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Fatal Instinct
Chapter 12
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Half a dozen filled the empty stools of the bar in less than a minute. Some would smoke cigarettes while others chose to ask for a drink.
Anna sat in the middle of the cigarette-polluted air and indistinct clamor, listening to the laid-back house music easing her mood. She expected Bruce to smoke a cigarette with the other patrons, yet he had not even bothered to reach into his pocket.
"Not up for a smoke today?"
His eyes rose. "Hm? Oh, nah. I gave it up for Elisa's sake…and mine."
Ganryu had bits of crumbs spilling from his lips as he took huge bites of his sandwich. Through the comical chomping sounds he made, she could see the bread crumbs dotting his face.
Anna sighed.
Every few minutes she would gaze at the wall-mounted television screen and take a sip of her strawberry daiquiri through the bent straw. Her bandaged ankle still swelled with pain, and she had to use crutches to get around. On most occasions, the healing process took four-to-six weeks. Since returning, she had to put ice on it as well as keep it elevated. Bruce and Ganryu advised her to rest and stay off her ankle, but sitting and doing nothing was too boring for her to bear; they figured it was up to her and left it at that.
Before she could turn to the door again, she felt a tap at her shoulder; it was Steve.
"Hey, sweetie." She struggled to stand and embrace him. "What took you so long?"
"Doesn't matter." He said with a smile. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"I guess that's all that counts." She took his hands, frowned, and massaged them. "Sorry for bringing you into all that mess."
He seemed unaffected by it. "Wasn't your fault. I'm just glad its over. So, how long are you gonna stay here?"
Anna sighed, looking down at his sneakers. "Unfortunately, our flight leaves tonight. We're going home legally this time. Right, Ganryu?" She laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. He almost dropped his sandwich and held onto it tight.
Steve frowned. "That's a shame. Wish you could stay more. I'd like to catch up on things."
"Don't worry. I'll come back and visit. You still have my number, too. Maybe next time I'll drag Nina's stubborn ass along for the ride." She got a snicker from Ganryu. Bruce kept his stare on the television as it cut to commercial. "Well, sweetie, we better go pack." Her rear rose off the barstool, feeling the harsh draft underneath her skirt.
When he hugged her, she did not want to let go. Here she could smell the soapy scent in his hair as she brought her lips to his cheek. She wanted to stay and spend more time with him, get to know the young lad that her sister did not. It felt like she would never see him again, although she knew she would.
Bruce and Ganryu stood with her, yawning and stretching from stiffness and fatigue. Bruce gave her a nod, a sign asking if she was ready to leave. She nodded back to him and planted a few more kisses on Steve's face. "You be a good boy and behave yourself. You're a Williams, so act like it." Her mouth went to his ear, whispering. "And don't tell anyone my secret, k?
"Sure thing, auntie."
Anna smiled.
'Auntie. Has a nice ring to it.'
"I'll be leaving the country soon." Steve added in. "Gotta gal that's waiting for me."
"Yeah?"
"Yup. I call her…boxing." He smiled and chuckled. She did the same.
"You two wanna cut down on the mushy crap so we can get going?" Bruce interrupted as he slanted his eyebrows. "I still gotta pick up Elisa from the babysitter when we get back."
"Yes, sir!" Anna imitated the stance of a military soldier, gave Bruce a mock salute, and waved farewell to her nephew.
"You take orders from this dinosaur?" Steve asked her aloud, pointing with his thumb at the seasoned veteran.
"Watch your mouth, kid." Bruce retorted with a glare. "Don't think just because your Anna's nephew that I won't kick those pearly whites down your throat. Show some damn respect." He hissed.
Steve had a smug smile on his face. "Easy, pops. Don't bust a vein on my account."
Anna grasped his hand and began pulling him to the door. "Bruce, sweetie, you're holding us up. Come on."
He gave Steve another hard glare before walking out. Anna waved to her nephew again and followed Bruce outside on her crutch. When she noted they were alone, she looked behind them. "Where's Ganryu?"
He grumbled with his arms folded, flicking his head in the direction of the door. "In the john. Don't be surprised if everyone comes running out here gasping for air."
They both laughed at the joke as it lightened the mood for both of them. They had not laughed that hard in years.
Anna stared at Bruce as he picked the lent from his shirt. Then she rubbed his hand to gain his attention and grinned. "'Member when you and I first met?"
He raised his head, smiling. "Yeah. How could I forget? Ol' Kazuya was giving ya a hard time over something and I took the blame for it."
"And it wasn't even your fault to begin with. That was sweet." She said, looking at a few cars that passed them by on the road. "We actually owe Kaz a bit of thanks." As shocking as it sounded, it could not be farther from the truth.
His eyes seemed to still in confusion. "For what?"
"Well," she picked a piece of skin from her fingernail, "he kinda introduced us to each other. If it wasn't for him, we probably would not have met."
He nodded. "Spose you're right." Next, he laughed. "'Member when you and Ganryu met? You almost kicked his ass when he accidentally ate your lunch."
"Yeah, but he was so sweet. Apologizing and giving up his own lunch to make it up to me." She swung her arms back-and-forth, as if she was doing an aerobic exercise. "Ahhh, memor—ah!" She almost fell after letting go of her crutch, but Bruce caught her by the waist.
"Anna," his tone of voice changed, "about what I said the other night…I…I didn't mean those words." He had his hands behind his back, scraping his foot against the sidewalk.
Anna's expression converted into a pout, recalling the event like it was yesterday. "That really hurt, Bruce."
