We did a collab.
Here it is. (Oh, the horizontal lines indicate who was writing. That should be obvious by the chars. I started).
Spoiler (Click to Show)
Fat chance.
This place had spiked coffee.
The only reason he chose to sit outside at all on a day like this was because they had literally covered the whole area of sidewalk tables with overhead heaters installed underneath the canopy attached to the front of the building. He eyed the attractive young woman who approached with his Irish Coffee.
Meh, probably no more than 15. Too young for my tastes.
Womanizer he might be, but not a cradle-robber. On a different note, a middle-aged woman and a young girl were approaching. Approaching him. Altaer looked up suspiciously. People like this didn’t just approach him. Now, if they had been in a bar, he might have thought differently. But generally speaking at places like this Old Town Cafe you got nice folks. The kind of girls that it took wheedling and flirting to get.
Besides, mothers and daughters -- as he presumed the older and younger approaching women to be -- didn’t typically choose him out of a crowd to ask for help. Not when he was wearing his beat-up duster and tactical pants. Besides, the scars on his face did nothing to make him look “tender and caring.”
The mother, however, was the first to speak. Her accent was just slightly reminiscent of a Latin American...which made sense, considering her bronze skin and long black hair bespoke of precisely those roots.
She was the first to speak. “Sir...are you Altaer? The one they call The Fixer?”
Altaer raised an eyebrow. His kind of business did not usually come from these kind of folks. Except for one time he got a cat out of a Redwood when he was in California….
“Yeah. That’s me. Can I...uh...help you?”
That girl looked familiar. She had lighter skin than her mother, and blue eyes...the father must have been caucasian. He needed to place her face…The woman turned to her daughter. Altaer noticed her eyes were bloodshot. She didn’t have on makeup. Her hair had, most likely, not been fixed. Something was not right.
She smoothed back her daughter’s hair from her face and tried to smile. “Kathryne Mayweather, I love you very much, and I want you to be your best. I hope you grow up to be a wonderful young lady. Be good for Al -- he’ll be taking care of you. I love you...”
Altaer stared at her. The woman’s motions were too flighty...too nervous. Her face was drawn tight like some kind of stress had literally pulled every last ounce of her as taut as a high-wire. This was not a happy moment, or a chance exchange.
Then she kissed her daughter’s forehead, and pushed her away.
Towards him.
And then ran off.
Altaer watched her for a minute, stunned. Then he looked at the girl, who was going between watching her mother and looking at him. He repeated her name as his memory was slowly triggered. “Mayweather...Mayweather...May--OH SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!”
He practically flung the girl inside the Cafe with one hand as he spun out of his seat and broke into a dead-run down the street. He fingered off the safeties on his guns. “MISS MAYWEATHER!!!”
Grinding to a halt, he scanned the streets. At this time of day many people were at work, but Old Town was still rather busy considering it was lunchtime. Still, he had always been able to pick people out of a crowd.
She was nowhere to be seen.
He clenched his hands. “Damn you Nightshade!!”
Spinning on his heel, he dashed back to the Cafe. If the mother was gone, Kathryne could be next. He burst through the doors to find the girl being given a hot chocolate by the store owner. The man knew David, and was one of their local Serpents. He nodded at Altaer.
“Figured I’d give her something to warm her up while you were gone.”
Al grunted his thanks, and brought Terri back outside. She set her cup down on the table slowly, standing in front of his seat. She bit her corner of her lip. He tried to smile at her. “So you’re Kat Mayweather, right? Terri’s... sister?”
She gave a tiny nod, her voice only a little above a whisper. “Yes...well, mommy always called me Kat. And Terri is...gone.”
Altaer twitched as his entire body tensed. His jaw clenched and relaxed several times as he waited until he trusted his voice. “Oh. I see. Ka…” He hesitated, then spat out the name like he was setting an old, broken bone. “Kathryne...is a beautiful name.”
The girl watched him with large, doleful blue eyes that glistened like the crackling clarity of a sub-zero sky. Her gaze spoke simultaneously of the helplessness and heart of a child...and a mind that had been matured far beyond the years of its body. She seemed to shrink slightly when she spoke. Her bottom lip trembled. “Mommy isn’t coming back...is she?”
Altaer pulled her to him impulsively, wrapping her in his fierce embrace. The folds of his duster enshrouded her, making her practically vanish from sight. His callused and scarred hands stroked her long hair as she cried into his chest. Hands that had destroyed countless lives now held one so fragile, desperately hoping against hope that their feeble offering would help to save it. “Ohhhh, Kathryne. No...I don’t think so.”
