Though the day was bleak, Hunter decided to go out for coffee. He had hardly stepped a few feet outside of the small apartment that he'd been renting when a newspaper hit him in the face. Peeling it off and realizing it was one of Ms. Logan's issues, Hunter smiled. He'd heard the boss had come out with another edition, but he had yet to pick one up.

Paying almost no attention to traffic, or the wind that had others shivering, Hunter read through the issue and found himself in the Business District. Finding a decent coffee shop wasn't hard, by the time Hunter paid for his drink he had also finished reading the paper. He had, of course, been following almost all of the discussions KateLogan documented as they were happening, but having them all in one spot and recapped was pleasant.

Between all of her Street appearances, running the Family, writing the paper...Hunter wasn't entirely sure how she did it all. He did know that he had chosen wisely in her. Despite it only having been a very short time since he'd associated himself with her crew, Hunter had already learned so much.

Though walking at a 'normal' pace was still not entirely comfortable for Hunter, he managed to remember the charade quite well. So far nobody but Ms. Logan had seen him use his super speed, and he intended to keep it that way. Instead of going home, Hunter figured he'd better check in at the HeadQuarters first to see if there was anything Ms. Logan needed.

As he passed an alley, Hunter heard the distinct sound of someone saying "Logan", followed by mischievous laughter. His curiosity piqued, Hunter stepped into a nook that was entirely covered in shade, and overheard two men speaking.

"That damned paper has to go. She's making too much of a name for herself." One of the men grunted.

"Agreed...tonight then? Already paid the Johnson twins all we gotta do is give 'em the time, they knows where her office is located at" The other replied, his voice sounding like someone who'd smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for years.

Abandoning his hidden cove, and indeed his personal oath to not use his speed in front of other people, Hunter sprinted towards the two men and uppercut their jaws before either of them could even comprehend what happened. From their point of view, a dark blur emerged from nowhere and in the blink of an eye left them knocked out. From Hunter's point of view, he saw opportunity.

Dragging their bodies to the back of the alley, he looked around for something to cover them with. Finding a beaten up tarp, Hunter shrugged and tossed it over the men, barely covering them. He now faced a dilemma - he couldn't risk dragging these bodies through public as it would draw entirely too much attention to himself and subsequently, Ms. Logan.

From the information he'd overheard, Kate's office was safe until the two clowns he'd rendered unconscious made the call to the Johnson twins. As he was mulling over his options, one of the men under the tarp began to stir. Hunter merely uncovered him momentarily and knocked him out again.

It could not have been better timing, as barely a second had passed after covering the men back up before a younger gentleman, barely fifteen by the looks of it, selling ice cream walked by. Having seen movement at the end of the alley, the peddler paused and yelled down,

"Ice cream! Cheap ice cream!"

Hunter had no need for a snack and indeed was not the biggest fan of ice cream to begin with, however he was glad to have glanced up...The vendor had his wares in what seemed to be a freezer on wheels...It looked just big enough to fit the two bodies if he emptied out the contents first. Walking calmly up to the gentleman, Hunter reached for his wallet and pulled out a few hundred bucks, shoving it into the kids fist.

"Do both of us a flavor and get lost kid, leave the cart."

Hunter grinned internally at the pun, and watched as the kid did as told, stuffing the money into his pockets earnestly. Hunter had probably given the kid four times as much as the ice cream and the cart cost combined, but he cared not. Wheeling the cart back to the end of the alley, Hunter discarded the desserts into a corner and nodded to himself. Looked like it should work.

Hunter squeezed both of the men into it, and slammed the lid shut...only it didn't shut. Sighing, Hunter looked and realized he'd slammed the door on one of the men's hands. Shrugging off the few broken fingers, Hunter rearranged the bodies so they'd fit and closed the door - successfully. Not wanting to be stopped by anyone, Hunter picked up the tarp he'd been using to cover the men and set it over the cart, concealing the ice cream cone on either side.

Knowing that Kate would be at the HeadQuarters, Hunter wheeled the now much heavier cart out of the alley towards West Montcalm and Park Ave. When he finally arrived outside of The Paragons HQ he noticed one of the Guards about to head inside. Hunter shouted up to him,

"Hey! Inform Kate that Hunter's outside waiting for her and that it's urgent!"

