PART 4:

Raven did not go on patrol for the next week.  Catherine "Kate" Windrunner was experiencing a severe case of self-doubt, even depression with the way her life as a super heroine had been going.  Too often, it seemed to her, she was losing battles that she SHOULD have won.  Now she had lost her second costume, her baton and throwing knives; even the helmet had been stolen from her motorcycle when she went to retrieve the bike.  Someone cut the strap.  Damn!  The final straw had been when Officer Susan Books of the Dallas P.D. finally reached Kate at home and told her that Carol had died.

Kate had mixed feelings.  On the one hand she was very sure that Carol had "set up" that ambush in the bookstore.  (Gash had said she was set up, but he could have been lying.)  Call it woman's intuition or whatever, but that whole situation seemed just too "pat" for it to have been a series of coincidences.  Now, why the gang would rape and kill Carol didn't make sense.  Maybe the gang killed her after the battle, after Kate fled the bookstore?  Maybe some of the gang members didn't go along with Gash all the way, were challenging his leadership?  She did, she had to admit to herself, give that gang a major beating every time she met with them.  Sure they battered her around, but she always managed to walk away (well, more or less) from each fight.  Hmmm.

Kate spent most of the week teaching classes in her dojo.  She was constantly on alert, suspecting that the Garzas, or maybe the Thunderbolts, might return.  She was especially afraid of the Garza brothers, Jose and Jesus.  Their telepathic and telekinetic powers enabled them to easily defeat her, rape her and bend her to their will.  Their last visit had her actually begging them to be fucked, to give her orgasms, because they brought her to the brink of orgasmic release SEVERAL TIMES only to back off.  She shuddered to think of going through that experience again.  Especially the way sexual arousal seemed to drain energy from the Trimblers, the odd things in her blood that gave her her powers, weakening her, making her less of a super heroine.

*****************

One week after her last "patrol", Kate and several of her martial arts students went to a Martial Arts Expo at the Dallas Convention Center.  There would be displays of equipment for sale, demonstrations by various experts (including Eric Lee, son of Bruce Lee, and CHUCK NORRIS).  Some months ago Kate had agreed to participate in the Expo, demonstrating some of her kung fu moves.  She was scheduled to be in a demonstration bout Friday afternoon with another woman, an instructor with a dojo in Fort Worth.

Kate and her students arrived at the DCC early Friday morning and immediately became separated, wandering through the exhibits, vendor displays and training sessions.  They agreed to meet around 5 p.m. for the ride back to Kate's "Dakota Dojo", where they left their cars.  Kate examined some displays, talked with other instructors and mentally prepared herself for her demo.  She also got to talk with Eric Lee about his dad's fighting style and picked up some tips.  And she got Chuck Norris' signature on a video he was promoting.  Way cool!

She arrived at the demo a few minutes early, dressed in a red satin gi, the martial arts pyjamas everyone seems to wear.  She thought her black belt and black hair contrasted well with the red gi.  She saw her opponent, a tall massive-looking Black woman in a traditional white gi, across the mat.  Althought Kate smiled and waved at the woman and began heading toward her to chat, the woman just frowned at Kate and turned her back toward Kate.  Kate accepted this rebuff, not happy with such a breach of etiquette, but, hey, if that's how she feels . . .

The session began well; after the traditional bowing the two women dropped into fighting poses and began circling, looking for an advantage.  The traded punches and kicks expertly, for several minutes.  At one point, the Black woman seemed distracted by something in the audience and Kate used her Trimbler-enhanced speed and agility to drop to the mat and execute a powerful leg sweep, knocking the woman to the mat.  Almost as soon as the woman hit the mat, Kate was on top of the woman.  Kate grabbed one of the woman's hands and deftly applied a submission hold, bending her fingers backward and leveraging her arm over her head.  Although the woman slapped the mat, accepting her defeat, her eyes glared with hatred at the way Kate had overpowered her.  It almost seemed like the smaller woman in red had some unnatural strength or ability, to have overpowered "Marvelous Marva" Knight so easily.

After her opponent slapped the mat Kate immediately released the submission hold and sprang to her feet.  She dropped into a semi-crouch and raised her fist into the air, yelling "YES!" in a kind of victory celebration.  This felt SOOO sweet!  The on-lookers began cheering and clapping wildly, amazed at how easily this small (5'6") woman so easily defeated a larger (6'2") attacker.  Kate grinned from ear to ear, and began to bow to her audience, basking in the glow of a successful demo.  She saw Eric Lee in the crowd clapping and felt even greater satisfaction at the way the demonstration went.

