Chapter 26.5

Drabble/Short

Cause and Effect

Tanner had four hours between dawn and dusk that she classified as 'safe'. Safe being a relative word because now, between the Grimm, animals, and other people, nothing was really safe.

She swallowed her anxiety and rushed across the street, into the back alley of the strip mall. It was sheltered, butted up against the side of a grocery store, which was her real target. She needed food, and this was one of the only places in Tealia to get it, even with the country crumbling.

She eased along the wall, peeking out and down the alley.

It looked clear, and she could see the side entrance to the store, along with all the back doors for the adjacent strip mall.

All closed. All hopefully locked.

All clear.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and her stomach twisted, but she chalked it up to a newfound paranoia as she stepped out, creeping down the asphalt to the door.

Inside the store would be safer. Grimm were less likely to be there given the inconvenience of doors, and while humans were more prone, she hadn't seen anyone other than herself for a while.

It should be safe.

She grasped the door handle, pulling it softly. The hinges hissed open, nice and smooth. Almost there.

Tanner was unfamiliar with guns as a whole. But that didn't mean she didn't recognize the clink-click-clack as a hammer was pulled back, or the hard-cold weight of a barrel against the back of her head.

She froze, fingers clamping down on the door handle. Her chest seized, and she had to force herself to let out a long slow breath.

"Step away from the door."

She obeyed, taking one careful step back, mindful of any sudden movements.

There was a pause, then a hum. "A girlie? That's not common out here. Look at me."

She swallowed, realizing where this train of thought was going. Would it be better just to fight back?

She faced the man, recognizing the sleazy expression on his face, combined with the greasy skin, the dirty clothes. The only clean about him appeared to be the pistol, which he held carefully at her head.

"Now then." The man said, smiling at her.

One moment he was closing in on her, pistol held at the ready.

The next, he was screaming on the ground, his arm twisted back at an unnatural angle, and a different man was standing in front of her.

His back was to her, but she could tell he was younger, stronger, faster.

The thug scuttled away, gaining distance as he held his arm to his chest. It clicked a moment later that, his arm had been broken.

How?

The young man in front of her didn't move, simply seemed to stare at the thug, hands calmly at his side. When he spoke, it was low and slow, but the tone… it was cold like ice.

"If I see you again. I'll make sure you don't have another bone left to break."

The thug nodded, "Right, right, right." He backed up against a dumpster, fumbling with his coat pocket.

She realized belatedly she hadn't seen the pistol, reaching up to grab her savior as the thug produced it from the folds of his dirty coat.

The pistol cracked.

She saw a flicker of blue. A thread of some sort.

The air between the man and the pistol sparked, and something slammed against the brick walls on either side of them.

The man took his hands off his sides, flexing both before bringing them in front of him. He hesitated, glancing back at her, revealing that he had a young face, and green eyes. Then he turned back to the thug, stalking forward.

The pistol fired three more times, each time the air between them sparked, and what she assumed was the bullet hit either side of the wall.

Was the man deflecting them?

The pistol clicked, empty.

She watched, something between fear and admiration stewing in her stomach as the younger man picked up the thug, dragging him kicking and screaming down the alley. She saw him throw the man around the corner. She stalked around it, listened to the screams last for a few painful seconds, then silence.

The young man walked back around the corner; expression grim as he walked back towards her.

She jerked, startling her body into action.

The thug might have wanted something truly vile.

But this man might actually kill her.

She scrambled, feet failing her as she brought herself to the grocery store door. She yanked it open, dashing inside. She pulled on the handle, her fingers flying clean off it as the door held open.

She tripped, watching as a hand curled around the edge of the door. She hit the ground, scooting back until her back hit the wall.

Shit. He was going to kill her.

He stepped inside the doorway, stopping in the threshold.

He stared at her; eyes cast in shadow by the glow of the afternoon sun.

"Do you know where the nearest scroll shop is?"
She stared at him, mouth easing open as the impossibility of the question dawned on her. She blinked at him, and the man crouched down, extending a hand slowly to her.

