Close To Me - Norman Jayden x OC, WIP

Goodbye, Mad Jack

This was fucking crazy, she had to keep telling herself she was doing the right thing despite how much shit she had gotten into with Captain Perry regarding the investigation and how she refused to cooperate with Blake in attempting to arrest Ethan Mars. Norman had told her he was off to investigate Jackson Neville, and that set off some red flags as pieces of his lengthy criminal record returned to her memory. Something wasn’t right, and that’s when she found herself pulling up to the garage on the outskirts of town in her personal SUV.

There was a heavy duty machine running in the courtyard as she stepped out of the vehicle, and the machine had dropped a black Chevy Impala into the crusher at the far end of the courtyard.

Wait a minute.

She had her hand already hovering over her substitute holster as she briskly moved toward the scene, briefly catching sight of someone still moving inside the vehicle being crushed. They hoisted themselves out the window and struggled to catch footing, ultimately throwing themselves onto the side and out of harm’s way. She recognized him and his car right away, and felt the intense fear building inside and a scream bubbling in her throat, which quickly changed to fury when she saw Mad Jack in the driver seat of the machinery. He was stepping out of the machine, a deep scowl on his face as he no doubt was heading to finish Norman off, who was catching his breath while kneeling and his gun raised at the ready. 

She shot him. She took aim at Mad Jack and shot him in the shoulder. Norman almost fell over when he caught sight of her across the way, feelings stirring in his chest that he hadn't felt in a long damn time. It shocked Norman probably more than it shocked Mad Jack, who immediately turned toward her despite the two bullets embedded in his shoulder. There was a fire in his eyes---this man was no longer human as he looked upon Natalie, a sinister smirk across his face as he crossed the dusty junkyard in long strides. She wanted to scream, but couldn’t, she wanted to REACT, but remained locked on the spot under the intense gaze of a killer flying off the handle. Her gun was still raised, aimed at nothing in particular as Mad Jack came upon her.

"Well well, look what we have here! Take a back seat, pig. We're gonna play for a while...you can watch."

“NAT! Natalie, move! Don't you fucking touch her!”

It was Norman who screamed, moved by a newfound adrenaline when he was finally able to stand. He was sprinting, almost feral as he ran as fast as he could, ignoring the constraints on his body from the previous fights no matter how they protested. He had it in him now, the strength to really do some damage, now that he could see the deep danger Natalie was in. 

She did well to dodge the large scrap of metal that Mad Jack had in his arms as he swung to and fro, her gun knocked away and forgotten. Mad Jack dropped the metal, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her to him, where she collided with his chest. She reached up quickly, driving her hand into his already broken nose from the altercation with Norman earlier and being freed quickly. That pissed him right off.

 Normally, she would say she was pretty good at hand to hand combat. However, Mad Jack was just too much power all at once, as he was able to lift her by the thighs and throw her to the ground, raising his foot up to drive his steel toe boots into her rib cage. 

Mad Jack was forcefully turned around by Norman when he finally caught up to him, and Norman throttled him in the face, throwing the man backwards with so much force he was displaced quite a ways. Jackson's sweater caught on the track of the moving machinery, still puttering around in the background. Norman quickly helped Natalie up, ushering her out of the way and standing in her view as the sickening crunch and screaming sounded through the junkyard. Mad Jack had been crushed by the machinery, and left a pool of blood where he once was.

She threw herself against his chest as it happened, her face pressed against his muddied suit jacket as the tears started flowing. Norman’s arms wrapped around her instinctively, one hand leading her head into his chest while the other wrapped around her back and held her side as he kept her close. His embrace tightened as her body shook from the sobs. He rested his chin atop her head, closing his eyes and feeling relief wash over him now that he could stop fighting, and that both of them were safe.  

“Christ, Natalie...you could have been killed. Are you out of your mind?” He murmured against her head, an affectionate tone which she had never heard before. He gently rested his cheek against her forehead while she composed herself.

She sniffled, a watery laugh suddenly escaping her lips.

“I’m here to save you, asshole.”

He let out a sarcastic chuckle himself, sighing before pressing a chaste kiss against her forehead.

“You can’t do this. You can’t just...throw yourself in front of dangers. Then I have to do something about it.” Norman pulled back his head to look down at the redhead woman in his arms, his bright blue eyes meeting her reddened hazel ones. 

“You don’t have to do something about it.” she sniffled, avoiding his direct stare. He reached out to grab her chin, slowly redirecting her gaze to meet his once more.

“Yes, I do. Shit, I can’t change that. I can’t at this point. I know I said I couldn’t do this because of Washington and because of the case. But---”

She kissed him again, hard, with no objection whatsoever. He brought her in closer, pressing his hand against the back of her head to press her lips against his hungrily. Natalie had her hands on either side of his face, rubbing against the stubble on his cheeks and trying to bring him down any closer to her with his slight height difference. It was Norman who deepened the kiss quickly before pulling away, releasing a shaky breath and swallowing heavily.

“Listen, we gotta go. To be continued. We have a lead to follow up on. Are you okay to drive?”

Natalie raised an eyebrow at him and scoffed, affectionately caressing the side of his face where a bruise was forming. “I’m in better shape than you are, let’s get going.”