Countless screams split the air as the motorcycles crashed through, splintering doors and shattering windows, into the night club. The bikers' yells, their bikes' engines, and the terrified civilians' screams completely drowned out the music. "Get to Trina now!" Trent urgently told Mary Jane as he released her hand and turned to face the oncoming gang.
        She stopped and whirled back to face him, her long hair twirling about her shoulders as she did so. "What about you?"
        "Please, MJ," he told her, his concern for her clear in his eyes, "trust me!"
        "I do trust you, Trent," the redhead told him as she returned to his side, "but I'm not abandoning you."
        Even as Trent tried to think of what he could say that might make her do as he asked so that she would be safe, the gang split up to circle the room. The motors revved a few times before finally being cut off as the bikers began to dismount. "This is just your normal robbery, folks. Money, jewelry, wallets, anything of any value in the bags now. Everybody stay where you are and play nice, and nobody gets their head blown off," the man whose bike was parked in the very center of the dance floor announced as the strobe lights danced over the shining steel of the gun he brandished. All the other bikers moved among the crowd, holding bags open as the terrified people quickly followed orders.
        Simultaneously, Trent and Trina turned their heads, their blue eyes searching the crowd for one another. The twins' gazes met and held. Not a single word was said between the two, but their communication was swift and clear nonetheless. Carlos was used to their silent communication, but Mary Jane was surprised to find Trent staring at his sister when she looked up at him for guidance. "Do you want to get to her?" she asked him and was even more surprised when the blonde shook his head.
        As her right hand slipped unseen into her jacket pocket, Trina's gaze finally left her brother's to scan the gang. Inside her pocket, her thumb moved expertly over the buttons of her cell phone, pressing the speed dial number for a number that was one of the first numbers she had ever memorized as a child. The den of noise that ranged from bikers' angry words to crying women drowned out the voice that answered, and that answer was soon cut short nonetheless. Trina returned her steady, unblinking gaze to her brother's eyes and silently affirmed that the call had been made.
        It was then that one of the guys reached Trina, and his eyes lit with instant hunger as he recognized the gorgeous woman before him. "Hey, boss!" he called. "Lookee what we have here!"
        The gang leader's head turned in the direction of his man's voice, and he, too, instantly recognized the blonde. "Well, well, well, if this isn't just our lucky night?" he questioned as he began to strode toward Trina, barely taking any notice at all of the Mexican that stood by her side. His tongue ran over his lips as he approached them. "I came expecting a couple of thousand in all, and here I get such a delicious surprise . . . " The leader's voice trailed off as his hand reached out for Trina.
        It was what Trina had been waiting for, but Carlos' silent fury fueled him to act even more swiftly than she could. "Surprise this," he seethed, his dark eyes flashing, as he grabbed the guy's hand. Carlos twisted the leader's arm behind his back, simultaneously kicking the gun from his hand. Even as the gun was sent spiraling across the dance floor, an intense fight broke out through the club.
        Trina's fist slammed into the face of the biker who had alerted his boss to the celebrity in the midst of their prisoners; she followed the punch with two swift kicks to the biker's stomach. As the gun slid across the floor, Mary Jane dived for it, her roll surprising Trent who raced to protect her; he rammed, with a flying sidekick, straight into a biker who had headed after the redhead. A few of the civilians joined into the fight, but the bikers who they did not detain immediately ran to join in the fight surrounding their leader.
        Mary Jane grasped the gun and quickly returned to her feet. She was about to use it on an onrushing biker when Trent shook his head and called out to her, "No! Don't! There's too many people! Your shot could miss, and --!" His voice broke off even as MJ flipped the gun around and struck the biker's face with the gun's butt. Despite the situation, Trent couldn't help the grin that came to his face as he watched the surprisingly-fiery redhead. "If you're going to use it as a weapon, get the bullets out!" he called to her even as he rushed to provide her cover from another biker.
