riverviewlogs | Have you had enough? (Closed)

Entry tags:

Have you had enough? (Closed)

who: Ivar and Dodger, later on Eddie
what: Brawling in the street
when: 5/19
where: A seedy street in the city
warnings: Language, violence, bones breaking, stabbings, and graphic impalement of an eye.

If there was one thing Ivar never did, it was let go of grudges. The last time they had met, Dodger had insulted him in just about every way possible, and then beaten him soundly in a fight. Ivar had killed men for far less than what Dodger had done to him. He'd spent the past month waiting patiently for an opportunity to present itself, working on the techniques he'd learned from others in Riverview in the meantime. Ragnar had always said to beware the fury of a patient man. Dodger was going to learn the truth of what his father had said.

Finally, he was ready as he would ever be. He knew Dodger had powers. He also didn't care. Powers or no, Ivar still had his mind. He had a plan in mind, taking what he had already seen of how Dodger operated, and how he could take the other men down. He waited until Dodger had gone down a side street, alone as he would ever be. The one thing about being in a wheelchair is that Ivar didn't have the advantage of stealth. So he simply pulled out a knife and threw it at Dodger's shoulder to announce his presence. "Guess what? It's later. I'm going to make you bleed."

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Fresh off shift, and carrying a bag of takeout dim sum (well, the alien equivalent that's so close he can barely taste the difference), Eddie's ready for a low-key evening. Getting out of his suit, doing a few push ups, relaxing in front of the TV to watch a movie. What he's not prepared for is to hear screams and shouting and then an abrupt, panic-inducing silence from down a side street.

There's not even a moment of hesitation before Eddie is dropping his bag of dim sum by the entrance to the alley and drawing his gun from his hip holster. Moving cautiously down the alley, hands in front of him, gun cocked with the safety off and every nerve on end, attention focused, he reaches the scene of the fight with as much efficiency and speed as he can manage without sacrificing his own safety.

When he finally sees them, his breath catches sharp and hard, and his hands rearrange on his gun, which he points at the two of them, ready to pull the trigger if he needs to.

"Freeze where you are, show me your hands."

His voice is firm and his expression is hard, despite how horrified he is by the scene - and he hasn't even recognized Ivar yet.

Of course someone happens to be walking by at this moment. And of course that person just happens to be a cop, if the gun and order are any indication. Dodger's out of fight for the night, with his cheek soaked in blood from his eye and the bruises on his back coming in full throttle. His hands move smoothly above his head in a sign of surrender, his voice a bit hoarse as he speaks up.

"Don't want any trouble."

He hadn't in the first place - an odd occurrence for Dodger - but here he is coated in blood, sporting a ripped and cut shirt, squeezing one eye shut and hoping he doesn't pass out from the pain of it. And there is Ivar beside him, legs bent and shirt ripped and drenched red. He's fairly certain the kid is dead, or will be if he doesn't get pulled to a hospital soon... not that he'd mind, it would make things easier for him. But he can absolutely see the conclusions that the new arrival is probably drawing from what he sees.

There are definitely a particular set of conclusions that Eddie has drawn - it looks to him like either this guy decided to attack the one on the ground and was wounded by the resulting self-defense, or the two of them got in a fight and he has his gun pointed at the winner. Either way, he doesn't like it.

The guy lifts his hands indicating surrender, and Eddie moves in closer, keeps his gun trained on the guy as he kneels beside the other figure on the ground. His fingers are already at his pulse point when he recognizes Ivar, and pauses. Ivar, who might be a Viking and a strong fighter, but is still a kid in a wheelchair, a kid who'd given him wise advice, just to be helpful. For a moment, his hand shakes as he holds his gun, and his jaw clenches as he lifts his gaze. It takes everything in him to maintain objectivity as he looks up at the other man, but he manages it.

"He's still alive. Lucky for you."

It comes out clipped, and his eyes flick between the two of them for a moment, before he's lifting his jacket in the back and stepping toward the older man, "I'm going to cuff you so I can stabilize him. Hands behind your back."

Dodger narrows his eyes a bit as he sees the gun still trained on him, but he never expected to get the benefit of the doubt. He isn't about to try and convince the man that Ivar hit first - it's embarrassing enough the kid landed any hits at all.

