In the Shadow of the Giant and The Bat, Picking Up Carrie

"Boy you sure got here fast," Carrie Kelley said as Walt pulled up in his truck.

Walt got out, opening the pickup's passenger door for her while surveying the edge of the battleground as the PWBI instituted order out of the chaos. "Well when your schedule suddenly cleared up I certainly wasn't going to waste time. Your chariot awaits."

Carrie looking in the back of the pickup bed before raising her eyebrow and climbing in with a smile. "Yeah... a rogue band of Orks from that things setting randomly got involved along with a monster truck... and then that giant robot thing suddenly started malfunctioning for some reason... like it was breaking down or missing key components and parts. Convenient."

Walt checked the tarp over the incriminating evidence in the truck bed and was glad he'd switched vehicles before climbing behind the wheel. "You don't say? Huh... lucky break. Where to?"

Carrie smirked. "Anywheres fine... after you take that mask off."

Walt quickly reached up and pulled the mask off. "Oh! This old thing? It's just an old Halloween costume thing, you know? Eheheh... Wait how'd you know it was me? Do you make it a habit of getting in the vehicle's of masked strangers?"

She laughed and winked holding up her fingers like a mask infront of her eyes. "Belive it or not masks aren't uncommon for me. Besides," she patted the side of the old model pickup. "You're the only person I know who drives this old thing." She suddenly leaned in and pulled him into a long, deep kiss unbuttoning his shirt partially before pulling away smirking. "Do you always wear a sneaking suit under your civies when going out on a date?"

He shrugged and smirked back. "Depends on the date."

She eyed him before smiling and shaking her head. "Don't ask, don't tell?"

Walt buckled up, started the truck and slowly began moving between the various vehicles. "If that's how you like it, suits me fine. Don't ask any questions you don't really want to know the answers too. Seat belt. I don't want to get stopped by your coworkers."

Carrie settled back in her seat and complied with the request, giving a thumbs-up. "Just answer a couple of things," she said without waiting for an answer. "There's nothing that incriminates you with all of... this?" She asked waving her hand to indicate the chaos outside.

Walt shook his head. "Quid pro quo?" he asked and seeing she gave a slight nod. "Nope. I sure as hell didn't set this little firecracker off and y'all won't find anything tying me to it." He waved to Batman who was shaking hands with a large Ork as they passed who scowled in reply. "He don't like me much, does he?"

Carrie chuckled. "Is that your first question?" She asked and seeing him nod she did too. "No, he doesn't. He thinks you're a loose canon, a dangerous individual heading a dangerous organization, that you have a flagrant disregard for the laws of Prime and the PWBI and finds your power, and the ability to do as you like with it, both disturbing and troubling."

Walt whistled. "Really? Flatterer. That's high praise and kind of rich coming from him. So why isn't he the one investigating me if he's got such a hard on for me? Also pass along that I ain't interested. He's not my type."

Carrie rolled her eyes but grinned. "I'm glad to hear that... and don't think he didn't try. After the wedding he tried to get assigned to you so he could "build a case". And the higher-ups emphatically told him En-oh. No. Period." She shook her head. "Honestly that's more concerning to me than our profile of you. Looking into you was my job. I've read your "file", what little wasn't redacted. I know you're a big shot and a war hero, hell a legend in your own right, but just how much juice have you got?"

Walt shrugged navigating around a blasted, giant mechanical appendage. "I dunno. A fair bit, I reckon. I stopped keeping track of exactly "how much"."

Carrie shook her head. "Bullshit," she said. "You ain't the kind of guy who "forgets" that sort of thing or lets it get away from him."

Walt shrugged again but nodded. "Fair enough. I suppose it's safe to say I know where a lot of skeletons are buried and with a snap of my fingers they'd literally hop out of their Graves and preform a song and dance number... but I don't use that card if I don't have too and folks know that. I'm content to let others secrets stay buried and I guess some people feel the same way about mine. That's just being a "good neighbor", sometimes. Prime ain't perfect but it's the best thing that's come along and I've worked hard in my own way to protect that... for now." He said that last part grumbling but waved his hand dismissively. "But that's politics and I don't want to ruin our appetite with the most wretched topic under the sun. Speaking of what do you want to eat?"

Carrie shook her head. "That's what your question is?"

Walt nodded gesturing ahead now that they'd cleared all the chaos. "Yup. Kind of important to know what destination we should be heading towards. I dunno if you're actually hungry but I'm guessing-"

Both their stomachs growled one after the other and they both laughed. They'd both burned some extra calories. "Ahahaha! Yes, I'm starving!" Carrie said. "And I honestly couldn't care where! Feed me, Seymor!"

Walt chuckled at the old line. "It's Walt, actually, and nice reference," he grinned putting his glasses on and accessing F.R.I.D.A.Y to handle Reservations. "Alright, I know a place," he declared hitting his turn signal and driving deeper into the city. "Your turn."

She smiled. "I think I know the answer already but I only gotta ask two more."

Walt smirked. "Only that many? Guess I ain't much of a man of mystery if you've already got me figured out."

Carrie leaned against the door and rested her chin on the back of her hand to look at him. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. You're plenty mysterious enough and it's honestly a part of your allure so I don't want to strip that from you... though speaking of "Striping" you, if you play your cards right..."

Walt chuckled. "I'm in danger. Ask your questions. I'm not afraid. I'll even tell you my favorite color!"

