Mac pulled back on the fishing rod as the line went taught. He played out a little line and then, fairly sure the fish at the other end was securely on the hook, began to reel it in. His muscles bulged with the effort as the nylon line slowly wound itself around the spinner and onto the reel. Finally, as a reward for his patience a huge blue iridescent fish with giant sharp looking extension sticking off its face slid from the water and struggled violently.

"Holy crap what is it?" Pete exclaimed. "It looks evil. It has a built in needle to stab you with and all!"

"It's huge! Guaranteed you'd never catch a fish that big in the lake at home. Pete, get your phone and Google it." Derek stood ogling the giant fish as Mac struggled to keep it above the water and Pete dove for his phone.

"A little help here?" Derek jumped to Mac's side and together they hauled his catch into the boat. Sweating he studied the intimidating invertebrate.

"It is a Blue Marlin!" Pete announced with smug assuredness. "It says it is a prize for deep sea fisherman and goooooood eatin!"

"Hi five man!" Derek raised his hand and Mac gave it a slap. "Onto the ice you go my friend." The now unmoving fish was lifted into the giant cooler.

Pete handed Mac a beer and they returned to their places on the deck sitting and watching their lines.

"Well, we won't starve thanks to Mac." Pete toasted Mac and the glistening bottle necks clinked loudly. "I better text Brenna. She'll have a recipe ready by the time we get home."

"They were heading out in search of clothing shops today but she can look it up on her phone," Derek took a pull off his beer. "Hey tell my wife not to spend any more money. I'm sure she's racked it up by now."

Pete made a loud barking laugh and continued typing on his phone.

"Hey, about Brenna, I wanted to ask you about her." Mac leaned back in the chair and took a drink. "I saw her scars the other night. What happened again? They almost look like combat scars. I didn't want to upset her by asking or anything."

"That's right; you were pretty much gone for three months that summer and must not have paid much attention to the news. I was there but I was part of the breach team. Derek was actually down where Brenna was." He pointed at Derek with the neck of the bottle.

Derek took a deep breath and blew it out slowly through his puffed cheeks. "That day sucked." He pulled the bill of his baseball cap lower and crossed his arms as he leaned back in the chair.

"A dirt bag named Sam Parks got a bug up his ass after he got his 5th DUI and lost his job, his wife, and his kid. Instead of realizing he had a problem and seeking help he decided to take vengeance on the community by locking himself up in the top of the fire department training tower with a high power rifle and a couple of crates of ammo," he took a long pull from his bottle.

"Brenna and her crew had been giving station tours to all the classes of the local grade school down the street all day. She'd put on the outfit and show them how to stop drop and roll and all that. They were doing it out on the grass beside the station because the weather was so nice. They were on their final class, afternoon kindergarten, when the shooting started."

Mack didn't lift his eyes from his beer. He could tell the telling of the story was hard on his friend. Slowly he slid his thumbnail under the soggy label and began to peel it back.

"The first shot took the teacher to the ground. Then a kid got winged and they all started screaming and running while he took pot shots at them. Brenna and the guys started herding kids into the station but one of them had panicked and had run for the road. The sick bastard shot right in front of the kid, then when he turned back he shot in front of him again. He had him trapped and was torturing him. Brenna dove for the kid and covered him with her body. Parks pumped two rounds into her."

"The first round went in through her trap, chipped her shoulder blade, travelled along her ribcage, grazed her kidney and exited out her back taking a piece of her bottom rib with it." Pete took over the explanation to give Derek a break. "The second was a clean shot through her bicep."

"We couldn't get to him," Derek continued. "Finally, we got a guy in the penthouse across the street who got a bead on him. They took the shot but the bastard had wired himself. He had placed 4 explosive charges at different locations in the city wired into a digital heart monitor. When his heart stopped they detonated."

"One of the charges had been place under a manhole cover in front of the hospital ER. When it detonated an ambulance had been parked directly on top of it. It saved hundreds of lives by containing the blast. Only the ambulance crew died," Pete paused and swallowed. "Brenna's husband Greg was the driver."

"So Brenna spends two hours hunched over a five year old boy trying not to move and alert madmen that she is alive while the whole time slowly bleeding out on the sidewalk. Then we finally get her to the hospital; five hours of surgery later she wakes up and two chiefs are staring at her to tell her that not only is she injured, scarred for life but she is also a widow." They all sat in silence for several minutes after Derek stopped talking.

"Twelve people total died that day when it was all said and done. Brenna wished she had died. Tammi and Becca organized it so that she was never alone. Someone was always with her. She grudgingly went to physical therapy and finally got released."

"Honestly, I think she would have barricaded herself in the house and died if it hadn't been for the wives," Pete added.

"Pretty likely," Derek nodded. "The first year and a half was pretty touch and go. She did a lateral over to a fire investigator position and got back to work. That helped. The tattoo was about six months ago. She wanted to memorialize Greg in her scars."

"Musta hurt tattooing on scar tissue." Mac observed.

"She knows pain."

Mac nodded.

"That is why I get so pissed when Isabelle makes some nasty comment about them. She claims she can't handle visually disturbing things and they make her uncomfortable but she is really just taking jabs at Brenna." Pete was upset punctuating his words with his hands. "She has no reason to do it."

Derek just nodded. "But she won't let us defend her so........."

"I'm done with this subject. Let's take monster fish back to the house." Pete hopped up and moved to the front of the boat.

"She's like a little sister to us. I know how much I miss Greg; I can't even imagine how much she does." Derek made a light attempt at apologizing for Pete's behavior.

"No. I get it. I have nothing but respect for the man and I didn't even know him. She's been funny and kind this whole trip and now I have a whole new perspective. She is a serious badass and one strong chic."

"Yes she is." Derek tipped his beer bottle in Mac's direction. "Now let's get these lines out of the water." They started to work as Pete started the deep rumbling engines of the boat.

***********************

Pete had been right. By the time they got back the house the girls had returned with several bags of clothes, a few bags of groceries and an idea of what to do with monster fish.

Under Brenna's direction the boys cleaned and cut the fish into thick steaks. Then she rubbed them in olive oil, cracked pepper and garlic before putting them on the grill. While they cooked she grilled asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms and Brussels sprouts. The most amazing smelling cheesy bread and baked potatoes redolent of garlic appeared from the oven.

Mac was amazed. She did so much but never seemed to rush. She simply moved from task to task with a grace and fluidity that seemed to mesmerize.

Tammi and Becca set the table outside and opened a bottle of wine. The nicely seared steaks came off the grill and everyone gathered to eat in the fading sun of the day.

"This looks amazing! You are amazing!. Come sit down and eat already Brenna, "Derek yelled into the large French doors.

"I just have to grab a sweater. I'll be right there," she answered from the depths of the house.

"It's hot out here. You don't need no damn sweater!" he swiveled his head and locked angry eyes on Isabelle who chose that moment to be very interested in her napkin.

Finally Brenna came rushing out flushed and pulling her thick brown hair out from under the shawl she'd thrown on.

"Is that the new one from this afternoon?" Becca asked. Brenna nodded with a smile as Mac pulled her chair out for her and scooted it in for her.

"It suits you; matches your eyes." He stated simply. She nodded again but didn't meet his eyes.

Everyone tucked into the food. Praises flew from all corners at how delicious everything was.

Pete raised a toast. "To Mac who caught the beast and to Brenna who turned it from an ugly fish to a delicious meal!"

"Here, here!!" they all exclaimed into the twilight.