The next two and a half weeks were spent negotiating a deal between the Pinchers and the mayor. The mayor would sanction them as Davton’s own Traveller’s Guild, and employ them to create online travel guides, gather information, guide and protect people along the best and safest routes. He would also allow them to sell off premium trading information, and let them to render their services to whomever they choose, so long as Davton remained at the top of their priorities list.
In return, Davton will exact a set yearly fee, be able to veto their hiring decisions, and subject them to random inspections and audits. As a result, the Pinchers were no more, and many were fired if they didn’t prove useful enough upon closer scrutiny. Others quit to join other groups and working parties, or split off into their own ventures. But just as many people joined this new guild to even out the numbers back to just over one-hundred.
Touch and Shrike handled most of the back and forth negotiating behind closed doors, with Rachel mostly acting as the mouthpiece when it came to the mayor. Memorizing all the technicalities and legalese sapped the energy from Rachel’s very soul and she longed for the negotiations to be over.
Touch was eager to train the former-Pinchers in his ways of intelligence gathering and analysis, in return for cross training with the bounty hunters for all the insider information in their field. And of course Rachel and Touch spent a healthy amount of time sparing with the bounty hunters and practicing their shooting in the wilderness.
Anea was more interested in following the negotiations and the investigation and trial of the thugs they caught, even if she wasn’t allowed back on the case, than in going out and enjoying the festivities, which everyone did occasionally, even Touch and Shrike went out a few times.
Other than that, Anea spent most of the month reading and talking to her adopted fathers on Touch’s computer. For whatever reason, saving Anea seems to have done a lot more good than harm for Aliston. AlGlobal took more interest in improving the quality of life in the lower ends with special reforms and programs. This, in turn, took power from gangs and organized crime, driving them underground. But the corporation’s increased presence, even if the use of enforcers had actually decreased, made any illegal activity, justified or not, much harder.
---
“You knew?” Touch says, “This whole time?”
Shrike has a sad smile on her face. “Of course, I do my homework.”
Touch finally rips off his mask, and sets it down on the table in Shrike's tent. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t want to drive you away.” She says, reaching out to for his face.
Touch takes her gloved hand in his and squeezes it tight. “I knew you must have. But on the off chance you didn’t-”
“You didn’t want to risk it. I understand. You have to look out for your people. You’re wanted and we’re bounty hunters.”
“So you know who they are?”
“Of course. Researching you was easy enough. Too easy, my bet’s half of it’s made up. I still don’t know who Rachel is. Other than your run in with AlGlobal and your terrorist group in AriCorp’s back-country, there’s nothing on her.”
“Oh, trust me, there’s a lot if you know where to look, who to ask.”
“What about Anea?”
“Not much to tell. Orphan turned fugitive turned… whatever we are now.”
“I mean, why did you save her? You’re not really running some terrorist cell. So why?”
Touch takes a sip of his cold tea. ”Why do I need a reason? As soon as we need a reason to do the right thing, to help someone when they need it, we’ve lost.”
“Lost what, exactly?”
He waves a hand around the tent.
“Whatever makes this work. Whatever holds the world together.”
“Speaking of holding the world together, I have a job for you.”
---
About three weeks into the negotiations and turnover, Shrike asks Touch and Rachel to smuggle some goods to her friend Jane in the city. Rachel could see the bounty hunters were bogged down between their security job, training the guild, and finalizing negotiations. But Rachel’s group were handling much of the same things, so Shrike must be asking, at least partially, because she wants to introduce them to one of her people and show them one of her hideouts. With no reason to fear leaving Anea with Shrike’s people anymore, they set out with the supplies immediately.
“What do you think is in here?” Rachel shakes her messenger bag around. They can hear glass bottles rattling inside, something heavy and cold lying in between the rows of bottles.
“Don’t know. Some kind of medicine? It would explain these thick bags, cooling pads, and the tamper seals.”
At the end of a quick two day camping trip, and dodging a light patrol on the way in, they arrive in the heart of a district on the outskirts of Gate City, to the address Shrike gave them. They walk up to the lobby of a small hotel, where they’re greeted by a woman with warm brown eyes and a face speckled with freckles.
“Hi, what do you like, men or women?”
“Both.” Touch says.
“Neither.” Rachel follows up immediately.
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The two look at each other.
“We’re looking for Jane.” Rachel says, turning back to the woman.
“Shrike sent you?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m Jane. You got my medicine?”
The two pull the messenger bags over their heads and hand them over. Jane takes them and rips the seal open on one, holding up a small bottle of smooth green liquid.
