undergrounds | May catch-all

Ringer paused at the bottom of the stairs. There was no sense in them both pursuing the same path to catch the burglar. She scanned the balcony until she saw the man disappearing out another back door. Good. It would be a lot easier to test out her new skills outside, without the risk of hurting innocent bystanders.

She doubled back, narrowly avoiding the bouncer in the crowd, making for the same door she used to enter. The bouncer had just caught her when she reached the back door. Apparently it was his pride doing the work, because the man took great joy in kicking the young girl out the door she was only a few feet away from anyway. He yelled at her not to come back, then fussed with the broken lock as Ringer darted down the alley to make her way around to the other side. The man had slowed her down too much.

She continued running toward the other alley, feeling her legs carry her faster than she should be able to go, hoping she wasn't too late to catch up to the strange werewolf and the thief who had no idea what he was getting into.

Alex burst through the door onto a rickety fire escape just as the mugger dropped to the ground in the alley. She bolted down the fire escape, taking the stairs three at a time, until she dropped to the ground and took off running after him.

Behind her, she heard the other girl enter the alley just as the mugger turned onto a wider street. She didn't slow down. Over a flat distance with no obstacles, she could easily overtake the mugger no matter how far ahead he was. He must have known that, because he threw the necklace into a yard as he ran past it, and kept going.

Alex wanted to keep chasing him, but the necklace was more important.

Unfortunately, the yard was well-lit, and there was a sign on the very high fence warning of a high tech security system. She rattled the metal bars of the fence in frustration, accidentally bending them slightly, before trying to haul herself up the fence. Without any footholds, though, she only got a short ways off the ground before sliding back down.

Edited 2016-05-27 20:12 (UTC)

Ringer raced to catch up. She tripped on nothing at all, slamming her knees into the concrete and doing a couple rolls before crashing to the ground. Apparently she needed to do more training with her speed, her legs not quite used to the movements. The girl sat up, surprised how little it hurt, only to find her knees already healing over. That was new.

She quickly climbed to her feet, embarrassed by her fall and needing to catch up, sprinting out of the alley in time to see the stranger trying to climb a fence and the burglar dashing down the street. Ringer assumed there was a reason the girl had stopped.

"You or him?" She called out as she approached, giving the girl the option of whether Ringer helped her with the fence or pursued the thief.

Alex scowled as she took a step back from the fence, getting a wider view of it and the whole yard it was protecting. She heard the other girl coming and waved at her to stop.

"He threw the necklace in there." She pointed. It was barely visible, mostly obscured by the grass.

Ringer cast one last regretful glance at the fleeing man before she slowed to a stop not far from the girl, walking over to where she was standing. Her eyes scanned the area, finding the necklace after a moment with the help of decent direction. Then they found the signs, then cast about for the security cameras.

"I'll boost you up. Pull me up to the top. You can drop down and get the necklace." Noticing that the other girl's accent was American, she felt compelled to elaborate. "It's not like American law. It's not illegal until they ask you to leave."

Alex, not knowing much about British law despite making a lot of money in the past month or two breaking it, was mildly surprised by that. But if it was true, it only made the job easier.

She nodded, and raised her foot to set in the other girl's hand, then used the boost to pull herself to the top of the fence and reached a hand down to haul the girl up.

Ringer was surprised at the ease with which she was able to boost Alex up. Apparently her strength was present even when she wasn't actively trying to use it. That was worrisome. At least it made things easier in this case.

When Alex offered a hand, she accepted it and helped to pull herself up, wondering if Alex had the same strength. Werewolves were strong, she knew, but not exactly how strong. Irrelevant for now, she pushed the idle quandary aside and positioned herself on the top of the fence, assuming Alex wouldn't need help getting down, only back up again.

"Don't drop it," she remarked dryly, Ringer's brand of humor.

The girl was surprisingly strong, but Alex didn't question it. The strength was coming in handy right now. It was easy for Alex to help the other girl up to the top of the fence - she was pretty strong even for a werewolf.

