(no subject)

[primary_asset]

John is in trouble.

Not that he would admit he's in trouble. It's true he's been stabbed and there's a great deal of blood trickling down his leg to pool in his shoe and soak through his sock, but nothing important in his thigh has been cut. If it were, he wouldn't be walking right now, he'd be face down and he'd be dead.

The only problem is that he's being followed and he's leaving a relatively easy to follow path behind him, consisting of that blood that keeps dripping down his leg.

It was supposed to be recon and nothing more. That had been his intention. Get into the warehouse, check out what was going on, see what he could when it came to the illegal weapons that were coming in and going out, then get out. Then call in an anonymous report and get the police out to the warehouse with something they can actually go on.

That had been the intention.

But then one of them had snuck up on him. He's not the sort of man who is easily snuck up on, but here he is, bleeding from a relatively deep wound just above his knee. And now they're following him.

All he needs to do is get closer to a more populated area of the city. He has his gun on him and he'll use it if it becomes necessary, but then he gets tied to all this as Detective John Riley and he'll have a fair bit of explaining to do.

Just a few more blocks, though. He can make it.

Comments

[handfulofsapphires]

Toulouse was a terrible service dog. Nicaise had taken classes and service dogs were supposed to be able to ignore people, food, keep their calm, stay focused, and on and on. When Toulouse saw a person he wanted to greet them.

He'd been getting slightly better, but as Nicaise crossed the street and headed down the sidewalk, Toulouse pulled on his leash to get to the man ahead of them. Nicaise noticed him sniffing the cement, and there was a visible trail. Wet and red.

Nicaise hurried briskly ahead with Toulouse, his face seemingly blank with just a little curiosity peering out at the edges.

"You're bleeding," he stated to the stranger.

[primary_asset]

It has to be a kid.

John's eyes close briefly and he steels himself for what might inevitably come, then looks down at the boy and nods once. Brief and sharp. "I am bleeding," he agrees. "And I'm going to ask that you keep walking with me, but that we pick up the pace a little."

Because the men who have done this to him will be only too willing to do away with him, a child, and a child's dog. There are certain things John already struggles with having on his conscience and he doesn't want to add this boy and his dog to the deaths he already carries with him every day.

[handfulofsapphires]

"I can walk fast just fine, I'm not bleeding," Nicaise pointed out, and kept up with the man. It was probably in his best interests to not pester the stranger bleeding out in the middle of the city, but now he was curious. Occasional robotic bird attacks aside, Darrow was frequently a dull place, so anything out of the ordinary piqued his interest.

"I know first aid," he added.

[primary_asset]

"Soon," John answers and he appreciates the offer, but the first thing they need to do is get out of danger. There are certain risks John can accept as being part of his life and the choice he makes, but one of the things he does is to make sure he doesn't put any innocent people at risk as well. Karen and Dutch, they're adults who make their own choices, but this is a kid. Maybe a tough kid, but still a kid.

"Just a few more blocks," he says. "I appreciate it, I just..." He smiles a little, limps closer to the building they're walking beside. "The men who did this are close and they won't hesitate to do worse. To me or you."

But he does need first aid. He just needs to get them both somewhere a little safer.

[handfulofsapphires]

"What?"

That startled Nicaise. He glanced around, trying to be surreptitious about it, but he hadn't realized he'd walked into the middle of a murder plot. He didn't see anyone that seemed particularly suspicious looking, but there were people in the distance.

"Why? What did you do?" Nicaise demanded, looking suspiciously up at the stranger.

[primary_asset]

The question makes John laugh, a soft sound to be sure, but still a laugh all the same. He shifts a little, pushing his suit jacket aside to show the boy the badge clipped to his belt. "I was working," he says, which isn't exactly the truth, but it's close enough. He had intended on making it all legitimate police work as soon as he had something to back up his claims.

"So I guess I got a little too close to some criminals, if that's what you're asking," he says. They tend not to like being watched as closely as he was watching them, after all. Especially when they're engaged in highly illegal activity.

[handfulofsapphires]

"Oh, you're a policeman like Hopper," Nicaise said with a faint smile, feeling a little better about things now that he knew he wasn't being accosted by some rogue criminal. Not that soliders and officials could always be trusted, but Nicaise had also been learning that most people here, in general, were not trying to pretend to be something they weren't.

