>.< I hate shoppers.
Nov. 27th, 2005 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavandarlizard2Especially the ones with twelve kids, a grumpy dog on a retractable leash that isn't and a stroller the size of a Humvee. These people need to be lobotomised and put away where they can't infect the rest of us. *sharpens talons again*
BFB - Part 094 - Shopping
B=~=
I was heading into a department store, thinking to look over some of the new styles to see if there was anything I could adapt for myself, when I was almost run down by a guy carrying a small child. We kind of bounced off each other in the over-crowded entrance between some tables filled with sweaters. I looked up to mutter a “sorry”, and realised that the guy had the kid tucked under his arm and his hand over the kid’s mouth. The kid was squirming quite a lot.
I blinked. Looked up at the guy’s face. He looked kind of red, like he was either mad or embarrassed.
“Temper tantrum,” he said after a beat. “You know how they are at this age.”
I stared at him. Yeah... Sure... I’ve seen some tantrums thrown by masters. Still...
We stared at each other for a few blinks.
In the depths of the store, a female voice rose in a scream.
“ALLEN?!”
My eyes dropped to the kid.
Shit.
It was the kid from the parking lot; the one I’d snatched from squishing.
And there hadn’t been any adult male in that mix.
It must have shown on my face. The guy lunged forward suddenly, punched me hard in the chest and took off.
I stumbled into a table and nearly went down. It was a damn hard blow; if I’d been Human it might even have stopped my heart. As it was, it slowed me down by several seconds, long enough for me to see the woman from the parking lot standing in the middle of an aisle, screaming at the top of her lungs with the empty harness hanging from her fingers.
Fuck no!
Not right in front of me; no fuckin’ way!
I gave chase.
The guy was appallingly fast, given that he was hanging onto a struggling three-year-old, but I was only seconds behind him and yelling at the top of my lungs for him to stop, for someone to stop him. Nobody did, though. People looked and stared and stopped moving to watch, but not one of them tried to grab him or even stand in his way. They even got *out* of his way, dammit!
He ducked out a set of doors to the parking lot and I howled in frustration. I couldn’t afford to lose track of him, couldn’t let him get away. I burst through the doors; I couldn’t take my eyes off him, couldn’t give him a chance to disappear into the crowded lot.
And I fell over a bloody damn *motherfucking* bench.
I went sprawling, face first onto the concrete. Staggered to my feet with the world reeling around me. I saw him, fleetingly, far down a row.
He was going to escape. He was going to succeed in kidnapping a child right under my goddamn nose. I stumbled after them, trying not to think of what could happen to the kid if that sonuvabitch got away from me.
An engine roared to life and a car rocketed backwards out of a parking space.
“*NO!*” I howled, terrified, and then remembered an instant too late what could happen when I got frightened.
I felt it, though; felt the sudden, sharp wrench within my body. The feeling that meant that whatever the hell it is that I’m doing, I’m doing it *now*.
NO!
He had the kid! I couldn’t–! I didn’t–!
Oh fuck; *NO!*
Couldn’t think, couldn’t *not* think about what I’d just done. I ran. Ignored the pain, the sparkly lights in my peripheral vision and the blood running down my face and just ran as fast as I could. There was some godawful noise in my ears; it wasn’t until later that I realised that it was me, screaming like... a Banshee.
But the car wasn’t moving. It took me a few horrifying seconds to process that and when I did, I thought my heart was going to stop.
No. No! Please...!
And I was at the car.
The kidnapper was still alive, still moving, trying to get the engine started, but it wasn’t turning over. The kid was in the back seat, screaming.
I know I was out of my mind and maybe even on some plane outside of my body as well. Everything unfolded in front of me, as distant and detached as a bad television program.
I put my hands through the window, through the glass without even feeling it. Grabbed him around the neck and hauled, still screaming at him.
From some distance, someone was yelling at me; telling me to stop, telling me to let him go. But I wasn’t going to let the sonuvabitch make off with a little kid right in front of me; I’d fucking kill him first!
“Hey! Hey; it’s all right! You got him; the kid’s okay!”
Something... Hands over mine... Prying at my fingers...
“C’mon, guy; let go. We’ve got him; you got him. Let go now.”
Solid voice. Calm. Emphatic.
I blinked.
Looked down.
Saw my fingers twisted into the kidnapper’s collar and hair.
Saw his goddamn face turning purple.
Saw blood and broken glass all over my hands and him.
Looked up.
A gold badge.
A tan shirt.
A gun.
“It’s okay now,” said that calm, emphatic voice. “Sheriff. We’re here; we’ll take him. He won’t get away. You can let go now.”
I sucked in a lungful of air and it sounded like a sob.
