"Well it's Saturday night, you're all dressed up in blue

I been watching you awhile, maybe you been watching me too"

Kiera stripped off a glove and turned the radio up as loud as she dared, considering that she was still at work and it was getting close to ten o'clock at night. Looking around, she took in the bombsite that was currently her surgery. There was no way that she was leaving the practice any time soon and there was no harm in making the process as enjoyable as possible. If that meant singing loudly and out of tune, then so be it.

"So somebody ran out, left somebody's heart in a mess

Well if you're looking for love, honey I'm tougher than the rest"

Allowing the steady rhythm of the music to guide her movements, she snapped on a new pair of gloves and reluctantly set to work. It felt like a lifetime ago that she had been settled in front of the TV with a tub of pre-made icing. In actuality, it had been less than four hours. Even though she had signed up to be on call, it was extremely rare to be called out so late in the evening and Kiera had not been prepared in the slightest.

Any resentment that she might have felt about being pulled from her weekend relaxation had evaporated once she had realised the severity of the situation. A close friend of Sarah, the dentist Kiera generally nursed with, had been mugged and the little shits had kicked his face in for good measure. To make matters worse, the dental department at the hospital was only able to offer a full clearance of the affected teeth. Panicked, he had called Sarah for a second opinion and she'd insisted on seeing him.

Working for several hours and using just about every instrument and material possible, they had managed to restore most of the broken teeth. After a heartfelt thank you, Sarah had left to take her friend home, leaving Kiera to deal with the chaos that used to be her dental surgery. Despite her growing fatigue, she was determined to do a thorough job. Almost every surface was contaminated in one way or another and there was no way she was leaving that for someone to find on Monday.

Collecting all the used instruments onto a single tray to take towards the decontamination room, Kiera continued her enthusiastic accompaniment to Springsteen's haunting vocals.

"Some girls they want a handsome Dan or some good-lookin' Joe,

on their arm some girls like a sweet-talkin' Romeo

Well 'round here baby, I learned you get what you can get

So if you're rough enough for love, honey I'm tougher than the rest"

A rough but slightly amused voice remarked from behind her, "It's a good job the Boss aint anywhere near here girl, don't think he'd much appreciate you butcherin' his good work."

The sudden interjection caused Kiera to turn around with such velocity that the tray she was holding flew out of her grip, clattering to the floor. Her flight and fight kicked in simultaneously, rooting her to the spot entirely as she stared into the darkest eyes she'd ever seen.

Her mind went completely blank until her only coherent thought was: I'm going to die.

"Woah, easy girl, you're okay. I didn't mean to startle ya. You're not in any danger, I promise." The stranger held his hands out in front of him in a placating gesture as if he was attempting to calm a frightened animal. She knew that her eyes must've appeared wild as they darted around, taking in the imposing figure that was currently occupying the doorway to her surgery.

Kiera struggled to control her mad impulse to laugh at his words.

Not in any danger. Of course I'm completely safe at ten o'clock at night, alone with a strange man covered head to toe in tactical gear, an arsenal of terrifying looking weapons and more bruises than I can count. Not to mention the fucking skull on his vest.

Before she could compose herself enough to construct a reply, her frantic thought process was interrupted by a sharp intake of breath, "Fuck, Ma'am, your hand… you're bleedin'."

She immediately glanced down at her hands, realising that they were still hovering in front of her holding a phantom tray. A thin line of crimson cut across the glove on her left palm and a steady drop of blood was falling to the floor. She hadn't even noticed.

The shock that had paralysed her limbs broke all at once and she grabbed her hand, taking a step forward. The intruder's shoulders tensed minutely, stopping her in her tracks. Kiera swallowed thickly before forcing herself to say, "I must've cut myself on the surgical blade. It was used. On a patient, I mean. I need to wash the wound out. Please." Her voice sounded foreign to her, scratchy and hesitant, as if she hadn't spoken for weeks. She was pleased, however, that it was steadier than she felt.

What looked like concern furrowed her observer's brow as he gestured towards the sink, ushering her to continue. Stepping around the mess on the floor, she removed her gloves and started to flush the cut on her palm. Aware that her every movement was being studied, she used her other hand to squeeze the gash, unable to stop the small wince that escaped her lips.

"Hey, hey, whatcha doing?! You're makin' it worse!"

