Post by mithradates on Sept 13, 2011 12:14:12 GMT 10
Title: Clad in Black
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: #52 - Modern
Summary: Downtown Corus is a broken place, that one as wise as the famed Piper would think the Provost's Guard Agency is corrupt.
A/N: oh goodness this is long! if an admin wants it moved/cut down somehow, I would appreciate it if they would tell me ;D
...
They had sent her around to the side door - a proper move, according to the Guard Agency Handbook, page 129, paragraph 2, line 9.
"Make some noise," They told her. "Make him shake his old bones our way." Goodwin had flashed her a wolf's smile, Tunstall giving a slow blink or two as he ambled away.
Junior Guard Agent Cooper was made for this. She circled around to the door that her Senior Guard Agents had directed her to and looked around, standard issue .45 pistol in her hand. There was a light growl from somewhere far ahead and to the right of her - Goodwin and Tunstall were stationed and at the ready.
She kicked the door in, just for fun. "Rosto 'The Piper', you are under arrest by the order of the Provost's Guard Agency!," Cooper bellowed as she barreled into the door, immediately scanning left and right with her pistol up, sights aimed at anything that moved - and nothing happened.
She took a cautious step inwards, then another. The room was lit sparsely; Cooper took one hand off her iron grip on the pistol to grope for her field flashlight and cross it over her pistol so that her light source would point the same way she was shooting. Another step and a there was just the barest hint of a sound, as if cloth was swishing over skin.
Whirling around, Cooper was met with dark eyes that glinted in the lumination of her flashlight. She leaped backwards, finger twitching on the trigger, taking aim - to hinder, but not to kill. The milliseconds it took her to do that was all that the famed Piper needed. Something sharp shredded the front of her suit shirt into ribbons, and she dodged to the side to avoid those infamous knives from cutting something other than cloth. Beka hit sideways blindly, catching his side with the butt of her pistol. Except she didn't, because he wasn't there, of course. Rolling back to her feet after throwing all her weight into that hit, she used her ears rather than her eyes, as her flashlight had clattered to the floor in her haste to evade evisceration.
The lightest tap of a foot on the concrete floor and-! She had tried to move, but her eyes were not as used to the dark as his were, and she was knocked crudely sideways into the unforgiving wall. Breath thoroughly knocked from her lungs, she was suddenly stuck between a criminal and a hard place, gasping for air.
One of the very few dim wall lights were fixed above their bodies, pressed so close together. Beka could see the razor lines of his jaw, thin lips and straight nose leading into those black eyes. She would've likened them to pits or wells or similarly black holes in the earth if she could think straight. The ridges of scars on his cheeks and brows stood out slightly, overshadowed by the swaft of pale blond hair that hung down into his face. Oh, Piper was attractive, no doubt, but he was as dangerous as he was pretty.
Where were Goodwin and Tunstall? If she was going to get flayed from here to Tuesday, she would've at least liked to know that her Senior Guard Agent partners were going to arrest him for his trouble.
He scoffed lightly, knives as thin as his smile pressed close to her ribcage.
"You're a pretty girl for Guard Agency work," Cooper heaved again, trying to draw air. He noticed. "Usually when I have a woman against a wall like this, she's gasping for other reasons..." He left the implication lay where he put it, delicately balanced on the edge of decent and indecent. Beka considered spitting in his face, but decided that was too saucy for a man with shivs pressed to her nice, uncut skin.
Rosto pressed a little closer, if that was possible, as his smile widened just a fraction.
"So did you come here alone, sweeting? No big, tough Senior Agents to watch your back? I'd say that's brave, if it wasn't downright stupid." He was trying to bait her, she knew - his sharp tongue was nefarious, just like the rest of him. Instead, Cooper clenched her fists and answered as levelly as she trusted herself to.
"Rosto 'The Piper', you are under arrest for a list of crimes that would take me a fortnight to read. You will be read your rights and provided an attorney, should you be unable to afford one." He was able to afford all the attorneys in the city of Corus, and more, but it was her duty to recite what and what not he was entitled to under the law. He chuckled again.