It was a blustery day in the hundred acre woods as Billie made her way down Park Ave to HQ. The biting autumn wind cut like razors through her navy tea dress. It was cold, in fact, that she seriously considered staying home. But she had dreams, and HQ had jobs. So out to the streets it was. Cursing quietly under her breath, Billie struggled against the prevailing winds, her small bronze hands cupped in front of her face as she tried desperately to light a match for her cigarette. Head down, focused on her snipe, she didn't even notice the ostentatiously parked ice cream cart or it's newest owner. Determined to get into HQ, with her cigarette, and out of the chilling wind, Billie barreled straight into poor hunter. 

Taken completely aback by the abrupt collision, Billie was sent sprawling; landing on her ass, skirt well above her knees. Thank god she'd dressed fully this morning. Her silver cigarette case skittered off to her left, her last pack of matches blowing away down the sidewalk to her right, and all the contents of her clutch strewn somewhere in between. What a frightful mess. 

Somewhat stunned, Billie blinked up at Hunter for a moment before the extent of her...situation... dawned on her. Good thing she wasn't overly modest, though a twinge of rouge ruddied her cheeks. With a whirlwind of stammering she rolled to her knees and began frantically collecting her scattered belongings. 

Hunter felt something thump against his back abruptly as he stood solemnly waiting for KateLogan, and as he turned he recognized the face of Billie from around the HeadQuarters. Wondering what had her in such a hurry, he asked,

"What's the rush lass?"

He raised an eyebrow curiously, hoping that the men in the cart remained unconscious long enough for him to talk to Ms. Logan.

Billie shoved everything back into her purse rather unceremoniously, and hoisted herself to her feet with a rather incredulous look. Sheesh. He could have at least helped her up. "I'm f...freezing. And I want to get to the assignment board before all the good shit's picked over. That's all... Sorry," she added with a polite smile. She eyed the cart with a suspicious once over, "Uhh... maybe you should wait inside, eh kiddo?" She motioned for him to follow as she passed through the arched entryway to the inner courtyard. Pulling some musclehead away from the news boards, she drug them both over behind the thick brick wall that separated the HQ grounds from the streets. She handed the meat block an uncounted wad of $20s from her now disheveled purse and whispered something to him, gesturing blatantly at the cart. There seemed to be some negotiation before she shoved another handful of bills at the man, who then nodded an moved to stand by the cart, leaning on it unceremoniously.

Turning to Hunter, Billie smiled... sort of... really she looked to serious to be smiling, but it was an effort at least. "You can wait here, unless you get better instructions. Take that inside as soon as you can, and don't make a scene. If anybody gives you any lip, tell 'em they can take it up with me. And if you cause any trouble -- honey, I'm staking my name on you right now-- so if you cause any trouble, you'll be answering to me." 

It was almost comical, given their difference in size, but Billie bucked up as faaaar as she could and stuck his finger in her chest. "Got it?" She jabbed him, kind of gently actually, but didn't wait for him to reply. Nodding to Hunter's new body guard, she marched off inside to find work, her mary jane pumps echoing off the brick walls like machine gun fire. What a sassy little C....chick.   

He almost felt a twinge of guilt at not offering the lady a helping hand, but he wasn't paid to do such things. In some other circumstance he might have, but not when he had such critical information to guard. Hunter in fact wondered what inspired Billie to assist him in his watching over of the cart, but he wrote that off to her being friendly - something he was not used to. He tilted his head to the side slightly at the jab and smirked as he watched as Billie stride inside. Hell of a lot of spunk in that one, Hunter noted to himself.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a few twenty's for each of the men who Billie had temporarily watching the cart. Though he appreciated the effort, he wasn't about to trust anybody but Kate with the contents of the cart, and he couldn't bare to leave it under the watch of complete strangers regardless.

"If you don't mind, I'll watch this myself."

He stated, handing them some extra cash on top of what Billie had already given them. Probably the quickest and easiest hundred bucks those two ever made, Hunter thought, nodding at each of the men as they slowly made their way back to the news boards, presumably. Hunter moved the cart to a more convenient spot and continued his wait for Ms. Logan, leaning upon a wall with one foot, standing where he could see all the entrances. 

One of the things that Kate enjoyed about her office was the view it gave her of both the streets and the courtyard of the headquarters building. She was sitting behind her desk, skimming over a report on one of her latest projects, when she noticed HunterZolomon outside... selling ice cream? Kate discarded the report, thankful for an excuse to get out of the office. Wrapping her long black coat around her, Kate made her way down the stairs and out to the courtyard. Smirking, she approached Hunter.