        As more bikers approached, Trina tossed the first one she had struck into two more and glanced to check on her guys. Carlos kicked the leader in his ribs; she could see Carlos' mouth moving but could not hear what he was saying. A swift glance affirmed Trent's and MJ's safeties, and Trina flew back into action, dodging a punch with not even so much as a second to spare. Her fists flew into the taller man's stomach in a barrage of forward punches that sent him stumbling back. She leapt gracefully up into the air as another biker attempted to sweep her feet out from under her, and as she came back down, her long legs kicked out, her feet colliding with his head and sending him backwards into another of his buddies.
        "Call them off!" Carlos ground out between clenched teeth as he pulled the struggling gang leader into a tight chokehold.
        "Never," the leader barely managed to squeak. Carlos tightened his grip on him, but the biker's elbow shot back into the Mexican's stomach. Winded, Carlos was forced to release the leader as he gasped for oxygen, but as the leader turned to face him, Trent arrived just in time to grab the biker's sailing fist in his own.
        "Nobody touches my friends," Trent informed the gang leader, his blue eyes flashing dangerously as he tightened the grip, crushing the other man's hand in his own. Even as he did so, Trent's free fist slammed into the leader's chest. Trent's eyes flitted quickly over the fight to check on Mary Jane and Trina. He was relieved to find MJ had followed him and was not surprised to find Trina fighting intensely.
        "Gimme the gun, girlie." The voice snatched Trent's attention back to Mary Jane just in time to find a biker sneering down at the redhead. Unfaltering, MJ moved to strike the biker with the butt of the gun, but he grabbed the gun before her strike could land and ripped it away from her. Grasping the gun in one hand but not using it as he had already seen her empty the bullets and toss them to the floor, the biker continued to advance on Mary Jane who backed steadily but unknowingly toward Carlos who was already back into the fight, fighting two bikers at once.
        Seeing the predicament that MJ had fallen into, Trent's hands moved with lightning speed as he released his hold on the leader's hand only to pick the leader up and toss him straight into the biker that was closing in on Mary Jane. "Are you okay?" he called to her over the roar of the fight and the loud rock music that had never stopped playing. She started to nod but then froze in terror as she saw the gun rising to point at Trent's back.
        As swiftly as she could, MJ moved to take off a high heel, but Trina had also spotted the female biker. She sailed into the air to avoid a collision with two onrushing bikers. As she began to descend, she snatched a dagger from her boot and threw it expertly. Even as the dagger sliced straight through the other woman's skin, the biker's shrill scream of terror and pain raising above the rest of the sounds of battle, and the impact sent her severed hand soaring a couple of feet.
        Trina landed on top of the two bikers who had only succeeded in knocking each other unconscious. She had just turned to check on Carlos when a black high heel spiraled through the air right beside her; the blonde turned, her surprised blue eyes following the shoe until its heel embedded deep into another biker's shoulder, causing him to drop the gun he had had pointed at her only a second before. The biker bellowed in agony as his other hand clutched his injured shoulder. Trina quickly followed the job MJ had began with a roundhouse kick to the guy's chest, and he collapsed the rest of the way. She turned back, taking a split second to send the redhead a grateful smile before looking to Carlos just in time to see him grab yet two more bikers and slam their heads together.
        "RETREAT!" No one knew where the call came from, but just as the bikers began to run for the door, even willing to forget their bikes if only they could escape without losing a hand, having a hole made in their shoulders, or some other horrible fate befalling them, Texas Rangers swarmed into the club from both the entrance and the exit. Trina smiled at the sight; the call had gotten through.
 

        After the battle, Trent, Trina, Carlos, and Mary Jane all rushed to reunite. As they reached one another, the Malloy twins asked breathlessly of each other as well as Carlos and MJ, "Are you all right?"
        "I'm okay, Trent," MJ quickly assured him, "but are you?"
        Even as the redhead was answering, Carlos also answered Trina, "I'm fine, but are you okay?" His chocolate brown eyes carefully surveyed her beautiful body, knowing that she would not admit to being hurt even if she was bleeding. He breathed a sigh of relief as she affirmed her well-being and he could not find anything wrong with her, and then he gathered her into his arms, holding her tight yet also gently to his chest.
