Get on with it!

“Fuck, I feel like we’ve been sitting here for, like, a month.” I groaned.

Kenzie giggled. “That’s just how stake-outs are. You’ll get used to it. If it makes you feel any better, I tend to do this alone while the other girls live their lives.”

“I could have been living my life instead!”

“Grow a pair, will you? This is just a few hours; I’ve been on ones that last days. One time, I spent a _week _holed up in a motel room watching this serial killer.”

Kenzie proceeded to tell an obscenely long story about a serial killer they’d caught in the past. Apparently, part of the guy’s routine was watching porn loudly in a motel room and masturbating furiously for a month leading up to a kill. Why? Kenzie said they never learned. Kate turned into a puddle and the guy tripped on her and cracked his head open, dying instantly. You’re welcome for telling you this in one paragraph; that story was about a fourth of my day while we waited for the girls to arrive to the scene.

Finally, whatever god resides up above decided to send the girls to our location. We had been sitting in the parked van. Kate, Sara, and Ava all arrived in Ava’s car.

No one seemed happy to see me.

Ava in particular seemed pissed.

But, hey: at least they were in costume!

I’d seen Kate already (when I’d been invited to the group). She still looked hot. The tight, dark-swirled costume hugged her well. Her mouth may have been hidden by her mask, but furrowed brows showed how she felt: pissed.

Sara wore a light purple suit (possibly lilac? I don’t know colors, sorry) with white lines. Weirdly, her face wasn’t hidden at all. Screw anonymity I guess? It seemed to be more padded than Kate’s, but maybe I was being tricked by her curvy figure.

Ava wore a completely black costume. That’s it. Just black. My assumption is that, since her powers didn’t help in combat, we would want her to be the least visible. She was maskless for now, but I could see a mask in her grip. A tight, angry grip.

“You slimy mother fuck-“ Ava began.

“Nope! No. Nuh-uh.” Kenzie interrupted, cutting Ava off as we all stepped out of our respective vehicles. The cover of night and lack of traffic meant it was safe to be out in costume, I guess.

“Stay out of this, Kenzie! This little-dicked pussy-!”

“Shut up!” Kenzie snapped, using a much sterner voice this time. “You may resolve all beef after the mission. You aren’t Ava right now; you are Hygieia. Act like it.”

Ava opened her mouth, then shut it. She huffed and went to the back of the car, shuffling through whatever was in the backseat.

“Okay everyone, quick introduction: Michael is now Target. Refer to him as such when he’s in costume, yes? Just like you would to anyone else in Those Chosen Few.” Kenzie motioned to me. “Go get dressed, Target.”

I nodded and climbed into the back of the van. I was about halfway shoved into the spandex when the door opened.

“I know Kenzie is getting all ‘leader-mode’ and shit, but I want you to know that we will be talking tonight. So no dying, alright?” Ava squinted.

“Uh….”

Before I could respond, she closed the door. Maybe I should die? I didn’t really want to discuss banging her ex. I weighed the pros and cons as I finished getting dressed.

When I exited the van, I got all pairs of eyes on my costume. My eyes went to Kenzie, who had apparently changed in the car or in the open. Knowing how not-embarrassed she was about anything sexual, I assumed the latter.

Her costume was military greenish-tan with grey highlights. Russian-inspired maybe? She is Russian, so… duh? Maybe? I’m too uneducated to say for certain. Her suit was definitely padded, but with a more modern-type padding that was thinner and lighter.

“Holy fuck, my eyes!” Ava groaned. “You’re so… red!”

“And cyan.” Kate pointed out. Her eyes gave me the impression she was cringing.

“Oooh… ‘Target’! I get it now!” Sara nodded.

Kenzie frowned. “I like it! He’s our meat-shield, yes?” I didn’t like that description, but I didn’t say anything because that really was my job in the team.

I cleared my throat. “Uh… okay. So, now what?”

Kenzie smiled wryly. “That’s up to you, Target! You’re leading here! You spent all that time staking Viper out, it’s only right!”

“What?! No! I don’t know what to do! I wasn’t even staking! You just told a story the entire time!”

Kenzie shook her head. “You got it, trust me. I can tell. Just tell us what to do, and we’ll listen.”

I didn’t understand why she was doing this, but I could tell arguing would get me nowhere. I glanced down the street at the house Viper was in. No one was outside; they’d stopped sitting outside hours ago. I wasn’t sure how many people were in the house. I didn’t know what kind of firepower they had. I didn’t know… anything, really.

“Uh… okay… then this is what we’ll do… I guess.”

-

Hey! I’m back… ish….

I didn’t expect to be gone so long, first of all.

Second of all, I still don’t feel back. I’m trying to get back into it, but I don’t want to make any promises.

Third of all… uh… hey? I don’t have anything to add, really. How have you guys been? I’ve been okay. I don’t think it’s mental anguish or anything like that stopping me from writing, in case anyone is worried for whatever reason. It’s just plain-ol’ writers block. Probably.

See you when I see you.