Fic: Stars Misaligned -- Part III - Don
Title: Stars Misaligned
Summary: In hindsight, he really should never have answered the phone.
Pairing: Don/Robin
Genre: Humour/Romance
Rating: 14A
Spoilers: Set season 5, no specific spoliers.
Part 6/11
Taking a long slow breath, Don took stock of the situation before him. The man standing in front of him was a good few inches over six feet and probably had at least fifty pounds on Don. He also had a gun. A six chambered revolver to be more precises, not that it mattered, this close the guy only needed one round. Two if he wanted to take the clerk out too. Three if Colby came in. Only Granger has a gun too, a nice .45 caliber Springfield tactical pistol. Come to think of it, Colby coming in was starting to sound like an awful good idea. Too damn bad he had no way to relay that thought to his agent.
Course if Granger did come in, it would probably be better if he grabbed a tactical vest from the SUV first. This guy was looking a tad twitchy. In fact, Don realized dismally as he watched the unsteady hand holding a gun on him, the guy was a lot twitchy. Damn. He really should have noticed that before, this guy was clearly on something. The whole cracking his head on cement thing was really messing with his thought processes. Focus Eppes, plenty of time to worry about head injuries later, diffuse the junkie with the gun first.
Right. Diffuse Junkie. He could do that, he had talked gun-men down before, it came with the job. Usually he had back-up, and a bullet-proof vest, but the basic principle was still the same right?
Damn where was Granger when you need him? Don fought the sudden urge to glance towards the door in case the gun-man was aware enough to notice. If nothing else, Don could at least give Colby the advantage of surprise, whenever the younger agent felt like coming to the rescue.
"Fuck." The man muttered breaking the long silence, clearly he had not noticed anyone else in the store upon his entrance. Probably meant he had missed the dark government issue SUV sitting at the pump, Don decided, definitely a point in his favour.
Nervously the gun-man glanced quickly over his shoulder to look to the young teenage clerk, presumably to ensure that she had not run off while his attention had been other-wise engaged. Judging by the look of shocked terror on the girl's face, Don suspected she was not going to be trying anything, even with the gun-man facing away from her.
The gun-man's attention shifted back onto to Don, and in a moment of lucidity he seemed to realize he could not watch them both with one gun in their current positions. "You." He said to Don, gesturing at him with his pistol. "Move over by the counter. Slowly." He barked.
Cautiously Don complied, warily he watched the gun as it tracked his movements. Unconsciously he raised his hands slightly, attempting to appear unthreatening.
"What the hell!" The man yelled causing Don to jerk to a sudden stop. The man took a step back, his gun still trained on Don, "You some kind of fucking cop?"
Don followed the man's gaze to the gun holstered at his hip. Colby's too-long shirt had mostly covered the hostler and the strung-out man had not noticed the slight bulge, however when Don had raised his arms the shirt had pulled up enough the reveal the weapon. So he misses the huge SUV out front, but he notices the half-hidden holster. Perfect, just perfect.
"I asked you a question." The man repeated, his focus shifting disconcertingly around the shop, and Don fervently hoped the man was not on anything that would cause hallucinations.
"Uh, I'm off-duty." Don offered, vaguely wondering why he thought that would make any difference to the impaired perpetrator.
"Fuck." The man muttered again, and Don wondered if it was the drugs limiting the man's vocabulary, or if this was the extent of his normal range. "Okay, uh." The man looked around anxiously again, "Put your gun on the ground. And don't try nothing."
Don nodded and tried not to wince as the gesture caused the pounding in his head to heighten, making thinking nearly impossible. Slowly he moved his right hand to the butt of his gun and carefully avoiding any sudden movement he bent down and deposited the weapon at his feet.
"Kick it away, and move to the counter." Came the next order. The gun was still trained on Don but the man was clearly getting jumpier. He was nearly continuously glancing around and behind him while rocking slightly on the balls of his feet.
