Hero?

45

Then they don't have any more time to think, Spider's men start showing up on the trail. Ana holds her fire and has her men do the same. Damon seems to understand what she wants to do and keeps his men from firing as well until he's sure that they are all in the clearing.

"Is this the place that they were meeting?" Damon hears one of the men mutter.

The man he was talking to doesn't reply just shrugs his shoulders.

"Boss, how much farther?" A different man queries.

"It shouldn't be too far from here. Our spy said it was a clearing with a creek running through it."

"Aww are you boys looking for me?" Ana says as she steps out from the shade of the trees. Damon wants to strangle her for putting herself in danger like that.

Just then her people open fire on the men in the clearing and Damon signals his men to do the same. He just hopes that they all hit their targets and none hit Ana.

Damon sees Trinity knock Ana down and he is able to breath a bit easier. That is until he sees Spider go over to Trinity and kick him hard into a rock and pull Ana up.

It's a good thing he has Calum as a bodyguard because he can't take his eyes off of Ana. He's frozen as he watches Spider hold Ana by her throat and start choking her. "This is the big, bad, scary Hawk? A kid?"

Damon watches as Ana smiles, he doesn't believe what he sees her do. She takes her knife and like Hawk slices through Spiders genitalia. Spider drops her.

Ana then slices his torso, eviscerating him. 

Finally Ana slices through Spiders neck.

"Yeah, I took down Hawk the same way I just took you down but that was two years ago. I may be small and a girl, but that doesn't mean I'm not a bitch. By the way, I have plans for Jezey." Ana smiles at the sick look on Spider's face as he dies.

"Spider's dead, you should give up now." Ana declares not even trying to hide at this point. Once more she is covered in blood and viscera. She smells herself and wrinkles her nose in distaste.

"Trinity, where is my bag?" Ana asks as Spider's men throw down their weapons and surrender themselves.

Damon can't help himself he races over to Ana to make sure that she is alright.

"Stop, Damon. I'm fine, but right now you shouldn't get too close to me. Wait for me here. Trinity come with me." Ana takes her bag and her bodyguard and retreats towards the sound of the creek.

Sometime later Damon is getting impatient and is about to go looking for her when she finally shows up. "A bit cold, but better than smelling of shit until I can get back home."

"You were expecting Spider." Damon states, no question in his mind.

Ana shrugs, "It was just a matter of time until one of my men was corrupted. They haven't seen me have my fun for a while. The men brought to my house take poison rather than let me have my fun. Smart of them, but no fun for me."

Ana turns to Damon, "I will meet with you at your house tomorrow if you are interested in talking a deal with me."

Ana has a doctor that is tending to the wounded. With how fast the fight with Ana and Spider was there weren't very many.

"I also have a favor to ask." Ana says uncomfortably.

"If it's in my power anything," Damon is quick to say.

Ana looks at him questioningly, "You didn't use to be so quick to give a blanket promise. You really should find out what the promise is before you give it. What if I asked for you to give me Phoenix group? That is within your power."

Damon gives her a slow smile that makes females hearts go crazy, "You are my heir and if you asked I am confident that you'd take good care of Phoenix group." Ana blinks, just blinks at Damon's words. She hadn't expected that.

She shakes herself back to the present, "Nothing so great as that will be asked. I don't have sufficient Cells to hold Spider's men. Could you hold them until I have the chance to take their oath's tomorrow?"

"That's  a simple enough request, yes. Do you still need help evaluating the slaves?"

Ana gives him a sly smile of her own, "Oh, yes. Would you like to help me with that? But do you think that this time you will be able to keep it strictly business?"

Damon closes his eyes in embarrassment of his last performance in evaluating. "Yes, just don't dance in front of the men please. They have a hard time doing their jobs properly when you dance."

Ana's smile turns wicked, "Oh, but Damon, my dancing has gotten better. Wouldn't you like to see that as well?"

Ana laughs at Damon's reaction, "Don't worry, unless the girls claim to know how to dance and are as shitty as the other girls were I won't dance."

Damon starts muttering swear words. It's part of the evaluation, there will be girls there that will claim they can dance and inevitably Ana will stop them and show them how to dance. He has yet to find anyone her equal for when she was eight.

"Ana," Trinity says coming over to her. "If you want to find the slaves that shithead was holding we should start the interrogations."

Damon starts, he hadn't even thought of that. "Let me, please. I'll have my men get them and take them to my hotel and have my doctor look them over."

Ana looks at Damon consideringly for a bit. Then she shakes her head, "I'm Spider now. It's time the men learn who I am."

"Then let me help?"

"Who are the second and third?" Ana asks Trinity.

"Jonah has them over there." Trinity points to a location where Ana can sit on a rock while interrogating the two men. She notices that they are already secured.

"Allow me to participate then?"

"You'll make them all wait for you?" Ana asks shocked. Damon really has lost a great deal of himself if he was going to make his men wait in the hot sunlight.

"No, I was going to send them with the others to secure them in the cells. I was hoping that I could get a ride back with you."

Ana now looks at him solemnly and asks, "Why?"

"It's not easy for me to leave you. Please allow me this time. I will take part or sit back as much as you wish, but please allow me to stay." Damon hates how much pleading actually comes out in his voice, but he's desperate right now.

"Very well, you are after all allowing me to use your cells for the prisoners." Ana says softly.

"Have Calum stop by Spider's house to pick up Jezey and her mother. Also any slaves that are there and the slave book. I have heard some rumors and I need to know the truth."

"Should I have Jezey and her mother go to my house?" Damon asks diffidently, he doesn't want to push things to  far.

"Would you mind?" Ana asks once more watching him closely.

"No," Damon smiles, "but Jenny might."

Ana snorts in appreciation. She hadn't been sure which room Damon had put Jenny in. Now she knows.

"Why didn't you put Jenny in my old room." The small smile Damon had left at her question.

"That is your room. No one else is good enough for that room." He refuses to say anymore, except, "You left some boxes behind."

"Reminders of a lie. I don't need that in my life." Ana dismisses those boxes as if they are nothing. They had been her favorite things Damon had given her. Damon had looked to see what she left behind and had been hurt to see those things. He stays quiet after calling Calum and giving him further instructions.

He's rather amazed that he has cell service up here. Ana just shrugs, she points to her left and Damon sees the tower. He can't believe he didn't see it before. Well that explains why there was a road right there and why it is was overgrown.