Jack moved out of Nori's way as she sprinted around the corner, then he leaned against the wall and watched Corona do her thing. He kept his gun out, just in case, but pointed it at the ground.

Corona turned and slammed Henderson into the wall. The impact knocked him stupid and his eyes almost rolled up in his head.

"What the hell?" he mumbled once he'd started to recover.

"Shut up!" she snapped, and his eyes focused on her. He whimpered and tried to push her away. She shoved him into the wall again. The back of his skull hit it with a dull thump and he screamed and clutched at his head.

"Do I have your attention?" Corona growled into his face.

He moaned and nodded.

"Some friends of mine have told me you've been harassing them. That stops now, do you understand?"

"I-I wasn't … I didn't do anything wrong. Let me go!"

"I saw you forcing yourself on her." Corona drove her fist into the wall, inches from his head, and he flinched as small chunks of shattered brick bounced off his head. "Don't lie to me again."

Jack grinned. She's off to a good start.

"Listen carefully, you piece of shit," she snarled. "I won't warn you again. Leave them alone. If you get anywhere near them again, I will kill you." She bared her teeth and all the color drained from his face. "Is that clear?"

"F … fu -- fuck you!"

Oh, that was ill-advised. Jack shook his head. Bastard's got wind whistling between his ears.

"What did you say, bitch?" Corona drew in a breath and roared into Henderson's face.

He screamed and a dark stain spread across the front of his pants.

She pivoted and threw him across the alley. He bounced off the wall and sprawled on the pavement. She picked him up, grabbed his hair, and yanked his head back.

"Kill you! You got it now? Or do I go into explicit detail on exactly how I'll do it?"

Henderson shook his head and threw his arms across his face.

"About time." She lowered him to the ground, and his legs almost buckled. "Oh, and if you're even thinking about turning me in to the police, remember one thing -- I'll find you before they find me. Clear?"

He nodded again, whimpering, tears streaming down his face.

"Good. Now get the hell outta here." She gave him a shove that sent him reeling almost to the end of the alley before he collapsed. He pushed himself up to his hands and knees, moaned, and pitched forward. He got his feet under him, stood slowly, and staggered away.

Jack grinned, put his gun away, and walked over to Corona. "I do enjoy watching you work."

"Heh. I have to admit, that was pretty gratifying." She slipped her hand into his and they walked around the corner. "Let's go back inside and make sure Nori's okay."

He nodded and opened the door for her. She smiled and coiled her tail around his waist as they returned to the girls' table. Nori was crying and the others were holding her hand, hugging her and rubbing her back.

"He's gone," Corona said, leaning over to give Nori's shoulder a reassuring pat. "You're safe now."

"The question is," Kim said, "will he stay gone?"

"He'd better." Corona flexed her muscles. "Next time, I'll put him in the hospital."

"Good." Myaku gave Nori another hug. "You were pretty brave, girl. Dunno if I could've done that, myself."

"Shit, I was so scared!" Nori sobbed and dried her eyes with a napkin.

"You did just fine."

"Yeah, you did." Corona smiled "If that guy has any brains at all, he'll stay away. But just in case, I want all of you to call me and leave a voicemail at regular intervals -- say, every hour or two -- just so I know you're okay. Keep it up for the next couple of weeks so we can be sure he's gone. And if you see him anywhere, even if you think he just happened to pass by without realizing you're there, you call me immediately. I'll be on him so fast it'll cause a goddamn time warp."

Nori managed to smile, though the tears continued flowing.

Corona found an empty chair, pulled it over and offered it to Jack. "Now, if you don't mind, we'd like to hang around for a while, just to be sure that dipshit doesn't come back."

"We don't mind at all." Kim grinned. "I just wish we could pay you more."

"Nah, don't you worry about that. Whatever you feel you can afford is fine.”

"Are you sure?” Kim exchanged a glance with her friends. “We don’t want to stiff you.”

"I have a sliding scale depending on who my clients are and how much money they have. I'm not in this line of work to bankrupt anyone." Corona smiled. "Anyway, Jack recorded a video of Henderson assaulting Nori. He can send a copy to your phones."

Myaku took out her phone. "Just send it to mine. I'll send copies to everyone else."

Jack nodded and brought up a menu in his field of vision. He ran a search for wireless devices, selected her phone from the list, and transferred the file. "I stopped recording before Corrie started the beatdown, so there won't be anything Pervy Patty can use against her if he's stupid enough to go to the cops. I did, however, get everything that happened after Nori left the table."

"Thank you." Nori sniffled. "No matter what we pay you, it'll never be enough for what you did."

Corona patted Nori’s shoulder again. "Make multiple copies of that and give them to people you trust. Take one to the police first thing in the morning, too. It should be enough for them to arrest him."

"It’s a good start." Kim slumped back in her chair and sighed. "My mom'll be relieved, too, even though she can't officially condone this because of her job. She's a plainclothes detective, so she had to stay out of it even though she wanted to hunt him down and kick his ass up between his shoulder blades."

"We can't thank you enough." Myaku sent copies of the video to her friends' phones.

"Well," Corona said, "the best way to do that is to help put this guy in prison and get back to your normal lives."

"We'll do that."

Jack smiled. He'd been nervous about quitting his job, at first, but now it seemed to be the right choice. If nothing else, it'd be good enough to see Corona in action on a regular basis. Being able to jump into it with her would be a bonus. As uncertain as the future might be without a regular paycheck, it'd be worth it just for the chance to work with her.

He slipped his arm around her waist and allowed himself to relax and enjoy the moment.