Back with a Bite

Okay, breathe. Everything was going to be fine. Just fine. Even if she couldn't shoot worth shit apparently because of this flu. Seeing the bewildered expression on Jacob's face told her one thing; this situation needed to be controlled. She needed to be calm and collected like always and right now, Jacob needed some ah...guidance. She needed to snap him out of his daze and get them the hell out of there. The adrenaline began to flow now--probably more so now that she shot like the average person. Lord knows how this was possible, but it was definitely happening and she had to deal with it. She also had to assume that her regeneration was shit as well which meant she couldn't necessarily throw herself at the unknown number of assailants to take them down. One of them could actually blow her brains out and she'd be definitely down for the count.

"They're somebody's goons alroigh'...Didn' think they could find me. Prolly didn't loike me tellin off their boss tha' oy' quit," That was an interesting conversation. She forgot what his name was, but the mafia boss always threw around his weight when it came to her, saying that she had better do what he wanted her to do or else. Usually the bossman had no problems coming from Lenn considering she was getting paid at the time and nothing ever mattered. Eh...Saying 'go fuck yerself' was probably a bit much...Balls.

There were only two ways to escape her apartment and right now, the front door was an obvious 'no'. The bedroom was perhaps their only hope. It was a good thing she chose an apartment that had a balcony and the bedroom was on the other side of the narrow hallway. that meant it was easier for her to hole up in and focus enemies into the hall. they made for easier shots unless they were smart enough to cram into the bathroom. She had no idea how many thugs were out to get them but they were sloppy at best. They were taking a long time to load their weapons and they were scared of her. She snatched up his sword and practically shoved it into Jacob's chest to..'wake' him up a little. "We're gonna fall back to the bedroom...They're reloading right now an' inexperienced as all hell when dealin' wit' someone loike me. I want you to make a run for it an' oy'll cova' you. You ready, honey? Let's go!"

She'd pull him up to his feet and she made fast for the Remington mounted on the wall. She didn't anticipate the door being kicked open with one of the henchmen armed with a rifle. He cranked off a few shots, those that whizzed completely past her and down the hall. She didn't even think anything of it as the Remington went off in her hands. BOOM! The man caught all of the buckshot and flew back into the walkway of the apartments. He squeezed off a final shot, one that scratched her cheek. She winced at the streak of heat and felt the subtle warmth of blood trickle down her face. That was nothing.

Oh, she didn't blame him for sounding angry. Whether it was against her or the fact that they were now being shot at was the question. She moved back, cracking off two more shots into the hallway. The men were smart enough to hide behind their cover since the buckshot wouldn't penetrate the wall. Seeing as she scared them enough, she fired off another covershot and doubled back for the bedroom. The shotgun was dropped onto the floor, the M4A1 snatched in its stead and she rolled right over her bed in one fluid motion as if she had done this countless amount of times. Okay, she did, but this was the first she ever had something like this happen in her own home. Boy, she was getting sloppy.

Oh...She was really getting sloppy. Lenn noted the speck of blood upon Jacob's shirt that rapidly became a stain. She was going to have to take a look at it later. Knowing the kind of rifle the man had, it was probably a through-on-through wound. Hopefully for Jacob's sake because if it was stuck, Lenn was going to have to dig it out and even that was annoying for her. She was hoping that he wouldn't have noticed it because now that he did, she knew he was going to be all stiff again with fear. It wasn't something she could fault Jacob for; it happened a lot in her line of work. There were a few occasions where she was paired up with a rookie partner that...didn't quite make it to the finish line. It had to be just a flesh wound and Jacob was going to have to bear it just a little longer. Of course she felt bad that she was treating him like another comrade, but it helped her think more clearly. The color of her eyes gradually brightened into a blood red color and she mouthed off a few simple words as she shouldered the weapon.

"Combat Initiated."

"You'll be alroigh' sweetie--it's just a flesh wound" she tried to reassure him just a little as she flicked the safety off. down the hologram sight, she shot another fool that tried to blunder into her apartment. There went the knee and he toppled over, dropping his gun and grabbing his shattered limb. Two more men stumbled over their fallen comrade and they were met with the same fate. Okay, she was trying really hard not to kill these guys for Jacob's sake. God, she was sweating by now and if it weren't for the adrenaline flow, she would have been on the floor and both of their brains would be on the wall. "Go out through th' balcony. There's a flight of stairs you can take down into th' alley. Oy'll be roight behind you, oy promise." Suddenly, a cannister had been tossed into the hallway and immediately the apartment began to fill with smoke. "Persistant wankahs'," She fired off a burst into the cloud. Oh! she got one.

She was glad that Jacob was quick when it came to gathering his bearings. Normally civilians panicked and screamed things that irritated her such as oh god we’re all going to die or how’re you going to get us out of this mess. Of course there were other obscenities often screamed in her face which was why she tended to avoid…saving people. Back then, they only slowed her down. Now? Well, her ‘civillian’ reminded her that she wasn’t allowed to die because she still owed him a date. She snorted as he made his way outside. ”Wot, you don’t consida’ this a date?” It was kind of…exhilarating knowing that she was stuck in the middle of the gunfire, severely handicapped and sick. It made things…so much more adventurous and risky. Better yet, she had someone to share this moment with even if he wasn’t as enthusiastic as she was this instant. He could probably hear her laugh over the gunfire followed by other cries as she managed to tag another person through the smoke. Short and controlled bursts, that was key. Of course, she wasn’t getting as much done as she usually would, but all she really had to do was cover Jacob’s escape.

click. Crap, she dropped the rifle and snatched up the large bowie knife she kept under her pillow before dashing out. Well, it was more of a sloppy stumble as the remaining two men in the hallway lit up the bed with gunfire. She peered over the railing, noting there were three stunned thugs in the alley. Lenn vaulted over the railing, silently descending upon her prey. The first thug didn’t see her coming until it was too late. She landed right on top of his chest before he had a chance to scream or shoot, using him as an effective landing pad who was knocked out cold on impact. The others barely had time to react when she flew into action. The second thug got a knife through the kneecap and kicked through some trash cans beside his buddy who decided it was the best idea to take his eyes off of her. She came in fast, knocking away his handgun with a fluid swipe and a fist to the solar plexus had the man keel over drooling and gasping. She grabbed this one by the collar of his shirt and yanked him to her eye level.

