At least half of them flee, which makes this much less painful. The others are down within moments, before any of them can fire. One of them tries to raise his weapon again. Colleen needs barely tap her blade against it, using only a tiny bit of the force that flows through fist and katana both to shatter the gun’s front half.
It’s that guy she then grabs and hauls upward to demand, “Who are you working for? Sherry Yang?” She hasn’t seen her this past week and a half, but she’s pretty damn sure she survived. That alone raises her suspicions.
“Hatchet Gang’s got nothing to do with this,” he hisses. “All I know’s this is for Mr. Zhong, and we were just carrying them tonight.” His eyes are wide, his voice earnest. Colleen’s inclined to believe whatever he tells her, or at least think he believes it.
That’s not much, in the end, and while this is the second time she’s heard about a Mr. Zhong, his minions don’t seem to know much about him. Half an hour later, Colleen’s walking through her door feeling like she’s accomplished too little tonight.
Her first destination is the fridge, where she wolfs down the leftover takeout, wishing she had some breadstuff on hand, but the owners of her favorite bakery are dead. She liked to keep a lot of their wares on hand. Anything with carbs, really. She understands now why Danny was such a big eater.
She looks around her dojo as she eats. There are stacks of paper on the floor where her guests from today left them, though at least Bethany always makes sure to leave them properly arranged on an appropriate surface. There’s a man’s sneaker in the corner, she’s not sure whose.
As she turns for the bedroom, she can’t help but think of that night two weeks ago now, when she and Danny made love one last time. Up until his death, she wondered if that had been a good idea or not. Now, she refuses to regret it, even if it probably makes her heart hurt all the more.
But tonight, she instead finds on top of her bed a certain police captain who is maybe making herself a little too much at home in Colleen’s space. Her dojo somehow became the hub for everybody in Manhattan’s vigilante circles gathering to be supportive of each other in this difficult time, even one guy who was only connected to Frank Castle, and they’ve all slept here at least once. But Misty’s been her most frequent guest, coming down to exchange updates with her, or maybe just not be alone.
She starts awake when Colleen plops down, then glances up at the clock. “Wow, is it already…I’m sorry, Colleen, I only meant to lie down for a minute or so…and now it’s a bit late to be trying to head home, especially if you’ve got anything to tell me first-do you mind if I crash on your couch again?”
Colleen thinks about it a moment, then finds herself saying, “You know, we can share the bed if you want. I shared smaller with other girls a lot when I was young.”
“Sounds good,” and Misty barely pauses long enough to kick her shoes off before shuffling herself under the blanket. She really has not been getting enough sleep this past week and a half.
Colleen herself takes the time to change into proper sleepwear, though she doesn’t bother showering. She’s a little surprised when Misty’s still awake to watch her climb into bed herself and click the lamp off.
It reminds her a few nights right after Midland Circle, confessing things to Danny in the dark she hadn’t been able to talk about any other way. He confessed a thing or two himself, but he didn’t have the sins on his conscience she did. And now, of course, she says, “I actually did hear a thing or two tonight, though I don’t know how useful that’ll be to you.”
When she’s related the night’s events, Misty says, “I’ve heard a whisper or two about Zhong myself, though I don’t think he’s coming near Harlem right now. I’ll keep my ears open if you want.
Oh, and I meant to tell you, too; the guy with the friend in City Hall seems convinced they’ll get most of the bureaucratic processes going again almost as soon as they’ve gotten though Ross’ visit to the city. That’ll probably keep you very busy at the center for a few days.”
“Good,” Colleen sighs, glad, even though she knows such days and nights will leave her so exhausted she’ll probably need to eat half her weight just to stay awake, the way she did during the events that brought Danny and Ward back to New York-it’s hard to believe that all happened less than a month ago. She might have to let Marci handle some of the inheritance business without her.
“Goodnight,” Misty says, and Colleen can hear her smile through the darkness. She thinks it helps settle the power in her down a little, makes it easier to close her eyes, and to once again fall asleep listening to someone else’s breathing.