Hiya, peeps! In this interrim between two major pieces, I thought I wanted to tryo out these oneshots. This one is short and silly, has some fluff and whump. Maybe I'll do another one later or maybe ctually attach a story to this one. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
MAGNUM
"Magnum?" a soft voice spoke. Even though the tone was urgent and quiet, dulled, somehow, I heard it clearly. And though it should have been a pleasant sound, like it normally was, when Higgins spoke to me, it wasn't. Something had changed her. Something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" I asked, only it came out as some kind of unintelligent mumble. I felt a warm hand on my arm and I could feel the floor cooling me down, even though the air was stifling hot. Juliet's voice sounded kind of tinny and echoed slightly. Outside I could hear birds chirping. And the smell was something between rust and soil.
"Are you alright?" I heard her ask, this time clearer through the fog in my mind and I opted for nodding my head instead. That's when the pressure wave hit me, hard and I gasped. "Breathe through it, Thomas," she said and I found myself following her instructions for what felt like ages. Her hand never left my arm. My head hurt as if someone was splitting it in halves above my right ear. I lifted my hand to squash the pain back in side. I could feel the crusted and sticky blood and a hiss escaped me.
"What happened?" I finally asked as I carefully tried to open my eyes. Thankfully, the lighting was dim, but still an assault on my eyes. My partner's face was hovering above me, worried but still a little bit of relief in her eyes. She looked flushed and uncomfortable, her hair loose and tangled.
"We were carjacked. Though, I'm sure we were the intended targets and not the Ferrari. You were hit in the head and has been unconscious for nearly an hour," she replied and I sighed involuntarily. Bits and pieces flashed in my mind's eye and I scrunched up my nose. Four armed men in a black SUV. Basic bad-guy setup.
"Did they hurt you?" I asked and when she shook her head, I actually felt the knot in my stomach loosen, but not disappear. "Where are we?" was my next question as I looked around.
"Shipping container, chained and probably padlocked. In the forest. A mile east of the nearest maintenance road," Juliet replied and I tried to roll onto my side to get up, despite the nausea I felt. "Easy, now. As much, as I appreciate the ability to move, you shouldn't," Juliet continued and I briefly questioned her logic until I realized her right hand were handcuffed to my left. I lifted my arm to inspect the cuffs. Her hand let go of my arm and the separation sobered me up a bit. The cuffs jingled slightly before I continued to sit up. My head started spinning even more.
"We have to get out of here," I said and clenched my teeth and eyes shut at a very powerful wave of pain and nausea.
"Agreed, but you are of no use to me, if you can't move. And they took everything from us. Besides, the doors are latched from the outside. The only other option is the two tiny latches in the roof and if we're so lucky they even open, I think, I might be able to get through, but that's of no help as long as we're cuffed together," Juliet rambled on and I saw her logic.
"Alright," I said and moved to lean on the wall. Sweat beaded my forehead and I could feel the rest of my body was equally clammy. Juliet followed my uncoordinated movements and copied my posture. "But we have to get out," I said stubbornly. Heat and thirst were my main concern. The air was stuffy already, despite the container being shaded by trees, and it should only be midmorning, but today's forecast was day two of an impressive heatwave, even for Hawaii.
The two latches in the roof were what allowed the small amount of light and fresh air inside. With luck, and a boost, Juliet might be able to wiggle through the tight opening, if we could somehow miraculously get the grid of. And me, of course, but we were severely lacking in the tool department.
"At least, people are looking for us," Juliet huffed and wiped her brow of sweat. I looked at her, with a mixture of wonder and we-can't-be-that-lucky. She elaborated with a frown of her own. "We were on the phone with Katsumoto, when they stopped us. You had enough sense to give him the details of their car before they knocked you out. No doubt, he's already looped in Rick and TC, not to mention every cop on the island are probably looking for us," she said and I smiled faintly. It gave us better odds, but we still couldn't do nothing.
"Did you see where they were taking us?" I asked, but she shook her head.
"I was hooded from the moment they forced me into their car and up until they locked us in here," she explained.
"Then how to you figure a mile east of the nearest maintenance road?" I asked. Maybe I could blame the confusion on my obvious head injury, but I couldn't seem to make my brain connect the information.
"Maintenance road, because it wasn't smooth asphalt, and one of them had to get out to open a gate at the beginning. I heard it creak. We walked a mile, and yes, I counted. It took two of them to carry you. East, because I could feel the sun warm the skin on my arm in the clearings," she explained with a slight smile. It was a bit contagious.
"Okay, so all we have to do is get out and walk west, flag down the first car we see. Sounds like a plan, right?" I asked and Juliet had the boldness to huff in exacerbation.
"Did you forget about these?" she asked and lifted her right arm to prove her point. My left hand followed her movement. "And the fact that we are locked in here? They really got you good, didn't they?" she asked, full of irritation. Minor problem, a setback, I admit, but not an impossible feat.
