template by punki of adoxography

The law ain't never been a friend of mine.

@tears

Palmer’s laugh made Charlie feel rather peevish; men’s laughter always tended to do that for her. She could never figure if it was something on their part or her own, but she was content to lay that at their feet rather than hers. She shrugged it away, glad to at least have a little bit of a distraction from work. Things had picked up just a little bit; she had been having more pointed sessions instead of just generally helping calm the more bombastic of the patients. That was fine in her book; it was job security at the very least. Job security and more of a chance to hone her powers. That was all she had to focus on for the moment. No plans for Christmas, no plans for anything but to get the hell home to her leftovers and to maybe clean the fish tank tomorrow. She had nothing better to do. For right then, she reminded herself, she had to focus on the danger at hand. They weren’t in Monroeville, where a blocker and a nurse’s cocktail could diffuse most situations before they got too messy. No, whoever these people were, they dealt in messy exclusively.

“Nothing? I would have fi-.” Charlie went quiet as she caught sight of the headlights. The glare was almost too much at first, but she quickly deduced that they belonged to two separate cars. Cursing under her breath, she found the gun he had given her and gripped it, mainly for insurance at that point. “I don’t suppose those two are here just for the service roads,” she murmured. The older model car seemed to shudder under the new pressure they were putting on the engine. If something happened to it, she definitely wanted an upgrade.

“My title is Doctor, Mr. Palmer. Doctor Devere-.” She got cut off once more, but this was by the telltale sound of cracking glass. She pulled close to the seat and hunkered down as shards flew into the vehicle. Well, there went part of her fucking Christmas bonus. Though she would never say it, she was thankful for the heavy jacket she had borrowed from Palmer’s office; the thick black material displayed only minor tracts from the glass that had shot past it. Palmer shot her a look, as though he was inspecting her. She growled. “I’m fine,” she managed to get out. She twisted in the seat and did her best to put eyes on the cars. One had slipped around them, and the other was making its move to do the same from the other side. Oh fuck. There went her idea of getting home fairly quickly and without incident.

Before she could finish getting her bearings, their car jerk suddenly at Palmer’s behest. They slammed, broadside, into one of the other cars. Even in the dark, she could see the other car slide off the road, and she said a silent thanks to whatever sense had told her to buckle the hell up before they left Monroeville. If she hadn’t, she would have ended up in his lap. “You still got one trying to slip from the back. You keep Bessy straight.” They didn’t have much time before the other car either righted itself or opened up fire, too. She pulled her hair up with a stray scrunchie from the cup holder before grabbing the gun once more.

She unbuckled, though she was loathe to do so, and pulled open the sunroof. The street was dark, but the lights of the cars provided a little bit of a target. The wind whipped about something fierce, but she took a position low and close to the top of the vehicle, ready to fall back in if they aimed at her. Aiming at the car currently on the road, she released one decisive bullet into the windshield. It went broad in the dark, but still connected with a crack. It wasn’t enough to completely shatter it, but hairline cracks were already forming. She aimed and fired, the next one connecting more with the driver’s line of vision. It wasn’t much but would buy them a bit of time if they couldn’t see.