Right of Retribution 3 -Ch6- (Patreon)

Warner flapped his wings several times and much harder than normal as they came down. Landing in front of the Fed building without too much issue, he was glad. If he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t quite sure how they’d manage to fly a police squad car.

Setting down the front end of the vehicle Warner made sure Dayine was alright with her end. Though it was obvious he didn’t have to worry about her.

She dropped the back end of the vehicle without a care at all. Letting the two officers inside bounce around violently.

To say she was enjoying this was an under-statement. As far as Warner could tell she had an ugly little chip the size of a truck on her shoulder for authority.

Especially local police.

Turning his head Warner looked toward the front doors of the Fed building. There was no reason for him to go inside and he had no doubt that someone would eventually come out to “greet” him.

The question in Warner’s mind was if it would be with guns drawn or if Mark had already communicated the current role of Yellow-Eyes. Given Mark’s nature, Warner really wasn’t quite sure which to believe.

“Hahaha, it’s like shaking a can of spam,” laughed Dayine who was now shaking the squad car rather violently. The entirety of the vehicle rattling and groaning under her displeasure.

“Stop,” murmured Warner, meeting Dayine’s eyes. “You’re only falling to their own level. It isn’t very just or right to behave in such a way. Now is it?”

Dayine clicked her tongue, sighed, and gave up her amusement. Putting her hands on her hips she looked rather annoyed but more than willing to listen to him.

Curious.

She’s become considerably more docile since giving her back her Icon. Not to mention her physical response to me coming around her.

Was she emotionally and mentally stuck until that moment? Perpetually in a state of angry, despair, and resentment? It would seem so though I can’t confirm that without really talking to her about it.

I wo-

The doors to the Fed building opened and Mark came outside, looking like a man fighting back laughter.

“Okay, I’m sorry, I can’t help it but… it’s like when my cat comes back with a mouse,” said Mark who finally started to laugh now. “Then waits for me to come get rid of it for them. Should I assume this is much the same?”

“Kinda,” Dayine said before Warner could reply. “But they’re alive. They’re crooked. You name it, they’ve done it. Just… get rid of them before their little police union can try something.

“Oh! We should go look into that, too. I bet you they’re all sorts of twisted evil. Wanna bet?”

Dayine was now talking to Warner as far as he could tell, rather than Mark.

“It would be worth the time to inspect them and their facilities, certainly,” allowed Warner. “Though it would need to be at our lowest priority. Those who interact with the public would be our main concern for the moment as well as leadership. They’re the ones most likely to be in league with the council.”

“Awww, fine,” grumbled Dayine. “But… you did say we could. Just not till after we get their uh… I dunno… their front line, down, yeah?”

“Exactly. The union could definitely use a firm look through,” Mark said, leaning down and peering into the squad cars window. “Oh, nice. You brought me a white guy and not a white guy. That makes this better.

“If you could have brought a white woman, a white guy, and not a white guy, that’d have been even better. Always gotta look for the political and HR angle, ya know? Especially for these two. I need to display a good ‘case example’ of what we’re going for first.”

Warner raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t say anything.

He couldn’t really find fault with what Mark said. It actually made sense even if it was a ridiculously off-color and ugly comment. There would need to be a few examples or “set piece” cases that would act as an object for people to circle around.

“Whatever, here’s two pigs. Roast’em,” Dayine said and then slapped the back of the car, making it lurch forward and bump into Warner. It caused him to shift his weight and mov his right foot, but that was about it. “Shit, uh… sorry… uh… Yies. Sorry Yies. Little stronger than I used to be since… you know.”

“Could you two start fucking already so we can get through the awkward teenager phase?” Mark asked having stood up when Dayine had knocked the car forward. “I mean, seriously. Fuck each other a few times and move past this. We got work to do and you’re in the lame phase of a relationship.”

Dayine’s eyes had jumped to the ground as soon as Mark had started talking. At the same time it looked a lot like she was fighting her wings. They apparently wanted to leap out of her back at the mention of sexual relations with Warner.

