The pink duck and the barbell. It had been ridiculous enough to catch her eye the first time, and it had stayed ridiculous enough to be remebered over a month later. She also passed it occasionally depending on what route she took to get to one of her favourite dive bars. Which she'd been drinking at before Kirk had interrupted her. But she couldn't just leave him out there. She'd turned up on a warehouse catwalk and Spock had headed out, injured and human, to find her. The least she could do for Kirk was cut her drinking short.
She saw the duck before she saw him, but the street was dark, and maybe he was actually listening to her and keeping himself hidden. "Kirk?" She stopped underneath the sign, waiting, the neon glow throwing her features into sharp relief.
"Over here." Stepping out of a shadowed doorway, Jim headed over to her. It was a relief to see someone he knew face to face, making this whole thing just a little less weird.
Looking her up and down to make sure she was alright was second nature (and fine. She wasn't too hard on the eyes either) and his surprise was only due to her being out of uniform. Nothing else. "Am I glad to see you."
Less weird for him, maybe, but even weirder for her. Now there were two Kirks. A Kirk and a Jim. She couldn't call Jim Admiral. It was just too formal, and there was no fleet here. Uhura did not need to be reminded. It was funny to think that what would finally get Uhura to give in and call Jim by his first name was the arrival of her own version of the man.
She didn't miss the look, didn't appreciate it (much), but couldn't blame him for it. She wasn't showing that much skin, but her jeans and top were both skin tight, her neckline plunged, the heels of her knee high boots were high and thin and clicked audibly when she walked. "We should get going." She didn't brush him off. She was a little drunk and it was late and they were in one of the worse parts of town. Even now, she could feel eyes on her, and she slipped her hand into her jacket pocket. "We're being watched."
"I'll follow you." Jim kept his voice light, knowing better than to look around. Half the reason he'd stepped out of the light was to avoid a group of guy who looked like they'd love a fight. He kept pretty close to Uhura, she could look after herself if it came to it, but he'd be damned if it had to come to that.
"Yes." Her tone of voice dared him to make something of it. He'd interrupted her evening, not the other way around. To be fair, no one had made her leave the bar to pick him up, but... she couldn't just leave him out here on his own. They didn't belong. She'd needed Spock when she'd first arrived. Everyone needed someone.
She walked briskly, eyes straight ahead, but taking note of everything in her peripheral vision, listening for anything that didn't fit the staccato rhythm of her heels and Kirk's heavy soles. "Two blocks West and one block North there's a bar that'll call us a cab. Don't slow down." A beat, three sharp clicks from her shoes. "And stop staring at my ass."
"Did I interrupt your night out?" He hazarded, pointedly not commenting on how fine her ass was. "I'll see if I can call ahead next time." Though he grinned his heart wasn't in the joke.
How big was this city? Jim was pleased Uhura'd told him this was the worst part- surroundings worse than this were hard to imagine.
"That would be helpful." She couldn't actually tell if he was dismissing the seriousness of the situation, or acknowledging it and trying to lighten it. She blamed the alcohol. She should be able to read him like a book. Well, no, not a book - a pamphlet. "You did, but I'll forgive you if we manage to get back to the house without being assaulted." Her own joke, and the same lack of genuine humour as Kirk's. It was a possibility. They were still being followed.
"How far away did you say this bar was again?" Stopping suddenly, Jim reached out and tried to turned her around and into his arms so that she was looking across his shoulder behind them.
Quickly lowering his head to her ear (he had miliseconds before she kneed him in the jewels) he whispered. "How many can you see?"
Uhura was drunk, so Jim probably had a full second, really. When he asked his question, her eyes lost their murderous intent, and instead became very intent and thoughtful. She seemed to soften against Kirk, running her hand up into his hair and turning her head like she was enjoying some attention on her neck. She counted two across the street from them.
She moaned a little and then moved to kiss his neck, lips not quite making contact, so she could see their side of the street. Three more. "Five," she whispered against his ear. "Please tell me you're armed."
While Jim had his mind firmly on the matter at hand, other parts of him were feeling very appreciative of this plan and Jim had to consciously work to keep his hands from where they really shouldn't be.
Spotting a doorway which would serve well for cover Jim started to lead her in that direction. He turned his hip to nudge her with the phaser on it. "I've got a phaser. Are the thugs here the type to get scared when you take one of them down, or we gonna have to deal with all of them?"
"Depends on what they want," Uhura said honestly, following Jim's lead, letting him walk her into the doorway. Thugs in Bete Noire came in all different flavours. Muggers would probably scatter like roaches if they managed to take one of them out. Of course... muggers also didn't tend to travel in packs. "And how badly they want it." Uhura stumbled a little and giggled loudly, giving Jim the chance to right her and also glance behind him. Probably wouldn't hurt for them to think she was drunk, either. Well, drunker.
