Summoned Again?

We arrived at the next state half a day later and I wasn't surprised that the terrain wasn't that much different from the last one. Whatever kind of earth this was, it seemed to be a bit more arid than where my normal travels took me. Of course, as far as I could tell, we were in the middle of the United States. I took the chance with casting Map, Search, and Topography as well. No names popped up and I couldn't really compare the shapes of the states to an actual map of my United States either.

I haven't really investigated much, since I was with either Karen of Anita all the time. It was almost like they were worried I was going to disappear on them if they left me alone, especially when we left The Bear. I was never left alone when I decide to stay inside. It was almost funny how attached Karen had become to the old army surplus vehicle I had grabbed back on Earth.

When you owned your own country, the resources you had access to were phenomenal. It was an unspoken rule that I couldn't touch the more modern stuff, except to buy it for the military. They had no problem handing over the old ordinance and out-of-date machine guns and ammo. The 50 calibre machine gun mount was actually thirty years old, which surprised the hell out of me when I saw the thing was still mounted on the APC when I went to pick it up.

“I knew you'd like that.” The army mechanic said at the time and pat the side of the vehicle. “We've even got a thousand cases of ammo for you to take with it.”

“...and I'm not allowed modern ordinance.” I said with a laugh. “All right, load it up. Let's go have some fun testing everything.”

Which was how I knew all about how to work the thing, repair it if it jams, and stored some of the extra ammo inside. It had solid rubber tires and I didn't have to worry about flats or replacing them. I just stored the thing and paid to repair it. Of course, I did a bit of enchanting work on it, too. I wasn't going to let this thing rot away if I had a choice.

I also had lots of modern under-armor suits that I also enchanted, thanks to the integrated armor plates located in strategic areas. They were made to be removed, so enchanting them and putting them back was a breeze. The girls really seemed to like them, at least.

“We're here.” Anita said and pointed at the paper map she had. “There's a secured checkpoint that might give us a problem with the ordinance this thing has.”

“We can leave it outside and...” I started to say.

“NO!” Karen and Anita shouted at the same time.

“You can't leave anything outside the barricades. It'll be wrecked by either the wolves or by scavengers looking for parts.”

I chuckled. “I doubt they have anything like this around here.”

“That's not the point. People can innovate if they have the right parts.” Karen said. “Imagine having a truck with The Bear's tires? It could go off-road and never worry about anything.”

“They would have to tear off the fenders and the bumpers to even try to mount them.” I said.

“Yeah, and you know someone would do it in a heartbeat.” Anita said as Karen lowered the turret.

I couldn't really argue against that, because back on my Earth, they did exactly that with monster trucks and large tractor tires.

“We just have to lock everything down while we're inside the city and it should be fine.” Karen said. “If we don't pose a threat to the locals, they shouldn't say anything.”

“What if they try to steal it?” I asked and both women frowned.

“They won't get far, just like those other idiots.” Karen said with gritted teeth.

I reached back and touched her knee briefly. “It's all right. The Bear won't let anyone else inside without your permission.”

Karen smiled and nodded.

I pulled up to the barricade and saw it was the local police guarding it. “Hey, fellas.”

“What's your business here?” The officer asked.

Karen slipped out of the turret and leaned over my shoulder. “I'm here for an appointment with the Foster Foundation next week. I'm applying for the guarded caravan job.”

The officer stepped back and looked at The Bear. “What's the capacity?”

“Ten troops or five with tech equipment and luggage.” I said.

The officer looked intrigued. “Mind if I look?”

“Not at all.” I said and reached for the door handle. “I'm getting out.”

The officer nodded and stepped back a little farther.

I hopped out and closed the door, then went to the side to pop open the hatch-like door. “There's more room with the turret up, so watch your head.”

The officer nodded and stepped inside. He ducked by the turret and stepped into the large cargo area. “Drop seating?”

“Yeah.” I said and reached in to tap the release and the bottom of the seat folded down as the back slid up into place. “It leaves the walls bare for storage when closed and protects that storage when deployed.”

