten years off my life I'll have you know. It looked like you were decapitated and your head was just lying there!"
"I could not be that lucky as to have that happen." She made her decision right then and there. "Go close and lock the garage doors and come down her for a minute." She didn't know if this was a good idea but she had no choice now. She had to tell Steve something, thinking quickly she came up with an idea. She just hoped that Steve would believe her; she just hoped that it wouldn't send the small woman running.
Steve closed all the doors then made her way to the trap door, looking down she saw that there were steps going down and that the area was well lit. Taking a deep breath, she went down the steps and found Dirke sitting in an office chair with her head in her hands.
"Dirke?" She said softly as she approached the tall woman. Her eyes were drawn immediately to the wall with all the weapons hanging on it. Walking over, she pulled down an M-16 and then looked to Dirke. "What is all this?"
"Stevie…you know when the cops get all riled up about illegal guns getting into the hands of dangerous people?"
"Go on." Steve said as she stepped closer to Dirke; her eyes narrowed with curiosity.
"I buy the guns along with drugs on the black market and other connections, then I sell them back to the people they were stolen from." She knew it was a lame story but she couldn't come up with anything better on such a short notice.
"And why do you do this, I mean aren't the people that had the stuff stolen from them just as bad as the ones you buy them from?" She hit the button on the M-16's grip, dropped the full clip into her hand, pulled the charge handle back and checked the barrel all under the impressed eyes of Dirke. Releasing the charge handle, she slapped the clip back in and tossed the rifle to Dirke. "Nice piece of weaponry, it's been modified to be more accurate than what the Government has." She watched as Dirke's jaw dropped to her chest, giving her an evil grin, she walked over and pulled down a stainless steel 357 magnum, spun it in her hand, flipped the chamber open, closed it and then took a shooters stance. Once she was satisfied with the revolver, she put it back where she had gotten it. "Tools of the trade Dirke, or just a hobby?"
"Not all the time and Both." She stood up and walked over to replace the M-16. "Only a couple people know about this, Stump is one, the guy we deliver to and our boss." She looked down into dark green eyes. "And now you."
Crossing her arms over her chest, she starred defiantly into blue eyes. "So are you going to kill me so that your little secret doesn't get out?"
"Kill you?" She asked as her eyebrows buried themselves in to her hairline. "Why would I kill you?"
"Isn't that what you people do when your secret gets out?" Steve was both scared to death and pissed off at the same time, her heart was breaking into pieces as she took in everything that was around her and what she had just learned. She would have to turn in the woman that had claimed her heart. Or maybe not, maybe she could tell Jacolb that the ring was dead and gone, moved to a different state or something.
Dirke moved closer to her and cupped her face between her calloused hands. Shaking her head no, she backed it up with the spoken words that rang true to Steve's ears. "I would never hurt you; I only kill when it's absolutely necessary or my life is being threatened." Bringing their foreheads together, she spoke softly. "I try and get all this stuff off the streets to protect the innocent. Most of the stuff I buy is from street gangs, if I can get one weapon off the street or an ounce of narcotic, it may save a life."
"There's something else you're not telling me."
Dirke shook her head and then lead Steve over to the office chair. Sitting down, she pulled Steve onto her lap and tried to explain her reasons.
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The sun was shinning brightly through the side windows of the late model Plymouth. Dirk Rathson and his small family of his beloved wife and two daughters were out celebrating his promotion to Sergeant in the Narcotics division of the Dade county police force. After working endless hours for the past year and a half, the narcotics officers had finally had enough evidence to bring down one of the largest suppliers of Cocaine the area had. After the court hearings and sentencing', Dirk found himself standing before his superiors and being informed that he had been promoted. His dark eyes shone with pride as he rubbed his finger across his new shield. He couldn't wait to get home and tell his wife and kids, this was something he had worked years for but was always just out of reach. Now they could have the things that they could never afford before, maybe even buy a nice house somewhere. Pulling his old car up to the stop light, he glanced into the rearview mirror and smiled as he saw his eldest and name-sake running her fingers across his old badge. He knew that Dirke would follow in his foot steps one day and that was why he gave her his old badge. His youngest daughter was a complete mystery, Sage showed no interest in anything except trying her damndest to get Dirke pissed off enough that it became a wrestling match. Sometimes he and his wife thought that they were raising two boys. As he waited for the light to change, he took a quick glance over the back seat at his fighting daughters and then rolled his eyes at his wife. He couldn't help but laugh at the merriment that Deidre's pale blue eyes held.
"Are you sure they're ours?" He hitched a thumb to the backseat.
"Positive, unless someone snuck into our apartment after they were born and switched them. Now one I could see, but not switching both of them." Pale blue eyes looked over the seat and connected with their doubles. "We could always sell them…" The smile left her face in an instant. Deidre let out a blood curdling scream and pointed to the back window. A group of men were coming up behind the car with pistols in their hands. Dirk, yanked the wheel of the car, shot out into the intersection and was struck broadside by another car. Feeling the impact from his side of the car, he was thrown onto his wives lap. Before anyone could do anything, shots rang out and then the sound of the bullets tearing through the car. Screams came from onlookers as the men continued to shot at the car until they ran out of ammunition. Long minutes went past before the sounds of sirens came closer to the scene, not one person went near the car, and they were in too much shock to do anything.
With Police Officers running to the cars followed by paramedics, it was a miracle that none of them saw the shooters standing up against a building watching the entire rescue. The first officer on the scene ran from the side of the car and threw up in the gutter. Falling to his knees, he cried from the horror that was inside the car. For years afterwards he would always see the blood covering his brother and his small family. With four ambulances at the scene, each body was loaded and taken to the nearest hospital. The chief of Police paced the floor of the waiting room waiting to hear one tiny bit of information. What he received dropped him to his knees before the surgeon.
"I'm sorry sir, we did our best but the husband and wife were to seriously injured."
"What about the girls, are they?" His pleading green eyes looked into the shaken doctors. "Please…I need to know."
"The tall dark haired one is in surgery right now, she had multiple gun shoot wounds to the back and the younger one to the shoulder and legs. From what I can tell, the older of the two threw her body over her sister. She saved her life that way but may very well loose her own." He looked to his blood covered surgical gown and sighed. "I'll take you to the ICU unit where the younger one is. When she wakes up I need to tell her about her sister and parents."
The chief rose to his feet and took a deep breath, locking eyes with the surgeon he shook his head no. "I'm their uncle, I'll tell them."
After the funerals and being released from the hospital, Dirke and Sage were taken home by their maternal grandmother where they lived with her and their uncle. Dirke being the oldest, she took the job of taking care of Sage. They were joined at the hip, with Sage doing what ever Dirke did. Even with the love of relatives, Dirke felt that she had been robbed of her entire family. It wasn't long before she was running with the worst crowd she could find, drinking, abusing drugs and being picked up by one uncle or another and run into the station. She finally came to her senses years later when Sage got mixed up with a street gang and was made to run the gauntlet to get out. Dirke found her lying in an alley way so severely beaten that she could barley recognize her. Carrying her six blocks to a free clinic, she barged into a treatment room, laid her down onto the bed and grabbed the first person in white that she saw.
Ice blue eyes drilled into frightened hazel. "Help her or I kill you and if she dies, I'll make sure that you follow right behind her." The feral look on the tall woman's face had the young doctor shaking in her shoes. Before her brain could register what she was doing, the doctor was yelling for her only nurse. They worked on Sage for hours with a stoic presence standing in the doorway. When Dirke was told that Sage would recover, she went back onto the streets to find the gang members that had beaten her little sister. One by one they dropped by her hand, by the next afternoon the morgue was packed with dead mutilated gang members. Dirke returned to the clinic and refused to move from the small room that Sage was in, three days later she watched as gold eyes opened and looked around the room. Tears flowed down pale cheeks, she knelt on the floor next to her sister until she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder.
A soft voice came close to her ear. "You have to get her out of here, the police are searching for witnesses to the gang war." Pale blue eyes looked into hazel. "I can't take her home, our uncles the chief of police."
The young doctor made a decision that moment that changed the rest of her life. She wrote an address on a piece of paper and handed it to her along with her car keys. "This is my address, take her there." She pressed the paper into her large hands. "Trust me."
"OK Doc, I'll trust you but…"
"Call me Danielle, and stop worrying. Now go before they get here."
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Dirke wiped the tears from Steve's face, running her thumb across the dampened cheek, she avoided green eyes.
"Danielle from your story, is she the same one I met?"
A slight smile crossed Dirke's face, she glanced quickly to see green eyes watching her.
"Every time I see them together I thank the Gods that I went to that clinic. Danni tamed my wild sister, she made her go back to school and then on to college. I don't want to think of how she would have turned out if not for the Doc."
"I'd say that the fates had a little hand in how things went." She tipped Dirke's face so that she could look into troubled blue eyes. "What about you, has anyone ever tamed you?"
