2007-10-08: This Creature of Cleaving Wing

Starring:

Jeremiah_icon.gif Lukas_icon.gif Mandy_icon.gif Felix_icon.gif Mariska_icon.gif

Summary: Jeremiah and Lukas take care of security while Mandy heads to the back to rip off the Pharmacy

Date It Happened: 8 OCTOBER 2007

This Creature of Cleaving Wing


Walgreens


Till the Spinner of the Years
Said "Now!" And each one hears,
And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres.


- Thomas Hardy, Convergence of the Twain


It's getting on in the evening now. The sun didn't set too long ago, but it's not quite late enough for the vast majority of people to be home in bed. Still, it's at that point where bad things can happen under the cover of darkness.

A drug store might seem like a weird place for a raid, but there's a reason for it. Not that it's immediately obvious when three people enter the store just like any other - right through the front. The woman is wearing a hooded sweatshirt, walking slowly, deliberately, back toward the pharmacy, taking her time as she goes. Picking a couple things up, glancing at a watch… After a few minutes, she squeezes her hand closed over the plush toy she has in her hand - a cow - and places it back in its little cardboard display. It slowly starts to dissolve, though the average joe probably wouldn't be on the lookout for something like that.

With a look back, Mandy hopes that the other two are ready, because she's just about ready to go in guns blazin'. Still, there's some hesitation as she approaches the pharmacy counter. There's a lot of people here, and she's wounded.

Oh, well. The more there are, the more trouble she causes. That's fine with her!

—-

The store itself is bustling with activity. There is, after all, a sign in front that says that there are flu shots available today, so customers are only added by the desire to get the needle over with before Flu Season starts. There are currently two counters active, manned by two Walgreens employees each, with a manager pacing up and down the aisles making sure everything's in order. Each active counter has a line - one with three people, and one with five. There are other customers browing the aisles, and a couple of kids poking at the 'Seasonal Items' section. Halloween was upon them, so they're rather keen on the black and orange decorations on that aisle.

—-

Felix is procrastinating on picking up his prescription. There's a line in the back, and there's an absurd amount of Halloween crap to distract him. "You know, Sasha's probably never been trick or treating," he muses to Mariska. "We'll have to fix that, when we can…."

—-

So. This is it. The defining moment in all relationships — the first joint trip to the druggist. Sure, Felix and Mariska are currently engaged in the throes of passionate INS fraud and have signed several sheets of paper under penalty of purjury that allows the State of New York to officially recognize them as 'husband' and 'wife' respectively but… this is a brave new world of bar-setting. This is Walgreens. Felix needs his lithium. And Mariska needs tampons. Guess which stop they're going to end up making first…

…the Halloween aisle, of course! Two-for-one bags of chocolate demand a considerable amount of attention and neither Felix nor Mariska seem capable of resisting its siren song. «What is that? Trick-or-treating?»

—-

Jeremiah's entrance is just as simple and just as uneventful as anyone else, with a long coat over his figure and a hat tipped back casually on his head, rather than low to obscure his face. Chilly weather has given him gloves again, and a thin scarf around the collar of his coat. The man himself seems tired, though the bags under his eyes have obviously been there far longer than the past sunup.

His first destination is towards the back; ultimately nearer to the back doors, and the aisle where the pet goods are kept in the corner.

—-

Lukas wanders down the aisled. Pain relievers, Analgesics, snack…bingo. Chocolate would be just the thing. Lookinga round him, his square jaw and dark eyes moving in time with his head, glaring at the occupants of the store.

—-

Mandy bypasses them all now, trying not to look suspicious, pressing a hand to the solid lump around her middle. It's wrapped well, there's no dampness or warmth from blood, nothing can be seen, but damn, does it ever hurt! Again, she looks at her watch, and as she turns to see if her partner is on schedule, she sees Jeremiah out of the corner of her eye. Good.

The woman smiles, pulling the hood off her head. There's nowhere to go now but forward.

She passes Niki Sanders, skirting around the woman. As she approaches the counter, there's an almost amicable nod for Sharon, for the others in line, as she walks right up to the pharmacy without respect for the order in which people have arrived. Plopping her butt up on the counter, she swings her legs over and into the pharmacy proper. That's… Probably not supposed to happen.

—-

Fel, in need of sugar, or his meds, does not yet notice the terrible trio. "It's this great American custom. Kids dress up in costume, and go house to house to get free candy by knocking on doors," He enthuses, unthinkingly putting a hand to the small of Mariska's back. Was that an actual affectionate gesture?

