Dangerous by Default

53. Toodles, losers!

Mina and Caine looked from the lifeless form on their apartment floor that once resembled Pechaude to face the gunman standing behind them. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. The lines between reality and what could only be described as the plot of a thriller had blurred far more than Mina could process. Was this really her life? Kidnappings, super villains and an increasing body count. Yes, she was used to her fair share of violence and oddities when it came to the risk stunts. And her work at Dimensions. But there had always been a certain level of control. A certain level of power to be gained from the situations. That's what made them exciting. Her life had been like a train, making necessary stops and detours when it made sense, but always having a plan in mind. A track to follow towards her destination. The day Pechaude was shot in their apartment, Mina realized that the brakes of the train had been broken, and they raced faster and faster with no clear direction. It was only a matter of time before they flew off the tracks completely.

Smoke rose from the revolver in Janus' hand. Dressed in what looked to be a military-grade crimson unitard, she smiled back at them with a gleam in her eyes that gave her the resemblance to a cat who had cornered its prey. Adrenaline pumped through Mina's body, but her mind could find no immediate course of action that wouldn't end with her, or both of them, dead.

"Well, he certainly was a drag. One less tranny chaser for us to worry about, right gorge?" Janus' eyes stayed set on them. Neither of them uttered a word in reply. "Cat got your tongue, babes? I thought we were closer than this.."

Mina was parched by the tension in her body, swallowing dry air before she could speak. A choked "Why?" was all she could muster.

"Oh dear, where are my manners-" Janus bluntly laughed, "Well for starters, my name isn't Janus. Blech. From now on you can call me White Wing--"

"It was you at the lab." Caine interrupted to Mina's surprise.

"That's right, big boy. Matter of fact, I've been the one causing a ruckus this whole time. Using Ami for info, killing Jeff Stanson, The museum fiasco, kidnapping Ami, even getting good ol' Pechaude involved. You guessed it. It was all me!"

The pride in White Wing's voice turned Mina's fear into a searing hatred.

"You're after Dimensions," Mina frowned at the crimson figure, "And you obviously know enough about the womb project to know it's worth. Otherwise you wouldn't have gone such ridiculous lengths just to steal it from us."

"Bingo! All thanks to my 'can do' attitude." said White Wing, putting her free hand on her hip and aiming the gun at Mina. "And as much as I love this little Q&A moment, I still have a timeline to stick to. It's not everyday I get to takeover a multimillion dollar company and learn the secret recipe for creating an army of megadweebs. At Least, that's what the Doves have planned for it. So what's the deal, sis? Care to tell me where the womb is?"

Mina looked to Caine, a bead of sweat rolling from her forehead only to sting her right eye. She didn't flinch. "Or what, you'll kill us? Seems like a better choice than letting you play god with my project."

"How fucking valiant of you," White Wing arched her brow with an even deeper sneer. "But I was thinking my little handymen could have some real fun with Ami-bear. It's rare that they get to administer a slow and painful death, I know they'd love to..."

Caine spoke with a flat but serious voice, "No way in hell."

"Then give me the device!"

"We hear you. The womb is yours, it's in the other room."

Frozen in time, Mina was too fluster to be sure what to do.

Caine looked at her with a blank face, "We don't have a choice, do we?"

Mina watched in horror as Caine walked to the kitchen, White Wing's gun still pointed at her head.

"There's a good boy. No funny business please. Pechaude's spilled enough blood for everyone... wouldn't want Mina and Ami joining him."

Yep. The train had definitely flown clear off the rails... Mina was just waiting for it to crash. Caine returned with the same bag that they used to carry the womb out of the lab with, handing it to White Wing before taking a place at Mina's side.

"I knew I could count on you two to do the right thing" White Wing put an extra dose of sarcasm on her tongue, opening the bag with the gun still firmly in her hand. She looked inside. "You've really outdone yourself, gorge. It's very pretty. Glad Caine was smart enough to include the goop, too."

"Didn't want to waste anymore of your time" Caine said flatly.

"So considerate! I can almost see why you bother to keep him around," White Wing winked at Mina as she tossed the bag over her shoulder. "Well! This has been fun, but, I've gotten everything I need out of you losers. Toodles!"

Without another word, White Wing was out the door, leaving them alone with Pechaude's corpse. And no womb.