Conventional Weapons

Dolly looked extremely peaceful, as if nothing was happening. She didn't know about Dr. D yet, since she had been sleeping for a while. I took her hand into mine and held it tightly, bringing it to my chest. The whole deal was like some sick mind game. BL/Ind decided to use the people closest to me to get into my brain, to make me lose my guard. I'm not gonna lie, its a fuckin' smart move. Anyone would fall apart if their loved ones were being attacked. I just had to learn to not let it fog my emotions and make Mme do something I regret.
'Party?" Dolly said, slightly stirring and slowly opening her eyes.
"Hey" I smiled, leaning closer to her.
"Where am I?"
"At Blu's. You were shot at Hyper-Thrust last night."
"Ghoul? Val?"
"They're fine"
"Good." She sighed.
"Listen" I started. "I have some pretty bad news"
"What's wrong?" She asked, concern growing on her pretty, youthful face.
"You were pregnant" I started. "And, when Jet shot you, you lost it."
It took a minute for her to react, but it was a reaction alright. She found a way to curl her body into the fetal position, pulling her hand away from mine and wrapping her arms around her legs. Sobs shook through her body, and she let out a muffled shout. I decided to climb into the bed with her and try my best to make her feel better. She gratefully let me wrap my arms around her shaking body.
"Oh my god" she whispered, once she got her tears a bit more in control. "Fuckin' BL/Ind"
"I won't let them win. They took away something from us and they will pay."
"Good"
"But, there's something else" I said, sitting up in the bed. Dolly sat up, her red, tear stained eyes pleading with me. I leaned my head against the wall and looked up to the ceiling, taking a deep breath in.
"Is Grace safe?" Dolly asked.
"Yeah. But Dr. D isn't." Dolly's hands shot to cover her mouth and even more tears began to fall. "He was shot point blank by ray gun. He was protecting Grace."
"Who did it?" She asked. The name got caught in my throat. I didn't want her to know it was possibly someone we could have possibly known. Then, it was like a lightbulb went off in her head. "Korse. He's still alive"
She was right. This whole time we were dealing with everything going on, we forgot one major factoid. Korse, the top exterminator, the one who actually killed me, was still very much alive. The destruction of Hyper-Thrust was a distraction. It was meant to take us away from Battery City and leave Dr. D and Grace wide open. They were like fuckin' sitting ducks. How could I have been so fucking stupid.
"I need to call Ghoul and Val." I said, standing up from the bed. "You stay here. Recover a bit and I'll be back"
"Okay" she replied.
"I love you" I said, leaning back over to her and missing her softly.
"I love you too."
"Good, just try to be a not more bulletproof."
"I still got that bulletproof heart"
"Good. Just remember that this world is a horrible place and we need to keep Grace safe from it."
"Right. The world is ugly." She smiled slightly, even through her sadness.
"But you're beautiful to me" I replied, before slipping out the door.

"So, you think this is all Korse" Val asked, as we all 'group-chatted'(which is something I had never done before). I looked over at his image on Grace's Clapton and nodded.
"It makes sense" Ghoul replied from his little camera. "Using Kobra Kid and Jet Star as a way to distract us from the kid"
"Thankfully, Dr. D was able to hide her before he died. Korse couldn't get her."
"There's this other person Involved." Blu said, walking in from the room where Dolly Pop slept. She walked over to me and stood to my left, so she was able to be seen on the cameras. "Her code name is the Director"
"Yeah, we heard Dr. D say something about her" Ghoul said.
"She's technically the head of Better Living Industries. She approves all the plans for every invention. Honestly, whatever is is Grace's head must retain something about a thing she was building"
"It makes perfect sense." I replied.
"So, The Director controls Korse." Ghoul said, a spark going off in his brain.
"And no one has ever thought of asking her what the big and secret is?" Val asked, adjusting his blue and red mask atop his mop of white hair.
"No." I replied. "I tried a long time ago and she won't tell."
"That's something we need to know now"
"I agree, but its something she can tell me when she's ready"
"She might never be" Ghoul said.
"Then we will deal with it. But for now we can't leave her alone. Once Dolly is back on her feet, we will take shifts making sure Grace is okay. Got it"
"Got it" the two said in unison.
"Good, because this is gonna become one hell of a bumpy ride."

Notes