Authors' Notes: Behold another update! Trying to figure out how to spread this out just right so it ends on Halloween or the day before. So look for an update every other day or the next day. Should work out right somehow.
A lone woman walking around Los Angeles alone in the late hours of the night wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. But Charissa figured she could handle it, she had training and a gun at her disposal. She kept to lighted areas and kept an eye on everything.
The first house she came up to in the area the kid had told her she walked up and knocked politely. She was greeted by an elderly woman, "Hi. I'm looking for a group of kids that might've been seen in the area earlier tonight…"
"You're looking for that gang. You're crazy, best leave them alone. They don't like cops, especially women cops."
Charissa shook her head, "I'm not a cop. Have you seen anything going on tonight, anything suspicious?" She watched the elderly woman think for a moment and then sigh.
"One of the kid's younger brother came trick or treating here earlier said something about his brother missing. I told him to goto the Center, he'd find help there." The lady launched into a little more information after that and Charissa mentally took notes.
B.A. frowned, "She's crazy." He said with a shake of his head and looked down at the kid worriedly, he hadn't seen him before… but he knew worried when he saw it, "It's gonna be alright, we'll fix this kid." He promised and began to get out of his scary butcher's costume until he was standing there in jeans and a sleeveless shirt.
Hannibal took off his magician's costume and got back into his regular clothing, wishing he could have a cigar but knowing he couldn't smoke inside the community center.
Murdock got the kid a juice box and tried to coax a phone number out of him so that he could maybe contact the parents if they needed to.
Face shut down the movie and touched the kid's hand gently with a wince as he pulled together a bag of things, waiting for Hannibal to tell them what the plan was.
The lady invited her in to wait for her friends, but Charissa politely declined, "Thanks, you've helped us out a lot. I'll be careful, don't worry about me." She assured the elderly woman as she turned and left, noticing how fast she was to shut her door and lock it up tight. It made Charissa feel a little nervous as though the old woman knew something more that she wasn't saying. She moved onto the next house and got the door slammed in her face, and the one after that she got nervous glances and a polite "please go away." She kept trying however and failed to notice the fact she was being watched as she went about her business.
B.A. glanced at Hannibal and knew that Sosa was in big trouble, the woman needed to learn she was part of a team now and she wasn't the one calling the shots. He shook his head silently again and waited as well for instruction.
Hannibal fiddled with his fingers for a moment, then straightened up. "B.A." he instructed. "I want you to get the van. We ought to go on foot but we may need a swift escape. Murdock, we can't bring the kid with us, but we can't leave him here. Are there any of the older kids we trust who can stay with him until we get back?"
Murdock nodded. "Some of the all-stars are playing basketball in the gym, I'll go get them. Maybe they'll teach him how to perfect his free throw."
B.A. nodded, "Alright, plus we got weapons stashed up in there too, if we need'em." He headed out and a few moments later was waiting outside the entrance at the curb with the van for further instruction on where they were going to start next. He noted how quiet Face was being, and his quietness was more unnerving than their C.O.'s.
The streets were pretty much deserted now; it was a little after one am and all the good little ghosts, goblins and ghouls were at home tucked into bed and sneaking their collected sweets. She kept a leisurely pace as she walked, her senses kicking in as she approached the alley that the woman said the gang frequented. In the back of her mind, Charissa knew she was going to probably get herself into some serious trouble and that she should wait for the guys… she also had a sinking feeling that her trouble was probably just beginning as she heard some rustling behind her and whirled around to see nothing but shadows and streetlamps.
Face felt extremely uneasy about the whole thing. He knew Charissa could handle herself - hell, she had handled herself pretty damned well in the past. But this was her, alone, on Halloween night, heading out to a gang that they didn't know how big it was. Not to mention it was full of boys with something to prove. "Hannibal..." he said, and when his C.O. looked over he didn't need to say anything else. The colonel was ready to go. Face could swear he was making a "lock and load" gesture, but his hands weren't moving.
B.A. got into the van and followed nearby for back up and as the getaway car or van rather. He kept flexing his hands on the wheel, flexing and unflexing as he kept an eye out for trouble and for their other Captain, the wild card. Even Face wasn't this unpredictable and the man was a con artist. He knew Hannibal was not happy, they all knew it and he knew Sosa was in for it when they found her unless… the Sergeant shook his head, he didn't want to think that way. He knew she'd be alright; she had to be for all their sanities' sake.
She took a deep breath and kept moving, one hand near the back of her jeans where her gun rested in its inner pants holster just in case. She felt uneasy, like this was indeed a very, very bad idea.
What's going to happen? Will the guys find Charissa before the gang does? Just how mad is Hannibal?
Stay tuned and find out!
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