”Now you listen hea’. If oy’ see you an’ your friends again, oy’ promise this knoife hea’,” she practically shoved it in his frightened face, ”This is going to go up yer ass. Oy’ promise you that.” And then she shoved him down into a filthy puddle. Not like that did as much justice as she wanted it considering both Jacob and Lenn were soaked to the bone in the obnoxious rain. It was cold—No it was hot as hell and she panted, short of breath. At least…At least she didn’t kill them? Hopefully Jacob would give her credit for that. ”We’ve…we’ve gotta…go…” but go where? She didn’t know. Most likely Jacob parked right in front of the building…They could possibly get caught. She didn’t have an accurate target count…Wait, which way was up again?

Speaking of ‘up’, on the balcony, the last two men finally figured out where the couple went and aimed their guns. Delirious, Lenn made a last attempt to thwart them by chucking her knife. She was mostly aiming for one of their guns, but the trajectory was way off and ended up embedded into the wall above their heads. They instinctively cowered and looked up to the knife. Well…That was all she had. Her legs were shaking and the red glow of her eyes began to fade. Great. She was going to get shot in front of Jacob in some stupid nasty ass alley.

This was it. She failed. She failed them both and now she was gonna get lit up with a bunch of holes then wake up in the morgue hours later. Then again, she sort of wished that happened without Jacob being there because then they would assume she was dead and stop pursuing her. Dammit, why didn’t she think of that? Oh right, because that cut on her face didn’t heal yet so there was no guarantee that she would survive the attack because of the damn flu. Well, it didn’t matter now because she was going to be dead in three...Two…One…

She shut her eyes. She didn’t wanna see how horrible their shooting was.

But nothing happened. Instead, she was blown to the ground from one hell of a shockwave. The men upon the balcony cried as they were lifted off of their feet and smacked right into the overhanging roof. Both men collapsed haphazardly onto the balcony unconscious and she scrambled off of the ground, wondering how in the world Jacob did that.

Either way, he most definitely saved her bacon and they both managed to get in the car. Okay, she didn’t exactly jump in his car, it was more of a dramatic crawl into the seat for her. She was completely drained, but she forced herself to stay awake for Jacob’s sake and it was a good thing she did. She noted a second stain upon his shirt. As much as she wanted to tend to his wound now, he’d get distracted and worse, pass out at the wheel.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, SHIT.

She had to keep him on track at least until they were safe. ”Babe, oy’m gonna need ya to slow down. Take the side streets t’get to yer place…” She said slowly…Well more like muttering while her eyes began to roll. ”We’re not bein’ followed…So..let’s keep it tha’ way.” They didn’t really get a good look at Jacob’s face…which was probably the only good thing that happened tonight. If they still wanted her, they would need all the luck they could get. It was so easy to disappear after all.

Once they got back to his place, she helped him there all the way…even if both of their legs were like noodles at this point. Still, he needed more attention than she did and it was a good thing she was a tad bit proficient in first aid. Well, to stop minor gunshots at least. As far as she knew, he had two, but one had landed in the ‘meatier’ side of his chest so that needed to be checked. The hospital was dangerous; too dangerous, but if his wound was that bad…Well, she’d have no choice but to take him there.

She’d guide him straight for the bathroom and once they got there, she’d make him sit. ”You doin’ okay there? Talk to me, do you hav a medical kit and where?” She prayed he had one because she left hers back at that cruddy apartment. Hhhh Jesus Christ Lenn. This is all yer fault.

This was bad…She had been hoping that he was having a hard time breathing because of the pain, but no. God, she was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid—WHY did she think she could do something? All she could do at the moment was examine and stop the bleeding. Yeah…the bullet might have punctured a lung. It was a huge possibility and if that were the case then she had no choice but to take him herself.

This…This was all of her fault. God dammit.

She had long gotten the first aid kit and did what she could to treat him. At least the bleeding stopped, but he still had to go to the emergency because she wasn’t going to chance him choking on his own blood in the middle of the night. Throughout the whole time, her eyes were burning and she moved quick, the spiking fever nearly forgotten. Lenn left him for just a moment and went for…his wardrobe. She mouthed her silent apologies and I’m just gonna borrow these to slip on. Granted, his clothes were two times bigger than her, but that was the point. Too bad they didn’t strike during the daytime because that would have been a perfect excuse to wear shades…But his glasses were going to have to do. It wasn’t much, but at least she wasn’t going to be the oddball out of the crowd. After all, she was a model so who knew how well she was known already.

She came back for him, easing him off of the toilet seat. ”C’mon luv, oy’m takin’ ya to the hospital…Jus’ in case,” She added in quickly. It was hard to move around an injured person—especially when said person was taller, heavier, and you were sporting a nasty case of the flu. Regardless, she was getting him there whether he liked it or not. She didn’t care if it was a big risk. She didn’t care if she was going to get mowed down the moment she left the hospital. No, not even give a damn if they ambushed her in the lobby. All Lenn could focus on was Jacob. She got him in this mess and she was going to make damn sure she was going to get him out of it alive.