Don gave the gun a soft nudge with his foot and it slid a short distance across the floor. It was rather too pitiful to be termed a 'kick', but the gun-man either did not notice or just did not care. Don moved a little closer to the counter but stayed as close to his gun as possible. He figured if he dived he could probably reach it, only he was really not looking forward to hitting the ground with any degree of force. At least not so soon after the last time, he thought drearily. Damn Granger, what the hell was he doing out-there anyway? Don was beginning to have the uncomfortable feeling that he might have to do something soon. With or without Colby.
The gun-man shifted his attention back to the girl behind the counter. "You done yet?" he demanded, and Don now noticed that the cash-register was open and a bag lay on the counter top. He supposed the gun-man had thrust the bag at her just before Don had interrupted them.
"I-" The girl stammered giving Don a wide-eyed hopeless look. Don gave her what he hoped was an encouraging look and silently begged her to do what she was told. After what seemed like a long moment, but what was really probably only a few seconds, she reached for the bag with shaky hands and started to fill the bag.
Don turned his attention back to the gun, which was still pointed in his direction. It was better than having the weapon pointed at the young girl, he supposed, but it really left him unable to do much of anything. He was in no hurry to make a return visit to the emergency ward.
Just as the girl finished emptying the register a jingle sounded from the direction of the front door. At the sudden noise, she jumped and dropped the bag. The gun man, also clearly startled, whirled around to face the sound. Don looked to the door, while his sluggish mind registered the noise as the bell over the door. Before he fully registered the thought, or the change in the situation, he found himself automatically diving toward his gun. He did his best to avoid landing on his injured arm, but even still he had to grit his teeth against a shout of pain as his battered body collided with the hard floor.
He fumbled for his Glock and scrambled into a crouch. His vision blurred for a moment as his head protested against the sudden action. He blinked furiously trying to focus on the scene and steady his gun.
"Put the weapon down!" Colby's familiar voice commanded from the direction of the doorway. Slowly the room shifted back into focus and Don could see the large figure of the junkie standing, gun raised towards Colby. The younger agent stood in the doorway, his own gun held significantly steadier and aimed right back at the robber.
"Fuck!" The gun-man swore again but made no move to drop his pistol.
Don steadied his own gun, as best he could, and shouted, "Put it down."
Startled the man turned to Don, looking as though he had forgotten the other agent was even there. His darting eyes settled on Don's gun, and the reality finally made it though his drug impaired mind. With two guns trained carefully on him, he blinked slowly and dropped the pistol at his feet.
As soon as the gun hit the ground, Colby was on the guy, pulling his hands behind him and securing them with his cuffs. Giving him a quick search, and finding nothing, Colby pushed the man to the ground near the counter. With his weapon still in hand but no longer aimed, he glanced over at Don with a glare. "Jeez Don. Put that down." He yelled as he collected the perpetrator's pistol.
Don blinked startled at Colby's outburst, but did as the younger agent asked and holstered his weapon. He slowly got to his feet and looked over at the clerk who was surprisingly still on her feet, although she looked ready to pass out any second. Spotting the water he had dropped, he grabbed it and went over to her. Taking her arm he lead her to the opposite side of the store, well away from where Colby was standing over the gun-man talking on his cell-phone.
He opened the bottle and handed it to her, "Here drink this. Slowly" He advised her gently. Numbly she took the bottle, her wide-eyed gaze sliding past him to fixate on the cuffed robber. He turned as Colby snapped his phone shut loudly.
The younger agent stayed near his prisoner but he glared dangerously at Don, "Are you insane?" He demanded loudly, "What did you think you were doing pulling a gun when you're concussed?"
"What the heck Granger, its not like I had a choice." He shot back frustrated ignoring the shocked noise the girl made behind him, "Besides its not like I fired it." He added, knowing full well he would have if it had come to that. Damn good it didn't though, he decided, he really did not want to explain to a shooting review board why he was even carrying a gun much less shooting one while he had a head injury.
Colby sighed but did not say anything further. Don suspected it was because the other agent would have done the same if their roles had been reversed. In the distance Don heard the familiar whine of sirens approaching, and he knew LAPD was on their way. Good, someone else can deal with this. Don thought wearily as he slid to the ground, his back against the wall, suddenly unable to stand any longer. Damn adrenaline.
