“Gotcha.”
Adagio looked up in surprise as Cantata sat down opposite her. They were sitting in a coffee shop near the city center. The siren leaned forward.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she whispered.
“Finding my friend,” Cantata said, putting her bag away.
“We're not friends. Would you get out of here?”
Cantata gave Adagio an “are you kidding me?” look. “You take my cash, but not my credit cards or my car and you think we're not friends?”
“You gave us a place to stay when we needed it.” Adagio was looking around the shop while she spoke. “So we cut you a break.”
“Bullshit.” Cantata took a sip of her coffee. “You three don't have a problem with using those voices of yours to get what you want. You could have robbed me blind, but you didn't. That's not cutting me a break. Would you please look at me, Adagio?”
Adagio complied, fixing her with a dirty look. “I'm in the middle of something right now. Would you please leave?”
“Why?”
Adagio suddenly grabbed a couple of napkins from the dispenser on the table, tore off a couple of strips, wadded them up, and shoved them in Cantata's ears. Cantata opened her mouth to protest but the siren slapped her hand over it.
“Just shut up and wait.”
Aria and Sonata appeared from the hall leading to the restrooms and the three began to sing. Cantata watched in amazement as suddenly, nearly every customer and employee began to argue. Mildly at first, then with increasing anger. She looked around as people started yelling in each others faces and arguing loudly. And in the middle of it all, the three sirens stood, singing, eyes closed. The scene continued for a a few minutes before the singing stopped. The arguing and fighting continued around them. Cantata just stared until Adagio grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside the shop. Aria and Sonata followed.
Adagio led them to an alley down the block and slammed Cantata up against the wall. “I told you not to look for us!”
“And I told you we're friends. Those agents are still looking for you and you're still in town. I'm not going to leave you three to get caught.”
“We're not going to get caught,” Aria said. “You saw what we can do. We sing, we get out of trouble, we move on.”
“And we can't do that if we have someone attached to us,” Adagio snapped. “Look, we really do appreciate everything you did for Sonata, but it's better if you go now.”
“Sorry,: Cantata replied. “You're stuck with me.”
“Cantata,” Adagio groaned. The nurse held up a finger.
“Let me finish,” she said. “You're stuck with me... long enough for me to give you this.”
She reached into her bag and pulled out a thick envelope. She handed it to the lead siren, who stared at it.
“What is this?” Adagio asked.
“Enough for you three to get out of town and get set up somewhere else.”
Adagio opened the envelope and all three peered into it before looking up in surprise.
“That's a LOT of money,” said Sonata.
“Too much money,” Aria frowned. “Where the hell does a nurse with a one bedroom apartment get this much money?”
Cantata shrugged. “I have some investments. I sold some stock.”
Adagio held the envelope out. “Take it back.”
Cantata folded her arms. “Nope. It's yours. Go. Set yourselves up somewhere else.”
“You don't want to get involved with us.”
“I'm already involved with you.”
“Yes, you are,” came a new voice.
The four women looked up to see two more women standing at the end of the alley. Tempest Shadow stood there with a shorter blue woman with short green hair. Tempest took off the sunglasses she was wearing and grinned unpleastantly.
“Seems you became a quartet since I saw you last.”
“Everybody put your hands on your heads,” said the other woman. “You're under arrest.”
“Run,” Canata whispered.
Adagio blinked. “What?”
Cantata reared back and hurled her bag at the agents. They threw up their hands as the bag impacted. Cantata shoved Adagio hard.
“RUN!”
The nurse dashed back down the alley and drove into Tempest shoulder first. They collided with the other agent and fell to the ground. The three sirens stared at the scene, before Cantata looked up.
“RUN, GOD DAMN IT!”
“Let's go,” Adagio said, herding the other two down the alley. “Run... run!”
The three sirens bolted down the alley. As they ran, Adagio looked back to see the two agents hauling Cantata up and handcuffing her. She grit her teeth and turned away, getting ready to leave, when Sonata shoved past her, screaming as she charged the agents.
“GET OFF OF HER!” Sonata leaped into the air, closing the distance. Tempest whirled and slammed a round house kick into Sonata's ribs. The blue siren screamed in pain as a sickening crack echoed down the alley. Sonata crashed into the wall of the alley and collapsed to the ground.
Adagio snarled and reached into her boot, withdrawing the small switchblade knife she carried for emergencies. Aria appeared at her side. The two exchanged a glance and nodded to each other before rocketing down the alley.
Aria threw a punch, which Tempest easily blocked before countering with a jab at Aria's sternum. The STORM agent glanced over at her partner.
“Get her to the car. I've got this.”
“Are you nuts?” said the other agent.
“DO IT, GLITTER!” Tempest snarled. She grabbed Aria's arm and swung her into Adagio. The two sirens yelped as they collided and fell to the ground. Tempest grabbed Sonata's hair and yanked her to her feet, causing Sonata to scream again.
“You should have run,” the agent grinned.
Adagio's eyes flashed and her hand flew upward. Tempest let out a scream of pain. Blood poured down her face and both her hands flew to cover her right eye as she collapsed to her knees. Adagio glowered down at her.
“You should have quit.”
She turned to see Aria helping Sonata up. “Is she all right?”
“I think... my... ribs are broken,” Sonata wheezed. “My... wrist... hurts too.”
“We've got to get the hell out of here,” Aria hissed.
Adagio looked down at Tempest, then kicked her in the side of the head. Tempest fell to the ground unconscious. The siren leader turned back to the other two. “Let's get out of here before the other one comes back.”
“But... Cantata,” Sonata moaned.
Adagio frowned and looked back down at Tempest's inert form, then at the knife in her hand. Her expression darkened, then she closed the knife and stuck it back in her boot.
“Let's go.”
The train rumbled out of Whinnyapolis and into the night. The three sirens sat in silence in a sleeping compartment. Sonata's ribs and wrist had been bandaged as best they could, and she was now sleeping in one of the bunks under the influence of painkillers and booze. Underneath the bunk, Aria and Adagio sat. Aria thumbing through a magazine, Adagio looking out the window.
Aria sighed and glanced over at Adagio. She blinked and sat up.
“Are you... crying?”
Adagio's head shot up and she wiped away the tear that was rolling down her cheek. “No! I don't cry. You know that.”
Aria didn't reply. She looked back at the magazine, then put it down. “It's not your fault.”
“What?”
“What happened to Cantata. It's not your fault.”
Adagio snorted. “Sure.”
“She decided to risk her ass for us. It just all went south.”
“Which you warned me about.”
“Yeah, but... she was all right.”
Now it was Adagio's turn to look at Aria. “Seriously?”
Aria gave her a rueful smirk. “Yeah.” She sat back and sighed. “I wish we could have saved her.”
“Yeah.” Adagio looked out the window again. “When Sonata's better, we'll come back. We'll find her.”
The train rolled on.
Six months later, the sirens returned to Whinnyapolis.
Cantata Luster was nowhere to be found.