Interception-(Urchin)

[Romeo]

The whole scene was promising. I admit all of it had my blood running a little faster through the venous network beneath my warm skin. The strong chambers of my heart received a little pick-me-up off the way his voice hit me and shifted my gears. He wasn’t leaving. I would have been damned if I would have admitted it but something twisted worked it’s magic on the inside. It was exactly what I shouldn’t want to hear but I did. I liked it enough that my guard went down just enough to relax at the weight of his hand traveling the distance to my hip farthest from his. Once it arrived it fastened like it belonged there taking a relaxed, casual rest. I felt him in the continuous sway of my steps. It shouldn’t be so easy for him to reach me but there he was. The connection of our bodies left me grasping at straws. I hated him from across the room. Now that he stole the distance between us and the restraint it provided I breathed him in because the intoxicating effects were too hard to resist.

I could blame it on the imported lace that caressed my bare skin as I moved beneath his hand. I could pretend it was the single drink I had before setting my sights on him. I could insist that he was playing one of his magic cards and all of this was orchestrated for one of his self-serving purposes. I could curse the night and all that went with it but it wouldn’t do any good. He said the words that had my breath hitched on what he would do next and then he did it.

I felt the air take hold of me as I looked up at him from a distance that shouldn’t be possible. While it increased I grab for the nothingness that the night air delivered to my frantic reach. It is so many layers of fucked up that I don’t even try to rationalize it. What I predict happening next rattles my body so hard that I know what my Sassy Sissy doll must have went through when I tossed it out of my aunt’s thirteenth floor window on Christmas Day. In my defense I wanted a gun. A real one. Santa lost my support as soon as I opened up the cheerfully wrapped box and had a plastic face with fluttering eyes babbling at me in greeting.

As for Sassy it was common sense that she didn’t have the nerves and joints wired to a brain like I do. She didn’t get the wind knocked out of her. She didn’t need an inhale of oxygen to keep her going. And she missed out on the stunning shock of pain that had me staying still. The thought of moving hurt far too much without actually following through with the act to find out if it would compare.

“I…”

I am not sure what the hell I expect to come out of my mouth. I wheeze in and gulp the air available which reminds me of my fresh cut grass allergies. Each of my palms slaps the ground beneath and squeezes whatever I can claw inward and hold onto like a defiant *** in need of some well earned discipline. I want to get my hands on him and hear him beg. I want to feel his pain surpass my own as it should. His haunting blues need to bleed so I can suck their drops from the surface of those slick devastating orbs. I want…

**** what I want. The sounds of sirens catch my attention as I find my way to my surprisingly intact dress shoes. I wasn’t in the place I was supposed to be. The consequences of getting caught outweighed the company I was currently in and the pain that found new places within me to work over.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet.” I hiss and wipe my bruised lips acquired from kissing dirt and grass blades without a prior pucker up.

Not like I can do much about it while the fire and rescue are coming in like the cavalry with the fellow shields in fast pursuit. I am unarmed and out of my jurisdiction. I know it is useless to put myself through the empty threat of reaching for something to hit him with that I don’t have under my barely there and see through dress. A quick glance down says it is all in one piece. For what it cost me it should have prevented the fall from being anything less than a fluid Ginger Roger’s leap and land. I glance at him then to the car.

[Urchin]

So, my trajectory was a little off. I'm not a physic's professor or some ****. And she deserved to be knocked around a couple times. Probably more than that, but this is the best I can do for now for all the people (including myself) for now. Her end isn't here and now. No, I've plans for her.

I chuckle at her words, nod and then shrug. Eventually this will come back to bite me in the ***, but at least my boss is safe for tonight. Oh. Right. My boss. I hop down off the hood of the car, then grab my phone. I shoot a lightening speed text to my boss telling him to hit the road while he can, then stuff the phone in my pocket. "Get your *** up and get in." I bend down at my waist to help her get up, but that's as far as I go. I unlock the car with my keys, then shove the passenger door open. She has five seconds to get in, then I'm taking off without her. She doesn't disappoint.

Her door is barely shut before I drop the car in reverse and peel out of the large driveway. It takes a few seconds before I have complete control of the beast, but once I have the car in control, we're out of the drive and to the city streets. I take a sharp right at the first corner, then push us from fifty to sixty, then to seventy. We've got a car behind us, but I'll take those odds for now. Soon, the cop behind us will call for back-up and I can't have that. I need a quick thinking plan.