A soft snort came from Dirke. "I'm not exactly the relationship kind. I've only used my body to get power. Men are so stupid when it comes to women, show a little leg and ya have them hook line and sinker." She shrugged her shoulders, ran her tongue across her front teeth and then gave Steve a dazzling smile. "No one seems to want to try taming me, they're all scared shitless and that includes the men. Like I'd want a man anyway."
"I'm not afraid of you." Steve stared deeply into Dirke's eyes and seen the loneliness and pain. "But taming is not what you need."
"Really. Then what do I need?"
"To get your ass in the house, supper's nice and cold now." She crawled off of Dirke's lap and took her hand. "Come on, I'll throw everything in the microwave for a few minutes."
"What I do here doesn't bother you?"
"I'd be lying to myself and you if I said no, but I see why you're doing it." But there are better ways of dealing with the guns and drugs.
During their meal they sat in total silence, each woman trying to figure out what they would do now that some secrets were out in the open. Dirke kept stealing glances at her small friend trying to think of what to say to her.
"Stevie I have to go out tonight."
Steve looked up from where she was pushing her food around. "I'm going with you."
"Ohh no you're not!"
"Ohh yes I am!" She stood up from her chair and pointed a finger at Dirke. "I'm going with you and that's that!"
"And I know there's not a damn thing I can say to make you change your mind." She held up her hands in surrender. "We'll leave in an hour, I want you to carry a gun."
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Dirke checked her guns one last time before she zipped her leather jacket closed. Looking over at Steve, she grinned when she saw her going through a check of her own, slipping the Glock 19 into the shoulder holster she wore and then checked the boot knives she had strapped to her boots.
"Soo badness, how are we getting there?"
Dirke's face broke out into the biggest grin Steve had ever seen, she laughed when Dirke rubbed her hands together and jogged to the far side of the garage and pointed to a tarp.
"OK, so were going to hold it up and wait for a strong wind to carry us to where ever."
"Haa! Funny, sorry but I'm not real fond of heights." She whipped the tarp off with a flourish. "Well, what do ya think?"
"Is that a jet engine on that thing?" She bent over to look at the matte black engine. "Dirke we're going to need asbestos suits for this thing."
"Hey it only goes about 160mph, until I got a hold of it that is."
"Now it'll do a mach 10 huh?"
"Close." She grinned at her. "It's the only Honda in this garage." She lowered her voice. "Don't tell anybody, they'll never let me live it down that I own a crotch rocket rice burner."
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Steve hung onto Dirke for dear life, she wasn't kidding about the speed that the Honda could travel. She swore that the tips of her toes were on fire. She took a breath when they started to slow down, looking over Dirke's shoulder she saw that they were approaching a dilapidated building out in the middle of no where. Once they were off the Honda, Steve grabbed onto Dirke's belt and walked beside her.
"What are we picking up?"
"Cocaine and a lot of it."
"OK, and how are we going to carry it on that rocket thing?"
"You get to stick it in your jacket." She gave Steve a grin then pulled her up the rickety steps and knocked on the wooden door.
Steve's jaw dropped to her chest when she saw that the place was actually a drug lab. Scruffy looking men worked at tables with all sorts of beakers and propane flames. Others were putting the narcotics into small bags and packing them into boxes. Slowly, she unzipped her jacket and kept her hand close. At one point she had taken Dirke's hand and was squeezing it so hard that she heard knuckles cracking. Leaning into the tall body, she whispered a sorry but didn't let go or move away. She maybe a cop but being in close quarters with twenty or more men who were all armed was just plan nuts.
"Whatcha got for me Scorpion?" Dirke asked with a deep voice that sent shivers down Steve's back.
The man brushed back his greasy hair from his yellowed eyes. "How much ya got?"
"Fifty, what can ya do with it?"
Steve held back a snort at the thought of what fifty bucks could get. She knew the market for drugs and fifty wouldn't get you much. She used Dirke's body as a shield as she was taking everything in. She knew that she would have to tell Jacolb about this place, that is if she could figure out where it was after they left.
"I tossed in some crank for ya, it's a new blend that we've been working on."
"Sounds good." She pulled the thick envelope from her inside pocket and handed it to him. "Here ya go Fifty grand. It's all there but you can count it if ya want." She turned her head when she felt Steve fall against her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, she pulled her close and placed a kiss on her temple. "You OK?"
"How much for your bitch?" The man asked as he striped Steve's clothes off with his eyes.
"She's not for sale."
Steve's temper flared. "Why does everyone want to buy me? I am not for and will never be for sale!" She growled at the man.
Dirke stage whispered to the man. "Besides, she's high maintenance."
"What! You wait till we get home!" She said as she jabbed a finger into Dirke's chest.
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Steve faced off with Dirke, she jabbed a finger into her chest and glared at her. "Now tell me why everyone seems to think that I'm for sale?"
Stifling her chuckles when a finger jabbed her harder, she gave her a few reasons.
"One, those sorry bastards can't get a woman unless they buy her. Two, it's common in this line of work to sell human flesh and three you're a very beautiful and desirable woman."
Steve blushed shyly at her tall friend. "If that's the case then how come I'm all alone?" She mumbled under her breath not thinking that Dirke could hear her.
If I wasn't such a chicken shit, you wouldn't be able to get me off of you with a crowbar. She remembered what Danni had said to her and sighed.
"What was that for?" Steve asked.
"What?" Dirke tried her innocent look and found it didn't work.
"The sigh."
"Just something that Danni the oracle of relationships said to me."
Steve was now very interested in what Danni had said to her sister-in-law, she found Danni a very caring person and knew that she must have been ragging on Dirke.
"That I'm a dumbass." She took Steve by her hand and dragged her to the steps that led to the loft. "While you were playing around in the kitchen today, I fixed up the loft a little. You can change it if you want."
Steve looked around the large open area, a double bed stood against one wall beneath a skylight, a dresser and wardrobe on another and then a large wooden desk with chair was near the walnut railing that over looked the living room.
"Is it OK, I can get you more furniture if you want?"
Steve's heart fell to her feet, she liked sharing a bed with the tall biker; she would feel lost in a bed all by herself. Plastering a smile on her face, she turned and gave Dirke a tight hug.
"It's perfect, thank you."
Dirke was happy that she liked the loft, but then a heaviness took hold of her heart. She knew deep down that she would miss the small woman in her bed, even if it was an innocent arrangement.
It was early in the morning when they finally turned in to sleep in separate beds. Two bodies flipped every which way and were unable to find a comfortable spot to sleep. When sleep did claim them, they kept looking for something in their dreams.
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Dirke had been up for hours, she had already drunk a pot of coffee, been out to the garage and was now stirring a couple of spoonfuls of sugar in a cup from the fresh pot. Hearing a shuffling noise behind her a bright grin came across her lips. Hiding the grin behind the cup, she turned and almost dropped it at her feet. Steve looked like she had been attacked by wild animals, her hair stood out at odd angles, sheet wrinkles covered one side of her face, her shorts hung low on one hip and her shirt was on backwards. The more Dirke took in the sight, the wider the grin became, a half awake Steve was the cutest thing she had ever seen. Placing her cup on the table, she stepped forward and pulled her into her arms for a long hug. Smoothing down the hair at the crown of her head, she placed a soft kiss there and mumbled when small arms wrapped around her waist.
"Sleep well?"
"Extinct animal." Steve mumbled against her breast.
I know what you mean. She said to herself then pulled back enough to lead Steve to a chair. "I'll get you some coffee, it's strong so it should wake you up."
Two pots later and half a loaf of bread, Steve was finally able to utter a few recognizable words. She wanted to go grocery shopping so that they had some real food in the house. They maybe bachelors but they didn't have to starve like them. If there was one thing that Dirke hated in the world, it was shopping of any kind with the exception of going to the Harley shop for parts. She gave into pleading green eyes and the puppy look that Steve gave her. The small blonde had her number and she knew it. She just wished that she was on the same team that she was. It was always her luck that all the beautiful women that she knew all went for the male gender.
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Dirke was lying across the seat of the Goliath motorcycle she was building, her tight faded Levi's showing off her attributes to perfection and causing Steve to hyperventilate. Green eyes couldn't be pulled away from wandering across Dirke's ass even if her life was in danger. A ragged breath was pulled in when Dirke shifted one leg to reach around the frame better, Steve now had an unobstructed view of the area between Dirke's legs. She felt her temperature hit the boiling point and a burning feeling assault the tips of her ears.
"Stevie you around here somewhere?" Dirke called out.
"Uuggg!" Was all that Steve could force out of her gaping mouth. By the Gods I'm a dyke…lesbian…nuttier than a fruitcake and in love with a biker dyke! He eyes dragged themselves from where they had been burning into tight flesh to twinkling blue. "Huh?"
"I need your little hands for a minute."
How about a life time and then some? "Kay, where?" She asked then listened to her evil little voice. In a nice warm and wet place that would give you a heart attack.