“Anyways, got work for ya. We dug out a location of interest I want you to go check out,” Mark said, apparently deciding to spare Dayine and not pushing further on the previous conversation. “Not somewhere I can go or anyone in the Fed.”

“Why’s that?” Warner asked, pulling the small notebook out that he’d gotten from Tito. If he was going elsewhere, it meant he would need to hand over what he got to Mark and have Alina work on it.

“Because unlike me who has to eat flavorless non-authentic mexican food here in the great state of, ‘what’s salt?’ Colorado, you’re going to Mexico. Here’s a number of addresses that could really use you looking into them,” Mark said and then gave Warner an odd look while pulling a slip of paper from his suit-jacket. “I swear Yies, no one seasons anything here. No salt. No sugar. No spices. Flavorless and bland.

“It’s like… its like everywhere in this state is food for old people. Old people without any senses left and three teeth. It’s absolutely mind boggling.”

Moving over to Mark, Warner took the paper and gave him the book in exchange.

“This is my personal list of people I was going to look into,” explained Warner. “It took some doing to get it put together. Have Wings work through it with you to get it squared up. If you have any questions, you know who to ask.”

Warner assumed Mark would know he meant Daria. She was practically Warner’s handler at this point. There wasn’t anyone else on the planet that Warner trusted more than her.

“Yeah, no, not if I can help it. That one scares the fuck out of me,”said Mark with a rapid shake of his head. “No, no Sir. I shall pass on that and please ask that they don’t come looking for me. Bad enough I have to deal with Jill and her brain tinkering.”

I… yeah, that’s fair.

Looking to the paper would be a waste of time. It would be an address he didn’t know, in a city he’d never heard of more than likely. Keeping the folded paper shut, Warner slipped it into his clothing. Tucking it away and not bothering with it.

The last thing he wanted was to give someone a chance to take a peek at it with a long range camera of some sort. Or some other means of viewing the information from a distance.

“That’s it,” Mark said with a shrug of his shoulders. He had the notebook held tightly up to his side. “Wings is doing great work by the way. We’ve already found seven infiltrators. Its where we got that address, too.”

Warner grunted at that and then a weird thought popped into his head.

“Weird question,” Warner said, tilting his head to one side. “It feels like one day the world didn’t know about Para, and the next it did. Like someone just threw a light switch. It was… too simple. Too easy. Like everything was planned out far in advance.”

“That? Yeah. Years and years ahead,” Mark said, looking back toward the Fed building and waving a hand at it. “They’ve been filming ‘Para news’ for like a decade. They just always did it without any cameras. So when the time came to go live, the only thing that changed was… the cameras.”

Huh.

Alright then. Makes sense.

Not waiting around any longer, Warner snapped his wings down and propelled himself upward. He needed to reconvene with everyone in the morning and talk about next steps.

About what needed to be done and how to do it.

Probably call Althea too… that won’t be a fun call at all. She’s probably stewing in anger as deep as an ocean that I’m now recognized by the Fed.

I know I would be if I were her and her sense of justice.

***

Standing in his living room, Warner was very confused. What was in front of him wasn’t something he was expecting.

Not on any level, possible future, or existence.

Standing in his living room was far more people than he’d been expecting.

Daria, Bodil, Aelia, Madison, and Dayine were of course there. They all seemed quite normal and prepping for what looked to be breakfast.

By the time Dayine and Warner had finally made it back to his house the clock had just turned over to three in the morning. Separating they’d decided to get some sleep before trying to get everyone together for lunch.

It was certainly surprising seeing them all here for breakfast, but they weren’t what had stopped Warner in his tracks.

Additional to them was also Laurie, Ylva, and Inger.

Ylva and Laurie were standing next to Daria who seemed to be having a rather friendly conversation with them. The two Valkyrja looked quite into the discussion as well.

Warner had a hard time when looking between the three women. Daria was quite attractive to him, but Laurie, or Laurel as others addressed her, and Ylva were both very pretty as well.

