tushanshu_logs | Oh lord, I have been sold; that I must take the unforsaken road...

Okay. Maybe Rikki should have expected this, when you think about it. She's been harrassing the gangs in her sector long enough that they know her and aren't especially fond of her, and with tensions with the kedan rising... Yeah, the smart thing to do might've been leaving the shield and goggles on the shelf and staying inside at night for a while. She gets that now.

Unfortunately, it's a little late to do anything about it.

She'd jumped in in the middle of a mugging, which is not exactly unusual for her or anything... until the guy that was getting mugged turned and attacked her too, and suddenly she's in the middle of half a dozen kedan all making very sure that she has no easy escape route, to the roofs or otherwise. Well... crap.

She's doing okay until one of the gang gets in too close while she's busy warding off another's sword with her shield. She manages to get her arm up before his heavy club comes down on her skull, but doesn't really have time to be pleased about it. Something cracks, unnaturally loud to her own ears, she screams, and her vision goes dark as the world seems to drop out from under her.

And then there's Steve.

He's been patrolling in dark clothes with the shield covered, for the past couple of weeks now, because contrary to what some people might believe he is capable of subtlety from time to time.

The time is now half-past totally not subtle.

He lands on the kedan from above, ripping the mask off of his shield and slamming it into the nearest gangster hard enough to send him flying into the alley's opposite wall. He wants them to know exactly who they're fighting, and exactly who they'll have to deal with next time they feel like like ambushing one of his people.

And if the shield doesn't leave a visual impression, he's going to make damn sure it leaves a physical one.

That particular point, he drives home when one of the kedan throws a punch - he siezes the elastic wrist in one hand and snaps the bone in two with a hammerstrike from the shield's edge before he sends the kedan flying with a booted kick. He leans away from another attack, wrapping an arm around the kedan's throat and turning so a third blow, this one with a sword, goes through his meat shield and misses Steve himself completely. He swipes the blade aside with contempt, making sure it finishes cutting the kedan it went through in two.

The rest of them break and run, leaving the corpse of their companion behind.

Steve checks shadows before he crouches next to Rikki, examining the injury that brought her down without moving it or her. He touches her face gently, peeling the goggles back and brushing her hair out of her face. "Hey, Nomad. Come in, Nomad."

Rikki groans, forcing her eyes open at the sound of her name. It takes a moment or two for the darkness to fade enough that she can focus on a face, and even then it's hard, everything oddly dim and checkered-looking.

"Cap? What're..." She groans again and tries to push herself up - with her non-shield arm of course, which leads pretty quickly to another strangled shout, a rush of blood in her ears, another wave of darkness, though she manages to hang on until it passes this time. "Unnngh. Think I'm gonna throw up..."

"Don't-" Too late. He growls, though not at her, and turns her gently so if she does throw up, she won't choke. "Don't move."

He checks the kedan's body, stripping its shirt and taking its boots, and then ripping the latter to pieces so he can use the stiff material of the soles to stabilize her break enough to move her.

"This is going to hurt." He goes to work without another word, peeling back her ruined sleeve to get a better view of the damage done.

She lies there as still as she can, staring at the stones of the street and panting softly while she fights down wave after wave of nausea. It's okay. It's okay. It hurts like hell but Steve's here and he's going to take care of it and everything's going to be okay and god it hurts, this is nothing like the time she broke her thumbs, this is-

She swallows down tears and nods at Steve's warning, but there's still a little whimper as he pulls the sleeve back, and then...

"That's my bone," she says in distant shock, staring for a moment. Now she does need to puke, rolling slightly to her shield side and retching onto the pavement.

She slumps a little when she's done and she can breathe again, her whole body shaking with cold or pain or tears or she doesn't even know anymore. "Sorry I screwed up. Bad. I just... I didn't see the group and I thought that... thought I could handle the one guy..."

"Don't apologize, Nomad." The use of her title is intentional. He puts a hand on her face, guiding her focus away from the break and back to him. "You look at me, and only me, all right? We'll get you safe and patched up, and then we can talk, but until then don't worry about it. Besides, I need you to bite down on this for a minute."

He slips a piece of the bootleather into her mouth, and then he's back to her arm, stretching it out straight and aligning the bone before he wraps the break as tightly as he can. It's a crude reduction, a crude splint, but they don't have to go far. He settles the arm against her and eases his own arms under her. "Up you get."

Rikki's sobbing by the time he finishes, weak with relief when he's finally done and she can spit out the gag and cradle the arm against her, leaning into Steve and terribly glad for the warm solidity of him.

