Never Look Back

Chapter Thirteen

Jade

To most people, the thought of skinny dipping in snowy Alaska would be on the Not To Do list, but to a group of drunken loonies breaking into the nearby hot springs, it was a very good idea. Gunther and Liu were quick to disappear when the clothes went flying. A horny Suki cornered Mally and now they were cuddled up in the corner, leaving me to enjoy the beautiful night with my Ash. Poor fellow was just about asleep when the twins came bursting in to declare we were going out. To look at him now, you would never know he was out of his element. Not even the northern lights dancing up in the sky could outshine him. His features were pink from the cold, but the lazy smirk of his means he must've gotten used to it at this point.

"It sure is a pretty night huh," I say, forcing his arms around me. I let my fingers trace along his chest hair, "Sorry we didn't get to sleep before our big suicide misson."

"Eh, sleeping is way too healthy and overrated anyway. Though I have been wondering, how do you plan on taking down an entire prison with just the six of us?" He asked as he absently played with my hair.

I chuckled, "I figured you would know me well enough by now to realize that I always go out with a bang."

"I have to admit I actually don't know that much about you, but I know one thing for sure. I am glad I met you, and if we both manage to survive this- all of this- not just the shit up here, I would like to get to know you more. If that's okay with you that is." Ash stuttered, his face flushed.

I kissed him. I don't deserve someone like him, and I wasn't sure how to say thank you to the person I was most likely leading to his death. We stayed like that until the sun started to rise. I jumped out of the water, "Welp, I guess we should go find our clothes. I don't know about you guys, but I am definitely not comfortable enough with my body to go blow up a prison stark ass naked."

"Don't worry about those rags you had on," Suki grumbled as she untangled herself from a hungover Mally, "New clothes are inside. If we are gonna die today, we sure as hell are going to look good doing it."

Typical Suki. She obviously drew inspiration from the old Power Ranger cartoons when she made the jumpsuits. I was red much to Ash's dismay. He was just being sulky because Suki had him as the pink ranger. I thought he looked good. Suki and Liu were blue and yellow while Mally was green. Gunther, who has always been my second in command, was the black ranger.
Once our drunken team managed to get dressed and organized, our last meeting began,"First, we hit the prison and rescue Charlie. Then we're gonna commandeer the warden's ride to Hector's mansion. Destroy and blow all that shit up and kill everyone who tries to kill us. Simple enough, am I right?"

"Jade," Suki, the boldest of my team, spoke up, "We've been talking and we don't think your boy over here should go. He's not been trained like the rest of us, and the weak link in a team is definitely going to be where Hector will strike. Kill the heart, kill the soul kinda thing."

Ash immediately jumped up, ready for a fight. He already made his intentions clear about being by my side. I held up my hand, and they all shut the hell up, "Ash can take care of himself. He's saved my ass more than a couple of times, and if any of you think for a damn second that my feelings for him are going to influence how I act, you'd be right. I love this sexy, pink wearing man, and I love every single one of you assholes in this room. I don't want any of you getting hurt, but I can't do this on my own. Ash is one of us now, and he will hold his own. Just give him a chance."

After a few murmurs of understanding, we headed out. The prison wasn't an official, legal establishment. If I recall correctly, Hector made a lot of powerful enemies throughout his life, and after the incident with his boy, he created this place where he could keep opposers in check. Usually they fake a plane crash, or suicide, whatever. Then the paid guards keep the poor bastards in check for an automatic life sentence. The place itself was hidden in the lowest part of a valley that was so far away from any kind of civilization, if anyone did escape they probably wouldn't make it too far if they weren't prepared. The stone building was a little small for a prison camp, but it had a pretty decent looking exercise yard. The huge ass artillery towers helped add an extra layer of intimidation, but they were no match for Ol Betsy. She was an 8 pounder cannon that was retrieved from a pirate ship off in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and then restored to pristine condition by a fellow weapons enthusiast. A lot of persuasion and a few modifications later, I adopted Ol Betsy as my own. She was still a whopping 1600 pounds, but my friend remodeled her to only need one person to operate. Back in the cannon's prime, it would have taken a crew of four or five men to load and fire her, but now all I need to do is load about six of those iron cannonballs in the barrel to do a moderate amount of damage.