The officer sat down on the seat and smiled a little. “How did you make them comfortable?”

“Complete refurbishment.” I said. “This thing is pretty damn old, so it took some work to get it to this state.”

“The gun mount?” The officer asked.

“Old army surplus. The guy I got it from said it was at least thirty years old and he rebuilt the thing himself.”

“It works like a dream, too.” Karen offered and the officer gave her a pointed look. “Private testing range on hunting grounds. We would never use it near a population and it's locked down with the ammo stored separately.”

The officer nodded and Karen showed him where the ammo case was. “Only one reload?”

“We're not made of money.” I said and Anita and Karen barked laughs. “Okay, I am. We just don't have much room to waste with tons of reloads when we have food, camping equipment, storage for our gear when we're off duty...”

The officer chuckled. “Yeah, I get it. Despite having all this room, there's not much room in it.”

I nodded as Karen opened each compartment to show him some things were there and others were empty. “If we're accepted for the job, I might have to add the external packs and top rack for the extra stuff that won't fit in here or move our personal stuff out to get the clients things all stored inside.”

“All right.” The officer said and I stepped away to let him out. “You're approved for entrance. If you cause any trouble, you're not going to like what happens.”

“What if trouble comes to us because of our sweet, sweet ride?” I asked with a grin.

The officer laughed. “I'll give you the temporary pass for the inside of your windshield. Anyone touches your vehicle, if they are visitors, they're out on their ass. The locals lose their privileges.”

I closed the side door and nodded. “Thanks. Karen loves this thing. If anything ever happened to it...”

“...I'll gut the bastards that hurt my Bear.” Karen finished.

The officer shook his head and walked back over to his post. He dug out a large placard with the police and town logo on it. “It's designed for inside the vehicle. If someone steals it from you, you're responsible for getting it back.”

“Not a problem.” I said and took it to put right in front of the driver's seat on the windshield.

“Enjoy your stay.” The officer said and made a twirling motion with his hand and the large barricade doors opened. By the looks of them, they were airplane hangar doors and easily crossed the large road.

I saw the reinforcement behind them and smiled. “Safety first.”

The officer chuckled and stepped back to wave us through.

I started The Bear up and slowly drove it through the opening. We gained a lot of attention as we drove at a normal speed through the city streets towards the hotel that Karen had booked a month ago. It was an old hunter trick she said to book a month in advance before going to a new area. The hotels didn't charge for anything until you showed up or sent word that you weren't going to be there.

“How were you going to get here?” I asked as she directed me to a spot to park. It was a parking garage and I debated having The Bear staying in such a secluded and easily accessible spot.

“We would either rent a car or hitch a ride with a trucking shipment, depending on our ready cash.” Anita said. “The rental business is pretty big, actually. There's lots of reinforced cars going back and forth between cities and states.”

“That's kind of what we're going to be doing, right? Only for more people?” I asked.

Anita nodded. “Sometimes they need to go to the main labs for new samples, deliver samples, or just to exchange workers.”

“The tentative itinerary is a stopover at a town two stops away to pick up another scientist and then we're off to (mouth sounds) to drop them off and pick up our payment.”

I successfully hid my surprise when the weird sounds came out of her mouth. I had just assumed we were all speaking English and now I had proof that we are speaking some other kind of language and names of places won't translate properly.

Now I'm really glad I haven't asked about specific places. I thought and concentrated on parking in a good spot where no one could get in or out of the vehicle easily. They would probably freak out if they heard me spouting gibberish.

“How the hell are you getting The Bear into this tight spot?” Anita asked as she looked around while I backed up.

“Lots of practice getting big things into tight spots.” I joked and wagged my eyebrows at her.

Anita laughed and whacked my arm. “You have to get out on my side with it that close to the wall.”

“I'm blocking the side door's easier access.” I explained and then stopped just before The Bear touched the back wall. “Okay, we're docked.”

Karen shook her head and waited for Anita to hop out before she climbed between the seats and followed her. I went next and closed the door, then pretended to use the key to lock the door as they started to walk away. I cast the lock spell and quickly debated whether to use a conceal spell to hide that there was a door there at all. I sighed and left it visible, then I used an alarm spell to notify me if anyone tried to get inside.

