Taking Out the Trash

Dave smiled. He wasn't sure what Kea was getting up to in there but he knew she was happy. He was too. He sat there guarding the door and just being there for her if she needed him. It felt... right. Not just because he knew the importance of providing a safe space for recovery. But it was... important to him. He felt good about it.... About just being there for her.

He listened to her humming as she did whatever she was doing. And when she stopped he did his best to hum it back to her.

They'd been carrying on like this awhile after the shower had stopped running. Humming and repeating songs back to one another through the door. Letting each other know that the other was there for them. Paying attention to them. That everything was OK.

And it was... now.

-Earlier-

Dave listened to the sound of the running shower from where he sat by the door. Kea had just gotten in the shower and had been in for a few minutes. It seemed like there was no problems. That was until he heard another sound.

There was a sound that was suddenly out of place. The distant sound of a motor and wheels quietly coming up the drive.

The corner of his mouth came down in a frown as his eyes narrowed and he stood quietly. "Who could that be at this time of the morning in the country?" He swiftly and silently padded down the hall towards the front room answering himself before he even peaked out the window. "Not likely anyone good."

A quick glance revealed a dark, nondescript van creeping up the dirt drive. It's lights were conspicuously turned off so it was hard to see in the darkness... or it would have been if all the lights inside of it were off. There was a dim glow of somekind, likely from a phone or other electronic device.

"Mrow?" Mister said lowly from his spot looking out the window.

Dave nodded and checked his sidearm ducking out of the way as he picked him up setting him down on the floor and being careful he didn't cast any shadows in the windows as he moved about. "You said it buddy. Stay here and outta trouble if you can," he also said lowly, grabbing his vest and knife heading for the kitchen and the back door shed.

He debated going for the gun cabinet but decided against it. He needed to move quickly and luckily some other things were on the way. He opened a drawer and grabbed what he needed quickly. A roll of duck tape he slid around his wrist, some cable ties stuffed in his pocket and a lariat of a peg on the wall that he put over his shoulder. "Hope I still got the knack," he muttered easing himself outside and keeping low as he moved quickly tying a bandana around his face. "It's been a while."

He swung out wide keeping the house between him and the van for cover taking a route that would allow him to circle behind them. He heard the vehicles door open and heard several people get out, low voices speaking lowly. He strained his ears to listen in as he crept close.

"I don't like this," Said one whining. "There's lights on. You sure it's here?"

"Quit your bitchin', dude," said another gruffer voice. "Only a few lights on and no movement. Way out here in the sticks it's probably just some old farmer or some dumb redneck hick asleep in front of the TV. If they cause trouble just take 'em out quick. Easy peasy."

Dave crept around an old cherry tree and flanked them. He could roughly make out two figures in the gloom, one thin and the other stocky, standing by the van.

"No killing. Nonlethal take downs only if you have to. You know that brings unnecessary attention," said a third person that was unseen, likely still in the van. "Get out there, find and recapture the target and don't let it get away this time! The divinin-..." there was a pause. "The trace thingy says this was the area. Ain't nothing all the way out here but this place that shows activity, yeah? So this is the place, morons."

"Nonlethal?" Asked a fourth figure with the cracking voice of youth climbing out of the van limping and brandishing a shotgun wildly. "What about this sweet fucking piece?!"

"Whoa!" Said the tall thin guy.

"Dude!" Said the stocky guy.

The fellow in the van let out an audible sigh. "That's a fucking beanbag gun, idiot. Not a shotgun. And don't fucking use it on the target if you can. At it's size the tranq guns and tazers will be super effective as is but that thing might seriously harm it. That's for if someone else is with it and they give you a hard time. Take the fight right out of them. Infact I don't trust you with it! Give that to Gary, got it Speedy?"

"Aww," the young wannabe tough with the cracking voice, "Speedy", griped handing over the beanbag shotgun to the Stocky set man who's name apparently was "Gary". "You guys still don't trust me? I can handle my shit! I'mma fuckin' gangsta! An I told you it's S-Dawg! 'Sides that fucking bitch an' I got unfinished bid-ness! Fucking paybacks coming!"

"Is it "gangsta" to beat the crap out of a chained up prisoner then let said prisoner, a girl half your size, take a bite out of your ass, then knock you out and escape?" Asked the taller guy with the nasal whine mockingly while "Gary" snickered. "Good one dude!"

