Sparrowhawk and All-Star: Love, American Style

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Alex Harper, known by most as the heroine Sparrowhawk, groggily opened her eyes. She actually for once had a nice and peaceful night of sleeping. Well, as peaceful as sleeping next to Nate Carter, the pistol wielding, patriotic agent known as All-Star could be, anyways. Her arm glided over to touch him, only to feel that his side of the large bed was currently unoccupied. Alex rolled over as her fingers felt a small piece of paper upon the currently unused pillow. It was in fact a hastily scribbled note which was almost illegible in its penmanship and addressed to her.

"Stepped out for a few. Looked like you needed the extra sleep. Don't get into any trouble without me. Love, Nate," she read out loud. She smiled a bit as she put the note back down upon the pillow.

Alex yawned and sat up, taking time to admire the beautiful historic hotel room they were occupying. Four days in Prague was a nice getaway for the both of them. It began as more business than pleasure actually. Nate agreed to accompany her to Europe in order to apprehend the notorious crime czar Bednar Prochazka. Most knew him in underworld circles as 'Major Mangalica'. Their mission wasn't as cut and dry as she initially thought and the extra manpower did come in helpful. She hadn't counted on the five super humans and two tanks Major Mangalica had in his possession. It wasn't an easy win, but it was a win nonetheless. Now that Bednar was arrested and officially out of the picture, Alex and Nate decided to spend one extra day in Prague in order to celebrate.

Alex stood up, stretching and feeling how sore and achy her body felt. Her back and ribs especially were tender after being almost decimated by a rocket launcher while pummeling one of the bad guys. She pushed back her near shoulder length blonde hair and adjusted her shorts, which actually were a pair of Nate's boxers. A hot shower was in order to start the day. Hopefully, she mused to herself, Nate would bring her back something from his morning journey. She picked up and set the scribbled note he left her on an ornate table as she passed it and a smile again passed her lips. Nate...

It was interesting how far they had come, she thought with a bit of amusement. Their initial meeting was etched firmly in her mind, like most things with her exceptional memory. His jokes and flirting were actually off-putting to her at first. His general bravado and asking her for dates and insistence at even getting her real name were mind- numbing. It wasn't his personality that won her over at first but his professionalism. It's really what intrigued her in the first place. It was definitely not the cocky attitude or irrelevant (and sometimes annoying) humor he displayed that continued to chip away at her admittedly at times distant heart. It was the things others didn't see. Nate had a huge heart and always defended the underdog, probably more so than any other costumed adventurer she had ever encountered. He was caring to a fault (even if he had trouble at times relaying it properly). His ability to live life to the fullest impressed her. Still, he hid a lot of things from others, most notably his pain, but eventually he opened himself to her to share even that. It allowed her to see more than just the brash and mouthy gunslinger so many knew him as. In the end, you love someone for all that they are, rather than merely picking and choosing their best qualities. Nate had a lot to love.

As she entered the bathroom a knock came from the door. She was just about to start the shower and she rolled her eyes at the sound. The knock upon the door was repeated and, smoothing out her rumpled white tank top she slept in, Alex exited the elegant looking bathroom to return to the living room area of the hotel suite. Nate probably forgot the keys to the room... again. She shook her head a bit. That man was bound to leave something behind No matter where on the planet they were.

"Comi..." Alex began to say, crossing over posh nineteenth century rugs to answer the door. All of a sudden, the door literally exploded with a thunderous noise, sending shards of wood splintering in all directions. With less than a second to react, Alex dove down to the ground as smoke poured in through the door opening.

Armed men ran through the now large opening where the door had been at only moments before and each was garbed in black military attire. Black matching ski masks and goggles adorned their faces. Alex quickly noted there were six men and four of them carried Skorpion vz. 61 sub machine guns. A seventh stepped into the room as the other men surrounded her in a semi circle. He was a bald, severe looking man with an eyepatch and shiny black leather coat with scarlet trim. His face was rugged and worn, probably displaying an age far older than his actual chronological birth date. One of his hands was gloved; the other fitted with a sword as some sort of prosthetic. As he approached he looked at Alex with obvious disdain. She stood up cautiously into a semi crouch, her hands raised in feigned submission.

"I will speak to you in English, so you may better understand me: I am Wütender Nachtkrapp. To you I would be known as the Angry Night Raven. I have been told that this is where I might find Nathan Carter, also known as 'Agent All-Star'? As you can see, I don't have much time. So where is he?" the man said, his voice carrying a thick accent as he spoke.

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"I'm sorry. What tragic, tragic Ian Fleming knock off novel did you come from? The eyepatch is charming. It honestly pulls the entire look together," Alex said mockingly, taking the time to survey her surroundings as she spoke. "Its great, seriously. You really make it work."

"We can make this easy or we can make this painful. I am fine with either choice," Wütender Nachtkrapp asked with a bored sigh. He raised his sword- hand at her from behind his armed bodyguards. "Speak up. I would hate to have to destroy a face as beautiful as yours."

Alex paused with her arms still in the air. "Seven of you against me. That's hardly fair."

Wütender Nachtkrapp offered her a crooked smile back, exposing teeth that had obviously never seen the touch of an orthodontist. "Then you'll just have to answer my question."

Alex's brow lowered. "What I meant to say is that it isn't fair to _you_."