"That's a nice face you put on there, 'Junior Guard Agent'. How much could I buy you for? Ten gold dollars? More? You're naught but a scared Puppy, piddling yourself while your big, strong Dogs are off chasing their tails. And Dogs are all the same, even the Puppies - they're rotten, through and through. You think you can help people? You think you do?
"Forget it - Corus is too big and the Guard Agency is too small, and the Agents don't even care. They wrap up cases when it's convienent or when they're paid well, and common people be damned. You call me the criminal? I've done more for the people of Downtown Corus than any Black Clad Agent in the whole damned Agency!"
Beka was mad - more than mad, absolutely livid - she could feel her eyes icing over and her muscles tightening under his hold. When she spoke, her voice shook with fury.
"You're wrong, you are wrong. It's true - we're far too few, and the city is huge. And not all of us care. But the ones that do? We fight every single day to put away those who theive and murder and lie and make life miserable for honest folk. We break up robberies and we arrest those who have commited wrongs and - " Her voice broke. She swallowed; the King of all criminals was listening to her intently.
"My Senior Guard Agents, they care. I care more, mayhap, but they care too, else they wouldn't be working here with the common folk. And I'll take in anyone who tries to harm the people of Downtown Corus because the Downtown is mine, and it's people are mine, and they that attempt to mettle with them will see themselves into a jail cell because I won't stand for it." She took a breath, having worked herself up into talking fast and without stopping for air.
Rosto's eyes were still sharp as the blades at her chest, but his smile had faded, and there was just a hint of softness in the way his mouth relaxed. He stepped back, retracting the knives.
"You're different, at least you say you are." he pointed out, sliding the pig stickers away into unseen sheathes. Cooper visibly drooped, her entire chest cavity wracked with pain. Straightening once more, there was nothing in the hideout but her and the flashlight, laying on the ground some ways away. As she moved over to get it, she heard Rosto the Piper whisper in her ear, "Prove it." She didn't bother looking for him - Beka knew he'd be gone.
Two people sprinted into the room, opening the wide double doors as they came and bringing daylight with them. Goodwin and Tunstall looked winded, but no worse for wear. They saw Cooper, on her knees and picking up her flashlight, and cursed in unison.
"Clary, I told you that beggar was a decoy, now look - we've gotten our Junior Guard Agent bruised."
Beka went to brush hair out of her face and felt blood on her face; she didn't remember how that slash had gotten there but figured it was most probably from Rosto and wiped her bloody fingers on the black of her suit pants as she stood up.
"Alright, Cooper?" That was Goodwin, sounding marginally concerned, if only that it would take extra time to get Beka back to the Guard Station infirmary. Beka nodded and straightened completely, tucking her flashlight back into the belt loop for it and also sliding her pistol back into its holster. Tunstall whistled as he saw her ruined suit shirt, white undershirt sporting some slash marks as well.
"I don't understand - from the looks of it, he could've killed you. How'd you scare him off?"
Beka shook her head and strode in line behind her Senior Guard Agents as they exited the building.
"He's not like other perpetrators - he's smart. Wise. A King of the Rogues, if you will. And he likes me, for whatever reason. I think he thinks I'll be a good Agent, but I don't know."
Goodwin chuckled unexpectedly. "Cooper, them that are clad in black stop trying to explain the behavior of those they arrest after the first few months - it gives us a headache. Just be glad he didn't slice you to ribbons, and we've got a patrol to finish."
Silently, Beka Cooper disagreed. Those who were Clad in Black, or Dogs - an archaic name from early Guard Agency years - or Guard Agents - whatever the name, they were the face of the law, and The Piper was wise enough to respect the law's wrath.
She'd prove that she was different, even if she had to go through hell to do so. If Beka didn't care about Downtown Corus, who would?
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: #52 - Modern
Summary: Downtown Corus is a broken place, that one as wise as the famed Piper would think the Provost's Guard Agency is corrupt.