        Even as Carlos had been checking Trina out, Trent had answered Mary Jane. "I'm fine, but are you sure you're okay?" His blue eyes were full of concern as they searched her emerald eyes for affirmation that her words were indeed the truth.
        MJ smiled as she hugged Trent. "Really, Trent, I'm okay," she told him again.
        "How'd you learn to handle a situation like that?" he questioned her as he held her close to him, his chin resting on top of her head as he closed his eyes and breathed in her delicious aroma, allowing her smell to calm his nerves. His hand gently rubbed her back as she clung to him.
        "Growing up in New York and living there for so long, I guess," MJ replied with a shrug. Although it pained her to have to lie to him, she knew she could not tell him the truth -- that you learned a lot of survival and fighting tips while being married to a costumed crimefighter. "But what about you?" she asked softly, her head resting against his chest.
        "I started learning the martial arts when I was a child," he admitted. "I'm a black belt in karate, and I was a hand-to-hand combat instructor in the Army for a while before moving back here. I'm now a karate instructor, and Carlos and I run a detective agency."
        "Wow." MJ murmured something against his shirt, but her voice was so soft that he could not make out what she said. Rather than ask her, he merely reveled in the feel of her in his arms. He glanced over to Carlos and Trina to make certain his sister and best friend were all right and smiled knowingly as he found them kissing. He quickly moved his eyes away from the heated sight.

        "So which one of you made the call?" Ranger Walker asked as he strolled up to the remaining four witnesses.
        Ranger Trivette tipped his hat to Mary Jane as he spotted the redhead in Trent's arms. "Nice to see you again, Miss Watson." Walker nodded his agreement but waited for some one to answer his question.
        "I did," Trina spoke, reluctantly leaving Carlos' embrace.
        Walker grinned as even he had to admit, "It figures."
        "Do we have to come down to the station to give our statements, or can we just go ahead and get it out of the way here?" Carlos asked.
        "You can do it here."

        After the statements had been given, Trent walked Mary Jane to her car, his arm wrapped securely around her as they moved through the dark parking lot. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asked her not for the first time as he reluctantly released her upon arrival at her door.
        MJ turned to gaze up into Trent's handsome face as she once more assured him, "I'll be just fine, Trent." She reached up a gentle hand to softly caress his cheek. "Please don't worry so much."
        His hand moved up to gently take the hand that had been caressing his cheek and move it to his lips where he brushed a soft kiss against the back of her hand. "I can't help worrying about a beautiful lady like yourself, Mary Jane."
        MJ laughed softly, and the merrily twinkling sound both made his heart skip a beat and brought a true smile to his face. "I don't see you repeatedly asking Trina if she's okay."
        "Because she's my sister, and she's used to this kind of stuff. She used to be a police officer."
        "She did?" MJ's eyes mirrored the surprise that sounded in her voice.
        Trent nodded as he added, "But please don't ask me to tell you why she changed careers."
        MJ nodded her understanding. "I won't," she promised, "nor will I tell her you told me."
        "Thank you." After a moment's silence, Trent again spoke softly, "I'm sorry."
        "For what?" Mary Jane asked, confusion slightly creasing her brow.
        "For not calling you sooner. For tonight being such a bust. For . . . "
        MJ's free hand reached up to gently press its index finger against his lips. "Trent," she spoke firmly yet softly as she searched his eyes, allowing him to see the truth in her own eyes, "tonight wasn't a bust. I was with you, and that made everything worth while."
        Her words blew him away. Gazing down into her beautiful emerald eyes, his lips ached desperately to taste of her sweetness, but he told himself that it was still too soon. He did not want to push anything on her that she might not be ready for. Instead, Trent said only, "Being with you tonight is the best thing that's happened to me since Halloween." He then reluctantly released her hand before he could do something he might come to regret.
        His quiet words had caused her heart to soar, and she had just been beginning to lean into the kiss she thought was coming when he had shattered her hope by releasing her hand. She bit back a sigh of dismay as she forced herself to turn from him and unlock her door. She was just about to slide into her car when he spoke again. "MJ?"
        "Yes?" She nearly bolted straight out of her car as she eagerly answered him.