All that Marva could think about, though, was how, how FULL of HERSELF this pipsqueak was!  No offer to help her to her feet.  Noo!  Miss "Ain't I some hot shit" just stood there, struttin' to the crowd, showin' off!  Marva rolled to her feet, glared at Kate and walked away, too angry to shake hands after the bout, as demanded by tradition.

Kate saw from the corner of her eye her opponent rise, then walk away.  Did she reach out toward Kate?  Nah, she was just walking away!  NO HANDSHAKE!!  "What a BITCH," Kate thought, "just 'cause I beat her is no reason to be unfriendly."  Kate left the mat in the other direction as the clapping died down, using the opportunity to talk again with Eric.

*****************

Around 4:30, Kate had finished seeing all she wanted to see, so she left the convention center and went to the parking garage.  She wanted to find the van that one of her students drove to bring them to the DCC.  Kate had changed back into "civvies", a pair of low-heeled sandals, a very short skirt, and a narrow bandeau across her breasts (barely covering them).  Her gi and the stuff she got at the expo were stashed in a small backpack she carried in one hand.  As she started up the stairs toward the level the van was on, Kate heard footsteps above her, in the stairwell.

She immediately slipped into a more alert, ready state and kept walking up the stairs, her small bag in one hand.  The footsteps went higher, past her level and echoed away.  She grinned at her own nervousness and stepped out into the fairly dim, even this early, parking garage level.  She had just taken a few steps into it when, from out of shadows and from behind cars stepped five young men who arrayed themselves in a semi-circle before her.

"Hey Babeee", said the one in the center.  "How about you hand us your bag and ya won't get hurt."

"Is this guy for real", thought Kate, then realized he was ... after all, these muggers didn't know *who* she was, or *what* she could do ... and there was no grass here, no fibers, nothing to mess up her powers at all.

"Look, guys" she said, in a reasonable tone, "How about you just let me past ... I'm not really in the mood for any of this, and I wouldn't want to have to hurt any of you."

The men scowled, then, as one, rushed the prissy little bitch standing there like she owned the world.  They'd show her a thing or two.  Kate wasn't really surpised by the charge, and tossed the bag over her back, out of her way, then prepared to fight back.  She waited until the last moment, then ducked between the center man, and the one to his left, causing the entire initial rush to miss her.

The muggers turned faster than she liked, but a couple bumped into each other messing up the spin.  Kate wasn't worried .... this would be a light workout ... just what she needed.  She acted scared for a moment and let them close back in, working to surround her.  That way she could attack in any direction and get one of them.

And she did attack, without warning.  She spun around suddenly and her leg shot up, catching the one that had moved behind her across the temple.  Her Trimbler-powered leg hit hard and he went down, head bouncing as it hit the hard pavement.  Even as her leg landed again on the garage floor she felt an arm encircle her waist.

The arm had curled in from her left side, the attacker directly behind her.  As she began to react to him, one of the others darted in and grabbed her right wrist. She ignored the grab, and kicked out with both feet, catching a different mugger full in the chest, and he stagged back, and fell across the hood of a nearby car.  He rolled over the hood and landed hard, on his head.

Her left hand then came across her body and grabbed the thumb of the man on her right side, savagely twisting it backward, and his grip on her wrist ended as he yelped in pain, his thumb dislocated.  The one behind her looped his other arm around her waist and began to squeeze the woman.  He lifted backward and upward as he squeezed, trying to get her off the ground.  Raven grinned as with her Trimbler-enchanced abilities, she didn't feel a thing from his pressure.  She squrimed for a moment, to let him think that she was scared, all the better to beat him when she turned the tables.

After a moment of squirming, her feet still on the ground, she dropped slightly and leaned forward, bracing to flip him over her shoulder.  She heard him gulp, probably in surprise at her sudden resistance.   An instant later he was flying over her shoulder and impacting hard and head first on the concrete.  That left two muggers standing and Kate wasn't even winded!

**************

From a nearby car "Marvelous Marva" watched in horror as Kate knocked out the third mugger.  It had been her idea to hire these punks to mug the woman, to teach her a lesson in humility.  But that little bitch was blowing though them.  Marva was glad, now, that she hadn't taken her revenge into her own hands.  She continued to watch the fight with an even mixture of fascination and horror.  Who the fuck WAS this bitch?