"You should have asked for his help. Or do policeman in Darrow usually work alone?" he asked, still walking apace with the man.

[primary_asset]

"He's not an officer I know," John says instead of answering the question outright. There's more than one precinct in Darrow, so it's entirely possible this Hopper works elsewhere, but even if they were close friends at work, John wouldn't have asked him to do something like this.

This is the sort of thing he needs to do alone. He can't risk others.

"I should have called for backup, though," he agrees. "I was taken by surprise." That's not entirely a lie either. It's not quite the truth, but he wouldn't usually be caught unawares like he was tonight.

[handfulofsapphires]

"I guess I'm your backup," Nicaise said, though he hadn't the faintest clue what to do if anyone caught up with them. He kept glancing around, waiting for men to jump out at them or shoot at them, but so far he didn't see anyone. Self-defense lessons were one thing, but this was beyond school bullies.

"Are we going to hide somewhere?" he asked next, glancing down at the man's leg where he was bleeding, the fabric stained with it.

[primary_asset]

"Yes," John answers, but before he can elaborate on that, there's the sound of a footstep nearby and then, from the shadows, comes the shape of a man. He's carrying a pipe and John ducks, then throws his arm out and pushes the boy back against the building.

Nothing else matters except making sure these men don't hurt the kid.

He has his gun out in a flash and he hadn't wanted to do this, but there's no choice now. Another shadow is moving toward them, this one with a knife, the man who'd cut him earlier, and the gun goes off twice in quick succession. Both men go down, both shot in the knee and John gestures quickly. "Come on."

[handfulofsapphires]

Nicaise let out a soft oof as his back hit the wall. But it was the shock of the sudden violence that made him freeze up, eyes wide and limbs rigid. He jumped at the loud bangs from the gun, and then he remembered who was with him. Toulouse was cowering behind his legs, the handle of his leash held in a death grip, almost forgotten. Nicaise scrambled to pick his small dog up in his arms, jumping into action as soon as the man beckoned him to follow.

"I've never seen a gun used in person before," he said breathlessly as he followed the man. He'd seen them in movies and on the television, but he hadn't been prepared for how loud it would be.

[primary_asset]

"I'm sorry," John says as they move down the street. He feels bad for the kid and for his dog, but it had been the best decision in a split second moment. With two men coming after them, it had been more important to keep him safe than anything else.

"I needed to put them down quickly," he says. "And it was the easiest thing to do. I'm not in a state to fight them."

And he doesn't think he can move for much longer. His leg is aching and he's growing dizzy from loss of blood.

[handfulofsapphires]

"It's fine, I've seen crueler things," Nicaise said. There had been a fair amount of violence in the Palace, sometimes people needed to be punished. And he'd seen a fair amount in Darrow, as well. It was more the weapon that was new to him, and how loud it was.

"Are we almost there?" he asked, though where there was he didn't know. He hoped the man had somewhere in mind, because he was looking paler and Nicaise was certain he wouldn't have the strength to drag the man's body...anywhere.

[ssrsousa]

It was sort of a slow day at Yankee Gunsmith, which meant Daniel was outside the store cleaning the windows. He was enjoying being able to do that without needing a crutch too, since he had his new prosthetic and could walk and stand unaided. He had a cane nearby just in case, but he didn't usually need it.

When he looked up to see Riley limping down the street towards him and bleeding, he grabbed the cane and hurried over to his friend.

"The hell happened to you?" he asked, even though he didn't actually expect Riley to answer. "Here, put your arm around my shoulders and we'll get you inside and sit down."

[primary_asset]

At this point, John is fairly certain he's lost the men following him. There are more stores in this area, a few restaurants and there are enough people that the men hadn't wanted to risk drawing any attention to themselves. That works in John's favour, especially since it's Daniel who's now run over to him. Daniel who is helping him walk, helping him into the store.

Peggy will kill him if anything happens to Daniel and John will absolutely deserve it, so he's glad the men seem to have given up. At least for the time being. If they come for him later, he can deal with that when it happens.

"I was doing recon," he says with a soft laugh, as if that'll explain it. "I slipped."

[ssrsousa]

Recon meant the people following Riley might still be following him, and that made Daniel a little more alert. Not that he was ever not alert, not after years of war and then the SSR, but there were levels. He glanced around casually and didn't see anyone, but he wasn't going to relax yet.

