threadwhoring is an addiction. seriously.

[incapacitates]

Who: Red and Church
What: He comes to pay his respects to the injured one
When: Right before the thread that's right before this one.
Where: Red's apartment
Rating: 13/R for language?



Church: It'd been five days since Tex had put three bullets through Saffron's shoulder. Shelly's shoulder. All Church knew was that she'd shot her, he didn't know where, or how many times. Hell, he didn't even know that she'd shot him three times in the head, before she'd shot him when he woke up. They weren't exactly on great speaking terms at the moment.

Anyway. Church had found out where the woman with the red hair lived, simply by asking around and paying attention, and he'd also found out that she'd been released from the hospital the day before. And she'd be home. So he'd stolen some money from Tex's room and got himself a cab, and was dropped off at her doorstep. He had a pistol on him, this time, though it wasn't visible because he had it strapped to his chest, underneath a loose shirt and his jacket. The blue eyed Spartan was walking up the steps to her apartment, locating her room number, then lifting a hand up to knock three times.

"Hey, baby. It's true love knocking."

Red: The first day back was rough. Her home felt cold and unusual -- pale walls and a half-finished attempt at furnishing. Red almost missed the hospital, despite the bad food and constant nurses with frigid hands.

At least the medication was nice. Pain pills kept her in a mostly-asleep, though decidedly zombie-like state. What was almost upsetting was that she hadn't seen Barney. Well -- beyond the apparent hallucination in the hospital -- but those memories especially had become foggy since.

She wandered the apartment, occasionally. At a loss of what to do. Of course the walks didn't last long, each jarring movement sending a shock of pain through her shoulder.

On the second day there was a knock at her door, and Red moved to answer it without thinking. Her hand froze against the handle at the smooth, familiar, and unwelcome voice. She pulled back, thinking naively that maybe if she stayed very, very quiet, he'd disappear like an obedient nightmare.

Church: "I know you're there." Church said after waiting a couple of minutes, lifting his hand up to jerk on the handle. "Open up. I won't bite unless you want me to, Scout's Honor." He was giving the knob another good jerk. "And if you don't open up, I'm going to break down your fucking door."

Red: She rested the palm of her hand flat against the door, teeth grinding against one another. A broken door would be the last thing she needed. But if Church was as mad as she thought he sounded, there was a good chance her door would not be the only thing in her apartment to break.

Valiantly, she looked around, plotting an escape route that could never possibly happen. "I'll ask you real nice." And that was rare, in itself. "Please. Go."

Church: "You have three seconds." With that, he took a step back, rolling his shoulders. "Three." Said loudly. "Two."

Red: Church was answered with a little click of the lock. She'd do that much for him.

Church: "Open the fucking door!" Snapped. He wasn't going to open it. She was going to do it, and she was going to invite him inside.

Red: "Rutting men." It killed her to, but she opened the door, stepping back so he could see the damage Tex had caused. The right side of her looked like it had taken the brunt force of a bus, right arm in a sling and wrapped heavily at the shoulder. A bandage wrapped around her head to cross over her right eye and temple, holding in place what appeared to be a small ice-pack. Beneath the hem of the bandage were faded outlines of a bruise, blended out against her skin in a gaussian blur.

"You happy now?"

Church: He lifted his arms to cross over his chest when he heard the door opening, and stared forward at her when she appeared in the now open doorway. Blue eyes took in the damage to her head first, then lowered to her shoulder.. and he smirked. "Serves you right." Said after a moment, and he let his hands fall down so his arms hung loosely at his sides. "It'd be polite for you to invite me in for tea. Shelly."

Red: "Sorry, fresh out. You'll have to come back at a later time." She began closing the door.

Church: He was stepping forward and pushed a boot into the door jam, though, so the door would
simply bounce off of his foot. "If I come back later it'll be with a gun and a shovel."

Red: Of course it wouldn't be that easy. She rolled her eyes -- no -- wait -- eye. "Don't tell me that's how you woo all the girls."

Church: He reached out with his left hand and shoved the door open fully again, whether he was shoving her with it or not. And he moved into the apartment, glancing around before he turned to face her again. "You were going to rob me." He said simply. "So you must think I'm stupid." He was moving forward, to scope out her place a little.

Red: "Don't think you're so special." Red closed the door after him, having jumped enough out of the way so it didn't hit her on his entrance. A sinking feeling brewed in her stomach that this would be a far longer stay than she wanted the neighbors to hear. "Don't flatter yourself, sweetie, I think all men are stupid. I only decided to knock you out after Tall-Red-n-Manly appeared on the scene."