**************

The last two muggers came at her quickly, one of them managing to shove her in the stomach and knock her backward a few feet.  As she backpedaled, she easily regained her balance, and dropped into a fighting crouch.   "You boys can just leave now, and we can forget this happened," she said in what she felt was a reasonable offer.

The men paused briefly but didn't leave and rushed her instead.  Kate used the room to maneuver for position and dropped backward a few feet towards a dark blue van nearby, to use it for protection for her back.

**************

Steele, the leader of the muggers, couldn't belive his luck.  This girl was a wildcat;  three of his boys were down, but she was backing up right to his van.  As the two that were left kept attacking, she seemed to be giving ground, drawing closer.  Grinning, he slid the partly ajar back door open, and began to wait, ready to spring.

*************

Kate ducked between the latest attack, giving up even more ground and close to the van now.  Suddenly from the corner of her eye she saw rapid movement.  She pivoted to avoid it but the evasion cost her.  The other two leaped in, one grabbing her left forearm, the other punching her across the face.

Kate wasn't hurt by the punch, but it did distract her.  In that instant, the one who had grabbed her forearm pulled it out, pulling her arm away from her body, holding it at about a 45 degree angle.  At the same time, the other one darted in and grabbed her right arm, just above the elbow.   Calmly, experiencing the slowing of time that comes to good martial artists, Kate brought her right leg up and caught the second grabber behind his knee with a modified leg sweep.  His leg buckled and he fell, back onto his butt, onto the floor of the garage, releasing his grip on her.

She knew that left two ... the one holding her left arm, and the one who she had seen moving, out of the corner of her eye ... and, she wondered where that one had come from.  Still, she had everything under control.   Kate brought her right arm across her body, and struck number five at his elbow, using two fingers like a steel poker on a pressure point.  She pulled the blow so that it wouldn't break the elbow, just cause him to let go, which he did, recoiling from her blow, holding his elbow with his other hand.

Kate immediately spun away from him, turning like a ballerina, and ended up a few feet away, facing him, and, as she suspected, a second man, who had apparently come from a nearby van, judging from it's open door.  "Now, gentlemen" she said, dropping unconciously into her 'heroine' pose, "how about you two leave before anything else bad happens."

Steele and his last friend looked at one another; this small woman had taken down four of them and didn't even looking winded.  Hell, she was barely breaking a sweat!  In fact, she seemed to be saying 'Get the fuck out of her, or I'll kick YOUR asses too.'

Steele made a decision and snap drew a small pistol from a holster on his waist, firing it twice.

*Bam*  *Bam*  The gunshots echoed through the concrete garage, impacting on Kate's sternum and belly.  She was knocked back a step or two by the force of the bullets but was unharmed.   As the echoes reverberated through the garage, Steele and the other man gaped, then turned and fled, dropping the .32 onto the pavement.

In her car, Marva gasped when she saw Steele pull out the gun, flinched at the shots, then stared in shock.  The little arrogant bitch wasn't even bleeding!  Thank God she hadn't gone after her in person.  If she was going to "get" that little bitch for humiliating her in front of her peers, she needed to get more help.  This honky bitch wasn't from Fort Worth - Marva knew all the sensei in town.  Probably from Dallas.  Maybe an old boyfriend, Sonny, might help track this woman down.  "If his sorry ass ain't in jail, again," she thought.

Kate picked up her bag, feeling pleased with herself.  Six on one and she'd won easily.  That was how it was *supposed* to work.  She headed to where she was to meet her students, once more confident.

***************************

Officer Books knocked on the door to Kate's apartment early the next morning.  After entering and moving into the kitchen for coffee, Books put a hand on Kate's arm and asked, "Kate, we haven't seen Raven for some time now.  Is something going on?"

Pausing to organize her thoughts, Kate replied, "Well . . .  I kinda stopped doing that.  Seems like I have some problems when I act like a super heroine.  Not always, but enough to make me wonder whether I should be doing this."

"I told you to stop this weeks ago," Susan reminded her.  "This is serious business, not some game you play.  The Thunderbolts, and that doctor . . . they would just as soon kill you as swat a fly, the way you've disrupted their operations."

"There's more . . ." Kate interrupted, staring off into space.

"Yes?"

"No, I can't really talk about this.  Just something I have to work out.  I'm not as invulnerable as I thought."

"Well, I could tell that when I saw you fight in the textile plant.  And when I went downstairs and saw you frozen by whatever that doctor did to you.  You seemed to be going well in the plant, but then when those guys ganged up on you you seemed to lose steam.  When they started using that club on you . . ."