"Alright, be quiet all of you," said the unseen fellow still in the van who seemed to be the one calling the shots before things got out of hand. "Ray's right, Speedy. You fucked up, kid. You lost the merchandise. Bad enough you let that thing get under your skin and roughed her up but then you got your ass kicked and let it escape. But hey, lucky you. You get one shot to fix it instead of being dumped face down in a fucking ditch with a hole in the back of your useless head! Now... what do you say you forget that gangster shit for a few minutes and try to act like a professional, OK?"

The sound of Speedy swallowing was loud in the dark. Like most bullies he was coward. "Uh, yeah OK. I'd like to try to be a professional, Malcolm, erm I meant Sir."

"Good choice," said the man in the van named Malcolm. "Gary, Raymond. House. Speedy. Barn and out back. I'll watch the front. Be quick, be through and most of all... Don't fuck it up! Go!"

The trio readied their arms and closed up the van then split up going their separate ways. Malcolm sighed setting his tranquilizer gun in the passenger seat. "Fucking pain in the ass job."

The arm wrapped around his neck putting a knife point to his throat under his beard in an instant causing him to hold his breath. "Yeah, sure seems it," Dave said calmly in his ear. "Hands on the wheel nice and slow and don't make a sound, Malcolm... or do you need me to spell it out for you?"

Malcolm resisted the urge to swallow as he felt the keen edge wanting to bite into his skin. "Well shit," Malcom lowly muttered and slowly complied. "Ok. OK, pal. You're good. You got me. You with AWIO's freakshow squad or something?"

"Nope," Dave said picking up the tranq gun. "Don't know them. Y'all just picked the wrong redneck hick to mess with and now your situational status is fubar."

Dave had to give him credit, the guy was as cool as a cucumber but he knew the score. "Fuck. You're military or something ain't you? Nice moves. I gotta ask?"

Dave smiled. "Ask away."

Malcolm looked up and met his eyes in the rearview. "Don't feed me to no fucking pigs, alright?"

Dave nodded. "I'll consider it. More than you'd do if the tables were turned, right?"

Malcolm let out a breath of relief. "Fair enough."

Dave tightened his arm around Malcolm's throat cutting off his breath and shot him twice, point-blank with the tranquilizer then once more for good measure. They were dosed for someone Kea's size after all and she was barely half his height way less than half his weight. The needle like darts jammed right into Malcolm's neck and in seconds he'd quit struggling, completely limp.

"Fair's got nothing to do with it," Dave said as he quickly zip tied Malcolm's hands to the steering wheel and gagged him by wrapping duck tape around his mouth and head and then his torso and legs to the seat. He patted him down quickly removing a knife, ID and keys before slipping out the van quietly. He took the tranquilizer gun with him.

After that it was easy as these guys were totally amateur hour.

Mister startled Gary and Raymond and while they were distracted arguing about cats being that size ("Whoa! A fucking Lynx!" "It's not a lynx dumbass. It's a Maine Coon." "The fucks a Maine Coon?" "A large bred of cat... what? I like Animal Planet!")he'd taken them both down in seconds. They were both still bantering as they slumped into **** oblivion. "Du-dah..." "Deeewd..." The hardest part was was dragging them out. He bound them hand and foot after disarming them like their leader. He'd ran out of tranquilizer rounds, he'd had to put an extra in Gary because he was larger. Then he smiled just a bit.

He caught up with Speedy coming out of the barn. "Who the fu-" Speedy started just before Dave shot him with the bean bag round shotgun in the stomach.

As Speedy lay on the ground in agony, gasping Dave asked, "Bean bag rounds... Hurt, don't they?" Approaching he racked in the next load. "Don't feel you have to answer that. That's what they call a rhetorical question in the vernacular, Speedy. You know what that means?"

The young thug reached for his dropped weapon and Dave shot him with the bean bag round in the stomach again. As Speedy clutched his gut writhing Dave picked up the fallen taser and continued setting the beanbag shotgun aside as he contemplated the Taser. "It means a question asked with an answer so obvious that it doesn't need to said. Like "Is the sky blue?", "Is the Pope catholic?" Or "Does a bear shit in the woods?" In this instance it's perfectly obvious that the unspoken answer is "yes, they fucking hurt". Which is the flavor of pain you wanted to inflict on my friend. "Pay backs a bitch", that's what you said right? After you'd already beat on her when she was helpless?"

"You... redneck fuck!" Speedy gasped and spat. "Why do you... give a fuck... about that freak thing-aaarrrggghhh!!!"