She lifts her good hand to wipe the tears from her face, but the shield's still on - actually trying the maneuver is going to end in smacking either her or Steve in the face, so she just wipes her cheek on her shoulder as best she can. When she lifts her head, her eyes settle on the body on the street, the spreading pool of whatever passes for blood in kedan. "Did you..."

Steve's killed people before. She knows that. But she's never seen him do it, and this was because of her, and the extent of the damage to the body is a little terrifying. She can't look away.

Again, he turns her face toward him, as gently as he can. "Yes. His friend put a sword through him in the confusion. Don't think for a second his death is your fault."

Because he knows that look. He's seen it before, on boys her age, on men his own. And if he has to tell her a partial lie to get her conscience clear of that corpse, even if the image won't leave her, he'll do it without hesitation.

He takes to the roofs without too much trouble, cradling her against him with one arm as he climbs. Once they're up there, it's easier, and one of his safehouses is close. He calls a kedan healer first - one who doesn't ask questions and will do a good job, though the price has gone up since rationing started.

Then, he calls Bucky. His explanation is brief, as are his assurances that Rikki is mostly all right. He knows well enough that Bucky won't believe it until he sees Rikki himself, so there's no point in wasting words.

Steve goes from the small kitchen area to the back room of the little apartment, where the cot is stationed in a windowless room. "Your granddad's on his way."

Edited 2013-04-08 06:42 (UTC)

Her arm's still throbbing sharply, she's still shaky and queasy, but at least now it's at a level she can deal with. Rikki smiles weakly and nods. "Thanks. For calling him and... finding me..."

There's a pause, a little frown. "Were you following me?" It's not accusing, really - hard to be too upset when she needed the save, but it is embarrassing, and it shouldn't have been necessary. Was, but shouldn't.

He rests his hand on her leg, giving it the barest squeeze. "Not the whole night."

Steve is glad he did now, though. Never mind that the Emperor probably would have brought Rikki back if- No.

He gives her leg a conciliatory scrub before he sits back. "I haven't told you how many times Bucky pulled my irons out of the fire, when we were younger."

There's another flicker of a smile, though she still looks a little put out. "I guess that makes me feel a little better."

She glances down at her arm and winces. "This is gonna keep me out of trouble for a while, huh?"

It's what he wanted, even though she knows he'd rather it didn't happen this way, but the idea of not being able to help when someone even Steve seems scared of is here... That makes her feel almost as sick as the sight of her own bone did.

"Somehow I doubt that."

He sighs. "I know it's not what you want to be doing, but I'm sure Peggy could use some help with information gathering and logistics while you're on the bench."

He's right, it's not her ideal job, but better than sitting on the sidelines doing nothing. She nods immediately. "Yeah. Of course."

Rikki shifts carefully, hissing softly as she has to move her arm. She quickly settles into a more comfortable position, but she's quiet for a while longer, eyes focused on her boots rather than Steve. Finally she takes a breath and looks back over at him.

"That body back there... if the police find it... I mean, I'm not supposed to be doing this." It wouldn't be hard to track her down - most of the Metal Sector is at least vaguely aware of Nomad. Worse, what if someone saw Steve and he gets in trouble for it?

Bucky might have been in a hurry. Just a little.

He knows that, if things were bad, Steve would have put it otherwise. But they aren't good, either. So he grabs what little he has of food, only stops on the way to get extra painkillers (he doesn't have to shake the kedan apothecary, but it's a close thing), and shows up in not too long, knocking on the door - quietly.

When Steve answers, Bucky's voice is rougher than he expects, himself, his eyes searching his friend's to see if his delay this far has brought any change in the situation.

"She awake?"

Steve is grateful for Bucky's appearance in that particular moment. Rikki's concern about the corpse brings out a very... broad spectrum of emotions.

Denial of the need to hide it being chief among them.

He isn't a criminal, there was nothing shameful in the fight. He's not about to act in a way that makes him look - what? Guilty?

The body itself though, the clear impression it left on Rikki, makes him wonder all over again what kind of world she comes from, that she can have done the things she's done without it leaving the scars of visceral violence.

And it raises the question once again of whether or not he should be killing at all, though for reasons vastly different than Batman's blanket creed.

He leads Bucky to the back room, saying nothing but a brief, "She's awake" in answer to his question.

Steve himself stands clear, letting Bucky and Rikki have the room. To the latter, he says, "I'll talk to his friends. Make sure they come back for him."

That much, he'll do. He smiles to make sure she knows he's not upset with her. "You rest, all right? I'll be back."

"Yeah. Okay. Just..." She can't tell Cap to be careful. He doesn't need the reminder, especially not from the kid dumb enough to walk right into an ambush. "Thanks."