With those words leaving her mouth, Alex flipped in the air. Both of her feet connected directly into the chests of two of the armed men in front of her and they were sent backwards. Their guns went off as they stumbled back, one of them riddling the man next to him with bullets. With her kick she pushed herself back with an impressive double flip, landing on the other side of the room. The men with guns opened fire just as she managed to grab one of her bio electric batons, thankfully laying on the floor by the antique bed. A storm of bullets shot about the elegant room and she jumped, narrowly missing their intended target. The bed was pummeled with a barrage of gunfire and stuffing and feathers flew up in a cloud.

Alex's bio electric baton hummed as she held onto it and a surge of electrical energy danced from its tip. A crackle of blue lightning surged forth, embracing two of the men carrying guns. They were hurled with such force it literally knocked them through a wall and out of the room. Pressing forward, she jumped directly at the remaining guards. Her eyes took in that one of them, a man wielding a gun who she had just kicked was picking himself up. Alex grabbed one of the unarmed men by the shoulder, swinging him around just in time to be used as a shield for the path of bullets. As he took the onslaught of bullets, she pushed the body at Wütender Nachtkrapp to momentarily distract him. Utilizing the distraction she hurled her baton at the shooter and knocked him squarely in the face as blood shot out of his nose. He landed with a hard thud.

One of the henchman poised himself behind Alex with a long knife drawn from his belt. He lunged at her as she hurled the baton and only caught him for a brief second in her peripheral vision. He grazed in her arm barely as she bit her lip to prepare for the wound. Only momentarily startled, she extended her fingers on her hand and jutting them outward, striking the man directly in his throat. He went down quickly while making gagging noises as he desperately attempted to get air. The last knife wielder and Wütender Nachtkrapp were then on Alex. She dodged the thrust of the hand sword and focused her chi, kicking the knife wielder with such strength she heard several of the ribs in his chest audibly snap.

"Underestimated you..." the eye patched man said, swinging again at Alex as she ducked under his blade. She could tell he was well versed in using his sword. He was fast... but she was slightly faster.

"I get that a lot, it seems," Alex said curtly, tossing a table at him to get some distance from his weapon. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to tell your soon-to-be cell mates in prison you were beaten by a girl in nothing but her unmentionables."

He filleted the centuries old furniture with his sharp blade as he moved closer. Alex saw her other bio electric baton on the floor and dove for it. As her hand grabbed it, she lifted it overhead just in time to meet yet another swing of the madman's sword. The clang of metal on metal filled the room instead of the previous gunfire as Alex and Wütender Nachtkrapp began to duel with their chosen weaponry. He was quicker than what she thought just moments ago and as he continued to engage her she realized he actually was growing faster in his attacks. For every strike, the other seemed to counter it. Alex grimaced. He obviously had some sort of super human power... though her annoyance soon turned to perseverance.

Wütender Nachtkrapp slashed at her, and as she tumbled he cut through a seventeenth century tapestry hanging on a wall. Alex tried to maintain her focus by observing her opponent's movements and body language, though at his current speed he was making it hard to do. His strength was also growing exponentially, she noted, thinking his powers must be channeled through his adrenaline levels. The impacts were increasing in severity. One strike from him passed her defensive stance and tagged her in the thigh.

"Damn you, American whore, will you just die already!" he cursed through clenched teeth.

Alex decided she was completely over this battle and it needed to end, now. She saw an opening as he spoke, just the briefest of missteps... but it was all she had. Feeling her chi rising within her, she lifted herself up off the ground in a spin. Her baton charged up in her hand, collecting her own body's bio electrical impulses as it sparked blue electricity. The metal baton connected directly with Wütender Nachtkrapp's forehead. It sending him sprawling onto the remnants of the battered bed. He coughed once, his entire body shivered from the conductivity of the baton's charge, then passed out.

"That was lovely," Alex said as she went to check on Wütender Nachtkrapp.

As Alex leaned over Nachtkrapp to check his vitals she failed to notice the man she struck in the throat slowly try to get up. He quietly attempted to crawl towards a nearby gun amongst the smoldering wreckage that was just minutes before a gorgeous room. As he reached for the weapon the bodyguard was struck in the head by a box of chocolates that whirled right at him. Blood splurted from the sheer force of the velocity of the small, heart shaped container and he crumpled. Another figure, the one who had used the candy as a weapon, walked through the gaping and still smoking hole of a doorway.

"Al!" the man said. Alex looked up to see Nate Carter, aka All-Star, standing over the unconscious bodyguard. He lowered his trademark sunglasses, first to stare at the wrecked state of the hotel suite and then to meet her gaze. "What the hell? I leave for just a few minutes and I come back to catch you in just your underwear surrounded by a bunch of guys. Well, actually my underwear, but whatever."

Alex smirked at Nate's comment. She flicked her thumb to point at Wütender Nachtkrapp. "Old friend of yours I take it?"

"Aw, jeez," Nate noted, rubbing his Van Dyke as he saw the man on the floor. "Yeah. Had a run in a few years back while on assignment. Typical loser of the week. Piss poor poker playing skills, too. Long story on that one. Anyways. You okay, Al?"

"When am I not?" she responded, cracking her neck as she stood to approach him.

"Maybe now's not the best time to point it out, but I just possibly saved your life," he said jokingly with a smile. "I think you kind of owe me."

Alex heard the sirens of the Policie České Republiky as they were finally arriving at the hotel. "I always seem to be owing you." She leaned in to kiss him softly, and as she did he pulled her closer.

"So. Al?" Nate whispered.

"Yes, Nate?" she answered, backing up to look at him in the eyes.

"I hope they aren't going to be charging us for the room being trashed," he said with a bit of a nervous laugh thrown in. "Because if they are, I should let you know right now I only have twenty bucks on me."

Alex leaned her head into his chest lovingly, allowing herself a small chuckle.



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