Amelia shivered against the cold, the night air biting at her extremities with sharpened teeth.
"Are you sure we're in the right place?"
"This is where I usually meet him" Hank rubbed his hands together, turning to face the agent as she shivered at his side. The pair stood before a food truck, the large neon signage attached to its roof flickering the words 'chicken feed' into the dying light as they waited. It had been closed for some time, the shutters drawn over the windows signalling the end of the vendors work day – at least that suggested it would be quiet. Grating gravel under her shoes, Amelia turned on Hank once more.
"I've scoped the area twice, if you need back-up or anything goes wrong you signal me right away".
"Ah, shut up – I know how to do my job" Hank waved her away almost literally, his face dismissive as he cast eyes over her stubborn figure "I'll be fine" he insisted. Nodding somewhat reluctantly, Amelia wrapped arms around herself, tugging at the collar of her coat before taking her leave across the street. The car was parked inconspicuously, although she supposed it didn't really matter either way – they were meeting Hank's contact, it would make sense for Hank's car to be there, lazily popped up on to the pavement a short distance away. Slipping into the rear seat, Amelia refused to drop her eyes from the man now leaning against the chicken feed truck, his arms crossed across his chest like he didn't have a care in the world. Heart beat racing she forced herself to settle.
"Do you know who Hank's contact is?" Amelia threw eyes sideways meeting the back and side of Connor's head.
"His name is Pedro Aabdar. He has a criminal record including multiple charges for fraud and illegal gambling along with two counts of petty theft and has minor ties to the Detroit criminal underground" Connor spoke stoically, his features unchanged as he reeled off facts seamlessly upon them being recounted in his own head.
Amelia narrowed her eyes "do you think he'll be able to help us? God knows we have no other leads", Connor shrugged looking uneasy a glassy stare taking over his eyes for a second.
"I don't know" he admitted.
Twenty minutes slipped by them easily without any sign of movement. Hank had taken to leaning against one of the tall metal tables left out by the food vendor, his elbows sticking up vertically allowing him to cup his face in his hands. If Amelia didn't know better she would have said he had fallen asleep but, she knew, even Hank wasn't that stupid. He came from across the street, weaving his way around fallen trash cans and street lights as he picked his way carefully closer to Hank.
"Hank, my man!" Pedro advanced on the lieutenant, his arms out wide in greeting, a smile spreading wide across his face "what can I do for you?" He lent atop the table, tipping his cap in faux gentlemanly manner. Hank grumbled, the feeling slowly coming back into his arms and wrists as he straightened himself.
"I, uh, need to ask you a few questions Pedro" Hank's hands fell into his pockets.
"Anything bro, you need some tips on the horses?" Pedro raised an eyebrow, mischief playing along his forehead as his eyes widened. Hank fixed him with a pale glare.
"Pedro, I need to know if you have any connections with red ice dealers". The criminals face contorted immediately, the smile slipping clean from his features in an instant. Solidifying, Pedro coiled visibly shaking his head at the floor.
"Psh, man. Don't ask me things like that".
Hank prompted him with a look "I just need a name, no-one needs to know it was you I got it off".
Pedro peeled backwards, trainers scraping against the floor as he pulled them along the concrete.
"Nah, nah, nah man. I can't tell you things like that, those guys are dangerous. You don't want to go poking around by those guys" he was getting twitchy now, distancing himself from the Lieutenant who made no effort to move at all.
"Pedro" Hank sighed "if you don't give me a name, I'm going to have to take you in".
"What the fuck, man. I thought we were cool – why you got to go and throw things like that out". Pedro took a clean step backward, the ball of his foot balanced and ready for the sprint he was about to make. If Hank hadn't of worked in the force for as long as he had, maybe he wouldn't have seen Pedro's body language as clearly as he did, maybe he would have mistook it for the jitters, but he didn't. Reaching for his holster, Hank pulled his gun levelling it square at Pedro's chest.
"All's I need is a name, Pedro, then we can both go back to doing what we do best" Hank's voice was calm and level "It's important that you give me a name, people could die, Pedro".
Pedro screwed up his face, gesturing wildly "shit, man. If I give you a name, I'm gonna die!"
Hank swore softly under his breath, annoyance evident in the wrinkles of his forehead as he took two clean steps toward the criminal in front of him.
"Then I'm going to have to take you in".