—-

Okay, see? America = totally weird. Halloween? Just another example. This is clearly not a holiday that the very Russian woman at Felix's side seems to comprehend on anything more than a 'give candy to kids' sort of level. And, speaking of kids, the pair that go darting by earn a considerate sort of smile from the woman and this somehow awkwardly reminds her that, oh yeah, she's got something to pick up in another aisle. «I've got to go get…» And then she points over her shoulder, where the Walgreens has seen fit to locate FEMININE HYGIENE products on the next aisle over from PET FOOD & ACCESSORIES.

—-

Goodie. Young, squeaking girls. Jeremiah frowns mentally, but a casual smile lights up his face to make the man seem far less haggard and just someone that looks to have had a long day. As he approaches the girls in the aisle, his eyes graze over the dog chains and leads. "My, my, what a darling little pup." Comes his offhand comment, a charming tilt of his head following quietly along as one hand picks up two of the chains made for outside use. He must have a bigger dog than a chihuahua.

—-

Lukas spares a glance at Jeremiah as Mandy swings herself over the counter. Tearing open a bag of Peanut M&M's, he tosses a handful into his mouth. Stuffing the rest of the bag into his pants pocket, he moves to the next asile. Costumes? Is it Halloween already? It's been so long since he's had fresh air. Noticing Felix and Mariska in this asile he tries to smile. It looks more like a mask than the ones on the shelf. Looking again to the counter, he looks impatient.

—-

And candy. And then…double-take. It's fairly subtle, but Lukas is recognized. Fel smiles in return, rather vaguely, for all that there's something on the edge of panic in his eyes. He heads for Mariska and that aisle of horrors that are feminine products, already pulling out his cellphone….speed-dialling the Hartsdale switchboard.

—-

The trio of sorority girls, a blonde, a redhead, and a brunette, look over at Jeremiah. The one with the pup smiles over at him. "His name is Bruiser," she says, lifting up her purse and scratching his chin. "Here, Bruiser, say hi to the nice man." The chihuahua? Sniffs at Jeremiah, and starts….well, it can't exactly be called a growl. Because it's a chihuahua, but it passes off for one. "Huh…that's weird…I'm really sorry, he's usually very friendly…."

The redhead stares at Jeremiah, and absently pushes up her glasses. "….I think I….you look really familiar," she tells Jeremiah. "Are you on TV or something…? Movies?"

As Lukas pops some peanut M&Ms in his mouth, the manager rounds the corner of that aisle, narrows his eyes, and approaches him. "Sir. Excuse me….did you pay for that?" he asks. Because this is New York. Lots of shoplifters in New York.

—-

To top it all of….there's a piercing yell from the back at the pharmacy, though it's hard to see what's going on there from here. It's Company go time, it looks like.

—-

FEMININE HYGIENE. FAMILY PLANNING. OBLIVIOUS RUSSIANS. AISLE 5. Mariska must not be hip to the warnings as posted by the clandestine Company that she works for. Either that, or she's somehow managed to avoid making eye contact with any of the villains currently lurking about… and, in fact, she's heading right for Jeremiah, whether she realizes it or not.

—-

"I've been told that quite a few times, actually." Jeremiah eyes 'Bruiser' with a polite grin. "There's an actor out there that must be my twin, I suppose. Even my wife thinks so. I don't recall his name." Just on the other side of the pet aisle, opposite direction of the feminine one, is more general goods. Among them, padlocks. Jeremiah knows where he is going, mind you. He nods in departure with a short 'excuse me', rounding the shelves to fetch two of those padlocks, and managing to avoid Mariska completely and on accident, no less. In the cover of that same aisle, he slices the rigid plastic packaging open on one of them, and draws free one of those chains.

He is only about two strides from the back door, and it's his target. At first he seems as if he's going to grab one of those baskets by the inside, but that one hand along the door is actually winding the chain through in one swift motion, the click of the padlock soon to come. Then he is off again, silent as a mouse down the thinly carpeted aisle back towards the front once again. He is already moving the chain from its bag as the yell alerts him; Jeremiah, however, does not falter in his quest to swiftly run that dog chain through the doors and padlock it.

—-

Turning to face the voice, which is attached to the store manager, Lukas smiles. Raising his hand slightly, he makes a small gesture in the managers direction, "Are you sure you saw things correctly? Or at all?" He narrows his eyes as though in deep concentration. With his other hand, he pops some more candy in to his mouth, "I don't think you did."