The former had short brown hair—which fell no lower than her jaw—was drawn back toward her ears. Her warm brown eyes had what felt like a magnetic pull to them that always drew Warner in.

Normally he’d only ever seen her in clothes that emphasized her body and her attributes. Most likely to bring in tips. Today she was dressed far more like Daria and looked quite fashionable.

Next to her was Ylva, a busty and bright eyed redhead. She had a personality that always seemed seconds away from bubbling over. She was also dressed as Daria was, though it had a bit more sex appeal to it.

Not far from them was Inger who was talking with Maya. She shared many traits with Maya though they were unrelated. Both showing an asian heritage with their dark hair and brown eyes.

Now that he looked, Warner was surprised though.

It wasn’t just that they were both asian, which held a myriad of different countries, locations, and traits inherent to them, but Inger seemed to actually be of Japanese descent. Just as Maya was.

The Valkyrie was holding up a top against Maya and seemed to be judging her appearance in it. Holding her left hand up she reached up and quickly brushed Maya’s hair this way and that. Inspecting the younger woman critically and seeming to judge how her hair looked best as she did it.

For her part, Maya seemed surprised, yet rather pleased.

Inger’s hand on Maya’s head went to her cheek and then cupped it.

“Goodness, no matter what we put you in, you’ll just be a radiant beauty, Maya,” Inger said with a laugh. She patted Maya’s cheek then put the top down next to them on the couch. Then she started rifling around in the bag at their feet and came back up with yet another top and a jacket this time.

Maya had turned a deep shade of red, smiled, and just watched Inger, saying nothing at all.

“Apparently she’s decided to take over being her mother,” murmured Bodil as she sidled up next to Warner. “That’s fine by me, Aelia, and Daria. We can mother her, be there for her, but we wouldn’t look like it.

“Maya is still in a place in her head where she doesn’t just want a mother figure, but for that person to be assumed to be her mother. Daria seems to think the more mothers Maya has the better and… well… it honestly doesn’t seem to bother her at all. Looks to be growing from it.”

Bodil wrapped an arm around Warner’s middle, shoved his own arm over her shoulders, and pressed up into his side. Then she went still once she’d done so.

“I do wonder what our own children will be like,” muttered Bodil. “Daria swears up and down I’ll have at least two no matter what I do. I swear if you give me twins you’ll deal with both of them.”

Warner took in a breath, then let it out with a chuckle.

“Be at ease, Rune Mother Bodil James. All will be well,” Warner promised. “Now, shall I say it in triplicate or are you satisfied?”

“I think if you said it in triplicate I’d likely be forced to take you to a bedroom and we’d be working on number one today,” complained Bodil. “You can’t name me Rune Mother three times unless that’s something you want me to be right now. A this moment.

“Instead of all that, let’s go sit down. Daria just gave me the look that said, ‘get him seated’. One does their best to make sure Daria is taken care of in this relationship, because she in turn takes care of you.”

Bodil began moving Warner deeper into the room and maneuvered him down onto the couch. Doing so without anyone really noticing other than Inger and Maya.

Everyone else was still going about their own conversations and things.

Maya gave Warner a wide grin, her eyes widening slightly.

“Dad, dad, Inger wants to take me shopping for some new clothes later today,” Maya said in a low tone. “Uhm, can… I have some money for that?”

He’d never once heard his daughter say something in the way she had just now. The excitement bleeding off her was nearly visible to him.

“Of… course,” Warner said, then looked to Inger. The beautiful Valkyrie gave him a heated smile, then pointed to the top she was holding.

“She needs more clothes like this,” said Inger. “Less of what she has right now. None of the old clothes does anything to show her off. Our daughter is beautiful, we should dress her appropriately. I’ll not take no for an answer.”

“Yes, not a problem. Just keep a receipt for whatever you spend and I’ll get you paid back,” said Warner, not missing the possessional inflection Inger had used. One that had included him in it.