An arm went around her waist to steady her, his lips against her heck as he looked over her shoulder. Five.
"How far away did you say this taxi was again?" The odds were in his and Uhura's favour if it came to a fight(he doubted the muggers had starfleet academy training after all) but if they could get away without one, all the better.
Uhura wound her arms around his neck, positioning them so that Kirk was against the wall and she was blocking the view of him, more specifically, the hip with the phaser strapped to it. "Down the sidewalk the way we were going, across the street to the next corner, turn right. Bar's on the near side of the street, almost a full block down. Patty's - green neon sign of a leprechaun pissing into a beer." They could run for it, but they might not make it. They had a better chance if they at least left the thugs scrambling to regroup. If they could get to the bar, they'd be fine. The people there knew her. "Do you want to try and run?" If he wasn't up for it, they could run and hope they were faster than the people chasing them.
"Nah." They were closing in so the head start wouldn't count for much. In any case, Jim hadn't been in a proper fight in so long and he was itching for one.
And a show of force was sometimes for the best, he added quickly.
"You want the phaser?" He was thinking he'd rush them to draw their attention (dealing with any weapons they had when he got to it) and Uhura would take them out before they all jumped on him at once.
Clearly 'itching for a fight' was the best possible reason to take on an enemy you weren't sure about in conditions that were not to your advantage. "You sure you trust my aim while I'm drunk?" she asked him, but her hand was already sliding slowly down his chest and heading for the holster on his hip, still blocked from view by her body. Her shoes weren't practical for hand to hand, Kirk had the physical advantage for unarmed combat, and her aim (even while impaired) was impressive. It was the best way to proceed. She slipped the phaser free and placed her other hand flat on his chest, prepared to spin herself away and against the wall so that by the time he got to the first of their stalkers she'd be ready.
Jim allowed himself to stumble past Uhura, towards the two stalkers closest to them, trying to get closer without putting them on guard. Instead of righting himself and returning to Uhura, he then picked up speed and was all but running when he slammed into the first man.
The guy went down like a ton of bricks, hitting his head on the hard pavement with a crack. That left Jim one man to deal to on this side of the road, and three others on the far side.
She saw the duck before she saw him, but the street was dark, and maybe he was actually listening to her and keeping himself hidden. "Kirk?" She stopped underneath the sign, waiting, the neon glow throwing her features into sharp relief.
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Looking her up and down to make sure she was alright was second nature (and fine. She wasn't too hard on the eyes either) and his surprise was only due to her being out of uniform. Nothing else. "Am I glad to see you."
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She didn't miss the look, didn't appreciate it (much), but couldn't blame him for it. She wasn't showing that much skin, but her jeans and top were both skin tight, her neckline plunged, the heels of her knee high boots were high and thin and clicked audibly when she walked. "We should get going." She didn't brush him off. She was a little drunk and it was late and they were in one of the worse parts of town. Even now, she could feel eyes on her, and she slipped her hand into her jacket pocket. "We're being watched."
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"Have you been drinking?"
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She walked briskly, eyes straight ahead, but taking note of everything in her peripheral vision, listening for anything that didn't fit the staccato rhythm of her heels and Kirk's heavy soles. "Two blocks West and one block North there's a bar that'll call us a cab. Don't slow down." A beat, three sharp clicks from her shoes. "And stop staring at my ass."
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How big was this city? Jim was pleased Uhura'd told him this was the worst part- surroundings worse than this were hard to imagine.
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Quickly lowering his head to her ear (he had miliseconds before she kneed him in the jewels) he whispered. "How many can you see?"
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She moaned a little and then moved to kiss his neck, lips not quite making contact, so she could see their side of the street. Three more. "Five," she whispered against his ear. "Please tell me you're armed."
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Spotting a doorway which would serve well for cover Jim started to lead her in that direction. He turned his hip to nudge her with the phaser on it. "I've got a phaser. Are the thugs here the type to get scared when you take one of them down, or we gonna have to deal with all of them?"
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"How far away did you say this taxi was again?" The odds were in his and Uhura's favour if it came to a fight(he doubted the muggers had starfleet academy training after all) but if they could get away without one, all the better.
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And a show of force was sometimes for the best, he added quickly.
"You want the phaser?" He was thinking he'd rush them to draw their attention (dealing with any weapons they had when he got to it) and Uhura would take them out before they all jumped on him at once.
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Jim allowed himself to stumble past Uhura, towards the two stalkers closest to them, trying to get closer without putting them on guard. Instead of righting himself and returning to Uhura, he then picked up speed and was all but running when he slammed into the first man.
The guy went down like a ton of bricks, hitting his head on the hard pavement with a crack. That left Jim one man to deal to on this side of the road, and three others on the far side.
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