Church: "You know, it's too bad I'm going to have to kill you now." Said conversationally, as he glanced around the apartment. "You're really fucking good looking."

Red: "Yeah, well your little friend happened to take care of that." She spat the words, in no mood to beg and plead for her life. People like him would kill no matter what. "Trust me, you'd be doing me a favor; I'd rather die than have scars."

Church: "That's good." He was reaching up under his coat, then, and his hand came back down with fingers curled around the handle of a pistol. And hew as lifting it to point it at her forehead, walking forward so he could press the barrel right up against her cheek, underneath the bandage.

Red: Her jaw tightened visibly, eye squeezing tightly shut against the fiery pain from her bruise. "Go ahead." Each word hissed through her teeth. "Go ahead if it'll make your ego feel better. It's what makes you a man, isn't it?"

Church: His other hand moved up and he cocked the gun back in a jerking motion. "Maybe I'll fuck around with you a little first. My ego could go for a little of that, too."

Red: "Yeah, you're a real gentleman, you know that?" She sneered, all teeth and gnashing as the pain in her cheek made her eyes water.

Church: He was quiet a long moment before he lowered his finger and pulled the trigger. The gun would click -- the safety was still on. But it'd probably scare the ever living shit out of her.

Red: Red flinched. She'd opened her eye enough to ee the finger move toward the trigger. Her breathing quickened, heart pounding in her heart and her head. And when it clicked, she flinched and shuddered, eye closing once more. "...tease."

Church: He pulled his gun back then and jerked it down against his hip, before reaching back to shove it into the back of his pants. "I could say the same about you." Replied easily, and he moved away from her to move right over to her couch, lowering down into a seat.

Red: "What, no killing?" Red grimaced, willing her heartbeat to slow. "Lost your nerve for it?"

Church: "I wasn't going to kill you, you dumb bitch." Replied as he leaned back into her couch. "I wanted to scare you. And from the looks of your wet pants, it worked."

Red: "Well if you're going to waste my time, you might as well leave. I've had guns pointed at my head before." Just never from someone who might have actually meant it. Even Mal, she knew, would never put a bullet in her.

Church: "No. I think I'll just sit here until I'm satisfied." He glanced back over his shoulder at her and lifted his brows. She probably had some questions about how he'd survived the four bullets Tex had put into his head -- he didn't even have a mark on him.

Red: Yeah, there was that matter. Red had chalked it up to hallucination -- a lot of things seemed to happen when you were panicked, having bullets ripped through you tended to make you see all sorts of things. Like Barney in the hospital.

Rationally speaking, if he was here, he couldn't be dead. So ha. She hadn't seen him shot in the head. Had she?

"Satisfied? And what does that entail?"

Church: "I don't know, what do you think?" Blue eyes watched her a moment before his brows lifted. "I know your arm doesn't work but I'm sure that wouldn't inhibit a pro like you are."

Red: "I am not having sex with you." Red rubbed at her aching shoulder, the pain of it dull and inconsolable.

Church: "Good, I don't want you to. I just want you to suck my dick."

Red: "Yeah...that's happening even less."

Church: "Then I guess I'll just sit here until you satisfy me some other way."

Red: Red shook her head. "I'm asking you nicely. Get the hell out."

Church: "Going to kiss me again if I piss you off?"

Red: "You wish." Red lifted an eyebrow, mouth curling in a bitter smirk. "You enjoyed that last kiss one way too much. Before you...Wait, that was right before you passed out, wasn't it?"

Church: "Yeah, right before Tex fucked you up." He smirked a little bit. "Wasn't a very smart move on your part, was it?"

Red: "Hmph. It was worth it to see you fall."

Church: "Oh yeah, you look like it was worth it." He lifted his feet up to stretch his legs on the couch, relaxing back into the arm of it. "That looks very painful."

Red: It was. Very. But part of the game was not letting them know just how bad all of it hurt. "I'm more of a temporary pay-off sort of girl."

Church: "So am I temporarily paying you off right now? Because I'm the one lounging around while you walk around in a sling. How long? couple of months? That's going to be a stinger to your business."

Red: "That's not...that's not any of your business." Her left hand squeezed against the fingers of her right hand, about all she could do with the rest of her immobilized in a sling. "What is it to you? You got what you wanted, didn't you?"