"I can't get my fingers in here to put the fuel line on." She pointed to a tight area under the gas tank and near the carburetor. "I don't want to take the tank off again." Steve dropped to her knees and looked up into the small space, she felt Dirke's warm breath caress her cheek. It took every once of strength she had to not tilt her head up and capture the parted lips only inches from hers. Ohh Gods help me! Dirke screamed internally, she had forgotten that Steve was wearing a tank top and now with her right below her, she could see right down the front of it to see her firm breasts. Gulping in a breath from the sight and the pair of dark green eyes looking at her, she did the one thing that she had told herself she would never do, recruit! Moving closer to Steve, she slipped her hand behind her neck and pulled her closer, with just a whisper of their lips meeting, she pulled back and refused to open her eyes. Her voice strangled, she whispered sorry.
"Don't be." Was all she heard before she felt soft lips connect with hers and a deep moan come from Steve when she reached out with her tongue and licked at Dirke's parted lips. They kissed softly at first, testing the waters until they each needed more. Steve being the braver of the two, slipped her tongue between Dirke's lips and explored slowly.
Dirke had never been kissed the way that Steve was kissing her now, all the other times with women, it was like two animals fighting, with teeth gnashing and biting at each other. But this was gentle and loving and killing her slowly by the second. She was loosing control of her body as fingers ran through her hair and scratched the back of her neck while the other hand cupped her face. She was feeling faint from the kiss as well as from laying over the Goliath. Just as she was about to slip over the seat on her stomach to get closer to Steve, she heard a deep chuckle come from beside them.
"Damn! I knew I've been fixing scooters wrong all these years, I need a woman ta help me." Stump stood with his feet spread apart and his beefy arms crossed over his chest. "Damn Boss you look a little flushed." More chuckles came from the giant man as Dirke flailed around trying to get to her feet. Steve was looking for someplace to crawl under, it figured out right for her, the first time she ever kissed someone and she got caught. "That sure is a pretty shade of pink Steve."
"You're a dead man Stump!" Dirke growled.
"Why cuz I caught you playing kissy face? I just wish I walked in later, who knows what I may have seen!" He ducked the greasy rag that Dirke threw at him and ran from the garage.
"Stevie are you OK, I…damn." She looked to the floor and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." She felt soft hands cup her face and pull her downward. Her lips were caught in a deep lingering kiss that had her heart skipping beats. When they came apart, they took deep breaths to calm the fires.
"I told you don't be. You may have started it but I'm a far from ending it. I'll go make lunch, you see what Stump needs." Dirke watched as she walked towards the house with a definite swing to her hips.
"She's going to be the death of me." Wiping the sweat from her brow, she went to find Stump and plant a foot in his ass.
The big man gave her a wicked grin and a wink, he just couldn't help but laugh when she growled at him and tried her most feral look on him. "Big boss has lost her heart to a half pint blond."
"This is bad Stump, I mean it doesn't matter if I have fallen for her or not." She turned her head to look at the log cabin and sighed. "She may just be curious, and not have any feelings for me at all."
Stump placed an arm across Dirke's shoulders and gave her a hug. "Dirke, from what I saw there's more there than curiosity. What would scare me if I were you is if she finds out what you're doing on the side."
"I told her, I had no choice." Her shoulders slumped and she spoke in a softer voice. "She caught me coming up from the dungeon yesterday."
"And what did she say, obviously it doesn't bother her after what I saw."
"She said that she knows why I do it but she's not real happy about it. I took her with me last night to get the coke."
"I hope you can trust her not to say something."
"I don't know why but I trust her with my very life."
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Steve was at a loss as to what had come over her, she had never imagined herself as being bold. She knew that she had to have a talk with Monica, so while she prepared lunch, she grabbed up the cordless and called her surrogate mother.
"Stevie is that you? My Gods girl what are you doing calling me?"
"It's OK, Dirke is out in the garage and I really need to talk to you." Her voice dropped a level towards the end in a desperate scream for help.
"What's wrong baby, you sound kind of funny. You're not in trouble are you?"
"Not the kind of trouble I'm usually in." She paused for a few minutes trying to get her thoughts in order. "I think I'm in love."
"That's great Stevie, who is he?" Monica had a good idea who the person was but she wanted to see if Steve would tell her.
"Now that's the problem, he is a she and part of…" She left the rest un-said.
Monica broke out in deep laughs, she tried to calm herself but found it hard.
"Monica it's not funny, I'm serious here."
"I'm sorry baby, it's just that I knew as soon as I saw your pictures the other day. She's a beautiful woman."
Steve was confused, she didn't know how Monica could tell from the pictures she had taken.
"You lost me, what about the pictures?"
"Half of them were of a very stoic looking woman with pale eyes. She's the one isn't she?"
"Yeah, how do I know if this is really love?" She asked as she made a gigantic size sandwich that would need a chainsaw to cut it in half.
"Does she make your heart slam in your chest with one look?"
"Uhhm…does hyperventilating count?"
"You're a goner Stevie, I'm glad you finally found someone to love. You better get going and do something about it." With that Monica hung up on her end and ran to tell Jacolb the latest news.
During lunch, they kept sneaking peeks at each other to the point where they gave up and just stared at each other with goofy looks on their faces. They continued to stare at each other even with two other sets of eyes watching them.
"Are they breathing?" Sage asked in a low whisper. "They look like those dummies in the wax museum."
"Fuck you evilness." A deep growl came from Dirke.
"It's alive!" She yelled, faked a faint and then dug her own grave. "So have you two been doing hip thrusts?" She ran from the kitchen with her sister hot on her heels.
"So Stevie, what have you two been up to today?"
"Fixed a fuel line, kissed Dirke, made lunch, talked to my surrogate mother." She turned a deep pink and couldn't look Danielle in the eye.
Danielle sat down at the table and looked at the downcast head. "Sounds boring to me."
"What?" Steve jerked her head up and saw smiling hazel eyes regarding her.
"Gotcha, you've fallen for her haven't you? I tell ya those Rathson women are hell on wheels when it comes to the bedroom." She grinned at the slack jawed look on Steve's face. "I'm assuming that Dirke's like Sage that is."
"I don't know, we've never…"
"So tell me, who made the first move?"
"That's kind of complicated. Dirke kinda gave me a very light kiss and then I more or less attacked her."
"Good for you, those two need a firm hand on them at all times."
Steve told Danielle that Dirke had told her about being in trouble when she was younger and how she and Sage had meet. She included what she now did with the guns and drugs. Danielle sat and listened to every word and knew that Dirke had it just as bad as Stevie if she told her everything.
"You know she's in love with you?"
Green eyes widened, Steve thought she heard the words wrong. "How do you figure that?"
"Dirke isn't the type to spill her guts like that unless she trusts someone and from the way you two were looking at each other, she's fallen hard."
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With her feelings for Dirke clearly known, Steve had a huge problem. She had to do her job, but if she did then she would loose the woman that she was in love with. If she didn't do her job, then the police would send in someone else and the end would be the same. Either way, she would loose Dirke. Unless she could get a deal made with the police department, where Dirke would turn states evidence. She could possible be released on parole or spend a short period in prison. The more she thought about it the worse it seemed to get, Dirke had a juvenile record that shouldn't have any warrant on what she was doing now, what Steve needed to know was whether or not she had an adult record. Only one way to find out, she grabbed her laptop and sent out an e-mail to Monica.
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"I don't care what you do with the blonde bitch once this is done. I want Rat!" The crazy blond screamed with an inhuman sound that had the men covering their ears and cringing. "She's mine and no one is gonna stop me from having her! Now get your scraggly asses out there and get her!" A dozen filthy bikers trudged past Camellia and headed for their scooters, they had agreed to help her and she agreed to give them everything that belonged to Dirke, including Steve. They would have a six hour ride to Dirke's cabin; afterwards that would be their new home. Camellia crawled into the old Pontiac Lemans that she had stolen from a roadside café earlier that week. Gunning the engine, she took off after her little army and to her future with Rat. Searching on the seat for the rubber hose and syringe, after finding them, she used her teeth to tighten the hose around the upper part of her arm and with the efficiency of an OR Nurse; she shot the drug into the large vein of her arm. A few seconds went by before a huge smile appeared on her face and she floated in a drug induced world.
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Jacolb read the name Dirke Rathson from the e-mail that Steve had sent him. Using the data base, he pulled up her name and found "Not a damn thing!" Rubbing his tired eyes, he looked again at the page with Dirke's name at the top. "Come on Stevie, you have to get me something I can work with." Typing in a different search, he came up with a report from many years ago. It was about her parents being killed by unknown shooters and herself and Sage being wounded. Reading the report, he came across her uncle's name and saw that one of them was the retired Chief of Police for Dade County and the other was still on the force in the homicide unit. Picking up the phone, he called Florida information and got the number for the police station. After ten rings the phone was picked up on the other end, a deep baritone voice laced with boredom said.
"Homicide Lt. Rathson."
"Hello, this is Lt. Freeman of the Richmond Narcotics Division. I'd like to ask you some questions about your niece Dirke."
After the conversation, Jacolb still had nothing on Dirke. Her uncle hadn't heard from her in years and didn't even know where she was.
