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Tweak says, "A giant flying buffalo, sir."

Zadkiel Thrush (lifeibreathe) wrote in we_float,
@ 2010-06-20 00:48:00

Entry tags:

character: alec tremont, character: matt cavanaugh, character: zadkiel thrush

Who: Matt Cavanaugh, Zadkiel Thrush, and Alec Tremont (briefly)
When: Sunday, June 20, 2096
Where: Anhalt, then a flophouse in Ballard
What: A rescue mission
Status: Closed, Complete

"I have an address," Alec said. It was clear from the feverish, glazed look in his eyes that he hadn't yet slept. "They've been taunting me all night, electronic bread crumb trails that lead down digital dark alleys, but I finally have an address for where Barton is, and apparently not in very good shape. I expect it's a trap, so you should probably be prepared for that." He thrust the scrap of paper into the hands of the only person up and about. "I'm going to bed now. Ta."

Zadkiel stared at the information, uncertain what to do with it. A trap. Barton injured. He didn't even know who was home, or who would be of any help in this kind of situation. But one of them had a gun, and that would be a good thing to bring into a trap. He also seemed to be one of the more level-headed of the house's inhabitants, and that was good, too.

He padded upstairs and knocked on Matt's door.

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lifeibreathe
2010-06-23 05:19 am UTC (link)

Zadkiel waited until Barton's breathing stopped, and then his heart. He'd been taught his entire life about the soul and Heaven and Hell, but this was the first time he'd actually witnessed death first hand. He didn't know if it had anything to do with the soul, but there was definitely a sense of Barton being there... and then not.

He rocked back on his heels, taking hands now sticky with blood away from the dead man's face. He swiped at his cheek and left a smear behind. "I couldn't save him," he said helplessly. "I'm sorry."

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palehorses
2010-06-23 05:22 am UTC (link)

"I'm just glad you didn't fucking go with him," Matt said, with a lot more honesty than tact. He stepped into the galley-style kitchen and ran water on a towel. "You look like hell," he added, bringing the towel back. "The blood doesn't help."

He realised that he wasn't exactly being seriously compassionate here, and his tone was a lot less coldly efficient when he asked "Are you all right?"

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lifeibreathe
2010-06-23 05:27 am UTC (link)

Zadkiel wiped his face, letting the towel wipe away the stray tears that he wasn't able to hold back. He frowned at the vivid red streaks left behind as he washed his hands.

"Not entirely, no," he admitted. "It was his head. I couldn't fix his head because I didn't know what it would do to mine. The rest I could have at least stabilized so we could get him to a hospital."

He tried to stand up and winced. Everything hurt - limbs, torso, head and all. He stumbled and had to lean against the wall to keep himself upright. "What do we do about the body?"

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palehorses
2010-06-23 05:31 am UTC (link)

"Honestly?" Matt eyed it, but he didn't have a better plan. "The only thing I can think of is to call fucking emergency when we're, like, well the fuck away from here. Otherwise, there's a lot of really unpleasant questions, and I kind of don't want to mention that, you know, we're both wild cards. My luck, right now we'd get the cops prepared to ask questions a lot later, and I hate repeating fucking unpleasant experiences."

At the same time, the idea of simply leaving the body there was unthinkable. Whatever else was happening, Barton had been a person, and he deserved respect.

"What do you mean, it was his head? Like, a concussion or something?"

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lifeibreathe
2010-06-23 05:35 am UTC (link)

"Worse than a concussion, but yes. A severe head injury. It would have been kinder of whoever did this to just finish the job. But I suppose that's the point." He closed his eyes again, trying to breathe through a wave of pain-induced nausea. "Whatever I heal, I take on. I wasn't going to take a chance on it."

He opened his eyes again, forced himself to look at the body again. "Maybe it at least hurt less than it might have."

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palehorses
2010-06-23 05:41 am UTC (link)

"Christ," Matt said, appalled. "Do you have, like, would, fuck, I don't know, would Tylenol help you at all? I mean, there's shops downstairs, we can get some."

He itched to be away from the apartment anyway, gone before trouble showed up - and that gave him an unpleasant little thought. "We gotta go. Now. This's the biggest trap of all, if whoever did this really wants to get us into the shit. We're here, what happens if they call the cops and they're on their way now?"

