The Things I Do
Havelock/OFC pairing
Again, sorry. The holiday spirits caught up with me, as well as work. Blame my professors.
Without referring to people by name:smile, I shall answer comments and questions briefly. Read carefully.
The previous action sequence will be edited. It is confusing and must be clarified, especially the whole trap thing... This will not be a very long story – it will possibly end in chapter thirteen or fourteen.
I did update and, having a new friend that reads my stuff and is a FANATIC of writing, he will make sure that I update regularly. Give a big hand to PRIDE-FALL, people – if you like Naruto fanfiction, look him up, he's brilliant. Currently, he hasn't been taking his meds... :p
So, chapter six. Longish. Enjoy. Thank you for your lovely reviews. Your patience must be flying out the window by now.
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Six:
"Sergeant, is something the matter?"
I looked up at Drumknott as I extinguished the lamp. He was staring at me intently, in a way that made my skin crawl, and my eyes looked over his shoulder instead of at him. Apparently, he picked up a few things from Vetinari.
"I'm fine, Drumknott."
"You seem distracted."
"I'm fine, Drumknott."
"You missed the target last night during your break."
"I slipped. I'm fine, Drumknott."
"You never miss, not even when you slip. You seem to be –"
"Drumknott, I'm fine so bugger off."
He snorted at me.
"Sergeant Pulotti, I will not let you do your job until you tell me what is the matter."
"I feel uneasy." There. It was out. Let the whole world know that Sergeant Carla Pulotti feels uneasy because she's been there a month and the Klatchians that came after the Patrician before haven't attacked.
"Oh, good. I thought I was the only one."
I stared at him. Drumknott gave me a smile and left me to my musings. I turned my head to stare out the window and shuddered. It was to my relief that something happened that night.
A dart whistled through the window, breaking one small pane, and I ducked. It lodged into the wall and I rushed to the window, looking out it. There was a figure in the darkness and I crouched away, slipping out a knife as the figure extended a hand through the broken pane and swung open a section of the new window. Once he was facing Vetinari's open door, I jabbed my knife into the base of his spine and felt him freeze in horror.
"Hello, there."
"Crap."
"I don't understand Klatchian, my friend."
"Can you please bugger off?"
"Don't you know Morporkian?"
"No."
"Mate, I know you have to know a little bit because the dart is from The Bunch of Grapes."
"Bugger."
"So, mate, start talking or you'll know what it's like to have your spinal cord sticking out of your stomach."
"Kiss my ass."
He moved and dragged out a pill from his sleeves. I clobbered him, watching him fall into unconsciousness.
"Bloody hell."
I reached for a pen on Vetinari's desk and started scribbling a message, looking out the open window and whistling for a pigeon. I tied it to the bird's leg, making sure the red band was visible, and sent it to Captain Carrot.
I had met Carrot the day after the Klatchian attack. He was a dwarf you could remember.
For one thing, he was six feet tall.
For another, he was straighter than a bloody plank.
But he was a dwarf.
I could hardly believe it, but he was.
And he spoke Klatchian.
At the moment, that was all I wanted.
"Quiet, Captain, Vetinari is sleeping."
"No, he is not."
"Bloody hell, and I hoped to do this without an audience."
A light flared to life and I caught site of Vetinari tying the knot of his dressing gown. He looked haggard, tired.
"Sir, pardon my Klatchian, but you look like shit."
He gave me a tired look. "I know, Sergeant. Please explain what is going on."
"Attacker. If you wouldn't mind noticing, it is now the twentieth... the same date as the previous attack."
"I did notice, Sergeant. Is he dead?"
"No, sir. The bugger tried to kill himself, but I stopped him. Captain Carrot, if you don't mind..."
I slapped the man's face and Carrot handed me smelling salts. I waved them under the man's nose, who choked and came to life. Instantly, I pounced on his hands and forced him to look at Carrot.
"Have at it, Captain Carrot!" I said cheerfully.
"Er..."
"Captain, he tried to kill the Patrician... oh, yes, all right, read him his bloody rights!"
In annoyance, I listened to him babble away in Klatchian before looking up at me and beginning the questioning.
"What's your name?"
"Al Khali."
"I doubt it, offendi."
"Let's not fight about it."
"Very well, Al Khali. Who sent you?"
"No one."
"You enjoy being difficult, don't you?"