He lowered his head until his face rested atop of her head. His shoulders quavered and shook...once. After a couple minutes he pushed her back just enough for him to see her face. “I’m...not exactly the kind of person used to kids. Or family, really. But I swear to you, Kat, that so long as I have a heart in this chest you will never have any want or fear or worry of any kind that I can possibly change for the rest of your life. I’ll do my best to be a father and a mother to you, since that is what your mother wanted.”
The looked at each other for a moment. Then he settled her on his left leg, wrapping his arm around her waist, hand resting on the grip of the pistol on his opposite hip. He handed her her Hot Coco and then picked up his own Irish Coffee.
So they sat there. Neither one quite certain what to do with the other...or what to do with their life. A master killer, drinker, and womanizer. And a little orphaned girl.
Altaer eyed the papers he had on the table for Leikani. Well, either way, I’m still The Fixer. Business is business. I just have an extra...commitment. I guess.
________________
Leikani had adorned her usual black skirt and white blouse as she went along the same path towards the Healing Hands Clinic. The walk was basically ingrained in her brain as she had to memorize it for her assignment. Today, she was rather cheerful, her mission had closed in on a point where backing out was no longer an option and meant total destruction of her cover. Something she would never allow anyway.
She had passed the bakery again to grab some of its delicious cheese bread, it was packed in a brown paper bag with the logo of the bakery on it. She decided not to eat the pastry yet as she was unfamiliar with the cafe where Altaer had decided to meet up on. Maybe she could eat the bread instead if she disliked the menu there. Her blue eyes caught sight of the cafe in question and she entered without a second’s thought.
There she saw Rocker with some kid.
“I take it she’s yours?” Leikani asked smugly as she crossed her arms.
________________
Altaer looked down at the girl. “Well...as of about five minutes ago. Say, Lei -- you don’t mind if I call you that, I hope -- do you…” He measured the woman across from him. “You don’t have much experience with kids, do you?”
Leikani stepped towards the nearest seat and sat herself down and smiled at the child. She then shifted her attention back to Altaer.
The Fixer waved off his own words, then moved the papers towards her. “Alright. So, David and I worked out most of our side of the contract -- the simple stuff. I’m here, obviously, so that we can negotiate the details. I am aware that you have one other major contract, so I’m sure we’ll have to take that into consideration as well.”
He paused for a sip of coffee, and shifted Kathryne’s weight. The thought of having a daughter all of a sudden did not settle well with him, but this was simply not the time to handle that. David would help later. All of the Coils would probably help.
“Now, on our side of things, as you read, you will notice your overall role. Pretty much, you will be working in much the same position as me -- until you have established your ‘credentials’ with Nehushtan, I will be your supervisor. Long story short, try to pull one over on us and you’ll find your arms sticking out your ears via your gut. Fill your role well and without bias, and you’ll eventually be accepted as a more permanent addition to The Coils without the need for supervision. AKA your standard kind of stuff in our business.
“More specifically, your role -- as I have done my best to analyze what it is you do, as well as what you appear to do in your other contract -- will be primarily as a liaison with the wRHG. Not on the official side, but rather with the Gladiators themselves. There are many who would be excellent additions to Nehushtan, especially now, and many who need to just stop. As in stopping existing. You will, of course, be expected to fulfill any unique jobs assigned to you via either David or I...so long as they are within the parameters of this contract, of course.”
He took another slow sip. “So, any questions, comments, addendums, etc. on your end of things?”
________________________
The mistwielder grabbed the contract, breathed as she leaned back on her seat and read the piece of paper. She kept an ear out for the Fixer’s comments and kept processing the contract’s content. She looked for what she had previously asked for during her conversation with the Doctor: free medical and dental, thirteenth month pay (of course, only when she’s worked for a year) and the non-interest in the vault of the ancients. When the man finished his speech on the contract, it took a few moments before Leikani had finished her read and placed the contract back on the table.
“I have several,” Leikani said. She brought up her finger. “One: I am fine with being called Lei. I have already asked the Doc to do so but he likes to keep being so formal.”
She brought up another finger. “Two: I am perfectly good with children. Unlike you it seems, I assume you can only handle simple minded women,” *she said with a smile.