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	lifeibreathe 2010-06-23 11:59 am UTC (link)
	Zadkiel looked at the body one more time, then nodded. "Let's go." He pushed himself away from the wall and began to head back for the apartment door, gritting his teeth as he put one foot in front of the other. "I just need to rest," he managed. "Rest, eat... It's not as bad as it seems." It was, actually, but he didn't want to admit it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

palehorses
2010-06-24 12:01 am UTC (link)

"Bullshit," Matt said pointedly, but he didn't stop to argue. Holstering the gun, he easily distanced Zadkiel and opened the door for him, turning to watch. The effort it took the other man to walk was obvious, and Matt held out an arm in case the assistance would help. "You look like you're about to fall over - that's kind of obvious on the street. Take my arm, it'll look less obvious."

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lifeibreathe
2010-06-24 12:13 am UTC (link)

"When we get downstairs," Zadkiel said. He was dreading making his way down the stairs, but he would rather lean against the wall for that than on Matt's arm, so he could take it at his own pace.

Which was faster than was actually comfortable, but they did need to get out of there, and the longer it took them, the greater the potential for things to go wrong. More wrong than they already were.

When they reached the ground floor, he obediently took Matt's arm, tottering like an old man beside him as they made their way back to the car.

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palehorses
2010-06-24 03:47 am UTC (link)

Matt grinned to himself - it wasn't a nice expression - as they made it around the corner seconds before a police car came racing around it, sirens going. "I think," he said carefully, "that this might be our cue to exit."

At least they didn't seem to have descriptions - if they had, Matt didn't think the officer would've passed up such an obvious oddity as someone who looked like they'd been beaten staggering on the sidewalk. The other piece of luck was that the car wasn't far, and they were in it before the second cop came screaming up the street.

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	lifeibreathe 2010-06-24 03:53 am UTC (link)
	Once in the car, Zadkiel slumped against the door, resting his forehead against the cool glass. "I guess we don't need to call about the body," he said softly. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	palehorses 2010-06-24 04:03 am UTC (link)
	"No," Matt agreed, moving carefully into the street. Now was not the time to risk a ticket. "And I'd guess that that might've been the fucking trap Alec was worried about." He glanced at Zadkiel and added, with a frown, "Are you sure there's nothing that'll help?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lifeibreathe 2010-06-24 04:14 am UTC (link)
	Zadkiel shook his head. "I'll sleep a lot and eat a lot over the next few days. I heal injuries that I take on from other people fairly quickly, as long as I can rest. I've never taken painkiller for it before; I don't know if it would help or not." He closed his eyes. "What happens now?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

palehorses
2010-06-24 05:00 am UTC (link)

"Not sure. That was a total dick move of whoever did this, though. Like, seriously, a total fucking dick move. But at least they didn't recognise us." It suggested, he supposed, that it wasn't the government behind this, at least in theory, but then again, that was a long bet that he wasn't entirely willing to take.

"I guess we go home, tell Alec it all went to shit, get you fed and in bed, and then tell Katherine that it all went to crap. I mean, she hasn't asked about Barton since the once, but I assume she'll want to know. Fun - we get to report a fucking failure, first time out of the gate." But there were reasons for that, and honestly, Matt wasn't sure that that wasn't half the point. It was a reminder that they needed to learn to work together, he figured.

He hated working together like that.

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	lifeibreathe 2010-06-24 01:01 pm UTC (link)
	"I'm sorry," Zadkiel said softly. "I'll tell her." It was his failure, after all. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

palehorses
2010-06-25 02:15 am UTC (link)

Matt raised one eyebrow as he looked over at him. "That's the most fucking ridiculous thing I've heard today," he pointed out, though it was said with kindness. "We tried as a group, we failed as one. And fuck her and her envelopes anyway, far as I'm concerned, she can have one back, from all of us. It's not on you, kid, it's on everyone."

Because, to Matt, that was another part of this team idea - you took action as one, then you took responsibility as one, too.

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	lifeibreathe 2010-06-25 02:22 am UTC (link)
	"If you think that's best," Zadkiel murmured. He was too tired to argue. He just leaned against the window and closed his eyes. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	palehorses 2010-06-25 03:40 am UTC (link)
	Matt kept silent the rest of the drive back to the house, wondering whether this could have gone differently. He didn't think so, but he didn't like the sense of resignation that gave him. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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