"It's alright," Matt said, voice steady and calm despite the chaos and gunfire. He knelt before her, placing a gentle, firm hand on her shoulder, tracing down her arm to check for any bindings, then softly to her face to feel for a blindfold. He tore the blindfold off first before beginning work on her arms. "We'll get you home, sweetheart. I promise. Just close your eyes. Pretend you're somewhere else."
Gunfire continued to ring out however, and despite his best efforts, he was fumbling with the bindings. Hearts were stopping, heads were exploding. Frank was murdering people and all Matt could do was fumble with rope and listen to the frightened little girl get even more frightened. After struggling for several nerve racking seconds, he finally got the bright idea to jimmy the rope off with his club.
At last she was free, and not a moment too soon. Matt was still knelt before her, about to scoop her up and into his arms when the shouting and noises in the restaurant changed and apparently the focus shifted back to the Red Queen.
Eyes finally able to see, she had to resist the urge to move away. Her intellectual mind knew that whoever the man was, he was there to help her, but her irrational, drugged instincts simply screamed, he was another man, another big person, moving her against her will. That in addition to the strange costume and her general dislike of human contact made her tremble.
"I cannot access the network. I cannot call for help. I do not know where I am." Her words, slightly slurred, repeated as he tried to free her hands. But finally free she pushed herself away, not noticing her rescuer's shift in focus.
Damn it! He needed to get their attention back on him, and buy time for Daredevil to get the girl out, but he was low on options. He couldn't just open up blindly, too much risk, and a flashbang might disorient Daredevil. Still that was the best of a lousy set of options. Grimacing he pulled a flashbang off his belt, and chucked it into the the tightest grouping of thugs he could find, blinding them and causing them to fire wildly. Still, it was an opening, now all the other two had to do was take it.
The flash-bang went off, causing Matt to wince sharply at the noise. The gunfire wasn't helping things either, but he did his best to shrug it off, biting back a curse at the ringing in his ears as he spoke in a slow, calming tone, "I'm Daredevil. I'm not a bad guy. I'm here to take you home."
He reached for her again, to forcibly pick her up if necessary. She could kick and punch him, she could scratch him and scream if she wanted to, but he wasn't going to fail her, and he wasn't going to leave her now. "Come on. Frank can't hold them off forever."
The Red Queen shrieked when the flash-bang went off, jumping towards the strange man. He said he was here to help, she had no one else to trust and despite the costume, well... she had seen stranger people in the city. And if he could get her away from the ones who had taken her... then she would stay with him until she could reach the police.
Frank started pulling back toward the exit, making sure that none of the goons tried to cut off their escape route. Squeezing behind the doorway he paused in his covering fire for a moment to locate Daredevil and shout at him. "MOVE!"
Frank didn't have to tell him twice to get the hell out of there. Matt had Red Queen tight in his arms, cradling her to his chest as he darted through the room and toward the exit. His radar assured him that they would make it in time, and he could hear Frank shooting back at the kidnappers, each bullet like a burst of light through the blackness.
Finally he could feel the outside air on his face, and without pausing to wait for the Punisher, he continued sprinting toward the van. Frank would follow, he was sure of it.
Holding on fast, The Red Queen tried not to cry more as the Daredevil man ran through the room. She didn't look, she didn't want to see, but she took a brief look as they exited the building. She couldn't see much, but she gathered enough information so she could re-create the location later for the police.
Throwing out another flashbang Frank dived out the door and ran for the van. Slamming into the driver's seat he fired the vehicle up and turning around to make sure his passengers were secure and intact. "Were either of you hit?"
"No. Get us out of here, Castle," Matt answered, setting Red Queen down beside him. He could smell blood in the air though, residue from the men in the restaurant who'd been hit by Frank's bullets. The scent of iron was heavy and stinging, mixed with gunpowder and sweat and fear, and it was difficult to clear his head. "You okay, sweetheart? Did they hurt you?"
"I believe I have... been drugged. I cannot access the... network."
She shivered and sniffed as she was trying to stop crying and think through the haze. Rubbing at her eyes and head she tried to catalog what happened more clearly.
"They used a t-taser to incapacitate me and ad-dministered the compund when I was uncon-conscious. I have bruises from being carried around and t-tied up and I may be suffering from s-shock. All of which has left me un-unable to contact the p-police."