"Didn't mean for it." He rubbed a hand at his Mohawk without making eye contact with her. "Those painkillers really got to me. I got so freakin' irritable by everything I couldn't think straight. I was so tired and messed up. My doctor told me I get too stressed out and advised me to take a vacation and get away from the stress, hence apart of why I came here. "
It was just as she thought. "You took them for your shoulder pain, didn't you?" She watched him with interrogating eyes.
"Yes, but how did you know about that?"
"Ganryu found out about the surgery and told me. You really had us worried there. I know you like to think you're invincible and have everyone think the same, but you should tell us these things."
He took a short walk away from her. "I couldn't help it. The pain was really nagging at times. I was so upset when you were keeping things from me that I didn't wanna tell you about my surgery. Guess my ego got the best of me."
"What if Elisa knew? What if the kids who looked up to you knew?" Anna did not even give him the chance to answer. "Speaking of Elisa, you really didn't think about her. Coming with me almost killed you. She could have been left without an uncle."
"I know that, Anna." He said with a tinge of irritability and guilt in his voice. "That's why I stopped taking the pills when I realized what they were doing to me. I feel bad enough I took them unprescribed. Elisa's got it rough. She doesn't need it any rougher."
"You were rough on me, you know."
"Yeah. I just felt you went back on your promise, kid. I mean, I had other women friends before you and I never could trust them because they lied to me and didn't have my trust. After I met you, I grew to like you because you weren't like that. That's why I made that pact with ya."
"But Bruce, there are things I have to keep secret. You can't be mad at me for not telling you certain things about what I do for a living."
He gave her a slow nod. "I have come to understand that there are things you can't always share with me about that. I was just being stubborn and the pain killers didn't help."
Anna had her back turned toward him, silent.
"So, do you forgive me?"
"I guess." She shrugged. "Under one condition: you never do anything stupid like that again."
"Deal. You wanna shake on it to make it official?" Bruce extended his hand to her.
She looked at it. "Nah, that's fine. I trust you." Her eye winked at him.
"Cool. Then it's settled." He leaned back against the wall, arms folded behind his head.
"Good. Then I believe I owe you something."
"What?"
Anna limped over to where he was and stood on tiptoe, inching her lips toward his cheek. Then, soon as his guard was down, she delivered the hardest slap she could muster to the side of his face. A small echo had followed with the impact.
He rubbed the side of his cheek where she had hit him, wincing some. "I guess I deserved that." She slapped him three more times, each one faster than the last. "All right, I guess I deserved those too."
It hurt to do that, but she felt she had every right to. "Damn right you do. Now we're even." Giggling, her arms went around his waist. "I love you, Bruce!" She said in a singsong voice.
He looked at the people walking past them as did she, their faces giving off awkward stares. "Um…same to you, kid."
At last, Ganryu stepped out, also giving an awkward stare at their public embracement. "Did I miss something?"
Bruce put his arm around her back to return the hug. "Not a word from you, Ganryu."
Thus began their slow walk away from the bar.
Bruce's chuckle grew into a laugh.
"What's so funny?" Anna and Ganryu said in unison.
"Nobody's gonna know or even suspect that three losers like us saved the world."
Anna nodded and shrugged without concern. "Yeah, but who cares? You get used to it. Would you really want all those reporters and journalist pestering you all the time?"
He shrugged too. "Guess you're right. It's best if nobody but us knows."
"So, where do we go from here, guys?" asked Ganryu as he trailed behind them.
Anna gave him a sideways glance. "Well, we're the heroes, right? We simply walk toward the sunset and disappear. In my case, I'll limp."
"But it's dark out…"
"Use your imagination!" She pushed him and laughed.
"Um…okay."
"As I said, we simply walk toward the sunset and disappear."
Using their imagination, they did so, as a trio, as friends, and as heroes…
Author's Note Finally, another saga completed. However, things do not stop there. While I was doing this story, I developed plans for yet another sequel. I love the series so much I can't part with it. I hope you all enjoyed my story and will do the same for the sequel. I actually have some scenes for Fatal Instinct 3 typed out, so it won't take forever for me to submit it.
As always, I would like to thank users such as Jc-1225, Reivax-MTG, Caliqula II, Akido-Kasshin-Ryu, heaven-monument, Indigo Siren, MistyInfinity, and Kapsule Corp for reading and enjoying the fic. Much appreciated.
Gadgets and notes
Anna's Kevlar body suit: For those of you familiar with Death by Degrees, this is the same suit except that it's been modified and equipped with spy weapons and gadgets. It contains a cooling system to keep Anna cool and moist when in hot areas. Same goes for it having a system to keep her warm though cold areas. It's not exactly perfect, as sometimes the system doesn't always work.
Gauntlets: Usually these are equivalent to Batman's gauntlets, offering protection around the arms. The gauntlets with the sticky foam projectile Anna used on Abel were untested and fabricated by Doctor Boskonovitch, Abel's rival. Since Abel only knew of the weapons she constantly carried, Anna believed he wouldn't suspect her of using an untested gadget against him. It wasn't even intended for Abel, not until he left her with no other alternative but to use it. In short, she took a gamble, which could have cost her her life if it had not worked.
Magnetic ring: A casual looking ring at first glance, but it's really a ring with a powerful magnetic attraction. Anna just simply has to aim it at the thing she wants to come to her.
Dr. Abel: Abel had made his body entirely robotic, wanting to rid himself entirely of being human and having human