"Let's take a look on the door, maybe there's a loose screw or something," I said. From previous experience in these kinds of situation, I knew that I couldn't do nothing. It would only cause me to lose focus and then I would be hurtling down a spiral, with no easy way back up.
"Can you stand?" Juliet asked and I nodded though I wasn't sure. I figured she knew me well enough to actually let me do it and it took a couple of minutes, but I got upright, with a lot of help. Mostly, Juliet was supporting my weight, so I wouldn't keel over. My knees were weak enough. Up closer, the doors were as impenetrable as if made out of concrete. Not a single bolt or sliver of an opening. I couldn't even feel a draft.
We moved on to explore the openings in the roof. They were exactly the same. The square holes in the wire were probably big enough to fit three fingers in. Big enough to allow the smaller fallen leaves passage into the container. It could be opened from the inside, if we had some kind of tool. Bare hands weren't strong enough to twist the bolts.
The container measured eight feet in height and width and twenty feet in length. We went around the walls searching for imperfections and weaknesses and found nothing, so we ended up sitting against the cooler of the walls again in silence.
"How long has it been?" I asked and closed my eyes. The little walk had drained me and I felt even more lightheaded than before.
"An hour and a half. Surely, Katsumoto must've found some footage of the event or the car by now. Or a witness," Juliet replied. I felt another bead of sweat trickle down my face and neck. The nausea was fighting me in waves, orchestrated by the thumping pain in my head. I didn't answer. I had nothing to say. We fell back into silence and I closed my eyes. Despite the humidity I felt my mouth begin to dry out.
"What kind of underwear are you wearing?" I asked and I heard her reaction in form of a tiny gasp.
"We're locked in a shipping container and you want to know what I'm wearing? Impeccable timing, Magnum, but might I suggest you think of something less intimate?" she said.
"No, I mean… your bra. Does it have an underwire? We could use it to pick the lock," I said and faintly shook my left hand. That stunned her into silence for about two seconds, before she started fidgeting.
"Hold on," she said and my arm was suddenly jerked towards her. "Sorry," she mumbled when I hissed quietly. I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard her grumble under her breath, something about why she hadn't thought of it sooner. "Got it," she said triumphantly as she let out a breath and I opened my eyes to see her picking the lock. Seconds later, they came off and I rubbed my sore wrist before staggering to my feet.
"If you use the cuffs as a wrench, they can loosen the bolts around the opening," I said, and actually felt a little better with the renewal of hope, I apparently needed.
"Thomas, should you be upright? You don't look too good," Juliet asked and I nodded as I walked to stand beneath the opening.
"I'm fine. Come on, I'll give you a boost," I said and Juliet hesitated for only a second, before offering me her foot. It took some time for her to unscrew the bolts. One by one they fell to the floor. By the last bolt I was positively staggering as her movements grew more confident and I had to brace against them, so we wouldn't fall. The last bolt dropped to my feet and I heard clattering above.
"It's off. I can fit through," Juliet said confidently, huffing slightly. I found the last bit of strength in my body and heaved with all my might until suddenly, Juliet's feet disappeared from my hands and I ungracefully fell in a heap on the floor next to the door. "Magnum?" I heard her call out my name and I vaguely waved my hand.
"I'm good. Lost my balance is all," I called back, though even raising my voice was an effort. I could hear her hesitating as I flipped over onto my back. Her head was popped through the hole, upside down and still worried.
"I'll take a look at the door, don't move," she said, worry evident in her voice. Her footsteps echoed to the end and I could hear how she scrambled down on the corner. The unmistakable rattle of a chain sounded through the enclosed space. "Magnum, I can't pick the padlock, it's a combination shackle," she called through the door and I briefly closed my eyes.
"Go west, flag down the first car you see, call for backup," I replied and listened for a response. It came soon after.
"I'll be right back, Thomas, I promise," she said and I heard her run off. She was fit and a fast runner. She could clear a mile in seven minutes. Maybe ten, if the terrain was rough. I would be out in no time, I vaguely thought, if I didn't pass out first. On top of my evident concussion, I'm pretty sure I could feel some dehydration.
Time passed in a haze and I was no longer clammy and sweaty, when I opened my eyes again, but I was still tired. My skin had turned dry and hot and my pulse was galloping along with my shallow breathing. It took a minute for me to figure out what had startled me awake and even longer to connect the whopping sound of a helicopter to that of a possible rescue.
I dozed off again, as the container spun around and my vision grew even more distorted. The splitting headache and shallow breathing did nothing for me. Silence surrounded me when I opened my eyes again. It was broken by a distant yell of alarm from outside. I closed my eyes for a second, but was then rudely woken up by a loud banging.
"Thomas? Are you in there?" I heard Rick yell frantically. Also, the chain was rattling. I wanted to answer him, to tell him to calm down and stop yelling, but I couldn't find the strength to say the words.
"I don't hear anything, hurry up," TC growled through the door.