I couldn't store the vehicle and take it with us, not with so many witnesses around and with the possibility that either Anita or Karen would come back here without me here. Also, I was sure that the cops would be interested in commandeering my vehicle for their department, especially after the officer's enthusiastic tour of the inside.

I ran to catch up to the girls and quickly cast the remote viewing spell on The Bear. To my surprise, a little window popped up under the Map at the side of my vision. Now that's handy! I thought with a smile. I hadn't had the chance to practice that spell since I acquired it in the white room of the last world I had been summoned to. That thought made me pause. Maybe that's why I didn't get a white room this time?

“I'm going to enjoy having time off before going to that meeting.” Karen said, her voice almost bubbly.

“You're just happy that we weren't rushing things to get here.” Anita said with a teasing tone.

“Of course I am! Did you see how The Bear handled the trip? We didn't even have to stop to refuel!”

That's because I kept dropping more fuel into the tank from my inventory. I thought and put my arms over their shoulders. “I hope the hotel is as nice as the one we had in the last town.”

“We all are hoping for that.” Anita said and gave Karen a distinct look.

“What? It's not like we had much choice with the funds we had at the time.” Karen said.

Anita took a breath and let it out. “Maybe we should look for another one.”

“Can you cancel this close to check-in time without paying?” I asked and both women looked nervous. “We can check it out, anyway. If it's not good enough, we can look around to find another.”

“Damon, we can't expect you to pay for everything.” Anita said.

“Why not? I pretty much attached myself to you and invited myself along.” I said.

“You did; but, we set this up long before you showed up. If you weren't here, we would be kind of desperate to find more specimens to get enough money to come here. We might not have even made it here or tried to take this job if it wasn't for you.” Karen said.

I brought them to a stop and turned them to face me. I ran my hand through Karen's blonde hair and then ran my other hand through Anita's hair. “I'm not going to argue about this.” I said and then gave Karen a tender kiss. “You need to accept that as long as I'm around...” I gave Anita a rougher kiss. “...I'm your personal bag of money.”

Both of them blushed slightly.

“I honestly don't mind, because I would be spending the money anyway as I searched around for my missing crew.” I said and they looked satisfied with that answer.

“I'm sorry that they weren't near the town where you showed up.” Anita said.

“I am, too.” I said. “Maybe one of them has the briefing I was supposed to get?” I shrugged. “Until I stumble across someone that sticks out...” Or that my Detect spell can find for me. “...I'll be riding on your asses for as long as you'll let me.”

Karen blushed deeply and shook her head, as if to shake that image from her head.

Anita barked a laugh and slapped my arm. “You couldn't have said it better than that?”

“I thought that was the best way.” I said with a big grin.

“Ass.” Anita said and turned around to put an arm around my waist. “Let's go look at the room.”

Karen turned as well and she wouldn't look at me as she also put an arm around my waist.

“I didn't mean that literally.” I whispered to her and kissed her cheek.

Karen kept her face forward and we walked down the street to the hotel. It was a pretty tall building and looked well maintained, so we went inside. That part was lacking, since the decor was non-existent and there was no one else in the large lobby.

“This can't be good.” Anita whispered as we walked over to the front desk.

The scruffy man there wore a uniform that had seen better days. “What cannai do forya?”

“We're here to cancel a reservation made by an associate.” I said immediately. “There was a huge mistake and whoever contacted this place forgot to say there were three people in our party and that we could show up nearly a full week before we were going to.”

The guy looked nearly completely lost with all the words I just said.

“We came in person to let you know it was a mistake, since that's the proper thing to do.” I said and turned the women on my arms around. “I hope with the new vacancy that you'll have enough room for the scientists coming next week.”

The guy perked up at that. “More people ta stay here?” He asked, hope in his voice.

“If they show up, sure.” I said and we made it across the lobby. “The old reservation is for Holden.”

The guy didn't even nod as we left the building.

