Just Like Old Times (closed)

[zydrate]

She had worked too hard to get where she was while undercover. Now...now someone had to go and fuck that all up for her...which explained the reason Nicole was now holding her side and huddled in the dark alley as snow fell, giving the all peaceful affect it usually did while falling in the middle of the night.

The only thing tainting the whole picture was the blood that seeped between her fingers as she tried to apply pressure to her side where she was shot.

But fuck...it fucking hurt. She had been shot before but nothing this seriously. And yes, she knew it was serious and it could get a lot worst if she didn't get help. But there was no one she could call...at least not anyone she worked with in the department. But then...Nicole had a crazy idea...extremely crazy. She slumped against the dumpster and grabbed her phone, which she thankfully still had. It took a few tries but she dialed the hospital to which she remembered where he worked...

Voicemail. She had gotten his voicemail but hell, she knew he'd come help her. He owed her.

It took a moment to realize that she needed to leave a voicemail, so Nicole cleared her throat, "Hey Cowboy, it's Raven...I'm in a shit storm and need your assistance..." with that, Nicole only gave out directions as to where she was and then she hung up.

The man she called was a member of her recon squad back when she was in the military. He was the medic...after they were done with their mission, they had gone their separate ways with Nicole staying one more year in service while he went out and continued his education as a doctor. They had met once...ran into each other and caught up... in more ways than just talking...

Nicole did her best not to pass out but the pain.. she was safe here..at least for now. Now, all she had to do was wait...

 

[BeachBum25]

Timothy Carroll was in hour number 23 of a 24 hour shift at County General. He had parlayed his work as a medic in the military into becoming an Emergency Room doctor. He was the best ER doc at County despite the fact that he was a resident. His experience working as a medic in combat situations made the cases he dealt with in the emergency room seem calm and commonplace.

Carroll walked into the locker room to get money from his locker to buy a Gatorade. While there, he checked his personal cell phone. He listened to the voicemail. He didn't hesitate. He told the Attending that he had a personal emergency and had to leave. He grabbed a bunch of supplies and stuffed them into his backpack. Raven had not told him what was wrong, but he knew it must be bad. She was one of the toughest people he had ever met... if not the toughest.

He followed the directions she had left on his phone. He tried to return her call, but she did not pick up. He didn't know what he was getting into, but he would do anything for her. He turned into the alley and saw her sitting there. Even from a distance he could see the blood. As he approached, he was already pulling supplies from his backpack. He kneeled down next to her. "So, you didn't have to go and get shot just to have a reason to call me."

 

[zydrate]

If she could have, she would have laughed. Instead, she managed to give him a small smile. She felt like it had taken forever for him to get to her but in all reality, it had been less than 30 minutes.

"You know me," she said and bit her lip as she felt his hands on her side and apply pressure, "I like to keep things exciting..."

They had been busy with each other but still, Nicole was ever vigilant as she heard the squealing of tires in the distant... she put her hands on Carroll's shoulders, trying to push him away, "I think they've found me... I need you to get out of here before they see you.." she told him...

 

[BeachBum25]

Carroll ignored her when she told him to get out. He lifted her up, and carried her to his car. After sitting her in the back seat, he told her to lay down and to press the gauze pack to the wound. He then got in the front seat and drove off.

"Stay low. I am going to take you to my place. Can't take you to hospital because there will be too many questions."

He parked the car around the corner from his building, and looked around before getting Raven out and carrying her in the back door. He used the staircase to get her to his apartment. Once inside, he laid her in his bed.

"I would rather you were in this bed under different circumstances." He left the bedroom to get his medical kit. "Now, let me check out this wound."

 

[zydrate]

She knew the drill...after all, this wasn't the first time she had been shot but at least before, it wasn't this serious. And Nicole knew this was serious. It was a good thing she was able to get away before those that had taken her down had a chance to find her her.

Her body started to shiver from both cold and lost of blood. Before she knew it, the vehicle had stopped and she was being carried out. She could have sworn she said that she could walk but who was she kidding? There was no way she was strong enough to do much of anything right now.

Hearing what he said about his bed, Nicole shook her head, "Thinking with the wrong head Cowboy... just patch me up and I'll be on my way..."

Then, all went dark as she passed out...

 

[BeachBum25]

Carroll was not surprised when Raven passed out. She had lost a lot of blood. He had to stop the bleeding, and soon....

Carroll cut her shirt off and then, he rolled Raven onto her side to look for an exit wound. Seeing none, he visually scanned her side and abdomen. He thought he saw a bump just inside the wound. He took a scalpel, and cut a small incision in her side and widened the wound a little. He stuck his finger into the incision; feeling for the projectile. After a minute, he was able to get the bullet and work it out.

After stitching her up, he sat back and watched her. He was pretty certain that there was no internal bleeding, but he could not be certain. Carroll could now only sit and hope.

 

[zydrate]

"Why Nicole? Why you?!"

Nicole didn't say anything as she was being held in place behind Draco's club in the heart of the city. Wasn't this just like the movies? At least it all seemed that way to Nicole.