"My baton.  Yeah well, that's part of it.  I'm virutally invulnerable to bullets, knives, clubs and I have the strength of maybe five or ten men, and amazing energy and agility.  I can do things . . .  But at the same time, my powers seem to make me more sensitive, in some ways, even though I'm  invulnerable . . .   It's a bit hard to explain, even to you . . ."

"Kate, have you given any thought to that flyer I gave you about the Super Heroes Foundation?   I don't think you should stay in the super heroine business, but maybe they can help you find some answers to what's happening to you, so you can decide what to do?"

"I dunno, Susan, I'm pretty leery of anything like government or big business.  That's why I work alone, have my own dojo.  I just don't like the thought of someone else calling the shots for me, yah know?  And this foundation sounds like a really big deal."

"Yeah, but maybe you need some help to get around ... mmm ... deal with your, ah, limitations?"

"I just don't know, Susan," Kate replied, looking down at her feet.  "Listen, I hate to rush you out, but I need to get to the dojo.  I've got a "Seniors" class in an hour, and I need to get over there and get set up."  Kate ushered the officer out the door, returned to her bedroom, and finished dressing for work (her usual blue jeans shorts, tank top, and sneakers-sans-socks).

************************

Kate finished her classes and, this being Saturday, went home around 5.  The rest of the weekend was uneventful for the woman.  She spent some time jogging, some time around the house, and a lot of time thinking about being a super heroine.  She toyed with getting a new costume together but had to quit in frustration when she realized she was running out of money that she could spend on clothes, especially when her costumes were destroyed every time she went after bad guys (or so it seemed to her).  Late on Sunday she reluctantly decided to visit the Super Heroes Foundation on Monday.

********************

Kate Windrunner took the elevator to the fourth floor offices of "The Super Hero Foundation".   Well, actually, the regional offices of the Foundation for Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Central and South America.  Kate was impressed that the offices shared space in the Federal Office Building complex in downtown Dallas.  For her first meeting she wore a tight short red silk dress with a plunging v-neck and no back, which followed every curve on her body, a short red bolero-style jacket and red heels. 

After entering the offices, and leaving her super heroine name with the receptionist, Kate sat and waited, watching and observing others in this office suite.  Down one hallway, she saw a buffed guy in some kind of costume moving between offices, carrying several boxes.  She could also see a large room with several desks and low partitions; she counted three (of the fifteen people she saw) people in costumes, answering phones or working on computers.  "This place is starting to look like a temp agency for costumed heroes!" she thought, carelessly flipping through an entertainment news magazine.

"The Director will see you now, Ms. Raven," the receptionist announced and directed Kate into a nearby room.  Behind a large, imposing desk, a short thickset man with close-cropped hair sat, eyeing the girl as she swept into the room.  Kate KNEW he was looking at her legs and breasts and enjoyed the effect she was having on this man.

"I'll assume you've read the brochure we let police departments give out," the man, a Mr. Kelso, according to the desk name plate, said as Kate took a soft chair across from the desk.  When she nodded assent he continued, "Well, in fact we do a lot more.  We're a contractor for the Department of Justice; basically we manage 'super beings' for the DOJ.  Part of our funding is federal money and part comes from 'reimbursements' we get."

Seeing a puzzled look on the girl's face Kelso continued, "The feds pay a small amount of money to 'licensed' super beings, who are deputized as federal marshals and basically work for the federal government.  Most of the heroes though don't want to go through the long process, maybe six months, to get licensed.  So the heroes have to rely upon contracts with us to provide services."

Kate was getting anxious, trying to take in what this man was saying.  'Contract services', 'reimbursements', 'long training periods' - what kind of crap was she getting into?

"We have two types of contracts . . .  Ms., er, Raven," Kelso said, continuing his explanation, "*patrol* and *mission* contracts.  A patrol contract means we 'hire' you to patrol an area, like a city or a state, and report possible crimes to local authorities.  You are not to get involved unless it's to save someone who's in immediate danger of physical damage ... including yourself, of course.  If you see some punks hitting a convenience store,  you use a radio we give you to call the local police.  You can follow the crooks if you wish, but you aren't obligated to do so.  You are to take all reasonable precautions to not get into a fight.  We obviously prefer to limit these to people who can fly."

