Risk It All - Raph X OC

Raphael's....Girlfriend?

Brooke stared into Sergei's cold eyes and remembered another time, another place, when she'd found herself staring into the barrel of a gun. Would today end the same way? With bullets ripping into her flesh? With her collapsing onto the ground and blood trickling out of her like water out of a leaky garden hose?

Sergei's gaze shifted downward to the camera, then back to her face. "Damn, I thought that was a gun. What the hell are you doing here, lady?"

Fear clogged her throat like a massive rock, preventing her from uttering a word, a sound, or even swallowing. She knew her silence would make this confrontation even more dangerous, but her vocal cords had shut down at the first glimpse of his weapon. She knew the damage it could unleash. She knew the physical agony that came with a gunshot wound and the mental terror of wondering whether it was severe enough to result in death.

He made an impatient gesture with the gun. "Hand over the camera."

She told herself she had no choice, that he had the power to take it from her, so there was no point resisting, but anxiety had short-circuited her brain's signals to her muscles. Her arm wouldn't budge. She was paralyzed. Helpless. Useless. A complete disgrace to the profession she had once revered.

"Yo, Sergei."

Joe was back from the tennis courts, but he stayed far enough away and in the sun's gleam that Sergei had to use his other hand to block the suns rays to view where the voice came from. Was Joe clueless or cocky, or a mixture of both?! Given this situation, Brooke didn't care. If he wanted to be found out for what he was, that's on him. As she watched his huge figure approach, Brooke saw the sun slowly dip below the horizon -- casting a large dark shadow on the land. Putting Joe in almost complete darkness. He emitted anger and power, you can definitely still feel that. She experienced a wave of relief as he came to her rescue. Surely, Sergei wouldn't shoot her in front of a witness. A turtle witness at that.

Joe spoke again. His voice contained anger. "What's with the gun?" Why are you scaring my girl?"

"Your girl?" Sergei sputtered, blinking to see Joe. "What are you talking about? What the hell is she doing here?"

Joe waves Brooke to come to him, putting him at a better advantage... and her away from the gun. The mirrored glasses now seem silly with the sun disappearing, but Brooke understands why he feels the need to keep them on. The glasses made it impossible for her to see his eyes, to gauge what he was thinking. With a half smile, his face mask dipped lower however the low lit area made it hard for someone to make out that it was quite bigger than a human's mouth. He slung one heavily muscled arm around Brooke's shoulders and gave her a squeeze that felt oddly protective. He still held the hedge trimmers, which hung down beside his jean-clad leg. Heat radiated from his body, and the warmth seeped into her, easing her fear-induced paralysis. "She noticed I'd forgotten by lunch at home and didn't want me to go hungry."

"What about the camera?" Sergei demanded. Brooke stole a glance at the street. How good was Sergei with that gun? It was harder than most people thought to hit a moving target. She flexed her leg relieved to feel the muscles respond. Maybe she should run for it --

Joe's fingers tightened on her arm, a subtle warning not to do anything rash. "I told her about the gardens here," he said. "I guess she wanted to take a few pictures."

She coughed to hide her surprise. Joe was the best liar she'd ever met. Better than her, which was seriously impressive, given her success at her job often depended on her ability to dissemble. Seeing as he wasn't human, lying must be second nature for him to survive.