Who: Qrow Branwen and Kala Dandekar (with a visit and a surprise appearance by Will Gorski) What: Kala and Qrow get attacked by muggers. Will intervenes When:Recent Where: UCI campus to Irvine PD Rating/Warning: Mediumish for violence Status: Complete!
Kala was always looking to learn more. She loved science. Any time she had the chance to learn more about it, she took it. So when she heard about a lecture on the latest research of pharmaceutical science? Well she couldn’t pass it up.
Kala was fascinated by the lecure, taking copious amounts of notes. She stayed after to talk to the presenter for a bit asking questions, sharing ideas, really it was her ideal evening. By the time she left it was late, and dark. Kala was unfamiliar with UC Irvine’s campus, she couldn’t remember where she had parked her car. Which of course led to her wandering around in search of it.
Having had an afternoon and evening to himself, Qrow had taken advantage to catch up on some research he’d been neglecting. He hadn’t realized the time until one of his colleagues had stuck her head into his office to announce she was headed home. It wasn’t too much longer before he decided he should be doing the same. After gathering his notes into his bag, Qrow was making his way across campus towards his car. He hadn’t gone very far when he spotted a familiar figure walking in the opposite direction. His brows furrowed together. He hadn’t expected to run into the girl again after she’d run out of the bar in a fit of awkward embarrassment. Did she go to school here? Qrow hadn’t seen her on campus before, but then again, it was a fairly large campus with a sizable student population. When she stepped into the light of a streetlamp, Qrow noted the look of confusion on her face, as though she was lost.
Qrow had a brief moment of debate. The last time he’d tried to help her, he’d only managed to embaress her. He should spare her a repeat of the experience. As the two drew closer to each other, however, Qrow found his Huntsmen instincts couldn’t let that look of lost confusion go. He sighed inwardly before calling out to the girl. “Hey, are you lost?”
Although Kala knew she was approaching a man, but she still jumped when he spoke to her. She needed to stop being so skittish. Yes, it was a lot different than Mumbai, but this was her home now. She had been here for months. There was no need to be so frightened all the time. Although she could also make the argument that there was a reason to be scared in this place, with all the zombie attacks.
It was only a moment before she realized she had met this man before. Months ago at a bar. It hadn’t been the best situation. But the man had tried to be helpful. Looking back on it Kala realized that. At the time she had been too flustered. “Kind of,” Kala admitted offering a small smile. “I can’t seem to remember where I parked my car.”
Qrow had stopped walking in a vain effort to keep a certain distance between him and the girl. She seemed on edge, despite the faint smile she was trying to give him. The last thing he wanted to do was say, do or accidentally have anything happen that would send her running in the opposite direction again. “I see.” he said. “Well, there are a couple of parking lots on campus. I take it you were here for….a lecture or something? Then you probably parked in the visitor's lot.”
“Yes,” Kala replied answering his question, her eyes lighting up as she thought about it. Not that the man would be able to tell in the dark. “On the latest research in pharmaceutical science,” she went not that he had asked. But when Kala was talking about science? She was completely at ease.
Ah right, back to her car. “That does sound familiar,” she replied. “If you could just point me in the right direction?”
Qrow couldn’t help the small smile of his own when Kala started talking about the lecture she’d seen. The look on her face reminded him a little of the way Ruby got excited when she talked about engineering, or really any subject that she was interested in. It was good to see someone get excited about something they really enjoyed. Plus, the woman seemed to relax considerably with the topic, so that was good.
“Yeah, the visitor lot’s this way,” Qrow stated and gestured the same direction he happened to be going in. “I’m parked in the faculty lot next to it. I could walk with you a little bit, then point it out to you once we get closer.”
Kala gave the man a small smile. “That’d be nice,” she replied. She wouldn’t mind the company of a somewhat familiar face. And it’d definitely keep her from getting lost again. “Thank you.” She walked with the man in silence. That was until…
“Give me your money!” someone shouted from the shadows. It was then Kala realized he had a gun… and a friend… with another gun. Pointed at her! Kala’s heart stopped, she froze, not knowing what to do. If only Will were around….
Will had just finished up at the gym and was walking toward his car, when there was suddenly two men in front of him pointing guns at him. Almost instantly, Will was aware of the other man at his side.