"Damn it to hell and back!" Tossing a file across his office, Jacolb leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. There was only one thing to do and that was to get a hold of the other contact on the case and find out what the hell was going on. He just hoped that Steve didn't find out that he had another person that had been on the case for the last couple of years. It was common for departments to lend out their under-cover officers to other agencies and so far, he had a total of three on different assignments and lost just the one officer. He didn't want to loose Steve; she was family and meant a lot to Monica and him.
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After another sleepless night and quiet breakfast, Steve and Dirke went outside to do some yard work. With a yard that was five acres of grass to cut and trim, Dirke was glad for the help. Using the gas powered weed trimmer, she had Steve using the big John Deere riding lawnmower. That was another battle Dirke won, the weed trimmer was a good two foot longer than Steve was tall.
Steve saw that Dirke's shirt was soaked with sweat and her hair hung damply down her back and around her face. Getting off the lawnmower, she went into the house to get her friend a much-needed bottle of water. She knew that Dirke would wait until she felt like she had been lying out in the desert before she would stop for a water break. Scrounging around in the refrigerator, she found large bottles of Gatorade, looking at the label, she grinned when she saw that they were grape rush and artic ice. The former reminded her of Dirke's eyes. She had seen her temper take hold and saw her eyes turn a very pale almost white with anger. Grabbing a handful of cookies, she stood leaning against the sink counter watching Dirke from the window.
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Dirke looked up from her trimming to see a pack of bikers coming across the front yard and towards her where she stood trimming the grass near the garage. She shut the trimmer off and watched as the lead biker pulled a pistol from his belt and aim it at her. Dropping the trimmer, she lunged to the side, rolled and came to her feet to sprint towards the garage door. Before she made it around the corner, she stumbled and hit the side of the garage with her shoulder. Grabbing her thigh, she brought a bloody hand away. More shots rang out, bullets chipped away at the edge of the garage around her body. Rolling to the ground, Dirke fell through the door and forced her wounded leg to carry her to the trap door in the back room.
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A scream came from Steve as she saw what was happening in the back yard. Grabbing the phone, she dialed 911 and gave the needed information. Taking the steps to the loft two at a time, she ran to her bed and pulled a small bag from under it. Taking her two Glocks out along with extra clips, she ran back down the stairs and out the front door. Easing around the corner of the log cabin, she looked for the bikers and found two of them standing outside of the garage with shotguns in their hands. Taking careful aim, she fired off two shots and watched them drop to the ground. Before she could swing back around the corner shots rang out and hit above her head, ducking she sprinted across the front and down the other side. Her breathing was heavy and labored from the sprinting, taking a deep breath, she kept checking both corners until she found herself being able to breath. Creeping back to the same corner she had come from, she peeked around it and saw that no one besides the downed bikers were in sight. Sprinting low to the ground, she made it to the side of the garage.
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Dirke used her belt to slow the bleeding in her thigh, it wasn't a life threatening wound but it was still dangerous the same. Taking stock of what she had at her disposal, she grabbed an M-16 and two of the matte black magnums. Slinging her shoulder holsters on and grabbing enough ammunition, she went to where a bookcase was standing next to a wall. Easing her fingers at the top edge, she pulled until it swung freely away to show a dark tunnel. Slipping in, she pulled the bookcase back to its original position and grabbed the flashlight that hung on the wall. She never imagined having to use this escape route but was glad that it was there. It would bring her out a good distance away from the garage and into the tree line.
"Where the fuck did she go?" The lead biker asked as he grabbed one of the others by his vest. "She couldn't have just disappeared! Now find HER!" Kicking over spare scooter parts and sweeping everything off the workbenches the bikers destroyed the garage looking for Dirke. Giving up, two of them went outside and decided to check the log cabin. Steve saw the very edge of a man's body as he stood at the corner waiting for his friend. Easing a few steps back, she raised her Glocks and was about to shoot when he turned and spotted her.
"GET THAT BITCH!" He yelled and brought the others running with him. Steve turned and sprinted towards the tree line but not before, she felt a burning in her left shoulder. All she could think of was why the left side? It was hard enough to do anything with the splint on and now worse when her shoulder felt like it was going to fall off. Taking a leap, she flung herself into the brush and fell hard onto a wooden door that was trying to rise beneath her. Rolling to her side, she waited until the door came up and pointed the Glock between two ice blue eyes.
"Fuck!" She yelped when she saw who it was. "Four coming this way." She forced out and pointed to where the men were running towards her.
"Stay low and get the hell outta here." Dirke growled as she slid across the ground on her belly with the M-16 in her hands.
"Not! I'm staying with you." She dropped her head when bullets tore through the brush overhead. Rolling a distance away, she opened up with her Glocks and then rolled back where she came from. "Fucking bastards!"
The men had split up, going different directions to try and trap them in the tree line. Dirke knew this so, she did the one thing that would get her killed. Giving Steve one last look, she jumped from her position and ran from the brush firing at the men she could see. Steve let out a scream of no when she saw what Dirke was doing. Getting up she went right behind her, took aim at one of the bikers and dropped him where he stood. As he fell, his pistol went off and shot directly towards Dirke. It was like slow motion to Steve, she watched Dirke's body jerk forward and then fall forward to land on the ground. Letting out a yell, she ran to Dirke, fell to her knees and started shooting anyone who came near. When she heard the click of an empty clip, she picked up the M-16 and unloaded it into the last man who was shooting as he ran towards her. She felt her body jerk to the side right before he fell. Looking down at her side, she saw blood seeping through her shirt.
"Fuck me." She pressed a hand to her side and rolled Dirke over onto her back. A bright red stain showed above her right breast, ripping her shirt open, she pressed the heel of her hand over the hole and prayed for someone to help them. Tears filled her eyes when she saw how much blood Dirke was loosing. Tearing the rest of her shirt off, she pressed it to the wound and pressed harder.
"Don't you die on me Dirke!" She growled close to her ear. "You're not leaving me alone after I just found you." Dropping her head down, she rested it against Dirke's neck and cried.
Camellia pulled the car up to Dirke's garage, when she opened the door, she had to step over the two dead bikers. Picking up one of the shotguns, she walked towards the back yard looking for anyone that might be around. What she saw sent her insane temper over the edge. Dirke lay on the ground with Camellia's enemy draped across her.
"You weren't supposed to kill Rat you stupid mother fuckers!" She screamed as she walked towards the closet man and kicked him in the head. "You were only supposed to kill her bitch!" Staggering towards Dirke, she caught movement of a blonde head as Steve rose up to look at her. "Fucking useless men can't follow orders! Guess I'll have to finish this!"
Dirke heard the crazed voice of the addict, moving her hand down towards her thigh, she gripped the throwing knife she always carried. Peeking through a slit eye, she watched as Camellia came closer. The second she raised the shotgun to pump a shell in, she raised her arm and threw the knife. Camellia clutched at her throat and felt the handle of the knife sticking out, she opened her mouth and blood poured past her lips. A gargling noise escaped her throat a second before she fell to the ground.
"Dirke?" Steve cupped her pale sweaty face in her hands. "Come on wake up, you have to stay with me here." Two pain filled dark blue eyes opened and gazed at her.
"Yard work is dangerous to your health."
"From now on we're hiring a gardener." Steve replied. Leaning forward she placed a soft kiss to Dirke's lips. Sirens wailed along with the static of police radios, seconds later the back yard was swarming with uniforms. The officer in charge shook his head at the carnage around him, it looked like a Saturday night in Washington DC.
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Lights flashed above her face, the sound of rubber-soled shoes squeaking on tiled floor as they pushed the gurney towards a curtained off room. Green eyes looked to the side and watched as the other gurney carrying Dirke flew past her.
"Dirke! where they taking her? I have to go…" She tried to sit up and found strong hands holding her down.
"She's going up to surgery, you can't go up there." An older nurse said as she pulled a pair of scissors from her pocket and began to cut Steve's shirt from her body.
"I have to…I…"
"Stevie behave your self and stop worrying." Steve looked up to see golden eyes looking down at her. "Danni's in the OR right now waiting for her."
Green eyes filled with tears, a soft sobbing came from her as she tried to wrap her mind around everything that had happened. "Sage, is she…"
"More stubborn than a mule, a little bullet in the chest and leg isn't going to stop her. What I'm pissed about is you two didn't invite us." She grinned down at Steve and squeezed her uninjured shoulder. "We're going to take good care of you, so behave yourself until the doc can suture you up."
A pleading voice stopped Sage from leaving the room. "Sage please stay with me."
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Danni was gowned and ready for the arrival of her sister-in-law. She and Sage had been listening to the scanner when they heard of gunshot wounds and then Dirke's address was broadcast across the scanner. They jumped in the car and took off to the hospital to wait for the ambulance to bring who ever it was in. As soon as they leaned who the victims were, Danni pulled rank and took over the OR. No one was going to touch Dirke but her, she knew all to well the bikers temper and hatred for hospitals. She moved to the side as the gurney was pushed through the doors, a smile came to her face when she saw Dirke struggling with an orderly.
