"…You lost your umbrella?"

Constable Earnest Johnson was not having the best of evenings. To begin with, he was meant to be off duty. As such, he probably should have changed out of his uniform before beginning his walk towards home, but he felt rather proud of his uniform, which was much nicer than his every day clothes, and inspired a certain amount of respect from passersby (and scorn, but he turned his nose up at those types of people…low-lives and criminals surely to have such strong feelings towards a keeper of the peace). And if someone happened to need his help and called on him even during his off duty times, well, it made him feel important.

Only when he was on duty, properly, he would be sent out with Constable Henry Robins. Being off duty, it was rather alarming to hear a ruckus and stumble upon the esteemed and well connected William Hyde, bleeding and bound, surrounded by no less than five rough looking sorts who looked to be planning murder. Sure three out of the five were omegas, but he'd been a policeman long enough to know better than to discount an omega's abilities in violence. And two were betas. And Earnest was alone, and a small part of him that he wasn't proud of would have liked to back away and pretend he'd never stumbled upon this scene. He didn't back away though, not with a clear crime of some sort in progress (at any rate, if they didn't kill Bill, the man would be sure to remember his cowardliness and the constable would be lucky if it only cost him his job).

Being alone, he tried to make sense of the situation as best he could, without inviting further violence. This was about Bill's omega…the one Bill had gotten a bit too rough with a day or so ago, that Earnest had escorted home. That entire situation made Earnest feel uncomfortable. Everyone knew omegas needed a firm hand for their own good…but there were lines that shouldn't be crossed. And in his heart, Earnest had to admit that Bill had crossed them. Striking an omega was wrong. And it was against the law. But…what could Earnest have done? Arrest William Hyde for a bit of overzealous disciplining? It would have come to nothing…and probably cost Earnest, if not his badge, then certainly his rank. And the omega wasn't that bad off. If he'd just behaved nothing would have happened, and anyway, the omega was walking and talking and it was just a bit of a bruise and…he was fine.

The five rough attackers didn't look inclined to see reason, though. They weren't just angry over a black eye either, saying Bill attacked them. That he tried to kidnap his own omega off the street. That bad feeling, the one Earnest had felt over Bill being too rough with his omega, it was back, only twice as strong. Earnest felt almost like he was the one in the wrong, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. So when he tried to get William Hyde to explain, he might have come across as a bit strong.

"What is going on here, Bill?" he demanded. "What's all this talk about you kidnapping your omega, anyway? Why were you having to drag him home? Surely it's better to let a bad one go than get into all this trouble?"

"He's mine!" the alpha growled furiously in response. "Whether I have to drag him or not!"

Bill's response was far from being reassuring. For all the roughs looked the likely candidates for crime, Bill certainly sounded half mad. Certainly, the roughs didn't sound impressed.

"Is that what all this is about?" asked one of them. And then, "I've changed my mind; should have doused 'em when we had the chance."

And no, that kind of talk shouldn't be allowed, and…and Earnest should surely be backing Bill because, well, if Bill was in the wrong then maybe Earnest had been in the wrong, at least a bit and that was too uncomfortable to contemplate. No…what Earnest needed to do was calm the situation down before it got worse. Things weren't as bad as the young omega was trying to make them out to be, not bad enough to start speaking about dousing people. Earnest had to explain.

"Look, the boy had got knocked around a bit, sure, but he was standing and talking and, well, Bill wouldn't do him real harm."

"No real harm?!" one of the omegas exclaimed, not placated at all, sounding furious in fact. "Cracked ribs, welts all across his back, and bruising from head to toe bad enough the doc warned about pissing blood, and you say not that bad?!"

There was no good way to answer that. Earnest wanted to explain that Bill hadn't done that…but…Bill looked outraged, only, for all the wrong reasons. He wasn't outraged at the suggestion that he'd done…that. He was outraged because people were saying he shouldn't.

Still…William Hyde was a respectable man. And Earnest felt he had to say something when the other omega came out with , "Anyway, like I told him." And he gestured at Bill. "Jack has an alpha. And if you think us letting him live is a mercy, just wait until Miss Banks comes for him."