Will waited calmly, though muscles tensed for action, hands in the air, as the men approached the two of them. Just a little further… and there, they were in range.
He stepped forward quickly, aware belatedly of the fact that his shoes had a heel on them. He adjusted his step to accommodate, and with the back of his hand he pushed the gun away to the right, making sure that it was in the opposite direction that the man was standing. He swung around, driving his elbow into the man’s sternum, grabbed the gun when the wouldbe mugger’s grip loosened on it, and turned to point it in the direction of the other man with a gun.
Unfortunately, Will wasn’t used to moving in shoes with a heel, and just when he had leveled his gun, his ankle gave out from under him. There was a sharp, sudden pain, and then he standing alone again, gym bag in his hand.
“Shit,” he swore, and tried to reach Kala again.
Qrow cursed himself for lacking the situational awareness to notice the would-be muggers lurking the in shadows. He’d turned towards the voice in time to see the glint of a gun caught in the light provided by the overhead street lamp. Qrow frowned slightly. He wasn’t in the mood for this.
Qrow moved to disarm the two attackers, hopefully without getting shot in the process. However, before he realized what was happening, the timid young woman next to him sprang into action. She disarmed the first man almost as though she’d been trained in take-down tactics. Qrow was left blinking in impressed confusion.
And then Kala, without a single hint of the grace and agility she’d just displayed, fell backwards and onto the ground with a thump that made Qrow inwardly cringe.
What is going on?!
“That wasn’t very smart,” the second gunman observed, drawing Qrow’s attention from Kala upwards. Oh, right. He existed. The second man brandished his gun at both his victims, seemingly more annoyed at Kala’s actions than intimidated. He pointed the muzzle of his weapon at the gun in Kala’s hands. “Toss that over here,” he instructed. “Then your wallets, cell phones and jewelry.”
Qrow’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t in the mood for any of this.
In the blink of an eye, he’d stepped between Kala and their attackers, closing the gap between them. The mugger with the gun whirled towards him. Before the man could get his finger curled around the trigger, Qrow delivered a right hook square on the man’s jaw, which was promptly followed by an upper cut to the chin with the other fist. The gunman staggered backward, the gun’s aim went harmlessly wild.
Out of the corner of his eye, Qrow caught a glimpse of the other unarmed man moving. Qrow pivoted enough to kick the man in the stomach, sending him backwards and back to the pavement where (hopefully) he’d decide to hang out for a while.
Attention moved back to the man with the gun, who was recovering from having his bell rather rudely rung. He came back swinging, looking to pistol whip his adversary into submission. Qrow dodged the strike, and like Kala had earlier, he grabbed the gunman’s arm and with an elbow to that now sensitive jaw, was able to take control of it.
A moment later and Qrow had the gun aimed at the two muggers, both of whom were now down on the ground. “Tsk. What a night,” Qrow muttered. Over his shoulder to Kala he said, “you alright?”
The connectioned she had with Will and Lito had been a bit overwhelming at first. But now Kala couldn’t imagine her life without it. They had become not just her family, but another part of her. And times like tonight? She was beyond thankful she had them. But then Will was gone and she was left with a gun pointed at her. Before she knew what was happening the man from the bar had punched and kick both the man and gotten the gun from the second man. Now it was pointed at them.
Kala had gotten back on her feet by this point although her ankle was beginning to throb. Not that she was going to complain. She could have been hurt a lot worse. “Yes,” she responded softly to Qrow. Shock was beginning to wear off and Kala grabbed her phone out of her purse with her free hand. “I’ll call the police.” Although she wasn’t sure she wanted to stick around and wait for them to show up. Even with the guns currently in her hand and Qrow’s, she wasn’t going to feel safe until she was far, far away from the two men that had tried to rob her.
Qrow nodded faintly. Calling the police was a good idea. He didn’t like the idea of a mugger lurking around on the UC:I campus and he liked the idea of two of them lurking around even less. The students -- his students – needed to be able to feel safe here, no matter what time of day or night it was.
