(no subject)
The first time he'd let him go out of hesitation. The second time it had been out of concern for Joe. But this time there was nothing holding Dale back. This wasn't for revenge. It wasn't even for justice. This was for the protection of everyone else on the island, and the one thing that Dale felt he alone had to do.
Bob might have been ethereal back in the world Dale had come from, but on the island he was trapped in flesh and bone and that was a weakness that Dale could take advantage of.
"I can kill you here."
"But will you?" said Bob, with the knowing gleam of someone who'd not only seen but devoured Dale's soul. "Will you do what it takes, Agent Cooper?"
What it takes indeed. That was the question, wasn't it? What would it take to stop him, here and now? The one thing that Dale never defeated. The one thing that defeated him.
Dale didn't answer, he just raised his gun again and fired before he could have so much as a flicker of a single second thought. Fired a clean shot before Bob could blink. His aim, as always, impeccable, and Bob went down with a bullet hole in his thigh.
"I knew you couldn't do it," he hissed.
"I knew I didn't need to," said Dale.
Despite Bob's violent struggles, Dale had him handcuffed around the nearest tree before he could inflict more than a couple of scratches to Dale's cheek. Maybe he even needed that, a reminder of what he'd faced.
"You think I’m going to stay here," he said, struggling against the handcuffs, blood from his leg already pooling on the earth beneath him. "I will rise again."
"I have no doubt that you will," said Dale, standing over him, "but not today, and not on my watch." And with that he knocked the man cold with the butt of his gun.
Dale did not have any qualms about killing a man when the situation called for it. It wasn't something he could never take it lightly, but he could do it efficiently and without permanent psychological damage. But this was not that situation. Killing his body - and make no mistake, it was his body, with someone else inside - would only send Bob looking for another host. Until he figured out what was going on with the island, Bob could stay where he was, trapped in a body that wasn't going anywhere.
But Dale, Dale did have someplace to be, and with a cold efficiency he put his firearm in its holster for the first time since setting out that day and left to look for Joe.
Bob might have been ethereal back in the world Dale had come from, but on the island he was trapped in flesh and bone and that was a weakness that Dale could take advantage of.
"I can kill you here."
"But will you?" said Bob, with the knowing gleam of someone who'd not only seen but devoured Dale's soul. "Will you do what it takes, Agent Cooper?"
What it takes indeed. That was the question, wasn't it? What would it take to stop him, here and now? The one thing that Dale never defeated. The one thing that defeated him.
Dale didn't answer, he just raised his gun again and fired before he could have so much as a flicker of a single second thought. Fired a clean shot before Bob could blink. His aim, as always, impeccable, and Bob went down with a bullet hole in his thigh.
"I knew you couldn't do it," he hissed.
"I knew I didn't need to," said Dale.
Despite Bob's violent struggles, Dale had him handcuffed around the nearest tree before he could inflict more than a couple of scratches to Dale's cheek. Maybe he even needed that, a reminder of what he'd faced.
"You think I’m going to stay here," he said, struggling against the handcuffs, blood from his leg already pooling on the earth beneath him. "I will rise again."
"I have no doubt that you will," said Dale, standing over him, "but not today, and not on my watch." And with that he knocked the man cold with the butt of his gun.
Dale did not have any qualms about killing a man when the situation called for it. It wasn't something he could never take it lightly, but he could do it efficiently and without permanent psychological damage. But this was not that situation. Killing his body - and make no mistake, it was his body, with someone else inside - would only send Bob looking for another host. Until he figured out what was going on with the island, Bob could stay where he was, trapped in a body that wasn't going anywhere.
But Dale, Dale did have someplace to be, and with a cold efficiency he put his firearm in its holster for the first time since setting out that day and left to look for Joe.