I keep having to tell myself we're in this together. I suppose "normal" wasn't really ever going to be an option for us as long as we were living off the grid. But when things go sideways for you, even if you sort of saw it coming, you're still left feeling like it was happening sooner than expected.

The day started out normal enough. Mark called last night to confirm that the guys were up for a training session, so today Tsu'na and I headed for Tony's. When we got there we saw Mark and Chester, and Ted showed up a bit later. This time, though, Scott didn't show.

I asked Chester about it. "So I guess being an investment consultant doesn't always mean you can keep your own hours, huh?"

"Investment consultant?"

"Yeah...isn't that what Scott is?"

"He told you that? Ha, that's cute. I gotta remember that. Scott's a bookie."

That explained a lot, like how he hung out at the fights and had such an interest in knowing what Tsu'na could do. And how he never asked me about how well my IRA was doing.

This time Ted was teaching throws. Tsu'na could of course grab and throw someone at will; the trick was to do it without snapping a neck, breaking a back or, if possible, dislocating a limb.

Tony actually proved useful for this; seems he knows his stuff. He prepped Mark and Chester on how to fall properly, looking to hit with the shoulder and roll, keeping the head tucked. Ted, meanwhile, got Tsu'na started on the idea of redirecting force, letting a charging opponent keep charging without her in his path.

Mark was happier with being thrown than he had been about punching her...guess he was falling for her enough to fall for her. That's something we'll have to dissuade sooner or later.

Which left Chester idle enough to be looking out the storefront window from time to time. Twenty minutes into training he came over to me and said, "Hey, I don't know if it's anything, but there's a car that's driven by at least three times. Real heavy window tint."

Not ominous at all. I positioned myself so that he and I both had our sides to the window. "Keep your eyes on me. Tell me if it comes by again."

We stood and "chatted" for a bit until Chester's eyes briefly jerked to the left. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a faded grey sedan passing by, slowing slightly in front of the dojo before driving on. Its windows were indeed too dark to see through, especially when I was trying to not look like I was looking.

I'd started to wonder about Chester's suspicious nature, but then I was glad for it. Scoping out for a robbery? A dojo isn't a cash-heavy business, and aside from that there isn't typically much of interest in one. Striking dummies. Maybe some wooden weapons.

And, in this case, us.

"Tabitha, my love."

She took a beat to react to the unfamiliar name, but she looked up from having dumped Mark flat onto his back. "Yes, Husband?"

"How about we get some air?"

She glanced at Ted and Mark. "Right now?"

"I think so."

She studied me a moment, then went to the changing room. There was a pull-down blind on the window; I pulled it down while Chester herded the guys to the other side of the room.

When she came out in Earth normal we went out the door and stopped in front of the dojo. She turned to me and asked, "What is happening?"

"Bandits, I think. Grey car with really dark windows. Maybe Chester's paranoid, maybe he's got me paranoid..."

"What is paranoid?"

"An irrational fear that someone is out to get you."

"What if someone is truly out to get you?"

"Not mutually exclusive."

She was going to say something else, but stopped when she spotted something behind me. I turned to see the grey car in question. It had slowed down. Its windows were rolling down. I switched to Paladin and got my shield up just before the bullets started flying.

A lot of bullets went into a couple cars parked along the curb. A lot more went into the dojo window; I heard it shatter. Some pinged off my shield and armor...the shooters had more enthusiasm than skill.

The engine revved and the car started to pull off fast. I expected to hear the creak of Tsu'na's bow behind me. Instead I heard the rustle of her book.

There was a flash inside the car. It was partway into turning around the corner, but instead went straight across the intersection and slammed into a lamppost, very shortly before a delivery truck plowed into it from the side.

I switched to Earth normal and turned to Tsu'na, who likewise switched from Summoner. "Energy Drain?"

"Energy Siphon. I could not target quickly enough."

Energy Siphon is the area-of-effect version of the Summoner instant spell Energy Drain. At Tsu'na's level, everyone in the car would have been dead with the flash.

Had the car simply rolled to a stop, there would have been three or four apparent heart-attack victims inside, which would have been weird and probably raised questions. As it was, between the lamppost and the T-boning and the recently-used guns, I doubt anyone would look too closely at cause of death.

But that's retrospective. It wasn't what was on my mind right then.

What was on my mind was: She's now killed people.

Which immediately amended to: We're in this together. We have now killed people.

