Road to Nowhere

[Alistair Greene]

The  pair of chuckleheads down the corridor didn't move quite fast enough, so Alistair snapped a hand out, making a big show of crackling electrical arcs that sent them running around the corner in the other direction, and the magus dropped his hand with some small relief, taking a few badly-needed deep breaths. Wasn't exactly easy, calling up enough electricity to shatter a walking boulder, and getting the job done tended to take a fair amount out of a guy. But that was alright - he still had plenty to be working with, if it came down to it. Honestly wasn't all that often he got to stretch his legs like this... and really he did prefer to keep most of his powers under wraps when and if he could. It didn't necessarily serve his purposes to go around showing everyone just what he was capable of.

Then again... Well, every now and then it was worth reminding people.

When Rorye came back out of the room, Alistair was reloading his pistol - retrieved from the floor - and he lifted a brow as he caught sight of her, looking significantly more ruffled than usual... and was her shirt on backwards? Inside out, maybe. Screw it. [alistair]Now do you wanna tell me what the hell that was about? Do I get to tell you I told you so?[/alistair] he asked, though he didn't have much time before she grabbed his arm and he had to run to keep up. Good thing she wasn't taking off at her actual - and considerable - top speed, because he didn't have a power fix for that kind of thing. He could do a fair amount with his magic, but superspeed wasn't one of his particular talents. It was his spells that were fast, not his actual body. Pity he'd never been much of a runner... but you didn't survive as long as he had in this world without getting at least a little good at it.

[alistair]Well, thanks for sayin'. Frankly I like the idea of staying in. I could stand to recover from this with a whole lot of not going anywhere. There![/alistair] He caught her arm and pulled her back slightly, snapping his pistol up with his free hand and firing a few shots into a doorway that had just opened, driving the men who'd tried to come out and pursue back into it. He urged her on after that though, and kept up the pace himself. The stop at the elevators was a pain in the ass, but... Well not entirely unexpected.

[alistair]Nah, no keys... hang on.[/alistair] He pulled out his knife and jammed it into the crack between the wall and the control panel, prying with some effort before he could get a hand on it, and tore the button cover away entirely. The locking mechanism was there, but it was electronic like he thought, so... just had to find the controlled output wire, and...

[alistair]Here.[/alistair] He pulled one wire out and stripped a length of it, tying it around another and the light came on. The doors opened a few seconds later, but there were more footsteps, and Alistair turned, extending a hand and snapping his fingers to send another shockwave rolling down the halls. Just keeping the bastards honest... He jumped into the elevator after that, letting her hit the button before he let out a breath in a huff. [alistair]So, as far as dates go...[/alistair] he finally said, looking back to her with a lopsided grin before he put an arm around her and pulled her into a kiss.

[alistair]Not a total loss...[/alistair] he said with a shrug after that - before the elevator ground to a halt. [alistair]Shitbags... No you don't.[/alistair] he slapped his hand against the wall, and the lights flickered from the power surge before it started moving again, just enough to get them to the parking garage level, where the doors opened to reveal a very dazed looking guard, his eye already purpling from a deep bruise. His eyes lit with recognition when he saw Alistair, though - just not fast enough to avoid the magus punching him, hard, in the other eye.

[alistair]Some days you just shouldn't get out of bed... Think we can make your truck?[/alistair]
 

[Rorye Shannon-Kearney]

"Now do you wanna tell me what the hell that was about? Do I get to tell you I told you so?"

 

[rorye]Yes.  Oh wisest of the wise you get to tell me you told me so….[/rorye] she hissed under her breath with a lick of sarcastic humor as she grabbed him and started moving.  Truth?  She was relieved.  Yes, they still had to get their asses out of there, but… the worst -at least the part with the creepy crawlies eating your brain- was over. Hopefully.  Shit, she should't have even thought that.

"Well, thanks for sayin'. Frankly I like the idea of staying in. I could stand to recover from this with a whole lot of not going anywhere. There!"