Karen waited until we were a good distance away before she brought us to a stop and turned to face me. “How the hell did you do that?” She asked, clearly surprised. “Even I was convinced that what you said was true!”

I saw a similar look on Anita's face and chuckled. “What I said was completely true. I also believed it and let that confidence show as I explained.”

Both women blinked their eyes for several seconds without saying anything. I wasn't going to tell them that I had all of my stats and skills maxed out, so I was pretty persuasive, even as a lowly level one.

“At least we can take our time now and find a place that can handle us and won't rip us off.” I said and both women nodded. “Let's keep looking around here and if we can't find anything good enough, we'll take The Bear to another part of the city and keep looking.”

We did that for the next half an hour and as far as we could tell, we were in the worst part of the city. Everything was a little run down on the inside of the buildings, even the places serving food. We barely took a glance around and left each place before talking to anyone.

In the little view under my Map, I saw a lone figure approaching The Bear and he carried something like a huge crowbar. It would take us way too long to walk back there together, so I made an excuse to use the bathroom.

“You are not going inside any of these places to do that!” Karen almost spat.

I chuckled. “No, I'll run around the building to the alley. I'll use some water and camp soap from my backpack to clean up.”

Karen sighed in relief and nodded, so I took off at a jog. As soon as I was out of their sight, I cast Obscure and Stealth on myself and then flew up into the air. It wasn't that far to fly at a high speed and I reached the right floor, just as the figure jammed the end of the crowbar into the passenger side door.

“That's not yours.” I said in a deep voice.

“AHH!” The figure jumped and let the crowbar drop. It clattered to the concrete and he whipped around to look for me. “What... who...” He shook his head and bent down to pick up the crowbar again.

“I can't let you do that.” I said and grabbed the crowbar as I cast Stillness on him before I hovered my hand over his forehead. I cast the Memory Manipulation spell and saw that he was hired by the police to repossess the armored vehicle. The guard that let us in reported to his supervisor, who reported to the chief of police. They even had the proper paperwork for it, including the placard I received from the guard marking it as a city vehicle.

I shook my head at the audacity and added a memory to his mind that he had failed to gain entry after trying several times with his tools and even managed to lose his industrial crowbar because it broke on the armor plating. I also stored the paperwork the man had as evidence.

“Run along now.” I said as I seeded a fear of my image and the image of The Bear.

“AHH!” The man shouted and took off running.

I didn't bother watching him scramble away and took off flying to land on the opposite side of the building I ran around, in case Karen or Anita had walked around looking for me.

“Ladies.” I said as I approached them from behind. Neither of them jumped or whirled around in surprise.

They calmly turned to look at me, glanced at my hands, then looked at my face.

“Let's get back to The Bear and find a better neighbourhood.” I said and they nodded.

*

“This place is much better.” Anita said that night as we entered the suite of the hotel that was near the research station. “We should have come here right away instead of roaming around.”

“We needed to eat.” I said and walked over to the bed to test it. “That's not bad. Not bad at all.”

Anita laughed softly and Karen blushed.

“Hey, I said I didn't mean riding your ass literally.” I said to defend myself and it only made Karen blush harder.

“Stop teasing her.” Anita said and started to strip off her clothes. “This under-armor might be comfortable; but, wearing it all day sure made me sweat a whole heck of a lot!”

I chuckled and stood up. “One long and luxurious bath coming right up.”

Karen perked right up at those words. “A bath and not a shower?”

“After the long day of travel and walking we did, I think we all need to unwind a bit.” I said and went to the bathroom. The tub was only a normal standing one, so I cast Enlarge on it and added a bit of magic to make it big enough for the three of us to fit and directed the spell to be wider instead of high. “We're in luck! They've got a family-sized tub!”

“What?” Anita walked over to me. “There's no such thing as... Jesus Christ! It's fucking huge!”

Karen ran over and looked in. “Oh, my GOD!”

“You ladies keep getting undressed and I'll get this thing ready in a few minutes.” I said and they practically ran back out to the room. I turned on the tap for hot water, added some of Crystal's favorite bubble bath, then cast the Water spell to add my own water to it. It was full a few seconds later and the bubbles were a good size as well. I knelt and checked the temperature, decided that it was perfect, and I waited for them to come back in.