"The second type of contract is a mission contract, given when we need you to use your powers to perform a specific mission.  A mission can be anything from helping the DEA bust a cocaine ring or helping a business that needs someone with your powers or even just providing bodyguard services for someone.  When you go on a mission, someone pays us for your services.  That's what I meant by reimbursement.  We have someone named FishMan © who lives near Tampa Bay and who is currently using his acquatic powers to help a company salvage a ship that sank off Florida during a recent hurricane, for example."

Kate was starting to get a bad feeling about ... well, something, she just wasn't sure WHY she was starting to feel uneasy.  "Well," she interrupted, petulantly, "what would I get for being a licensed federal marshal or even just a 'Kelly Girl' for you?  And what do you mean we can't stop a crime we see with our own eyes?"

"Oh, noo!", he said, jovially, "you've gotten the wrong idea!  We try to make sure that your special powers and abilities are used for good ("who decides what's good?" Kate thought, biting her lip) but you can always offer your services, for free, to anyone.  Just as long as what you do doesn't make Super Heroes (Kate could almost hear the capital letters) look bad or foolish.  No, Ms., uh, Raven, we just want to help you be more effective in what you do!

"We will provide you with any special tools, or costumes or equipment you need to help you get the most out of your powers.  We arrange for you to get a small stipend so you can be more flexible in your 'civilian' work and can take time off to work for us.  We are like a support service for you and for other super heroes.  Why, for some of our heroes, who regularly work special missions for us, we have provided them with virtually full time employment, their own 'Bat Cave', new costumes . . ."

"What kind of 'special missions' would you assign to me," Kate asked warily.

"Well, of course," Kelso replied, leaning back in his chair, "you just 'popped up on our radar screen', as they say.  We don't really know much about you.  We would send you to our Georgia facility for two weeks where you would be 'tested' . . ."

"What do you mean, 'tested'?" Kate interrupted.

"Well, for instance, what powers do you have?  What are your weaknesses.  And of course there would be a battery of psychological tests, so we could understand your temperment.  Can't have one of our Super Heroes 'going postal' while on a mission!  Then you have to be trained in our methods soe you don't do anything which could embarass the Foundation!"

"Why can't I just tell you what my powers are?"

"Well, that's fine, initially, and we can support you on a limited basis for 30 days while we check out your background, but we really do need to know your limits.  Hmm, let me see ...," Kelso said, looking at a computer screen, tapping a few keys.  "Ah, yes, here's a preliminary assessment from . . .   Yes, well, it seems you are invulnerable?  Oh, not always . . . hmm."  Kelso stroked his chin, reviewing whatever was displayed on the computer terminal.  Kate began to fidget in her chair.  "A 'preliminary assessment'?" she thought.  "What does that mean?"

"Well," Kelso began, turning away from the computer display, "as I said, we would want to see how much damage you can take.  Very carefully done, carefully measured, I assure you.  After all, we don't want to kill you, or disable you, ha, ha, ha, before you've had a chance to be put to work for us.  I mean, for the community.  It would be very embarassing for both of us if we sent you on a mission where you were exposed to the very thing that weakened you, wouldn't it?

"Tell you what," Kelso said, rising from his chair, "Let me show you our facilities here, facilities which would be available for your use, for research.  Then you can let us know whether you want to join the Foundation, and we'll start processing your application.  We can do a preliminary review of your powers, maybe even send you out on a mission as an observer if you're up to it.  Then before we send you to Georgia for testing and ultimately, I'm sure, offer you a full time contract, you can decide whether to remain with us."

The two left the office and headed across the large office.  Most of the workers did not look at the pair, but as they approached one of the costumed women, wearing a one-piece pink bodysuit, a pink hood, white boots and white & pink cape, working on a computer.   The woman looked at Kate and EVER so slightly shook her head sideways.  The move was barely perceptible, and Kate wasn't even sure she had seen anything.  As they swept past the woman, Kelso rapped his knuckles on the woman's desk and said, "How's that research going, 'Force'?"  The woman smiled back at Kelso, wanly.

"Who's that?" Kate asked as they left the work room and entered a corridor.

"Oh," Kelso replied, "that's 'Force'.  Not very powerful, I'm afraid.  She's a Latina, as you may have noticed.  Born here in Dallas.  She can focus some kind of invisible beam onto a target - punch a hole through a door, knock someone down, that kind of thing.  She's like a battering ram, almost.  The more she focuses on something, the stronger the impact of her 'force' on the target.  I've seen her punch a hole through a 2" thick piece of rolled sheet steel!"

"What's she studying?"