        "Can I see you again sometime?" he asked hopefully.
        "Of course!" She tried not to sound too ecstatic. "When?"
        "Tomorrow? I mean, if that's not too soon?" Trent hurriedly added.
        MJ's brilliant smile seemed to completely light up the shadows to Trent as she answered, "I'd love to see you tomorrow, Trent."
        "Maybe we could catch a movie at the afternoon matinee?" he opted shyly.
        "I'll meet you for the three o'clock showing," MJ replied, her smile growing increasingly brilliant. "I can't wait to see you again," she admitted softly.
        "Nor I you," Trent barely managed to say. They stood there with Mary Jane half-in, half-out of her car, gazing adoringly down into each other's eyes, until her body's protests would no longer allow her to stay standing there and she reluctantly slid into her car. "Good night, Mary Jane."
        "Until tomorrow, Trent," she called to him as she shut her door. He watched silently as she cranked her car and slipped out into the night, taking his heart with her.

        As Trent had walked Mary Jane to her car, Carlos and Trina had headed for her car. Upon arrival, Trina had turned back to Carlos, and her hand had reached out towards his chest. As her fingers ran over the smooth design of the dragon on his shirt, her eyes looked up into his. "Very fitting," she murmured softly.
        "What is?" he asked, confusion slightly creasing his dark forehead as he struggled to keep from becoming completely lost in her blue ocean.
        "The dragon," she replied, her fingertips caressing his skin through the soft fabric as they continued to trace the design. "You could barely stand to wait for that scumbag to get near us," she spoke knowingly.
        "He was after you!" Carlos reminded her. "That's my job." His hand reached out to cup the small of her back as he gently brought her closer to him.
        "Why chase after me when you've already got me?" she asked as she leaned into him.
        His arms gently encircled her and held her even closer to him. His mouth began to descend towards her upturned lips. His eyes searched hers as he whispered against her lips, "I'll always chase you, Trina Malloy." His lips then touched softly down upon hers.
        Her lips parted underneath his, allowing their tongues to sweep into one another's mouths in a passionate duel. Her hands slid slowly around his waist, caressing every part of his skin they were met with, and slipped into the back pockets of his jeans. As she leaned closer into his loving embrace, her hips instinctively cradled the rising bulge in his pants. Their tongues dove deeper and swifter still as their mouths sought deeper pleasures, parting only for a second's breath of oxygen every now and then only to take new positions.
        As they continued to kiss, they stumbled blindly back against her car. They could feel every inch of the one another's excited areas through their tight clothes, and their moans of intense pleasure as they lost themselves in the moment were only silenced by their kisses. Her hands gently squeezed his rear through the tight fabric of his jeans. Their heated bodies slid across one another's as their passion grew even more.
        All too soon, their passion built to the point that each thought they might explode if they were not granted relief, and yet neither wanted to release the other. Carlos' enlarged sword threatened to burst the zipper of his jeans, and finally, the pain of its tight confines grew to be too much for him. "Trina," he moaned softly against her lips in between kisses, "We can't . . . Not here . . . Trent . . . "
        Although his words were nearly incoherent, they still broke through to Trina's mind. Her every being ached desperately for him with a burning desire that seared right through her very core. The last thing on Earth she wanted to do at that moment was to release him, and yet she knew that she had no other choice. Slowly and reluctantly, the couple forced themselves to part.
        Afterwards, they breathed hard, their aching lungs gasping for oxygen. Silence reigned, stretching on through the night, as they continued longingly into one another's eyes. Finally, Carlos managed to speak, his voice naught but a soft whisper, "You were wonderful in there."
        She smiled. "So were you."
        "I wish you'd think about joining us," he told her not for the first time. The truth of his words was clear in both his eyes and on his face, and Trina's heart was pained by the knowledge that she could not give him the answer he so terribly wanted to hear.
        "Carlos, you know I can't," she said sadly, her smile vanishing to be replaced by a sympathetic and guilty frown. "I'm sorry, but that part of my life is over."