“Three: I am okay with the contract but I would like to add points of my own. Contracting with an Asceum does bring a high rate of success when it comes to the job they specialize in. That’s just what we are, so we’d like a few things clear for us and for you,” she said as she crossed her legs. “I cannot say the locations of any of the Bloodline of Asceum nor can I divulge names of other members of my family and their current occupation. I can, however, tell you history and perhaps training regiments. It is in accordance with the doc’s curiosity as to why this has to be in place. Due to the nature of some of previous employers, I reserve the right to deny an order that breaks professionalism in ways that compromise the relationship of employee and employer. Another is that I will not perform a mission that will end in a minor’s harm or death. That simple. The doc knows I am against child gladiators already as he is as well.
“Now then, about the kid, is she actually yours?”
______________
Altaer gave the kind of smile that expresses so much while saying so little. He looked down at the girl, whose slender face was practically engulfed in the massive mug of hot chocolate now that she was tilting it back further. He realized that she was taking this surprisingly well...then again, with what she had probably been through, that was logical.
“First, everything you have said is perfectly alright. Well, except for the comment about me and women.” His eyes hardened briefly, but not his killer’s stare. More of an internal hardening. “Don’t comment on what you don’t know.” He cleared his throat. “As for the business matters, most of it already assumed and discussed, *and the rest is in accordance with the methods of Nehushtan anyway. Now...about...about Kathryne.”
He frowned. “Kathryne Mayweather is...mine. I guess. Here’s the field report version: Back before you came, David found this girl’s sister brutally tortured and left naked and dead. When I say tortured, she had been turned into a literal Rube Goldberg device designed to sustain both life and maximum destruction and pain simultaneously. She was also designed as a message -- one had been tattooed on her, and another pinned to her. Long story short it was a ruse to get us to attack the Night Creatures Clan -- which we did. A third party interfered, and captured me. Neither clan won, and I was taken to some kind of prison. There, I met the third party...Nightshade -- sufficient to say he’s a long shot from being human, morally or literally. I escaped quickly, thankfully. We’ve moved on since then, and David mended Terri, the sister -- the mother and daughter both became members of Nehushtan, or serpents, subsequently. Just before you got here, though, her mother found me and entrusted her younger daughter to me. Her sister’s already been killed, I’m guessing, or at least in hiding. The mother left, I made the connection, but she had already disappeared. Taken, most likely, as she had anticipated. I believe she knew they were in danger, and therefore gave her daughter to the one person she knew that had managed to best Nightshade, at least to some degree.”
He stroked her hair gently. “I, of course, have never had kids. Never even spent much time around them, honestly. My childhood wasn’t exactly the best, and although I’m no fool...raising a daughter will be tricky. Even with David’s help. Don’t know any women I would trust much either -- Valera isn’t exactly Miss Peaches. So...any advice you care to give is more than welcome.”
He spun the contract around, added what Lei had discussed, and then signed it. He spun it back to her with the pen on top.
“Alright. Here you go.”
__________________
There was a slight pause wherein the mistwielder simply looked at Kathryne and smiled.
“To be honest, Rocker,” Leikani said as she took the pen and begun to sign. “Little Kathryne seems to be comfortable with you already. You should be able to keep your relationship with her that way.”
She finished her signature with a flourish and dotted her ‘i’ on the paper. “There. Signed.”
“If you need help with girl things, I’m sure myself, Miss Valera or even Lily would be able to. What do you want advice for anyway, off the top of your head?”
_______________________
Altaer took the paper, checked it briefly, then produced a duplicate from his jacket. He added their notes onto it and slid it towards her, folding the sheet he possessed and slipping it in his pocket. “This will be your copy here. I’ve already signed it.”
He shifted Kathryne to his other leg. Finished with her drink, she curled herself up against him, snuggling under the folds of his jacket, and closed her eyes. He smiled. “Umm. What do they do? I mean...I can figure toys and stuff, but ah...yeah. I’ll have to put her in school, I guess, although I’ll need to choose a secure private school. But, like. I honestly don’t know.”
He laughed. “I’m getting the feeling she will have a rather unorthodox childhood at my hands.”
______________
Leikani accepted the paper and neatly folded it thrice and put it on the side for the moment.
“What do they do?” The mercenary laughed. “You talk as if they’re an entirely different creature. They’re just us. Smaller, more precious.” She softened her voice as she leaned closer to get a better look at the kid’s face.
“You better send her to school, yeah?” Leikani’s eyes suddenly darted back up to Altaer, the same hardness that told her to back away from commenting on things she had no idea on. “Education is important. Also an unorthodox chi