"You alright? I didn't clip you with a wire, did I?"

Wire?

He'd been using wires?

That flash of blue! Wait.

He'd been using a wire to deflect bullets?

She swallowed, tongue feeling thick as she pressed back into the wall, away from his hand. He stopped, fingers outstretched, revealing a thick scar on his palm.

He curled his fingers back, then dropped his hand back to his side. "Right. Probably creepy. Sorry." He stood back up, taking a step out the door.

"Check the strip mall." She suggested.

He stopped, then smiled. "Thanks." Even though he'd probably come from that direction, had likely seen there wasn't much of anything left there. "I'll take a look. Take care."

He stepped out, letting the door swing closed behind him.

She hesitated, creeping back to the door and easing it open just a crack. She could see him through the slit, see him calmly reading the logos on the back doors to the buildings.

Another gunshot rang out and she flinched, jerking back from the door before realizing she hadn't been the target. She rushed back to the door, catching it before it closed and pressing her eye up to the crack between the frame and the door.

A second person had joined him in the alley, dressed about as differently as possible.

She would call him a rogue. Dark colors, muted jacket, all hard edges and grim looks. Whether or not that was accurate wasn't her concern. She was far more concerned with the new member to the alley.

The second person was a female, dressed like a toy soldier. Long blue tailcoats though tattered and bloodstained along with a leather pouch on her back, likely holding rounds for the musket she had pointed at the man. The trim might have been white, but now was a dull gray. She might have looked regal once.

Now she looked… desperate.

"William Faolan Lance." Her voice carried easily across the alley.

Ah. So, his name was William.

He adjusted, shifting to put his back to the door and leaving his hands in his pockets. He looked almost amused, but at this distance, she couldn't tell if that was a smile on his lips, or a scowl.

"Solemn." He greeted, voice soft and gentle. "What's this about?"

She took a step forward ramming the musket barrel into his chest, pushing him back against the wall. "You were part of this!" She yelled. "You lied to me!"

Were they… friends? Lovers? Ex's?

"I did." He agreed readily, drawing his hands out of his pockets, slowly curling one around the barrel. "I lied to a lot of people actually. Not just you."

She resisted his attempt to shift the barrel, planting it firmly on his chest. "Don't." She snarled.

Tanner swallowed, glancing between the sky and the duo. She had some time before things got messy. This was… none of her business.

But damn if it wasn't more interesting than staring at soup can labels.

"Look Solemn. I made some mistakes. I'm trying to make up for them. I'm trying to get back to my team." William assured her. "You can come with me if you want." He hesitated, then added. "Where's your team? Your brother?"

Solemn screamed, ripping the musket out of his hands, pivoting it and swatting at him with the rifle butt. He ducked and rolled, putting distance between them.

The musket fired, round punching a hole through the nice black coat William was wearing. It looked like the shot missed, catching the fringes as opposed to his body. Lucky.

William charged back, what looked like empty handles appearing in his palms. A moment later they extended glowing blue blades.

Solemn blocked his advance with a sweep of her musket, and William gave her the distance without a fight. He edged closer, not letting her reload, but not looking like he wanted to press.

Solemn looked a mess, and even from a distance Tanner could see tears streaking down her face, her cheeks flush with color. She spoke through gritted teeth. "You killed him."

William held up his hands. "Did no such thing." He circled her, keeping the weapons up, but at the ready. "Tell me what happened Solemn."

She glared at him, taking a step back before speaking. "This was your doing. You let the Grimm into Beacon." She shuttered. "I didn't even… it was just another day. Business was slow with the festival. I didn't even see it coming."

Grimm. But why did this woman think that was William's fault?

"I'm sorry." William said softly. "I was protecting my team. My partner."

"You killed my family!" She shouted. She whipped the musket around, and William took the blow in the chest, wrapping his arms around it and holding it tight.

"Solemn!" He barked. "I'm trying to make it right!"

"You can't!" She dropped the musket, backing away. The words seemed to take something out of her, and the girl hunched over, wrapping her arms around herself. "You can't."