"Get off me you fucker!" She slapped his hands away and gave out a noise that sounded like a wounded animal.
"Dirke if you don't stop beating up the help, I'll knock you senseless!" Danni ran her hand across Dirke's sweaty forehead. "Jumping around with a bullet hole I your chest is really stupid." She watched as Dirke calmed and let the nurses and orderlies take care of what needed to be done.
"We tried to stabilize her Doc, but she's so damn strong!" The large orderly said as he hung the IV from the charley stand.
"It's OK, she's just a pain in the ass." The second she turned to walk away, the loud pitched scream of the heart monitor went off.
"Doc she's flat!"
"MOVE! Get the cart and get the hell outta my way!" She shoved the unnecessary people out of the way and went to work on Dirke.
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Deep in her guts Steve knew that something was wrong, she tried to get out of the bed but found her legs weak and the room spinning. Bracing her hands on the edge, she tried to push herself upward and then found strong hands on her shoulders.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sage asked her. "You keep your little ass in that bed."
"There's something wrong with Dirke! I have to go to her NOW!"
"You stay right were you are, I was on my way to see what's going on." She pointed a finger at her and growled. "Don't move!" Sage had a bad feeling, she ran towards the stairs that would take her to the floor where the OR rooms were. She had faith in her wives surgical skills but she wasn't a Goddess.
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Sweat soaked Danni's head covering and mask, she was doing chest compressions in between using the paddles. There was no way that she was going to let Dirke die on her table.
"I want two more bags of AB positive hung and Bicarb!" She yelled at a nurse.
"We're out Doc, all we have is O."
Hazel eyes connected with hers, a deep snarling came from behind her mask. "Get my wife, she's a match." Sage blew through the door and heard the last part of the conversation. Grabbing an alcohol swab, she cleaned her arm.
"Come on people move it, I need a set-up here." She yelled and grabbed a bottle of iodine scrub and cleaned the inside of her arm. "Direct line Danni, take all you need." She dropped down into a chair near her sister and held out her arm. One of the nurses looked between the two and was about to say something but thought better of it when golden eyes pinned her where she stood.
"Hook them up, I'm opening." Using a scalpel, she cut down the center of Dirke's chest until she came to the breastbone. Using the rib spreaders, she opened Dirke's chest and searched for the reason she was bleeding out. The second she moved her heart, blood spurted out and hit Danni in her chest, Dirke's aortic arch was nicked by the bullet as it traveled through her body. "I need 30 silk and get a heart specialist in here." With quick movements, she was able to stop the spurting blood. Massaging Dirke's heart, she called out. "What's her stats?"
"We've got a weak pulse, BP's climbing, and blood gases are looking up."
"Ok people, close her up and take care of her leg."
"I need a transfusion." Sage said just before she fell out of the chair.
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Steve used the wall to walk down the hall, finding the elevator, she took it to the OR area and stumbled down the hall. Finding the room that Dirke was in, she slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
She sobbed into her hands. "You can't leave me, you can't." She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, time seemed to have stopped for her. Lifting her head at the sound of the door opening, she saw Sage being wheeled from the room. The woman was very pale and delirious.
"Vampires all of ya! Stole my blood, I'm BATGIRL!" She started laughing like an idiot until her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out.
On unsteady feet, Steve got up and grabbed onto the arm of the wheelchair. Her eyes red and swollen from crying, she looked at the nurse.
"What happened to her and where's Dirke?"
"It's OK Stevie."
Steve turned at the sound of Danni's voice, her eyes grew huge at the sight of her blood soaked gown.
"Dirke?"
"Is fine, let's get you back to your room and Sage to a padded cell." She draped an arm around Steve's waist and helped her to the elevator.
"Danni how bad was it?"
"I'm not going to lie to you, we almost lost her. She went flat for about 4 minutes; we did CPR and it did squat. I couldn't wait any longer so I opened her up. The bullet nicked the aortic arch. Dirke was bleeding out."
"Ohh Gods." Steve grabbed onto the railing of the elevator. She looked into hazel eyes and started spouting out medical terminology and shocking the hell out of Danni.
"How do you know all that stuff?" She asked after she was able to close her gapping mouth.
"Two years of Medical school. What happened to Sage?"
"Dirke is AB positive and so is Sage, we needed blood so Sage ran a direct line between them." They looked up when they heard a funny noise coming from the nurse's station.
"Nanananana Batgirl! Where's my Bat cycle?"
"I think she's a little low on oil." Danni said as she took Steve into her room.
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Steve not being one to take orders, was sleeping in a chair next to Dirke's bed in the ICU unit. It had been four days and Dirke was yet to gain consciousness from the coma she had slipped into. During that time, Steve had filed her reports with Jacolb and the Police officers that came to ask questions about the incident. When they attempted to take her into custody for possession of the M-16 and other weapons, and killing seven people even though it was self defense. She lost her temper and gave them Jacolbs phone number. Her features changed to show an evil grin when the officer's mouth dropped open while he was listening to Jacolb bellow over the phone. When he hung up the phone, she thought that she was going to have to use the call button to have a nurse perform CPR on the man. He was surprised to find out that she was a veteran cop of ten years, had gotten her detectives shield in under five years, was the most decorated and had the highest arrest record in her department. She made sure that he kept his mouth shut about who she really was, all she needed was for it to get out and she could kiss her ass goodbye.
A slight noise brought her attention to the doorway, turning her head she saw that it was Danni and Sage. They had been stopping in a couple of times a day to check on both her and Dirke. Steve could see the pain in their eyes when they looked down at the tall bikers pale face. They were all worried that Dirke would remain in the coma, she had been clinically dead for minutes and the recovery from that was very dire.
"How are you two doing?" Danni asked her as she pulled Dirke's chart from the foot of the bed.
"Still the same, Danni is there anything I can do for her?"
"They say that people in coma's can hear things going on around them. Try reading to her."
Before they left, they each kissed Dirke on her forehead and whispered in her ear. Steve decided to tell Dirke of her childhood and college years, at this point she didn't give a damn if she told her she was a cop. All that mattered was that she came out of the coma. After sitting in the chair for so many hours, Steve lay down on the edge of Dirke's bed and ran her fingers through her long tresses. She was fighting the sleep that she so badly needed, her eyes heavy and feeling like she had sand inside the sockets. She started telling Dirke another story but fell asleep before she could finish the sentence.
Dirke could feel a warmth snuggled up against her side, and a terrible pain in her shoulder and chest. Rolling her head to the side, she felt soft hair brush her face and picked up the soft scent of Steve. Trying to take a deep breath made a sharp pain radiate through her chest and lungs. She couldn't remember anything past being taken away in the ambulance and was confused by all the pain. Raising her hand, she touched Steve's tear stained face and wondered why she had been crying.
"Stevie." She rasped out through a dried throat and lips. Brushing the soft hair from Steve's cheek, she tried to speak louder. "Stevie wake up."
Steve could swear that she was hearing Dirke's voice in her dreams, a small smile graced her face as she heard it again. What confused her was the soft caress of her cheek and warm breath that moved the wisps of hair at her temple. Cracking one eye open, she saw the most beautiful blue eyes looking back at her.
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"Don't you ever do that again! Who do you think you are Xena?" Steve was throwing her weight around since Dirke was stuck in bed and couldn't do anything to stop her. She paced back and forth at the foot of her bed throwing her one good arm in the air to punctuate her words. "I can't believe that you ran out there and thought that you wouldn't get shot!" She stopped and pointed a finger at the grinning biker. "You scared the shit out of me and on top of all of it, that crazy ass bitch coming after us and you sticking her like a pig with a knife! That thing whizzed so close to my nose that I swear it trimmed my nose hairs!" She walked to stand next to the bed and glare down at Dirke. "And if that wasn't bad enough, you have to go and die on the operating table, drain all of Sage's blood and turn her into Batgirl. You know they had to tie her up for the rest of the night." She was silenced by two fingers covering her lips.
"Can I say something here?" A lopsided grin lifted a corner of her lips and her left eyebrow. "Why are you so bent out of shape over me doing what I did?"
"Bent out of shape? You want to know why I'm bent out of shape." Her voice was getting louder as she went on her tangent. "For the love of Gods! I'm in love you God damn it!"
Dirke reached up and pulled her head down close to her, with a deep purr she spoke and sent tingles down Steve's spine. "Ditto." Their lips brushed against each other for a brief second before Dirke deepened the kiss to singe Steve's senses.
"Damn I'm too early again." Stump said from where he was standing in the doorway.
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He had been keeping an eye on the log cabin since they were both in the hospital. After spending hours cleaning up the mess that the bikers had made in the garage. He decided to stay there instead of driving back and forth. His wife wasn't to happy but then she understood the situation. Both he and his wife were at the age that they wanted more out of life, Florida or Arizona were looking better and better everyday. He just had to wait his time, for some reason he knew it was close. He hoped that his friends would be OK when everything hit the fan. He was still pissed at himself for not taking care of Camellia; he should have turned her ass over to the police and not worried about what happened. Now because of his mistake, his two friends almost died and the police were swarming all over the place.