Forced my fingers to unclench.
Collapsed onto my ass on the asphalt with an oddly strangled noise.
I hadn’t...
“Kid!” I gasped. “Is he okay?!”
“He’s just fine,” said the solid-voiced deputy. “Scared, but his mother’s here, and he’s okay. How about you?”
I fell backwards with a real sob this time.
I hadn’t killed anyone.
Someone said something to me, but I was too far inside myself to understand. Then something was moving me, something fanning around me and I was lying on something not so hard.
And damned if I wasn’t crying the same as I had right after... the Incident. My time sense deserted me. Any dignity I may have aspired to went with it.
Someone pressed a handkerchief into my hand and I blew my nose. An arm went around my waist and I was suddenly, reelingly vertical and headed toward an ambulance.
“No!” I croaked, trying to pull back. “No doctors!”
“Man, you’re bleeding like a stuck pig! Let them take a look at you.”
I took a deep breath and managed to come to clarity long enough to produce my cellphone from my otherspace, and hit Heero’s number on the speed dial. I pushed the phone at the person holding me, a different Sheriff’s deputy.
“Boyfriend,” I rasped. “Tell him.” I wasn’t having much luck with coherency. I heard Heero’s voice from the speaker.
“Duo?”
“Um...” hummed the deputy with me. “No... I’m passing on a message...”
“WHERE’S DUO?!”
The guy jumped, but continued. “There’s been some trouble at the mall...”
A sound very much like a roar came through the speaker.
I leaned into the phone. “Heero. Come now.”
“Um... What he said,” said the helpful and regretting it deputy. “West side; near Sears.” The phone went dead. The deputy looked down at me. “What was *that*?” he asked reluctantly.
“Boyfriend,” I repeated. My knees buckled and we almost went down together. To my embarrassment, the deputy scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the ambulance, where a paramedic began taking my temperature, my blood pressure and poking around me to find where all the blood was coming from and incidentally to get the glass off of and out of me.
BFB - Part 094 - Shopping
B=~=
I was heading into a department store, thinking to look over some of the new styles to see if there was anything I could adapt for myself, when I was almost run down by a guy carrying a small child. We kind of bounced off each other in the over-crowded entrance between some tables filled with sweaters. I looked up to mutter a “sorry”, and realised that the guy had the kid tucked under his arm and his hand over the kid’s mouth. The kid was squirming quite a lot.
I blinked. Looked up at the guy’s face. He looked kind of red, like he was either mad or embarrassed.
“Temper tantrum,” he said after a beat. “You know how they are at this age.”
I stared at him. Yeah... Sure... I’ve seen some tantrums thrown by masters. Still...
We stared at each other for a few blinks.
In the depths of the store, a female voice rose in a scream.
“ALLEN?!”
My eyes dropped to the kid.
Shit.
It was the kid from the parking lot; the one I’d snatched from squishing.
And there hadn’t been any adult male in that mix.
It must have shown on my face. The guy lunged forward suddenly, punched me hard in the chest and took off.
I stumbled into a table and nearly went down. It was a damn hard blow; if I’d been Human it might even have stopped my heart. As it was, it slowed me down by several seconds, long enough for me to see the woman from the parking lot standing in the middle of an aisle, screaming at the top of her lungs with the empty harness hanging from her fingers.
Fuck no!
Not right in front of me; no fuckin’ way!
I gave chase.
The guy was appallingly fast, given that he was hanging onto a struggling three-year-old, but I was only seconds behind him and yelling at the top of my lungs for him to stop, for someone to stop him. Nobody did, though. People looked and stared and stopped moving to watch, but not one of them tried to grab him or even stand in his way. They even got *out* of his way, dammit!
He ducked out a set of doors to the parking lot and I howled in frustration. I couldn’t afford to lose track of him, couldn’t let him get away. I burst through the doors; I couldn’t take my eyes off him, couldn’t give him a chance to disappear into the crowded lot.
And I fell over a bloody damn *motherfucking* bench.
I went sprawling, face first onto the concrete. Staggered to my feet with the world reeling around me. I saw him, fleetingly, far down a row.
He was going to escape. He was going to succeed in kidnapping a child right under my goddamn nose. I stumbled after them, trying not to think of what could happen to the kid if that sonuvabitch got away from me.
An engine roared to life and a car rocketed backwards out of a parking space.
“*NO!*” I howled, terrified, and then remembered an instant too late what could happen when I got frightened.
I felt it, though; felt the sudden, sharp wrench within my body. The feeling that meant that whatever the hell it is that I’m doing, I’m doing it *now*.
NO!
He had the kid! I couldn’t–! I didn’t–!