"Now see here…" Earnest tried to interject, only he didn't really know what he wanted them to see. It was just the sort of thing one says to try and calm things down, only usually everyone tries to keep on speaking and Earnest wasn't sure what he was meant to say when no one did. See that Bill was a well connected alpha who the likes of them shouldn't make lowly constables arrest because it would go bad for all of them? That wasn't right, surely. The law was for everyone. See that Bill hadn't done any real harm? Only…only maybe Bill had. He looked mad enough to do quite a bit of harm in that moment. See that Earnest wasn't even on duty and he just wanted to go home and forget he'd seen anything? That wouldn't go over well with anyone.

"Just you arrest them all!" shouted Bill. "Or better yet, get me out of this, and I'll teach them myself the meaning of real discipline!"

"Not much of a lesson if you die from it," one of the leeries pointed out. It was strange to look between them because all six were furious, but where the bound alpha looked half mad in his fury, the roughs burned coldly, angry but contained.

This was not something he could handle on his own. He needed them all to come with him so someone with better pay than him could sort things out. Only…he was alone. How was he going to get five rough sorts and an irate alpha to follow him if they didn't want to?

"I think you should all come with me," he told them anyway, and if it came off as more of a suggestion than an order, well, he knew and they knew that if they decided to fight him, he wasn't going to come out on top. Feeling he had to at least make some effort, he added "I will call for backup." And he held up his whistle importantly and tried to pretend that he knew for a fact there was another officer in hearing distance who would come running the moment he blew on it.

"I was rather wondering why you hadn't already," one of the omegas said, his tone scathing. "Isn't that what cops do? Wander the streets in gangs?"

"We protect the innocent," Earnest answered, indignant enough to break through his own doubt and fears. He blew his whistle, rather hoping that someone was nearby. Perhaps that someone would even take complete charge and say something like, "I say, Earnest, aren't you off duty? Just go along home, we'll deal with this lot." And then he could go on his way and maybe start bringing his change of clothes to work so he wouldn't be expected to intervene in such situations in his off hours.

What he got was a cultured woman who somehow, with a single look, seemed to know everything about him…and found him wanting. How she did that with just a look, he couldn't say. He just had a feeling that his shirt was mussed or his hat crooked or a button had come undone somewhere.

"Oh good, a strong, brave policeman. I'm so glad I ran into you. You see, I seem to have mislaid my umbrella and was rather hoping you could help me find it."

"…You lost your umbrella?" Surely, the evening could not get any stranger.

"Mislaid," the woman repeated, somehow sounding polite and impatient at the same time.

Far from rendering him aid, thanks to the whistle he now had five roughs, a bound and irate gentleman, and a lady who appeared entirely unrelated to any of the others and who might well need to be defended.

At least…he thought they were unrelated, until all five of the young roughs beamed at her.

"Here it is, Mary Poppins," said one of the omegas, and sure enough, there was a rather nice umbrella lying next to Bill, looking entirely out of place in the alleyway.

"That…demonic thing… bit me!" Bill shouted furiously. The woman, Mary Poppins apparently, gave him an unimpressed look, not that Earnest could blame her. The alpha sounded raving.

"You wish to suggest," she said, in a careful tone of disapproval, "That my umbrella is in the habit of biting?"

"It did! My hand is still bleeding!"

"See here, Bill," Earnest tried carefully. "Umbrellas don't bite."

"It did! Just look at my hand!"

As Bill was looking rather worse for wear all over, the fact that his hand was, in fact, bleeding, did not do much to convince that an umbrella, of all things, had caused it.

"This…gentleman," said Mary Poppins to Earnest, in a cultured tone of distaste, "Does not seem at all right in the head. Is it not your duty as an officer of the law to escort him from the streets and see to his…failings?"

Earnest tried to stand up straighter, to embody the kind of policeman the woman implied he should be, and said, "I was just in the act of escorting all these, er, gentlemen to do just that."

"And where did you intend to escort them?" she asked.

"…the station?" Earnest really intended that to be a bold statement, but somehow the woman, with just a look, managed to turn all his bold resolutions to water.

"And lump them all in your cells, without knowing the guilty from the innocent?" she said, sounding shocked by the very notion. "When there are still lights all across London in need of being lit? And I suppose you will say it was not your fault when an unlit lamp causes a car to knock down an old man as he crosses the street. Or allows for a thief to break into a business with impunity under the cover of darkness. No, you were just doing your duty in detaining half the lamplighters of London."

