The Way We Talk

Mercy (Little Talks #1)

Prompt:  "We make a good team."

Sin knows she shouldn't be walking through this part of the Glades at night.  She's not an idiot, after all.  But, it's the shortest path home from her graveyard shift.  The Glades have been pretty violent, though, since the Vigilante got killed in that whole Undertaking thing, so she probably shouldn't cut through the abandoned buildings, but most people think she's a psycho bitch with a pocket knife, and they leave her the hell alone.

And, hey, that works for her.

But then, the drunken dumbasses at the dive bar across the street start hooting and hollering, making cat calls and the like.  She gives them her best glare, but they don't back off.  They start to follow her, and she reaches in and fingers the switchblade in her front jeans pocket, just in case.

It doesn't go well, though.  One of the more sober guys cuts her off, and the five guys behind her don't make the situation look too good.  Still, she plays it cool as she takes the knife out of her pocket and releases the six-inch blade.  "Move it, buddy," she says to the guy in front of her, hoping to deter him.

As luck would have it, he happens to be a little too drunk to manage common sense.  "I like a girl with some fight in her," he says, dripping with false confidence and unfounded swagger.

She swings the switchblade at him in response, a red, bloody line forming across his hand.  "I said, 'move it,'" she tries again, the panic starting to show through in her voice.  She's not going to be able to fight them all off, and she knows it.  But, maybe if the guy sees his own blood, he'll learn what it is to back the hell away.

"You bitch!" he swears at her, cradling his now injured hand.  The rest of the men use the distraction to their advantage and circle her, and she knows what's going to happen next.  Even knowing that, the fight doesn't drain out of her; if anything, it intensifies.  She tightens the grip on her switchblade, preparing for the fight that's coming.

Just before it all goes to hell, though, a woman drops from the nearby rooftop, armed with some sort of stick... thing.  She's dressed all in black, blonde hair flowing across her shoulders.  Her facial features are concealed behind a black mask, but even that can't quite hide the intensity of her eyes.  Her stance shows she's ready for a fight, so Sin falls into place beside her.  Not many people would fall into a fight, so she's too grateful to turn tail and run, even as her instincts scream for her to do so.

The man with the bleeding hand lunges toward the blonde, but she clocks his temple with the staff, causing him to crumple instantly.  The other five men are in it for pride now, and so they make their move toward what they believe to be the biggest threat:  Blondie.  "Run," she says quietly to Sin.

Like hell she's going to run.  She swings the switchblade at the man who gets too close to her, but then she sees the other four guys go for the Blondie together.  She fights the three in front of her pretty well, but the fourth tries to sneak up behind her.  Sin knows she has to do something, but she's too far away to help, so she takes a gamble and throws the knife.

Somehow, the blade strikes home in the man's side, and his yell alerts Blondie to his presence.  It's not a fight after that; she simply dispatches them all, not daring to show any mercy.  When she finishes, all six men are most certainly dead.

Blondie reaches over and pulls Sin's knife out of the guy, watching the girl closely all the while.  She wipes the blade on the guy's coat, then proffers it to Sin, handle up.  "Thanks for that," she says in a quiet, breathy voice that's oddly soothing.  "We make a good team."

Sin shrugs, though she thinks Blondie might be right.  "I'm Sin," she says.

The other girl seems hesitant to trust her with such valuable information, but finally offers, so quietly Sin almost misses it, "Sara."

She's not stupid and she gets it:  Sara doesn't want her name bandied about.  So, instead of commenting, Sin says instead, "You need a place to crash?"  Because, well, call her crazy, but she doesn't think the woman in front of her is a local.

A small smile accompanies the words, "I just got into town."

Sin shrugs.  "I call home an abandoned clock tower now.  I wouldn't mind a little company, if you're not annoying."  Sara actually laughs at that, and Sin starts walking so she can't see the hidden smile on her face.

Sara keeps pace easily, not hesitating to walk in long strides in those shoes.  All is quiet for a long while, but, after a few blocks of silence, Sara finally says to her new friend, "We really need to work on your knife throwing skills."  Sin supposes that's as close as she's going to get to a display of gratitude.

Just like that, though, she knows it's going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.