Maya had nodded her head at Inger’s words, however. The young woman who had declared she didn’t want anyone else in her life, seemed very accepting at the moment.

“Good, thank you dear,” Inger said, giving him an even more radiant smile. Then she reached out to lay a hand to his forearm. “I appreciate your trust. I promise to keep it low and not spend too much. I’ll buy a couple things just for you and me, too.”

Warner didn’t miss the implication there. That realistically it didn’t matter since funds were fluid in this relationship.

Though he was certainly curious what she intended to buy for “them”.

Maya hadn’t missed any of it either. Except, for reasons unknown to Warner, she didn’t seem to care either. She only nodded her head again and smiled.

What in the fuck…?

He wasn’t going to argue with a happy daughter though. Even if that meant ending up letting Inger talk him into a bed.

“Thank you, Inger,” said Warner honestly.

“Alright. Lauren is home sick at the moment with a flu that only hits Weres, otherwise everyone is here,” Daria said in a slightly raised voice. “Time to discuss Warner’s expected trip down south and what Bodil and I have seen.”

Everyone turned to look at Daria at that moment only now realizing that Warner had made an appearance as well.

The moment Dayine saw Warner her wings sprang out in an involuntary reaction again. Her feathers smashing Madison in the face since she was standing next to the woman.

“Bluuggh, get your damn Lady Angel boner out of my face,” complained Madison. “You’re hot but I’ve got enough girlfriends. Keep it in your pants for my best-sex-friend till later.”

Everyone up to this point had ignored Dayine’s wing-response.

Madison was always going to be Madison.

Case in point, she marched over to where Warner was sitting, sat down next to him, and put her arm around his shoulders. Her hand ending up partly around Bodil as well.

“Sorry Bo, my arms are big, you don’t mind do you?” asked Madison, still dominating the room by just being her.

“Not at all, Maddy. Though if you’re going to keep your hand there, rub my shoulders,” said Bodil as if it really wasn’t a concern at all.

“Oh, okay,” said the Troll who promptly started rubbing Bodil’s shoulders as requested, her arm firmly around Warner as well.

“Great,” Daria said with a light clap of her hands. “The group going south won’t be what you all thought it would be.

“Aelia, Madison, Bodil, and Laurie will be going to the addresses we got from Mark in the south. That’s more than enough firepower and survivability for them to make it happen.

“The team leader will be Bodil with the second as Aelia. I’ve already bought your tickets, you fly out in a few hours. I also already packed all your bags. It’ll be up to you Aelia to get weapons and equipment once you’re in country.”

No one argued with Daria. The women in question all nodded their heads.

“Warner will remain here and work with Dayine, Inger, Ylva, and myself,” continued Daria. “I don’t see any signs of people not making it back, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. Be on your guard, be safe.

“We’re all family here and without any of us, Warner would be less. Don’t put yourself at risk if you don’t have to. We share a goal, but our lives are worth more. It’s that simple. Any questions?”

“Can we have sex before I go? I’ll miss you, Daria,” Madison blurted out. “And could you ask Warner to jo-uh, what? You okay?”

The request clearly shocked Daria and caused the woman to slowly blush a deep shade of red. To the point that even Madison had noticed.

“I… ah…” murmured Daria.

“Maddy, we don’t ask stuff like that,” Aelia said in a stern tone. “She’s our girlfriend but that’s rude. Okay? Ask her privately next time.”

“Oh, got it,” said Madison who looked to be deep in thought. Then she grinned and nodded her head, looking at Warner. “Warner, let’s have sex before I go. Will you please invite Daria to join us? I’ll miss both you guys real bad.

“Please? I love you. I need you to make sure our girlfriend comes too because I love her like I love you and Aelia. I don’t mind being in the middle or if Daria is. Either way. So long as I’m with you two.”

I mean… she didn’t ask Daria that time. She asked me.

So she’s technically doing as told.

Madison gave him a wide smile now that almost looked impish to him.

Or she’s trolling us again.

Damnit all.