"Anything broken?" It might seem like I care, but I don't. I'm devising a plan for my escape. She'll be fine given she's a cop. they all buy the ******** the other spoon feeds them just because they wore the title of cop.

[Romeo]

“Yeah.”

While he is busy keeping his eyes on the road I curl up five guesses as to where it might be. Wasting no time while forming a tight fist I send them crashing into the side of his face. I will let him figure out what is broken. He has just been handed a dose of my temper and my opinion on how the night was wrapping up. There was no news flash needed. No one throws my *** off a balcony without giving me a heads up. Well, fine. So a few have. It wasn’t like it was my first time free falling with a helping hand. Those that had also got shot or are doing the fine work of pushing up daisies inside city limits. So why rattle his brain cage? Two things made this different...maybe three.

First of all, I had things under control. I started it and was intending to finish it until he inserted himself in the way. Second, I actually paid for the dress I had on, put some thought into it. A glance in the visor mirror confirmed my face was likely looking far worse than his thanks to the unexpected face plant. Third and most important, outside the persistent company he seems to have acquired in his getaway, is that I paid for the vehicle he is driving. We never came close to settling that or the accounts he continues to hack into and drain on whim.

“Looks like it.” I am prepared to remove one of my ridiculously sharp heels and drill it through his ear canal in hopes of skewering his brain if the six inches of length I will have to work with can make it happen. I am counting on him having more than the ordinary and average guy. “Your guess is better than mine right now. Take your time with it.”

I lean over just enough to reach the tiny buckle on the side of my right ankle. My stiff fingers throb while bending after punching him as hard as I did. He knows who he is dealing with. I never was one for patty cake or entertaining the baker’s man. Each business length nail and attached finger are determined to follow through with what seems like an idea with promise. A lot more than being the compliant little ***** in the passenger’s seat and letting him have the reins to the costly carriage we are occupying. He better think fast, have access to the switch for an ejection seat or say a prayer.

Roll results:
Romeo Another PC Difficult Physically demanding Urchin Break one of his bones. Succeed.

[Urchin]

I like being under her skin. It means she's not as invincible or tough as she thinks she is. I should have expected something bad to come my way by the one word reply. I remember when an analyst was pissed at me because she submitted something two days before it was 'due' and I hadn't looked at it before I went home that night. I got around to it about noon the next day and she had plans that night. Needless to say, I knew real fast that she was pissed at me and I got one or two word replies for about a month.

So, the sharp jab to my face with her hand wasn't a surprise, even if the car weaved from the side of the road we were on, to the other as the impact took me by surprise. I heard something crack and even pop under my eye socket closest to her, making me see black spots for a few blinks afterwards. The honking of an oncoming car grabbed my attention from her, the action and the pain, to the car coming at us.

Right. So if that was how she wanted to play, I'd play too. I see her lean forward just a little, which seems strange. I'm no expert on motion, much like I'm no expert on how things should land from twenty-ish feet in the air, but I know that the sharp veer to the side should have had her going that way. Instead of moving forward. I'm not the idiot she thinks I am. Her antics might work with some first year cops, some low level criminals, or the cops that have been on the force for thirty or forty years and were tired. Too tired to care what people like her were doing.

There's a barrier in the middle of the road. It's going to hurt, but I'll survive. Will she? We're about to find out. I take a hard turn and aim us right for the barrier, before I vanish into thin air. Or at least, that's what she thinks. The shadows of the night, and of the car blanket me inside of their confines, making it seem as if no one was in the passenger seat. I'm on this ride until it's destroyed and can't go anymore.

We hit the barrier and the back of the car rises its *** in the air and we're sitting perpendicular to the barrier. The front of the car has been totaled. I heard the crunch before we took to the air, though we didn't go in the air. There's not a whole lot of metal to this car, so while we're staring at the cement ground, the car is only seven feet in the air and that makes us about three to four feet off the ground, personally. It rolls back down with a thundering smash, windows breaking and the tires popping, causing us to come to a dead stand still. I liked this car, but I could always get a new one on her dime.