"Looking to pick up some extra cash, Hunter? You know I've got more lucrative opportunities than this..."

The wind was as ferocious as ever, but Hunter was determined to not move from this spot until he had relayed the information he overheard to Ms. Logan. He was slightly curious to see how she would handle the situation, and even more curious to see if he'd be allowed to assist. Seeing movement near the entrance, Hunter whipped his gaze towards...Kate! Finally, he sighed. Listening to her comment, Hunter allowed himself a single chuckle before leaning in closer to his boss.

"Ma'am, as much as everyone loves ice cream and all... I think you'll find the contents of this particular cart a lot more intriguing than frozen dairy. Please, have a look."

Kate opened the top of the cart and raised an eyebrow, quickly dropping it closed again. 

"Making friends, Hunter? Is this something we should discuss in my office?"

Hunter nodded curtly. Not only would that be a much more private setting, but much warmer as well. Looking up to the sky, he knew there was an inbound storm. Fitting, he thought, as he envisioned the storm that was surely about to befall the Johnson twins.

"Yes, your office would be much more suitable ma'am. Only I don't want to leave the cart unattended is the thing... Could one of your guards perhaps keep watch over it? Anyone you'd trust with surely will not let anything happen to it."

Kate waived her giant bodyguard Jack over from where he was standing, having trailed her down the stairs. 

"Jack, keep these guys on ice. If you hear any commotion, you'll probably want to keep a gun on them. Hunter, you're with me."

She led Hunter up the stairs to her office and indicated the chair across from her desk.

"So. Sounds like you've got a story to tell." 

Hunter took the seat across from Kate and began recapping the last few hours.

"Well, it all began this morning when I was hit in the face by a newspaper..."

Hunter went on to explain that he'd been on his way back to the HeadQuarters when he'd overheard the two goons in the cart mentioning Kate's name, and that he thought it best to stick around and figure out what they were up to.

"From the sounds of it ma'am, they've hired the Johnson twins to burn down your office at The Logan Review. They said that the job had already been paid for, and that the twins wouldn't make the move until they'd gotten a call from one of them."

He finished off the story quickly, explaining how he obtained the cart and made his way directly to the HQ. He noted Billie's helpfulness,

"I couldn't very well just leave them under the watch of two complete strangers though," Hunter mumbled, waiting for Kate to assess the situation.

Kate leaned back in her chair drumming the fingers of her right hand on the desktop.

"You've done good work here, Hunter. So in your estimation, are they after the office? Me? Or both?"

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say just the paper, ma'am. If they wanted you dead, I think it far more likely they'd have tried to hire a hit-man instead of well known arsonists. Then again, they didn't seem all that intelligent. Did you recognize either of them?"

Hunter asked, gazing over Kate's shoulder, noticing the clouds outside getting thicker and darker by the minute.

Kate nods slowly, listening.

Okay. Here's the plan. I'd like you to take a little bit of time today and put a team together to deal with this. I'll send the word out to everyone, then you organize the volunteers and stake this place out. Even if there's just two of them- and who knows how much help they might have- I'd rather err on the side of caution when it comes to the paper. You mentioned this would happen sometime tonight... so we're going to spread our people around and catch them in our net when they show up. 

Does this sound like a plan you can handle?

"Of course Ms. Logan. I happen to have heard of the Johnson twins as it were, they like to operate alone. And we can arrange for them to be there whenever - they're waiting for a call from one of the two men currently in the car. Shouldn't take more than myself and a couple others to ensure this is no longer a concern."

Hunter stood up and shook Ms. Logan's hand.

"Obviously this is just my humble suggestion, but it would probably be for the best if you weren't around the office tonight, just in case."

Billie_Faegan had already shown she could maintain her own in his eyes, and word around the HQ was that Noto could be relied upon as well. Hunter exited Kate's office and waited to see one of the two around.

Billie was just exiting the building to make her first rounds of the day when she noticed that damned cart still parked by the courtyard gates, and Hunter no where in sight. For a brief moment the hair on the back of her neck stood up. This could be bad... really bad. The staccato beat of her heels against the pavement increased in tempo as she moved toward the cart, cursing softly under her breath. A morbid list of all the things you could cram into a cart that size began to form in her mind - 'bodies' was at the bottom of that list.