"Well…I mean…I wouldn't call five half…"

"I'm a sweep, if you please," said one of the five.

"And," Mary Poppins said in the same dire tones, "When a house burns to the ground because its chimney is clogged, I suppose you won't own that to be your fault either."

"You can't expect us to just let everyone go about their business when a crime has been committed!" Earnest said, feeling unaccountably guilty all the same. It didn't help that he kept looking at Bill, and remembering that young omega, the way he didn't want to look Earnest in the eye when he said 'Bill hit me. He's not allowed to hit me.' And Earnest had known it was wrong but…he couldn't change the world and if the omega would just…just be respectful and behave…none of this had to happen.

And Mary Poppins looked at him, and somehow she seemed to know his every guilty thought. And she didn't say anything, not to condemn him, not to absolve him. She just waited.

"If it helps," said one of the omegas, "Them three didn't do more than help us tie him up."

"Well then," said the woman, as though that settled everything, and then she looked at Earnest expectantly.

"If…if you three had nothing to do with…with nothing…" Earnest tried, not exactly saying they were free to go but…who was he kidding; if they wanted to go, he wasn't going to stop them.

"They are ruffians who ganged up on me!" Bill protested furiously. And normally, Earnest would remember who Bill was and would bow to his fury but…he still remembered that omega's face and…and the young woman appeared just as respectable as Bill, if not more so, and he found himself wanting to please her.

"I don't think all of you need come in to the station," Earnest said firmly. To his surprise, rather than scattering to the winds at his dismissal, the three of them looked a bit disappointed. And they looked to the woman, rather than to him.

"Aw, Mary," said one, "Must we? I wanted to see the blow."

At least, that was what Earnest heard, but perhaps he misheard, because Mary Poppins, answered severely with, "Show? This is not a circus. And the lights must be lit."

To that, the young man tilted his head, touching his cap, and then two of the young roughs took off, leaving three. Bill protested this, loudly, calling Earnest all sorts of unhelpful and rather hurtful names for letting them go, until one of the remaining leeries helpfully thought to gag him with a convenient handkerchief. Earnest probably should have protested but…well…those were some hurtful words Bill had been calling him. Where the young leerie had found a handkerchief when there hadn't been one before was harder to say.

Bill silenced but still glaring furiously, Earnest considered the remaining three roughs. Two omegas who were clearly friends with Bill's omega (he vaguely recognized one of them from the incident the other day) and a beta who now sported a stubborn expression in the face of the young lady's look.

"I'm no leerie, and I'm not on duty," the self-identified sweep said, mulishly crossing his arms. And Earnest had thought the trouble would be to keep the roughs from running off.

"Really, Sean," Mary Poppins said, sounding disapproving, and Earnest thought for sure she'd have him off in a moment. Instead, she abruptly turned away to face Earnest again.

"Constable Johnson," she said. "Just where are you escorting us?"

"Let's go to the station, then," said Earnest, just barely making it a statement rather than a suggestion. She clearly took it as one anyway.

"A secure and safe environment, I'm sure," she said. "And when are we to be heard by the judge so this whole matter can be settled?"

"In the morning, I suppose," said Earnest, knowing it was far too late in the evening for any of them to be heard that day. This seemed entirely reasonable to Earnest, though he was used to it seeming less reasonable to those he nabbed but…somehow the look he got from this Mary Poppins made him feel the entire situation was anything but reasonable.

"You expect me to sit in a cell for an entire night, waiting on a judge?" she asked.

"Not you, exactly," Earnest said quickly. "I mean…you were just after your umbrella…weren't you?"

"Never mind," said Mary Poppins. "I'm sure arrangements can be made when we get there." And then she looked at him expectantly.

It turned out, transporting the esteemed and respectable William Hyde to the station was the hardest part of escorting all of them. The two young omegas followed along quite calmly, and the sweep clearly couldn't be shaken off when they had tried, and Mary was kind enough to accept his arm when he offered it, and for some reason that both elated and terrified him.

She was a beta, clearly she was a beta. So why did she project the gentle delicateness of an omega? And why did he feel he'd offered his arm to a predator as fierce as any alpha he'd ever met?