A/N: oh goodness this is long! if an admin wants it moved/cut down somehow, I would appreciate it if they would tell me ;D
...
They had sent her around to the side door - a proper move, according to the Guard Agency Handbook, page 129, paragraph 2, line 9.
"Make some noise," They told her. "Make him shake his old bones our way." Goodwin had flashed her a wolf's smile, Tunstall giving a slow blink or two as he ambled away.
Junior Guard Agent Cooper was made for this. She circled around to the door that her Senior Guard Agents had directed her to and looked around, standard issue .45 pistol in her hand. There was a light growl from somewhere far ahead and to the right of her - Goodwin and Tunstall were stationed and at the ready.
She kicked the door in, just for fun. "Rosto 'The Piper', you are under arrest by the order of the Provost's Guard Agency!," Cooper bellowed as she barreled into the door, immediately scanning left and right with her pistol up, sights aimed at anything that moved - and nothing happened.
She took a cautious step inwards, then another. The room was lit sparsely; Cooper took one hand off her iron grip on the pistol to grope for her field flashlight and cross it over her pistol so that her light source would point the same way she was shooting. Another step and a there was just the barest hint of a sound, as if cloth was swishing over skin.
Whirling around, Cooper was met with dark eyes that glinted in the lumination of her flashlight. She leaped backwards, finger twitching on the trigger, taking aim - to hinder, but not to kill. The milliseconds it took her to do that was all that the famed Piper needed. Something sharp shredded the front of her suit shirt into ribbons, and she dodged to the side to avoid those infamous knives from cutting something other than cloth. Beka hit sideways blindly, catching his side with the butt of her pistol. Except she didn't, because he wasn't there, of course. Rolling back to her feet after throwing all her weight into that hit, she used her ears rather than her eyes, as her flashlight had clattered to the floor in her haste to evade evisceration.
The lightest tap of a foot on the concrete floor and-! She had tried to move, but her eyes were not as used to the dark as his were, and she was knocked crudely sideways into the unforgiving wall. Breath thoroughly knocked from her lungs, she was suddenly stuck between a criminal and a hard place, gasping for air.
One of the very few dim wall lights were fixed above their bodies, pressed so close together. Beka could see the razor lines of his jaw, thin lips and straight nose leading into those black eyes. She would've likened them to pits or wells or similarly black holes in the earth if she could think straight. The ridges of scars on his cheeks and brows stood out slightly, overshadowed by the swaft of pale blond hair that hung down into his face. Oh, Piper was attractive, no doubt, but he was as dangerous as he was pretty.
Where were Goodwin and Tunstall? If she was going to get flayed from here to Tuesday, she would've at least liked to know that her Senior Guard Agent partners were going to arrest him for his trouble.
He scoffed lightly, knives as thin as his smile pressed close to her ribcage.
"You're a pretty girl for Guard Agency work," Cooper heaved again, trying to draw air. He noticed. "Usually when I have a woman against a wall like this, she's gasping for other reasons..." He left the implication lay where he put it, delicately balanced on the edge of decent and indecent. Beka considered spitting in his face, but decided that was too saucy for a man with shivs pressed to her nice, uncut skin.
Rosto pressed a little closer, if that was possible, as his smile widened just a fraction.
"So did you come here alone, sweeting? No big, tough Senior Agents to watch your back? I'd say that's brave, if it wasn't downright stupid." He was trying to bait her, she knew - his sharp tongue was nefarious, just like the rest of him. Instead, Cooper clenched her fists and answered as levelly as she trusted herself to.
"Rosto 'The Piper', you are under arrest for a list of crimes that would take me a fortnight to read. You will be read your rights and provided an attorney, should you be unable to afford one." He was able to afford all the attorneys in the city of Corus, and more, but it was her duty to recite what and what not he was entitled to under the law. He chuckled again.