"I put your garage back in order and recovered the secret passage in the tree line." He gave her a smirk. "Thought I was nuts when I told you to dig that escape huh?"
"I owe ya one Stump; guess there's a lot of pissed off bikers out there waiting for me?"
Steve looked between the two, she hadn't thought about the fact that anyone would be pissed about the death of the bikers. Fear surfaced and over flowed to her eyes that were tearing up.
"I never thought of that." She slumped down onto the edge of the bed. "This is my fault, I killed those men."
Dirke gripped her hand in hers and gave it a soft squeeze. "It's not your fault, as soon as the others find out who was behind all of it, they'll calm down." She looked to Stump. "What club did they belong to?"
"None, they were all rogues. Each one of them had their colors taken for some reason or another. And as far as the crazed Camellia goes." He shrugged his shoulders.
"That solves that little problem, now all we have to deal with are the police." She nodded her head to her friend. "Thanks Stump I owe ya one."
"She owes all of us!" Sage said from the doorway. "Especially me! I gave her all my blood and what thanks do I get? Tied to a gurney for a whole night! It wouldn't be so bad but the dumbass orderly stuck me beside a dead guy!"
Dirke gave her sister a huge smile that lit up her tired eyes. Gripping Steve's hand in hers, she cast a glance to her.
"Her royal Sageness hates dead bodies. I keep telling her that it's the dead ones that can't hurt you."
Steve gripped her hand back; she tried to look like she was listening to the conversations going on around her. All she could think about was what she was going to tell Dirke about the police. She jumped when Dirke placed her hand on her thigh.
"You OK? You looked a thousand miles away."
"Just tired, I haven't slept much in the last week or so."
Danni snorted at her. "Except in that nasty hard chair."
A dark brow rose over a pale blue eye. "You've been in here all the time I was out and sleeping in a chair with your shoulder all messed up?"
"And a gunshot wound to her side." Danni narrowed her eyes at her. "I told you Steve that you needed rest, not torture."
Danni told everyone it was time to haul their sorry asses out of them room. She pointed a finger at Steve and told her that she had better get some sleep or she was going to tie her to a bed somewhere for a week. Once they were all gone, Dirke pulled Steve closer to her body and kissed her temple.
"You need to get some sleep."
Steve cuddled closer to her and laid her head against her shoulder. Placing her arm around Dirke's waist, she gave out a huge yawn. "I like it right here. Dirke about the police…I kinda…took care of them."
Dirke's voice dropped a register. "What do you mean you took care of them?"
"I gave them a statement when they came here. It was ruled self-defense."
"Even though we had enough gun power for WWIII, that M-16 isn't legal I could…"
"Give it a good cleaning when you get out of here."
"They didn't take it?" Dirke was surprised; usually they take all the weapons afterwards. "Why didn't they take the guns and where did you get to Glocks from?"
Steve just tossed the last of the dirt from her grave; the next part would throw her in for sure.
"Dirke, the cops in this area are stupid. I showed them my gun permit and they said "Kay Ma'am." The Glocks are…kinda mine." She tilted her head back and looked into surprised eyes. "I'm a single woman, vertically challenged and innocent looking."
"Well two out of three ain't bad." Dirke chuckled at the narrowed look she got. "You are far from…" Leaning forward she brought their lips together in a searing kiss. When they parted and caught their breaths, she added the last word. "Single." Kissing her softly one more time, she tried to turn on her side and let out a loud groan. "Why's my chest hurt so bad?"
"Because Badness, Danni did open heart surgery on you. You know she held your heart in her hand?"
She gave Dirke all the gory details of the surgery and the time that poor Sage was tied up because she thought she was Batgirl after being drained by the vampire nurses.
"What's with all the medical jargon, you sound like Danni and Sageness."
"Two years of medical school, my parents disowned me when I dropped out. I haven't spoken to them in years."
Dirke saw the tears forming in Steve's eyes, with a little pain, she turned on her side and pulled Stevie up against her. "Sorry Stevie." Within minutes, they joined Morpheous and dreamed of each other.
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Jacolb was fit to be tied, the veins popping out on his forehead to throb under his beet red face. Every pencil on his desk had been snapped or crushed into tiny pieces. He was about ready to throw his paperweight at the door when Monica stepped in and pointed a finger at him.
"You had better calm down before you have a heart attack!"
"But Mama…I just can't win around here!" He threw his hands in the air and moved his yarmulke so that it covered his eyebrows. "What are you doing here, not that I'm not happy to see you."
"One of your Detectives called me and said you were throwing a temper tantrum, he said there was no way in Hell that he was going to give you CPR if you keeled over."
"Ungrateful slobs, they'll kiss my ass but not my lips." He grumbled and smoothed down his mustache.
"He said he didn't want to have to explain the rash he would have gotten from your mustache. Anyway, what is the problem today?"
"Mama, you know I can't tell you everything."
"Bullshit Jacolb, I'm the dispatcher. I probably know more than you do! Not out with it." She dropped down into the chair in front of his desk and gave him a glare that reminded him of a small blonde. If he got his hands on Stevie, he was going to kick her little ass.
"All my contacts on a certain case have zilch!" His face was turning red again and he got the warning point of a finger from his wife. "They have nothing on that Dirke woman, besides that she builds motorcycles for a living, is the president of the Rats and stays at home and bakes cookies for the orphans."
Monica gave him a funny look. "Orphans?"
"She takes care of Stevie the orphan Annie of the precinct."
"Well Daddy Warbucks, maybe she's clean, ever think of that?"
"She can't be, I mean how can every agent, undercover cop, DEA officer and the ATF officer that has ever come in contact with her, come up with the same damn story? I think they're all protecting her, including Stevie."
Monica closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, she knew she had to tell Jacolb of her conversation with Stevie. She would be breaking a rule of her own but saw no way around it.
"Jacolb, Stevie's in love with Dirke Rathson." She looked to see Jacolb with his jaw resting on his desk, his eyes wide and short gasping breathes spurting from his mouth. "I talked to her the other day."
Collecting himself, Jacolb let out a shuddering breath, smoothed his mustache and grabbed up the phone.
"What are you going to do?" Monica asked as she jumped up to stand beside him.
"I'm pulling her out of there, that's what. She's to involved, and it could cost us years of work."
"For God sakes, she watched the women she loves get shot, was shot twice herself, and almost lost Dirke in the OR. If you pull her out then you will never see her again." She took the phone from his hand and hung it up. "Give her a week and see what happens, what's a week when this case has been going on for years?"
Jacolb rubbed his face with his hands and nodded his head. "OK, but I'm calling all the other agencies involved and setting up a meeting. We need to pull in all the people we have evidence on and have them put away. Maybe one of them will roll over onto the big boss." Thinking to himself, he hoped that one of them would have something on Rathson, he just couldn't accept the fact that she was like the Virgin Mary in all of this. He spent the rest of the day calling all the agencies and then getting together all the files he had on the case. He wasn't going to take any chances on any of the guilty going free because of a simple mistake.
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They were released from the hospital mostly due to Dirke threatening the nurses who came into try and take care of her. Stevie was getting tired of jumping in between Dirke and them so she begged Danni to do something. So she released them under strict orders that neither one of them was to do anything but lay in bed for the next week. Stevie thought that it would be easier to hold back the tide than keep Dirke in one spot for more than a minute. She had to keep an eye on her at all times because she knew the minute she stepped away from her, she would run to the garage and start doing something. After Dirke had fallen asleep, she went into the kitchen and booted up her laptop to check her e-mail, after signing on to the secure ISP, she smiled when she saw an e-mail from Monica.
"Stevie
Trouble brews in the health food department, junk food is taking over and causing problems. In one week, the HoHo King will be meeting with the other realms to bring an end to everything.
Love you. M.
"Shit! What the hell does he think he's doing?" She closed the program with out responding, she had to talk to him and soon. He had to give her more time to get the evidence she needed. Then it hit her what would happen, Dirke would be arrested and spend the rest of her life in prison. "I have to warn her, let her disappear even if it means losing her forever."
Dirke was tired of lying around, her body was getting stiff from inactivity. Listening carefully, she blocked out all the normal noises of her cabin. She could here Stevie in the kitchen and knew if she didn't move now, she'd not have a chance again for a while. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she stood slowly and let the dizziness end. Going over to the window, she slid the sash up, looked back one more time to the doorway and then slipped out into the yard. Walking slowly, she made her way to the garage and unlocked the door with the key she had hidden behind a loose board. Once inside, she went down into the hidden room and booted up her computer. She had work to get done, she had to make plans for what she was about to do. After years of dealing in illegal activities, it was time for her to escape and hope that Stevie would join her. It was because of the small woman that she wanted to do this, Stevie had stolen her heart and there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep her by her side. She just hoped that everything worked out the way she had planed. If not, it could mean their lives. Taking all the files she had and placing them all on to a CD, she dropped it into an express envelope and sealed it, making another copy, she placed it into a plastic container and labeled it with Steve's name. One more copy would be held in the floor safe that no one knew about, not even Stump knew it was there. Signing onto a secure ISP, she uploaded at her files and sent them onto the boss along with a brief message. As she was waiting for the files to finish, the mail box flag went up signaling that she had mail. Opening it she read the message and groaned. She had a direct order from her boss to meet with him. It had been years since she had met him face to face and she was not looking forward to it now. Turning in her chair at the sound of feet coming down the stairs, she plastered an innocent look on her face.
