you couldn't have done

[longaevus]

Who: Helen Magnus & Simon Tam
When: Friday, November 4 | Post-Siren's
Where: Borders of Sectors 4 & 9
Summary: Helen's out hunting for a monster, Simon's going home... yeah.
Warnings: Two very polite individuals. May not even have much swearing? Medical stuff goings on too.

Comments

[giftedistheterm]

Simon saw the flash of a gun barrel before he saw who was holding it, stopping dead and lifting his hands in surrender. He was prepared for a monster, not a mugger, and in the instant of confusion something started to happen. Simon didn't feel a thing save for the usual pounding of his heart and a tightening in his chest, but thanks to that little scare his power was beginning to kick in.

"Zhēn​bàng," he breathed sarcastically, though he didn't lower his hands just yet. The question was reassuring and now that he took a moment he recognized Helen Magnus he knew he probably wasn't going to get shot. If only he could get his heart to slow down as well.

"I'm fine," Simon went on, "but do you think you could put that away? Or just...point it elsewhere? Please?"

Their voices were not helping the situation, drawing the attention of the nearby monsters. Across the street a trio of dogs that were too big and too malformed to be actual dogs crept out of an alley, eying the pair as potential targets.

(OOC: Oops, forgot... zhēn​bàng means 'great!' as in "I'm super, thanks for asking.")

[longaevus]

Helen gave a look when he spoke; she understood the tone even if she didn't understand the language. She nodded still, lowering her gun from him but still ready in case they were joined by something - and going by the noises that sounded likely.

"Sorry." She'd been about to ask what it was that he was doing out there although the sight in the corner of her eye distracted her from that. Instead she nodded to back down the alley that she'd come from. "Come on." She doubted that he was ready to fight - or shoot - anything.

[giftedistheterm]

When the gun went down so did Simon's hands, the doctor letting out a heavy sigh. With each breath more Pax filled the air around him, an invisible miasma forming protectively around him. It wouldn't do much good against the beasts across the street unless the wind decided to be helpful. Simon swallowed thickly as he followed her gaze, stepping a little bit closer while keeping his eyes on the dogs.

They knew they'd been spotted but didn't seem to be deterred, already creeping closer, looking for a chance to close the distance more quickly.

"Right," Simon muttered, glanced quickly towards the alley. "Do you know a shelter that's close?"

[longaevus]

"My lab is in the area although a little walk." Considering it had taken a little time before she'd found him, although she'd hardly been walking a straight path either. As they walked she glanced behind, deciding that shooting would be more likely to bring more attention than to keep them safe. At least nothing was blocking their path back, at least for now.

"What were you doing out?" She kept her voice low, hoping not to attract anything more. If she'd been alone her instincts would have been different but she wouldn't put anyone else in danger - she'd said that from the beginning.

[giftedistheterm]

The distance to the boarding house was a 'little walk' as well and Simon honestly couldn't say which would have been closer. Yet considering Helen seemed to know what she was doing out in the Darkness a bit better than he did, he'd follow her lead. The doctor began to follow, looking over his shoulder as well to keep an eye out as they moved.

"I thought I'd get some exercise," he quipped as he turned back to watch her, and the path ahead. "You know, going out after dark, dodging eldritch horrors...it really gets the heart pumping."

[longaevus]

"Then I'll leave you to that, shall I?" She wasn't being serious but her tone indicated that she didn't appreciate the remark either way.

She stopped at the sound of something, placing an arm out to take Simon's attention. Even with the danger behind them she wasn't planning on carrying on, not until she had a better idea of whatever the noise from ahead was.

"Stay here." Helen tipped her gun in his direction, indicating for him to take it.

[giftedistheterm]

Simon opened his mouth to reply, probably something along the lines of an overly polite thank you just to keep the bitter sarcasm rolling as that was better than admitting how scared he truly was. The noise cut him off however, mouth hanging open for a moment before shutting with a soft click. He looked down at Helen's arm with the gun offered to him and hesitated before reaching to take it.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, giving her a searching look that indicated he thought she was a little bit insane no matter what she has planned.

Still, he took the weapon, palm closing around the handle with his finger off the trigger. He handled the weapon like someone who had dealt with guns before, but not enough to be fully comfortable with them.

[longaevus]

"It's a tranquiliser." She'd noticed his hesitation, attributing it to a discomfort with guns - most doctors wouldn't use them, never mind carry them. She pulled her second gun out, turning the safety off.

"I'm going to see what's there." Oh she caught that look and frankly he was right. Giving a look behind him a final time Helen walked in the oppority direction, gun raised and ready.