Dave shot him with the Taser at full charge shocking him with the electrodes. "Because I do," he said to the punk in agony. "And she ain't a freak or a thing. She's a person... and a better one than you." He started charging the Taser again watching the little light gauge fill up. "You're lucky, S-Dawg. I'm actually a pretty nonviolent guy these days. This is me being chill. I didn't used to be. Used to be pretty bad, but I'm good now... at peace. Well," he contemplated the Tasers gage and he zapped Speedy again at full charge and watched him jerk and spasm in paralyzing agony. "Well maybe not "good", but I do alright. Nobody's perfect after all." He tossed the Taser and kicked Speedy over onto his belly grabbing the lariat and hog tying him. "Always room for improvement as long as you draw breath. Whatever hole they throw you in, remember that. Take some yoga, meditate, do some soul searching kid. Because take it from me," he started dragging the him to join his compatriots by the van. "If stupidity don't get you killed first, you're well on your way to getting your ticket punched for being an asshole someday." He smiled and decided to drag him on a path that would show him the scenic route through some rose and pricker bushes. "Now ain't you glad I'm a more mellow guy?"

-Back to Present-

Dave felt the doorknob turning and stood up to greet Kea... and his jaw dropped.

"Kea clean good," she said then slowly twirled around so he could see.

Her pretty dark now shone and she'd put it up in a ponytail so it wouldn't hide her face as much. She'd also decided to wear the sweatshirt but she'd made some major changes to it!

He'd been right that wearing it would have fit her like a dress so she'd made some dress like alterations. She'd simply cut the sleeves to her length and made three daring cuts. Two leg slits now went up the sides all the way to her hips and a from the corners of the hood there was now a plunging V neckline that showed of some tantalizing skin. She'd gathered the extra material at the waist with a few stitches and a simple belt. She'd done a really good job and he could see she'd actually hemmed the thing with stitches for durability and made marks for further future alterations that looked like lace holes. It gave the whole thing a fantasy/medieval type look to a very modern style and it looked good... hot even! "Wow," he muttered to himself. "Sexy damn sweatshirt dress!"

Kea grinned. He'd said "Wow" again meaning he really liked it! He also said another word she knew from gossiping with the other ladies at AWIO. "Sexy good? Sexy "Wow"?" She asked smirking as she put her little hands in the huge front pocket and tugged so the fabric pulled even taughter against her full breasts as she stuck out a leg revealing even more.

Dave swallowed but also smiled. She was a bit of a flirty tease and knew what she was doing. But he also knew that she'd been through quite an ordeal. He sensed underlying hesitation and an eagerness to please and was glad she felt safe enough with him to be brave enough to be revealing of herself. It would be wrong to not acknowledge that.

He nodded and knelt. "Sexy is good," he said reaching out to tuck several stray strands of hair behind her right ear. He stroked her head and then cupped her face looking into her eyes. "Kea is beautiful good. Kea strong good. Kea is "Wow"."

Kea blushed as she understood his meaning. He found her desireable but also thought she was amazing as a person. He liked her, and accepted her... respected her even, as herself. Whatever she wanted to show him of herself he would accept and value her for it. More over he likely wanted to see and know more, all even! He wiped away a happy tear from her eye as she blushed furiously, no longer being coquette. Somehow this was even more embaressing and sweetly intimate at the same time. It made her heartbeat faster and faster.

She rushed forward to hug him. "D'hayv good! D-D'hayv wow!"

She'd already felt the bond... or so she thought. But now she felt it growing stronger than ever and so quickly into something that was adamant, unbreakable and truly precious!

"K-Kea... D-D'Hayv... D'Hayv!" She cursed her inability to say more. To tell him what she wanted to say. "D'Hayv... D'Hayv... D'Hayv..." she repeated as she cried into his chest.

But he hugged her and held her tight as she repeated his name over and over. He felt something too. Something more than fondness and desirability. He hadn't expected it to happen and certainly hadn't been looking for it... but he couldn't deny the stirring of "love" that was growing. And he knew, whether as a friend or something more, he would be there for her. "Kea," he said and held her close as she listened to his heartbeat in his chest and relaxed in his arms. "Kea... Kea..."

She smiled. He felt the same. They didn't even need words. Words weren't necessary. Their actions and hearts spoke clearly of love where words failed.

They stayed like that a long while and when they parted enough to look into each other's eyes they both saw the same thing in the other. They both blushed and smiled happily.

Dave nodded and glanced at the window. Dawn was coming. It was time. He took her hand. "Kea-Dave call AWIO?"

Kea nodded and squeezed his big hand and felt it gently squeezing back. "Kea-D'Hayv call Ahwiooo," she agreed happily. Whatever happened, they'd make it work and face it head on... together. Or so she thought...

"D'Hayv good? Kea hear sound in shower."

Dave rubbed the back of his neck but took her hand. "Dave good. Dave tell Kea... Later. Call first."