She was never one to beg, but the sake of pretending to be scared, Nicole shrugged, "Come on Draco..you know you can't trust anyone! You told me so yourself when you hired me!" She didn't fight what was about to happen to her, after all, she had known the dangers of this assignment when she had taken it. All her months of investigations...doing things she didn't want to do had instantly gone to waste all because of someone blowing her cover.. and she was going to find out just who the hell that was...

But first, she had to make it through the night...

Nicole woke with a start and immediately groaned in pain as memories flooded her mind of being shot...huddling in the snow and someone telling her about getting her into bed...

 

[BeachBum25]

He moved over to the bed as he saw Raven becoming restless. He pushed her hair out of her face as she shook her head from side to side. "Relax."

He listened as she talked in her sleep. It seemed to him that she was reliving the incident in which she had been wounded.

When she woke up, Carroll looked into her eyes, but it was obvious that she was looking right through him. "It is okay Raven. You are safe. I am here with you. It is me, Cowboy."

 

[zydrate]

It took a few moments for Nicole to truly focus on who was talking and also for everything to make sense. She relaxed a bit and sighed carefully, doing her best to ignore the pain that was pulsing from her side.

"Hey," she said, her mouth feeling like cotton, "Do I still have everything I need?"

She nodded and closed her eyes but still fought to stay awake, "Thanks for coming for me...I didn't know who else to turn to."

 

[BeachBum25]

"You have everything I found you with, minus a .40 caliber slug I took out of you. I am not sure how you got so lucky, but it didn't do as much damage as I would have expected."

There was a knock at his door. He looked at Raven. This had to have something to do with her. Due to his hours at the hospital, he did not have many friends, and those that he had would never stop by unannounced.

Carroll opened the drawer of his nightstand and removed his Sig. Then, he grabbed her bag and sat it on the bed next to her.

"I hope you have something in there. I don't know anyone that would stop by like this."

There was another knock on the door... this time it was more of a bang.

 

[zydrate]

"It wasn't luck, it's just the asshole who shot me was a fucking bad shot."

Then there was the knock and she opened her eyes, for some reason, she knew it was trouble... call it a sixth sense, and she was usually right. But Carroll seemed to sense it too as he gave her her bag. She reached in grabbed her backup weapon. It hurt to sit up but she did and looked down, seeing her top cut up.

The banging on the door was harder and that seemed to send a surge of adrenaline through her as she stood up, only grimacing from pain.

They both walked to the hall where Nicole signaled to Tim to go ahead and open the door. She had a clear shot of whoever was standing in the doorway. She knew it if was anyone, it would be Draco's hired hands looking for Nicole, although she couldn't guess what took them so long to find her...

With a nod, she let Carroll know she was ready as she raised her weapon...

 

[BeachBum25]

Carroll knew that she was better in these situations than he was. He was the one who always cleaned up the mess after the shit-show, but he was concerned about raven and her health. Would she be able to make it through a gun battle?

He also knew better than to try to argue with her about which position they should each take. Hell, she might shoot him if he argued with her.

Slowly, Carroll opened the door without saying anything. Almost immediately, shots rang out. He didn't know who did the shooting. His eyes went immediately to Raven.

 

[zydrate]

It was all over before it even started. Nicole recognized the men..luckily there were only 3, each of which she had worked with under Draco's leadership.

There lay 3 men laying dead on the floor of the apartment. Surely the gun shots were heard and neighbors would be asking questions.

She spoke as if nothing happened. "We need to get out of here." Unfortunately, because she had called Cowboy, he was now involved in this mess..her mess.

Fuck.

Nicole didn't even wait for the door to close as she turned back to his bedroom. When she got there, she grabbed one of his shirts and put it on. She then tucked her gun into the back of her waistband and grabbed her bag. Nicole felt like shit but she did her best to hide it.

 

[BeachBum25]

This was going to be difficult to explain to the authorities. He saw his work at County disappearing before his eyes. he had no choice though.

He ran to the bedroom and watched Raven put on one of his shirts. He paused for a second. Damn, she looked so fucking good. Then, shaking his head, he went to the closet, grabbed a backpack and put anything of value in it, all of his id, and a couple changes of clothes.

"Okay, we are in this together. Thanks a lot."

With that, he led her out of the apartment; stepping over the three bodies, and down the back stairs. At the back entrance, he looked both ways before he led her around the corner to his car. They could already hear the sirens approaching.

"Alright Raven..... what's next?"

 

[zydrate]

"What's next?" She repeated. Well, she hadn't thought that far...ahh well, time to make shit up as they went.

She slung her bag over her shoulder after putting on her jacket, "I have a safe house on the outside of the city. We go there." Nicole stopped and looked over at Carroll, "Hey...sorry to bring you in on this.."

"Let's go." Seeing as how she didn't know exactly where they were, in an apartment building yes, she let him lead the way. She knew how Draco worked. If these assholes didn't come back, he would send out more.