"Hang in there, Magnum," I heard Gordon yell before the chain was yanked off and the doors unlocked. Light flooded my vision and my stomach threatened with a reappearance of my breakfast. Faces were floating above me, Rick, TC, Gordon, and more people I didn't know.
"You're gonna be fine, TM, you hear me?" TC said as I let go of the last will to keep my eyes open. I could sleep for days. Everything would be fine. Yet they were still yelling at me.
"I am fine, guys," I confirmed to deaf ears. "Could you please turn the volume down a notch?" I mumbled and turned my head away when someone had the audacity to shine a light in my eyes and pinch the skin in my elbow.
"Concussion, heatstroke, dehydration," the guy with the light rattled off.
"Start fluids and let's get him cooled down quick," another replied. Rick's face came back into view above me. It was still pinched with worry.
"Higgy?" I asked, hoping for a positive reply.
"She's fine. A little dehydrated, but waiting at the hospital. Kumu's with her," he said and I nodded vaguely. Gordon's head joined him with a grim expression.
"We've got the bad guys not long after they left you here. They haven't said anything. When Higgins called…" he said and paused to briefly look out the doors "Good thing, she called when she did," he finished and I got a glimpse of the anger behind his eyes that for once, wasn't directed at me.
"Was it a case?" I asked and Gordon nodded.
"The one you were working this morning. My guess is, you stumbled onto something that someone wanted to keep a secret," he said. My thoughts jumped to insurance fraud, but offered nothing more than that.
"Come on, Tommy, let's get you out of here," TC said outside of my field of vision. I started to feel the cool fluids from the IV port in my arm, and I instantly began feeling better.
It took a while getting me strapped on the gurney, they would hear nothing about me walking on my own two feet. It took even longer to move to the clearing where a medivac helicopter had been landed. The flight to the hospital didn't take long and after extensive examinations and conversations with doctors I was finally allowed to get some rest.
MAGNUM
"Hey, buddy, you still with us?" a warm voice asked quietly. TC was sitting to my right, so I rolled my head towards him.
"Right here," I answered after a while and carefully opened my eyes. It took a couple of blinks, to unblur my vision, but the smile on TC's face was totally worth it.
"You gave us all a good scare. How are you feeling, Tommy?" he asked and I let out a sigh as I looked around the quiet room. A laptop and a tablet were stacked on a nearby table, evidence pointing towards that Higgins had been working from the hospital room. The room wasn't spinning, my mouth wasn't dry and overall, I felt a whole lot better, than I had in the container.
"Better," I said honestly when my eyes fell on Kumu's bag in the corner.
"They'll be back in a few minutes. Kumu took Juliet to the cafeteria for lunch. Gordon has processed the bad guys and Rick went with him to arrest your client," TC explained and I nodded.
"Good," I said and let my head fall back into the pillow. "When do I get to go home?" TC chuckled and briefly looked at the time.
"Probably no earlier than tomorrow. Doctors are still a bit worried about your concussion. Treatment for dehydration and heatstroke are going well, you're almost back to normal temperature," TC explained.
"Great. Help me up, will you?" I asked and TC hesitated for a moment.
"Absolutely not," Higgins said from the doorway, before she and Kumu walked in. TC held up his hands in surrender and chuckled again.
"Relax, Higgy-babe, I wasn't going to let him prance around just yet," he said with a wide smile. I briefly glared at him for letting me down like that.
"Come on, guys, I just need to walk around for a couple of minutes," I said, already knowing they wouldn't budge.
"No can do, Thomas, sorry. Doctor's orders," Kumu said and sat down in a chair.
"How are you feeling?" Higgins asked. She was still dressed in the same clothes as this morning.
"I'm good, really," I said with a smile and got one in return. "You?"
"Right as rain. You'll be happy to know, even the Ferrari escaped unharmed," she answered with a smile.
"Sounds good," I said as my thoughts wandered back. "Gordon said they caught the bad guys rather quickly. How come it was so easy?" I asked and looked to TC who shrugged.
"They didn't really make an effort to get away, after we tracked down their car. Didn't go for their weapons. Wasn't easy, though. They wouldn't talk. Didn't even ask for a lawyer," TC said, a bit of anger showing through his calm exterior.
"Why not?" I asked, still perplexed by the unusual capture.
"I guess they were confident enough about their plan, that they didn't need to worry. We couldn't charge them with anything. We had nothing, until Juliet called," TC said and shrugged.
"Good thing you got out, dear, or we wouldn't have this conversation," Kumu said with a hand on Juliet's arm. She then hesitated. "How did you get out? I thought, I heard someone mentioning that you were cuffed to each other? And I see, Magnum still has both hands attached," she said and I grinned victoriously.
"In case I say something wrong, I'll let you explain that one," I said and to my big surprise Juliet actually looked somewhat between amused and murderous. I was content with still being alive, so I closed my eyes and fell asleep within a second.
MAGNUM
So, whaddya think? Just a silly, little oneshot, from silly, little me. I hope you enjoyed it.
/kwueenie.