Carrie rolled her eyes but smiled. "If you weren't involved, had no reason to involve yourself tonight-"

"Allegedly," Walt said with a grin and a wink.

Her smile grew into a matching grin but nodded as she looked at him. "Allegedly. So then why would someone like you, allegedly, get involved? Seems like a pretty big risk to me with no measurable pay off."

Walt shook his head. "Allegedly, if I had?"

"Allegedly," she agreed.

He nodded. "I wouldn't say that at all. I get to spend time with you now and that's priceless to me."

She blinked. "So you... allegedly... risked putting yourself in a tight spot, risked getting caught, being charged with interference not to mention potentially a laundry list of other things just to... what? Help your girlfriend out at work?"

Walt shrugged. "Well... yeah? It sounded like a real bad shit show of a night. I just wanted to help. Is that ok?"

Carrie smiled. "Yeah," she said kissing him on the cheek. "Better than just OK. Much better." She leaned against his shoulder. "Thanks Walt. It gets so easy to feel forgotten about and unappreciated doing this job sometimes and just in general. Knowing that someone cares, especially you, makes me feel really good... last question."

Walt smiled and nodded. "You got it. Shoot."

Carrie took a breath. "You said you loved me earlier..."

Walt blinked. "I did?" He felt her nod and her hands squeezed his arm as F.R.I.D.A.Y called up an audio recording for him playing back his warlier conversation. "Huh... yup. I guess I did."

"Did you mean that?" She asked softly biting her lower lip.

He didn't need to think it over and kissed the top of her head. "Yup. I sure did."

She got really quiet for awhile before pulling back to stare at him. "Aren't you going to ask me if I meant it when I said it back?"

"Nope," he said pulling her close to him again. "I know."

She snorted. "You know how many guys get slapped saying that line?"

He nodded. "I know."

She pressed herself against his side. "I believe you... If you weren't driving... Are we almost there yet?"

"Almost," he said feeling her hand on his leg and lips on his neck. "It'd be bad to be caught breaking the speed limit, you know?"

"I know," she whispered into his ear. "So don't get caught."

He smiled and put his foot down on the pedal and the vehicle accelerated gamely. "Yes, Ma'am!"

She smiled. "You're a genuinely good guy, Walt. I feel a little bit bad about taking you away from your ladies... and damn this old thing can move!"

Walt chuckled as he weaved in and out of traffic and the surprised looks on other drivers faces. "She may not look like much but she's got it where it counts. I've made a lot of special modifications myself... and don't be. They were the ones who insisted quite vocally actually."

Carrie blinked in surprise. "No fooling?"

Walt shifted gears. "No foolin'. Raven was quite insistent. You're important to them too so you know."

Carrie smiled. "Aw geez... They're too damn nice too! I guess I owe them a bit, huh? Maybe... I could come visit sometime? See what you're all like at home sometime."

Walt grinned. "You got an open invitation anytime you want! Fair warning though... they might start getting ideas. Especially Penny!"

Carrie laughed. "Isn't that the right idea though? I mean they know about us and apparently approve." She shook her head. "Which is such a weird idea. Definitely not the standard Prime way of doing things."

Walt chuckled. "Probably not and they'd probably let me do whatever and whoever I wanted but that's not what I want. I'm still getting used to becoming comfortable with the idea and it's important to me to be upfront with all of you," he said not taking his eyes of the road but tilting his head just a bit to give the top of hers a quick kiss. "I'm one lucky sonuvagun but I'm going to do my best to never forget that neither. Being upfront and as honest in my relationships as I can and my partners having opportunities for their own agency is important to me. Luckily they more or less feel the same. I'm sure there's going to be a few moments where we stumble here and there but I'm starting to believe that together we'll make it all turn out all right."

"Together, huh?" She asked looking up at him.

Walt slowed down, pulling up outside their destination before turning to Carrie with a smile and looking her in the eye to make his meaning clear. "Yup. Together."

She smiled too and nodded. "Alright," she said her eyes twinkling. "Together." She gave him a kiss which he happily returned before parting to look around. "So where are... we? Oh... Balls Billy! We're going in there?! Don't Shiv!"

Walt chuckled. "You know me... I shiv you not."

[Walter Stark - Penny Polendina - F.R.I.D.A.Y - Neopolitan - Pyrrha Nikos - Nora Valkyrie - Yang Xiao Long - Blake Belladonna - Kali Belladonna - Sienna Khan - Willow Schnee - Glynda Goodwitch - Zwei - Ahnassi - Lifts-Her-Tail - Senko - Sayoko Shinozaki - Roberta Cisneros - Haruna - Sasha Blouse - Ilulu - Rachel "Raven" Roth - Manami "La Brava" Aiba - Tsuyu "Froppy" Asui - Haruhime Sanjouno - Anastasia "Baroness" Cisarovna/DeCobray - Demona - Raven "Mystique" Darkhölme - Pirotess - Lydia - Aela the Huntress - Serana - Mission Vao - Curie - Ada - PAM - KL-E-O - Merida - Gwen "Gwenom" Stacy - Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee - Jennifer "She-Hulk" Walters - Linda T. Duck - Shocket Raccoon - Lady Loki - Elizabeth "Betty" Brant - Gloria "Glory" Grant - Mary Jane "MJ" Watson - Emma Frost and Virginia "Pepper" Potts

Will Return In

A Royal Rose Retinue

Coming Soon]