"I knew I should have tied you to the bed." Steve growled close to her ear. "How did you get past me?"
"I have many skills?"
"You have no brains, now get back in the house before I plant a foot somewhere." Stevie grabbed her by her ear and pulled her from her chair. "I swear you've given me more gray hair in the last week."
"I don't see any gray hair." She tried to look at the still tousled blonde hair from the crouched position she was in.
"Ohh believe me it's there, just like the gray at your temples."
Steve came to a jerking halt when Dirke stopped in her steps. "I don't have gray hair." She ran her fingers through the hair at her temples.
"Wanna make a bet, if you do you cook. If not, I'll cook."
Dirke sealed the deal with a deep kiss that left Stevie holding onto her until her legs became steady.
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Dirke was standing in the back yard at the grill watching the steaks, she kept trying to see her reflection in the sliding glass door. She couldn't believe that she had gray hair at her temples, she knew damn well that she didn't have it before she was shot. Maybe the stress and the coma did it or Stevie dyed her hair while she was sleeping. A dark brow rose at the thought of her mischievous little companion. "I bet she did this to get out of cooking."
"Did what?" Sage asked from the doorway.
"Dyed my hair." She turned her head sideways and pointed to her temple. "Look it's gray!"
She gave her sister a huge grin. "Shows you're an old woman. Time to eat yet?"
"Depends on if you're gonna carry them in or not, ya know with me being so ancient and all."
"I think it adds to your grumpy appeal, ya know old and stodgy. And you can carry them in yourself, you need the exercise."
"Uhhmm Sage, I need to talk to you about something." She looked down at her hands and clenched them a few times as she tried to get her words in order. She looked up to see golden eyes watching her. "It's time I end all the bullshit I've been doing, I have to get out for Stevie's sake." Sage wrapped an arm around her sister's waist and gave her a hug.
"When are you planing on doing this? And what do you need for us to do?"
"In a few days, the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned. I have to see the boss man and I'm going to tell him then that I'm done." She took a deep breath; held it and then let it seep from between her lips. "Will you guys keep an eye on Stevie while I'm gone? There's a CD in the dungeon with her name on it, will you give it to her after I leave?"
"No problem. Are you sure about this, I mean it could be dangerous?"
"More now than ever, it's time it ended."
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Steve pulled Danni up the stairs to the loft, she searched through her bags until she came across a black plastic CD box with Dirke's name on it.
"I need to go away for a few days, if I don't come back I need you to give this to Dirke for me."
Hazel eyes regarded the woman in front of her, she didn't like the looks of this one bit. She was getting the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
"What is this Stevie, I don't like the look of this." She waved the case in the air.
"You might say that it's my confession of sorts, I have some business that I have to attend to and I've always been leery of having a relationship with someone and something happening to me and that person never knowing my feelings." She dropped down on the edge of her bed and wiped the errant tear that slid down her cheek. "Dirke means more to me than anything in this world and I want her to know it for years to come."
Danni sat down next to her and took her small hand in hers. "Where are you going, I won't tell Dirke I promise."
Steve looked into hazel eyes and saw the truth looking back at her. "I'm an undercover police officer, I was sent here to collect evidence on the drug and weapons selling. I never figured on falling in love with one of the main players. I have to try and make a deal with the attorney general and all the other agencies to save Dirke." She wiped at more tears and sniffled. "If it doesn't work, then I have to arrest her. Danni I can't do it, I want her to escape."
Danni sighed deeply, she looked down at the black case and then into tear filled green eyes. "When do you want me to give her this?"
"Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving here as soon as she falls asleep."
"How will we know if you've set up a deal?"
"I'll come back here and hope that she can forgive me."
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After everyone had eaten, they sat around outside an enjoyed the night air, the soft breeze ruffled past leaving the scent of freshly cut grass and the lingering scent of the flowing lilac trees. Dirke had always loved the smell of lilacs, so she lined her back yard with every color she could find. On nights like this, she often sat outside to enjoy their fragrance. She watched as Stevie tilted her head back and took a deep breath, the tightness in her shoulders was evident in the way that she moved her head. She was strangely silent that night, not her normal chatty self. Dirke knew that there was something wrong but she just couldn't put her finger on it. She would wait until the others left before she made any attempt to find out. Stretching as much as her body would allow without screaming at her in pain, Dirke stood from her chair and placed a hand on Sage' shoulder.
"I'm gonna turn in, see you in a few." Squeezing her shoulder one last time, they connected eyes and spoke silently through the gaze. Taking one last glance at Stevie, she headed inside to go to her room. The pressure that was surrounding her heart from seeing Stevie so different, squeezed her heart tighter with her absence. "What am I going to do?" She asked herself in a low voice.
Stevie swung her head around and caught Dirke's back as she stepped into the house, she felt the tears start to flow down her cheeks. She hoped that she would be able to help her friend, if not, she didn't know if she could live with herself. Getting up from her chair, she gave each other the two women tight hugs and retired to the house. "Can I do this, can I just simply walk away from her?" Climbing the stairs to the loft, she stripped out of her clothes, pulled on her silk robe and sat on the edge of her bed. Trailing a finger across the satin comforter, she thought of the woman in the room below her. Her heart pounded in her chest with an urgency to do something. Her legs with a mind of their own took her down the steps to stand outside of the cracked open door to Dirke's bedroom. Peeking through the crack, she saw that Dirke was sitting on her bed with her elbows resting on her knees and her face buried in her hands. Easing the door open, she stopped in front of her and brushed the long silky hair away from her cheek. Dirke's head raised at the soft touch, her blue eyes filled with a sadness that Stevie had never seen before. Stevie untied her robe and let it drift to the floor to puddle around her feet. Stepping closer, she leaned down and kissed her gently upon her lips. With out breaking the connection, Stevie pushed her back onto the bed and straddled her trim hips. Moving her lips down to Dirke's neck she felt her gasp and a shudder travel through her body.
"Stevie?" She questioned with a deep voice.
"I want this." She purred into Dirke's ear, then traced it with her warm tongue. She could feel strong hands run down her back to her hips, where they massaged her rear. She moved so that she was sitting back on her calves, running her fingertips from throat to the tops of firm breasts that were slightly red from excitement. Dirke's hands traveled up to cup her breasts and tease her nipples with her calloused thumbs. A deep moan escaped her parted lips as her head feel back. Her hips moved against Dirke's tight stomach in slow thrusts. She could feel her senses picking up with each caress of her hands.
"You are so beautiful." Dirke whispered to her and then sat up to bring their breasts together. Bringing their lips together in a sensual kiss had them moaning into each other's mouths as hands caressed and teased. Flames were ignited to burn steady with each touch or kiss until Dirke lay back on the bed, taking Stevie with her and rolled so that they were facing each other. She traced a fingertip across swollen lips. She looked into green eyes filled with so much love that her breath was stolen from her chest. She forced out two words with a roughened voice.
"Why now?"
"I almost lost you, I want to show you how I feel." Tears filled her eyes as the walls fell down behind dark blue orbs to show the emotions welling in them. "I love you Dirke." Were the last words that were spoken between them. Their bodies moved against each other with the slowness of memorizing. Hands and lips caressed and tasted the flesh for the first time, bringing passions to a crescendo punctuated by the cries of release. They lay wrapped in each other's arms with tears tracing down their cheeks until the soft snores of sleep came to Stevie's ears. Placing one last kiss upon Dirke's lips, she moved from her lovers arms and slowly left the room without looking back. Once she was dressed, she went downstairs and out to her Jeep. She had a long ride ahead of her and hoped that she would be able to make it to Richmond without falling asleep behind the wheel.
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Dirke woke slowly, a smile came across her lips with the memories of the night before. Rolling over she reached out a hand and found cold sheets, her brows dipped in the middle with confusion. Blocking out the normal sounds she listened for her lover and heard nothing.
"Stevie!" She yelled from where she was laying to go unanswered. Getting out of bed, she padded down to the kitchen and found it empty except for a note on the table.
Dirke
I love you with all my heart, please understand that I had to leave. I have to fix something before we can g on with our lives. Talk to Danni, she has something for you.
All my love
Stevie
Dirke let out a howl that shook the windows in the panes, she flung a chair across the room in her anger and swore until she was short of breath. Running back to her room, she quickly dressed and went out to her truck. Peeling out of the driveway, she threw gravel as the tires spun out onto the hardtop. She looked like a possessed demon behind the wheel, speeding down the road to Hell.