I grabbed her in a tight hug. She hesitantly returned it. "Husband...?"

I pulled back. "I'll check on the guys. Stealth over there and get a look at them, see if you recognize them. Take pictures if you can."

"Pictures? Of the dead?"

"Trust me, people in this world do that. Go."

She pursed her lips, but nodded, switched to Ninja, and vanished to non-party eyes. I went back in the dojo.

The guys were crowded into a corner away from the window. Tony found his voice first. "What the fuck was that?"

"That was a drive-by. Anyone hurt?"

No one seemed to be. Chester asked, "They coming back?"

"No. They're dead."

Palpable silence.

"They crashed their car while driving away."

"Sure. Okay."

"Why would someone be shooting at your place, Tony?"

"How the hell would I know?"

"No problems with the Mob? Loan sharks, protection rackets, drug dealers?"

"Only problem I have is you people."

Wishful thinking. It would have been nice if this wasn't our personal problem, but the shooting didn't start until we were in clear view. "Okay. Anyone been talking about us? Mark, Chester?"

"You said if people knew about your wife it'd hurt her career," said Mark. "We wouldn't want that."

"Yeah," added Chester. "It'd mess up our betting."

Mark shrugged. "That too."

"What about Scott? Where is he, anyway?"

"Off somewhere with family. He's got a bigger stake in her than we do."

"Ted?"

"Just the wife, and she doesn't want to hear what I do out of the house."

I nodded, and turned to the product of elimination. "Tony? Who'd you talk to?"

"Uh, no one, really."

I walked slowly toward him. "No one...really?"

He backed up against a wall mirror. "I didn't talk to anyone!"

"That's not what you said. Who'd you talk to?"

"I dunno. Just some guy at a bar. It wasn't anything."

"A guy. At a bar. What bar and when?"

"Paulie's Pub. Last Tuesday, after the last time you guys were here."

"Fern bar a couple blocks over," said Chester.

I leaned in on Tony. "I told you not to talk to anyone. I told you very specifically not to talk to anyone. We just got shot at because you didn't listen to me."

"How the hell was I supposed to know? It was just talking! He was a good listener!"

My fist slammed into the mirror beside Tony's head. It was polished metal rather than glass, so it didn't shatter, but it did buckle a little. "You put these people in harm's way! You endangered my wife!"

"I didn't know! I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

I was sufficiently distracting that no one noticed Tsu'na un-Stealth in the doorway, though she was quite arresting in her black leather and holstered daggers. "Many people were taking pictures. People dressed like Deputy Frank made them leave." She took in the tableau. "Why are you frightening Master Shen?"

"Master Shen can't keep his mouth shut."

She turned to Tony, her eyes narrowed. I was being violent, she was looking dangerous. Tony was apparently torn over who to be more frightened by.

"Did you recognize them, my love?"

"No. Do you?" She held up her phone with a picture of bodies in a car. They were scruffy, but not the right kind of scruffy for The Pit or Wyatt in general...a bit too urban.

"Haven't seen them. Tony?"

Tony's back was already against the wall, but he still tried to back away from the picture. He jerked his head in a negative.

"All right, listen to me. Tony?" I snapped my fingers in front of his eyes. "Listen to me. Here's what's gonna happen. You got a back door?"

Tony nodded.

"You're going to show us out the back door. When the police come..."

"The police are coming?"

"Someone shot out your window. Of course the police are coming. When they do, we were never here. You were alone in here when the shooting started. With me so far?"

Another nod.

"We'll come back later with some plywood for the window. We'll look into getting it replaced. And tonight we're going with you back to that bar."

"I don't want any part of this!"

"Someone shot out your window. You're already a part of this. We don't know these guys, so someone sent them. We need to know who. They don't know where to find us, but they know where to find you."

"What makes you think the guy'll even be there?"

"If he set this up, he'll want to know what happened. We'll tell you what to say." I got even more in his face. "Don't flake on us, Tony. We'll be even more unhappy than we already are. Understood?"

He understood. He had a shattered window and a dented wall to remind him. We left, the guys parted with us, we Returned. Tsu'na went to tell the Hartmans we had a friend who needed some help this evening. I stopped by The Pit for a cider on the way to the workshop. Because I needed to air my mind.

I have plywood to make. My wife and I have a date with Tony for drinks and a meet-and-greet. And then we'll probably talk about killing people.

I wonder if she made any gil.