You Do What You Have To - 82

 

 

"Hey, it's all right," Robin murmured, wrapping Micky in a tight embrace.

 

"I shot… Maybe I killed…" Micky teared up.

 

Robin wiped away the tears slowly rolling down Micky's cheeks. "He would have killed you without a second thought," Robin told him. "They weren't there to play nice with us. You did what you had to."

 

Unbelievably, as far as he was concerned, Micky giggled. "That's the mantra for your—" he paused, looking directly at Robin now, "—the mantra for our lives. But it's theirs too, I think."

 

"Yeah, it is. We, however, have one thing that makes us different from bastards like Mackenzie and Harley and their kind. We do what's necessary to keep them from defiling the world we live in. Unfortunately, this time, it involved killing them. That was the only thing that would stop them from murdering us. Before you say it's the same thing, to kill or to murder, it's not. They were going to murder us, in cold blood. We had no choice in our response. Not if we wanted to stay alive." Robin cupped Micky's face in his hands. "Do you understand?"

 

"Yes," Micky replied slowly. "Yes, I do." He shivered. "I don't like it, but I do get it."

 

"I don't want you to like it. If taking Harley out excited you, I'd be damned worried." Reaching around Micky, Robin opened the car door.

 

"Not even close," Micky replied as he got in. "If I never have to hold a gun again—to say the least of using it—I'll be very happy."

 

Robin went around to the driver's side, slid in, and started the car. Then, before putting it in gear, he leaned across the console to kiss Micky. "I'll try to make certain you never do, but life being what it is—my life, anyway—it could happen."

 

"Our life," Micky replied firmly, even though he had to grip his hands together to keep them from shaking. "I'm with you in everything: your security business, your family business—as you insist on calling it—and your life. Everything." He managed a smile. "So…I guess you're going to have to show me how to defend myself, since I get that it's necessary if I'm going to do this."

 

"As much as I hate the idea that you'll probably need to know, yeah, it will be." Robin drove out of the parking lot, onto the street, and they headed to the police station.