"Think you lost em for now, but I'll keep an eye out. If they're not gone, I bet you can figure out how to use most of the guns in this place if you need to."

There were a couple chairs just inside the door, mostly for Colin and his buddies to sit and chew the fat, so Daniel got Riley settled into one of them and then hurried to grab the first aid kit.

[primary_asset]

John nods as he winces and settles into the chair, then looks at the torn material of his pants. Finch is the reason he dresses in suits like he does, he's just never seen and reason to change it, but now that he does and without Finch's constant source of income to fund it, he knows just how expensive the trousers really are. Still, he can't do much else, and so he carefully sticks his fingers into the tear and rips them open further.

He has to give Daniel space to work, after all.

"It's a good shop," he says as he looks around at the guns now that Daniel has mentioned them. And he's right, John does know how to use all of the ones he can see from where he's sitting.

[ssrsousa]

"It is," Daniel agreed. "I got hired because a lot of the guns are vintage ones and the owner wanted someone who'd actually fired some of them. Something about authenticity. Plus I know how to do his computer stuff since I took that class. That doesn't hurt."

He settled into the chair next to John a little more smoothly than he would have with the old prosthetic and set the cane next to himself, then opened the first aid kit.

"I'm no medic beyond what they taught us all to do, but I can at least get a bandage on that."

[primary_asset]

"It'll be fine," John answers, ripping his pant leg a little further to give Daniel the room he needs. "They missed the major arteries, it's just bleeding a lot because it's deep. A bandage will be more than enough. I doubt it even needs stitches."

And even if it does, he won't go and get any. Karen will give him a hard time about it, but John needs to keep himself out of hospitals. That's where they keep records, where they'll track his identity and eventually it'll come up in conversation somewhere and he'll have to explain himself to someone. This is better. Daniel is a hell of a lot safer than any hospital will ever be.

"I wasn't supposed to be working tonight," he says. "Call it extracurricular."

[ssrsousa]

"No such thing as not working in your job and in mine before," Daniel agreed as he started working on cleaning John up. At least they'd gotten past just dumping sulfa powder on things and hoping. There was a little tube of topical antibiotics that he'd put on the bandage instead.

"Even when you're not officially on the clock, it's not like you can ignore something if you see it. Or if you can, it's time to hang up your badge."

[primary_asset]

"I may have gone out of my way to see this particular incident," John admits with a little smile, though it disappears as Daniel begins to clean his wound. It stings a little, but he's had far worse and he can withstand is easily enough.

"We have a bit of a problem with some illegal weapons in Darrow," he says. "No proof of where they're coming from. I wanted to see if I could find a bit of proof and maybe make an anonymous call."

He's been too vocal about it himself, if he brings it in now, they'll know he's done something stupid.

[ssrsousa]

Daniel listened as he worked, and he knew John would know he was doing both. Illegal weapons made him a little concerned considering he worked in a gun store, but maybe it wasn't their kind of weapons.

"What kind of weapons? Are we talking about little detective specials or grenade launchers here?"

[primary_asset]

"Maybe somewhere in between," John guesses. "I caught sight of a few rifles. Nothing as big as a grenade launcher, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not there."

That's what makes him nervous. The things he can't see. It's why the police need to get in there, but without some legitimate complaint, they can't do anything. Finch had taught him enough that he'd be able to snap a few pictures and send them anonymously, but now they know someone is looking at them. Now they might not be there after tonight.

"I screwed up," he says with a sigh.

[ssrsousa]

"We all blow an op now and then," Daniel pointed out, then finished wrapping up John's leg before settling back and starting to clean up. He couldn't do anything about the hole in John's pants, though.

"You need me to do any recon? I was a scout before."

He would absolutely do recon for John if he needed it, just like he knew that John would help him and Peggy and Wanda and whoever else if Hydra came back.

[primary_asset]

"Only if you see something out of the ordinary," John says. "And you might. I have a feeling they'll be moving locations after tonight and who knows what might pass your way."

He hadn't meant to compromise the location, but he has to accept that's been done. They'll move now. They won't stick around and wait for John to return with backup. Not that he has any in the legal sense, he can't bring good cops into his unauthorized work. Not after what happened to Carter.

"It'd be a help," he says. "If you see any movement and can tell me where they might be going."