"Thanks for the tip," she responded, somewhere between dry and mild irritation.

She dropped down into the grass and glanced around for signs of incoming trouble before making a run for the necklace. She must have tripped an electric fence or a motion detector or something, because a high-pitched alarm went off. She snatched up the necklace and dashed back to the fence, reaching a hand up for help.

Ringer clenched her head with the sudden sound of the alarm, closing her eyes for a second to try to focus through the pain. She reopened her eyes, one hand pressed to her head until she saw the girl return, quickly setting her own pain aside to help her back up. The last thing they needed was guard dogs or the police showing up.

As soon as the girl was on top of the fence, Ringer dropped down to the pavement, glancing back up to ensure she got down okay. "Put it on and run. The police will be here soon."

She had no intention of following the girl. Now that the necklace was returned, they would be safer to split ways and hope the police couldn't find them. The worst that could happen would be for Marika to be brought up on assault charges, but she was confident that the bouncer would stay quiet, for the sake of his pride.

Alex noticed the way the girl reacted to the alarm, but there was no time to ask her about it. With the girl's help, she pulled herself to the top of the fence and then dropped to the other side, landing gracelessly on the concrete.

"Aren't you coming?" Splitting up didn't occur to Alex. The cops weren't here yet, they had a few seconds. And all in all, there were much worse things than spending a night in lock-up if they did happen to get caught.

"It's safer if we split up. Less risk." Why tempt fate. They had time to both return to where they were and what they were doing before this whole thing happened. There was no reason to make friends now, even if she was part of the East End Pack. And that was assuming the girl belonged to the pack at all.

Then again, maybe this girl could answer some questions. Ringer let out a soft sigh. "Lead the way. I'll follow."

Once the idea had been presented to her, splitting up didn't sound like a terrible plan. Alex was curious about who and what the girl was, and why she had decided to help, but not so curious that she'd make the girl stay with her if she wanted to part ways.

She was about to agree to the plan when the girl changed her mind, and she nodded in agreement to the new plan instead.

"This way." She took off running. She didn't know this neighborhood that well, but any direction other than back to the club would do. They just needed to get far enough away that the police wouldn't find them.

Ringer's thoughts exactly. She wanted to go somewhere where they were less likely to be caught, ask a few questions, and then be on her way. No sense in unnecessary risk. She followed the girl, keeping pace and trying to shake the headache that still pounded in her skull.

She was silent until they arrived at whatever place the girl would choose for them, following so long as it didn't feel like a trap, until they could have a minute to talk.

Alex ran for a couple blocks before slowing down. There didn't seem to be anyone following them, and running would just attract attention. She kept walking at a brisk pace, cutting through an alley and into a brighter lit area where a few people were doing some late-night shopping.

"I think we're okay here."

She'd been clutching the necklace so tightly that it had left a mark on her palm, which quickly faded once she loosened her grip. As she slowed down, she took a look at it, grimacing when she realized the chain was broken and would need to be replaced before she could wear it again.

That sucked, but at least the chain could easily be replaced. It was the stone she really needed.

"Who are you?" she asked, turning to the other girl. "Why'd you help me back there?"

Ringer slowed when the stranger did and finally came to a stop in the area, immediately looking around. She focused her hearing to listen for anything out of place, but she couldn't hear anything and the headache made it difficult anyway. She agreed that it seemed like an alright place at least.

She glanced at the necklace and wondered why the girl wasn't putting it back on. Before she could ask, though, apparently the girl had some questions of her own.

"My name's Ringer." She paused, pushing her hair back without really thinking about it. "I helped because an uncontrolled werewolf is a greater risk to innocent humans. Are you part of the East End Pack?"

Alex bristled at that. Maybe the girl meant it innocently, but Alex couldn't help but take it as an implication that she was little better than a wild animal.

"Don't worry," she snapped. "I can control myself."