[Romeo]

I barely have the strap to my ankle wrap heel wiggling through the miniature buckle that holds it to my foot when the lack of control he has on the vehicle fully registers. The oncoming lights and not being in the driver's seat meant all those instantaneous internal warnings to brace for the worst were coming in too late. I might as well of hit myself in the face. I bolted back to sit upright, my hand reached for the steering wheel but was lost in the moment and the force of the car crunching around me. All I got for my effort was to take in the profile of the face that I connected with seconds before disappearing before my eyes. The jostling and shift of physical orientation that defied any logic in my mind had me concluding it was the last thing I needed to be happening. A heavy serving of pain that I didn't realize was going to come until it found me took hold as I was sprawled about in what appeared to be the mangled interior of the otherwise empty car.

“****!”

The one word I finally choked out said nothing about the effective grind of glass lodged beneath my skin. It was not something I wanted to feel longer than I had to. With my first movements to intervene on my behalf had shards of metal making it apparent my hip was not going to get relief while my calf and shin were in first in line of a much needed debridement. My face was going to need ice, my head was full of sounds that were not explainable and yet here I am untangling my legs from the position I did not put myself in. I somehow stretch out against the tight objections of the tattered and torn material wrapped
around my body.

It was hardly my first high speed accident. But it certainly was a first at finding the one responsible for it happening disappearing into thin air. My hand that delivered the KO to the success of my night started throbbing with my attempts to pat search and locate the quickest way out of the vehicle. That is when the signs that help was coming in fast and quick started rolling in. The last kind of help I truly wanted or needed.

The sounds of sirens pierced the night air while a subtle breeze flowed with ease through the busted out windows of the pricey luxury sports car. The scent of fuel and abused rubber started filling the space left within. Glowing beams of headlights bounced around as the cars responsible for their positioning finally arranged it so that I was in the spotlight of those responding.

I hear the voice of my higher up barking orders as car doors open and radios are being put to use. I don't need the first hand that appears to shoot towards me to help and I would almost be certain I don't need the second or third that arrive right behind them. Sometimes it is better to get from point A to point C by accepting a little B and S can expedite things. It is a part of the job and I got it down as my bloody, bruised up *** is delivered to stand on its own. Miracles were mentioned but I dust that theory off as well as the splinters of glass giving my dress, or the remains of what is left, a sparkling effect.

“I'm alright.” I am anything but that as the dress becomes a sheer curtain over the damage beneath. “I lost control.” Like that is any sort of news flash to those I am speaking with. “Really. All I need is a little roadside clean up and a drop off if that is feasible?”
“Romeo!” My name being called out like I was out of line in front of the boot camp drill Sergeant had me wincing. “Have you lost your ******* mind?!”
“Sir, I thought we covered this during the last review and eval.” The officer to my left is amused and takes his snicker with him as he gets out of the way of the rolling ball of fun heading my way. Obviously not everyone is impressed with my landing like a cat on its feet with one less life to spare. “Be gentle. I have seen better nights.”
“You are gonna see a hell of a lot worse once your *** is cleaned up and back in my office. You really fucked it up this time, Romeo. Peterson! Get her out of here!”

So much for the tender loving care that surviving a bruising fender bender was supposed to earn me. I am eased into the back of the nearest squad car once my refusal for emergency attention is taken seriously. Five minutes of a barking supervisor is nearly shut out as the door next to me is about to close.

“And where in the hell did this car come from? Find out who she got it from and bring them in. Don't just stand there! Get it out of here and run the ******* numbers.”

An hour later I am finally able to close the door to my home sweet home. Well, not so much a home as it is a boat. The good ship Lollipop as I refer to it.First thing I need to look for is a set of forceps, a heavy towel and the suture kit that always comes in handy. Anything else can wait until I retrieve the embedded foreign objects from my body. Obviously I got a hell of a lot of explaining to do. Until then I need a little bump to speed up the healing process before I head into the bosses office to iron out the wrinkles. I pick up my cell and send out the text form of an S.O.S. I know know damn well Houdini is out there somewhere. Just as I set down the device I get the feeling I have company.

[Urchin]

It takes every fiber of my being to rip myself out of the car and bolt at least ten feet away from the detective and the car. I'm not worried it might blow up, but I know that there's no way in hell she isn't bruised, battered and probably bleeding. The thought of her blood in my mouth makes me hunch over and almost lose my 'dinner' from earlier tonight.

The entourage of police vehicles come to an abrupt, squealing stop, the smell of rubber burning on cement filling my nostrils. A needed, and necessary distraction. I'm not done with the detective, not by a long shot. There's someone bellowing out orders as soon as the detective is out of the car, and I narrow my focus on him as he threatens her. I should feel a sense of satisfaction, but I don't. I'm not worried the car will come back to me, I made sure that it's all on her since night one. Still, I did like that car. I'm sure she can afford another one.

