edgeofyourseat | (no subject)

(no subject)

It's late at night in LA and Laney is up to no good, as usual.

He hasn't tried hooking again since the latest disaster; first he wants to see if stealing will work any better. So he found himself a nice deserted toy store, picked the lock, and opened the cash register with a crowbar.

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"Sure," he says, raising his hands slightly, and backs off without asking any more questions.

Why is he checking up on her? This is a perfectly standard bust -- just because she knows the criminal doesn't make a difference. She's not treating him any differently, not really.

She takes a quick look at the pile of cash on the broken register, then follows Laney towards the back door.

The shadows at the mouth of the alley are very dark.

His tongue flicks at the corner of his mouth as he walks, touching the edge of the wound there.

Okay, so what did he learn from this? Don't commit crimes in LA. The hot girl in the mask is watching. Pretty good to know, and he didn't even have to get shot again or anything. Yeah, tonight is turning uot okay.

"Indulgence," says a cultured, British voice from the mouth of the alley, "leads only to further crime, bent. Have you forgotten?"

A tall man -- masked, like the girl -- materializes out of the shadows in front of Laney, blocking his exit.

Bryce tries not to wince. "No, sir."

His head tilts slowly to one side, regarding the newcomer.

Nope. Not impressed.

Don't worry, Laney, it's mutual.

"The police are on the way," he informs Laney. "I suggest you make this easy and wait for them in the store."

Brightly: "And I suggest you go fuck yourself."

He starts forward again.

"Bad idea," the girl hisses.

He ignores her. One way or another, he is going to have to get around this guy. Might as well make the attempt on his own damn terms.

The man moves forward, smooth and quick, to grab the crowbar away from Laney.

Not bad.

Laney can be quick, too, though. He unhooks the crowbar from his shoulder and brings it around in a short, vicious swing.

The man dodges, grabs the bar, and yanks forward to pull Laney towards him.

Fine.

He twists the crowbar in their combined grip and rams it forward point-first with his whole weight behind it.

At which point the girl tackles him into the wall of the alley.

Which breaks his grip on the crowbar, but takes him past the guy he was fighting. Fair trade, in his opinion. He shoves her away from him and makes a break for it.

She grabs for his shirt, which ought to at least slow him down for a second while the man rights himself and discards the crowbar.

Yeah, it does that.

He pulls away as fast as he can. Still probably not fast enough.

Nope.

The man darts after him and catches him by the wrist, twisting his arm up behind his back.

Which leaves him with one arm free to elbow the man in the stomach.

Not particularly effective. The man grunts and twists Laney's arm further, to the point of pain, though not yet to the point of breaking.

"There's no need to deliver you to the police unharmed," he murmurs into Laney's ear. "Only alive."

He laughs, soft and breathless, and aims his elbow somewhat lower this time.

The man grunts again and twists. Laney's wrist goes crack.

So this guy doesn't care about pain, either.

Fine.

He throws himself forward, utterly unconcerned about the damage he'll do to his wrist as long as he gets out of the man's grip in the process.

The man tangles one foot in between Laney's feet and shoves him forward.

He lands on his uninjured arm and rolls, then scrambles to his feet as fast as he can to start running again.