 

Reflexes were terrifyingly quick, but she’d never seen them coming.  Okay, she had to work on that.  She wasn’t a pre-cog…  but at least she could stop on a dime.  Path cleared, she kept moving.

 

[rorye]What was that you say?  A whole lot of not going anywhere... sounds like an invitation to hide out in a bunch of blankets and ignore the world for a while… I have some nice comfy ones…[/rorye]

 

She didn’t get a chance to finish her thought, a naughty one at that.  Probably not the best moment in time, but it at least it was the big fucking carrot dangling in front of her face to stay focused and get the hell out.  The elevator.  This was not a good idea, but she wasn’t too keen on searching the corridors to find a set of stairs she wasn’t sure would go all the way to the ground level.  She’d climb the damn cables if she had to.  Blades out, she checked the halls around the doors as he figured out a way in.

"Nah, no keys... hang on."

 

[rorye]I was hoping for grenades… but that works.[/rorye] a wayward strand of dark hair wafted in front of her nose as she peered around a corner.  She was staying out of his way as he worked to make sure they didn’t get cornered in the giant suspended box of death.  She wasn’t even sure they were on the lowest floor.  The thing could drop another half dozen floors once they got in for all they knew.  She really had to stop with the disaster thoughts...

 

Eyes flashed back to him as the lights went on and the doors opened, breath sucked from her lungs as he made one last attempt to clear the halls and she ducked herself into the metal box of hopefully not death.  Doors closed.  Frightfully normal all of a sudden.  She stood in the humming silence for a moment as the thing moved, adrenaline flash rosy on her skin, trying to congeal everything that had just happened into a huff outward the same moment he did.  All that was missing was the awkward elevator music.  Chin dipped, realizing the annoyed tickle on her chin was the tag of her shirt, inside out… and backward.

 

Could be worse, about to open her mouth and explain that whole debacle when he beat her to it.

 

"So, as far as dates go..."

 

Fingers tightened on her hilts as he pulled her in, not expecting it, a relieved and frustrated sigh twisted together at the same time. She couldn’t lie, there was more than an inkling crossing her brain to stop the elevator and do something really stupid given the situation, not completely erased from her expression as he again returned on point to his own space.  Lower lip rolled through her teeth, the scuffed toe of her boot awfully interesting for a moment.

"Not a total loss..."

 

[rorye]…really have to find time for that other than in the face of certain death,[/rorye] dark eyes cast more than just a subtle side glance in his direction.  When they got out of this, IF they got out of this… hell, even halfway fucking back to New York…

 

The quipped thought was short lived, small gasp as the elevator ground to a halt. Eyes flicked up to the panel above them.  Climbing, she wasn’t beneath climbing.  Honestly though, she didn’t want to see what was hiding in the dark shafts… or the corners of the parking garage when they got there.

 

"Shitbags... No you don't."

 

Fingers returned the small karambits to their sheaths as he got the deathbox moving again.  Instinct pulled the longer blades Alistair had helped her acquire, unsure why, a stir of itch in the back of her skull whispering at the edge of her senses.  That was not possible.  Johann had made sure of that.  Scent of fresh air as the doors opened was more than welcomed, it was fucking ambrosia.  One more problem down as the reeling guard again was returned to unconsciousness.

 

"Some days you just shouldn't get out of bed... Think we can make your truck?"
 

 [rorye]It’s not making it to the truck I’m worried about.[/rorye]

 

Hilts flipped backward in her fingers, blades along the bottom of her forearms.  She stayed close to the walls as she made their way back up through the parking garage,  It was a better idea to stay to the shadows, but Christ who knew what was in the shadows.  Knowing what she did now, her entire truck could be infested.  Voice continued under her breath.

 

[rorye]Things were fine until the asshole decided to flip on me.  Something else at work there.  Didn’t stay long enough to figure it out.  He’s altered, or something…  bugs or some such.  He can control bugs.  BUGS.  Whether it’s confined to his own shithole down there I don’t know. I’m not sure what we’re going to find waiting for us in my truck.  He was able to get something on me without me knowing.  Ended up being in my bag.[/rorye]

 

She paused, just inside the garage entrance truck in sight.  Everything seemed quiet. 