"Yeah, because I really want that dumbass coming after me for revenge." He mutters, half to himself. His hands stay above his head, and he braces himself to teleport if an attempt to cuff him forcefully is made. "Look, I'm not gonna stop you taking care of the kid. But I'm not getting chained on top of all this bullshit."

His hands are starting to get shaky, as the shock and adrenaline subside in favor of racks of pain. It's only out of pride that he continues to force himself still, instead of betraying just how much he's hurting. It almost makes him kind of glad that Ivar's blood is camouflaging his own injuries.

Eddie notices it, the way the guy's hands are shaking a little, while he talks back, the signs of pain are easy to see, and it registers that probably a good bit of the blood on this guy is his own. Eddie's eyes narrow as he stares at the guy, reading his expression, and then flick down to the boy on the ground.

"It's lucky for you because this way it's just attempted murder, not murder. Eyes on me. Are you going to attack me, or him?"

"Couldn't if I wanted to."

It's only slightly a lie; he could force himself if he really set his mind to it, but he's not in any condition to try and finish a fight. And he finally gives up trying to disguise his pain, one of his hands flying to his stomach to try and keep pressure on the wounds there.

"If you're gonna save him, you better hurry, Charming. People don't live through fucking with me too often."

The question accomplishes what Eddie was hoping it would - when the guy answers it, Eddie's eyes narrow and he reads his body language. While he might've believed the words, if only because of the phrasing, it's the body language that gives him away, and Eddie has a keen eye for that. But the honesty, and the pain, is pretty obvious, written all over him.

Eyes still narrowed, he nods once at the guy, keeps his gun out, and moves over toward Ivar on the ground, fingers pressing against his pulse point to make sure he's still alive before he turns his attention to the other guy again.

"Sit down against the far wall of the alley, if you can. I'm going to stabilize him, then I'll take a look at you."

Pausing for a moment, he quickly calls in to the Emergency Services and requests backup and an ambulance, rattles off the address, and then turns his attention to Ivar.

"Come on, hang in there, Ivar..." he whispers, grateful for the advanced first aid courses they'd given him when he arrived here.

Dodger nods curtly, and he disappears in a flash of sparks before reappearing slumped against the far wall. He bristles a bit at the talk of ambulances and police officers showing up, but of course that's where his luck is at - he supposes he can teleport away from all of this if it gets to be too much. That is, if he's conscious for it.

He stays silent while Eddie's fussing with Ivar, brooding in his own thoughts while he waits for the man to either stabilize the kid or give up. He doesn't figure he'll be lucky enough tonight for the kid to die, but there's always the next time. A kid like that will be too stupid to not try and take revenge.

The sparks make Eddie jump a little, and he lifts his head, eyes a little narrowed, to watch the guy settle down against the far wall. Teleporter. Interesting. Eddie remembers there being one like that in the meta prison at STAR Labs, but that isn't really relevant right now, aside from something to note, something to keep in mind.

It takes a while to stabilize Ivar, to fight to keep him alive before he hears the ambulance coming. When the lights are reflecting off the walls and Ivar is alive enough that he'll stay alive until more help gets here, Eddie turns to the other guy, crouching in front of him.

"Where are you hurt?"

"Where do you... think?"

His tone is biting and harsh, but he's struggling to keep himself conscious by the time Eddie gets to him. The pain has really, truly set in, there is dried blood across his entire face and body, and his breath is shuddering awkwardly.

"Fucker stabbed... my fucking eye out..."

Eddie can't help but roll his eyes a little, "I meant besides the obvious."

Still, he can't blame the guy for being in a bad mood, considering what his eye looks like, and Eddie lifts his hand, pushes the guy's hair back, trying to get a look at the damage.

"I can't do anything about that, but I don't think it's going to kill you right now. Are you hurting anywhere else?"

He lets out a small huff when Eddie pushes his hair back, but the touch is grounding. For whatever reason he leans against the touch, probably just out of a base need for comfort.

With a shaky motion he pulls his shirt up, showing off the deep and ragged stab wounds on his side and stomach. Only for a moment, before he lowers his hand to put pressure on the wounds once more.

"Don't need your... help, anyway." He mutters, "Just gonna keep me... here to get arrested.. yeah?"

It's instinctive, the way Dodger leans in against his hand. He knows that. And he knows that Dodger is also a guy who almost killed a teenager in a wheelchair in an alleyway. But it's still just a little endearing, in a purely animal way. A purely human way.

