THE STREET
It wasn't raining. That's why Blair Sandburg had forgone the
dubious luxury of taking his Volvo three blocks to get lunch.
Instead, he had walked, basking in the rare warmth, tying his
sweatshirt around his waist when (o wonder of wonders) it
got a little too hot for comfort. It was shaping into a pretty
great afternoon, actually, with a little breeze that ruffled his loose
hair and carried mouth-watering aromas from the cluster of tiny
shops he was passing.
Blair was so intent on the steaming loaves of sunflower
wheat-berry bread being set up in one window display that
he almost didn't hear the first child's cry. Distracted, he looked
around, scanning his immediate area for signs of trouble and
found none. With a shrug, he turned back to the window, and
heard it again, a child crying, and then shouting adults.
Blair had never been the type to mind his own business. A childhood
spent at Naomi Sandburg's side had taught him that "citizens of
the world" get involved. Add to that upbringing enough curiosity
for three men, and the results were Blair trying to track the sounds
to their source, wishing for just a little of his partner's special abilities.
He managed to locate the disturbance in a nearby alley between two
abandoned buildings, and he paused a moment to assess the situation.
Two men, both larger than he, were shouting and shoving at one another.
One woman, in rather garish finery for early afternoon, leaned against
a damp brick wall, blood leaking from beneath the hand she held to her
bruised and swollen cheek. Another woman knelt beside a crying toddler,
her cap of coppery curls bent over him, murmuring nonsense in a soothing
voice.
One man, the biggest of the two, made a charge at the bleeding woman,
and the other shoved him back hard, landing a solid punch on the unshaven
jaw. The apparent object of their fight joined the younger looking woman
and the child, who began screaming again when he saw his mother's injuries.
"Tammy, you can't go back to him. For Ryan's sake, if not for your own."
Clear gray eyes in a smudged face looked up and saw Blair, then
glanced back at the fight, now escalating into a winner takes all brawl.
"Can I help?" Sandburg asked, and the red haired girl shook her head.
"It'll be all right, but you'd better go. I'd hate for you to get in...ARGH!!"
A meaty hand with bleeding knuckles was dragging her back, fingers
tangled in her short hair. Tammy's "boyfriend" had managed to daze his
his current opponent.
"You stay out of our business, you nosy bitch!" he hollered, and slammed
the younger woman across the face.
That was all Blair needed to see. Without thought, he leapt into the fray,
jumping on the bigger man's back with an angry shout of his own. The
slight street woman broke loose, but she was staring at them with not
quite focused eyes, slow to move. Her male companion shook off
his own fogginess and dove past her into Blair's opponent, just as the
hulking man clubbed the grad student off and kicked at him viciously.
The curly haired girl saw a glitter of metal, managed to focus on it,
hollered "BeBop!! He's got a knife!" while she frantically searched
for some kind of weapon. A battered garbage can lid, and a chunk
of brick came to hand and she charged after her friend. He was
already bleeding from a slash on his arm. The blade crashed on her
makeshift shield and she smashed up at the twisted face with the sharp
edged brick.
When the bruiser pulled back to avoid her hit, he tripped over Sandburg
as the smaller man was trying to get to his feet. They fell together and
the knife sank into Blair's flesh with a flash of white heat too painful to
feel at first. Adrenaline gave him the strength to push his attacker away.
BeBop and the redhead came to his side as the hulk shambled out.
Tammy and her son had fled during the fight, and now the two friends
were alone with a bleeding Blair in the alley. They stared at each other,
still panting, then, as the stranger groaned, the girl knelt beside him.
She gently probed his side, finding the blade, and the blood that gushed
from his wound.
"BeBop, he's bleeding really badly." Her grimy face had a smear of
blood on it, her skirt and hands were becoming soaked with it.
"We've got to get him to a hospital. I don't dare to touch that blade,
it might be holding something important together."
The tall, slender man cocked his head, pale dread locks swinging around
his face. An instant later, she heard the sirens too.
"No time," he said quietly. "Jazz, they're gonna think that we did it. If we
leave him, the cops.."
"The cops may not find him in time. We can't let him die, he may have
saved our lives today." Her gray eyes looked down into pain-filled
blue ones, and she managed a reassuring smile. "We aren't going to leave
you, mister. You're gonna be okay."
