ikissdhimbck | OOM: Outside, Early morning

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OOM: Outside, Early morning

They had discussed it. Kate had said she wasn't going to leave the bar until she knew that Bill, Boo, and Kate Warner were safe with Demeter. So when Doc got word that they were leaving, early in the pre-dawn hours when most folks would be sleeping, they agreed to get their belongings in order and see them off.

Satisfied that things were well in hand, she answered with a nod when Doc squeezed her hand, silently asking if she was ready to go.

She paused to drop off a few notes and things with Miss Bar, and once settled, she shouldered her duffel -- stopping to hush the kittens nestled carefully within -- and followed Doc out through the backdoor.

She watched his long strides in the gray light, his black duster occasionally billowing and allowing glances at the gleaming sixshooter at his hip. He reached out for her hand, and she gave it to him -- a bond that felt impossible to sever as they made their way towards a new life.

Together.

.

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She collides with him as the next few bullets send wooden splinters raining in the air as the boards beside his head explode from the contact.

He doesn't remember when he got his gun free but his focus is on Kate, his left arm wrapped around her.

stay with me

please for the love of god

don't fall

His right arm comes up in a blur of motion as he fires; a bullet skims across the side of his head, nicking his scalp (but by some miracle not blowing off part of his skull) and sending a thin splash of blood onto the wall.

god damn you salazar

Ramon's not aiming anywhere but at Kate but he's not taking care, not making sure his bullets hit. He knows one did and that should be good enough. But he doesn't stop, not even when Doc starts shooting back. His face is set in a hard line and all he sees is that woman falling forwards. A swell of triumph starts to rise through him and just keeps going, not stoping until the clip is empty.

Unfortunately for Ramon, Doc has different ideas about this entire situation.

He can see the hardwood floor of his cabin beyond the doorway, if he can just get them there then they can be safe --

-- his breath catches in his lungs as a sudden wave of red-hot pain stabs into his side, everything in his brain going static as sensory overload blocks out his vision and his hearing.

Somehow, he makes it -- they make it -- to the doorway, but he's already falling, and is very vaguely aware that he should brace himself for the impact with the floorboards, but nothing actually registers in his mind except for the pain in his side.

And static.

She doesn't think she's breathing, but somehow she still manages to scream.

A second later, it's silent, a splintered and hole-riddled door the only thing left in their wake.

He stands for a quiet moment, arm still straight out and holding the gun, as though waiting for something. In these situations, there's usuallly a body but here...nothing. The only blood he sees is the tiny splash that came from the graze to Doc's head. But he heard her scream. He saw her buckle when that bullet hit her in the back. And he heard her scream. She must be dead, right?

Eventually, he lowers his arm and wanders down the corridor, ignoring the restless horses in their stalls. He can smell the gunpowder in the air, it hangs heavy through the place. But that, and the holes in the walls, is the only evidence of what just happened.

He opens the door they fell through. Nothing that shouldn't be there.

Closes it.

Well, that's that. Done.

He heads back to the door. A nice walk outside to remove himself from the area sounds like a good idea.

Edited 2009-10-05 18:30 (UTC)

After spotting Ramon through the window Bill is proceeding with caution He doesn't see Ramon when he steps out onto the porch, so he heads towards the stables knowing that's where Doc and Kate are, and hoping that's not where Ramon's gone.

He wishes like hell he had more in his hands than a stuffed hedgehog, or someone else with him, but his guts are telling him to get out and warn Doc and Kate.

The sudden crack of gunfire makes him jump and his heart leaps into his throat.

No.

He breaks into a run, panic clawing at his insides as the air continues to thunder with gun shots.

They stop before he gets there.

When the stables come into sight he sees Ramon step out. Bill's mind finally shouts out above the adrenaline and he slides to a stop. Ramon is armed and has already nearly killed Bill once.

Doc and Kate could be dead or dying in the stables, but there's no way Bill can go in there now without getting himself killed.

Gritting his teeth he turns and runs back to the bar for security, praying that he gets back in time to help Doc and Kate.

The swell of satisfaction only gets bigger as he walks. To finally be rid of her after this last month or two - it doesn't get any better than that. And to be handed such a perfect scenario; no witnesses, no incriminating body to deal with...perfect.

He heads to the forest. An hour or two to keep himself away from the sight of other people who might have heard the gunshots should do the trick.

Meanwhile, inside the bar proper --

X does not sleep much, maybe an hour or two every night. It makes working two jobs in Milliways easier, in addition to being an X-man and having an apartment to take care of.

That lack of a need for sleep is what has herdownstairs so early, making her careful way through breakfast. It is impossible not to notice Bill running in, and X drops her spoon back into her oatmeal and is on her feet and moving without thought.

"There is a problem? Outside."

Is it another dead body?

Edited 2009-10-05 19:38 (UTC)

He's out of breath and nods rapidly, gesturing towards the door he just came in from.

"Yeah, I need security -- there's been a shooting outside an' I -- I think my friends were involved."