She closed her fist tightly around the broken necklace again. She could just stick it in her pocket, but she didn't want to take the chance, however slight, that it would fall out. In fact, the sooner she could get a new chain, the better. She pulled out her phone and started looking for any open jewelry stores in the area.

Her eyes glued to her phone, frowning heavily at the screen, she said, "Yeah, I'm East End pack. Why?"

Ringer was used to people bristling and snapping at her. She found that people rarely wanted the answers to the questions they were asking, at least the truthful versions. In her mind, helping a werewolf without jewelry retrieve it was like helping Ringer get her gun or crossbow back. She wasn't helpless without it, but the lack of it made for an unnecessary risk she'd rather avoid.

"I'm-" She began, before realizing she didn't know how to qualify her relationship with James. Most casual acquaintances believed she was his cousin now, but it wasn't ideal to promote the lie. "I know James."

Alex finally found a jewelry store that didn't close for another half hour, and thankfully it was only a few blocks away. She shut the phone off and tucked it away, her other hand still tightly clutching the broken necklace.

Finally, she turned her attention back to Ringer, squinting at her. She knew James, she was as fast and strong as a werewolf, she was awfully concerned about werewolves controlling themselves, but she wasn't a werewolf. Alex had met plenty of supernatural types, but she wasn't quite sure what to make of this girl.

"I'm gonna get this fixed, so," she said awkwardly. "Thanks. For having my back."

She started to turn away, but quickly turned back. She had to ask. "What are you? You're not one of us, you're not a vampire, so what?"

"I'm human." The reply is automatic. Ringer was human and having powers didn't change that. Or, at least, she liked to convince others that it didn't in order into convince herself. She would offer no elaboration.

Instead, all she said after that was, "Good luck fixing it."

"A regular human couldn't have done all that. Do you have powers? Drink a potion?" Alex isn't so much desperate to invade this girl's privacy as she is annoyed by the sense that she's being lied to, or at least that something's being hidden from her.

She's willing to accept the coincidence that someone who knows about werewolves happened to walk by while she was being mugged - enough people knew about werewolves that it was possible. But cracks and omissions in the girl's story make her wonder whether it really was just a coincidence.

Ringer paused, hesitated. She didn't want to avoid such a direct question. It wasn't in her nature to lie or hide more than was reasonably necessary. But she also didn't like trying to justify her humanity. Eventually, she tensely answered.

"I don't know. The.. abilities are new. From a fae, I think." The hints of anxiety unintentionally leaking through her expression served as evidence of her honesty. She considered elaborating that James was helping to train her before deciding against it. Ringer preferred her relationship with the man be mostly enigmatic.

Alex believes her. And Ringer's apparent uneasiness makes Alex think that maybe she pushed too hard, maybe her powers are a sensitive topic that she doesn't want to talk about, but Alex has no intention of apologizing for prying. She needs to know that Ringer isn't some kind of vampire spy or anything, doesn't she?

But she does feel a little bad, so she asks, frowning and awkward, "Are you... okay? With the abilities? I mean..." She's not sure what she means, but Ringer helped her, so she supposes that she ought to help Ringer, if the other girl wants help.

Ringer's expression almost immediately shifts to one of a condescending nature. She never claimed to be good at people. The hunter crosses her arms and resists the urge to roll her eyes, giving a small shake of her head instead. "You asked what I was. I told you. I'm human."

There's a pause before Ringer turns to leave. As far as she's concerned, they have nothing else to say to each other. And, really, she would prefer to leave it at that anyway. Maybe they'll run into each other some other time, but later is better.

Alex frowns, not liking that her fumbling offer at help was rebuffed. "Great. That's all I wanted to know."

And that's it, she doesn't really have anything more to say. She thanked Ringer for her help, she figured out what the girl is, what more is there? While she's vaguely curious about the girl's relationship with James, that's not really her business, so she won't pry into it.

"See ya," she says, a little sarcastically, before heading off to the jewelry store.

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