The moment they were in the car Frank was hitting the gas, speeding his way to the nearest hospital. Normally he would have just let Daredevil handle it from here, but he wanted to make sure the girl was alright. "It will be okay. We're taking you to the hospital first and then we'll let the police know where you are once we get there."
Matt pulled off his gloves, brows knit with concern behind his mask as he reached to touch Red Queen's arm, to give her a reassuring squeeze. He'd have preferred to take care of her himself, to take her to Night Nurse or (since she was ported out) to the Orchard Clinic, but he wasn't going to argue with Frank over where to take her. The girl needed medical help, more than he or Frank could provide her, and with no imPort doctors available, they'd just have to settle for a hospital.
"Do you remember what happened? Did the men say or do anything that stood out to you?"
She jumped when the hand touched her, just a little and she scooted away from Daredevil, holding tight to the seat so she wouldn't fall off as the van raced through the city.
"I was with my d-dog. Is he alright?" For some reason, that was important to her. Strange, as he was a tool she used for protection. But she wondered if he'd been harmed. So worried that it took her a moment to respond to the asked question.
"They wanted in the p-prison. They didn't know... I have fails-safes."
Cool to move it to the hospital now?due_punishmentDecember 17 2010, 05:04:27 UTC
That explained the why, though Frank was curious who exactly they had wanted to bust out. He'd have to look into that after he dropped her off, ask around town, it might pay off. "I'm sure your dog is fine. Daredevil, back off."
Kid was in shock still and pestering her with questions wasn't going to help. He could get the answers he needed from the crooks themselves. Would be faster and less messy that way.
With a screech of the tires, Frank slide the van into the hospital's emergency entrance. Barely taking enough time to put the parking brake on, he was out of the van and opening the side door. "Come on, let's get you looked at."
Matt waited for Frank to help Red Queen out of the van before exiting behind her, then dashed ahead of them to alert the emergency room doctors of the incoming patient. After hurriedly explaining what had happened and directing them to the van, he opted to step out of the way and off to the side. Once the doctors moved in and took charge, he'd take care of some other business, but until then, he would gladly play the role of silent sentry.
Gunfire continued to ring out however, and despite his best efforts, he was fumbling with the bindings. Hearts were stopping, heads were exploding. Frank was murdering people and all Matt could do was fumble with rope and listen to the frightened little girl get even more frightened. After struggling for several nerve racking seconds, he finally got the bright idea to jimmy the rope off with his club.
At last she was free, and not a moment too soon. Matt was still knelt before her, about to scoop her up and into his arms when the shouting and noises in the restaurant changed and apparently the focus shifted back to the Red Queen.
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"I cannot access the network. I cannot call for help. I do not know where I am." Her words, slightly slurred, repeated as he tried to free her hands. But finally free she pushed herself away, not noticing her rescuer's shift in focus.
"I do not know you."
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He reached for her again, to forcibly pick her up if necessary. She could kick and punch him, she could scratch him and scream if she wanted to, but he wasn't going to fail her, and he wasn't going to leave her now. "Come on. Frank can't hold them off forever."
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"Please, can you get me out of here?"
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Finally he could feel the outside air on his face, and without pausing to wait for the Punisher, he continued sprinting toward the van. Frank would follow, he was sure of it.
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She shivered and sniffed as she was trying to stop crying and think through the haze. Rubbing at her eyes and head she tried to catalog what happened more clearly.
"They used a t-taser to incapacitate me and ad-dministered the compund when I was uncon-conscious. I have bruises from being carried around and t-tied up and I may be suffering from s-shock. All of which has left me un-unable to contact the p-police."
Reply
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"Do you remember what happened? Did the men say or do anything that stood out to you?"
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"I was with my d-dog. Is he alright?" For some reason, that was important to her. Strange, as he was a tool she used for protection. But she wondered if he'd been harmed. So worried that it took her a moment to respond to the asked question.
"They wanted in the p-prison. They didn't know... I have fails-safes."
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Kid was in shock still and pestering her with questions wasn't going to help. He could get the answers he needed from the crooks themselves. Would be faster and less messy that way.
With a screech of the tires, Frank slide the van into the hospital's emergency entrance. Barely taking enough time to put the parking brake on, he was out of the van and opening the side door. "Come on, let's get you looked at."
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