When he threatens her job, he doesn't realize the target he's put on his back. I'll be seeing him later, after I collect some information on him. Like position and name, and a few other important details. I see that the detective is fine, or at least alive and take my leave. It's too risky being around. Soon the smell of rubber will dwindle, as well as the scent of the flare powder around the crash area.

I'm not ready to go home tonight. I've got a shoulder that's more than likely out of its socket, a gash on my forehead that's oozing out shadows with each wind that blows and a few other nicks and bruises in all sorts of areas. My walk is slow, because my legs and tailbone are tender. I won't be sitting at a computer for a few nights, but once I can get to one and sit there, I'll be busy with the new target.

I want bad things to happen to the detective. She deserves nothing but the worst to come her way, but it's my job to deliver that punch in the gut. Anyone who gets in my way is an enemy of my enemy, but that doesn't make us friends. Quite the opposite. I'm going to hit him harder than her, and quickly too. He's not going to know what hit him. I deviate my plan as I start to head to a set of docks. I use what little power I have left in me to enter her private abode and wait against a wall, with my good shoulder. When she enters, she's a whirlwind of speed, heading to her bathroom and returning with a kit that will help her. My dark eyes narrow on her as I try not to breathe. Or, smell. But, it's too late. As soon as I see not one, two, but three cuts with dry and wet blood around the cuts, I'm out of the shadows and using that good shoulder to pin the detective against the wall. "Hope that hurt." I say before I do the unthinkable. An unseen force is driving me and my actions. My mouth is over her neck seconds before my fangs are ripping into her neck, my shoulder keeping her right where I need the detective to be.

[Romeo]

“The ****…”

I am ready to take whatever I got in my hands and slam it through what comes at me like a midnight train jumping its tracks. The fight within me is instant and the impulse to react. My boat was supposed to be empty, or so I thought. That changed. Now the scent filling my bruised lungs as I breathe in tells me totally different. I pinpoint its source like a predator locating its chosen prey. Him. Each draw of air that wears his mark stretches their swollen, inflamed linings. Like a broken record it was playing out all over again. Maybe the motives were new, the approach and setting different but the end result was destined to be the same. Could either us exist without it now that we found it in common? In his wicked blues I find the answer staring back at me.

Pain. A lot of it flowed with the delivery of his shoulder into my body. The resistance and twisted attempt at correcting what was never going to give without breaking first greet him fully. It was a dance that never ends and I can’t deny I feel a rush from it. He knows it is there. That is the part that drives me to fight harder. The truth he shouldn’t have access to or find so easily he claims as he puts me spine deep into my own wall. The need for what he brings, what cannot be found anywhere else threatens to deceive me once again. And that saves him from his neck snapping in my capable hands. I tried. Our history is proof. I can’t find where he ends and I begin.

I try to sink my feet into the flooring and change the position my body is held but no such luck. There are several bones near the breaking point, contusions yet to be diagnosed and near ruptures of organs I kind of need to get by on any normal and randomly given day or night. The force of his impact doesn’t just hurt. It flips a switch within me. That sends the rest of my internal warnings screaming with a sensation that really exceeds the clinician’s universal pain scale fixed on most emergency room treatment walls. The items in my hands drop in favor of getting a hold of Him. And I know he is expecting it. His fangs sink in and he can taste it all. He pierces that last wall and receives the heat of sweet reward. It is one of those moments when everything gets cloudy, I am wanting him more than I want to destroy him. He has the passport and the hidden key. When he gets this close he can choke on what I can otherwise hide at a distance.

“Of course it does!” I growl at the weakness that rises when it shouldn’t. In times like this he was getting increasingly closer to crossing that line and taking it all. I claim handfuls of platinum blonde in my hands and grip tight. I could tell him I want him to stop but it would be a lie. He is swallowing my truth. Instead of pushing him away I pull him in closer leaving my lips parted against his ear. “Just remember you started this.”

I press my foot to the one support I had working on my side. The wall behind me is there. I push with all that I had to offer in strength and quickly placed my other foot by his when the timing was just right. My body crashes with his to the floor. On top and beneath his bite was far better than I expected. There was no way in hell I would be denied what I needed in return. I try to grab one of his wrists and try pinning it to the ground. Knowing how unpredictable he can be I strike where I can. My teeth sink into the closest spot he has to offer while he is still fastened to my neck.