It was a very strange evening.

It was stranger still, when somehow the judge happened to be in because he'd forgotten his hat, and when he saw the state Bill was in, he naturally wanted to know all about everything.

"What's the meaning of this!" he yelled at Earnest, "What is the matter with you, dragging Mr. Hyde to the station, with the state he's in! He should be in hospital, and the ones responsible behind bars! And who is responsible?"

Bill, still being gagged, could do little more but glare fiercely. Earnest, feeling rather attacked himself, nonetheless mumbled something about the two leeries. The judge looked astonished for a moment (two omegas, taking down an alpha? Unheard of!) but he quickly turned on them as well.

"You'll get what is coming to you, see if you don't, attacking upright citizens, you young ruffians! I don't care if you are omegas, you clearly are undisciplined and uncultured, and your alphas are in for it, see if they aren't! Just tell me who your alphas are and we can put this whole matter to rest!"

Bill looked smug and vindicated and still a bit furious, all at once. Earnest felt a bit ill. He knew that was how things would go but…but…

"Excuse me, your honor," Earnest heard his own voice saying. "Only…only I know for a fact that Mr. Hyde beat on his omega and…" and everyone was staring at him, Bill in fury, the judge in confused shock, the three roughs with surprise and approval. And Mary's expression was complicated. There was approval there, but also…well, perhaps Earnest should have tried harder to say something before, and perhaps she knew that.

Earnest knew how things worked. He knew that people like Bill don't get in trouble over a young leerie, and he knew that trials of any kind wait for the morning, and that judges aren't inclined to make exceptions.

And young ladies didn't wander the dark streets of London in search of their fancy umbrellas and stumble over crime scenes. And young ladies didn't follow roughs into a station and give judges a severely judgmental look.

Only, this one did, and, somehow, it was almost eight in the evening and the judge was in his chamber and they were waiting on the alpha the two omegas had named as their own.

Well, one had muttered something that sounded like, 'Chalky' only that wasn't a proper name and Earnest must have heard wrong, and anyway, the other one had stepped on the first one's toes and hissed something at him, and after that they both said, "Jane Banks."

"Jane…Banks?" the judge had asked, sounding rather surprised. It wasn't the kind of last name one expected to be associated with lowly leeries.

"Her father was a banker," one of the omegas put in helpfully. "Brother is a banker now. Respectable enough for you?"

Which then had the one who'd muttered 'Chalky' stepping on his friends toes in turn, because that really isn't how one should talk to a judge who had quite a bit of power over one's fate.

"You will find her at number 17 Cherry Tree Lane," Mary put in. "Her brother's address. A member of her pack was recently injured…" here, she turned her scathing look on Bill, "and she has taken up residence there for convenience."

"Quite a respectable address as well," the judge said, more to himself than to anyone else. "Are you sure this alpha will be interested in these misguided young men?"

"Quite," was the scathing answer, and the judge actually tilted his head slightly, submissive to her.

So a policeman was sent to fetch Jane Banks. And a doctor was sent for as well, considering Bill really was rather bad off after the attack. No one had untied him yet; even the judge seemed to think better of it when he saw the way Bill glared fiercely at everyone.

No one mentioned that Earnest was technically off duty and should be allowed to go home. He didn't like to bring it up himself. Particularly as the judge was supposed to be just as off duty, and he was staying.

It was half an hour before the doctor and the sent for alpha arrived almost at the same time.

"A Doctor Jenkins is here," announced the receptionist. "And there's an alpha who says he was sent on behalf of Jane Banks."

"Aha!" cried Bill, who had regrettably been ungagged. "Sir, they are trying to fool you with all that nonsense about a respectable alpha; clearly he is no respectable alpha!"

His triumphant exclamation was somewhat drowned out, however, by twin cries of "Bert!" coming from one of the leeries and the sweep. The other leerie looked less surprised but did offer the incoming alpha a raised eyebrow. The new alpha, in turn, called out with surprised delight, "Mary Poppins!"

The judge called the court to order. It was time to get to the bottom of things. And then Earnest was going to take a cab home. Never mind the expense, there was only so much drama of an evening a constable could be expected to take during his time off.