Church: "What I wanted was to get you up in my bed with your shirt off. So no, I didn't get what I wanted." He smirked a little bit. "What I wanted was a piece of that ass. No, I didn't get what I wanted. And I'm bitter."

Red: "Well then I guess neither of us really got what we wanted."

Church: "Well I hate to break it to you, sweetie, but I don't have anything to take."

Red: Red frowned and staggered over to perch against a counter, fumbling with a little orange bottle of pills. "You know, it's a common misconception that I take things. Sometimes I just like the sex."

Church: "Right. So you wanted to knock me out and fuck my prone body."

Red: "The lipstick was a precaution. I didn't know what I was dealing with." She managed to unscrew the top, popping a couple pills into her mouth and dry-swallowing. "I'd have taken it off if that chick hadn't shown up."

Church: "That chick. Don't pretend like you don't know who she is, I know you're in business with her." He lifted his brows over at her again. "Give me a couple of those." Her pills.

Red: "Pft. Once. She totally ripped me off. I've moved more into the financial market of things." She looked down at the pills and then up at Church her head. "...Nooo..."

Church: "You still know who she is." Said simply. "Come on. Give me a pill."

Red: "Why do you need it? I don't see you bleeding from a hole in your head." Except she did. Sort of.

Church: "Well you should have seen me a few days ago, then. I have a killer headache. A little bitch kicked me in the face the other day."

Red: Red wasn't getting any closer to him than she had to. Dumping all but one pill into a little cup beside her, she recapped the bottle and threw it to -- well, more like at -- Church. "Yeah, well, a girl can have some rutting weird dreams when she's been shot through."

Church: He lifted his hand and caught the bottle - hand eye coordination was definitely high with Spartans - and he twisted the cap off. He was surprised she'd actually given him one. He had no idea if this pill would give him the high he was desiring by taking it, but he'd pop it into his mouth and swallow it dry, hoping for the best. "Rutting weird? What are you, English?"

Red: "No, sweetie, I'm from the future." It sounded like sarcasm, but wasn't. "World's a bit different, kay?"

Church: "That right?" He rolled his eyes a little and then shut them, settling in on her couch. "Me too. I'm guessing about five thousand years worth of future."

Red: Her weight sagged against the counter; Red felt suddenly very, very tired. Why wouldn't he leave? She hated men. And why weren't there any willing and available girls in town? "Good for you, sweetie." Lifting a hand, she scratched under the bandage at her cheek and flinched. Pain meds ought to kick in soon. Maybe if they were enough to knock her out, they'd do the same number on Church.

Church: Maybe. But probably not. He moved his hands up and linked his fingers behind his head. "Comfy couch. Maybe I'll crash here a few nights."

Red: Tiredly, she tilted her head to one side. "Honestly? That's your method? Do you not think I have other places to stay?" She could always move back into the hotel. Or call someone if she was desperate.

Church: "What?" He looked over at her again. "You gave me blue balls. You deserve some torment."

Red: "Dude, blame it on your girlfriend for walking in on the fun." She gestured with her left hand and knocked over a bowl. Shit. Her reflexes were going. "Better yet, blame yourself for bringing me there in the first place." She should have just taken him to the hotel.

Church: "You really think I was going to take you somewhere where I didn't have a person with guns waiting?" He smirked. He'd known Tex would be there, of course. He'd brought Red there to make her jealous. But he wasn't going to admit that. "And it's a good thing, because you turned out to be a bitch who wanted to rob me."

Red: "And steal what? That cheap-ass jacket?" Red laughed shortly, ignoring the ache in her shoulder for once. "Did it ever occur to you that I just wanted a good lay?"

Church: "With the poison lipstick? No. That hasn't occured to me. Before? Yes. Hence the fucking blue balls."

Red: "I didn't know who you were. Do you honestly think that I'd just meet up some strange guy without a backup plan?" Her hands balled into fists. Though she smiled, it was a small, angry-looking thing. Red was a little bit psycho, though she wouldn't readily admit it. "I'd have taken it off if she hadn't showed up and then neither one of us would be bitching about one pain or another."

Church: "Well you clearly missed her 'I'm going to kill you both if you touch him' look. I saw it and I had my back turned to her." He was sitting up again and glancing back over at her.

Red: "I saw it. And I admit it wasn't my best idea..." With a sigh, Red finally gave in and sat down on the sofa. The room was starting to feel...heavy. "But you kiss nice. So at least that was a plus."

Church: "Uh huh. Buttering me up for round two, are you?" Church had come here with the intention of scaring her. He'd done that. Now he was just hanging around because he was bored.