 

[rorye]…hence the impromptu strip session to prevent you from having to carry an unconscious me out. Very disappointed you didn’t toss some dollar bills at me by the way.[/rorye]

 

She scanned the rooftops of the dilapidated buildings around them.  Gaping, glass-less windows everywhere.  Snipers?  Guards?  Everything looked empty to her, and she was so done with this shit.  Even if they fired, could they actually hit her?  She was just going to have to make sure they didn't.

 

[rorye]Give me a sec, I’ll get the car… Miss Daisy.[/rorye]

 

With that, she pushed off the wall.

[Alistair Greene]

Funny thing was, you spend enough time fighting for your life and manage not to die, you got really, really good at it. Alistair hadn't been able to see them either, but he'd learned how to Listen even in the middle of the chaos - their boots on the marble had given them away, and after that, it was a matter of guessing where they'd show up. It wasn't much of a magic ability, but magi were capable of perception on a level most humans couldn't achieve... that or he was just really lucky, one of the two.

[alistair]Well, I could say it, but I'm not going to. Because I am a fucking gentleman.[/alistair] Alistair replied, flashing her a grin as he leaned against the elevator wall, working on getting his wind back. Between the spell slinging and the running everywhere, he needed a moment to catch his breath. After all, super endurance was not among his abilities... Behind the enchanted gear and the lightning bolts, he was an unfortunately base-level human. Which was the root of his perfectly rational fear of high powered rifles, for instance.

[alistair]You don't say? I'll have to evaluate these blankets for myself, I think. After all, you're biased, I think the whole thing could use the attention of an unbiased third party.[/alistair] A short time later, after what was a pretty decent kiss considering the situation, the magus laughed, shrugging. [alistair]Yeah, but you gotta admit, the adrenaline adds something to the whole experience. Positive or negative I can never decide, but there IS an impact.[/alistair]

Once out of the elevator, Alistair moved to one of the heavy concrete pillars, leaning his shoulder into it as he checked the magazine on his pistol, deciding to swap it for a fresh one just in case, and he looked back over to her, motioning for her to get some cover of her own - they were both worried about sharpshooters, as it turned out. There was that fear of high powered rifles again. His jacket would stop even a pretty heavy bullet - once or twice. But he'd probably break some ribs while it was at it, and that didn't eliminate the possibility that he might take a shot to the head, and he hadn't gone and made himself an enchanted balaclava - partly because the blunt trauma would probably kill him anyway. Which meant he was down to his spell barriers... and he couldn't cover every angle at once.

[alistair]Bugs. Seriously? He's an... Entomancer? Lame. And creepy, no wonder he lives in the basement of a museum. Anyway, sorry I missed the stripping, but I had tht golem to blow up... even so, not sure about my priorities.[/alistair] He shook his head as though disappointed in himself, then took a breath, wincing a bit at the next dilemma.

[alistair]Ah, yeah I'm fresh outta Raid, not part of the utility belt. I could set the truck on fire but I think that might be a bit of overkill. Chances are this guy's got a finite range, bugs are simple minded, I doubt he could impart complex instructions. We get out of here, my guess is we're okay.[/alistair] Sure, it was a guess... but then he'd seen most forms of horror at one point or another. If the guy was using magic or even a power... Well Alistair knew the rules as well as anyone did. But then again, one of the primary facts of magic was that it tended to laugh at humanity's rules.

But it was better than worrying there was no way out, so...

[alistair]Alright, I'll keep an eye out.[/alistair] She was the speedy one, after all. Alistair drew a breath, then swung out of cover, leveling his pistol and trying to look for anything... a glint of a scope - wait, a scope. If they were going to be sighting in, he could hit them with a flash - couldn't shoot when you were seeing spots. Worth a try...

[Rorye Shannon-Kearney]

"You don't say? I'll have to evaluate these blankets for myself, I think. After all, you're biased, I think the whole thing could use the attention of an unbiased third party."