—-

«Misha. At least one of the level 5s is in here,» Felix says, coming up to her, already reaching into his suit jacket for his pistol. «The sensory overload guy. I don't know whether you should grab him and jump out, or if you should jump out the civilians…but call the Company,» he says to her, quietly, handing off his cellphone. And then he's attempting to creep around the aisles in such a way to come up behind Lukas and simply smash the butt of the pistol into the base of the Level 5's skull.

—-

"Um…okay…" the blonde says, turning to her friends and murmuring softly. "Well that was weird, who is he? An actor?" she asks her redheaded friend.

The scarlet-tressed college co-ed shrugs. "Beats me," she says, somewhat befuddled. "Got everything you need?"

The three of them jerk their heads back to the back. Now there's yelling, there's a certain commotion going on in the back of the pharmacy. "…..man, I don't like this," the brunette says softly. "We should get Bruiser's dog food and just get out of here."

The store manager blinks at Lukas, and he rubs his eyes. "But…you were…" he says, a confused tone entering his voice. He rubs his eyes again. "I saw you, it…. please excuse me." He turns to the side, and rubs his eyes again. They're getting a little teary in the corners.

The commotion is catching the attention of an in-store security person. Unaware of the danger, he frowns, and starts moving towards the back where Mandy is wreaking havoc.

—-

…wha? While there's nothing particularly unusual about Felix's lapse into Russian, Mariska's brows must be perked more in appreciation of what he has to say — especially as it seems to come in conjunction with a very particular brand of commotion in the back near the pharmacy. She fishes around in the pockets of her camel hair coat for a moment before, ah, there it is. Slim silver celphone. «Call work,» she says, pressing the voice button and holding the device to her right ear. She's now in a hurry to meet up with Felix again, shoes marking her quickened pace on the polished floor with a slight cacophony of 'click-clack click-clack'. «Where is he?» she wonders, voice pinched with concern.

—-

Jeremiah pauses for just a few seconds as the second lock clicks shut, taking quick stock of the area directly around him before heading off at random into the aisles again. His eyes, however, are trained on the round, fisheye mirrors within the corners of the store. Unfortunately, he is watching those, and not which aisle he passes into. It's because of this he turns quietly into the aisle just ahead of Mariska, but for all intensive purposes he just seems to be another poor man wandering reluctantly down the Feminine shelves.

—-

Hearing a converstation behind him, in a language he barely understands, Lukas turns in the direction of another voice. Watching as Felix reaches in his jacket, and not wanting to go back upstate quite so soon, he pulls his hand up and points at the man with the gun, "Not so fast little man. I'm not even here."

—-

It's dazzling, in a strange way. Like all the drugs he never took in college coming back. But it's not quite enough to put him out of commission, and Felix lashes out full force with the gun, still trying to aim for Lukas's temple.

—-

He can't see very well at the present time, but the man that Lukas had affected earlier can only stagger backwards when Felix attacks. "Oh my god! Gun! He's got a gun!" Not exactly the smartest thing a store manager can do, because the moment he says it, panic starts to erupt. The three girls who were trying to head out drop everything they're carrying, and start trying to run out of the store. There is more yelling at the back, on top of everything else.

The security person on the verge of moving to the back to check things out looks around sharply. His stun gun out, he starts moving towards the sound of the voices. What's going on? He passes by Jeremiah's and Mariska's aisle, running towards the other end. Though he's not going to back up the manager, not yet. He needs to get to a phone, right behind one of the counters and within reach as the employees manning the cash registers dive behind them.

—-

With the Company's relocation to the Kirby offices in the wake of the Level Five breech, Mariska's call gets rerouted from Hartsdale - you may hear a series of clicks, do not hang up - and that means it's going to be a second or six before someone picks up on the other end. Sound of a scuffle lures Mariska down the aisle and — oof! Right into Jeremiah. She pauses, phone to her ear, pale eyes giving the man a careful once over before she utters a heavily-accented, "I'm… sor—" Wait. This guy looks… OH. NO.

—-

Jeremiah has enough balance to not be falling over anytime soon, but he does look a little bewildered. Just as he is about to apologize back, he does see that telltale pause of recognition dawning on Mariska. It's habit that he notices, now.

"Oh, well, excuse me." And there Jeremiah goes, turning around like a jackrabbit spooked by a dog and into the other aisles around the corner. "Taze him! He'll kill someone!" Distraction? Sure. He's loud enough to be obnoxious, and nearing the guard enough that the other man will probably be needing to address the Crazy Panicked Customer(tm) coming from behind first. What nobody sees happen, however, is the cutting swipe that peels over the backs of the security guard's knees. Jeremiah simply looks like he is reaching out a wave.

