Title: Caution
Genre: Gen
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Don, Colby, David, Nikki
Spoilers: 5.20 The Fifth Man
Challenge: lj comm hurt_don prompt 25: what: water, where: anywhere
Word count: 678
Disclaimer: Own nothing, not being paid.
A/N: Thank you to pixie_on_acid and starrylizard for the beta. Set probably in early season 6.
Summary: Don finds out the hard way that sometimes you need to watch where you're putting your feet.
Don saw the sign too late. His foot skidded out from under him, all traction lost, and he went down hard, breath knocked out of him, head, elbows and tail bone striking the floor. Lights filled his vision and his right arm felt almost numbed. The water that had made him slip started soaking into his shirt and pants.
The man he'd been chasing had somehow avoided falling on the slippery floor, but instead of running onward, he'd stopped, likely after hearing Don's grunt of surprise and the loud thump of him hitting the floor. Their suspect suddenly appeared in Don's field of view and panic flared in his chest. He was still wheezing for breath, trying not to pass out from the pain and the lack of oxygen, and trying to figure out whether his numb fingers still held his gun or if he'd dropped it.
Don saw the Glock in the man's hand aim at him. There was the fear—he couldn't defend himself, couldn't stop this—and three horses kicked him in the chest.
Colby and David heard the shots and ran faster. David was frantically calling into his radio, but received no response.
"We've got him," Nikki's voice came.
"Can you see Don?" David called.
"Negative."
They rounded the corner, coming into a corridor that led to the central area of the mall. Colby's heart skipped in his chest, unbidden memories filling his mind.
Don was lying on the floor, looking like some action toy a kid had dropped and abandoned in the frantic rush to evacuate. The last time Colby had seen him lying so still on the ground, Don had nearly died.
Colby noted the sign; the floor was wet. He carefully approached Don, mind jumping to one possible way that this had gone down. If Don had fallen, it would give their suspect an opportunity to get the drop on him.
David knelt beside Don, fingers to Don's neck. "He's got a pulse. It's steady."
With an exhale of relief, Colby crouched on Don's other side. There were three impact points on Don's chest, but it looked like the vest had probably taken the force of the blasts. It would hurt like a son of a bitch and leave bad bruises, maybe some cracked ribs, but he'd be okay.
"Don." Colby tapped Don lightly on the side of the face, trying to rouse him, while David radioed for EMTs. "Don, wake up."
A few seconds later he was rewarded by a groan from Don as his eyes opened to slits. Don coughed, grimacing in pain.
"Hit my head," he murmured, and coughed again, face contorting. It explained the unconsciousness. "Vest—?"
"Looks like it caught them. You feel like anything got through?" Colby asked. Don shook his head slightly in response, breath catching as more pain showed on his face. The back of his head had to really hurt. The floor was hard. "The bruising's going to be spectacular, but you're going to be okay."
"Nikki and Liz caught him," David reassured Don. He knew what Don would want to know.
"He could have—" another grimace, "—shot me in the head."
Don wasn't wearing anything over the vest, there was no question that the shots had been deliberately aimed.
"Might have wanted to slow us down. Killing an agent is a whole 'nother ball game," Colby commented.
"Where's my—"
"Your gun's over there." Colby pointed. Either Don had dropped the gun or their suspect had moved it when Don fell unconscious.
There were the sound of footfalls and Colby looked up to see EMTs approaching with a stretcher. Bringing his gaze back to Don, he said, "So, just how funny do you think you looked, slipping in that water?"
David smiled while Don tried to ignore them. His non-reaction told Colby that he was right on the money.
"Think they'll have surveillance footage?" David asked.
"Oh, yeah."
"Just remember who does your performance reviews," Don said quietly.
Colby moved out of the way, letting the EMTs get to work.
-FIN-