~*May, 2004*~
It had been half a year since she woke up. She was seeing her doctors and getting stronger every day. She was at one such appointment when it would mark her time to see the doctors less.
"Alright miss lady, we'll see you in a few days." Her personal trainer said as they wrapped up for the day. The woman was a saint, working with her for the past six months.
"Thanks, I feel good too. Enjoy the rest of your day. See you later." Ky left the building, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. She, somewhat back to normal, in a lot better shape, felt really good. She had to change her diet, as the first thing ate when she was cleared for solids, promptly puked all over the car Troy just had detailed. It could be from not having the weight and pressure that she used to. Ky found herself smiling at how things turned out.
Ky started working. She isn't one to sit all day and do nothing. After her first few months of therapy she was so bored she decided that she would speak with Troy. It took some heavy convincing to coax Troy that she needed to do other things than sit in the house all day, going only to the doctors and therapy appointments. As he wasn't home to keep her company.
~~~~
"I found a place hiring. It's in the area." Ky showed him the ad.
Troy sighed. "Babe, can't you just get a cat or dog or something to keep you occupied? Or that um.. Or-iga-mi. You know, people do know what you look like."
Troy had his points, but Li was needing to get back to life.
"It's origami. And I would if I had been still 'living' for the past five years, listen I won't strip. I have a few scars from that explosion that I think would be… hmm, maybe. I mean, it's good money." She thought about it, but took off running into the kitchen after Troy threw a pillow at her.
~~~~
"Kia, hey."
An hour later, Kyouki arrived at Technically Legal for her shift. A few of the performers called when she walked in through the doors, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. Yet she still had to get an alternate ID. Ky just didn't like being cooped up.
Kyouki waved. "Hey Ladies." Placing her backpack under the bar. Ky promised she wouldn't be a stripper and kept her word. She got to bar tend and mix drinks, and that was what she enjoyed. Putting her earbuds in, securing an apron around her waist, she began wiping down the bar and making it ready for the evening. It was a Friday and sure to be a very busy night.
Going to the stockroom, she began lifting heavy boxes. Her earbud slipped out as she placed the box on the counter and heard the news, unbeknownst: The State vs Johnny Gat Trial.
'He is convicted of 387 counts of murder. ' The news reporter on the screen stated.
Kyouki looked up at the screen in thought. "Who the hell offed that many people? Damn, the hell happened to the city while I was out?" She questioned, listening to the newswoman on the screen. Ky kept busy until one of the regular customers walked up. He already had too much to drink. She could smell him.
"Kia, turn this shit off."
"Not likely. I'm watching it." Putting glasses away as she watched the tv, the man gave a gruff snort going back to his drink.
Some other customer walked up, taking a seat. "Bitch, you were told to turn it off."
"Excuse me?" She scowled, looking at him. Ky stopped stocking and turned to the man in question.
"Fuck you deaf?" The drunk slurred out.
She gave a small smile. One bouncer on duty was already standing. Crossing the room towards the loud patron, before he could offer his hand, Ky snatched the beer bottle from the offensive customer, bounced it off the bar, catching the neck, cracked it across his jaw, shattering the bottle knocking out the customer. "Manners asswipe."
The bouncer smirked as he picked up the passed out patron. Ky wiped down the bar once more, muttering curses about having to clean up what she had just cleaned. Focusing on the news as she was cleaning up. The highlight, nearly missed, caught the woman's ear.
'We'll be allowed back in the Courtroom in a few moments to see if Johnathan Gat will go home a happy man or a dead one. Back to you Jack. '
Li's eyes went wide, glaring dumbly up at the television screen. "What. The. Hell?!" There in the courtroom was Johnny. Snatching her apron off, she hopped over the bar and ran to apologize to her boss as, seconds later, she was out of the door.
Once in her car, it was all business. The smell of rubber filled the spot she was as she floored it to the City Hall.
