Anna might be (elatedorgassy) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-04-21 14:54:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, anna of arendelle, carol danvers (captain marvel) |
Who: Carol Danvers and Anna of Arendelle
When: Today, April 21, evening
Where: A dark alleyway
What: A rescue!
Rating/Warnings: Low/None, some violence
Status: Complete
There were times when the parking lots at UCI became so full that Anna had to find parking elsewhere. Today she had to park off-campus. It made it difficult to get to class on time, especially because Anna only gave herself enough to walk from the parking structure to class, but she had to do what she had to do.
The biggest problem with parking off campus was when Anna forgot she had a night class that normally ran a little late. It was pretty late and fairly dark when she was heading back to her car. And it wasn’t the nicest of neighborhoods, either. Anna was trying to be brave, but she clutched the strap of her backpack tightly and held her keys with the sharp metal sticking through her fingers, just in case she had to fight her way out of something. This was Orange County, one never knew what to expect.
And, sure enough, this was one of those times when Anna was glad she was prepared. It might not have been an Orange County thing, this sort of thing might have happened anywhere. A couple of drunk guys were stumbling along, possibly from one frat house to another. They saw Anna and bee-lined for her, cat-calling and talking about how pretty her red hair was. Anna kept her head down and kept walking, ignoring the drunk guys.
That only seemed to anger them.
The one thing Carol hated about freelance in her own time was the hours she had to keep because of it. Ethically speaking she couldn’t take time off from work during the day to go out and get work for her freelance stuff. Which meant that evenings were the only time she could meet her contacts.
Heading back from talking to a professor about the effects of specific toxic compounds (the things Carol ended up writing) Carol had opted to walk, she’d fly if it got too far or if she got too angsty to get home, but she’d been avoiding that for a short while lately. She knew it wouldn’t last, she loved the sky too much. But for now, it was just better.
Her attention was caught by the catcalling ahead, Carol already rolling her eyes. Why did anyone still think that was appropriate? Because jeering was still seen as a compliment among the more misogynistic of men. She picked up her pace a little, making herself catch up a little more, just because it looked like they were following a young woman.
And that itself was enough to irritate Carol.
Anna was almost to her car when one of the guys stumbled up to her and reached for her arm. “Hey, I’m talking to you,” he slurred, pulling her back and around with a hearty yank.
A yelp of surprise escaped Anna as she was nearly thrown from her feet. The poor girl was about a hundred pounds soaking wet with all her pockets stuffed with stones, so when the drunk bastard grabbed and pulled on her, she nearly went flying. Her free hand came up with the keys in it, and she swiped at the guy. Adrenaline was really pumping now. Anna was terrified.
The key made contact with his face, sending him stumbling and cursing. (See? Anna wasn’t entirely helpless.) But the second guy started to swear at Anna, calling her a “stupid bitch.” The first guy straightened up, blood pouring down his face from a gash under his eye.
Now Anna was really terrified.
She should’ve known better than to expect a quiet night. Just once. Although this seemed more run of the mill than what Carol had steadily gotten used to dreaming. Scumbag drunks rather than invading aliens. It was nice to change things up a time or two.
“Hey!” Of course, add insult to injury, when a waif of a girl causes said injury, and the testosterone tended to get a little out of hand. “Is there a problem here?” At least the kid had the sense to use her keys, it wasn’t like she’d have had much luck drawing attention around here, it was practically deserted.
Two drunk men, one scared college kid. Carol was pretty sure that would’ve been in the papers tomorrow for all the wrong reasons.
Both drunk men turned at the sound of the voice, pausing in their approach. Anna’s breath was coming in gasps, her heart thundering as she turned, too, and saw the blonde woman approaching.
“What are you a cop?” The second drunk guy slurred as he called out to the newcomer.
“Think you better just move along,” the man with the blood on his face warned, one hand sliding to his belt.
Anna took two steps backward, wishing that the drunk men were on the other side of her. She couldn’t help but feel grateful toward this blonde woman for distracting the guys and saving her ass. (If that’s what was going on.)
“You’d be better with a cop at this point,” especially the way Carol had been feeling lately, maybe breaking some scum was the way to go. Just shy of grevious harm of course, if she could avoid it all. “I’m thinking you two should be the ones moving along, you’re getting one chance.”
Really, the OC wasn’t too bad for this crap, of course there were always the exceptions to the rules. “You okay there, kid?” Carol made a point in stepping closer, no she wasn’t backing off, she wasn’t one to be intimidated by drunken assholes.
One of the guys snorted at the blonde woman’s words, and the other chimed in with a “She’s fine,” to answer her question. The man with the blood trailing down his face looked angry as he added, “this is none of your concern.”
It’d gone from a couple of drunk guys looking for a pretty girl to… well. And it’d turned into a couple of angry drunk guys looking to get violent. Anna wasn’t sure which was more terrifying. “Definitely not okay!” She called out to the blonde woman.
“Shut up!” The man with the blood on his face yelled at Anna. She squeaked.
Carol figured that was all she really needed to justify things. The girl wasn’t welcoming of the attention and the idiots were getting violent and angry. Two things that didn’t mix well with drunks. “You made it my concern, asshole.” She wasn’t just as superhumanly fast as she could’ve been, dialing it back a few notches to at least give these guys a chance of walking again. The bloody one got the brunt of it first, Carol’s fist collided with his jaw with a solid crack, other hand hitting his sternum in an open palm with just enough force behind it to send him flying backwards.
Unfortunately, the other one didn’t get off as easy, the energy she was using up needing a way out somehow and just unfortunately going that way. Her fist sparked up on fire, the Binary powers leaping to the forefront as Carol jerked in his direction. It resulted in a minor fire on the second one’s shoulder that was snuffed out as he landed on his back before tumbling ass over head between two parked cars before skittering off like a demon was on his tail.
