I looked to Richmond, as he shuffled toward Gallows and Angela.

"You're going to do this in front of your granddaughter?" I asked him, but he was silent, as he turned and faced me, a smirk on his face.

I looked from him to Gallows who was now smiling, clenching and unclenching her fists, waiting.

I took my time, keeping my eyes on her the whole time, as I slowly brought it to my head and then tugged it quick over my face.

And, Gallows was in the air, leg extended, in an attempt to kick my head. I moved to the side quick and punched at her, as she landed. She twisted her body with the blow, as it landed on her shoulder, brought her right fist up and around, and caught me in the pit of my extended arm.

A jolt of pain tore down my arm, and I tried to dance back from her, stopping as I knocked into a table. Gallows was quick in her approach, and I dodged a hard punch that left a hole in the wall where I had been. I got a quick shot into her gut and stepped beside her, bringing another punch into her back, trying to get to her kidneys, but she moved again, twisted with the punch again, and her leading leg came up and into my shoulders, tossing me aside, as she continued her turn.

I caught myself on a chair, spun, and quickly ducked another kick, sidestepped another punch, and came up with a jab to her face that she easily batted away. She tried to get in a punch to my face, but I leaned aside, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into an upraised knee in her gut.

She wrapped her free arm around my raised leg, lifted, and turned, pulling me around, my other leg clipping the coffee table. I fell forward, but she still held my leg, causing it to twist in a way that it was never meant to go.

I jerked it away and was quick to my feet, limping slightly, as I stepped back, my left leg tight and throbbing. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Richmond had hobbled his way around toward the front door. I looked back to Gallows who was still smiling, planting her feet.

I reached beside me and grabbed a lamp, chucking it hard toward Richmond. Gallows sprang into action, just as I thought she would, moving quick to intercept the lamp and protect Richmond. I moved into action too, leaping over the couch and kicking out, catching Gallows right upside her head, just as she caught the lamp.

I landed on my feet, as she braced herself on the wall. I swung out and she moved, my fist taking a chunk out of the wall. I jumped aside of a kick from her and grabbed her leg, but she just leapt off the other one, brought it around and into my neck and head.

My fall forward was stopped by Gallows brining one of her arms around my neck and pulling me against her. I grabbed at her arm, as I kicked up and planted my feet on the wall, pushing back, just as she let go of me and stepped aside.

It was not the most graceful fall I'd ever made.

I rolled to avoid a stomp, and my attempt to get to my feet was cut off by a kick to my face. She grabbed my shirt and lifted me to my feet, head-butting me once I was up. Then, she grabbed my arm, turned, and bent quick, pulling me over her shoulder and tossing me over the couch and into the coffee table beyond.

This was getting insane.

I stood up and then ducked, as something sailed over my head and through the sliding glass doors to the balcony. I glanced over my shoulder to check it out which was a bad idea because, as I turned back around, I found Gallows in front of me, crouched and moving. She grabbed me around the waist and kept going, picking me up and carrying me through the doorframe and out onto the balcony.

My back hit the railing, and I started to go over, but I grabbed her just under her arms. If I was going, she was coming with me. And, she didn't seem to mind that because she pushed off the balcony, and the two of us flipped over the railing and into the air.

We tumbled through the air, her taking and landing a couple swings on me, me just trying to position myself for some sort of landing that wouldn't knock the fight out of me. But, her punches were awfully distracting.

She twisted, planted her feet on me, and pushed down, just as I tore into the roof of a parked car. She leapt off of me just fine.

Ouch.

I pulled myself out of the roof and looked up.

"Shit," I said aloud, and I jumped from the car and hit the street with a roll, just as another car landed where I had been.

I looked at the entangled mess that had been two cars for a moment and tuned to try and find Gallows. She was under the front end of another car, trying to lift the entire thing off the ground and having little trouble doing it.

"How freakin' strong are you?" I asked.

She chucked the car at me with only a smile. I jumped high to get over it, as it hit the road and skid under me. As soon as I landed, she was in the air, leg out, aiming right for my gut. I pushed it away and thrust my palm right into her nose hard. She fell back and onto the pavement, sliding past me a bit and then rolling and pushing herself to her feet in one fluid movement.

"Why again are we doing this?" I asked.

"You wish to turn Doctor Richmond in," she said, rolling her shoulders in a sort of stretch, while she planted her feet, balled up her fists, and sized me up again.

"And, you're sticking up for him?"

She nodded.

"Okay, just making sure."

And, I charged her. She stepped to the right, just as I shifted in that direction, figuring I had a fifty/fifty shot of guessing where she'd move. Unless she jumped. Or stayed where she was. Or any number of things.

But, she moved where I wanted her to, and I tackled her.

Only problem was that she went along with it, throwing her weight back and grabbing onto me as I hit her, causing the tackle to become more of a flip where she ended up on top of me, as I hit the road hard. And, as if I didn't hit it hard enough, she slammed my head back again for good measure.

"Stay down, Jeffery," she said, as she straddled my body and pinned my arms.

"Oh, we're on a first name basis now?"

"FREEZE!"

