A/N: So, something I noticed when watching "Pie-Lette": when Ned uses his gift in front of Emerson for the first time, there appears to be two people at the end of the alley. Weird? Yes. I decided to write about them.
"So I told the lady, 'Look, I already gave you your change, I'm not giving you another twenty bucks because you think that I didn't, when--'"
He stops before I can hear it, but down the alleyway apparently a scuffle is starting. Ruben has a knack for seeking them out. We watch in interest, seeing as how this is happening behind the Pie-Hole, where the owner, Ned Something-or-Other, is notoriously soft-spoken. Compared to the bar down at the other end of the alley, the Pie Hole's record is squeaky-clean.
But the soft-spoken pie-maker is now shouting at some thug, who starts running in the opposite direction.
"Think he just got robbed?" I ask Ruben, but he waves at me with his cigarette hand to shut me up.
Ned starts chasing the man, and he catches up in a few strides. He grabs the back of the thug's collar and the man drops to the ground, unmoving.
"What the hell? Did he just kill him?" My voice has gotten unnaturally high, but Ruben also seems shaken.
"Probably just knocked him out," he suggests cautiously. "Pressure points or something like that."
Ned stands over the man and shudders, then crouches down to lift the man under his arms. Another voice in the alleyway calls out, and the pie-maker, unnervingly dragging the man back into the alley, looks up in panic.
"We probably shouldn't be here," Ruben says quickly.
"But you said he probably didn't kill him."
He drops his cigarette and grinds into the ground with his sneaker. "Yeah, but if he did, I don't want to be a witness to any Sweeney Todd stuff going on in there."
He turns for the door, and I shudder. I don't think the Pie Hole even serves meat pies, but I'm sure as hell not going to get one now.
A/N: Thanks for reading!