Logan Echolls (loganecho) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-07-02 00:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | leon orcot, logan echolls |
Who: Logan Echolls and Leon Orcot
What: Botched Rescue
Where: The Warehouse
When: June 22
Rating: PG-13
Status: Complete
Leon had not been especially happy lately. Oh sure, he’d managed to visit Chris during Memorial Day weekend, and that had been great. But in his dreams he hadn’t talked to Chris in nearly ten years, and even though he had just seen his little brother a couple of weeks ago, he still felt a little ache when he woke up in the morning.
But that paled in comparison to being dumped by Peggy. While Leon and Peggy had never been officially together, she had still managed to be his longest relationship by a long shot, Leon never having dated anyone for more than a month or two in dreams or in real life. Gatollotto, Leon’s Christmas Cactus, was just as effective at helping with a broken heart in real life as she was in the dreams. Small red buds had started appearing two days after his unfortunate break-up, and he’d spent a lot of his free time at home watering her, or reading to her, or just generally chatting to her, all while waiting eagerly for her flowers to bloom. He hadn’t had a chance to see them in his dreams, and he wanted to now.
Though, that didn’t mean he could just spend all day at home. He still had friends who he paid visits to, which is what he was doing now, at Logan’s house. Veronica was off with Sharon doing some Agency bullshit somewhere, and Leon had decided to come by Logan’s place to get drunk and watch the game. Both of which were going well, since he was already getting tipsy.
When his phone buzzed, Leon checked it immediately (Peggy, asking for him back maybe? He doubted it, but hope burned eternal). Instead, it was some automated text from Sharon. It took him a moment to remember that Sharon had described this app to him when she’d added him as a contact, and he let out a slightly irritated sigh. “Hey man. I just got a text from Sharon saying she hasn’t checked in with her phone in a while. Probably just she and Veronica got to gabbing and she forgot, but did you wanna go with me to check it out just in case?”
Well, what else were best friends for, but to get drunk with their dumped friend, and attempt to make them see why they would be just fine, and point out other hook-up options. Logan Echolls was definitely not as bad as he used to be, thanks to a certain long-term relationship, but he was still willing to sit around with his best mate and drink to his troubles.
Logan was headed to the refrigerator to grab two more beers when the text came. He set the bottles on the counter. “Does it strike you as normal for a woman not to check her phone?” There might be a time or two, but she and Veronica were together, and while they didn’t have an app, he knew his girl. He pulled out his own phone and sent her a quick ‘check-in’ text. He held up a finger to wait. If they were lucky, the reply would come in a minute and they could get on to the next bottle.
It didn’t come. Logan looked down at the phone impatiently. He waited another few minutes.
“Maybe we better go.” He sighed and grabbed his wallet and keys. “Does that thing have GPS?” he asked, pulling his gun to make sure it was loaded, and chambered a round. He didn’t leave home without it.
“Maybe they got to gabbing away and lost track of time.” It didn’t seem likely with Sharon or Veronica, but weirder things had happened. It was the OC anyway.
“Yeah, she sent me some coordinates,” he said. He grabbed his leather jacket and was already slipping it on as he exited Logan’s place. His gun, shoulder holster (Leon’s prefered holster, even if he was usually mandated to wear it at his hip) as well as the spare set of cuffs he always kept on hand were both in Stella’s glovebox. He made sure that he never left home without any of them. “I’m going to be pissed if they interrupted the game because they forgot,” he said, though the feeling in his gut was beginning to tell him the girls might actually be in trouble. Especially since Veronica hadn’t responded to Logan yet. Leon was tempted to text Sharon to make sure everything was alright, but if she was in trouble and whoever had her also had her phone, a text from him might tip them off that she’d managed to alert people.
Logan was picking up his gun, making sure a round was in the chamber. He didn’t play when it came to the women, and he wasn’t going to pretend that it didn’t happen. He had some cuffs as well, just in case. He didn’t like this. His phone hadn’t buzzed, and he could feel the tension.