—-

Trying to get out of the way, Lukas ducks under Felix's gun-wielding hand. Not quite fast enough, the gun clips his temple despite the blindess gripping his target. Taking a quick step back, he coils his right hand into a fist and drives it at the gun. "You can drop that thank you very much!"

—-

It's like that scene in Equilibrium. Only, not. Because Fel is not all lithe and accurate, like Mr. Preston. But he's still sufficiently on the ball to simply drain all the force out of Lukas's return blow, and then try again to knock out the Level 5 using the pistol as a bludgeon.

—-

The three girls attempt to flee, and look - there's a running mother with two children with her, also headed for the front door. However, these ladies will realize, much to their growing horror, that they're locked inside the Walgreens. There are panicked cries, and the customers attempting the same thing back away, and start looking for other exits. There is something incredibly wrong here going on.

The lone security person is a little out of his depth, watching the manager (his boss) sprawl away from the fight between Felix and Lukas and starts scrambling for safety. He grabs the phone, presumably to call 9-1-1, but Jeremiah yells at him to tazer someone…..as a distraction. The next thing he knows, he's bleeding. There is a scream when the backs of his knees are sliced open, Jeremiah's attack slashing through one of the main arteries found there on the leg. Arterial spray splatters all over the floor as he staggers backwards. The stun gun is dropped, and so is the phone, the man clutching at his leg in pain and a desperate effort to stop the bleeding.

—-

Well… shit. So much for subtlety. There's big trouble in little <insert appropriate ethnic location here> tonight and now Mariska's caught between playing it cool or jumping the shark for the sake of bystander safety. And then there's someone speaking to her on the other end of the phone that she'd nearly forgotten about. "There is situation," she says, immigrant accent slicing out her articles viciously. Hi, Jeremiah. "Walgreens, <insert street name>." Click-clack. She's on the move. As one of the few patrons in the store not overcome with panic, this must mean she's a cop. Or a feeb. Or a freak. Or all three. Hi, Felix. Oh, hey, speaking of… «Felix! Where are yo—» Oh. There he is. Bludgeoning someone with his gun.

—-

Jeremiah raises his hands momentarily in surprise, muttering to himself. "Ohhhoopsie. I hate it when people can't stay still…" He moves straight for the stun gun on the floor to grab it up. Oh! Here we go. How does this work, is it just a trigger? He has a few seconds to look it over before moving once more down the aisles to come to aid. This is a lot of damn running, isn't it? He's got the stun gun up in front of him as he appears in the open again; this time facing the skirmish between Felix and Lukas. "Put down the gun!" Isn't this crappy? Now Felix is visibly the bad guy here. That's probably what the civvies will think, too.

—-

Reeling from getting hit, Lukas is looking for an escape route. Moving away from Felix, reaching for the dropped stun gun. Shooting out his hand once more, in an effort to defend himself, and block some of his attackers vision.

Standing with the last of his strength, abandoning his effort to fight back, Lukas drives himself towards the front of the store. Jumping through the window at the front, he rolls into the street. Trying to find medical attention could be tricky at this point…wanted fugitive and all. Looking both ways, he sprints into the crowd.

—-

Yeah. Not so hot on the decision to jump an apparent civilian. But Level 5s don't get to hear their Miranda rights - Felix is dazzled, which is why he doesn't dare fire at Jer. But nor does he drop his own pistol.

—-

One of the cashiers peek out, and the brave hero Jeremiah seems to be….trying to get the gunman to stop doing what he's doing. She had been ducked behind the counter so she wouldn't get shot….but now it looks like two men are squaring off even as other terrified customers are trying to break the door down to try and get out. Looking left, and right, the young woman crawls out from around the counter to try and grab the phone that the bleeding security guard had dropped, snatching it with her fingers. She has to get help.

—-

The moment Jeremiah levels the tazer at Felix, it's Mariska that takes offense… on both sides of that double-edged word. She snaps her phone shut, alarm sounded, and then swings an appraising look over to Jeremiah before shouting over at him, «HEY ASSHOLE!» Profanity in any language is pretty much interpreted as universally offensive, right? Whatever she just said didn't sound nice. She then points her phone at him and adds, "I wouldn't…" What? Is she roaming? Why is she threatening him with a celphone?!