~*Union Square, City Hall.*~
Swerving in and out of traffic she was pushing her car faster than it could go. The courthouse came into view, skidding to a stop she now had the task of finding a way through a sea of reporters outside. "Shit." Driving to the next block over she managed to find a spot. The building was swarming with reporters and supporters and protesters, it was chaos. Excusing herself, bumped into a few officers who stood keeping the crowd at bay. "Excuse me, sorry." as she made her way past.
News crews were even flooding on the steps and assuredly the inside. That slowed her down more.
Troy was coming up and saw his girlfriend weaving through the crowd, breaking off and making her way to the side of the building. 'No, Ky, no.. SHIT! ' he screamed internally. Troy knew why she was there. He was calling his patrol to notify the others in the building.
~*~
She ducked and dodged, sticking close to the wall she peered around the corners. There was no way in from what she could see, there was also no way she could push through that crowd again. There were way too many people.
She looked for another way in. As if given a sign, a door opened with a few janitors stepping out, she took the chance. Running to the door caught her foot to stop it from closing.
Quick thinking, new problem, she was in the kitchen. There were servers shuffling around preparing for the lunch crowd.
Snatching an apron and hat she then saw a food tray, grabbed the tray and took the straight path out of the double doors and dropped the plates on the tray out the cafeteria. Making a beeline to the elevators. Once in she could finally breathe, but that was all but a few minutes when she stepped out and a few of the guards halted her again on the floor that Gat's trial was. "Not now dammit." She grunted. "Hey guys. I'm just delivering. That's cool?"
"Sorry Ma'am, no." A guard said.
Li whined a bit. "Please, I'm just doing my job, same as you."
The officer reached for his gun, seeing the server advancing. Once the click of the holster was unfastened, Li tossed the tray in his direction as she darted at him, tackling him to the ground, grabbing his gun that dropped as she rolled over the top of him, shooting him in the leg. Her knee landing purposefully on the side of his neck, blindly shot him in the leg. Keeping her eye on the second guard as he took aim at her. The second he move, she shot him in the leg as well.
"Stand down, do not engage." Was on the walkie talkie shortly after.
Ky wanted this to run smoothly. She had not planned on drawing blood. "Sorry, sorry, my friend needs me. You know how it goes." Apologizing taking the second man's gun.
They forced her to injure several more officers in her path on the way up, after the gunshots rang loudly through the halls. Hurrying up through the labyrinth of floors, having to double back a few times by ducking and taking the fire and emergency exits.
Kyouki was out of breath. She had not had a chase in so long and as exhilarating as it was; she was not ready for something so active. Pushing off the wall, she opened the door to the floor that she started for a few minutes before, where the trial was held.
Li saw the double doors shut up tight as two more guards bared her path, getting the call to not fire at the woman.
"Really? Do you not have any other place to be? Can you move?" She waved her gun, shooing them out of the way, when they didn't move, drawing their guns. "No huh, ugh, you're just making this hard on yourselves." Li shot them each in the leg, collecting their guns, tucking them into the waist of her pants. When she came through the courtroom kicking the heavy wooden door on a security guard that stood behind it to rescue one, Johnathan "Johnny" Gat.
She gingerly walked in, aiming the gun at the second guard in front of the bench. That drew his gun on the intruder when he was startled, along with all in the courtroom. He paused with the barrel right between his eyes.
Her eyes locked with Johnny's and she smiled brightly. "~Hey Oshiri~." She sang out. Turning her head to face the guard. "Drop it." she smiled.
The guard dropped it, doing as told, set it off, making everyone duck in the courtroom, save for the man she was coming to rescue.
He raised an eyebrow, shaking his head. Johnny couldn't help the smile that was splayed on his face instantly. His heart beat fast. She was here, then caught himself. "Fuck took you so long?" tucking his head to force the scowl they knew him for, as she tossed him the keys to un-cuff himself.
"Oh, [I'm sorry] . Glad to see you too… Wait, you knew I was coming… whatever, lucky you, I just so happen to be at work to see this circus. I initially came to see what was going on but I guess I came to save your ass, Princess." She came to sit on the table, "Oh, hey Lee!" Kyouki said, leaning over to greet the cowering lawyer.