Turning to Bucky, she smiles tiredly, feeling both warm and somewhat guilty at the obvious worry on his face. "Hey. Hope I didn't scare you or anything. I just got stupid and... kind of broke my arm." She lifts it a little to show him - probably not that reassuring given how pale she is, and the blood on the bandages, but she's trying.

... what Rikki cannot say or do, Bucky, who can catch well enough the currents in the room, can. He reaches to grasp Steve's arm, solidly, as his friend moves back past him, and looks up into the blue eyes. "Be careful." And he means it. He doesn't need to see his granddaughter with a broken arm and pale with pain still, to know that things are dangerous, right now.

Then he nods, echoing the girl's sentiment, and lets him go, turning back to her.

"I'm used to stupid, it was kinda a common condition between him and me, at one time." Small grin that slightly warms his worried eyes, and he settles on a chair near her.

"Hungry, yet? Thirsty? And don't move that, yet, there'll be time enough for that, okay?"

She groans softly. "Definitely not hungry." Though she's shaky and dizzy and maybe should eat, but the thought of food makes her queasy all over again. "Thirsty, though."

And she could really use a hug, but she doesn't know how to actually say that, even if she's relatively sure Bucky would give it.

"Got it."

Softly, and he drops the stuff he's brought on the kitchen counter, pours her a big glass of water - and comes in to deliver both things she wants. By gently shifting her so she can lean back against him and drink her water comfortably, and without much effort.

Yes, she should eat. Yes, there are many things they should both do. But, for a little bit, he'll just be there with her. Reassuring himself that. She's still there. Not gone. Not--

He bites his tongue against a sharp intake of breath, and murmurs quietly, calmly, instead, "did I ever tell you I'm glad you told me? Who we are to each other, I mean?"

She shifts against him gratefully, and when she's downed half the glass of water, she drops her head against his shoulder. Her whole body's wound up with adrenaline and stress and pain, but now she deflates a little against him.

It's easier to relax with the physical reminder that he's there and she's safe and protected. After all, even if he's not the man who raised her, he's still her grandpa. He's not going to let anything happen to her.

"Yeah? 'Cause I wouldn't blame you if you miss when you didn't have to deal with this dumb kid in your life."

It is much easier to relax with the physical contact. Especially after what had happened with Natasha, with Favrielle gone, with Molly - changing. Even if it's only knowledge that Molly got, about her future, it's still changed her. Shaken her.

And now Rikki got hurt, and he is by now aware that it might have been worse, if Steve hadn't gotten there on time.

"Well, I'm used to dumb kids. Wouldna' know what to do without you." Kid from Brooklyn, too dumb to run away from a fight. That's what he said, and it's... still true.

"Besides, who'd have taught me to fly up the rooftops if not for you?"

Rikki laughs a little. "There's a lot of people here that could teach you that, I think. But it was fun doing it. And I'm glad I told you too. Can't imagine getting by here without you."

She takes another drink, and then closes her eyes as she settles back against him. "I passed out. I got the crap beaten out of me and broke both my thumbs once and didn't pass out. This's just embarrassing."

"Yeah, but you're the one who did, so there."

There's a smile to his voice, but then it fades, and he tucks his chin over the top of her hair.

"We've been running a lot on very little, here." Quiet voice. "And it makes a difference, how ready you are for the pain. When you're prepared, you can brace yourself and push through. When you ain't..."

It was worse, back under Zola, when they were working on him while he was blindfolded. This much, he remembers.

"...why'd you break your own thumbs?"

"I guess. It makes sense. Still feels kind of dumb, y'know?"

She snorts softly at the question, smiling a little without opening her eyes. Okay, it really wasn't fun at the time, but looking back she is pretty proud of herself for surviving it. And maybe impressing Black Widow a little too.

"Getting out of handcuffs. I was doing this thing with Black Widow, and we got caught, and... it's a long story. But SHIELD taught me how I could do that if I ever needed to."

"It's okay." Easy, warm voice. It's... odd, how comfortable it feels, just cuddled in like this.

With his granddaughter.

Whose arm was broken by a kedan while she was doing what she does every night... fighting crime.

Granddaughter that is not exactly his, and isn't not, at the same time. One that doesn't happen to him, at any rate, even with what Natasha's told him. (Or maybe he forgot to ask, if they used/will use the brainwashed version of him as breeding stock, too.)

It feels easy. And even right. And he doesn't let that worry him.

"Shield taught you, huh? When you were how old?"

... okay, maybe he is going to have a talk with Natasha about this. Because, damn. She's still a kid, and she must've been even younger, then.

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withoutaworld - 2013-04-24 17:42 (UTC) - Expand

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trainwrecked - 2013-04-30 14:37 (UTC) - Expand

Oh lord, I have been sold; that I must take the unforsaken road...

METAL SECTOR

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