—-

Jeremiah steps a few paces away when he's yelled at, keeping the gun within aiming distance of both people. "I wouldn't what, dear?" His empty hand? It's poised dangerously in the air, fingers and muscles tensed. Knowing what he does, it's easy to see why he's like that. Anything could set him off, roaming or not.

—-

"Drop the gun," Felix orders, levelling his pistol. They are supposed to take this one alive, right? OR try to?

—-

BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEEEEEEP.

The touchtone phone is cradled in shaking hands, the counter girl sliding behind the register. "H…hello? P…please, I need for the p…police to get here in this address. There's…there's a man with a gun in the store, and there's screaming everywhere. The security guy is…is bleeding and…and….oh god please hurry!"

—-

Mariska isn't one to take the risk. She's going to gun for getting her freak on now while it can still be explained away for the bystanders who might bear witness as adrenaline-soaked senses and deceptive angles. Those endcaps make everything look like they're really, uh, ten feet to the left. And behind things. Now you see her…

KRAK!

Now you don't. Because she's behind Jeremiah… and within arm's reach.

—-

Now he sees her, now he doesn't. Unfortunately for Felix, that telltale and surprise KRAK of sound? Sounds much like a gun- and Jeremiah's instinct is to pull the trigger on Felix. Wait, where'd the foreign lady go? Fsck this.

—-

Jeremiah will hear a call, unmistakably Mandy. She's calling their names— Time to get the hell out of here.

—-

It is, perhaps, a testimony to just how passionate this particular instance of INS fraud has gotten that Misha essentially jumping into the jaws of the beast is nearly enough to stop Felix's heart. He goes pale, even as he yanks his badge out from the pocket of his suit and flashes it at the kid behind the counter. "I am police," he says, almost irritably. "This is a wanted murderer." And then Jer fires off the taser….which somehow fails to find its target. "Freeze, motherfucker, or I'll shoot."

—-

As Felix says what he does, with "JEREMIAH!" and "LUKAS!" yelled from the back of the Pharmacy, the yelling is punctuated by….police sirens, unmistakeable and wailing, and getting closer. Someone in their vicinity has called the poh-leese.

—-

Oh no. It's the po-po! In a last ditch effort to, you know, do as she's been told, Misha takes a ridiculous risk and actually reaches out to get a grip on Jeremiah. Not so much in an attempt to grapple him, per se, as she's just grasping for purchase. Something… any part of him that she might be able to cling to and work her hinky mojo… shoulder, arm, hand, -completely edible girlishly slender hip…

—-

Jeremiah curls his lip at the corner, brows knitted and now- his hands are free, once he drops the dead tazer. "With what?" The man steps out of reach of Mariska, still only half certain she's back there; he is sidestepping, but his hands and fingers flutter upwards in a sharp set of motions. Nothing all too deep, just a lot of those bleeding, stinging cuts all at once, all over the agent's body. Meanwhile Jeremy also is attempting to make a break for it towards the broken door where Lukas and some civilians have already fled.

—-

There's a spatter of blood all over the useless Halloween tchotchkes, and Fel makes a strangled noise. Abruptly, the front of his suit is patched with scarlet, and he staggers, but doesn't crumple entirely - only dropping awkwardly to one knee. He's managed to maintain his grip on his gun, and his badge.

—-

Goddammit! Felix must have been born when the stars aligned under a crumbling house because it's all Mariska can do to watch helplessly as Jeremiah fumbles out of her grasp and then pitches a papercut fit at her fake!husband. She rushes over, anxious to get a non-veritgo grip on the man before he faceplants on the linoleum. «Are you alright?!» Trick question.

—-

Jeremiah only looks back to make certain that neither of the Russians are following him, slipping away on the outside towards the side of the building that had held the pharmacy. If Mandy got out, she'd likely have simply burnt her way out. Forget doors.

—-

"Get me out of here," is Fel's response. There's no one wound to put a hand over, and he's bleeding out.

—-

Done and done. There's another gunshot-whipcrack-rawhide noise and… they're gone.

—-

A few moments after Mariska and Felix teleport out, a motley crew of women disheveled, two a bit bloody, while the other looks relatively unhurt, scampering out of the Walgreens. As typical of these events, those left behind get to clean up. Police cars screech loudly to the front, the boys in blue scrambling out to get to the store, but all they'll find is a lot of property damage, missing drugs, and a dead pharmacologist….with a few frightened employees cowered behind the cashier registers. Thankfully, the cops were directed to the back of the store by a young blonde woman who apparently witnessed everything.

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