"That's a nice face you put on there, 'Junior Guard Agent'. How much could I buy you for? Ten gold dollars? More? You're naught but a scared Puppy, piddling yourself while your big, strong Dogs are off chasing their tails. And Dogs are all the same, even the Puppies - they're rotten, through and through. You think you can help people? You think you do?
"Forget it - Corus is too big and the Guard Agency is too small, and the Agents don't even care. They wrap up cases when it's convienent or when they're paid well, and common people be damned. You call me the criminal? I've done more for the people of Downtown Corus than any Black Clad Agent in the whole damned Agency!"
Beka was mad - more than mad, absolutely livid - she could feel her eyes icing over and her muscles tightening under his hold. When she spoke, her voice shook with fury.
"You're wrong, you are wrong. It's true - we're far too few, and the city is huge. And not all of us care. But the ones that do? We fight every single day to put away those who theive and murder and lie and make life miserable for honest folk. We break up robberies and we arrest those who have commited wrongs and - " Her voice broke. She swallowed; the King of all criminals was listening to her intently.
"My Senior Guard Agents, they care. I care more, mayhap, but they care too, else they wouldn't be working here with the common folk. And I'll take in anyone who tries to harm the people of Downtown Corus because the Downtown is mine, and it's people are mine, and they that attempt to mettle with them will see themselves into a jail cell because I won't stand for it." She took a breath, having worked herself up into talking fast and without stopping for air.
Rosto's eyes were still sharp as the blades at her chest, but his smile had faded, and there was just a hint of softness in the way his mouth relaxed. He stepped back, retracting the knives.
"You're different, at least you say you are." he pointed out, sliding the pig stickers away into unseen sheathes. Cooper visibly drooped, her entire chest cavity wracked with pain. Straightening once more, there was nothing in the hideout but her and the flashlight, laying on the ground some ways away. As she moved over to get it, she heard Rosto the Piper whisper in her ear, "Prove it." She didn't bother looking for him - Beka knew he'd be gone.
Two people sprinted into the room, opening the wide double doors as they came and bringing daylight with them. Goodwin and Tunstall looked winded, but no worse for wear. They saw Cooper, on her knees and picking up her flashlight, and cursed in unison.
"Clary, I told you that beggar was a decoy, now look - we've gotten our Junior Guard Agent bruised."
Beka went to brush hair out of her face and felt blood on her face; she didn't remember how that slash had gotten there but figured it was most probably from Rosto and wiped her bloody fingers on the black of her suit pants as she stood up.
"Alright, Cooper?" That was Goodwin, sounding marginally concerned, if only that it would take extra time to get Beka back to the Guard Station infirmary. Beka nodded and straightened completely, tucking her flashlight back into the belt loop for it and also sliding her pistol back into its holster. Tunstall whistled as he saw her ruined suit shirt, white undershirt sporting some slash marks as well.
"I don't understand - from the looks of it, he could've killed you. How'd you scare him off?"
Beka shook her head and strode in line behind her Senior Guard Agents as they exited the building.
"He's not like other perpetrators - he's smart. Wise. A King of the Rogues, if you will. And he likes me, for whatever reason. I think he thinks I'll be a good Agent, but I don't know."
Goodwin chuckled unexpectedly. "Cooper, them that are clad in black stop trying to explain the behavior of those they arrest after the first few months - it gives us a headache. Just be glad he didn't slice you to ribbons, and we've got a patrol to finish."
Silently, Beka Cooper disagreed. Those who were Clad in Black, or Dogs - an archaic name from early Guard Agency years - or Guard Agents - whatever the name, they were the face of the law, and The Piper was wise enough to respect the law's wrath.
She'd prove that she was different, even if she had to go through hell to do so. If Beka didn't care about Downtown Corus, who would?
I do love a good AU, and Provost's Dog was made for it, imo. I like how Beka knew how to deal with Rosto, and she's so in-character. Lovely writing, too, and I particularly loved this line: He scoffed lightly, knives as thin as his smile pressed close to her ribcage.
Maybe once we'd have seen it during Smackdown!