A gunshot sounded and that was the duo's cue to scram. Another shot, incapacitated the officer, they made their way the back way with no more interruption through the fire escape stairwell doors of the Courthouse.
"Anybody hit and need a lawyer?" Legal Lee poked his head from over the table after the two made their escape.
~
Ducking out of the exit, she took on the way up, headed towards the cafeteria. Gat was right behind her. Johnny saw Troy and a few of his boys standing in the rotunda. Exchanging a look, Gat smirked, going through the door behind Ky.
Catching what she had called him. "Princess?" Gat chuckled, hustling down the stairwell. "Ish would kill me if I got the chair." He said once outside in the bright spring morning.
Ky was on high alert as they ducked and dodged the officers. ' I just… What the fuck hell shit am I doing? Johnny needed me.' She thought. Old habits are hard to break, muscle memory. 'Bullshit, normal people don't free someone from a trial.' Ky will sully about it later. Now she needed to get well away from there.
They hid in bushes and crept as they made it to the car where she parked. She was on the gas the moment he closed her car door.
Kyouki paused for a second after they pulled off, checking behind to see no cops were following them. Curious as it was, she didn't think anymore of it. What shocked her was her best friends were still together. "You and Ish are still together. She can do so much better." She quipped with a chuckle.
Gat being the way he is with her, around her, his constant endless flirting and innuendos. Aisha would have put him out long ago.
It was a wonder how she and Gat were friends. "But my question is, what caused you to go on a spree? 300 something people? That's a bit excessive. What the hell happen?" Surprised at hearing his murder spree, cause that was a definite spree.
Johnny barked out a laugh, yeah it was hardly a spree. There was no fun in what he did. It was more for answers. And the right answers didn't get anyone killed in his path. There was no one trying to stop him. "Newsflash Sleeping Beauty, It's had its difficulties, Julius went missing, King wrote a Biography, Dex is… Nah I don't even want to talk about him and Troy…." Johnny didn't finish his mini rant, as Ky cut him off.
Ky smiled. "Yeah, he kept me in the loop, sort of. Troy hadn't told me anything really about now, but keeps asking me about what happened that night. Either way, I see him later when I get home." Ky did a little dance in her seat at the stoplight. "Troy is working at the gym at the rec center. He's not scrawny now. He came to get me when I woke up, got me up walking and talking again, been together since." She finished.
Johnny's eyes narrowed, and he coughed. "He did? He is the Chief of police." That did it for him. He came so close to killing him then. But now, knowing he was still under Li, he was not fine with it and they were living together. That Gat was not allowing.
Kyouki snapped her head in his direction. "Troy, is what now? No… Not my Troy. The man who is working at the Center?" Kyouki looked back, swerving the wheel hard as she was dodging oncoming traffic. Taking a few deep breaths at the stoplight. "Yo, you are just saying that. You had always been hard on him. He helped me get out of prison… Come on, Troy could never be a cop."
Nothing scares Johnny more than when Ky is distracted driving. And nothing scares Gat. "Fuck woman, your ass still can't drive! Yeah, he was working undercover the whole time." He looked at Kyouki, who stared out of the windshield, refusing to look at him. He could see her mind working overtime.
She trying to piece it together. Ky shook her head. "I don't believe you. I'll prove it." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her cell. It took a few rings before Troy picked up. "Hey Bab-"
" Babe, busy right now. I'll call you back. " Troy hung up. The call ended too abruptly.
Kyouki side eyed Gat, pursing her lips together. "We'll just go see him."
~*~
She floored it to the Marshall Winslow Recreation Center. He said he was working there from the time the Saints went their separate ways, as a fitness coach. He had to be there, and if he hung up so quickly, he must have had a class right then.
Screeching to a stop in the parking lot, she jerked herself trying to get out of the car, having to throw off the seatbelt and put the car in park. Her heart was racing.
Troy would never hang up on her like that. She refused to believe Johnny that Troy was a cop, and she needed to see for herself that it wasn't true.
Entering the building, several eyes looked in her direction before going back to their business. A young woman sat at the desk was idly talking to someone when Kyouki walked in. Johnny came up behind her shortly after.