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Stevie dropped into the chair across from Jacob's desk, her eyes blood shot and swollen from the tears that flowed the entire way back to her office.
"Are you all right Steve, you look terrible."
"What do you expect, I was shot twice and now I have to arrest the woman I love!" She jumped up from her chair and paced in front of his desk. "I'm sorry Jacolb, it's not your fault." She turned pain filled eyes to him. "Can we get a deal for Dirke? Maybe a state witness or something?"
He ran his finger through his sparse hair and sighed. "Look Steve, I don't think that they'll go along with this." He held up a hand when he saw that she was going to blow her top. "We have a meeting with every agency involved in this, you can talk to the attorney general then and see what can be done." He took a closer look at her when her shoulders slumped. He hated seeing her like this, so defeated. "Come here Stevie." He stood and held out his arms to her, when she stepped into them he held her close and whispered comforting words into her ear. He was never one for the comforting department, but seeing her in so much pain he would give it a shot. "Go clean up a bit and meet me in the big conference room downstairs in an hour." He watched her stagger from the room, dropped into his chair and used his cell phone to call his wife.
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Dirke slammed the door to her bosses office open so hard that the pictures on the wall fell with a crash. Striding right up to the front of his desk, she leaned down on the palms of her hands and glared into his dark eyes.
"I want out now!" She growled and saw him flinch. "Call the others or I will!"
He gulped and held up his hands in surrender. "It's all set, the meetings in an hour in the conference room." Grabbing a bottle of antacid from his drawer, he poured a handful out and ate them like candy. "You gave me these ulcers and bald head, go change and I'll meet you there." He sighed with relief when she walked from his office. "She's going to be the death of me."
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Steve was told to wait in the small room adjoining the conference room. Jacolb told her that he would come and get her when she was needed. She knew that with the little bit of information she had turned in and what the other officer had given that they would have enough to bring the people in. She just hoped that Jacolb was able to make a deal for Dirke. It felt like hours to her as the meeting went on behind the closed door, she was about to storm the room when it opened and she was motioned out to stand before a packed room full of officer and agents from every branch. Scanning the room, she came upon a man with a beard and mustache dressed in leathers with Rat's colors displayed below his left shoulder, next to him was Stump. Her hope of saving her lover went right out the door.
"OK people now listen up, this is Sergeant Stephanie Carlton of the Richmond Police Department, and with her help along with others we will be able to apprehend around 120 people today." A light blush came to her face when the bearded man and Stump waved at her and mouthed her name. "But the main person who brought this all together is Agent Dirke Rathson of the ATF." Stevie swung her head towards the door to see her lover walk in dressed in black fatigues with a Kevlar vest on and her double shoulder holsters. Her jaw dropped when Dirke strode down between the chairs with the air of command oozing from her pours. They connected eyes for a brief moment before Dirke walked to stand in front of a large board with numerous pictures of bikers and others that would be arrested that day. Steve knew that some of the pictures there were ones that she had taken.
Her voice deeper than Steve had ever heard it, Dirke named off the people from the pictures, she pointed to certain people and assigned them who they would pick up. When she was finished, she took Stevie's hand and pulled her into the back room, closed and locked the door. Steve didn't know what to say or do, the look on her lovers face was so terrifying that she thought she would drop dead on the spot from one look.
"I'm sorry Dirke, I…"
"Stevie." She moved so that they were but a breath away. "I know what you tried to arrange for me, your Chief talked to me while you were in here." Seeing green eyes fill with tears, she pulled her lover into her arms and whispered into her ear. "No one has ever cared enough about me to want to save me. I love you Stevie." She pulled back and placed a soft kiss to her lips and then deepened it until they broke for need of air. "I want you to stay here until this is over." She knew instantly that was the wrong thing to say when green eyes caught fire and she found the lapels of her fatigues gripped between strong fingers.
"I don't even think so! Where you go, I go! GOT IT!" She yelled the last part wanting to make sure that her lover heard her. "Now lets go bust these mother fuckers so I can retire."
"Retire? What are you saying?"
"I'm tired of being out in the field for sometimes years, I want to settle down with you…if you still want me?"
Blue eyes twinkled, a beautiful smile broke across Dirke's lips and took Stevie's breath away. "Ohh I want all right, lets get this over with." She leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "We only have one asshole to bust." She entwined their fingers together and led them out of the room and right past a grinning Monica and Jacob.
"Where are we going?" Stevie asked as she jogged to keep up with her lover's longer stride.
"To the richest part of Richmond. We have a hell of a big fish to gut and fry."
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Monica grabbed her husbands arm and turned him to face her. "Was that the one that our Little Stevie is so over the edge with?"
"Yep, Agent Rathson. She's ATF, which explains why she came up so damn clean. Leave it to Stevie to find the most terrifying agent in the business."
"Come on Jacob, you can't leave me hanging like this." She gave him pleading eyes.
"All I can say is that she has a perfect arrest record and is their number one agent."
"Ohhh." Was all she said before Jacob led her from the room. "Come on Mama, let me buy you a cup of coffee."
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"Don't argue with me little one, put the vest on or you get handcuffed to the steering wheel." She placed a finger over parting lips. "He may be a very important person, but that doesn't mean that he's not dangerous." Stevie mumbled under her breath while Dirke fastened the Kevlar vest for her. "Are you locked and loaded?"
"You better believe it, I'm loaded with cop killers."
"Holy shit, where the hell did you…never mind. Lets go."
They didn't even bother knocking on the front door, Dirke had been here so many times that she felt like it was a second home to her. When she heard a voice coming from a room down the long hallway, she moved towards it with Stevie right on her heels. Pushing open the door to the library, she walked in and dropped down into a leather chair and watched as Stevie stopped behind her and placed a hand on the back of the chair. She waited until the man hung up the phone and turned to look at her.
"Agent Rathson so nice to see you." He gave her a bright smile and them pointed to Stevie. "Who's your friend there?"
"My lover, Sergeant Stephanie Carlton, Stevie this is Director Charles W. Snyder of the ATF." She felt the small hand squeeze her shoulder in shock.
"So tell me something Agent Rathson, I thought you were retired from the ATF. Why are you in uniform?"
"Ohh a little thing of coming here to place you under arrest for being the mastermind behind the theft and selling of Government property and illegal drugs." He let out a boisterous laugh and pointed a finger at her.
"You always were a riot Dirke. I must say you had me going there for a minute. So why are you really here?" He raised both of his dark eyebrows to his hairline.
"Stevie do you believe this asshole? He thinks I'm kidding!" She stood up, pulled her cuffs from the pouch and motioned for him to get up. "No joke sir, now stand up and turn around with your hands on your head."
"You're insane Rathson, I have nothing to do with what ever you're talking about."
"Sir, we have you on tape, pictures, eyewitnesses and enough paperwork to kill three paper shredders."
"This is all a big mistake, now get out before I call the police and have you thrown out." Dirke shook her head in astonishment, she couldn't believe this asshole. He picked up the phone and tried to call for his assistant.
"Sorry sir, but he was all ready taken away a few hours ago. Plus we got your man at the airport freight facility that was stealing the weapons that were being shipped to the other agencies, the guys from the evidence room are locked up and singing like tweedy bird. Your drug labs are shut down and those guys are on their way to lock-up." She scratched her jaw and glared at him. "And I have all the records of the sales for every single thing that you sold. You see…" She started to walk around his desk and stopped when he pulled out a small handgun that fit in the palm of his hand and pointed it at her. "I'm the Rat, the one who bought all the shit in the black market that you set up. No put the gun down and turn around, NOW!"
She heard two clicks and knew that Stevie had drawn her Glocks.
"Give it up sir, you shoot me and she shoots you."
Before she could move a shot rang out and he dropped to the floor. Blood seeped from the small hole under his chin.
"Damn! There goes my perfect record." She used a pen off his desk to pick up the gun and placed it in the center of his desk. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket, she called in what happened. "Come on Stevie, lets get out of here."
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Stevie and Dirke were laying on the couch together completely naked after spending the entire day celebrating Stevie's retirement from the police force. Dirke was on her stomach with Stevie laying across her back tracing the dragon tattoo with her fingertip.
"What's this stand for?"
"A big ugly dragon." She yelped when her ass was pinched. OK, it's for protection. I had it done after one of my cases went bad and I got shot in the back." She felt warm lips press against her back.
"I'm your protection now." Stevie moved up her body until she was able to kiss the nape of her neck. "The only danger you'll ever encounter is in the bedroom."
"Ain't that sweet? Looky Danni, big bad biker dyke's been captured." Sage chuckled at the dark blush covering Stevie's body.
"Well guys, I guess we can throw these CD's away huh?"
"Toss away Danni, we defiantly don't need them anymore. We're both retired and we're gonna grow old together building scooters."
The End
Rat's Bitch
By Larisa
Hecate3366@frontiernet.net
The Athenaeum's Scroll Archive