Oh fuck; *NO!*
Couldn’t think, couldn’t *not* think about what I’d just done. I ran. Ignored the pain, the sparkly lights in my peripheral vision and the blood running down my face and just ran as fast as I could. There was some godawful noise in my ears; it wasn’t until later that I realised that it was me, screaming like... a Banshee.
But the car wasn’t moving. It took me a few horrifying seconds to process that and when I did, I thought my heart was going to stop.
No. No! Please...!
And I was at the car.
The kidnapper was still alive, still moving, trying to get the engine started, but it wasn’t turning over. The kid was in the back seat, screaming.
I know I was out of my mind and maybe even on some plane outside of my body as well. Everything unfolded in front of me, as distant and detached as a bad television program.
I put my hands through the window, through the glass without even feeling it. Grabbed him around the neck and hauled, still screaming at him.
From some distance, someone was yelling at me; telling me to stop, telling me to let him go. But I wasn’t going to let the sonuvabitch make off with a little kid right in front of me; I’d fucking kill him first!
“Hey! Hey; it’s all right! You got him; the kid’s okay!”
Something... Hands over mine... Prying at my fingers...
“C’mon, guy; let go. We’ve got him; you got him. Let go now.”
Solid voice. Calm. Emphatic.
I blinked.
Looked down.
Saw my fingers twisted into the kidnapper’s collar and hair.
Saw his goddamn face turning purple.
Saw blood and broken glass all over my hands and him.
Looked up.
A gold badge.
A tan shirt.
A gun.
“It’s okay now,” said that calm, emphatic voice. “Sheriff. We’re here; we’ll take him. He won’t get away. You can let go now.”
I sucked in a lungful of air and it sounded like a sob.
Forced my fingers to unclench.
Collapsed onto my ass on the asphalt with an oddly strangled noise.
I hadn’t...
“Kid!” I gasped. “Is he okay?!”
“He’s just fine,” said the solid-voiced deputy. “Scared, but his mother’s here, and he’s okay. How about you?”
I fell backwards with a real sob this time.
I hadn’t killed anyone.
Someone said something to me, but I was too far inside myself to understand. Then something was moving me, something fanning around me and I was lying on something not so hard.
And damned if I wasn’t crying the same as I had right after... the Incident. My time sense deserted me. Any dignity I may have aspired to went with it.
Someone pressed a handkerchief into my hand and I blew my nose. An arm went around my waist and I was suddenly, reelingly vertical and headed toward an ambulance.
“No!” I croaked, trying to pull back. “No doctors!”
“Man, you’re bleeding like a stuck pig! Let them take a look at you.”
I took a deep breath and managed to come to clarity long enough to produce my cellphone from my otherspace, and hit Heero’s number on the speed dial. I pushed the phone at the person holding me, a different Sheriff’s deputy.
“Boyfriend,” I rasped. “Tell him.” I wasn’t having much luck with coherency. I heard Heero’s voice from the speaker.
“Duo?”
“Um...” hummed the deputy with me. “No... I’m passing on a message...”
“WHERE’S DUO?!”
The guy jumped, but continued. “There’s been some trouble at the mall...”
A sound very much like a roar came through the speaker.
I leaned into the phone. “Heero. Come now.”
“Um... What he said,” said the helpful and regretting it deputy. “West side; near Sears.” The phone went dead. The deputy looked down at me. “What was *that*?” he asked reluctantly.
“Boyfriend,” I repeated. My knees buckled and we almost went down together. To my embarrassment, the deputy scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the ambulance, where a paramedic began taking my temperature, my blood pressure and poking around me to find where all the blood was coming from and incidentally to get the glass off of and out of me.
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 12:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 04:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 12:35 am (UTC)I can't wait for the next chapter! Soon? *Big, wet wobbly chibi eyes*
no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 03:59 am (UTC)...soon... *nodnod* ^__^
no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 03:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-29 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-29 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-29 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-28 10:25 pm (UTC)Also, a good buffer for the mall run. Who'd have thought finding 12 cheap, but decent Xmas stockings for the guys at work would be so hard?
no subject
Date: 2005-11-29 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-29 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 01:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 02:28 am (UTC)Yeah, how about that? I wrote some action... *pokes at it* It didn't even hurt much... ^__^
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 04:49 am (UTC)Y'know, I've sort of been wondering if that would ever sneak it's way in here. *snicker* I'm way too amused. (it's late. there was sugar involved... and I just saw the Rockettes and have terrible show tunes in my head. gah)
Yes, I can imagine that Duo just might have a "problem" with kidnappers. This one should consider himself lucky that his remains didn't have to be identified using DNA evidence.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-02 01:02 am (UTC)The kidnapper will probably never know that, though. Too bad. It might scare him to death. ^__^