        "Why?" he asked. "You were so good at being a cop, and you're still a great fighter, spy, an undercover agent. The list goes on. You help us and the Rangers out all the time. We both know you still have it in you and that you still enjoy it. Why do you have to shut out that part of your life, of you, just because your first partner was a bastard who didn't deserve you but still broke your heart?"
        "Carlos . . . " Although her tone had been angry, her words stopped abruptly. How could she explain to him that she just couldn't go back to that lifestyle? "We need the money of my . . ."
        "Don't give me that, Trina," he snapped harshly, his dark eyes flashing angrily. "Don't lie to me."
        "Look," she finally said bitterly. "I wish I could explain to you why I couldn't. I wish I could make you understand why I can't just go back to being what I was. I help where I can who I can, and you know I would do anything to help Trent or you. That's why I still get involved in it from time to time."
        "But, Trina, I saw you tonight, and I know you still enjoy it!" Carlos protested.
        "Of course I do! I'm a fighter, Carlos, and I always will be! I'm not a wuss. I'm not capable of being a coward. I fight when I need to, but I don't go looking for them any more."
        As Carlos' mind whirled as he tried to come up with a new statement that might make her rethink her decision, Trina's eyes fell from his. "Why can't you just accept that and leave it alone?" she asked sadly as her head tilted, her eyes shifting to the pavement beneath their feet.
        {Great,} he growled silently at himself. {Now look what you've done!} They remained silent for a while, standing there just like that, until Carlos finally stepped closer to Trina. He reached out and lifted her chin with a gentle finger, bringing her eyes to look back into his. With a sheepish grin, he asked softly, "Am I in the doghouse?"
        He was so cute when he looked at her that way and so sweet when he spoke so timidly that she could not possibly stay angry with him. The corners of her lips twitched as she fought the urge to smile, but finally her lips began to turn up in a little smile. "Nah," she assured him. "I can't blame you for wanting me with y'all. After all, there's no better place to me than with my two guys."
        "That other guy had better be Trent," Carlos muttered warningly though a teasing grin pulled at his lips.
        "Of course it is." She chuckled softly, smiling widely once more, as she leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
        They had just began to kiss again, far more gently this time than minutes before, when Trent walked up. "Okay, you two. Let's go home, and don't make me get the firehouse." The trio chuckled simultaneously as Carlos and Trina parted. They got into her car and headed home.
 

        "So," Trina asked her brother over brunch the next morning, "have you called her yet?"
        "Nope," he said with a mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes before taking a swallow of sweet tea.
        Trina poked at her chili. "Why not?" she demanded, her blue eyes narrowed on her brother's.
        He shrugged carelessly. "Because I don't need to."
        Trina's eyes widened in surprise. "What do you mean you don't need to? Don't tell me you don't want to see her again!"
        "Of course I do," he said as he scooped out the bottom of his bowl and finished his chili.
        "Then why don't you need to call her? If she didn't call you last time --"
        "Trina," Trent broke her off as he rose from his seat, "I've got to get headed home."
        Her baby blue eyes flashed angrily as he gathered his trash and began to walk off from their table. "Don't you walk out on me, Trenton Malloy!" she exclaimed hotly.
        At his sister's angry tone, Trent bit back a chuckle and whirled around to face her again. "Trina, I've got to get home so I can get ready for my date."
        "You mean you -- ?"
        "Yup." He grinned as he answered her before she could even finish her question.
        Trina broke out into a beautiful smile. "It's about time, Virgin Boy," she teased him gently, her blue eyes twinkling with happiness for her beloved brother.
        Trent had turned around again but had not taken more than one step away before he turned back to once more look at Trina. Smiling brilliantly, he added, "And thanks, sis."
        Their eyes met, and she already knew what he was talking about. She was not surprised in the least that he knew what she had done. "It's the least I can do after you made me accept Carlos and our feelings for one another," she told him. "Besides, my brother deserves only the best."
        "You're talking about Tommy there, right?" he asked her with a teasing grin.
        Trina playfully tossed a napkin at him as she told him, "You know I'm talking about all three of my brothers!" They laughed, and she stood to join him. Trina quickly finished her chili and downed the rest of her tea as they walked, side by side, toward CD's exit.