Summary: In hindsight, he really should never have answered the phone.
Pairing: Don/Robin
Genre: Humour/Romance
Rating: 14A
Spoilers: Set season 5, no specific spoliers.
Part 6/11
Taking a long slow breath, Don took stock of the situation before him. The man standing in front of him was a good few inches over six feet and probably had at least fifty pounds on Don. He also had a gun. A six chambered revolver to be more precises, not that it mattered, this close the guy only needed one round. Two if he wanted to take the clerk out too. Three if Colby came in. Only Granger has a gun too, a nice .45 caliber Springfield tactical pistol. Come to think of it, Colby coming in was starting to sound like an awful good idea. Too damn bad he had no way to relay that thought to his agent.
Course if Granger did come in, it would probably be better if he grabbed a tactical vest from the SUV first. This guy was looking a tad twitchy. In fact, Don realized dismally as he watched the unsteady hand holding a gun on him, the guy was a lot twitchy. Damn. He really should have noticed that before, this guy was clearly on something. The whole cracking his head on cement thing was really messing with his thought processes. Focus Eppes, plenty of time to worry about head injuries later, diffuse the junkie with the gun first.
Right. Diffuse Junkie. He could do that, he had talked gun-men down before, it came with the job. Usually he had back-up, and a bullet-proof vest, but the basic principle was still the same right?
Damn where was Granger when you need him? Don fought the sudden urge to glance towards the door in case the gun-man was aware enough to notice. If nothing else, Don could at least give Colby the advantage of surprise, whenever the younger agent felt like coming to the rescue.
"Fuck." The man muttered breaking the long silence, clearly he had not noticed anyone else in the store upon his entrance. Probably meant he had missed the dark government issue SUV sitting at the pump, Don decided, definitely a point in his favour.
Nervously the gun-man glanced quickly over his shoulder to look to the young teenage clerk, presumably to ensure that she had not run off while his attention had been other-wise engaged. Judging by the look of shocked terror on the girl's face, Don suspected she was not going to be trying anything, even with the gun-man facing away from her.
The gun-man's attention shifted back onto to Don, and in a moment of lucidity he seemed to realize he could not watch them both with one gun in their current positions. "You." He said to Don, gesturing at him with his pistol. "Move over by the counter. Slowly." He barked.
Cautiously Don complied, warily he watched the gun as it tracked his movements. Unconsciously he raised his hands slightly, attempting to appear unthreatening.
"What the hell!" The man yelled causing Don to jerk to a sudden stop. The man took a step back, his gun still trained on Don, "You some kind of fucking cop?"
Don followed the man's gaze to the gun holstered at his hip. Colby's too-long shirt had mostly covered the hostler and the strung-out man had not noticed the slight bulge, however when Don had raised his arms the shirt had pulled up enough the reveal the weapon. So he misses the huge SUV out front, but he notices the half-hidden holster. Perfect, just perfect.
"I asked you a question." The man repeated, his focus shifting disconcertingly around the shop, and Don fervently hoped the man was not on anything that would cause hallucinations.
"Uh, I'm off-duty." Don offered, vaguely wondering why he thought that would make any difference to the impaired perpetrator.
"Fuck." The man muttered again, and Don wondered if it was the drugs limiting the man's vocabulary, or if this was the extent of his normal range. "Okay, uh." The man looked around anxiously again, "Put your gun on the ground. And don't try nothing."
Don nodded and tried not to wince as the gesture caused the pounding in his head to heighten, making thinking nearly impossible. Slowly he moved his right hand to the butt of his gun and carefully avoiding any sudden movement he bent down and deposited the weapon at his feet.
"Kick it away, and move to the counter." Came the next order. The gun was still trained on Don but the man was clearly getting jumpier. He was nearly continuously glancing around and behind him while rocking slightly on the balls of his feet.