 

Ok. That didn’t help try and diffuse her need to stop the elevator. What the fuck was she thinking?? Focus damn it. Get out. Get out and get home… celebrate. Part of the celebration could even be delivering the damn Disc and punching the dick out in the process for forcing her into this position. That’s what the fuck she was thinking. Send his own ass down here to this clusterfuck.

 

"Yeah, but you gotta admit, the adrenaline adds something to the whole experience. Positive or negative I can never decide, but there IS an impact."

 

Blink was quick at him, clearing the elevator and into the parking garage. Should she even ask? Footsteps were light, as quiet as she could make herself as she followed the wall.

 

"Bugs. Seriously? He's an... Entomancer? Lame. And creepy, no wonder he lives in the basement of a museum. Anyway, sorry I missed the stripping, but I had that golem to blow up... even so, not sure about my priorities."

 

[rorye]It actually has a name? That’s disconcerting,[/rorye] senses were on overload, blood hot on her cheeks. She didn’t know what she was expecting… a sharp, quick pain to send her to oblivion as some sharpshooter snapped her behind the ear? [rorye]That’s really shit luck… I even wore cute undies.[/rorye]

 

"Chances are this guy's got a finite range, bugs are simple minded, I doubt he could impart complex instructions. We get out of here, my guess is we're okay."

 

Talking about it made her skin crawl. Thinking about what she’d done to get out made her skin crawl. What HE’D done. Golems. The ease at which she sliced through skin without thought, or he pulled the trigger.

 

[rorye]Good to know. I’m definitely all stoked for the drive back through the dark. In the middle of nowhere. I didn’t bring snacks. I should have brought snacks.[/rorye]

 

Dry humor was a kneejerk reaction to try and ease her own mind. Look again into the darkness before she made the decision to go get the car was long. Doubting. She had to stop that. Her body knew what it was doing. Ignoring it for years hadn’t done her any favors… lately though she’d paid her dues. Getting the car was the right thing to do. Pulling her weight.

 

"Alright, I'll keep an eye out."

 

Nod slight, she was out into the dim lit darkness. It was hard to describe the world when she moved. It wasn’t slow motion, it was a slowing of her own perception of it. Focus on one object brought it to a standstill. The first bullet heard as a cut of air, body spun away from the concrete wall outside the garage, able to avoid it and the splintering of cement next to her head. Warmth slid over her skin, also avoiding the pull of a firearm to her skull from the an exit opening in the wall, blades flicking forward prone in her hands to swipe at every tendon point in an intricate dance before the gun was even fired. It was an elegantly brutal way to kill, the urge to 'punish' before killing him uncontrollable...completely incapacitating the ‘guard’ into a flopping puppet before both blades plunged into his windpipe and cut horizontally outward. She’d never stopped moving, up and over the bloody pulp that hadn’t yet hit the ground, sliding home behind the truck as another bullet pinged off the bumper. Blades snapped into sheaths, keys already out. Door was thrust open, engine roared, tires squealing in a sharp u-turn… halting next to Alistair to lean over and throw open the passenger door for him.

 

Please don’t shoot the tires… please don’t shoot the tires…

 

[rorye]Your ride, sir.[/rorye]

[Alistair Greene]

It had a name? Oh. [alistair]Uh, not so much really, I kind of just made that up. Entomology is the study of bugs, I think. I might be screwing that name up, now that I think about it. I'm sure they have a whole section on it in here somewhere, but, no time to go and check. I mean, young as magic is, we're still finding crap we have to make up names for. And yeah, no shit... walking boulder had bad timing, oh well.[/alistair]

Time was, he could have just used Google. God, how he missed Google. And smartphones. And... Well, this was an odd time to be reminiscing about the lost technologies of the pre-Resonance world, wasn't it? [alistair]Yeah, I should have mentioned it. Always bring snacks.[/alistair]

Dry barbs traded, he let her run off, and pulled the shotgun he'd kept slung under his coat out before thumbing the safety off. He'd kept the weapon in reserve, considering he'd been TRYING not to go overboard tonight, but as they'd been on the run, it had just been easier to keep a hand free and use the pistol instead. But now that they were out in the open... Well he could afford to cut loose a bit more. At least, until he tired himself out entirely. Alright - if there were sharpsooters, he needed to keep their attention off of Rorye, as much as he could.