“Wonderful. What do I owe you?”
“A place to sleep and some food would be fine.”
“Nonsense. Two days here, two days back-”
“We’re helping out Shrike. We really don’t need a tip.”
The woman smiles, “Okay, if you insist. Follow me.” Jane rings the bell on the front counter and exits the front desk as a young man takes over from the back room.
The elevators were out, so they take the stairs up to the second floor. On their way down the hall, Rachel hears some questionable muffled noises coming from the walls.
“What is this place, exactly?” Rachel asks.
Jane raises an eyebrow at her.
“Shrike’s not an escort,” Touch says. “She doesn’t strike me as a customer, either. This place has more to it than just sex.”
Jane cocks a smile as she pushes open the heavy door and steps out of the stairwell. “We offer many services, of course. Smuggling, money laundering, medical treatment. We’ve diversified a great deal over these past few years. Hell, half of what we do is legal now.”
“That’s what the medicines are for? It looks homemade. Is it really safe?”
“We have our own production chain. No one makes what we need. And yes. I’m very sure it’s safe.”
Jane unlocks a room and steps inside. The place is darkly lit, one of the beds is surrounded by a blackout curtain. There are medical supplies and equipment neatly placed and packed throughout the room. Jane crouches down and empties the messenger bags into a mini-fridge.
“This your room?” Rachel asks.
“Yes.”
“So you’re a doctor?”
“No, a whore that moonlights as an amateur healer.”
“Seems like an odd combination.”
“Not really. With both jobs, I take on patients, get to know them a little. Help diagnose and solve their problems, if I can.”
“How many people like you are there?”
“Just me.” She says, closing the door behind her and continuing down the hall. “I specialize in divs. I’m usually the only one that can get close to them safely.”
“You have some kind of power that keeps you safe?”
“No.” Touch and Jane say in unison.
“By all means.” Jane waves to Touch.
“Div powers are controlled subconsciously. Often as a result of trauma, leading to the manifestation of powers as a defense mechanism. You can get people to lower their guard. You have to be really good at getting to know them.”
“Right. Not many people know that, not even divs. May I ask how you do?”
“Experience.” Touch rolls back his sleeve and shows his dark gray skin.
Jane chuckles. “Does that protect you or just make you hard to find in the dark?”
Touch lets out a short bark of a laugh. “Both.”
“You still can’t control it, can you? You know your weakness, what makes you power down involuntarily, but you can’t do anything at will?”
“How can you tell?”
“You look terrified, especially when I said weakness. If you could control it, you’d show it off. They all do. I can teach you, if you-”
“I’m sorry, no.”
“Shrike trusts me-”
“I can’t. I’m not ready… to trust, I mean.”
“Okay, well… you know where to find me.”
They are shown to their room for the night, a generic two bed hotel room.
“You think Shrike arranged this on purpose?” Rachel asks as she lowers her pack and throws herself onto the soft, cool bed.
“Most likely. She’s sharp. She could have taken care of this herself, or with one of her own guys.”
“How does… this make you feel?” Rachel continues carefully.
The stone man cocks an eyebrow at her.
“It feels like Shrike is making a show of trust, ticking a job off her list, and trying to help treat my condition all at once.”
“No, I mean, how do you feel?”
He sighs. “You want a certain answer. Quit beating around the bush and just say it.”
“Well, if she didn’t talk to you about it before, it feels kind of manipulative. Saying we’re coming here for one thing, but really there’s an ulterior motive, even if she is trying to help.”
“Yeah. There are two ways to look at it. Either she genuinely cares, and wants me to learn to control my powers, or she wants to trick me into revealing my weakness, and who knows if this treatment actually works.”
“You don’t think-”
“No. I fully believe Shrike is genuine. But I don’t know her. I haven’t seen every side of her. It’s too much to risk.”
“Anea trusts them. We trust them. You trusted me when we first met.”
“We still don’t know how exactly Anea’s powers work. There could be some way to trick them that we don’t know about. Same with our own judgments. And I never really trusted you when we met. I always had assurances and backups in place if I was wrong about you…
If it was just me, I’d risk it, but it’s like you said, ‘we’re all we got out here.’ ”
“That was never meant to keep you from something like this. If you could fully control your powers, it would be a huge step up. You could walk out in broad daylight, unmasked.”
“I can’t do it. Not yet. I just can’t. What I have is good enough for now.”
And with that, the two go about their evening routines, sleep, and start the journey back to Davton in the morning.