Red: Red groaned, leaning her head back. "There isn't going to be a round two. Not now. Not ever. Just stating the facts, darling." There might not be a round two anytime soon. But it didn't mean she wouldn't flirt with him a little.

Well, okay, a lot.

Church: "Oh, not ever? Well rip my heart out and beat me to death with the thing, I don't know how I'll go on." He rolled his eyes again. "Trust me. I'm not into chicks with holes in their arms or big ugly marks on their faces. You're way too ugly for me now, you'll always be burnt in my memory this way."

Red: That...

Hurt.

Red was all about the self-image, and the fact that she wasn't at her best was one of the reasons she avoided having anyone know about her condition. In the end, she pursed her lips, not saying anything for a long moment. "Oh, please. whatever else you have to say, just go ahead. Say it and get it out of your system."

Church: That made his brows shoot up and Church smirked over at her, sitting up completely. Properly. The silence, the way she tightened her mouth -- that was all enough for him to read her. "Oh, my. Trouble in the land of beauty queens? Going to have some ugly scars? How bad did she fuck up your pretty little face, hm?"

Red: "Just a bruise. It'll fade."

Church: "Oh, well thank God for that."

Red: There was another beat of silence, Red's good eye closing as she breathed. A slow but happy feeling of strong painkillers kicking in. "Tell me. As long as we're being all...sharing...did she really shoot you?"

Church: "What?" That made him lift his brows. She'd shot him when he woke up, but Red wasn't there for that. "She shot me?"

Red: Red blinked at him, mouth a tight, confused line again. "...nevermind. I was messed up. Seeing things."

Church: "Did that bitch shoot me when I was unconscious?"

Red: "Um. Obviously not. Since you're here." Duh, she wanted to add, but passed it off with a vague hand gesture.

Church: "She did, didn't she? That fucking whore!"

Red: "Um. Hello?" She snapped the fingers of her good hand near his ear. "Pretty boy. I saw her shoot you like...four times in the head. So...stop fucking with me."

Church: His eyes narrowed some when she snapped her finger near his ear and he jerked a hand up to take hold of her wrist, tightly. "She shot me four times in the head?" He sighed, and then shook his head some. "No wonder I had such a fucking headache."

Red: Pulling vainly at her wrist, Red finally gave up, collapsing deeper into the couch. The tone of her voice became somewhat incredulous, and a little bit sad. "I've lost my mind. Great."

First Barney? Now this? Maybe Tex's hit had knocked something loose after all.
Church: "Stop being so melodramatic." He let go of her wrist and was getting to his feet, moving away from the couch. A hand moved up to push through his hair, lips pursed tightly. She'd shot him while he was unconscious. That was just a bitch move.

Red: "Seriously. First the hallucinations in the hospital. And now a ghost haunting me. Just. Fucking. Great." Red found she liked the word "fucking." It had a nice, hard ring to it.

Church: "Don't believe in ghosts?" He lifted his brows and turned to face her again.

Red: "Well, apparently I have no choice." Carefully she stretched out on the couch, grateful to be lying down.

Church: "Well you don't know much about them. Ghosts are transparent, you know."

Red: "Not always. You ever watched those movies?" Red scoffed, grinning sleepily in his direction.

Church: "I don't really have time to watch movies." He stared at her a moment, then cleared his throat. "Watch this."

And a moment later, Church would go stiff, standing straight up, eyes staring forward. And a transparent, taller, transparent man in see-through white MJOLNIR armor was stepping out of the body, and standing beside it.

Red: Red frowned a moment, and then sat up. She took a second to look down and read the empty bottle of pills before her eyes darted from the ghost to the man. "...wha...what the hell."

Church: "Don't bother looking at that, it's just my body." He lifted a transparent arm up to indicate the human form. Humanoid, actually. "It's not going to move if I'm not inside of it. You weren't seeing things, Tex really shot me."

Red: "Oh." Red canted her head to one side. Ghosts. All of a sudden, her world began to spin, something about all the outside stimulus just being too much for her and combining with a dose of just a little too much pain medication. Eyes rolling back into her head, Red fainted against the couch.

Well, at least she wasn't crazy.
Church: He stared at her a long moment after she lost consciousness and then rolled his eyes inside his transparent helmet, moving over to reclaim his body. He'd lean over her and check her pockets, then he'd move around her to snag her bottle of pills off of the counter. After checking all of the rooms in her apartment for anything that looked like it was valuable.. then he would take off.