Well. He could be a fantastic distraction if he put his mind to it.

The magus leapt over the railing and into the main street, walking into the glare of one of the streetlights. [alistair]Take your shot, shitheads![/alistair] A little on the nose? Probably. The first shot came a second later though, but Alistair had already put his spell into effect - the round hit a nearly solid wall of compressed air before it got to him, which pushed it off course and into the wall behind him. Meanwhile, the magus snapped his shotgun up to his shoulder and fired twice for the window where the muzzle flash had shown. Shotguns got a bad rap because of video games - with buckshot, you could hit targets pretty far away, especially if you just wanted to keep their heads down. There was another shot, another spike of stress on his shield, and he fired again - but this time he added the spell to the shot.

The sound and force of the powder charge he captured in his spell, amplifying it with mana until it was a tremendous shockwave bearing down on the shooter. The blast blew the window frame in along with half the wall, producing an explosion of concrete and plaster, and Alistair turned back to the first window. Silver light flickered around the shotgun as he charged up a second spell, daring the prick to show himself again. Before then though, Rorye was peeling up (well, as much as one could in a truck like that) and he cut the second blast loose just as another warning before he jumped in.

[alistair]Yeah let's get out of here, I think we might have pissed them off.[/alistair]
 

[Rorye Shannon-Kearney]

The point of “I’ll get the car” was kind of exactly that. People did that for each other, intent being… stay the fuck where you were because A) “I’m being nice and polite to do you a favor” B.)“It’s raining a deluge, hot, or otherwise you’re tired” OR C) “I’d prefer you NOT to get dead”. Of course, the first errant boom and subsequent fireworks did indeed signal Alistair was not abiding by any of those hopeful scenarios. He was going to chew HER out for her adventure into nowhere because she was now part of ARMA?? Good god who kept an eye on him!??

 

What if they needed his mojo to get the rest of the way out, what if??

 

A shockwave sucked the breath out of her in the middle of the thought as the car roared to life.

 

Grrr…

 

She was trying to remain logical, kept telling herself that he knew what he was doing.. but she also knew there was a limit to powers and all they needed was for either of them to hit that before they were clear. Explaining to ARMA if he got hurt because of her trip….feckkkk no. She was angry, a festering brutal anger that was so normally uncharacteristic it surprised her. Angry this old bastard had gotten the upper hand, angry she’d needed someone’s help, irate someone was shooting at them. No… shooting at Alistair.

 

Foot a bit too hard on the brake flicked the passenger door open with a snap for him to climb in, the second shockwave more prepared for…

 

"Yeah let's get out of here, I think we might have pissed them off."

 

[rorye]…they should see me when I’m pissed off…[/rorye] she muttered under her breath.

 

As soon as his door closed all the baby steps in her adventures in driving were completely blown off in exchange for reflexes that seemed almost precognitive. Heat still buzzed in her blood, the scent of iron festering inside sheaths not helping her breath to calm. She’d been vicious, beyond vicious for the situation that warranted it, fileted men like a fish even after she’d neutralized the threat- for no other reason than to do it. Suffering, she’d made them suffer. She’d done a great deal to distance herself from whatever had dug its nails into her ages ago from that fucking book fiasco. That buzzed throb and residual static from Alistair’s mojo coupled with the recent viciousness terrified and excited her at the same time- it was still finding some sort of channel to weasel its way back to the surface. Ticking, it felt like a ticking bomb in the back of her skull.

 

Later.

 

She blinked, adjusting her rear mirror to make sure they were not being followed, and focused on her breath. Stay logical. Don’t panic, except the only thing she could use to describe what flashed through her brain was logical panicking.