Don gave the gun a soft nudge with his foot and it slid a short distance across the floor. It was rather too pitiful to be termed a 'kick', but the gun-man either did not notice or just did not care. Don moved a little closer to the counter but stayed as close to his gun as possible. He figured if he dived he could probably reach it, only he was really not looking forward to hitting the ground with any degree of force. At least not so soon after the last time, he thought drearily. Damn Granger, what the hell was he doing out-there anyway? Don was beginning to have the uncomfortable feeling that he might have to do something soon. With or without Colby.
The gun-man shifted his attention back to the girl behind the counter. "You done yet?" he demanded, and Don now noticed that the cash-register was open and a bag lay on the counter top. He supposed the gun-man had thrust the bag at her just before Don had interrupted them.
"I-" The girl stammered giving Don a wide-eyed hopeless look. Don gave her what he hoped was an encouraging look and silently begged her to do what she was told. After what seemed like a long moment, but what was really probably only a few seconds, she reached for the bag with shaky hands and started to fill the bag.
Don turned his attention back to the gun, which was still pointed in his direction. It was better than having the weapon pointed at the young girl, he supposed, but it really left him unable to do much of anything. He was in no hurry to make a return visit to the emergency ward.
Just as the girl finished emptying the register a jingle sounded from the direction of the front door. At the sudden noise, she jumped and dropped the bag. The gun man, also clearly startled, whirled around to face the sound. Don looked to the door, while his sluggish mind registered the noise as the bell over the door. Before he fully registered the thought, or the change in the situation, he found himself automatically diving toward his gun. He did his best to avoid landing on his injured arm, but even still he had to grit his teeth against a shout of pain as his battered body collided with the hard floor.
He fumbled for his Glock and scrambled into a crouch. His vision blurred for a moment as his head protested against the sudden action. He blinked furiously trying to focus on the scene and steady his gun.
"Put the weapon down!" Colby's familiar voice commanded from the direction of the doorway. Slowly the room shifted back into focus and Don could see the large figure of the junkie standing, gun raised towards Colby. The younger agent stood in the doorway, his own gun held significantly steadier and aimed right back at the robber.
"Fuck!" The gun-man swore again but made no move to drop his pistol.
Don steadied his own gun, as best he could, and shouted, "Put it down."
Startled the man turned to Don, looking as though he had forgotten the other agent was even there. His darting eyes settled on Don's gun, and the reality finally made it though his drug impaired mind. With two guns trained carefully on him, he blinked slowly and dropped the pistol at his feet.
As soon as the gun hit the ground, Colby was on the guy, pulling his hands behind him and securing them with his cuffs. Giving him a quick search, and finding nothing, Colby pushed the man to the ground near the counter. With his weapon still in hand but no longer aimed, he glanced over at Don with a glare. "Jeez Don. Put that down." He yelled as he collected the perpetrator's pistol.
Don blinked startled at Colby's outburst, but did as the younger agent asked and holstered his weapon. He slowly got to his feet and looked over at the clerk who was surprisingly still on her feet, although she looked ready to pass out any second. Spotting the water he had dropped, he grabbed it and went over to her. Taking her arm he lead her to the opposite side of the store, well away from where Colby was standing over the gun-man talking on his cell-phone.
He opened the bottle and handed it to her, "Here drink this. Slowly" He advised her gently. Numbly she took the bottle, her wide-eyed gaze sliding past him to fixate on the cuffed robber. He turned as Colby snapped his phone shut loudly.
The younger agent stayed near his prisoner but he glared dangerously at Don, "Are you insane?" He demanded loudly, "What did you think you were doing pulling a gun when you're concussed?"
"What the heck Granger, its not like I had a choice." He shot back frustrated ignoring the shocked noise the girl made behind him, "Besides its not like I fired it." He added, knowing full well he would have if it had come to that. Damn good it didn't though, he decided, he really did not want to explain to a shooting review board why he was even carrying a gun much less shooting one while he had a head injury.
Colby sighed but did not say anything further. Don suspected it was because the other agent would have done the same if their roles had been reversed. In the distance Don heard the familiar whine of sirens approaching, and he knew LAPD was on their way. Good, someone else can deal with this. Don thought wearily as he slid to the ground, his back against the wall, suddenly unable to stand any longer. Damn adrenaline.