I leaned my head back, as Gallows looked up, a couple cops standing a good couple yards away, guns ready. I looked back to Gallows to see a wicked grin on her face.

"Be good, Gallows," I said, and she looked to me, kept the smile.

And then, she was on her feet and running away. I scrambled to my feet and took off after her, ignoring the shouts of the cops behind us, the rapport of one too eager officer firing at me, her, us.

She was fast. But, I was faster, gaining on her. She turned a corner, and I had a feeling that I should have taken the same turn a little slow and easy just in case, but, if she hadn't stopped, any slowing down on my part would mean she'd get away.

So, I hit the corner full speed and went face first into one hell of a punch that nearly took my head off.

My hit to the sidewalk was quickly followed by Gallows's foot in my throat, pushing, threatening.

"Stay down, Jeffery," she said again, as she pushed harder.

"I am not seeking to harm you or anyone in this city, Jeffery," I heard the voice of William Richmond say from somewhere nearby, but I was too busy trying to push Gallows's foot off my throat and having no luck.

Christ, how strong was this chick?

"That lives have been lost is an unfortunate necessity to save many more," said Richmond, as he stopped next to me and slowly crouched down, slipping something into my pants pocket.

I quickly reached for him, figured, if I grabbed him, I could get free, but Gallows had other ideas, putting all of her weight into the foot on my throat and bringing her other leg around, kicking my arm away, as Richmond stood back upright with a groan.

"You are this city's best hope, Jeffery," Richmond called to me, as he walked away. "And, you know it as well as I do."

I heard a car door close and watched Gallows head turn to probably follow the thing driving away. After a moment, she looked back to me with a full smile.

"Until next time, Mister Carter," she said, pushing hard and off of my throat and breaking into a sprint down the sidewalk.

I was gagging for air too much to give much in the way of a chase.

I rolled over to my hands and knees and hacked and coughed in order to breathe, rubbing my neck with one hand, as I slowly stood up and braced myself against a car with my other hand.

Now, that was an ass kicking.

Cassandra.

I started to move, turned the corner, and ran back toward her apartment building, police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, a discotheque of rescue vehicles' flashing lights. I ran toward them, ignored the cops holding up their hands to tell me to stop and past them, past the first couple cars, and stopping when I saw the man I knew would be there.

"Officer Self," I shouted, breaking his attention away from a small group of officers he had been speaking to. I ran up to the group and nodded quick. "Did you get Cooper and Sign?"

"Cooper's being drugged now," said Self. "We'll transport him when we know he's out. Sign's being rushed to St. Vincent's. You did one hell of a number on him."

"And, how's Miss Trellis?" I asked, not really caring what state Frank Sign was in.

"She was asleep the whole time."

"Induced," I said. "It had to have been."

"She's being checked on. What happened here, Bush?"

"Cooper and Sign where here," I said. "I beat them up."

"Were the ladies here?"

"Not that I noticed."

"What happened up there?"

I looked up to where Self cocked his head, curtains billowing out of the frame of Cassandra's balcony doors.

"I went to check up on Miss Trellis," I said, looking back to Self.

"Why?"

"To make sure she was okay."

"Why, though? Why her specifically?"

"Because of her association with Mister Carter and how these guys seemed to go right for him Saturday night," I said. "I thought that this might be related, that they might have been going for her, and I went to make sure she was fine."

"And, what happened?"

"Someone else was up there, and I got my ass kicked. Why am I getting the third degree here, Officer?"

"Because I've got a lot of questions I can't answer just by looking around," he said. "And, you don't normally stick around long enough for us to get any info from ya, so I'm going to do what I can while I've got the chance."

"Well, time's up," I said. "I've got work to do."

I turned and started to walk away, but Self called out.

"Bush," he shouted, and I turned slightly to look back to him. He wasn't looking at me; he was looking at the pavement somewhere between and to the side of us. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For helping catch these guys," he said, looking to me now.

"Do you have what you need to keep them secure?"

"We'll make do."

That would be a no.

I nodded and turned away again, walking past the emergency vehicles and through the small crowd that had started to gather, that parted for me like I was Moses, and I found an alley and a fire escape and went to do my roof thing.

I ran and jumped back the way I came, stopping by the alley where I had left my coat and fishing it out of the dumpster. Then, I made my way to Isiah's.

All of the lights were off when I walked in. I flipped a light switch by the door and was surprised to see Isiah passed out on the couch. I turned off the light and crept down the hall and into his room, changing real quick into jeans and a t-shirt, anything but a suit, something that looked like I just threw it on after hearing the news of the night. Something that said I had not been out and about in a mask, leaping around from rooftop to rooftop, beating up baddies.

I emptied my old pants pockets and crammed key, phone, everything into my jean pockets, and I grabbed a ball-cap, as I headed for the door. I had just opened it when I heard Isiah stirring.

"'Sup, Jeffery?" he asked, shielding his eyes from the light coming from the hallway outside.

"Just in and out right now, Isiah," I said. "I'll probably not be back tonight."

"Cool," he said, rolling over.

"You all right, Isiah?"

"I'll get by," he said, and his tone said that was the end of that conversation.

So, I left and headed back toward Cassandra's.