 

[rorye]You okay?[/rorye]

 

Fingers patted the dashboard to retrieve her map and hand it to him. She was good with directions, fairly certain they were taking the correct way out back to the highway… and home. One hand on the wheel, the other started to shrug off her leather jacket to get the sheaths off of her, thrown on the seat behind her. Her back harness thunked on the floor behind her as well, taking a few deep breaths as her chin dipped to realize her shirt was indeed inside out and backwards.

 

Headlights flicked on as the pale infrequent streetlights gave way to darkness of the “wild” in between what could a few hours ago could have been classified as two civilizations. What they were leaving, was most definitely not civilization… and before she could stop it, the wild buzz in her blood bubbled forth… hot, and urgent.

 

[rorye]I’ll get the car, means I’ll get the car… not let me get the car while you wander through the street and blow shit up to cover me, which by the way I handled beautifully by myself… before you give me a sound berating as my ARMA boss for gallivanting halfway into nowhere and then questioning your judgement, which is your right by the way, I should pull this car over right now and kick your ass first….[/rorye]

 

Side glance was sharp… long exhale quiet as she drew the heel of her hand across her forehead to wipe the stray locks of hair from her eyes. Hostility, “logical panicking” silenced after a moment, calm finally, and she finished the diatribe almost inaudibly.

 

[rorye]Thought I’d lost you… you scared me to death.[/rorye]

[Alistair Greene]

[alistair]Me? Peachy.[/alistair] he responded, flashing a grin as he climbed in. Nothing to worry about here, just a man slinging lightning bolts and deflecting bullets with the power of being just incredibly stubborn. What more did a guy need?

Alistair had to grab the handle when she peeled out - Rorye might not have been much of a driver, but it turned out she could haul when she wanted to. There was a joke there about her superspeed powers, but those didn't really have any relationship to the whole driving thing. He took the map when she offered it, pointing out a few turns before she hit what would be a decent straightaway before he set the map back down and turned back to check behind them. One of the good things about the paucity of cars on the road was that you could see real fast if anyone was following you - and right now, there wasn't a damn thing on the road behind them.

The magus let out a long breath of relief, pushing a hand back through his hair, and unclipped the shotgun from inside his jacket, hitting the safety and tossing it on the backseat before he could actually relax in the seat. As usual, it took a while after a fight before the reality of it came crashing back down on him. Part of that was the delayed headache that came from a spike of mana usage - that had always been a bit rough for him, though it was a lot better these days than it had been starting out, when he'd sometimes been laid up for half a day after a major fight.

All the same he probably could have done with a nap, something along those lines - he just wasn't expecting Rorye's sudden tirade. The admonishment took him aback, and he turned to look at her, eyes wide for a second or two. Certainly there was no way he was getting a word in edgewise considering how fast she was going, so he just waited a bit, and when she finally finished the whole thing, he didn't take his eyes off her for a good minute before he let out a sigh, turning to look behind them, then back ahead, and pointing to the side of the road.

[alistair]Pull it over, then.[/alistair] he said, waiting for a few minutes as she did before he turned back to look at her.

[alistair]If you think I'm just gonna sit back and let them take all the potshots at you that they want, I'm not sure you've been paying attention. And frankly considering all this, maybe that's what you get, because you're the one that went deep into the bug man's murder basement, and hey - one of us can deflect bullets you know.[/alistair] He wasn't quite glaring at her, not exactly admonishing so much as firing back, leaning closer as he did before he gave up.

At the point he did, he reached out instead, pulling her into a hard, almost desperate kiss - the adrenaline had been wearing off, he was covering the shake, but there hadn't been much time in the elevator and he was far from finished with her. [alistair]Not gonna lose me... but you scared the shit out of me, too, you know. I didn't come out here to lose you, either.[/alistair]
 

[Rorye Shannon-Kearney]

The darkness only seemed to get thicker. The city made you night blind. She’d never been beyond its walls until now, as sorry as that seemed. The heart pounding in her throat as her adrenaline wore down seemed to calm the more the lights behind them faded, replaced with the new anxiety of the world being pitch black and dense. His discarding of the shotgun was a welcome sign to calm her nerves, or maybe a premature one that triggered the anger veiled panic of her tirade…. or the lack of smart-assery in his response. It was a moment she needed it, his humor always told her everything was okay, when it was absent.. she worried.