Helen wasn't gone long before the sound of gunshots rang out. One, then a second. And then she was back with him. Anyone else may have looked panicked. Helen? Simply worried. "There's more." She was prepared to fight her way through, even protect him but she needed him up to speed, or with an alternate idea.

[giftedistheterm]

That there were no bullets in the chamber was comforting though it didn't fill Simon with a sudden confidence: he was still an awful shot. Letting her go on alone didn't help any, but Helen had left before he could protest.

He still remembered reading her obituary. Though Simon was trying hard not to think about it at the moment, the heavy weight of mortality was impossible to shake off.

"More dogs?" he asked, voice clipped as he spared another glance behind him...yet there was no sign of the smaller pack from before. Perhaps they'd circled around...or were waiting to flush their targets into the reach of another, more dangerous enemy. Simon wasn't the best at on the spot planning, so he tried to think of what the captain would do, or Zoe...even Jayne's input would have been useful though they lacked his arsenal.

"How far is this lab of yours, and which direction?"

[longaevus]

"More dogs." Helen repeated. And a few more of them than there previously had been. When Simon looked behind them her gaze also followed. Nothing behind them, or had they hidden somewhere? Damnit. She felt trapped and she hated feeling trapped.

"Five minutes if we ran, although there's a problem." The dogs were in that direction. "We can circle around, lead them away and take another path." Although that would take longer. As for facing head on? She didn't have enough bullets left for that and even with tranqs? It was still risky.

[giftedistheterm]

"We'd be running right through them," Simon answered, lips thinning as he listened to the rest of what Helen had to say. His eyes lifted, examining the buildings surrounding for some means of reaching higher ground...but that would be a temporary solution at best, and there was no way of knowing what they'd run into on the rooftops.

"It's a gamble either way, but going the long route seems--"

Unfortunately Simon wasn't given the chance to finish. There was a snarling from behind, the scratch of claws against concrete, and suddenly those three dogs that had apparently vanished made their return abundantly clear: charging down the alley right for the two doctors.

Simon lifted the gun Helen had given him, aiming and firing and missing completely.

(OOC: Next post will have Simon using his power.)

[longaevus]

Helen turned at the sound of the snarling, knowing that whatever Simon had to say lacked importance compared to this. The dogs. This wenough toas a problem.

"Oh bloody hell." She stepped out from behind Simon, firing at the closest dog, hitting it square, although that wasn't enough to stop it. She fired again, changing aim to the next dog when it fell. Although judging by the echoing from the gunfire along with the snarling they wouldn't be alone for long.

[giftedistheterm]

It was as if the dogs didn't feel the pain, only stumbling when they were physically damaged enough or flat out killed. Things were happening very quickly and though Simon wasn't visibly paniced, inside he was completely terrified. That was enough for his body to respond without him, an automatic reflex to the flood of adrenaline. Each deep breath released the imperfect Pax into the air and it quickly filled the narrow alley.

The effects were immediate.

The first dog to get within range slowed to a stop, blinking as if confused before sitting and eventually flopping onto the ground just inches from their feet. Behind them more were piling in as if signalled by the gunfire, and each of them wound up ambling to a stop as if they the possibilty of an easy meal no longer had any appeal.

[longaevus]

It wasn't just the dogs, however, oh no. The dogs now became only part of the problem. That steady hand and controlled grip on the gun became loosened, evenough so that it felt from Helen's grasp and hit the floor with a clang. Another signal to anything else out there, although anything more would be met with the same fate.

Helen felt dazed, head muddled and vision blurred. She knew that something wasn't right but she couldn't manage to bring the words to ask what it was. Immediate was the word. She couldn't feel it any longer. As her senses dulled her eyes shut, body collapsing to the ground by the dogs as her muscles failed to hold her. She was out; hard and cold.

[giftedistheterm]

Simon stared in shock as the dogs started dropping. This bizarre turn of events almost settled Simon's nerves, until he heard Helen's gun hit the ground with a sharp, echoing clatter. The doctor jumped, but all around him was eerily still.

He looked over, expecting to see Helen pinned or maimed or something awful, but instead saw her as still and listless as the monsters. That, finally, was what snapped him into action. The gun was lowered as he knelt down beside her, checking her pulse and her breathing and looking to see if she'd hit her head on the hard ground.

"Helen? Helen, I need you to answer if you can hear me..." Everything seemed normal, if sluggish...she was just out of it for no reason.

[longaevus]

If she had hit her head it hadn't been hard enough to cause a cut, although perhaps a bruise a little later. And sadly, no matter how hard Simon tried to rouse her she simply wouldn't. She was unconscious from the PAX, although for now seemingly inexplicably so.