"Ah, now, Ms. Raven, we really can't talk about that kind of stuff to someone who isn't in the Foundation," Kelso admonished the girl.  Gripping her elbow Kelso steered Raven to her left into a room.  There she saw the male super hero she had seen earlier.  The man was about 5'10", very broad shoulders and muscles like a body builder.  His 'costume' was brown knee-high lace-up boots, brown above-the-knee spandex bicycle shorts, a brown fish-net 'Dago T-shirt', wrist-length gloves, and a short mask.  Kate was inwardly intrigued, maybe even a bit aroused, at the man's physical appearance.

"Raven," Kelso said, interrupting the woman's reverie, "I'd like you to meet Thunder.  Thunder, Raven here might be joining us."

"Hello," the two said, almost in unison.  As they started to shake hands, Kate sensed that he was putting pressure on her hand, testing her.  Smiling, Kate began squeezing back.  In seconds both realized what the other was doing and each resolved to bend the other person to his/her knees.  Grimly the two applied more and more force; soon both were starting to hunch downward and forward, slightly, as each tried to apply more and more pressure to the handshake.  The biceps on each heroes' arm bulged dramatically and Raven's arm shook slightly as more and more power was summoned.  Kelso watched, from the side silently, observing the muscles on Kate's arm starting to swell and strain from the contest.  Kate saw the bicep on Thunder begin to swell until it seemed as thick as her thigh!   She was becoming more interested in getting to know this man.

After a minute or so Thunder smiled and slowly released his grip.  "I like a woman who knows how to shake hands," he said, cupping Raven's shoulder with his other hand.  "I don't get to meet women who can stand up to me like you did!"

Kate smiled and took the compliment graciously, relieved that she did not have to continue the test.  She was about at her limit in terms of strength, and knew he probably had more strength than she did.  And since she didn't break any bones in his hand with her powerful grip, he also had some kind of invulnerability working for him too.  She thought she might like to get to know this man more.  Just as she was about to speak to Thunder, Kelso said, "Thunder!  You better get back to what you were doing; we don't want to hold you up!" and led Raven into an adjoining room.

Kelso turned on the lights as he closed the door.  They were in a small, windowless room, with a conference table and a TV monitor and VCR.  As he turned on the video, Kelso told Kate that she would see a promotional video about the Super Hero Foundation.  She spent the next 15 minutes watching a slick presentation of people with various types of super powers, doing things like flying patrol over a city at night, accompanying diplomats to conferences (as bodyguards), helping rescue efforts during one of the California earthquakes . . .  She also saw a quick reference to FishMan © helping Fazer Pharmaceuticals recover a barge loaded with rare chemicals from its resting place off the Florida Keys.

When the lights came on both rose from their chairs and Kelso began to lead Kate out.  "Why don't you think about joining our team Ms. Raven.  Whether you sign a patrol contract or a mission contract is of course up to you.  I think," he said, as he led her through the outer room (past Thunder, who was busy storing boxes in a closet) and into the hallway, toward the reception area, "we can offer you financial and material support and make it easier for you to use your powers for good."

Kate abruptly halted just as they entered the reception area.  "One quick question," she said, turning toward Kelso, "I didn't see any reference to Superman or Wonder Woman or Spiderman.  Are they part of the Foundation?"

"Ah, no, no they aren't," Kelso said, seeming a bit put off by her question.  "Apparently those 'older' heroes don't need our help and they were able to make arrangements with law enforcement officials long ago, so they don't need to be licensed, as the newer heroes do.  And of course Spiderman is an outlaw, not someone we would want working for us.

"Um, why don't you come back to my office?" Kelso continued, "I'll get some coffee, or sodas, and you can sign a contract with . . ."

"I'd rather think about this, a bit," Kate interrupted, pulling her elbow from the man's grasp.  "I have your card.  Let me get back to you one way or another in a day or so."  So saying she abruptly turned and walked quickly toward the door, not giving the man time to do more than eye her tight butt inside the close-fitting skirt as she walked away from him.  Kate quickly left the reception area and headed toward the elevators, thinking about what she'd seen.

On the one hand she grudgingly admitted, she DID need some help, in terms of costumes, maybe some financial help and who knows what else.  She wasn't too keen on the idea of becoming a licensed marshal and she still wasn't sure how she felt about the 'special missions' Kelso had mentioned.  What were they?  The ones he had mentioned were 'good', or at least did no harm.  Why did she feel so uneasy about this whole deal?  Was she just acting irrationally, rejecting them out of hand?  It certainly would be interesting to work with Thunder, she thought, deliciously.  And what did Force mean by that head shake?
 

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