A/N: Thank you all for reading! I hope you're enjoying this! It's been a ton of fun to write so far. Let me know what you think! This one is more from John's POV
Chapter 3: "Are You Sure This is Decaf?"
He shouldn't go back.
Despite knowing that, he still does. He tells himself it's because of the coffee, it is damn good coffee, but there's something else. She's entertaining. John hasn't been this entertained since before Helen died.
It's dark and the shop should long be closed. It is closed, according to the sign. He doesn't know what draws him to it, but there's a light on in the back. Someone is in there. He glances at the hours listed on the sign. It's late enough that no one should be around. So who is in her store? For a moment, he wonders if his life has caught up to her too. He glances around before he leans down and picks the lock. He didn't see an alarm system when he was last here. He's just going to make sure it's safe. It's the least he can do after she hid him.
He opens the door carefully, trying to ensure that he slips in quietly. The front of the store is dark and it provides him with cover. He doesn't have a gun but when has that ever stopped him?
A shadow moves from the back. He draws a knife and presses the switch, causing the blade to emerge. The figure comes into view and he pulls back sharply.
Toni steps into the front of the store, wiping her hands on a towel before she looks up at him. Her face breaks out into a wide grin.
"John! I didn't expect to see you." She pauses for a second before she disappears back the way she came. She emerges moments later and holds out a new towel. "Here. For your…" she motions to her face. Washroom's free if you want to take a look for yourself."
He takes the towel automatically. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't her. Especially with that reaction. He stares at her. She isn't alarmed at the sight of him, or even at the idea of someone breaking in. His fingers clench on the towel before he heads for the washroom.
He ran into...trouble before he arrived. The mirror shows that he has more blood on him than he thought. Maybe he's used to it. What's intriguing though is the fact that Toni simply handed him a cloth to clean up. She didn't seem surprised at the sight. He adds that to the oddity of her. It's not a long list, it only has her skills at lying on it, her talk of helping people, and now this, but it's enough to be curious about.
He can't erase the blood that's on his suit but he wipes his face. He manages to get all the blood off before he walks back out.
She's kneeling on the ground in front of one of the ovens. Her hair is piled in a bun on her head. Despite not wearing an apron, she still looks like she's at home here. Likely because it's her place.
"You can put the towel in the yellow bin over there," she says, pointing to a bin by the back door. "I take everything in it home to wash at the end of the day."
He tosses it and watches it land perfectly before he turns to her. "I didn't think you'd be here."
"I'm usually not," she says before yawning. "There's a problem with the oven. I think it's the fan. I'm waiting for a repair person to show up." He looks closer. Despite looking at ease, she is clearly tired.
"How long have you been waiting?"
"Well, they said they'd come between 4 and 8...and it's 9 now. Apparently, they're still on their way, since I last called."
He thinks about it for a moment before he takes off his jacket. "I can look, if you want," he tells her.
"Do you know anything about ovens?"
"I've repaired things before." He's also broken things. Anything that suits his purpose, but he did do odd repair jobs around his house. He'd rather learn to fix it himself than let a stranger in, especially when it came to things that could result in disaster. He knows too many in his line of work who pretend to be repairmen.
"Be my guest," she says before moving out of the way. "You want something to drink? I made some decaf if you want coffee."
"Sure." He kneels down and unbuttons his cuffs before rolling up his sleeves. He starts looking at it. It doesn't take long before he has a theory. "Do you have any tools?"
"Oh, yeah!"
He hears her move behind him before she comes over with a small toolbox. It's not a lot but he knows how to work with what he's got. He stands up and brushes off his pants. "We'll need to turn off the circuit breaker."
"Of course," she says. "Don't want you to get hurt helping me." She directs him to the breaker box that is in the basement and she grabs a box of candles while they're down there. "Can't be too careful," she says when she sees him looking.
"Here," he takes the box from her. He's used to moving in the dark.
"Thanks." She grabs one of the candles, a thick white-pillared one, from the box and leads the way. He doesn't hear a lighter or see her move to take something out of a pocket, but the flame ignites while she's walking ahead of him. "I appreciate this," she says without looking back. "I can bake but fixing appliances is a bit out of my wheelhouse. Also for checking in on the place."
He didn't tell her that was the intention. It may be an easy assumption to make unless she expected him to rob the place. She wouldn't have offered the towel if she thought that though.
He places the box down in the kitchen. She hands him the candle in her hands that's already lit.
"I'll light some more."
He takes the candle and places it by the oven. It's barely any light.
"Here." Toni kneels next to him with two more lit candles. "This should help." She gives him a smile before moving back.
He grabs a screwdriver and moves to fix the fan. It's not a hard fix to tighten the fan and adjust the position. The sensor has also been blocked. He pulls himself back and blinks. There are multiple candles lit. More than what should have been possible in that small amount of time if she lit them all by hand.
"Your sensor was blocked. I adjusted the fan."
"And that was it?"
"You'll have to try it to be sure."
"I'll test it in the mor-" she cuts off with a yawn. "Sorry," she says. "Haven't gotten much sleep today."
He doesn't say anything in return. If he says he can tell, it might come off as an insult. She's been kind enough so far. She doesn't need his observations.
"Here," she hands him a cup. "The decaf I promised."
"Thanks." He takes it from her. Decaf coffee is not ideal but as he takes a sip, he pauses. It tastes like her regular coffee. "You sure this is decaf?" he can't help but ask.
She grins at him and laughs slightly. "It is. I promise."
He's not sure if he believes it and can't help but add it to his mental list. He's not entirely sure what it's adding up to. He takes another sip.
"I'm thinking I'll test it tomorrow with maybe some sweet buns. Or I'll stick to things I don't actually have to bake. Have you ever had malasadas?"
"Portuguese, right?"
"Yeah! They're like donuts. Delicious when dipped in sugar. They just need to be fried." She walks over to one of her cabinets and opens it, looking for something. "I just need…" She straightens up, looking towards the front. "Stay here." She leaves the cabinet open as she walks to the front, looking focused.
John silently swears. He grabs another knife from the knife block and follows.
Toni is standing behind the counter staring at the man standing in the middle of her store. The front is still dark but John can make out the weapon in the man's hand. The man ignores Toni and smiles at John.
"Really John? A bakery?"
"It's good coffee." He needs to get Toni out of the way. He tries not to hurt any civilians, but not everyone is as conscientious. And he really likes the coffee here.
"You need to leave," Toni says. "You're not welcome." He glances at her. She doesn't look frightened or even concerned. She's still staring at the other man as though she's expecting him to listen.
The man laughs. John moves forward, ready to pull Toni out of the way before he throws the knife.
"You're not welcome," she repeats. "You need to leave. Last chance."
The man starts to raise his gun before suddenly convulsing. John sees what looks like an arc of electricity rise from the floor and hit the gun. It drops seconds before the man does.
John moves forward, leaving Toni's side to see if he's still alive.
"He's not getting up," she calls out from her position.
John turns to look at her. There is something in her expression that looks resigned but righteous. It's an interesting look. He checks the body, knife raised to stab him through the eye but the man is already dead.
John stands. The breaker is still off and the place is dark. There is no way that he could have been killed by an electrical accident. He's not wrong about what he saw.
"What was that?"
"I warned him," she says before sighing and rubbing the back of her neck. "I can't accept threats here. From anyone."
John stares at her for a moment. There is too much that he doesn't understand. "I can call someone," he says. "For the body."
"It's fine," she waves him off. "I have someone."
Another thing added to the list. John nods and places the knife he took from the kitchen on the counter. "Okay. Thanks for the coffee."
He leaves and she doesn't stop him.
[tbc]