William stood, holding the musket awkwardly as he stared. He didn't look like a man that knew how to deal with woman to begin with, but that was becoming more and more clear as Tanner watched him shift and shuffle his feet.

"Look." He began. "I messed up a lot of lives. I'm not trying to be a hero. I've thrown that away. And I'm not blaming this on how I grew up, or what choices I've had to make to survive. I'm sorry my choices got your family… your team killed. And that's my fault. And if you want to kill me for it. That's fine." He swallowed, straightened up as he took a step forward.

"But I can't let you do that yet." Solemn looked up, her back to Tanner. William couldn't see her other hand reaching behind her, for her waistline.

"I have to get back to my team." William explained. "And I promise, I'll kill Roman for you. He's the mastermind of this. I can't let you kill me till then."

Her hand stopped, hesitating there for a long time. Then it ducked under her coat, producing a heavy framed revolver.

"Too bad."

"William!" Tanner yelled, unsure why his name had leapt to her lips, the warning a surprise to all three of them as she threw the door open.

But that surprise was apparently what William needed.

He twirled the musket as Solemn brought the pistol to bear. One swing, the stock slapping the weapon out of her hands, accompanied by the meaty smack of wood on skin.

Solemn hissed, glancing at William, then Tanner.

She scowled openly at both.

Then something weird happened.

The light intensified.

Tanner ducked behind the door, squeezing her eyes shut to block it out. It hurt.

She blinked, her vision fuzzy, tears in her eyes as she peeked back out from the door.

Solemn was gone, as were her weapons. William stood in the alley alone, hands dropped into his dark jean pockets and a scowl on his face.

He looked up at her, then nodded. "Thanks for the warning." He called to her, waving. "I needed it."

Tanner hesitated, clinging to the door like a lifeline. "What was…?"

William pursed his lips and shrugged. "Just some things from the past, coming back to bite me. I made a bad deal, and there were a lot of people that had to pay for it."

Tanner wasn't sure how she felt about that reply. It was both… dark… and like he was trying to make amends. A bad boy trying to act like a choir boy.

"You looking for redemption?" She asked.

William snorted. "I don't think I'm worth enough to ask for that." He replied, glancing at her again, letting her see that his eyes had a little bit of blue in them as well as the green. "Just trying to… atone. For all the shit I screwed up."

She nodded, then looked back into the grocery store. Her time was running out. She needed to get her food, load her backpack and get back to her little safehouse. But she hesitated, looking back at William.

He had turned around, letting her see his back. The jacket tattered but bloodless. The haggardness in his step obvious in how he leaned more on one leg than the other, even one of his arms seemed to take more effort to move than the other, as if he'd injured it.

"Do you want to…" She trailed off, interrupted by him waving his left hand dismissively.

"Thank you." He looked back at her and smiled. "But I have a team, and a girl, I have to get back to."

She blinked, unsure how to take that. Had he thought…? She pursed her lips and ducked back into the grocery store. Sure, he wasn't bad looking, but she preferred her men sweet, gentle and kind. Not… possibly murderous ex-cons who had more scar than skin.

She paused at the soup isle, considering that notion.

To be fair.

William had been nice.

She meandered through the isle, picking up a trio of cans labeled 'Potato Soup', stuffing them in her backpack.

He'd saved her too. And she'd seen the strength in those arms, even beneath the jacket. He had to have some muscles under there to throw that thug around the corner. And to move as fast as he did.

What if he was a Hunter?

Mmm. Hunters were attractive.

She hummed in agreement with that thought. But he had a girl, he'd mentioned that specifically.

She shrugged, lucky girl then, she decided.

Alright so. Solemn Achernar is officially DownTownAlpha's OC, but we've agreed that I get to use her for some…developmental purposes in William's story. There are some discrepancies between her stories and mine in usage and context, but I enjoy working with her.

Read and Review and tell me what you think of this outsider-perspective of this shot. I might do it again for other Shorts or use it to write a chapter from Coco or Fox's POV later.