As Finn and Keith disappeared from view, Penny closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in and out in a steady, calming stream. It wasn't her first brush with death - hell, it wasn't even her first brush with death that week… but somehow, it the idea of falling to her end, splattering on the pavement like a rotten watermelon seemed considerably worse than getting shot to death, or even gored by a psychopathic stuffed animal.
That thought spurred another, and opening her eyes, she pushed herself to rise and moved to Deck's side, "We need to get you patched up before we move on. You'll stick out like a sore thumb as is. Think there's a sewing kit in this place?" Reaching into the side pouch on her pants, she tugged out her phone, "I'll look around… Take this, and see if you can't find a DIY on stitches. Youtube has everything, these days, but if you can find a medical training video, that'd be better."
"Shit," he groaned as he shifted, the adrenaline ebbing away, giving way to the pain that shot through his back when he lifted his right arm. He began to thumb through YouTube videos, "Find something dark, Penny, so it'll blend in with the tats."
Rolling her eyes, Penny stepped into the bathroom, and rifling around, finally found what she needed in the cabinet beneath the sink. On second thought, she also plucked a bottle of motrin from the medicine cabinet, and returning to the half-destroyed bedroom, gestured to the bench at the foot of the bed, "Have a seat… You find a video? And here…" Opening the small emergency sewing kit, she held it out to him, "You've got a choice of cranberry, jade green or… really ugly brown."
"Brown. It's the closest thing. Besides, not like I'll be showing it off," he wrestled to lift his shirt flinching when the pain shot through him. Propping the phone up in his hand, he thumbed over the play button, "Let me know when you're ready."
"Go ahead…" As she threaded the needle, her eyes moved to the video and for a moment, while it played, she said nothing, concentrating fully on what she was seeing. When it ended, she smirked, shaking her head, "Damn… If I'd known it was same as mending a button… Alright, Big Guy." Turning back to Deck, she eyed the wound and trying not to grimace, breathed in deep, "This won't feel good. So try to… I dunno… go to a happy place, or think about something else, yeah? Ready?"
"Can't be worse than getting stabbed by a murderous unicorn," he chuckled, but it ended as soon as the needle pierced his skin. It hurt, but it wasn't much worse than getting a tattoo, a saving grace of his body art. Her pinching the wound shut was the worst part. About that time, Deck could hear the faint sound of the alarm in the building next to them, "You think they'll be alright without you?"
"I dunno…" She murmured quietly, pinching her lip with her teeth for a moment, as she tied off one end and started on the next row, "I don't really wanna think about it. I can't… I can't baby them. They'll never make it out there if they don't get thrown into it now and then. But hell…" With a sigh, she shook her head, "Nice ink, by the way. How many you got…?"
"I stopped counting," he replied, glancing down at the video as it came to a stop, "I got one and then I just...kept getting them. Think it was my attempt at waking up from all of this," he paused a moment, "How big's that hole?"
"Listen, buddy. You got gored by a friggin' unicorn. It's gonna leave a mark, alright?" Looking over at him, she smiled faintly, "Waking up, hm? Hell, if that worked, I'd have no skin left." Tugging the thread tightly, she tied off the final knot, and severed the needle from the end with her nail, running her fingertips delicately around the stitching to inspect the work, "Looks like it'll hold for now. Ain't Doc's work, and she's likely to kill me for scarring you up, but better than bleeding to death."
"Eh, scars are like tats. They tell a story and add character," Deck wiggled his shirt back down before her stood to his feet, handed the phone back, and headed to the bathroom. Turning, he lifted his shirt just enough to look at the wound in the mirror. He blinked twice, "I said brown, Penny!" he yelled before mumbling to himself, "Fucking cranberry.."
Grinning, Penny followed him into the bathroom and leaning over the sink, she turned on the faucet to wash her hands, the clear water turning pink as she sluiced away Deck's blood, "I mean… you did almost drop me, there, Slick."
"But I didn't!" he growled before pushing his shirt down.
"No, you didn't." Turning, she glanced up at him, and her expression shifted, softening briefly, "Thanks. Not exactly the way I wanna go out, you know? Splat… I… I got a thing. About heights."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Deck gave an understanding nod, "I wouldn't have let you...splat."
"Yeah… You uh…" With a smirk, she gave him a once over, "You got a thing about saving my life there, Sugar. Startin' to think you'd miss me or something."
"Or something," he teased before rolling his shoulder and stepping into the ruined living room, "Anyway, I figured you brought me into this mess, the least you could do is see me out of it."