I tuned out the rest of it, seeing as how I didn't understand it, and started doing the multiplication tables in elvish in my head. I stumbled over twelve times twelve and registered Carrot talking to me.
"So?"
He dragged the man out from under me, tying his hands behind his back, and handed me his notebook. I struggled with the writing, bad spelling, and punctuation problems.
He sed his Name is Al Kali but I do not Believe him. A Secret Sekt sent him to kill the Patrician for a Secret Mision. Everyone in the Sekt is Klachian, he sed. The previus Hideout was in Dagon Street.
I shuddered as I finished it up.
"All right. Off you trot, then."
I watched them go, with Carrot trying to induce conversation, and I collapsed into a chair, staring at the badly written words.
"That was quite an interesting conversation."
"Huh?" I said intelligently.
"I did not know that Carrot had such persuasive measures in another language."
I looked over at the Patrician, who held out one hand for the piece of paper, presumably. I got a good look at it in the light. It was pale and I could see his blue veins. Hidden strength rippled in them as I set the paper in his hands and watched him frown as he tried to decipher it. I shifted uneasily when he finished and his gaze bored through my skull.
"Go get Sergeant Angua."
"Yessir," I said as I stood up, my eyes averting from his and staring at the window frame in interest.
"Sergeant, look at me."
I flinched inwardly and looked at the Patrician. His hawk-like eyes unnerved me and my eyes flashed away almost instantly.
"Sergeant Pulotti, do I have something on my face?"
"No sir," I said levelly as I forced myself to look back at him.
He was now standing up to his full height and I tilted my head back slightly to stare at his nose. Out of the corner of my eye, a shadow flitted against the walls and I snapped out my knife.
"It's only Constable Swires, Sergeant."
I turned to look. The shadow was no larger than a foot or two. I followed it down, down, down, down... I met the tiny, beady gaze of a gnome.
"Nng."
"Sergeant Pulotti," Contable Swires said.
"Nng."
"Is something the matter, Sergeant?"
"Nng – no – sir," I managed.
"You look rather frozen, Sergeant," I heard Vetinari say.
"N – fine – sir."
Swires climbed up my trousers and my spine stiffened in horror as he leaped from the hem of my tunic to the desk. The skin of my leg tingled as I took one solid step back.
"Thank you for coming, Constable Swires. I take it you have the Commander's reply?"
The gnome nodded and Vetinari looked up at me. I worked my jaw before managing to get out a hurried 'yessir' and walking as fast as possible out of the room without looking as if I was running for my life.
A gnome crushed all the bones in my partner's leg. Enough said.
I walked into the Watch House, hands shoved into my trench coat pockets, and spotted Angua leaning against the rail of the stairs. I went up to her and we went up the stairs in silence, Angua opening the door to Commander Vimes' office. Old Stoneface looked up at us.
"Commander," we said at the same instant.
"Angua, Sergeant Pulotti. Close the door."
My heel snapped back and the door slammed shut as I lowered myself into a chair. He eyeballed me and I stared at him coolly.
"We have a problem," he started. Well, that was the understatement of the year. "We have a Klatchian sect that wants to kill the Patrician and they can only do it the twentieth of a month, I believe. Carrot said that they were in Dagon Street...?"
I nodded. Angua stood up and motioned for me to follow.
"Go to Dagon Street, Sergeants. See what you can find."
I followed Angua out of Pseudopolis Yard and we walked into the Shades, looking as if for all the world we were painted on the wall. Angua walked into an alley and I gathered her clothes for her, setting them in a bag that she had picked up on the way out. Slinging it over my shoulder, I turned my back to her and waited.
When a cold nose nudged my knee, I moved along, the blonde werewolf trotting along beside me, black nose sniffing the air. She moved faster and I loped along behind her, hands clutched around the hilt of a knife. We turned into Dagon Street and she ran, howling madly, into an alley.
"Ser –" My words were cut off by a knife pressing against the small of my back. I cursed myself for letting my guard down.
"Sergeant Pulotti, how nice to see you at last."
"I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Of course. I should have known that you didn't know Klatchian. Forgive an old man."
The accent was atrocious, but understandable.
"I understand that you have caught Al Khali. You do realize that we have moved."
"Then why are you here?"
"Merely to catch you in the act, Sergeant."
"I feel so special," I spat.
"You should, Sergeant. It was me."
The last thing I saw was the twinkling of stars before the ground rushed up to make my acquaintance... and it didn't even stop to have tea.
