“I wouldn’t move any further if I were you” a voice rang out behind the crew. They had come onto a sparsely populated wide-open avenue.
The crew turned to meet the group of about nine armed men.
“Radus Spitz” Leora hissed “Fancy meeting you here”
“That’s Captain Radus Spitz to you, dear lady” the bearded man with a cybernetic arm spoke
“Oh? Captain of the Spitz-hole Express, is it?”
“Charming, as ever. I’m surprised they cater to the likes of The Antigone here, thought that tinderbox would have rusted away long ago”
“Glad to see you've kept your wit after all of these years, captain, thought you would have turned to dust already, although, that possibility doesn't seem far off”
Spitz let out a dry chuckle, “I’m afraid I’ll have to skip the pleasantries for now my dear, I have a bounty to deliver”
“Not mine, I hope”
“I’m here for Kennet, looks like my job is almost over”
Rayan drew his handgun, a beautifully engraved golden pistol, and moved in front of the prisoner
“Stand down Chika, let’s not get hot-headed” Spitz’s crew let out some laughter.
Rayan drew the slide back on his gun but Ana stuck out her hand towards him, the message was clear, not yet.
“You’re gonna have to try a little harder than that Spitz, he's my prisoner, fair and square”
“Them words don’t mean much here, especially to you”
Elio moved his jacket aside and placed his fingertips on the polished pearl grip of the revolver in his belt holster.
“Walk away, leave while you still have your men” Leora shouted
“I’m not asking, you have five seconds to hand him over”
“We’ll see about that”
“Five”
Ana drew a twin-barreled pistol with fine engraving and polished wooden grips
“Four”
Rayan drew his slide back
“Three”
Elio leaned back and drummed his fingers against the grip of his revolver
“Two”
Leora slowly reached for the pair of straight pistols tucked into the back of her belt
As the word “one” barely escaped the bounty hunter’s throat, Elio drew his pistol and fanned the hammer twice in one fluid motion. There was half a second of silence as two of Spitz's men hit the ground, then all hell broke loose.
“Shit! Get down!” Leora screamed, the crew scrambled to cover
Rayan placed his hand on the prisoner’s shoulder and covered him to the corner of a nearby alleyway, “Don’t move!”
A bolt slammed into the vehicle Leora was hiding behind, leaving a smoldering dent. She peaked out for a moment with her pair of pistols and fired a pair of shots off, the fine machinery on the side of her guns spinning elegantly, and a bounty hunter fell.
“Three” she yelled out
She heard a shot ring out behind her
“Four” Ana yelled over the chaos
Elio, taking cover behind a bus, chose two targets carefully and smoothly fanned the hammer of his revolver, the bright yellow shots zipping down the street
“Six”
“Aagh! Fuck!” he heard Ana scream
Elio turned around and saw that Ana’s arm had been hit
“Ray!” Elio screamed out, motioning to Ana
“Got it! Count of three!” he responded, their experience leaving nothing further to be said
“Ready,” Elio said, cocking his gun
Rayan counted down, leaning out of his corner to cover Elio as he ran and slid to Anahita’s position
“Seven” He heard Rayan yell
Elio went up to Ana “Shit starboy, I’m in a bad spot here” she spat “Fucker got my arm”
Elio took her arm and looked at her wound
“You’ll be fine once we get to the ship” Elio stated “Here”
He reached into an inside pocket of his waistcoat and produced a handkerchief which he used to bandage Ana's arm winding it tight.
“Ugh, thanks El,”
Elio peaked out of his cover and saw that the two remaining bounty hunters were retreating down the avenue
“Shit, is everyone okay?” Leora said, standing up
“Just peachy” Rayan joked
“They got Ana’s arm, she’ll be okay once we get to the ship” Elio stated bluntly
“Damn” Leora spat “Fucking Spitz, let’s see if we got him”
The crew approached the bodies of the former bounty hunters.
“Looks like he got away Ley,” Ana said, cradling her arm
“Fuck” Leora hisses “Slippery bastard”
As she turned around, she noticed one of the men still moving.
“Give my regards to your captain” She drew one of her pistols and squeezed the trigger.
The crew hurried back to their ship on foot, not wanting to attract any more attention. When they arrived, they saw the bright orange glow of the Antigone’s engines illuminating the space dock, ready to depart.
“Ray, get the prisoner to the brig. El, get Ana to the sick bay and take care of her. I’ll get the mooring cables and dock terminal” Leora commanded, visibly agitated
“Aye,” Elio responded as he ascended the narrow gangway into the ship, still holding an arm around Ana, keeping pressure on her wound. He weaved through the narrow corridors of the ship until he came to a well-organized, small room with stark white lighting, a bleak contrast against the warm glow of the rest of the ship. Ana sat on the bed as Elio switched on the terminal and took the small wand that was connected to it in his hand. He slowly unwrapped the bandage and removed Ana’s coat, observing the wound.
“Woah there El, at least buy me dinner first”
“Shut up,” he said, blushing
“Do all Skjoldic guys sound so cute?”
Elio hid a smirk on his face, as he tapped on the console, while faded, he did still speak with a slight, barely noticeable accent. Paired with his slight stutter, his soft, gravelly voice tended to speak slowly and slightly bend up as if he was always asking a question
“M-maybe it's just me” he joked “Not all of us are so s-stuttery”
“Aw, I think it's cute” Ana certainly knew how to push his buttons
Elio brought the wand up to Ana’s arm and hovered over it, feeling the machine whirring, a beep rang out
“High velocity penetrating wound, puncture. Recommended healing time: 5-7 standard days'' the computer spoke out
Elio carefully examined the other side of her arm
“Looks like it went through and through. Everything i-important’s still there”
“Hooray for me,” Ana said, rolling her eyes as Elio washed his hands and put on a pair of gloves. He turned around to grab something from a cabinet, producing a small plastic bottle. He unscrewed the top and the smell of alcohol burned his nostrils.
“Hold up for a second,” Ana said, reaching into her coat beside her, and retrieving a small, sleek metal container. She opened it up and took a sip, nodding to Elio.
He sprayed the fluid onto both sides of her injury causing Ana to wince in pain, then spread a cream onto the area around the wound, causing it to go numb. He then picked up a small box labeled sterile and from it, he took a needle and thin thread. Elio’s large, usually clumsy hands quickly went to work on suturing the wound.
“How’d you get so good at this?” Ana asked, taking another sip
“I was a c-clumsy child” Elio responded nervously, concentrating on the task at hand
The room rumbled and Ana chuckled. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Elio was finished and wrapped up her arm in a clean bandage.
“Try to k-keep it still, and try not to do any big work” Elio stated bluntly
“Who needs to do big work when I’ve got a big man to take care of me”
Elio quickly turned his face away, a cherry red blush creeping up and took a deep breath. He turned back towards her as she was bringing her flask up to her lips. He gently snatched it from her hands and took the final sip.
“Fucker” Ana muttered
Elio gave her a small smirk as he stood up92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDAVmYrG75
92Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUHC8zmqAq