Once they were in the car, Nicole gave Carroll directions on where they would need to go.

 

[BeachBum25]

He put the car in gear and made a U-turn. He figured the direction the police would be coming from and went the opposite way.

Once they were clear of the area, Carroll followed Raven's directions. He took his time; making sure not to draw any attention to them.

"Are you okay Raven? The last thing you need to be doing is anything to aggravate your wound. I am going to have to re-dress your wound when we get where we are going."

 

[zydrate]

Oh yeah...her side..

"I'm fine.." she told him quietly. At first she hadn't heard him but she just nodded, "I've been through worst..." That was a lie. She was in deep shit this time and if she needed to clean up this mess soon, especially with getting Tim involved.

"We just need to lay low for a few days and then after, I'll head back and clean things up."

Yeah, it seemed simple in theory...but...

 

[BeachBum25]

He knew that the adrenaline was talking, and that soon it would wear off and she would not be so confident. In fact, he sensed it wearing off already.

Once they pulled up to the safe house, he grabbed both of their backpacks and his medical kit, then he went around and helped her out of the car.

When they were inside, he found a bedroom and led her into it. "You need to lay down and relax. I need to take care of your dressing, and check your wound. I need you to get better."

 

[zydrate]

She didn't want to rely on him too much...hell, she hated playing the helpless female but there were times one needed to count on someone else and just this once, she would let it happen.

Once inside, she found herself on a bed and looking down at her wound...it had opened up a little but not too bad, at least not bad to her.

But it all hurt like hell.

She held onto the pain as she figured out her next step. Yeah, she needed to rest even as much as she wanted to get out of here and head back into the city to get down to the truth.

And then, like before, she blacked out from exhaustion.

 

[BeachBum25]

Raven passing out was the best thing that could happen at the moment. She would relax a little. However, Carroll knew that even in her sleep that she would be focused on her next move.

Carroll added a couple of stitches to close where the wound had opened, and then he went into the other room and sat down. This was the first chance he had to think about what was next for him.

His thoughts, however, were not on himself, but on Raven. He had no idea what she was into. He had not seen her in some time. When he had last seen her, it was good, but just as quickly as she had appeared... she was gone. There was something about her. She was constantly on his mind, but he knew that she would never settle down... not until she was placed in her grave.

He got up out of the chair and went to the doorway of the bedroom where Raven was. He stood there and watched her. She was beautiful... even with a bullet wound, and her body was incredible.

He watched her breathe. All he could think about at the moment was her, and whether she would be able to survive without being hospitalized. He was pretty sure there was no internal damage, but he could not be sure. Carroll was worried that he would not be able to do enough for her.

 

[zydrate]

~2 days later~

Nicole found herself awake and rested. Although there was a dull pain radiating from her side, she could move. What time was it? It was dark, that was for sure... where was Cowboy?

Nicole carefully got up, grabbed her side arm and headed to the kitchen. She had been in this safe-house once before and wasn't really familiar with the layout. Once in the kitchen, she set down her weapon and got herself a bottle of water from the frig and opened it up.

There was a sudden noise as the door opened and she quickly grabbed her gun and raised it, aiming at the door.

It was Carroll...carrying some bags...

 

[BeachBum25]

"Oh, look who is awake. I am glad to see you are alive."

He kicked the door closed and sat the bags on the kitchen table. He began to put the things he had purchased at the store into cabinets.

"They don't keep this place well stocked. I wasn't sure how long we would be here, so, I got some things for us. How are you feeling?"

 

[zydrate]

"There is no they, just me... I didn't think I'd need this place..." she watched him unpack the groceries he had gotten as she continued to drink her water. "I feel..."

How did she feel? Well, what was she able to admit? Yeah, she was weak... like if she could, she would prefer to just stay in bed and sleep but no, she had plans. She had to find out more about all that happened and fix the mess she had not only gotten herself into but also...him.

"I'm OK..uhh, thanks for fixing me up, again..." she set her bottle down and walked over to the kitchen bar and took a seat, "I just need to rest a little more, I guess..." God, she was never really one for small talk and yes, this was hard...thanking him and also, talking to him.

 

[BeachBum25]

"Go back to the bed then. There is no need for you to be up. I will make you something and bring it to you."

He gave her a look that said that he wasn't asking her. He was telling her. She was far from 100% and she needed to rest.

He started putting the groceries away, while deciding what he was going to make for them.

 

[zydrate]

Not feeling the need to argue, Nicole took her water and headed back to the bedroom. But she didn't rest, instead, as he was fixing something to eat, Nicole went through what was left of her stuff in her bag. Two glocks, her favorite weapon, some mags, a knife, some clothes. All standard items she had ready in case she needed to run.

Nicole sighed. Her mind had been racing with what she was going to do next. She laid down in the dark and thought about it all. If she was going to do anything, she needed to get Carroll out of the way... out of the way as in not wanting him involved anymore. It was for his safety. And besides, it was her fight, not his.

Damnit, she should have never gotten him involved...