Sunlight rushed through my eyelids, annoying me no end, and I twitched and groaned. Every muscle in my body screamed at me for letting my guard down and every pore in my skin whimpered for a bath. I peeled my eyelids apart and squinted at the familiar ceiling. The Palace. I was back at the Palace.
Thank whatever god decided to bestow some mercy upon me.
"Sergeant Pulotti?"
I tilted my head up and saw Vetinari standing rigidly in the doorway.
"Sir," I said hoarsely.
"Sergeant Angua told me about the attack. I suggest you freshen up, Sergeant." I slanted an eyebrow in his direction. "I have company this afternoon."
I groaned once he left and moved my aching body into the shower stall, where I worked at my skin and muscles as best I could. Once I was dressed loosely in brown trousers and a more-or-less presentable tunic, I dragged myself down into the Rats Chamber, threw myself into a chair in a dark corner, and closed my eyes.
I heard the leaders of the city – as they like to be known – walk in, chattering away in low voices. I cracked my eye open. Head of the Thieve's Guild, Assassin's Guild, Butcher's Guild, Merchant's Guild, Seamstress's Guild (ha, ha), and others took their positions around the table. The more or less important lords were there, too, including Lord Selachii. The Patrician walked in just then and they went quiet as he sat down.
"We seem to be missing someone," he said in his cool tone. The door opened and Vimes, looking like absolute shit, sat down in the chair that lay across from Vetinari and ran his shaking fingers through matted hair. "Ah, Commander Vimes, how good of you to join us."
"My Lord," he said through clenched teeth.
Smiling, I shut down their conversation and rested my muscles, which still complained about their harsh treatment. My dozing was rudely interrupted by a harsh yell and the shattering of glass. Tiredly, I opened my eyes to see a man with his back to me, holding a dagger to Vetinari's throat. Almost everyone had some sort of weapon drawn at least half-way.
"My Lord Vetinari, it is an infinite pleasure to see you."
I knew that voice, but I couldn't pin it down.
"Sir Afhan."
I refrained from growling as I stood up and poked my hunting knife into the small of Afhan's spine.
"It would be a good idea to let him go, mate."
"Carla! What a pleasure to see you again!" The rat bastard actually sounded pleased.
"Afhan. It's not a pleasure to see you again. I thought I left you in a scorpion pit."
"Obviously, you underestimated me."
"Well, I won't be making the mistake again any time soon. Preferably never again, actually."
I slammed forward, my hip hitting Vetinari's as Afhan lifted his knife away from his neck to swivel on me. Vetinari fell forward onto the ground and I fell upon Afhan like the three Furies. Whatever those are.
I felt his knife slice my skin more than once, sending stinging pain up my veins, and I gave him tit-for-tat, my knife flashing in and out. His grinning face tormented my every move and I glowered. Cocky rat bastard. I vaulted onto the table and my leg kicked out. He grabbed my delicate ankle and hauled me into the air, slamming my back into the floor. I grunted as the air flew out of me and now he was straddling me.
Painful memories resurfaced.
"It's the same as it was before. Flat on your back, begging, begging... you were so sweet, Carla, do you still have the scars?"
I snarled and vaulted upwards, sending him flying into the table, and I launched myself onto him, pummeling him for all I was worth. I was stopped by a pair of arms grabbing my elbows and tugging me away, working to withhold my struggling form. Auburn hair fell around my face, wild and tangled, and sweat fell in vast amounts down every crevice, every nick of skin. It was Vimes who cuffed Afhan and led him out. His leer was implanted on my eyelids.
I tried to break away from the man who held me, but the hands only tightened around me before slipping around my waist and tugging me closer into a grip firm as iron. I cooled down, hands clenched into fists, in the empty Rats Chamber.
"Sergeant, I'm not quite sure what the hell just happened, but I'm going to assume that you are in pain."
I found my strength again and made to lurch away, my cuts oozing blood and suddenly coming into full prominence. He pinched me roughly and I felt the sting on my skin, causing me to wince and reach for the spot. The same fingers pressed down on the spot, rubbing softly and soothing it. It was far too late to realize what spot he had chosen.
I melted in his arms as resistance gave way to the loosening of a large muscle.
"I think that this conversation is best continued when you've rested and refreshed."
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Ha ha. Sneaky... or, you know, not... By the way, more angst will be coming up in relation to Pulotti's past. Just telling you...
Read, review, be happy, cheer for Pride-Fall.
-Sho