When Dodger pulls his shirt up, Eddie hisses breath in through his teeth, and shifts, leaning over to pull the first aid kit he'd used to stabilize Ivar, pulling out a few packets of sterile gauze. Pulling a couple of them open, he tugs Dodger's hand away from his side and presses the gauze against one of the wounds, before guiding his hand back to it. Repeating the process as much as he can, he ends up holding one of them in place himself, biting his lower lip and glancing up at Dodger.

"Probably. But if you disappear off to wherever, you're probably going to die."

"Let me worry... about me."

He accepts being treated, but he's already glancing around for an escape route. The absolute last thing he wants is to worry about the police, after all of this shit.. and he's not making a single attempt to claim it was self-defense, because he really doubts anyone cares. He's a mutant adult, Ivar is a human teenager... there's no point in claiming he had no options.

"One less criminal to- worry about, yeah?"

"That's not the way I think." Eddie says, voice firm and even, his eyes making their way to Dodger's, "I might not like what you've done, and maybe I think it'd be better if you were behind bars, but I don't think you deserve to die in a dirty alley because you're a criminal. A person's a person."

Glancing downward, he purse his lips, keeps holding the gauze against his wounds with the full pressure of his hands, licking his lips.

"Just calm down and take it easy for a moment. You're not going anywhere."

"Oh, fuck you."

It's a sullen grumble, with very little heat to it. He's far from angry, he just wants to get out of here... but there's no way to move without taking Eddie with him - and reopening those wounds. After some hesitation, he just submits and relaxes a bit.

"Why the fuck are you... bothering with good morals?" He huffs quietly, nodding toward the stabilized but unconscious Viking, "Just killed a kid, pretty sure that's worth... being left to rot over."

For a moment, Eddie's a little taken aback by the response, because he'd been trying his best to be a decent person even though Dodger is a criminal who almost killed someone. Of course he shouldn't be, though. Of course not. Because criminals aren't really known for their deep appreciation of compassion and empathy. Because, fundamentally, Dodger's entire morality system has got to be a lot different than Eddie's.

That second thought is confirmed when Dodger asks why he's bothering with good morals when he just killed a kid, which makes Eddie's lips tighten slightly as he stares at the other man.

"He's not dead, and I don't think he's going to be, considering the level of tech they have in this place, so why don't you just can it for now."

A slight pause, while he keeps holding that gauze in place, and then he speaks again, "And why would I leave you to rot in an alleyway when I could let you rot in jail?"

"Because if I could keep these wounds closed myself, I'd be leaving you bleeding out next to him for fucking touching me."

It's mostly moodiness from being in pain.. but a good portion of it is also tension at the thought of going to jail. Jail in his world meant likely being tortured for information while the warden turned his back, or a life of solitary confinement for his crimes before he eventually faced execution. Riverview might not have as much dirt against him, but... he fully intends to become that again, and starting bad habits like jail time now are far from his plans.

He shifts slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position but just wincing in pain.

"Moment I got my breath again... I'm leaving. And you are not stopping me if you know what's good for you."

Eddie's head jerks up a little bit, and his eyes land on Dodger's face, a little wide, because, while he hadn't exactly been expecting appreciation for for treating his wounds, but he hadn't exactly been expecting a threat just for touching him, for trying to take care of him and make sure he didn't die.

Expression going cold, any traces of that earlier empathy draining from his face, Eddie snaps at him a bit.

"Fine. Next time I'll leave you to bleed out instead of putting in any effort to save your sorry life."

He doesn't mean it, of course, but he's angry, offended in a way that isn't really becoming of a police officer. But he can't help it.

And there it is. That's the reaction he'd expect from a cop. No doubt the man means every word of it, and Dodger makes a note of it. He'll just have to find a way to be sure he'll keep his mouth shut... as soon as he can think straight.

"Do I look like someone who gives a fuck about your pity?" He growls lightly, squeezing his working eye shut in a huff of pain. "I've heard this shit a thousand times. Go fuck a pig."

Sure, he needs the man here to help him staunch the bleeding still... but he's starting to hear sirens approaching, and he bristles as they get closer. Before long he shoves Eddie's hand away, teleporting away to places unknown. Hopefully, to a doctor.

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Have you had enough? (Closed)

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ugh I'm so sorry this is late

no sweat!

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