"Oh… So it's vindictive." She teased right back, and following after him, her eyes moved to the hole in the wall. Swallowing, she looked away quickly, "We'll need to wait till the crowd clears down below. Give Keith and Finn some space to get away." Sinking back onto the bench, her fingers dove through her hair, "Not exactly the best first mission… sorry."
"Nothing I'm not used to really," he looked out the hole he created and smiled wearily, "though that was a first," turning to her, he sighed, "I knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to your terms, but I had hoped I wouldn't be beaten by you."
Grinning, she looked over at him, a brow lifting, "I'm not saying when I made that deal I knew I was gonna kick your ass, but hey…"
"Ya, ya," he dropped his hands and put a dining room chair upright before sitting in it, "So, I've seen a lot of abilities in my travels, but never one that turned stuffed animals into raging monsters. That….that's some scary shit."
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it." She shivered, recalling the horror of the creations, storming down the hallway, "You realized, of course, you're never gonna live down getting stabbed by a unicorn, right?"
Deck chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, "I suppose not. Could've been worse though...I think."
"Yeah…" Penny said with a small, teasing smirk, "...Could've been the duck. You see him? With the saw blade for the bill. Imagine getting wrecked by a duck." Rising, she made her way carefully to the gaping hole and with even more caution, leaned to look down at the streets below, "...How long you figure we should give it?"
"Is it clearing out down there?" he asked.
"Sounds like it…" Leaning back in, she sighed, "How's your shoulder feel, just in case? I can take on a few agents… but I ain't exactly, well…" Looking at his, she gestured vaguely to his arms.
"I can fight," he reassured her, "May not be able to use my ability, but I can fight," he smirked toward her, "Need me to show you some moves?"
"Sugar… We make it out of this, you can show me whatever moves you want. Just don't pop those pretty pink stitches. I'll forget what I learned in a few minutes."
"Alright, well, if we're in the thick of it and you just need a reminder, I'll try and stay within eyeshot," he stood and started toward the hall, "You ready?"
Breathing in, she nodded, her eyes shifting to the gaping hole in the wall, "Better than falling twenty stories to my death, right? Let's go."
"Alright," he stepped out the threshold and into the hallway, "Stay close and keep your eyes and ears open. R.I.E.F. still might be sweeping this building."
Following alongside Deck, the humor left Penny's eyes as concentration flooded back in. They tracked back in the direction they had come, and for several minutes, moving through the eerie apartment building, their only company was silence. Two floors down, however, the chirp of a walkie-talkie caught the air in Penny's lungs, and reaching out, she yanked Deck to a halt.
"No good." She whispered, before looking back the way they came, then the door a short distance down the hall, marked 'maintenance', before nodding, "Come on."
Deck followed Penny into the maintenance closet and pressed the door closed as quietly as possible, "They must have been clearing floors while we were dealing with the mutants," he shook his head and sighed, "I'm not dying in this stupid building. Being stabbed by a unicorn is not gonna be anyone's last memory of me."
Fighting something between a grimace and a grin, Penny shook her head, "Calm down, Big Guy. We'll figure this out. You're pretty tapped, powerwise?"
Nodding he answered, "It turns out holding chunks of a building in mid air while bleeding and stressing out over potential death drains me quickly," he sighed, "I might could do something small."
Looking around the small closet, Penny frowned in thought, her eyes traveling up to the air duct with a small chuckle, "...You had to be built like the Matterhorn…" Lowering her gaze, she gestured finally to the two wide chutes in the corner, designed for trash and recycling bins, "...Ain't exactly an appealing exit, but… If you could slow our momentum… Trash chutes usually lead down to the basement, right?"
"Only one way to find out," he motioned to the chute, "Sit in, and we'll go down together. Only way I can slow us at the moment."
"...Stabbed by unicorns… Sliding down trash chutes. I'd tell you the job isn't normally like this, but…" Crouching by the chute door, she pushed it open, before sinking back, glancing to Deck with a nod, "Ready when you are, Sugar."
"It'd be boring any other way," he spoke as he slipped in behind her, wrapping his arms around her core, "Gotta make sure you don't slide away."
With a push, Deck sent them down the chute all while he counted down from five. If he remembered correctly, it was relatively one second for every ten feet. If he was wrong...well, he hoped he wasn't.
"2….1…" he closed his eyes and concentrated, slowing them just enough that their launch from the chute wouldn't hurt them. Just as he'd hoped, they fell out of the end and into the trash beneath them a little harder than Deck had hoped.
"Ow…" he groaned, "I imagined that being softer."
Graciously, larger objects fell first and Penny's landing wasn't quite so uncomfortable, flopping back on Deck, instead. Still, it was a heavy fall and took the air out of her for a moment or two, "...Definitely not my preferred method of travel." She muttered, before rolling off of him, "Not out of the woods yet, Big Guy. Need a minute, or you good to keep going?"
