They stood just under a manhole, gazing up at it. "What are we waiting for?" Cowboy whispered. The whisper disappeared into the darkness in a soft susurrus. Rally didn’t look at her. "A signal." "What kind of signal?" Cowboy asked. A second later, a blast rocked the walls of the sewer, shaking both women. If they hadn’t been holding onto to the ladder, they might well have fallen. The lid of the manhole popped out of its rim and lay half in, half out of the opening. Screams and shouts from above could be heard clearly. "That kind of signal." Rally said with satisfaction. She glanced at the other woman. "You okay to climb?" Cowboy nodded. "You bet." Rally went first, drawing her gun as she reached the top. Poking her head out of the manhole, she was able to see the wreckage of what had been several parked cars. Men in nondescript suits ran this way and that. Several emergency vehicles were arriving and the scene was filled with chaos and smoke. Rally swung herself out of the manhole and helped Cowboy out. The two women ran low along a line of parked cars, and slipped around the corner. They stayed low, hiding among the trucks, when the noise of a car made them look up. A police cruiser pulled up too fast and stopped too abruptly. Roy stuck his head out the window and motioned them to hurry up. The door opened as they ran up and the car was in motion before the door had shut. Rally and Cowboy both started to sigh with relief as the cruiser moved away from the scene of carnage. Turning towards the front of the car to thank Roy, Rally found herself staring into the barrel of a gun. "Sorry to have to do to this to you, Ms. Vincent," a smooth voice spoke from behind dark sunglasses, "but your friend here has caused us quite a bit of trouble." Rally looked towards Roy and saw that his mouth was covered in clear tape, and that his hands were now cuffed to a ring in the dashboard. Rally cursed to herself. "You’ve just kidnapped three innocent people - including a cop. Why don’t you cut your losses now and let us all go?" Sunglasses smiled at her brightly. "Four innocent people, Ms. Vincent. We couldn’t have your little partner interfering again, could we?" He slid his hand lasciviously into Rally’s holster; brushing her breast both times he passed. "And the others, too, please." Rally, slowly lifted a leg and pulled the Grendel from its holster. She thought about May and sighed. "OK, what is it you want from us?" Sunglasses motioned once again at Rally and, reluctantly, she slipped the Duo from its spring. Sunglasses laughed. "Nothing at all. In fact, nothing ever again." Sunglasses nodded to the driver of the car and they pulled off the main road onto a side street. A few minutes later, they pulled up at a deserted lot, surrounded by decrepit buildings. Rally and Cowboy were motioned out of the car and told to kneel, with their hands on their heads. They were thoroughly and nastily searched. When the driver had made sure that they had no other weapons, he pulled Rally’s CZ75 and slipped back the safety. "Before you shoot me, Mr. Keaton," Rally said brightly, "Can you answer one question?" Keaton pushed his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose. "What?" he demanded. "Can you tell me why gasoline is leaking out of your car?" Rally commented. Keaton grinned. "Very nice try, Ms. Vincent, but really…." The explosion was sudden, and violent. Rally, already hunched over, waited until the glass stopped falling and threw herself forward into a roll. Coming to her feet, she kicked the CZ75 out of the driver’s hand. He grabbed at her, but he had been caught in the forehead with a piece of glass and the blood dripping into his eyes impeded his vision. Rally evaded his grab and kicked him hard in the groin. She moved in to strip him of Cowboy’s gun, but a shot pushed her back. Looking up, she saw Keaton aiming his own gun at her forehead. Before he could even speak, another shot rang out and the gun seemed to jump from Keaton’s hand. He screamed and grabbed his hand, cursing. Rally caught sight of Cowboy on the ground, holding the CZ75. Rally kicked the goon again, grabbed the SIG from his pocket and asked him, rather nicely, to kneel, with his hands on his head. Keaton stopped cursing abruptly, as Roy joined the group, rubbing his hand across his lips where the tape had been pulled off. "Arrest the bitch! She shot my thumb off!" Keaton held the hand to his jacket, trying to stem the bleeding. Roy looked at the Assistant Director in amazement. "You’re kidding, right?" Keaton cursed again, but Rally walked over and pushed the SIG into his temple, which shut him up pretty thoroughly. "You can come out now, May." Rally called and the young woman appeared from across the street. "Nice work!" Rally congratulated her. May smiled, pleased. "Wasn’t it? It’s a new mix of nitro I’ve been working on - small, but volatile. Did a great job on their car - I hope the company will reimburse them." Cowboy groaned as she pulled herself to her knees. Roy cuffed the driver, and spoke to him in low tones. They could hear sirens coming closer. Cowboy looked around. "Nothing personal, officer," she looked at Roy, who ignored Rally’s snicker, "but I probably should be going before your friends get here…" Roy glanced at her, Rally, and May, and nodded. "Get the hell out of here before I change my mind." Locking eyes with Cowboy he said, "Don’t leave town Ms. Simms - we’ll need to talk." Cowboy nodded and the three women moved off as quickly as she could limp; in a few moments, they had disappeared. When the police cruisers arrived, Roy explained how the thug had attacked the Assistant Director and himself. Looking pointedly at Keaton, he asked the AD for his confirmation. Scowling, Keaton gave it.
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