Hanna had secured Hardison, but not taped his mouth shut or anything. No reason to. Out in the Preserve, there was no one to hear them. She did keep the gun on him, though
( Read more... )
"--I'm just sayin', this is a terrible plan. Believe me I know all about terrible plans? Remember the idea I had for teachin' a class that involved makin' people talk to one another? That was a damn fool plan
( ... )
"Dammit, Hardison," Eliot started, then actually listened to what he was saying. He sat up a little, not letting Hanna up, but not pressing down on her throat any more. "That true?" he asked her. "The Bratva got somethin' on you?"
Hanna coughed, but didn't try to sit up, her eyes sliding sideways to Hardison, then she wearily nodded.
"Lost the wrong package. Total accident. Killed the wrong man when they came looking for it." She took a breath, then said, "No one to watch my back. It was this, or they killed me."
"You don't have to kill her. There's got to be another way," Parker said, echoing Hardison. She wasn't too thrilled with the younger woman, but death, when she had given up... "We don't do this. There are options."
"Cops?" Hardison suggested, his voice a little ragged. Look, filibustering for a half an hour was tough on the throat. "I know this island's got cops and a jail cell. You think the Bravta are gonna come to Fandom?"
"Shooting me now would be doing me a favor," Hanna told Eliot, flatly. "The bratva won't--" Then, listening to Hardison, she started to laugh. She couldn't help it. "We could introduce them to the deer. And the zombies. That would throw them off."
Eliot pushed himself to his feet, assured now she wouldn't go for him again. "Hell, that pony still around? We could just sic her on them." He stepped away and his leg buckled. "Son of a --"
"Right. Home. Into the hot tub for you." Parker got one shoulder under his and straightened. "And this is not a reward for being stupid and running on your bad leg, you should know that."
"Wait," Hardison said, scratching at his chin. "What's the difference between medicinal hot tubbin' an' reward hot tubbin'? I'm just checkin', makin' sure I remember it right."
He ducked under Eliot's other arm and nodded towards Hanna. "I got him, babe. You, I dunno, zip tie her an' see how much she likes getting marched around half the damn Preserve." He wasn't a fighter, couldn't guarantee that him trying to truss up Hanna wouldn't result in her somehow getting the drop on him and changing the dynamic once again. "Maybe insteada jail here on the island, we could hand her a buncha cash an' send her through a portal? She gets gone, we don't have to worry about what happens after we go home, the Bratva can go eata bag of--ducks."
That was not the word he'd been planning to say. But twenty years of censoring himself around children had taken root.
"I'm not naked when it's medicinal," Parker answered, sliding over so he could take Eliot's weight, then turning to Hanna with a glare. She retrieved zip ties from her pocket and started restraining the other woman. "Then I'm re-setting your kidnap calendar."
"You don't start out naked," Eliot said, leaning into Hardison with the ease of long practice being supported by him. "Someone remember to grab my cane, would you?"
Hardison groaned. "Man, an' it had gotten so high, too!" He glared at Hanna again. "Now I gotta start back at zero an' it's gonna take forever to get me back up to this an' the kids are gonna know an' Spike is gonna give me his disappointed face, an' don't EVEN get me started on Ada..."
The grumbling continued as he helped Eliot limp back out of the Preserve, leaving Parker to snag the cane. The parade of teal deer followed, content to listen and follow today's guest speaker. He was doing very well, they all thought. Excellent cadence and projection.
"...You know, that's some luck, y'all arrivin' at the angels while she was takin' me for our walk. She tossed my phone in the bushes so there went my tracker, you know? Oh, we should look for that. Naaah, I got more at the house..."
Reply
Reply
"Lost the wrong package. Total accident. Killed the wrong man when they came looking for it." She took a breath, then said, "No one to watch my back. It was this, or they killed me."
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
He ducked under Eliot's other arm and nodded towards Hanna. "I got him, babe. You, I dunno, zip tie her an' see how much she likes getting marched around half the damn Preserve." He wasn't a fighter, couldn't guarantee that him trying to truss up Hanna wouldn't result in her somehow getting the drop on him and changing the dynamic once again. "Maybe insteada jail here on the island, we could hand her a buncha cash an' send her through a portal? She gets gone, we don't have to worry about what happens after we go home, the Bratva can go eata bag of--ducks."
That was not the word he'd been planning to say. But twenty years of censoring himself around children had taken root.
Reply
Reply
Reply
The grumbling continued as he helped Eliot limp back out of the Preserve, leaving Parker to snag the cane. The parade of teal deer followed, content to listen and follow today's guest speaker. He was doing very well, they all thought. Excellent cadence and projection.
"...You know, that's some luck, y'all arrivin' at the angels while she was takin' me for our walk. She tossed my phone in the bushes so there went my tracker, you know? Oh, we should look for that. Naaah, I got more at the house..."
Reply
Leave a comment