Wearily, he exited the drop and leaned against the side of the dumpster. He took in a few deep breaths and nodded, "Let's go. I can rest when we're safe."
Deck took the lead again as they hugged the basement wall making their way around the perimeter toward the garage entrance. Peaking around the corner, he let out a breath of relief when he noticed that most of the R.I.E.F. soldiers had taken the bait and had switched their attention toward the other building with a crowd gathering to witness their actions.
"Almost home free, Penny. Just a few more feet. We just need to slip into the crowd and we'll be good."
Following close behind, Penny paused when he did, looking out over his shoulder, "Home, anyway. I dunno about free…" With a smirk, she held out her hand, "Less likely to draw attention if we just look like a couple, hopin' to get back to the game on TV."
Glancing down at her hand, Deck froze for the briefest of moments. Squashing his own memories that flashed behind his eyes, he nodded and gently wrapped her hand in his own, "The game," he reassured himself, "Alright, stay close. Don't need anyone to notice the blood stain."
Breathing in, Penny turned her eyes to the crowd, easing closer to Deck, close enough to block his shoulder from view. It was mystifying that the oddest and most nerve wracking part of their plan had nothing to do with the heavily armed agents after them, but the physical contact that was so alien…
As they melded into the crowd of irritated, grumbling tenants, she kept her eyes peeled for uniformed figures, "We'll need to find a vehicle…"
"I'm sure in this mess," Deck twisted to avoid colliding with another man as they weaved their way through the crowd, "it won't be too difficult," his eyes settled on a man that looked as though he'd recently arrived on scene, "Do you have deft hands?" He jerked his head toward the man pacing angrily in the street yelling into his cellphone.
A brow lifted, and she glanced up at him briefly, with a small smirk, "I think I catch your drift. Yeah… I can handle it."
"Alright, then let's go," Deck steered them toward the man and lined them up perfectly. A few steps away, he put a little distance between the two of them and released her hand so she could use it, "You got this," he said as he watched the distracted man.
Moving away from Deck, Penny approached the man, eyes dancing through the crowd as if she were searching for something or someone… When she neared him, she twisted just so and collided into him, pausing, her hands steadying against him before she stumbled back just slightly, "Oh my goodness! I am so sorry… Are you alright?"
"Watch out!" The man growled, spinning away and as he continued his phone conversation, Penny rolled her eyes before turning back to Deck with a grin, holding the keys up just enough that he could see them, giving a wink.
"That a girl," he mumbled, barely audible, as he rejoined her side, "Now, which one does it belong to?"
"I mean… wasn't really fair," She started, when they'd moved away a bit, "I think I could've just reached right in and taken them, with how little he was paying attention." With a smile, her eyes skimmed the line of vehicles, as she pressed the lock button on the remote, looking for flashing lights, "There we go… Black SUV, three from the light post."
"Alright, you drive," he nodded and switched sides, "Got a way to contact the others to let them know we made it out? Or we just showing up?"
"Gonna have to wait…" She noted, slipping into the driver's seat. She cranked the keys in the ignition and without looking in the mirrors, not particularly keen to see if their unwitting victim would notice his car driving off or not, she pulled away from the curb, "Comms are too far out, and it's too risky, calling on a phone."
Breathing out, Penny eased into traffic, before glancing briefly over to her companion, "...Good work, Deck. Really. With everything. Keegan was right about you."
Shaking his head, he objected, "I dropped you. Couldn't done better, shoulda done better," he sighed and then smirked, "Enjoyed the hug though."
A brow lifted, and she frowned, softly, "Hey… You didn't drop me, Deck. Some frosty bitch with an attitude decided arctic was a good temperature for concentrating, after some psychopath puppet master had his pet unicorn put a hole in you. I think we can all agree you did damn good for those circumstances… If you'd failed, I'd be a splatter under a white sheet, right now." Reaching out with her free hand, she gripped his arm, "When I say it was good work, I mean it. So shut up, alright?"
Pausing, she released him, and her lip curved up in a smirk, "...Didn't take you for a snuggler, though…"
Deck appreciated her words of encouragement, a small smile preceded a soft chuckle at the last of them though, "Not normally. Think I was as glad as you were that they weren't scraping you off the pavement," nevermind the fact that he hadn't felt the warmth of another person since...he cleared his throat, "I told you I'd have your back."
Biting the edge of her lip, Penny bit back a smile as she shook her head, "...Sentimental sap. You would miss me…" Her hand returned to the wheel and she turned off towards the highway, hoping the map in her head was sufficient enough to get them where they needed to go, "But seriously. Thanks. And just so you know… I've got yours."