Too exhausted to question her, Blair nodded slowly. The last thing he
was aware of was someone trying to lift him. The pain drove him
into darkness.
end part one
It wasn't raining. That's why Blair Sandburg had forgone the
dubious luxury of taking his Volvo three blocks to get lunch.
Instead, he had walked, basking in the rare warmth, tying his
sweatshirt around his waist when (o wonder of wonders) it
got a little too hot for comfort. It was shaping into a pretty
great afternoon, actually, with a little breeze that ruffled his loose
hair and carried mouth-watering aromas from the cluster of tiny
shops he was passing.
Blair was so intent on the steaming loaves of sunflower
wheat-berry bread being set up in one window display that
he almost didn't hear the first child's cry. Distracted, he looked
around, scanning his immediate area for signs of trouble and
found none. With a shrug, he turned back to the window, and
heard it again, a child crying, and then shouting adults.
Blair had never been the type to mind his own business. A childhood
spent at Naomi Sandburg's side had taught him that "citizens of
the world" get involved. Add to that upbringing enough curiosity
for three men, and the results were Blair trying to track the sounds
to their source, wishing for just a little of his partner's special abilities.
He managed to locate the disturbance in a nearby alley between two
abandoned buildings, and he paused a moment to assess the situation.
Two men, both larger than he, were shouting and shoving at one another.
One woman, in rather garish finery for early afternoon, leaned against
a damp brick wall, blood leaking from beneath the hand she held to her
bruised and swollen cheek. Another woman knelt beside a crying toddler,
her cap of coppery curls bent over him, murmuring nonsense in a soothing
voice.
One man, the biggest of the two, made a charge at the bleeding woman,
and the other shoved him back hard, landing a solid punch on the unshaven
jaw. The apparent object of their fight joined the younger looking woman
and the child, who began screaming again when he saw his mother's injuries.
"Tammy, you can't go back to him. For Ryan's sake, if not for your own."
Clear gray eyes in a smudged face looked up and saw Blair, then
glanced back at the fight, now escalating into a winner takes all brawl.
"Can I help?" Sandburg asked, and the red haired girl shook her head.
"It'll be all right, but you'd better go. I'd hate for you to get in...ARGH!!"
A meaty hand with bleeding knuckles was dragging her back, fingers
tangled in her short hair. Tammy's "boyfriend" had managed to daze his
his current opponent.
"You stay out of our business, you nosy bitch!" he hollered, and slammed
the younger woman across the face.
That was all Blair needed to see. Without thought, he leapt into the fray,
jumping on the bigger man's back with an angry shout of his own. The
slight street woman broke loose, but she was staring at them with not
quite focused eyes, slow to move. Her male companion shook off
his own fogginess and dove past her into Blair's opponent, just as the
hulking man clubbed the grad student off and kicked at him viciously.
The curly haired girl saw a glitter of metal, managed to focus on it,
hollered "BeBop!! He's got a knife!" while she frantically searched
for some kind of weapon. A battered garbage can lid, and a chunk
of brick came to hand and she charged after her friend. He was
already bleeding from a slash on his arm. The blade crashed on her
makeshift shield and she smashed up at the twisted face with the sharp
edged brick.
When the bruiser pulled back to avoid her hit, he tripped over Sandburg
as the smaller man was trying to get to his feet. They fell together and
the knife sank into Blair's flesh with a flash of white heat too painful to
feel at first. Adrenaline gave him the strength to push his attacker away.
BeBop and the redhead came to his side as the hulk shambled out.
Tammy and her son had fled during the fight, and now the two friends
were alone with a bleeding Blair in the alley. They stared at each other,
still panting, then, as the stranger groaned, the girl knelt beside him.
She gently probed his side, finding the blade, and the blood that gushed
from his wound.
"BeBop, he's bleeding really badly." Her grimy face had a smear of
blood on it, her skirt and hands were becoming soaked with it.
"We've got to get him to a hospital. I don't dare to touch that blade,
it might be holding something important together."
The tall, slender man cocked his head, pale dread locks swinging around
his face. An instant later, she heard the sirens too.
"No time," he said quietly. "Jazz, they're gonna think that we did it. If we
leave him, the cops.."
"The cops may not find him in time. We can't let him die, he may have
saved our lives today." Her gray eyes looked down into pain-filled
blue ones, and she managed a reassuring smile. "We aren't going to leave
you, mister. You're gonna be okay."
Too exhausted to question her, Blair nodded slowly. The last thing he
was aware of was someone trying to lift him. The pain drove him
into darkness.
end part one