2 DAYS after Lev's Birthday.
Alex isn't even supposed to be out this late, but she was craving a specific snack she couldn't get anywhere else, and she was not about to sleep hungry, especially when it was craving-hunger, not just normal hunger.
She found a shop in a shady neighbourhood that had exactly what she wanted, so she put her ass in a car and drove 45 minutes to come and buy it in bulk. She tells the person at the counter to keep the change and speed-walks to her car, her keys already threaded through her fingers, just in case. That's when she hears it, grunting and the unmistakable sound of somebody getting slapped to the heavens.
Normal Alex, sensible Alex, the Alex who's listened to enough cookies and crime to know better, would keep walking, mind her business, call the cops from a safe distance. But for some reason, she glances down the alley anyway and sees it, one man against three, maybe four, all of 'em circling him like it's some kinda street fight setup he never gave consent to. One keeps scratching their cheek.
"You need help?" She yells it before she can talk herself out of it, already digging in her bag for the pepper spray she keeps on her keychain for exactly this kind of dumb decision. The guy, bloodied lip, breathing hard, barely glances her way.
"Yeah, actually, that'd be appreciated."
"Say less."
She sprints into the alley before her brain fully catches up with what her legs are doing, pepper spray already uncapped. She goes low since the closest one's a shorty, and fast, since he's slow, and sprays him right in the eyes, nose, and mouth for triple effect. He screams and stumbles back, clawing at his face.
She doesn't stop moving, swings a knee up into the next one's groin so hard he folds like a church table and hits the ground wheezing, he gets a spritz too.
The man knocks the other two out easily. Alex grabs the stranger's hand, not waiting for permission, yanking him toward the mouth of the alley while the two still conscious start to recover.
"Run faster, man!" She whisper-yells, 'cause only a dumb fuck would yell while they're being chased in the dark.
They're sprinting now, her grip locked tight around his wrist, shoes absolutely not built for this but she's not stopping to think about that rn. Footsteps pound behind them, somebody yelling something in a language she doesn't understand. She just runs harder, cutting a sharp turn around a corner, dragging the guy with her.
"This way, this way." She's breathless, laughing a little from pure adrenaline even though her heart's about to explode outta her chest. "My car's right there, get in, get in."
They both practically dive into her car, and she's got the engine going before he's even got the door fully shut, tyres screech outta the lot while she checks the rearview, seeing the two men stumbling to the spot she was just in, way too far behind now to catch up.
No one talks for a bit Just heavy breathing, both of 'em. Then she realises she put a stranger who could kill her in a car right next to her.
"So..." Alex stretches it out, nodding slowly while kinda tapping her finger on her steering wheel. She glances over at the stranger bleeding a little on her passenger seat and scoots a little closer to the door, just in case she needs to jump out. "You don't plan to kill me, yh? Cause I just saved your ass, so u can't." The guy just looks at her and laughs a little, wiping blood off his lip with the back of his hand.
"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead." Alex looks the guy dead in the eyes and oohs with a shudder before looking back at the road, with a subtle "get a load of this guy" look. The man stares at her like "deadass?"