"Excuse me, does Troy work here?"
The young redhead looked over at Ky. "Troy?" She looked questioningly at the woman on the other side of the desk.
Kyouki nodded. "Yeah Bradshaw, Troy Bradshaw. He works here, yes?"
"No, sorry, no one here by that name." The woman shook her head apologetically. Even after checking the computer system to see if there may have been someone recently she did not know of.
Ky was sure this was a mistake, and this person was not familiar with him. She already pressing the call once again. Troy's phone rang once more.
"Ky, Babe, I said I was busy..."
"I'm at the Rec Center. Where are you? I need to see you now." Silence on the other end. "Troy?" Her voice filled with worry. Heart was thrumming hard in her chest.
" Yeah, I stepped out. I'm not on site. Out with a client."
Kyouki was puffing, and she shook. Johnny went to take the phone from her but she moved so quickly she made him jump, "I'll come to see you, just for a minute, please... where are you?" It was getting hard to think straight. If she could only lay eyes on him in his workout gear. Just to prove Johnny wrong. Troy was not a cop.
" Baby, I am with a client, PT, remember? You know I can't talk when I'm working…"
That was just the fraction of the sentence that she heard. She was calming down. "You're right. I'm sorry." Cause she knew that when he was working, it would be hard for him to even take her calls. Some days were busier than others.
Then Johnny grabbed her wrist, taking the phone from her, and listened for a second.
"I'll call you back when I'm on break. Okay, babe?"
Johnny could hear the sirens in the background. "Troy, I know, and now she knows."
" Shit ." Troy stopped. The sudden chill that shrouded him, he could hear and feel shit coming down around his ears. He knew that seeing Johnny, seeing Kyouki coming to the courthouse, knew this was coming. He had to stop it. "Wait, Johnny, wait!!"
Johnny ended the call, grabbed Kyouki by the wrist, pulling her from the reception desk back outside, putting her in the passenger's seat. She was beyond herself, shaking, crying silent tears, visibly shattered. Her face was hot, she was mad, and hurt.
She heard Johnny tell Troy that she now knows. Ky felt a headache forming; she needed to hear it from him still. He came to the prison to get her out, had her in his home, helped her get better.
He couldn't be this "Chief of Police" 'He was a Saint…. Wasn't he?'
~*2401 S. Homan, S. Hunterfield.*~
As Gat drove, he said nothing, Ky said nothing. Johnny every so often would glance at Kyouki when they were sitting at a stoplight. He drove to Aisha's; he noticed after he mentioned Troy being a cop, her attitude changed, sullen, she was withdrawing, sinking in her seat. A thoughtful but sad look then took hold of her honey hazel eyes.
Johnny had noted, as well as minor physical changes. Her features were sharper, no longer the poke able cheeked little girl who first joined. Her hair was longer, she was still wearing it up in a braided bun.
Pulling up in the driveway. Johnny turned the engine off, sitting watching her think.
A sigh that sounded like one of exhaustion escaped her. Kyouki knitted her arched eyebrows with a sad smile as she looked over at the man sitting next to her. "I need to talk to him." Ky was chewing on her lower lip, biting it to keep her anger in check.
Gat sighed. He knew what she was thinking. It was just like when they were younger. "Pidge… come on." He snatched the keys out of the ignition and got out.
Ky opened her door, went to get out of the car, but just sat in the passenger seat with one leg out, slumping as if she had given up. She closed her eyes, leaning back on the headrest. With a heavy sigh, she rubbed her face in her hands before getting out of the car.
Johnny leaned on the car door. "Li, come on." Getting her attention took her by the hand, she begrudgingly followed. Letting her in first, he headed to the kitchen, calling over his shoulder. "Want anything to drink?" Johnny offered.
"No." Ky pouted, still trying to process what happened twenty minutes ago.
Johnny grabbed a juice for her and a beer for himself. "Right."
The sound of movement came from the second floor. "Johnny, who do you have in here?" Came a familiar voice from up the stairs.
Gat snorted. "Why don't you come down and find out?" he called up as he tossed the bottle to Kyouki.