 

"Pull it over, then."

 

Fingers tightened on the wheel, she didn’t want to. If she did, she had to look at him, face the reality that things may not be okay. Lips pressed to a thin line, finally slowing the older SUV, shutting off the headlights and putting it into park. Hands fell to her lap, a speck on her fingernail in the eerie glow of the dash incredibly interesting.

 

"If you think I'm just gonna sit back and let them take all the potshots at you that they want, I'm not sure you've been paying attention. And frankly considering all this, maybe that's what you get, because you're the one that went deep into the bug man's murder basement, and hey - one of us can deflect bullets you know."

 

Brow furled somewhere in the middle, he didn’t get it. He didn’t fucking get it! She wasn’t weak,.. wait what? She deserved it? Aw hell no…

 

[rorye]I’ve been dealing with potshots since the world went to complete hell. Takes a lot more than that to knock me on my ass, and even though you can deflect bullets, apparently I’m fast enough to dodge them…[/rorye] …and filet a man alive. Her tone quieted, wringing her fingers together to put them back on the wheel and look at him finally. [rorye]I didn’t know you could do that, hell I didn’t know I could do that. I just have to. I have to and hope I can. I’ve never hesitated to protect anyone… I’m not going to hesitate to protect you.[/rorye]

 

Fingers left the steering wheel as he pulled her in, one hand slapping down between the seats to steady herself, the other latching onto the collar of his coat. Lips pursed. It’d never been like that.

 

"Not gonna lose me... but you scared the shit out of me, too, you know. I didn't come out here to lose you, either."

 

She was glad he came, she was. She would most likely be bug food at this point or stuck in a room for whatever the man needed her for. The pride in her would like to think she would have gotten out on her own, but she knew it would never have happened. Not used to this, not used to “owing” someone something. She was her own boss, took care of her own problems. This was strange, and a world she hadn’t visited in almost a decade. Dark eyes watched him a moment. So many false alarms before his ass walked through her door because of a stupid book of her own clusterfuck doing. The almost too calm, furled expression was probably not what he wanted to see, fingers tightening on his coat collar before they released it and smoothed it back down on his chest.

 

She’d lost the fight in the very beginning, and had spent all her time since then making up for it. Took a risk and lost, but who hadn’t? Was there one person in this fucked up aftermath of civilization that could say they sailed through life with no scars?

 

Pushing back into her own space, she clicked her seatbelt off calmly…whenever the fuck she had the wherewithal to put that on she had no idea. Jacket was shrugged off and slung over the back of her seat, reaching up to grasp the gearshift. Hand fell to her lap again, clearly struggling with more than just the prospect of a back stiffening ride home, eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, casting a glance over her shoulder to the cargo space in the back. The back seat could lay forward. She’d actually though about taking the thing camping, go venture slightly out of the city into a safe area to get out of the rat race for a short stint… be daring, not really sure how it worked but she could sure as hell figure it out.

 

Aw hell.

 

Car was turned off, keys onto the dash, she was out of her seat like a nimble cat and climbing onto his lap, knees on either sides of his hips… it wasn’t a tiny car for Pete’s sake, and even though she was tall, she was a small thing after all. Nimble fingers made quick work at the waistband of his pants, the other urging the ever present duster off his shoulders, lips not leaving any way to get a word in edgewise for protest. Lean form let go briefly and leaned back just long enough to whip her backward shirt over her head and toss it somewhere in the back before continuing, hand pausing against his skin somewhere it probably shouldn’t have been, beneath clothing it probably shouldn’t have been under…

 

…fuck.

 

She bit her lower lip, the suggestive look through her eyebrows clearly being taken over again by logic.