Qrow narrowed his eyes at the two men on the ground. In turn they glared back up at him, though neither looked as though they intended to make a move to attempt and overpower him. Qrow had a mind to contact Dan Smith and ask him to see to it personally that neither of these men were a problem for anyone again. As tempting as it was, however, ultimately Qrow decided against it. Neither he nor Kala had been seriously hurt. Though, Qrow couldn’t shake the feeling that it could have been so much worse.
A pounding was starting behind Qrow’s eyes, the kind that was going to slowly make its way towards the back of his head and then travel down his spine into his back and shoulders. He wanted a drink. He needed a drink. Hopefully the Irvine PD wouldn’t drag their heels sending officers to the scene.
Kala dialed the police explaining the situation. The whole time it took them to show up she kept the gun in her hand in fear that one of the muggers would pop back up again. Finally the police showed up and arrested the two muggers and confiscated the guns from both Qrow and Kala. But that wasn’t the end of it.
“We are going to need to bring you in for questioning,” the officer told both Qrow and Kala.
“O-okay,” Kala agreed still in shock and her ankle was really hurting now. She had never been brought into a police station before it was a little nerve wracking. But she had done nothing wrong. Just protected herself, with Will’s help.
Qrow sighed. So much for that drink. The last place he really wanted to be was in a police station surrounded by a bunch of cops explaining how he and a young woman had kicked the crap out of a couple of would be muggers. Yes, they had simply defended themselves and the entire event was captured by the CC TV cameras adorning the street lamp above them, but Qrow had a history with police in general -- the kind that still made him uncomfortable around them.
He glanced at the young woman next to him, who looked about as thrilled with the idea of spending the next several hours at the IPD as he was. Christ, he still didn’t even know her name.
“Sir?” The officer prompted.
Qrow turned his eyes back towards him. “Yeah. Sure,” he said. The idea of riding in the back of a squad car was equally as unappealing as going to the station itself, but for now it was in their best interest to be cooperative. Maybe he’d be lucky. Maybe Leon would be working tonight…
Qrow noted Kala favoring her foot as they started walking with the police officers towards their vehicles and offered her his arm. “Lean on me,” he said quietly. Then after another moment: “what’s your name?”
Kala gave the man a grateful smile, using him for support as she made her way to the back of the squad car. The officer taking them in didn’t seem to notice her discomfort at all. Though that could be partly because Kala was attempting to hide it.
“Kala,” she replied just as quietly to the man she was leaning on. “And you?” This was her second time meeting this man and she had no idea what his name was. Not that her previous encounter with him had lasted all that long, but still. Both times he had helped her, she really should know his name.
Once in the car Kala focussed on Will. They were going to the Irvine PD. He worked there. She knew he wasn’t there but maybe he could help. Somehow. Not that he hadn’t already helped out enough tonight. But still he was like her family now. She knew he would do whatever he could for her just as she would for him.
It worked!
Instead of sitting in the back of the squad car Kala now found herself in the passenger seat of Will’s car. “Will,” she whispered. There was no need for her to keep her voice low, she was visiting Will, the other people in the squad car couldn’t hear her. “I need your help.”
Will had been trying to reach Kala ever since their connection had been broken. He thought, maybe, that he’d know if she’d been hurt or worse, but he still didn’t know enough about their connection to know that if that was true. He wasn’t sure if he’d find her at the University, but that’s where he was going anyway. Just in case. At least having their connection here meant that he could physically check up on someone if their connection wasn’t working. It wasn’t like he had to fly to Mumbai to see Kala in person.
He let out a breath of relief when Kala appeared beside him. “Where are you?” he asked, and immediately had his question answered when he was suddenly sitting in the back of a squad car, crammed between Kala and the man who had been with her before. “Why are they taking you in?” he asked, and by the time his sentence was done he was back in the driver’s seat of his own car. Already he was turning on his blinkers, making a u-turn so that he could make his way to the police station instead.
Kala remained in Will’s car so the police taking her and the other man, whose name she still didn’t know, wouldn’t hear her talking to herself. “For questioning,” Kala replied. “When the police showed up both that man and I had a gun in our hands.” She knew that it probably looked bad to them, but really it had all been self defense. “Is there anything you can do?”
Qrow introduced himself to the girl, but he wasn’t sure if she heard him and he wouldn’t blame her if she hadn’t. This whole experience seemed to have greatly unsettled her and with good reason. No one wanted to get mugged, much less held at gunpoint. No one wanted to ride in the back of a squad car either. At least Qrow didn’t. It wasn’t his first time in one, but it was the first time he wasn’t cuffed or under arrest, so there was that at least.