X is not one for wasting time, which means she starts heading for the door almost as soon as Bill says 'yeah'.

There will be time for more questions as soon as they are both sure that no one is dead.

If nobody really is dead.

He follows after her. Still holding Boo's stuffed animal in one hand, he reaches out to touch X's shoulder with the other.

"Hold on, he's armed. Ramon Salazar, he's crazy as hell an' I know he'll shoot without blinkin'."

He's looking over X to see if she has any weapon.

X does not stop, just turns her head to look over her shoulder. Her eyes are narrowed.

"I am hard to kill. It will be okay."

And even if she has no visible weapon -- at least she moves like someone who could kill a man with her bare hands?

"Where?"

She could backtrack scent trails, but given that time is an important factor, it is more efficient to ask. Especially since Bill is coherent.

With the look she gives him and the way she's carrying herself he's not going to argue. Bill's been coming to Milliways long enough to know that there are a lot of people here who have extraordinary talents and powers.

He's not sure what she means by 'hard to kill', but he'll trust her. Time is too important to spend on doubt.

"The stables."

"Stay behind me," is all that X says in reply, adjusting her course toward the stables and the --

Silence, except for the sounds of horses in the early morning.

She does not think this is a good sign.

Now the question is -- where did everyone go?

His instinct is to put himself in front of her, knowing they're walking into danger, and it's hard to hang back, but he does.

Until they reach the stables and find silence. He continues to follow her, but when nothing happens he moves away from her, looking around.

"Doc? Kate?"

It's a relief not to find any bodies on first glance, but now he's wondering what happened. He looks towards the door, then to X.

"I'm pretty sure Ramon was leavin' when I saw him. Maybe Doc an' Kate cut out another way."

X's nostrils flare again as she catches the scent of blood.

It is not difficult to find the splash of blood from Doc -- though X does not know him.

And as for Kate, the scent of her blood is on the air, too, if not as strongly.

Both scents cut off abruptly on the other side of the slider to the paddock, and X frowns.

"They went through here. Kate and someone else. But it was not Ramon."

She pauses, backtracking her own passage through the stables and scenting the air again.

"I will find him."

It should not be too difficult.

"Must've been Doc. How do you know?" It's not disbelief, he's just gathering info, trying to figure this out.

"Scent," X says.

"It is difficult to misinterpret."

Her nostrils flare again and she looks toward the woods, body going still.

Poised.

So that is where he went.

"I will be back. Soon. Stay here."

And then she takes off, following the scent of a man and his gun.

Following Ramon.

X-23 is very good at what she does.

He's studying the blood, wondering whose it is and what kind of wound it's from. If they're not here then they got away, to one of their worlds, so maybe the hit wasn't bad.

Or maybe one of 'em is dyin' on the otherside of the door.

He's distracted with his own thoughts and X's words don't register until she's already out the door. Turning, he takes a few steps after her.

"Hey!"

He can't stay here. He needs to get back to Kate and Boo and make sure they got to Demeter's world, especially with Ramon still on the loose.

He hates to leave, he wants to help, but he can't risk Kate and Boo. With a silent apology and promise to check in as soon as he can, Bill heads back to the bar.

Ramon hadn't got too far into the woods before he heard the sound of a door opening. He looks back through the trees and isn't sure, but thinks there's a bit of light showing...and then it's gone. Or maybe wasn't there at all.

A few more steps and for a moment, he thinks he heard voices carrying through the still night air...but again, isn't sure. Maybe it's just paranoia.

Still, he steps up his pace and heads for the deep parts of the forest, off the trails. The further away the better and if he's out of the range of hearing gunshots, he can claim cluelessness to the entire situation.

It's not quite a run. But is a noticeably faster walk than before.

X's own pace is rapid, particularly over the initial part of Ramon's jaunt into the woods. But once he leaves the trail --

Well, then X leaves the trail, too. And when she's within hearing distance of her quarry -- then she slips sideways, moves catty-corner to him --

Attempting to approach from a direction he is unlikely to expect.

Something's up.

Or maybe it's just because he thought he heard a noise? Either way, his senses are jangling and it's like that feeling of knowing you're being watched, only there's nothing in sight.

He can't see a goddamn thing. And he hates being unsure of himself. So he stops dead and listens for a moment and then edges quietly to the nearest tree, keeping it to his back while he waits and listens to see whether this is all just his imagination or not.

The forest is silent.

Nothing is moving.

Nothing at --

"Ramon."

The voice -- flat and affectless -- comes from his left, several yards away.

'Jesus Christ!'

He jumps and swivels at the same time somehow, managing to crack his elbow painfully on the tree as he does.

'What the fuck do you think you're doing?!'

X.

I would have to be fucking X. He'd know that voice anywhere.

"Following you."

Sometimes it really is that simple.

"You were in the stables. Today. There was shooting."

And blood. But they'll get to that.

Probably.

Edited 2009-10-05 23:06 (UTC)

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