Kiera looked up to see that he had moved closer to her, standing now just within arm's reach. Confusion mingled with the concern on his heavily bruised face. Again, she had to stop the hysterical laughter that threatened to explode from her. A fully armed tank of a man had broken into her dental practice and was now fretting over her wellbeing; she couldn't begin to process how bizarre the whole situation was.

I'm going to have to wake up soon. This is far too insane to be real.

Shaking her head slowly, Kiera replied, "The blade that I cut myself on was contaminated with someone else's blood. I need to encourage bleeding in order to reduce the risk of transmission. I mean the patient's medical history was clear but you never know. I'll need to get some tests done anyway, though. Just in case."

Understanding flooded his features, quickly followed by remorse. Kiera was not sure if she'd ever seen a face so expressive and closed off at the same time.

"Ah, fuck. I'm sorry, Ma'am, I truly am. I didn't mean ta sneak up on ya and scare the shit of ya. It looked like this place was empty, no lights on out front, no cars either. Didn't realise anyone was here until I was already in and I could hear your little karaoke session." He gave her a slightly lopsided grin with that comment, "I shoulda walked right back out the moment I heard ya and found another place. I'm sorry for causing you bother, Ma'am. I, uh, hope that your tests come back okay."

With that, the stranger nodded at her and turned to leave. Kiera knew that she should feel relieved but she didn't. Despite his appearance, she was starting to believe what this man had said to begin with; that he had no intention of hurting her. Going against her better instincts, she turned off the tap and grabbed his forearm with her good hand.

"Wait. Why are you here in the first place? Why are you breaking into a dental practice late at night?" The words came out much faster than she had intended, as if she needed to get them out before she lost her resolve. It took a second for her actions to sink in before she realised that she was still gripping the man's arm.

She wasn't aware that she had a death wish before now but that could be the only reasonable explanation for what she'd just done.

You have completely lost it, Kiera. Why the fuck did you stop him from leaving? And why did you touch him? In fact, why are you still touching him?! And most of all why are you thinking about how muscular his-

Kiera abruptly cut off her inner dialogue before she descended into dangerous territory. She slowly lifted her gaze to gauge his reaction to the hand that still rested on his arm. Finding a fair amount of surprise but thankfully no anger in his expression, she moved away and busied herself with wrapping her injured palm now that the cut was thoroughly cleaned. She prayed that her dark skin disguised the violent blush that she felt spreading across her cheeks and neck.

When she was finished, he shook his head slightly and cleared his throat, finally responding to her question, "I, uh, ran into some trouble earlier. Got myself a nasty cut 'ere." He turned slightly to show her his shoulder where his top was slashed, exposing an angry looking wound. Noting the alarm on her face, he continued, "I've had much worse before, darlin', I'm fine. But I need stitches and a guy looking like I do can't exactly stroll inta the hospital, ya know?"

Remembering her initial thoughts when she first saw him in the doorway, Kiera was inclined to agree with that assessment.

"So you broke in here-"

"Actually Ma'am, the doors weren't locked. So, technically..." Another crooked grin accompanied that comment. A small part of her mind that still hadn't caught up to the fact that this man was heavily armed and probably dangerous, noted that his smile had probably broken a few hearts in the past.

Crap, Sarah, of all the times to not lock the damn door.

"Fine, whatever. Still trespassing but okay, you didn't break in. Your plan was to what? Raid our surgical supply and stitch yourself up? Don't, um, guys who run into trouble usually have someone who patches them up? A disgraced vet or something?"

She wasn't quite sure what possessed her to be sarcastic at this moment in time. Either her gut instincts were telling her that this stranger really was no threat to her or she did actually want to die that night

To her surprise, he let out a gruff laugh, "You watchin' too many bad cop films, girl. Nah, I don't have a vet to patch me up. Figured this place was more likely to be closed than a vets, anyways."

"Normally it would be, we had an emergency."

"I can see that."

Heavy silence filled the room as Kiera tried to decide what to do next. There was only one logical option here. He'd already shown willingness to leave; she should tell him to do so then promptly call the police. She knew next to nothing about this man and what she did know didn't paint a very savoury picture. He was geared up like he was about to go to war and something about him told her that it wouldn't be the first time. For all she knew, he could be a wanted criminal. It was probably her civic duty to report this.

Except he had shown genuine concern for her injury and he called her 'Ma'am'.

Bad people can have good manners, you moron.

"Come with me."

Bloody moron.