Amelia's hand had been on the door handle ever since Pedro had arrived outside the truck, her fingers twitching against the metal as she waited, biding her time as to not screw up the whole thing. It was only when Pedro had backed away; his back turned to the car that she had silently popped open the door careful to mask the noise under the sound of the criminals own strangled voice. She was about to step from the car when the gun shot sounded. Adrenaline surged through her body in unstoppable waves calling upon all her muscles to act. Diving from the backseat of the car, she twisted hard aiming her own weapon at the now fleeing criminal. A bullet caught him in the lower leg, the explosion of a shot coming from over her shoulder before she could fully rationalise what had occurred. Lying on the floor Pedro writhed, gripping his leg while screaming wildly unable to move as waves of pain drowned him. Amelia's eyes shot up leaving the view of injured criminal and toward the figure laying flat against the floor a short distance away. Spurred on now more by panic than adrenaline, she found her feet once more, unlocking her legs to make a mad dash toward the Lieutenant. She was quick but, Connor was exceedingly quicker. After firing at Pedro and immobilising him with an almost perfect shot, he had descended upon the seemingly still figure of Hank as he lay splayed against the concrete. Now he knelt at his side, having already torn Hank's shirt open revealing a steadily pulsing hole just below his left shoulder. Connor's hands seemed to blur to Amelia as he cleanly tore a sleeve from his jacket, pressing it to the bullet wound on the Lieutenants chest with meticulous care. He glanced upwards, watching as Amelia hit her knees beside him.
"I have called an ambulance, they should arrive shortly" the android's voice was calm, showing no signs of the distress that seemed to echo clearly in the violent turbulence of his brown eyes. He hauled in a breath.
"I have also alerted the precinct to our location requesting immediate back-up, they will arrive equipped to pick up the perpetrator; for now the injury he sustained should render him immobile long enough for them to reach us".
"Will" Amelia struggled with her words, emotions spinning around her head at break neck speeds "will he be okay?"
Connor furrowed his brow, eyes burning as he peeled his eyes from the Lieutenants still body, fixing them on Amelia will a plea in his eyes she wished she could answer.
"I…I don't know" he mumbled "I seem to be having some interference with my external scanners". Amelia nodded, patting the android gently on the back before pushing herself to her feet. Shaky legs seem to hold her in place, her knees willing to support her for a little long.
"Keep pressure on that wound, I'm going to go secure the perp".
Connor nodded, focusing back on Hank as Amelia forced herself away from the scene. The sound of her boots against the concrete made the hole in her stomach deepen; the struggled groans of Pedro as he writhed still against the floor making her think she might be sick. Unhooking the metal cuffs attached to her belt, Amelia bent to Pedro, reciting his Miranda rights from memory as her body fell into autopilot.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be…" she snapped the first cuff over his wrist, twisting herself around while her mouth continued working through the pre-memorised speech in her head. Pedro wailed.
"Can you stand?" Her voice was harsh, colder than she had intended but, now was not the time for details.
"Can you stand?" She repeated this time somehow harsher. Standing herself, she yanked against Pedro's arm, hauling him uneasily to his own feet before twisting a second hand behind his back, clicking to cuffs together over his wrists.
"Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?"
Pedro remained silent, his eyes now wide and bulging, coming to rest upon Hank's still unmoving form and his partners crumpled stance beside him.
"I'm not going to ask you again!" Amelia barked, half choking on her words as she forced them from her throat. Frozen, rabbit-like beside her, Pedro nodded frantically.
"Shit man – Is he going to be okay" his voice was hoarse, rasping from his mouth "I was aiming for his shoulder, I didn't mean, fuck, I didn't mean" he turned to Amelia, eyes screaming "I'm no killer, man, oh, shit, I didn't mean". His panicked yelps fell on deaf ears as Amelia tuned out his squealing yips, she was scared she'd clock him in the face if she didn't – no amount of apologising would make any of this okay right now.
"Connor – status report" she yelled despite her throat being dry, calling over to the android; his posture still twisted over Hank. Connor forced himself to look up from Hank, his face betraying the mess of electronic emotions that burned within.
"I can feel a slight pulse but, he's still unresponsive" once again Connor's voice held out, doing much to calm the pricking sensation of hopelessness that had begun to trickle down the back of her spine.
"The paramedic's will be here soon" Amelia offered, attempting to gift Connor the same dash of hope that he had afforded her. He flashed back a tight nod; his LED settling a defining red, before he turned his attention once again away from Amelia, his lips moving microscopically as he whispered only God knew what in Hank's general direction. With a tightness rapidly expanding in her chest, the high pitched wail of an ambulance siren for once was not a nuisance to her delicate ears but, a cause for her to breathe.