Carol didn’t rightly blame him. Thankfully, her fist doused out just afterwards, leaving just her and the kid in the area with a somewhat dazed and unconscious drunk. “Okay?” Keeping a bit of distance, so as not to spook the kid, Carol ignored the downed drunk and making sure asshole number two didn’t come back with friends.
Thankfully, Anna wasn’t standing directly behind the guy who went flying down the alley after the punch from the amazing, blonde woman. Though she gave another squeal and jumped at the sound of the crack, and ducked when the man zoomed across the alley. And then the woman’s fists started to spark? Or something? Anna watched through her fingers, eyes wide at the violence and amazingness. She slowly stood up again as the battle progressed, her heart thundering. Adrenaline was coursing through her, even though she wasn’t doing anything.
Still reeling from all that, Anna swallowed and finally lowered her hands from her mouth. “Yeah.” She managed, glancing from the two drunk guys back to the blonde woman. “Yeah, I’m okay. I think. I don’t… I can’t believe that just happened.” She lifted hands to run them through her hair.
Fight or flight seemed to be largely prominent even in those who didn’t actually fight. The kid had given a good shout of things to start with, but two drunks were likely a little too much for a scared kid to handle even with her keys gripped the way she had. Admirable as it was.
“Okay, let’s get you moving along, huh? See if you’re okay to drive when you get to your car.” Of course, Carol would wait if she wasn’t, but they sooner they got the kid home the better. “Do you have any mace or something?” Since, really, that might be helpful should there ever be a next time.
“Uh… no.” Anna said, sheepishly. “I had some, but it broke off my keychain and I haven’t replaced it.” She turned to start walking back toward her car. It wasn’t that far, just another block or so. If she’d thought she could make it, she would have run when she caught wind of what those two drunk guys were up to.
She fiddled with her keys with a shaking hand, selecting the car key, then slipped it between her fingers and adjusted the strap of her ridiculously heavy backpack. “I just… I need to take some self defense classes or something. Or park closer to campus.”
“Parking closer would of course help, and I will agree that self defense classes wouldn’t be too bad an idea, but, you really need to remember, this isn’t your fault.” Carol would be remiss if she let the girl go home thinking she needed to do something different, that she was the one that needed to change a routine or a habit.
“As much as preventative measures are a good idea, just for your safety in any situation, don’t let this make you think it’s your fault. They’re the ones to blame, them and the society that dictates that men can’t help themselves.” Carol was a firm believer in concept of societal exemption, the way that young women and girls were expected to make changes to suit the whims of men, or that young boys and men were somehow less in control of themselves than some base animals.
“You thought really fast back there, using your keys like you did.” The sad thing was that she was outnumbered, and it likely would’ve only made things worse for her.
Anna nodded. It wasn’t the kind of thing she heard a lot; that it wasn’t her fault. There was so much out there to reinforce the idea that it was up to Anna to ensure her own safety that she would have a difficult time believing she wasn’t the one responsible for tonight. Still, it was good to hear. And she would try.
“You think so? I thought it just pissed him off.” Anna said. “But I sure hope it leaves a scar.” The fucker. Anna’s cheeks went pink as the curse word flicked through her mind.
“Had he been on his own, you would’ve been able to get away from there.” Because it was hard to chase someone when they clawed up your face. “Replace the mace, think about some classes, just in case.” Of course there was always the hope that once in a life time was enough for young girls to escape this bullshit, but Carol knew the statistics too well.
“My name’s Carol, by the way. I had an interview with a professor at the college tonight.” Luckily enough, she wouldn’t add. Pulling one of her cards from her pocket, Carol offered it to the girl. “If you need someone to talk to later, or if you’re going to be doing a walk like this again, you can give me a call if you need to.” If these late classes were a regular thing for her and the distance was recurring, Carol wouldn’t mind popping over to walk the girl to her car.
Anna nodded. It was good advice. She would have to do just that. Classes, mace, and changing the way she walked to and from her car? That might prevent this from happening again. Anna was just going to have to be smarter next time.
“Hi, Carol.” Anna said, giving the other woman a smile. “I’m Anna.” And then the younger girl’s eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree. “Thank you! I will. I mean, I hope it won’t… happen this way again, but?” She clicked the button on her fob to unlock her car doors, then glanced in the back seat before opening her driver’s side. “...thank you. I mean, I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come by.”
It was really better to not think about it at all, the possibilities. But with Anna at her car, and hopefully safe enough to drive, Carol figured it was something not to dwell on now. She could trail behind the car from the air, make sure Anna got home safely.
“Even if you just want someone to walk you out, it’s cool.” Carol didn’t mind rearranging her schedule a little to help out. “You going to be okay driving home?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” Anna was quite a bit calmer now. She got out her phone. “If you’re really serious about being around in case I need help again, can you punch in your number?” She asked. “That way I can call you if some drunk guy starts following me again.” As much as she wanted to seem like a strong, confident, young woman… she felt a little like a child asking a babysitter for help. It was a little embarrassing, but she didn’t get the feeling that Carol would judge her for it.
Carol would forever be serious about helping someone out, especially a girl that felt at risk, or was just a little scared. She was a serious advocate for that to be dealt with, she didn’t believe that anyone should feel scared just walking to their car, “Of course, you can have my personal cell,” and Carol recited the number for her. “You can call or text any time, I keep odd hours and I mostly make them myself.”
The joys of being editor meant Carol just had the one deadline to meet and she generally gave herself enough time to not rush that. It did mean that she was usually available whenever. “Drive safely, okay?” Although Carol would still be following from the sky.