Karen was first and she quickly walked over to the tub and dove into the thing. I burst out laughing as she turned around and sat up in the bubbles, which now covered her head.

“She really did dive in?” Anita asked as she entered.

I just pointed to Karen's bubble covered happy face and kept laughing.

Anita put a hand on my shoulder and daintily stepped into the water, then sank down into the bubbles. “Oh, this feels perfect.”

I nodded and stood before I walked out of the bathroom, pretended to strip off my clothing and tossed it onto the chair beside the bed, then walked back into the bathroom. “Cannonball?”

“YES!” “NO!” Karen and Anita said at the same time.

“A compromise it is.” I said and cast a barrier behind Karen, then dove sideways between them to make sure the splash went over Karen and left Anita with only a bubble facial. The splash was a good one and Karen had her arms up in the air as the wave I created crashed over her. Neither of them noticed the barrier or that the water didn't splash against the wall and only fell to the floor and drained out through the drain in the free standing shower.

Karen wiped off her face and laughed at Anita's bubble covered one. “That was GREAT!”

I sat up and wiped off my own face and helped Anita with hers. I ignored her glare. “I didn't know you were such a water baby, Karen.”

Anita huffed. “She loves the ocean. We haven't seen it in a few years, though.”

“Are there any lakes nearby?” I asked and both women nodded.

“It's in prime hunting land.” Karen said. “I'd love to go swimming there if it wouldn't kill me to be so exposed.”

I nodded in understanding and looked from Anita to Karen. “So, which of you wants a massage first?”

“Me!” They both said at the same time.

“That narrows it down for me. Thanks.” I joked and they both laughed.

“We kind of tortured Anita with this, so she can go first.” Karen said. “This time.”

I chuckled and got the hint. I motioned for Anita to come closer and started to give her a sensual massage in the hot water. She almost immediately relaxed and rested back against the side of the tub. I took ten minutes to do it and she was practically boneless when I was done, so I hooked her arms on the side of the tub and glanced at Karen.

“Oh, god.” Karen whispered and blushed.

I slid over to her and gave her the same treatment. I made sure to not grab her ass more than necessary and I left her just as boneless as Anita when I was done massaging her. I cast Cleaning Hands on them as well to make them tingle all over, then rested in the tub myself.

Half an hour later, I had to force them to get out and to dry off. Even threats that they were getting water-logged and all wrinkly hadn't been effective in getting them motivated to leave the bath. I had to carry them to the large bed and they both gave me looks of desire.

“Karen first this time.” I whispered and then made slow passionate love to her. In the middle of changing positions, Karen went down on me and started to give me an enthusiastic blowjob. I gave a significant look to Anita, which made her remember Karen swearing to not do that to me tonight. She leaned forward and kissed me to muffle her laugh.

I soon finished for Karen, making her very happy, and moved on to Anita. She was only slightly more enthusiastic, because she was still relaxed from the bath, and we made love until we both finished.

*

The week passed by with us familiarizing ourselves with both the science station and the local area. We pretty much treated it like a vacation and no one bothered us or approached The Bear to steal it again.

Of course, I took time away from the girls and scouted out the local hunting grounds as I deployed more turrets and traps. I was a little surprised when I found several wolves and they wouldn't let me approach. I wasn't going to push things, so I left them alone while also warning them of the dangers.

I also made a quick trip to city hall to deal with a little problem that I needed to handle without the girls knowing. Once I got the details I needed, I had a little bit of fun.

*

On the day of Karen's appointment, we drove The Bear onto the science station's property and parked it right in front of the two storey building's front door with The Bear's side door facing it. Karen opened the door and stepped out wearing her full Hunter outfit, upgraded subtly by me of course, and Anita and I stepped out behind her wearing our own Hunting outfits. I slid the door closed and locked it, then we went inside.

The people in the lobby were staring at us, stunned. I smiled and nodded to each of them as we walked past to go to the receptionist's desk.