He debated texting Leon Orcot, but ultimately decided against it. For now, anyway. Leon was likely already at the Double Tap and probably wouldn’t have appreciated Qrow asking him to come back to work and spring him and some girl he didn’t know. Qrow figured he’d wait and see how their interviews went. If things looked like they were headed south, Qrow figured he’d reach out to Leon then.
“I don’t know,” Will answered honestly, checking his mirror as he switched lanes. He was going a little fast, hoping to beat the cruiser there though he thought that was unlikely. “I can try though. If they tried to book you guys, I don’t think they’d have a leg to stand on. I can try to hurry them to that decision.”
He hoped so, at least. He was still new to the force though, and while he wasn’t disliked, he hadn’t gone out of his way to make many friends.
“Thank you,” Kala replied. “But I don’t want you to do anything to jeopardize your job,” she added. She cared about Will. Of course if he was able to help her she could definitely use the help which was why she had reached out to Will in the first place. But she didn’t want him to risk anything for her either.
Before she knew it they were at the station. She gave a small smile to the man next to her, took a deep breath and followed the police officer inside.
“Don’t worry about that,” Will said, confident he could help them without any danger to his job. After all, they hadn’t actually done anything wrong. He looked out the window of the cruiser when it pulled up to the station.
“Five minutes,” he told Kala from where he was crammed between her and Qrow, and then he was back in his own car again.
While Kala and Will had spoken with each other, Qrow had remained silent in his seat and unaware of the connection between the two. His mood regarding the evening before him completely soured. He really did not want to be here. He glanced at Kala when the police car finally came to a stop at the station. He was a little surprised at her smile. Well, at least the two of them were in this together.
He smiled back faintly. “May as well get this over with,” he said. “This shouldn’t take too long.” He hoped, anyway. He got out of the car and waited for Kala.
Kala followed Qrow out of the car giving him another small smile. “Don’t worry,” she whispered as they were led into the station. “I think we will be okay.” She couldn’t say why she thought that. But she had faith in Will. Besides she knew they hadn’t done anything wrong.
It wasn’t long before Will managed to make it to the station, and since he knew exactly where Kala was in the precinct, it took him even less time to find her and her companion. “Hey,” he said, walking up to the two of them and the officer who had them in his custody.
“Gorski, hi,” the cop said, looking a little confused. “What are you doing here? Isn’t it your night off?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Will said. “Kala here called me,” and then he turned to her. “Sorry it took so long to get here.” He turned back to the officer. “She called me after she was attacked by a couple of gunmen, and I told her to call the police. Then she texted me telling me that she was being put in the back of a car and being brought to the police station. Why’d you bring her in?”
“Uh,” the officer started. “You know, just for some routine questioning,” he said, sounding a little sheepish.
“How about you just get their numbers and let them go home to rest after all this?” Will asked. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind coming back tomorrow to give a statement.”
The arrival of another cop did nothing to improve Qrow’s mood. However, when he said Kala had called him, Qrow couldn’t help but raise a brow. When had she had time to do that? Qrow went over the nights events in his mind. He supposed Kala may have called this Officer Gorski after she’d gotten knocked the ground, but he didn’t remember her having her phone out when he’d handed her one of the asshole’s guns. And she certainly hadn’t been texting anyone when they’d been put in the back of the squad car. Unless “texting” was some sort of code word for telepathy or something. That wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibilities. This was Orange County, after all. Telepathy would actually be one of the less bizzare abilities for someone to have.
Regardless, Gorski appeared to be a friend -- at least a friend of Kala’s -- and seemed to want to put an end to their night of talking with detectives. Qrow wasn’t going to screw that up. So when the officer looked at him, Qrow simply shrugged his shoulders. “I wouldn’t mind coming back tomorrow.”
Kala gave Will an appreciative smile. Really, she had no idea what she would do without the guy. And to think just a few months ago she didn’t even know him. “Yes,” Kala agreed. “I’ll come back tomorrow.” And maybe make sure Will would be around. No way did she want to deal with this on her own.