He pulled the door closed, locking it quickly. He shot off one more text on the way to the car. He simply said that they better be having a good dinner. If something was going on, he didn’t want to alert anyone that they were on the way. Veronica was going to tease him for panicking in the first place.
“You got the coordinates. I’ll drive, you navigate.” He was good under pressure. They both were.
“Right,” Leon said. There was a sinking feeling in his gut, especially as Logan’s phone continued to not go off with Veronica responding, that the girls actually had managed to get themselves in some kind of trouble. Which of course meant that Leon and Logan were going to have to bail them out. Couldn’t trust the Agency for goddamn anything.
The drive was quick, and for the most part silence. Other than reading the directions, and the occasional muttering about how the girls were going to owe them a ton of beer for making them worry, Leon didn’t say much. They first passed Sharon’s car, which was obviously empty, and then Veronica’s. Practically before the car came to a full stop, Leon hopped out of the passenger side door and knocked on the passenger side of the car. He peered through the windows, and then tried the door which came open easily. “They’re not here,” he called to Logan, keeping his voice low so it didn’t carry very far.
Logan had his gun drawn, watching for any activity around them like a possible shooter. He knew they were in trouble now. Veronica had plenty of time to answer and she would have. Now the van was here, but no signs of life. Perfect. Just perfect. “Is the phone inside?” he asked. “I’ve got something to open the locks.”
He moved back to the car and took out a long rod. He slipped it between the window and the door, trying to hit the mechanism on the lock until he heard it pop. He opened the door to the van. “Take a look inside and see if their phones are in here, or anything that might give us a clue.” He doubted it. That would be far too easy.
Leon leaned into the car. “Yep,” he said. Both phones were in the middle of the car, and he grabbed them, frowning thoughtfully. “They’re both…” he started, but as he pulled his torso out from the car, he caught sight of something that made his stomach lurch. On the ground outside of the car was some relatively fresh blood. His blood ran cold, and he looked at Logan in the eye, knowing he had to tell him but dreading it. Instead, Leon broke the eyecontact to look at the ground with the slightest tilt of his head, and then back up at Logan.
“That explains why they are not answering,” Logan said, shaking his head. “What good are cell phones when you leave them in the car?”
Leon was quiet, and that got his attention. He heard the words but it was the expression that really made his blood run cold. He came around to Leon’s side, and froze. He inhaled, trying to stay objective when his mind started screaming. It’s a crime scene now. It doesn’t always lead to death. He knew those things, but his heart hadn’t started beating yet.
His eyes stayed down, following the red trail. He nodded for Leon to follow. They were going to wherever that trail would lead.
Leon hadn’t noticed the footprints until Logan pointed them out, the bloody footprints were fairly easy to follow, even before Leon pulled out his small flashlight. He wished that he knew what size Sharon and Veronica’s feet were so he’d know if this was them. He’d just have to find out when Leon and Logan rescued the girls.
“It’s not enough,” Leon said after a few feet. “There isn’t enough blood for us to get worried.” Though Leon said it as much to reassure himself as he did Logan. Who knew how much blood they’d find once they found the girls?
The footprints lead to a building, and Leon pressed his ear against the door. He could hear muffled voices, though not clearly enough to be able to hear what they were saying or how many suspects were behind door number one. All he knew was that Sharon and Veronica were somewhere back there, possibly bleeding all over the ground, and they had to get through that door and find them. “On three?” he whispered to Logan.
“I’m sure it’s just a paper cut,” Logan said. Blood was a reason to worry. This was not an exception when it came to his girl. Never had he known Veronica to bleed while walking into a building.
He took a breath when he got to the door, gun drawn. He nodded the Leon to break it. He would enter to the left, with Leon on his right. They had done it a thousand times. “One, two, three.” The door opened, and both men were in. Hearing a shout, Logan looked to the side. His eyes hadn’t quite adjusted to the dim light, but he felt the hit from behind. Someone had been waiting behind the door.
Leon was right behind Logan, though when Logan went down he wheeled towards the assailant. He stopped short when he saw the guy was holding an assault rifle.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kid-” Leon started, but another guy hiding on the other side of the door cut him off with a bash to the head, and everything went dark.