It wasn't until her hand was on the hinged lid that Jack - seemingly apparating out thin air - grabbed a hold of her wrist tightly. She whirled around, purse in hand, ready to molly-whop whatever poor, uninformed bastard would dare lay his hands on her... until she recognized his face. She couldn't very well go assaulting the Boss' guard... again. So instead she smiled, in a sour kind of way, with pursed lips, "Jack, darling," she emphasized the word like poison, "you should know better than to sneak up on a lady like that. What if I hurt you?" 

Of course the hulking mountain of a man simply smiled. The very thought was absurd. Even with all her spirit and fire, Billie was as likely to harm him as a bug would a car.   

Cardboard. Peeking out through the bottoms of the stiff's shoes like it had someplace better to be. Ready to run away and find a better life on its own. Anything. Anywhere. It had to be better than this, right?

A little bit of hope and a nickel would have bought buddy here an apple. Prolong his miserable existence another day. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. All that stuff about a better place in heaven. You know...I once stood in front of a mirror for an hour with my mouth wide open...looking - trying to see if there was a soul somewhere down deep in there. Nada. Didn't see nothing. Moved on.

Been a few hours and rigor had done set in hard. The wind, as furious as it was this day, couldn't budge the hoover blanket from the dead fingers. Perhaps it spared the deceased this one last indignity. Shot a look up and down the street to see if anyone was paying attention to me but no one cared or dared to look at the dead man on the pavement. Helped myself to his blanket - score. Latest issue of  The Logan Review. Folded it neatly and tucked it in my jacket pocket. Always a good read over a cup of coffee.

Shadow on the ground getting closer, soft footsteps, light weight, obviously not packing. Told some too-curious wee ginger cunt to fuck off. Rolled the body over and went pocket diving. Of course it was in vain. Watch long gone. Little white stripe where his wedding ring used to be - prolly traded for a tater or a tin of beans. Wonder how many mouths he left behind? Hope they're not depending on him to bring home the bacon. That river ran dry.

I'm luckier than most. Got a job and a few dollars in my pocket. But the rest of these mooks...a hunnert men standing on the corner all wanting that one available job. Willing to fight each other - willing to kill each other for it. You can see the suits at their windows yukking it up laughing their asses off at this indignation. Like their own private gladiator school. Is it worth it? Kill a man so that you have the privilege of pushing broom at some assholes warehouse for a day? Get a man hungry enough and find out I reckon. And they call our way of life criminal...

Time to shag ass out of here. Looks like a storm is settling in. Cold and disheveled is not the look you want when appearances are everything. Coat pulled tight, collar flipped up, heading in to see if the family can use me today. Either get noticed because you're a stand up guy or noticed because everything you touch goes to hell. Luck of the draw. Short walk. Montcalm and Park. Maybe something needs to be majicked and disappear. Maybe someone needs to be reminded to pay their dues. Every day an adventure, right.

Courtyard seems to be a'bustle, something in the air. Guards give me the usual not-too-gentle patdown and frown their indifference at my arival. Going to take some time to get familiar. Ask what all the commotion is about - get told to go fuck my hat. Leave it alone and see if I can find someone I know inside. Walk around cussing looking busy...best way to get some work is to look like you're already doing something. Like you're competent or something. One can only hope. Be nice to go home full of cash today.

No one looks up, close the door silently behind me. Percolator singing its siren song, fill my cup. Stand by the window staring out. Watching and waiting. Hushed voices coming from up the stairs where the offices are. Can't make them. Sounds interesting though.

Picking up the phone in her office, Kate dials The Paragon Towers.

"Yea. Put Noto on. Thanks. Hey, Noto- I want you to get over to the HQ and talk to HunterZolomon. I'd like him to have a little back up for a job he's running. Yea, I'll check in later."

After speaking with Kate on the phone I went to the HQ to meet Hunter. While waiting for him to show I help myself to some whiskey, wondering to myself what this job would entail.

I figured Hunter would arrive shortly, but just in case I settled in and kept the bottle of whiskey by my side.

Almost immediately after Hunter had exited Kate's office he nearly toppled into Noto. What was it with his luck lately? That was the second person from the HQ that he'd collided with recently. Hunter went to step by him when he realized that was exactly one of the people he'd been about to try and find. Noto was clinging to a bottle of whiskey, which didn't really surprise Hunter. Almost everyone around had a slight drinking problem, from what he'd observed. They still got the job done though, and that's what mattered.

"Noto! Just the fellow I was looking for. I need some help with something, and I was wondering if you'd assist me. I can't really give you any details until we step outside, but first I need to find Billie_Faegan. Any idea where she might be?"