“I'm Karen Holden. I have a ten o'clock appointment with Director Stevens.” Karen said, confidently.

The woman stared at her for about five seconds, then she shook herself and grabbed for the telephone. She fumbled it and silently cursed, then picked it up and dialed the director's office. She had a hushed conversation with him, nodded, and hung up the phone.

“He's been expecting you.” The woman said.

I knew he was running towards us and whispered to Anita and Karen to watch the stairs. Just then, several sounds came from up the stairs and a well dressed man wearing an expensive suit ran into sight and then ran, stumbled, and almost fell as he scrambled down the stairs.

The director was breathing heavily as he came to a stop a few feet away from us. His eyes roamed over us from head to toe and then he turned his head slightly and his mouth dropped open at the sight of The Bear right outside the double doors.

“Yes, it's real.” Karen said.

“You're hired!” The director said and turned to the receptionist. “Tell the team to get their things together immediately. They leave in an hour.”

“Yes, sir!” The woman said and started making calls.

“What's the capacity?” The director asked.

“Five passengers with some bulky equipment or ten passengers with only personal luggage.” Karen informed him and he nodded several times.

“You know of the pick-up condition two towns over?” The director asked.

“Yes.” Karen said. “If you have any more details about it, that would be helpful.”

The director nodded and walked around the receptionist's desk to get a file folder. “Here are the specific details. I'll send word that you will pick them up...” He stopped talking and looked at her. “How fast can you get there?”

“We got here in half a day from (odd mouth sounds).” Karen said, proudly.

Nearly everyone in the lobby made sputtering sounds of disbelief.

The director braced himself against the desk and took several breaths. “Complete this job without too much loss of life and I will recommend you to the Science Council as a preferred transport.”

Anita sucked in a sharp breath and looked shocked.

“You can count on us, sir.” Karen said with a beaming smile that could rival Angel's professional one.

An hour later, The Bear had some heavy equipment strapped securely to the roof behind the turret and had four mostly happy scientists strapped into the passenger area. Their personal gear was stored behind their seats and more equipment was secured in the middle of the compartment.

“This is the greatest thing I've ever seen!” A man's excited voice said as I drove out of the parking lot.

“It really is.” Karen agreed. “I fell in love with The Bear as soon as I saw it.”

“She actually loves the big gun more.” Anita said and the scientists nodded.

“I still can't believe that they didn't send any guards.” One of the scientists said. “It's standard procedure.”

“You have three guards and another would be a waste of space.” I said. “Plus, we have to pick another one of you up. There's no more room for anyone else.”

“We could move the equipment and...”

“You need to relax.” Another scientist said and pat the nervous man's hand. “We are travelling inside an armored vehicle that doesn't have to drive the speed limit. We'll be at our first destination by tonight and at the main facility in three days.”

“We have to pass through the main territory of the wolves!” The nervous man exclaimed.

Karen pat the turret console she sat behind. “Don't worry. This baby will make short work of the wolves, if any are stupid enough to approach.”

“Do you even know how to shoot that thing?” He asked.

Karen chuckled. “Damon, I'm running tactical drills as soon as we are outside the main barricades.”

I chuckled. “Do you want it smooth or off-road?”

“Off-road, please.” Karen said.

I nodded and then slowed down to a stop at the barricade that led to the right road for me to take.

The officer saw the placard in the windshield and his face changed to a scowl. “You are driving a police sanctioned repossessed vehicle.”

I pulled the repossession papers out and waved them at the officer. “You tell your chief of police that the next time he tries to steal from me, I'll do more than crush all of his personal cars.”

“You are under arrest!” The officer's scowl changed to anger and he reached for his gun, only to have nothing there.

“Did you know that destruction of superfluous personal property that takes up too much space was declared a necessity by law?” I asked and smiled. “I didn't commit a crime. I was cleaning up the city. Even the chief of police should only have one car... and now he does. The one his wife drives.”

The officer looked like he was going to punch me.