 

This was not a good idea. Not a good idea at all. Fuck good ideas to hell… it was hours back to New York, and they had successfully escaped a murder basement to be sitting in the middle of murder highway. This was not a good idea.

 

[rorye]..sorry, this isn’t a good idea..[/rorye] swallow was hard, breath skittering and way too fast as she began to extricate herself back to the driver’s seat. She sat there a moment, hands on her lap, sullen glare at the steering wheel, calming her breath. Movement was sudden, changing her mind and taking a detour between the seats to the back. Brief tug on the arm of his coat as she disappeared from the front of the car one helluvan invitation.

 

What the hell was she thinking??!

 

His shotgun was placed carefully on the floor, climbing into the backseat to search for the elusive latch, yanking on it every few seconds in frustration. Its refusal to move was a sign… get back into the damn driver’s seat… get back into the damn driver’s seat…

[Alistair Greene]

Well. That hadn't exactly gone too well. He broke it off sooner than he'd meant to when she didn't reciprocate, which was... Awkward, to say the least. He sat back a little bit, wincing at nothing in particular, then he leaned back in his own seat again and looked out the other window. Well, shit. The argument wasn't going to go anywhere, given how convinced they both were. Probably an occupational hazard, considering who they both were, but eh... he'd spent the better part of ten years doing more or less the opposite thing of signing up for easy.

No, the look she had on when he looked her way was not necessarily what he was looking to see, for what were probably obvious reasons. Shit, he was halfway to suspecting she'd try and kick him out of the truck, and how many different shades of irony was that going to be? Whatever she thought or said, he remained a bit less shaken up by this whole thing because... Well, this sort of trip was alarmingly typical for him these days. It didn't make him immune to the adrenaline shakes or anything like that, but he was something of an old hat at trying to calm himself the fuck down after almost getting himself or someone else killed. Rorye wasn't Jocelyn, sure, but it still had been far from the strangest situation he'd gotten into all year. Rorye was proud, sure, and didn't like having anyone else stick their neck out for her? Tough. He was too used to the other thing.

Of course, he didn't rant any more of that at her - he didn't know how to NOT make it seem condescending, even though it wasn't how he meant it. He'd never had to argue things like this when he'd been an engineer, the only people who'd thought they could handle his job were quickly proven wrong. This job though, well it had a lot more room for what you might call journeymen.

While he'd been halfway to brooding over the whole situation, Rorye apparently came to some sort of decision in an abrupt fashion, because she was out of the driver's seat and on top of him in what felt like an instant, and this time it was her turn not to give him a chance to argue. Granted, he hadn't had any plans to, so he kissed her back, cooperating in trying to shrug the heavy coat awkwardly off his shoulders, and once he'd managed to free his arms again, pushing up and lifting them both out of the seat for a second so he could do it, his hands were back on her, helping her shirt up over her head and leaning back up for... her to stop.

Okay, no, THIS was awkward. He paused for a few seconds, both very hard and very still, and he followed her gaze to the steering wheel for a second before looking back to her. [alistair]Uh. It's not?[/alistair] he asked finally, his tone filling in his current disagreement. Though he could see the logic in it being a bad idea... they were just another darkened vehicle on a road full of them at this point, after all. And they'd have to have some warning before anyone else came. [alistair]It's not THAT bad an idea, is it?[/alistair] he offered.

She left though all the same, though... not to drive. His brows went up as he realized where she'd gone, and he had to shake himself a moment before his brain caught up with him, and he grunted a few times as he made his very awkward way around the seats and into the back with her. Fucking stuck latch... he glanced to her, then grabbed it, waiting for her to pull so he could pull in time. The thing finally gave way with a loud pop, and the seat tried to fold over on top of the both of them, so Alistair grabbed it and propped it up a bit, motioning her over before he struggled out from under it and rolled into the now wide open back, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back to him.

[alistair]I think we've both had worse ideas.[/alistair]

[Rorye Shannon-Kearney]

.....aaaaaaand goodnight everybody   *winks*