“The 50 calibre machine gun hasn't had a lot of targets lately. Don't make me decide that the police of the city don't need all of those police cars that are parked in their parking lots just sitting there.” I warned him and the man's face paled. “I'm keeping the approval placard and the illegal repossession order, just in case anyone else tries to rob me of my property.”

The officer seemed stunned and didn't say anything.

“Open the barricade.” I ordered in a command voice and the officer jumped slightly.

The officer made the open gesture and the barricade opened.

“Have a good day.” I said and drove out through the opening as I deposited his gun back into its holster.

“Damon, what was that about?” Anita asked and I passed her the papers. “Oh, those bastards.”

“Who wouldn't want a free vehicle?” I asked and she shook her head.

“I assume they tried this when we weren't near The Bear?” Anita asked and I nodded. “What happened?”

“They broke a crowbar trying to open it up.” I said with a smirk, going with the memory I gave to the repo man.

“HA!” Karen barked a laugh. “That's my Bear!”

Anita handed me the papers back and I tucked them under the police placard in the windshield.

“Okay, Karen. Load up.” I said and she let out a whoop and hit the release to raise the turret. “Anita, you're on the launcher. Give her something good.”

Anita huffed and pulled out the little control pad that the clay disc launcher used. We had picked it up to practice shooting our handguns and Karen had the crazy idea to mount the thing on the hull. It actually worked and we had a full container of a thousand discs to play with. They were cheap as dirt and could be bought all over the place, too. Apparently, using them for practice was a widely accepted option because of the looming wolf threat.

“You seem to be doing a lot more for Karen lately.” Anita whispered under her breath as she aimed the launcher and then hit the button to shoot out a clay disc.

Karen swung the turret over and hit the single shot trigger to explode the clay disc into dust.

“Going off-road!” I warned as I swerved around a car and drove off the side of the road.

We had to slow down a little and the ride didn't change much as it got a little rougher. The suspension on The Bear was excellent. I drove with one hand and reached my other hand over to lightly touch Anita's shoulder.

“I've been meaning to ask what you like to do.” I said and she looked at me with wide eyes. “I've only been discovering Karen's wants, likes, and desires since we met. You always seem to step aside for her and let her have fun.”

Anita sighed and hit the release again. Karen turned the turret slightly and shot that one down, too.

“If I'm asking for too much or you're not ready to open up about yourself, that's okay. I'll just keep saving you for last, whatever we do.”

Anita released a series of clay discs and turned to face me. “I... I want...” She stopped and shook her head.

“I can pretend to read your mind if you want.” I offered.

“If you could read my mind, I'd have to kill you.” Anita said with a smile.

I chuckled. “If you don't want me to go rooting around under all of that wonderful curly black hair, you should give me some clue as to what you want.” I said and glanced at her. “What you really want.”

Anita shot several more clay discs and waited for the explosions to stop before she sighed. “I want a normal life.” She admitted. “These little vacations we've been having have been the best and... I want more of that.”

I sat there and thought about it for several minutes. I ignored her pointed stare as I considered what she was really saying. She wanted a normal life. A life without having to hunt to make money, or worry about being attacked randomly, or putting herself into danger constantly.

“How long have you been doing this?” I asked.

“Too long.” Anita whispered.

“Okay.” I said.

Anita gave me a stern look. “Okay? What do you mean by okay?”

“I mean okay, I'll do my best to give you a normal life.” I said.

For some reason, I felt a feeling of rightness fill me. What I just said was the right thing to say and I knew that I needed to keep that feeling going. I tried to compose the words to make sure I did so.

“I've already started curbing the wolves and their movements.” I said and that right feeling persisted. “I've taken steps and will continue to do so as we travel across the country.”

Anita's stern look became surprise. “Damon, what are you saying?”

“I think that's my purpose for being here. To give you a normal life.” I said and the rightness feeling fluctuated. “To give everyone a normal life.”

My heart seemed to beat twice at the same time and that rightness feeling almost burned through my veins. I hadn't felt anything like it before and I wasn't sure what to do about that... then I noticed something on my Map of the country. There was a slightly glowing yellow dot located two states over from where we were going.

I had accidentally found one of the other three heroes.